Environmentally conscious consumers want to eat less meat but don’t want to miss out on the comfort of the dishes they love. Nutritionist Jocelyn Reichert from Victory Nutrition, gives her take on the rise of the Flexitarian diet and the role alternative proteins plays in giving meat lovers an entry into plant-forward eating.
Nicole Astra:
Welcome to Talking Plant Protein. In the hot seat today is nutritionist Jocelyn Reichert, representing victory nutrition. Thanks for joining us today.
Jocelyn Reichert:
Thank you so much for having me.
Nicole Astra:
Okay. So my first question is... We're using this term a lot. What do you make of the rise of the flexitarian?
Jocelyn Reichert:
So the flexitarian diet is very interesting, and I... First of all, I love the name because it combines flexibility with vegetarian. So I think that that is what everyone is looking for these days. When they're looking for ways to incorporate plant-based foods into their diet, they're looking for flexibility.
Nicole Astra:
Right.
Jocelyn Reichert:
So flexitarian basically means you try to eat a vegetarian diet as much as you can. You start slow, and you gradually decrease the amount of animal proteins and animal products that you may be eating in your diet. And you try to increase the amount of plant-based foods that you're eating in your diet. So really has a lot of flexibility in it, which I think is great for people. Everyone's busy, everyone's trying to lead a healthy life, but sometimes you need that flexibility to say, "Hey, oh today's a rough day. I'm going to quickly grab a piece of chicken." But at the same time, you're focusing on incorporating those healthy plant-based food is that everyone should be incorporating in their diet, like whole grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, things of that nature. So you're trying to increase those foods and at the same time, have that flexibility to eat the meat products, if you so choose.
Nicole Astra:
Yeah. And I have seen for those meat lovers, they are missing variety in their diets. This is an education for them.
Jocelyn Reichert:
Absolutely.
Nicole Astra:
Are you seeing that trend in the clients that you serve?
Jocelyn Reichert:
Absolutely. I think this is one of the biggest trends that we are seeing, is that people want to increase their plant-based foods, but at the same time, they don't want to have that stigma of completely limiting all of their meat products or their animal products. They want to have that flexibility to say every once in a while, "Hey, I might want to eat a hamburger, and that's okay."
Nicole Astra:
Right.
Jocelyn Reichert:
But trying to focus on really increasing those plant-based foods that they know that they should be eating that make them feel great.
Nicole Astra:
And there's no shame in that.
Jocelyn Reichert:
Absolutely.
Nicole Astra:
We say all the time, we are not here to make you guys go vegan. We're here to have you eat less meat.
Jocelyn Reichert:
Exactly.
Nicole Astra:
And that is what can make a difference for a sustainable future. What are your clients asking for that maybe they weren't asking for five years ago?
Jocelyn Reichert:
I think that this is one of the things that we focus on a lot, is people are asking for plant-based substitutions for their favorite dishes, for their traditional dishes. They want to know how to make a plant-based substitute. How do you make a spaghetti carbonara?
Nicole Astra:
Because they want it to be healthier.
Jocelyn Reichert:
Exactly.
Nicole Astra:
Okay, without missing-
Jocelyn Reichert:
They want it to be healthier...
Nicole Astra:
... the comfort.
Jocelyn Reichert:
... without missing the comfort, without missing that experience that takes them back to maybe when they were young, maybe how they grew up. But they want to make it healthier. They want to make it more plant-based. So how do you make a dish more plant based? Well, you work with us on healthy substitutions. spaghetti carbonara can be spaghetti squash carbonara. And it doesn't have to be all or nothing, like we talk about all the time. Maybe you still incorporate some half and half into that carbonara instead of completely taking out all animal products. But this is a way to transition into more healthy, plant-based eating.
Nicole Astra:
So this might be a harder one, but where do you see us going in the next five years?
Jocelyn Reichert:
So I think with the pandemic and everyone being in lockdown, I think that we really started to focus on localism and trying to increase local products, getting local produce, and supporting those restaurants that kept food on our table during that shutdown. And I think the trend is going to continue where we're going to start seeing clients really embracing localism and really trying to focus on getting those local products onto their table. And I really think that the environmental aspect is also going to be coming into a major play as well. People are really looking to support companies that have environmental sustainability practices. And I think that that's just going to continue to grow and grow as we move on.
Nicole Astra:
I appreciate your time. The... I feel like this industry and consumer demand is shifting so quickly, so we love having the experts on to keep us in the know. I really appreciate the time on Talking Plant Protein. Thanks.
Jocelyn Reichert:
Thank you for having me.