Burger King

[Guest guest]

Dearest Davy & other friends,

 

Thanks so much, Davy, for sending along your thoughtful and insightful

message on the new BK Veggie. I agree completely with your analysis that for

those of us who already embrace veganism within the context (and as an

integral part) of the broader plate of social justice issues, munching on a

BK Veggie (hold the mayo, ignore the miniscule quantity of butter flavoring)

will *not* offer a solution to the environmental/labor/GMO/family farm havoc

wreaked by the multinational. Certainly, the history that Eric Schlosser

documents in " Fast Food Nation " on the manner in which the burger chains

lobbied for keeping the minimum wage low, the manner in which they squeezed

out family farms in favor of centralized control, and the manner in which

they led the drive towards mechanized production and slaughter of animals is

enough to make a person of any conscience lose their lunch. What a tragedy

it would be for any of us who have made a commitment to growing a

life-affirming community through support of locally-owned, organic, vegan

co-operatives and businesses to take our money away from the mom-and-pop

establishments to hand over to Burger King corporate bandits.

 

Saying that, I do think we need to acknowledge that the mainstream " culture "

(sic) has been hijacked by corporate interests (to the extent that the wares

of large corporations are considered *desirable*). Furthermore, convenience

weighs in heavily when people are making choices about where and what to

eat. Taking a page from Schlosser, we know that every *day*, about

one-quarter of all American adults eat at a fast food restaurant (!!!!).

While we should certainly keep our eyes focused on the larger prize of

weaning people away from the corporate burger chains, in the shorter term,

we can help the people who are going to eat at Burger King anyway make a

choice that's healthier for them, better for the environment, and certainly

more compassionate towards the animals. We may not be able to change the

consumer convenience culture overnight, but the BK Veggie does offer a

markedly better option (flawed, I submit, but better nonetheless) for the

hordes who will continue to dine at Burger King.

 

To this end, I do think it makes sense for vegan advocates to do outreach

into the larger (consumer/convenience/corporate culture) society, noting the

BK Veggie when asked, " but where can I eat? "

 

On a related note, I notice that Erik Marcus who had initially weighed in

against Burger King, in their failure to provide a burger that is fully

vegan, has reconsidered his position. He has posted two interesting articles

on his websites (you can go to http://www.vegan.com, or

http://www.erikmarcus.com) encouraging support of the BK Veggie. As well,

he's posted an interesting selection from his readers' feedback on the

issue.

 

Cheers,

Alka

 

 

 

 

 

DAVYben [DAVYben]

Monday, March 25, 2002 7:32 AM

maynardclark; Veg-Biz;

Building-Vegetarian-Culture (AT) Groups (DOT) com; ar-sf

Cc: Erik

Re: Burger King not vegan-friendly

 

 

As a longtime vegan and AR activist I'm opposed to any support for eating

anything at Burger King. If you've read Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

you'll know that BK and all other national food chains contribute

significantly to animal, human and environmental degradation. When buying

anything we need to think of the whole consequence - not just animals. This

 

is good strategy for animals.

 

To be vegan without supporting environmental, health and human rights is

shortsighted and self-defeating. When you go to any environmental

conference

you'll meet dozens of vegetarians and vegans who don't want to be isolated

from the main progressive left and who recognize that cooperation with this

large group is key for helping animals.

 

An organic plant-based diet prepared at home or purchased from a stand-alone

 

restaurant (veg or not) is far better for everyone than any money going to

the giant fast food industry. That money goes to republican right-wing

conservative candidates, supports low-end, go nowhere jobs, buys veg-burgers

 

with GMO's and is in every sense a " Darth Vader " roaming as a " Happy Meal. "

 

Davy Davidson

VegTime, Inc.

 

In a message dated 3/25/02 2:36:30 PM, maynardclark writes:

 

<<

Language is REALLY crucial here, since we need to be careful about our

facts.

 

The logical (and factual) distinction on vegans' issues with the BK BURGER

is

between:

- being PREPARED with added mayonnaise

- having mayonnaise inside the burger itself ( " contains " )

 

For vegans the issue with the BUN is that the strangely optional bun has

BOTH

butter flavor AND polysorbate 60, which I'm told is animal derived (or is

that only polysorbate 80?).

 

Meanwhile, I'm more interesting in getting a TRULY vegan-acceptable POWDERED

 

nondairy coffee creamer, not that any of us should be drinking the rotgut

coffee (which is a killer).

 

Maynard

ebbrewpunx wrote:

by Erik Marcus at Vegan.com

 

I have some not-so-great news to report. Fortunately, since I'm publishing

this online, I don't have to worry about anyone shooting the messenger.

Today, more than 8300 Burger Kings across the United States launch their

VeggieBurger. When this burger was first announced a few months ago, it was

supposed to be a vegan product. Well, it's not.

 

I found out a few days ago that the burger was about to be launched, so I

put

in a call to Burger King's headquarters. I was initially told that the

default burger would be unacceptable to vegans, but could be prepared vegan

if the customer made two requests. The reason the default burger wasn't

vegan, I was told, is that it contains low-fat mayonnaise, and is cooked on

the same grill on which Burger King cooks its regular beef burgers.

 

However, it's easy to get around these two issues. Anyone who goes to a

Burger King can ask that the burger patty be microwaved. That way, it won't

come in contact with cooking surfaces that are used all day long to cook

beef. This microwave option is available at every Burger King, and I was

told

that all franchises have been asked to make this option available for

vegetarians who request it.

 

The mayonnaise problem is even easier to handle. You can just them to hold

the mayo, and they will honor your request.

 

During my conversation with a company spokeswoman, she asked if I would like

 

an ingredient listing. I gave her my email address, and in five minutes I

had

her email in my in-box. When I scrolled down to the bun ingredients, here's

what I saw (I've set the offending ingredient in boldface):

 

ENRICHED FLOUR (NIACIN, IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, AND FOLIC

ACID), WATER, SUGAR, (SUCROSE OR HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP), VEGETABLE

SHORTENING, YEAST, SALT, WHEAT GLUTEN, SESAME SEEDS, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL

BUTTER FLAVOR, YEAST FOOD (CALCIUM SULFATE, POTASSIUM IODATE, AND/OR

AMMONIUM

SULFATE), DOUGH CONDITIONERS (POLYSORBATE 60, CALCIUM PEROXIDE [OXIDANT],

CALCIUM SALTS, SULFATES, PHOSPHATES, AND AMMONIUM SALTS), DOUGH

STRENGTHENERS

(SODIUM AND/OR CALCIUM-2-STEAROYL LACTYLATE OR ETHOXYLATED MONO- AND

DIGLYCERIDES), DOUGH SOFTENERS (MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES, AND/OR PROTEASE

ENZYME). MOLD INHIBITOR (CALCIUM PROPIONATE), PRESERVATIVE (POTASSIUM

SORBATE), OXIDATION REDUCTION ADDITIVES (ASCORBIC ACID,

POTASSIUM/CALCIUM IODATE, ALPHA-AMYLASE, AZODICARBONAMIDE), LEAVENING AGENT

(MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE).

 

I then exchanged a couple more emails with her, which established that this

butter flavor is dairy-derived. Now, I can cheerfully eat a burger without

mayonnaise, but it's pretty difficult to eat one without the bun.

 

What Went Wrong?

 

When news of Burger King's Veggieburger first came out a few months ago, it

 

was widely reported that the burger would be entirely vegan. It was also

reported that the burger would come on a vegan whole wheat bun. I don't know

 

this for sure, but I bet what happened is that, somewhere along the line,

some official at Burger King decided that the regular white bun would be

good

enough. Maybe the whole wheat bun would take extra time to develop, or maybe

 

they just decided it wasn't worth carrying an extra bun item in inventory.

 

So where does this leave vegans? It's worth bearing in mind that the amount

of dairy in this bun is incredibly tiny. The bun has more sesame seeds than

dairy, and it even contains more salt than dairy. Even though the amount of

 

dairy is tiny, I personally wouldn't feel right eating this product. After

all, it's not vegan.

 

Even though I'm disappointed, I will still strongly urge my non-vegetarian

friends to give this product a try. This product may not be suitable for

vegans, but it could still do more to help farm animals than any product

that

has ever come to market. For the first time ever, you can walk into a

fast-food establishment and order a burger that is, for all practical

purposes, vegan.

 

I think it's extremely important that vegans take as much advantage of this

product as possible, in terms of letting the non-vegetarian world know about

 

its launch. Probably the main reason people don't become vegetarian is the

fear of reduced food choices and inconvenience. Now, for the first time, you

 

can walk into any Burger King and order a burger just like anybody else-and

what you'll get will be totally vegetarian and nearly vegan. I know that,

back when I was contemplating going vegetarian, the decision would have been

 

a snap if I knew I could still eat at Burger King.

 

As for me, I'm feeling a bit like Moses, and perhaps you are too. I may not

have walked around a desert for forty years, but I've been vegan for almost

fifteen, and now I'm being denied the promised land of being able to eat a

vegan Veggieburger at Burger King. As disappointed as I am that I won't

personally get to try this product, I hope the Burger King Veggieburger not

only succeeds, but that it's a smash-hit product. If it does succeed, you

can

count on McDonald's and Wendy's rushing similar products to market. Such an

event would mark the biggest step forward for America's farm animals in

history.

 

And maybe one day, Burger King will introduce that long-awaited vegan whole

wheat bun. With the launch of BK's Veggieburger, we vegans have some reason

to feel let down. But this launch is also a sure sign that we're making

progress.

>>

[Guest guest]

I'm with Audrey, I've had a few Burger King veg burgers in a pinch. They were

not cooked on the meat grill, tasted delicipous and

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

[Guest guest]

i didn't know that BK has good veggie burger, i try and avoid fast foods if i

can. i'm from florida so i will give feedback how it taste. thanks a lot for

the tip!!

 

flor

 

, calvin weeks <weeks.calvin wrote:

>

> I eat BKs vegie burger when I am on the road. One of the few veggie burgers

> that is consistent from state to state. I do not eat fast food at all other

> than this burger. I also eat the french fries there because I am addicted to

> that. I know I know they are fattening but I also ride bike everywhere and

> burn on a average of 4500 calories a day so I can eat them onece and awhile

> and savor the flavor.

> ltr Calvin

>

> On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 10:52 AM, Samantha Lea <saml wrote:

>

> >

> >

> > I really like the BK veggie burger! I try not to eat a whole lot of fast

> > food but that is one of the things I go for if I do.

> >

> > The other is the Taco Time Veggie Burrito. Taco Time not Taco Bell.

> >

> > Sam

> >

> > That's interesting, I think Burger King's veggie burger is one of the best

> > I've had at a restaurant -- maybe that's not saying much for my experience

> > with veggie burgers, but I like it. I've had problems with their service

> > only once (new, unenthusiastic employee got everything wrong) and the

> > manager was very nice, gave us a replacement meal coupon for free.

> >

> > Audrey S.

> >

> >