Why Germans Don't Eat Meat Anymore | Feli from Germany

👉 In 2022, meat consumption in Germany hit an all-time low! Let’s talk about the reasons behind this development, what meat substitute products have to do with this, and how this compares to the situation here in the US!

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0:00 Germany - Land of sausages?
1:08 Meat consumption in Germany
4:34 The rise of plant-based products
7:51 Plant-based products in the US
11:42 Meat consumption in the US
16:50 Why the difference?
19:43 Restoring the planet
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ABOUT ME: Hallo, Servus, and welcome to my channel! My name is Felicia (Feli), I'm 29, and I'm a German living in the USA! I was born and raised in Munich, Germany but have been living in Cincinnati, Ohio off and on since 2016. I first came here for an exchange semester during my undergrad at LMU Munich, then I returned for an internship, and then I got my master's degree in Cincinnati. I was lucky enough to win the Green Card lottery and have been a permanent resident since 2019! In my videos, I talk about cultural differences between America and Germany, things I like and dislike about living here, and other topics I come across in my everyday life in the States. Let me know what YOU would like to hear about in the comments below. DANKE :)

[LordGertz]

Oddly enough I stopped getting veggie options in Fast Food restaurants when they switched from bean or vegetable patties to the extremely salty Beyond Meat and Impossible Meat options, the restaurants switched from tastey to convenient.

[roelli]

"Rügenwalder Mühle" has announced a couple of weeks ago, that one of their signature products "Schinkenspicker" will be available vegan only in the near future. It was one of the first products which was available as vegan option from Rügenwalder and has become so sucessful, that the meat based original will no longer be sold.

[Why-D]

The funny thing on this is, that some people think: "Germans have no money to buy meat", while the vegetarian products are often more expensive than meat.

[hayleyam]

This is reminding me of when we had a German exchange student visiting us and she ordered a "veggie burger" at Wendy's. They gave her a bun with vegetables in it. She was pretty upset about it. This was back in 1998 or 2000, before vegetarian options were as mainstream in the U.S. as they are now.

[pendragon]

“Saved my ass several times.” Not something you often hear about Taco Bell, lol. Interesting video as always, Feli. Your historical analysis is intriguing and probably a lot to it. Fun thing to wake up to!

[SustainableSierra]

We visited Germany this past December and I was blown away by the amount of vegan options now versus when we visited 10 years ago. There was even vegan gingerbread in Nuremberg. 🥰

[pizzaisdavid]

I am a US citizen living in Germany

My personal reasons for eating less meat is:

1. Cost (there are cheaper protein sources.)
2. Feeling bad for animals
3. Health in regards to red and processed meat, etc.
4. Meat spoils, a couple of times I was in a rush and bought meat from the store and when I got home it was already in bad condition; which is my fault for not checking or not knowing how to check, but it is something that pushes me away from buying meat.

[christineroth]

What I love most about the change in meat consumption is that you don't get asked about it all the time. Used to be you ordered a vegetarian dish at a restaurant and immediately someone would ask if you don't eat meat ("No sausage either? No ") . Now it's just normal.

[OUBobcat]

I moved from the US to Germany a little over 1.5 years ago, and I definitely eat way less meat here in Germany than in the US. The plant-based alternatives are much more affordable in Germany, so I'm more inclined to try something new.

[DreamingRealist]

I call myself a Flexitarian as well. (I´m German). In the past years I reduced my meat consumption even more to 1-2 times a week, if at all. Sometimes I go meatless for weeks. However, it´s not about replacement products. I never ate them because the ingredients sound gross to me (same goes for processed meat). They´re just replaced by more veggies, eggs, etc. Also, and this is a huge reason for a lot of Germans as well: the sky rocketing prices for meat. It´s often not told but a lot of people just can´t afford meat no more - even though I think that´s the actual goal.

[paulharrison]

For 20 years my family and myself in the UK have had a reduced meat diet. My wife's recipes are either vegetarian or with 50% of the protein being beans or other vegetables. I believe that this is the healthiest diet because it does not bring the health risks of lots of meat, but still provides the benefit of meat giving me a more varied diet.

[TheClassyComic]

As a French person living in the USA, there are not many places here in Texas to eat vegetarian. When I lived in Baltimore, it was much easier to eat vegan. Now, I've grown to love poultry and raise my own chickens for fun and profit. It also reminds me of the Norman dishes my mum makes. Thank you for this video, Feli! ❤

[maryanne]

I love you videos! They are fun, informative and you are very relatable as a fellow german, loving to see the similarities and differences. Thank you :)

[huhner_suppe]

going to germany as a person who doesn't like beer and not a big sausage fan i was very worried, beer ist popular yes, but i was thankful i wasn't too much of an outcast 😆

[Aspen]

I grew up in a family of ranchers. We always had meat growing up. We were also a hunting family

These days, I hunt. One elk will provide most of our red meat needs for my family for the year. It’s lean and healthy, not farmed, and it means my kids have an appreciation of where meat actually comes from (as in not from a grocery store wrapped in plastic). I think too many Americans don’t think about it and as a society we’ve gone too far from living on farms to remember where food actually comes from. That includes vegetables, fruits, and breads that people take for granted.

Hell, I have never had a sweet tooth. I’d rather chew on jerky than a candy bar any day. I’m not a big fan of desserts either. We also eat a lot of vegetables and breads. Fruit is the one we admittedly struggle to include in our diet.

I think people should just eat whatever they want and I don’t judge other people’s diets. Life is too short to be judgmental against what other people do. And there are too many specialty diets to keep track of.

You are right that dishes here in the US seem incomplete without a meat serving. Seems like most meatless dishes feel more like a plate full of sides, or like a sandwich missing any stuff in the middle.

[grayerthangreen]

Ah Feli, I am so jealous and must visit Germany! I was so delighted to learn that you were veg after watching many of your wonderfully enlightening videos. I love that you will talk about EVERYTHING!

[vomm]

Even though, in my opinion, meat consumption in Germany is still very high, especially in the countryside, it's crazy how much has changed in the last decade. 12 years ago, there was at most, if at all, tofu and soy milk in some supermarkets. Vegan substitute products like vegan yogurt were only available in health food stores. Organic markets were hardly widespread, but they also had one or two vegan things, but not much. Nowadays, every supermarket and discount store has a very large selection. The mindset has also changed a lot. In the past, vegans were laughed at, antagonized, discriminated against, and verbally attacked (even though it was always made out as if the vegans were the intrusive ones, which was almost never true), both in real life and especially in comments on the internet. Nowadays, being vegan is completely normal for most people and no longer something that triggers meat eaters at most. While there are still many prejudices and strange views, things have definitely changed quite a bit in such a short time.

[jedendwatrzy]

When I was a 17-year old exchange student in Krefeld, Germany in 1981, I stayed with a relatively wealthy family who always had a delicious spread of bread, rolls and fruit for breakfast. The maid went to the local bakery every other day and got fresh baked goods. I don’t recall ever having meat for breakfast. I’d love to see a Breakfast video from you.

[lorrefl]

I'm from Belgium and 51, when I became a vegetarian in 1988 I had to go to a health food store in my town to get meat substitutes and the selection was small compared to what you find nowadays in any supermarket. Not only is there a whole section of vegetarian and vegan options for you to cook, but there's also a big fresh and frozen selection of ready made stuff.
In the early days when I was vegetarian the only option in a fastfood restaurant where fries and a salad. Now you have several vegetarian options in Belgian fastfood chains, and also in the local "frietshop" (fries shop).
I can definitely see the shift. Back when I started people looked at me like I was some weirdo when I said I was vegetarian. I remember a birthday dinner for my grandma when I was 18-ish and my grandma asked the restaurant in advance for a vegetarian option and they thought fish was a vegetarian option. In the end all I got was an omelet with tomatoes while the others ate several courses. Now when you say you are vegetarian no one blinks an eye and restaurants have several vegetarian options, some even vegan.

[dieWeltkarte]

The rise of plant-based meats is very exciting to me as a lifelong vegetarian. I would love to try plant-based versions of the German and American classics. Hope they become cheaper everywhere