Over the past five or so years, I’ve watched the vegetarian frozen food section at my supermarket expand from one little freezer door with some Annies meals and Bocca burgers to five or six sections carrying even generic store-brand vegetarian and vegan meals. I don’t often buy prepared food but I like walking by to see what they have. Same with milk options - it went from a shelf with either soy or almond to a full section of different nut milks and flavors.

Some of the wildest changes to me have been at festivals and events. It used to be that you got french fries or onion rings or popcorn and that was about it. Then they started making efforts, as misguided as they could be, like just slapping steamed veggies on a sub roll and calling it done, or serving pasta and plain tomato sauce. Now I go to festivals and there’s usually at least one really good vegetarian option at every stand, if not an entire stand serving just vegan and vegetarian options. I look forward to seeing what unique choices there will be rather than trying to eat ahead of time so I don’t have to worry about it.