More meatless fast-food

A few weeks ago, we wrote about Zen Burger, a meatless fast-food chain in New York that serves up vegetarian burgers. One of our Springspotters pointed out Yellow Sunshine, which has been operating in Berlin for a few years. Like Zen Burger, Yellow Sunshine’s menu only features vegetarian and vegan food, from vegan muffins to the “Miss Piggy Burger”—faux pork chops on a bun. In Boulder, Colorado, V.G. Burgers has been selling organic fast-food since 2006. V.G. is strictly vegan: no animal-derived products of any kind are used in their burgers, sides or shakes. Their ‘green’ ethics extend beyond their food offerings, too. The restaurant runs on wind power, and all containers are plant-based and biodegradable: cups, straws and salad containers are made from corn, the cutlery from potato starch, and the soup and burger containers from sugar pulp. As more consumers begin to grasp the environmental impact of eating meat and move towards a (semi) vegetarian diet, opportunities will no doubt expand for entrepreneurs who can serve up guilty pleasures that aren’t quite as guilty. Spotted by: Martina Meng and James Clark