Upscale Veggie Burgers: On Trend for Meatless Monday

When Adam Platt, restaurant critic of New York magazine, recently dubbed chefs “philosopher kings,”  he was referring to the industry’s power to propel forward the most cutting-edge, socially engaged “ideas of our times” through the vehicle of food. Specifically, he was referring to the recent catapult to star status of the formerly humble “veggie burger,” a trend that’s been equally driven by customers concerned about their health as well as the environmental impacts of eating meat.

Trend-setting chefs, not only feature veggie burgers, but imaginatively 'curate' their ingredients—everything from fillings to sauces, toppings and sides.

This move toward veggie burgers neatly dovetails with the agenda of Meatless Monday, a nonprofit public health initiative created in 2003 by former ad exec Sid Lerner in cooperation with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The simple principle—choosing to forgo meat one day a week— is a tactic that may reduce…