ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how and why the discourses surrounding vegan foods and vegan diets—in Australia and globally—have shifted so significantly. Numerous prominent and successful athletes have been vocal proponents of veganism, and have asserted the significant contributions of their vegan diets to their athletic successes. The chapter argues that entertainment has played a particularly important role in the changing public perceptions of veganism, and has thus helped to catalyse growth of the culinary culture, and to foster a heightened awareness of the broader impacts and implications of dietary choices. Veganism is not simply a matter of men eating fruits and vegetables, it is a challenge to one of the central practices and representational apparata through which dominant masculinity is practised and understood. Roll avoids easy containments of vegan masculinity through discourses such as nutrition: the powerful male vegans he interviews—and he himself—attribute their veganism variously to compassion for animals, environmentalism and spirituality, as well as to scientifically validated physical performance.
