Molly Engelhardt’s restaurants have long been vegan staples in Los Angeles, but she recently A controversial decision The move to add meat and dairy to the menu has sparked anger and confusion.
Now Engelhardt is speaking out about the move and why it changed her opinion on veganism.
Sage Plant-Based Bistro Sage changed its name to Sage Regenerative Kitchen & Brewery last month after Engelhardt announced the change on social media, sparking strong backlash. As of May 29, Sage has been serving animal products, including beef, bison, cheese and eggs.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Engelhardt explained that his thoughts on veganism have changed since he opened his first restaurant in 2011. Previously, Engelhardt said he thought veganism was best for the environment and the planet, but after years of research, he now believes that a diet that includes dairy and meat can actually be good for the environment if consumed responsibly.
“There’s a lot of misinformation about the environment and we get in silos and say, ‘I’m a conservative, I hate the environment,’ or ‘I’m a liberal, I love the environment,’ and I don’t think either of those are true,” she said. “Everybody needs healthy soil. Forget carbon, credits, windmills, solar panels and Teslas.”
Earth Day Instagram message, Engelhardt explained that the restaurant’s menu will shift its focus to foods grown using regenerative farming methods, an agricultural approach that prioritizes soil health, biodiversity and natural processes. American Regenerative Agriculture Association.
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“We all want to eat healthy food that’s free of chemicals and comes from healthy soil. It’s a very basic desire,” she added.
Engelhardt says she was raised by “hippie” parents and fed a vegetarian, mostly vegan, diet — her father was the founder of Café Gratitude and Gracias Madre, which, along with Sage, are two of the largest vegan restaurants in the Los Angeles area.
“We all went into this with pure hearts, thinking it was for the health of humanity and what was best for everyone,” she said.
Molly Engelhardt (Molly Engelhardt)
Then, over time, she and her father both started farming and came to different conclusions about what was best for both the environment and human health.
“I was vegan and I literally had a farm in California,” she says. “I thought cow farts were the problem, but then I realized food waste was a big problem, rotting in landfills.”
Engelhardt said she had a “dream” of having a conservation farm where animals never died, but quickly realized that wasn’t possible.
“I had this right idea that doing less harm was better, but my food was just as harmful,” she says, noting that she quickly realized even the foods she considered “vegan” were fertilized or produced with animal products.
She said she expected backlash when she decided to drop all-vegan options from her restaurants, but stayed true to the brand’s mission.
“I’ve always been really into clean food,” she says. “I don’t serve Impossible Burgers, I don’t serve fake meat, I don’t believe in processed foods. So for me, it’s always been about whole foods. So now I’m incorporating whole foods like eggs and meat.”
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“I’m going to continue to not eat processed foods, I’m going to continue to not eat chemicals, so I’m going to stay pretty true to my beliefs and my identity,” she added, “I’m just doing it from a different angle, and that’s what’s upsetting people.”
Engelhardt said the “degenerate” farming system that currently dominates the agriculture industry involves too much chemical use, plowing and plowing.
Regenerative agriculture aims to have no or little tillage, which causes less soil destruction, greater integration with animals such as grazing between crop plantings, increased biodiversity through planting a variety of crops and reduced chemical use overall, she said.
Sage Regenerative Kitchen & Brewery (Molly Engelhardt)
“It’s an incredible tool. Everybody’s using fear mongering to sell us solar panels and windmills, but there are incredible solutions for human health, soil health, planetary health and the microbes in our gut,” she said.
Engelhardt acknowledged that the environment is a divisive topic, but he believes the discussion should be about clean water, soil and air, not “the arcane threat that we’re all going to burn in hell and be a plague on the earth.”
“I believe that eating foods that come from regenerative agriculture and regenerative farming systems, including those that involve animals, is the most important thing we can do for our own health and the health of the environment,” she added.
Engelhardt explored the “two sides” of the vegan community: one that is serious about health and the environment, and one that is active on behalf of animals.
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“Anyone who cares about their health and the environment would probably be happy to come and eat at my restaurant,” she said. “Someone who says, ‘If you knowingly and deliberately kill an animal, you’re a murderer’… there’s no logical conversation we can have.”
Venison Patty Melt (Taylor Bescoby)
Engelhardt said she hopes vegan restaurants and vegan food will continue to exist.
“If you agree with me 80 percent or 70 percent, I’m fine with that and I want you to have a different opinion than me,” she said, “not just in the vegan community, but in America as a whole.” [community]We live in a world of cancel culture where we think everyone has to agree with us all the time.”
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Fox News’ Nick Lanham contributed to this report.
