People Outraged Over Vegan Sausages Being Sold At Bunnings!

There are some things so dear to an Aussie’s heart that it would be a national disgrace to change them or mock them in any way.

For example we do not take kindly to anyone who speaks ill about our “Kyles” or “Livie” and don’t even try to tell us how bad vegemite tastes.

Like the good old Bunning’s Sausage Sizzle for example. We all know that a visit to the megastore would be incomplete without stopping off first to pick up a sausage in bread (with or without onions) and a good squirt of tomato sauce. Each week a different organisation cooks up a storm and entices passerby’s with that unmistakable smell of greasy fat burning on the barbie.

So imagine people’s surprise a few weeks ago when they rocked up to their local Bunnings in Melbourne’s Mentone only to be met with vegan sausages. Disappointed dads, DIY-ers and mums with kids in tow kicked up a Mother’s Day fuss when they discovered their sausages were meat-free!

The crew behind it was the Cheltenham Cat Rescue group who said many customers kicked up a huge fuss although 550 people bought the alternative sausage and loved it.

“I think maybe some people were disappointed to come to Bunnings ready to buy a sausage and it’s not the traditional fare – some people were a bit angry, we had the odd Oscar winning performance but most people asked questions and many gave them a try,” group founder Natasha Reus said.

The BBQ was their third at Bunnings but this time the vegan sausages caused such a commotion that shoppers complained to talk back radio.

“One woman in particular was very upset and very rude. I think she complained to Bunnings,” Ms Reus said.

“We were a little shocked, considering it’s probably one of the most male dominated destinations in the country,” customer Olivia told 3AW. “We were like … thank you, but no thank you.”

The Cheltenham Cat Rescue raised $1,200 to help pay vets fees and also to kickstart a multilingual awareness campaign about desexing cats.

“I think we challenged people’s ingrained habits and thought processes,” Ms Reus said. “We explained we were an animal rescue group so couldn’t sell animals to eat and so people had to think about that.”

So here’s my question to you? Is it really so bad to have a vegan alternative? Is the taste going to be so different?

I for one have tried a meat free sausage and loved it. So much so in fact that I often by them to have at home. Sometimes I think the flavour from a sausage sizzle comes from the caramelised onions and the slathering of BBQ and Tomato Sauce we put on top.

So maybe trying something new isn’t so bad? After all judging from the table above, a local snag from the supermarket doesn’t even contain that much meat anyway!!

What do you think?