Veganuary

Now… Before I start going into this, please don’t think I’m anti vegan. I’m anti the decision to participate in Veganuary - and this is purely a topic that I, someone in the British agricultural industry, feel strongly about.

So where to start. I guess a few statistics and facts. Veganuary - a challenge run by a non profit organisation to get people to go meat free for a month. The campaign estimates that over 400,000 people sign up for this every year which works out at the carbon dioxide equivalent of 450,000 flights - we’ll come back to this. 

So, it’s estimated that 46% of the sign ups do it for health reasons, 34% choose to do it for animal cruelty and 12% do it for climate reasons. Let’s start off with the minority… these 12% of people who truly believe that being a vegan in January is a good idea. When British vegetable farming is at its most dormant with the majority of available vegetables being roots, such as carrots, parsnips, beetroot etc. To be honest, I couldn’t live off root vegetables alone, for a month. So where are these environmentally concerned 12% getting their food from?! Oh yes, overseas! Please, if you are concerned about the environment and feel like trying veganism to help, do it in the summer months when British fruit and vegetable farming is at its strongest and support British faming as well as actually decreasing your carbon footprint. 

Next, the 34% who choose to do it for animal cruelty. If you’re going vegan for a month then you’re either vegetarian going the extra mile (read my point above and try it in the summer months), or if you are a meat eater but feel that you would like to decrease the amount of meat you eat because you struggle with the concept of farming animals for consumption then I cannot implore you enough to look at the options of purchasing and cooking more cleverly. By all means try veganism in our British summer months, but also think about eating meat grown by smaller farms who have incredibly high animal welfare or also think about meats such as venison, pigeon and rabbit etc that needs to be managed and culled to ensure a healthy biodiversity and are not farmed in any way. You will be able to find these kind of meats available from your local butcher or farm shop. 

Now, onto the 46% for health reasons. This probably worries me the most. Health professionals are starting to come forward to say that they are seeing a big rise in the correlation between vegan diets and lack of protein, vitamin B12, omega 3, iron etc. The lack of these can cause issues such as depression, disruptions in hormone production, anaemia as well as small changes that people might not notice straight away such as tiredness… I’m not saying eat a totally meat diet, it’s like my food tech teacher at school used to say - “Nothing is bad for you, you just need to have everything in moderation.” If you are looking for a change in diet for health reasons, I really suggest you speak to your GP or nutritionist about what you’re looking to improve health wise and they can, I’m sure, suggest the best vegetables, seeds, nuts and meats to eat as part of a balanced, healthy diet. But also think about buying British and helping those 12% fight for the environment. 

Now, I come back to my first point. Where this non profit organisation THEMSELVES have estimated that they have cut down the carbon dioxide equivalent of 450,000 flights. I’m not entirely sure how they have worked out this statistic as there doesn’t seem to be any evidence for this equation. But what has been proven is that people who have turned to a vegan diet for this month of January do not tend to cook meals from scratch and end up eating processed and packaged vegan food that not only is low in nutrients and vitamins which has been leading to illness, but also has packaging consequences as well and higher air miles…! 

I know this does not speak for everyone, but I feel I have covered most bases now and my end result has been consistent throughout. 

Don’t eat vegan for January - eat clever forever. 

#eatcleverforever #veganuary #sustainablefarmijg #supportbritishagriculture