This is just the veganning
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| Bizarrocompic.blogspot.com |
And, when we talk about veganism, many people hear the word “diet” as part of the overall conversation. I was guilty of this when I heard about Veganuary. Veganuary was foreign to me let alone hard to spell. I knew WHAT vegan was although I was raised in a barn. But what is Veganuary exactly? Why is it gaining so much momentum?
Introduced in the UK in 2014, Veganuary (pronounced vee-GAN-uary) is a charity that encourages people to try vegan for the whole month of January. Why? Veganism is one of the most effective choices a person can make to reduce the suffering of animals, help the planet and improve personal health.
Veganuary wants to change public attitudes while providing all the information and practical support required to make the transition to veganism as easy and enjoyable as possible.
Veganuary released statistics which show that if 350,000 people worldwide go vegan for just 31 days in January 2020, it will save the carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent of 450,000 flights, 2.5M liters of water which is enough to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool, and more than one million animals.
Well, guess what? Over 400,000 people officially signed up to follow a vegan diet last month, far exceeding the 250,000 who participated a year earlier.
To make Veganuary easier, a plethora of new plant-based foods and menu items were also launched to coincide with the month-long event, including the first vegan offerings from fast-food giants KFC, McDonald's, and Burger King. KFC said it sold one million vegan burgers last month, equivalent to one every three seconds. Similarly, Pizza Hut said the number of customers ordering its vegan pizzas doubled last month and as such the chain now plans to make its plant-based 'Pepperphoni' a permanent fixture on its menu. Sandwich chain Subway said sales of its 'Meatless Meatball Marinara' had been "phenomenal".
Retailers also saw interest in vegan products soar. Sales of Hellman's 'Vegan Mayo' reportedly grew nearly 400 percent in January, while Marks & Spencer reported sales of its 'Plant Kitchen No Chicken Kiev' at a rate of four every minute.
Fast food ain’t cutting it for ya? You can search HappyCow online or on their app for vegan, vegetarian, and veg-options around the world. Handy indeed if you don’t know what’s in your general area.
With the link between animal farming and the climate crisis making headlines nearly every day, expect Veganuary 2021 to be the biggest yet in making an enormous difference for animals and the planet. And, if you’re uncomfortable with animal farming, but are unwilling to adopt the vegan lifestyle, you don’t need to stop eating meat. You just need to eat better meat.
Most will tend to agree with the reasons for being vegan but object to the price, taste, and convenience of the alternatives. As these alternatives get cheaper, better and more widespread, meat-eaters, like myself, will have to ask just how good the alternatives need to be before we decide to consume in line with their values. Being one of the last people to pay for the suffering of animals because the alternative was only "pretty good" will not be a good look in the near future.
I understand the arguments for veganism, but many of the vegan alternatives are as, if not more unhealthy for you. With the amount of clean usable water decreasing and less available land, I do not think the world can sustain our meat consumption.
ReplyDeleteVeganuary + Dry January = the healthiest start to the new year! I think they’d pair really well together and would lessen the strain on the environment. Every little bit helps!
ReplyDeleteI recently have changed the way I buy my meat products and agree with what you wrote, " if you’re uncomfortable with animal farming, but are unwilling to adopt the vegan lifestyle, you don’t need to stop eating meat. You just need to eat better meat."
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