5 things I learned from my vegan month 🌿
The vegan food business is booming, we are seeing more and more vegan products ranges in the supermarket and plenty of vegan claims on pack. In 2018, one in every six food products launched in the UK was vegan. This year, we’re seeing McDonald’s slowly rolling out the McVegan burger and KFC have even trialled a plant-based restaurant in Atlanta.
Most recent reliable data sources suggest that less than 1% of the UK population actually follows a vegan diet, but vegan products are attracting a much wider audience.
I hate to identify as “flexitarian”, but along with 14% of the UK population, I do fit the definition; I follow a mostly vegetarian diet with the occasional inclusion of meat when eating out.
There are many reasons for people to adopt elements of a vegan diet and lifestyle, most notably to prevent animal exploitation, to reduce their carbon footprint and for the various health benefits such as lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. Once upon a time, only those with the most extreme values would actually adapt their behaviour for these benefits, today it’s something many of us are aware of and willing to try, even just for a month.
Each January, thousands of people sign up for Veganuary (over 250,000 worldwide in 2019), I decided to go vegan for a month in August. Here’s what I learned:
1. Committing to veganism means committing to research.
At home, sticking to a vegan diet was fairly easy. Planning vegan meals was fun, most of the meals in our repertoire were already vegan or easy to make vegan with a few switches.
Following social media accounts like Accidentally Vegan also added to the excitement, I was amazed by how many biscuits were vegan; Party Rings, Bourbon biscuits, Ginger Nuts - but not one of them called out vegan on pack. Once I discovered I could eat my favourite biscuits, I soon realised a vegan diet isn’t always a healthy diet.
One key source for vegan research was barnivore.com, an online vegan alcohol directory. There was no clarity on the bottle for any beer or wine I came across, so I had to check every drink.
More than anything, veganism is time-consuming. Committing to a vegan lifestyle means committing to checking the back of every pack or looking up every product online. If veganism does become more mainstream, the brands that win are going to be those that call it out clearly without fear of alienating non-vegans.
2. Eating out as a vegan was not as hard as I expected.
Whenever friends and I discuss “reasons I can’t be vegan”, eating out comes up a lot.
Working mostly in London, I wasn’t concerned about eating out, I ventured to new and varied places every day (including Greggs for their famous vegan sausage roll).
I was a little more concerned eating out in my hometown, Mansfield, and the local pub in my friend’s village. I’m ashamed to say, I was expecting to be limited to a bowl of chips, so I was surprised to see vegan menus with really great, tasty options.
There may still be some far reaching places without these kinds of options, but this excuse really doesn’t cut it in 2019. You can pretty easily be vegan and eat out.
3. Milk substitutes don’t taste the same, but I CAN cope.
Being a tea drinker is an intrinsic part of my identity and I like my tea one way, a tiny bit of milk and no sugar. I’m not alone as 98% of British tea-drinkers take their tea with milk, and only 30% take sugar. As I’ve always had my tea this way, it’s hard to get used to a different taste.
Switching out the milk in my tea was one thing I was not looking forward to…and it was tough...for about a day.
Having tried the vast array of milk alternatives on offer, I decided oat milk was the next best thing. The first cup wasn’t as bad as expected but I didn’t get the same enjoyment I usually would, so I ended up drinking more herbal tea and only one cup of English Breakfast to start each day. The first 2 days I had a terrible headache from caffeine withdrawal (that’s how much tea I had been drinking), but after that it was smooth sailing.
A happy side effect of my vegan month was reducing my caffeine intake, so I decided to keep up this part of the challenge, I haven’t eliminated milk in my tea but I have cut down to
2 cups a day, a huge decrease for me!
4. Eating at other people’s houses is tricky.
Now is the time I have to admit defeat. I failed my vegan challenge, and the cause of my failure was politeness.
Ordinarily, when I go to people’s houses for dinner, I only have one, slightly strange, dietary requirement to declare. No dried fruit, please.
My family and friends know I’m not vegan, so in August I had to explain, “I’m vegan...this month…and remember no dried fruit”. Being a people pleaser, I feel like I’m being a little annoying and putting people out. Most of them understood and easily accommodated my request.
My Dad however, is not most people. “Shall I make us some lunch?” he asks, and starts to list several options, none of which were vegan.
I remind him that I’m not eating any animal products, and Dad mulls it over, “No meat, no egg, no cheese…how about a fish finger sandwich?”
I didn’t want to put my lovely Dad out any further, so I ate a fish finger sandwich, made with love and covered in tomato ketchup and shame.
This story serves as a friendly reminder that the shopper isn't always the consumer, and clearly calling out vegan products in store can help those shoppers who aren't used to checking the back of back and need to feed vegan guests.
5. Being more mindful of what you eat has a positive mental health benefit.
Fish finger sandwich aside, I was happy with my attempt at a vegan month.
It was nowhere near as hard as I had expected and it brought a new enthusiasm into choosing what to eat and drink. The biggest learning was that following a vegan diet was in a way, practicing mindfulness.
I couldn’t mindlessly dig in when someone brought cake into work or when a box of chocolates was passed around. I had to check the ingredients list doing my online shop and check the back of pack in store. I got a lot of value out of this pause, and it took a few days before I dropped the habit.
Did I decide full-time veganism is for me? No, honestly, I’m not quite there yet, but trying it for a month was a really eye-opening experience and I discovered some big changes I could easily make to my diet and lifestyle in order to reduce my carbon footprint. I consider the vegan options first when I eat out, I have less animal products at home and although I don’t think I will ever accept the taste of non-dairy milk in my tea, I just stick to a maximum of 2 cups a day.
Perhaps we can’t all be like the altruistic 1% (I tip my hat at you all) - but we can definitely all learn a little from them to take a step in the right direction and help our planet.
Stepping into the shoes of your consumer is a great way to understand their needs, get in touch to find out how I can help you find the right pair of shoes!
October 2019