WITH the arrival of January comes lists of new year’s resolutions, but ‘Veganuary’ is the latest to lead the way in the UK — and a group of vegans from Bude have come forward to highlight the benefits of the diet.

Over the last few years, veganism has become more present in the modern lifestyle, with more and more people cutting animal products from their diets completely, or becoming vegetarians, which involves cutting meat products from their diets. This follows an argument suggesting that a plant-based lifestyle is beneficial to our health and the environment, while also avoiding the killing and potential suffering of animals.

‘Veganuary’ is a UK non-profit charity, founded by Yorkshire-based Matthew Glover and Jane Land, which challenges people to eat a plant-based diet for a month, which people can take up any month of the year, but normally takes place in January. Veganuary was established in 2013, but became a registered charity in 2016, aiming to inspire people to go vegan for a month and spread awareness of the benefits of a vegan diet.

Veganuary believes ‘one of the most effective choices a person can make to reduce the suffering of animals, help the planet and improve personal health’ is to adopt a vegan diet. The charity works to change public attitudes, while providing information and practical support to make the transition to veganism. Veganuary also support brands, manufacturers and retailers to expand their plant-based options and reach new audiences.

Veganuary claims that the average diet before starting Veganuary is made up of 47% omnivore, 22% vegetarian, 17% vegan and 14% pescetarian. It was also found that 14% of participants are male, while 84% are female with 1% covering gender non-conforming individuals. Since the challenge first started in 2014, with just 3,300 participants, the year 2018 found that 168,500 people took on the Veganuary challenge. It is expected that over 300,000 people from across the world will take part in the 2019 campaign.

A spokesperson from Veganuary said: “I can tell you over 190,000 people have now pledged to try Veganuary, with one signing up every 3.5 seconds.

“Cornwall and Devon are very vegan-friendly locations with lots of great independent health stores. There are also more vegan ranges being added by the day in major supermarkets, which makes trying vegan food more accessible and convenient than ever before in the South West.”

In Bude, it seems that veganism is now a common occurrence. With plenty of vegan options offered at restaurants Temple and the Bank at Bude, vegan residents also saw the introduction of vegan options at local fish and chip shop, Sizzlers.

Vegan community groups in and around Bude have also formed to spread the word about veganism, or share what they do on a daily basis to follow a vegan lifestyle.

Bude and Beyond writer Dawn Robinson Walsh has taken on the Veganuary challenge this month and has written about the challenge each day on her blog.

Genevieve Pearson made the transition from vegetarian to vegan five years ago when she fell pregnant, and believes a vegan diet is highly beneficial for general health. She said: “I’ve been vegan since I fell pregnant, so five years now. I was vegetarian since I was four and I’m now 41.

“The health benefits for me were amazing. As a vegetarian I didn’t eat eggs or drink milk, so I only really gave up cheese and chocolate and eggs in things like cake.”

She believes that the public need to be steered away from processed alternatives to meat products in a vegan diet, with a need to promote the importance of including vegetables and pulses instead. “I think it’s easy to fall into buying processed foods for vegan and veggie diets, whereas I think education around vegetables and pulses is key. We don’t need meat replacements — a curry with kidney beans, chickpeas and vegetables is as tasty as with added meat or fish.”

She also made the decision to bring her son up as a vegan. However, she added: “My husband is a hunter, so we have a complete opposite in our household. It works.”

Errin Netley runs the ‘Bude Anonymous for the Voiceless Cube of Truth’ group, which has been up and running since August 2018.

Anonymous for the Voiceless is a worldwide organisation, which started in Sydney, Australia, in 2016 and is growing rapidly with 1,000 chapters in 900 cities across the globe. It is a peaceful, static demonstration akin to a street art performance.

The organisation’s demonstrations involve a group standing in the ‘cube’ wearing masks and holding laptops showing UK-based farming practices and signs saying ‘TRUTH’. Outreachers stand outside the cube to engage with any bystanders who are interested and do not approach people unless they show interest in the footage. Everyone in the groups are vegan or are transitioning to vegan.

Errin said: “The reason that we run the AV group is to spread awareness about animal exploitation and promote a vegan message. We see each animal as they are, an individual with their own thoughts, feelings and desires. We recognise that they are no different to the cats and dogs that we love in our homes and that become part of our families. We know that all animals develop bonds of family and friendship, they nurture their young, they feel love, pain, fear, joy, sadness and loneliness.”

She continued: “Although we primarily focus on the ethical side of veganism, there are many other positive points to be made about the lifestyle. A vegan diet has many health benefits and some of the top cardiology hospitals in the world are now fully vegan and promote a vegan diet. A plant-based diet has been shown to reverse heart disease and type 2 diabetes. There is mounting evidence animals’ products are linked to many of our most prevalent diseases today.

“There is also the environmental impact of a vegan diet to consider. A common misconception is that we will use more land if everyone adopts veganism, but this is not true. Most of the food grown today is fed to livestock, and as they are generally much larger than us they eat much more than we do. A vegan diet uses five times less land than an omnivorous one and 2.5 times less land than a vegetarian.

“Every day each individual following a vegan diet saves over 4,000 litres of water, 20kg of grain, 30 square feet of rainforest, 20lbs of co2 equivalent and the life of one animal. Adopting a vegan diet is the single biggest thing we can do as individuals to reduce our carbon footprint and impact upon the earth — not to mention you will feel lighter, fresher and healthier than ever before!”

Emily Borrows, who has just made the transition to vegan this month, after being vegetarian for 35 years, said: “It is exciting to see so much interest in this way of life, as Jamie’s first vegan programme has proven — but also the growth of accessibility along with the knowledge and concern of where our foods come from.”

Vegan Marian Sedgwick said: “I have been a vegan for 34 years. I am 70 years of age and people say I look younger, asking what my secret is. I firmly believe that it is the non-consumption of animal products.

“I am an advocate for animals, but don’t preach about it. I have lived in farming communities most of my life and wish that animal farming was much less, if at all, but everyone has their own personal opinions.”

Vanessa Lackford, who runs the vegan guesthouse Michael House, in Treknow, believes veganism is the way forward, having been a vegan for nine years. She said: “I have been vegan for over nine years. Prior to that I was a life-vegetarian, for the first 52 years of my life.

“I have experienced health benefits, although I did not become vegan for health related reasons, but purely to stop supporting harming animals. I had severe arthritis in my hip, which had become quite debilitating. When I became vegan the pain left me for several years. I did not connect the two for a while, but then came to learn that dairy can cause or exacerbate inflammation.

“I would absolutely encourage people to give veganism a try, and would hope that many people will stick with it after trying it for a time. I do not describe it as a diet, rather it is a way of life that seeks to minimise harm to others we share the planet with, of all species. It is a philosophy and a movement for social justice.”

Vanessa’s guesthouse has been established for 15 years, having been a vegetarian guesthouse formerly, and has been vegan for the past five years. Visit www.michael-house.co.uk for more information.

Bude lady Kate Orchard is also keen to emphasise the health benefits of eating a vegan diet. She had suffered with bad eczema for some time before she realised dairy may have been the source of her problems. “I went vegan 15 years ago for ethical reasons,” she said. “But a few years later I discovered that my bad eczema would flare up when I ate cheese — it would get really bad. So I cut out cheese and that’s when I went online and looked up the dairy industry. Initially I went vegan because of my health, but after that I went on to research the egg industry, and now I do it for the ethics of the animals, the environment and health.”

The key to eating well as a vegan is a ‘well planned vegan diet’, says Kate: “You should ideally look to eat a wholefood plant-based diet, including wholegrain ingredients such as wholegrain pasta, rice, etc.

“It’s never been easier to be vegan. I never used to eat vegan cheese because it was terrible, but there’s so much option now. One person makes a huge difference, and it’s getting easier and easier to be vegan.”

Kate has also co-founded a new group, North Cornwall Vegans, which will be holding its first vegan fair in Bude on Saturday, August 10 at London House between 11am and 4pm. The event will be a chance to educate local people on veganism and how everyone can collectively start to cut down on their consumption of animal products.

“It’s all about education,” Kate added. “When you’re young, it’s conditioned for you to eat meat — it’s just the normal thing to do from the word go. It’s tradition, but it doesn’t have to continue.”

Would you give ‘Veganuary’ a go, or are you hoping to cut down on meat and dairy products?

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