Ok, slightly controversial title. I don't want to wind anyone up or cause offence, I'm just going to write what I think.
January marks the start of Veganuary - an initiative to encourage people to try a vegan diet for a month and see how awesome they feel. 2018 sees the biggest uptake so far, with thousands of people wanting to give it a try. This is great! There are so many reasons to eat a plant-based diet which I don't need to talk about here. But how many of these New Year's vegans will continue to be vegan after January? And how many will last the month? And does it really matter?
I watched a very interesting video today, Sarah Richard tries to live an entire week without plastic. Watch her story here
With all the plastic packaging around, even eating is incredibly difficult. Sarah's lesson from this is that it just isn't practical to live without plastic all the time, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to reduce what we use. (Refuse the plastic straw people, please! Can't live without straws? Suck on these reusable beauties instead.)
I read a book by Glenn Livingston where he points out that, just as you wouldn't smash out all your teeth if one tooth needs pulling, just because you slip up with your decision (this was about dieting to lose weight) doesn't mean you haven't achieved and succeeded to come degree. If you can't manage being vegan all the time then most of the time is still better than none of the time.
'Flexitarian' - what a ridiculous word! Or what about 'vegivore'?! These terms are both supposed to be applied to vegetarians that sometimes eat meat. What if we just didn't put labels on people? 'Hi, I'm Hannah and I'm a person that eats food.' 'Oh hi Hannah, I'm a person that eats food too.'
Don't misunderstand me. I think everyone should consume fewer animal products for the sake of the environment etc. etc. However, I would much rather someone had a meat-free day once a week than didn't do anything at all. Environmental issues are all of our problem, if we all make small changes and talk openly and positively about what we can do then we will move forward together.
January marks the start of Veganuary - an initiative to encourage people to try a vegan diet for a month and see how awesome they feel. 2018 sees the biggest uptake so far, with thousands of people wanting to give it a try. This is great! There are so many reasons to eat a plant-based diet which I don't need to talk about here. But how many of these New Year's vegans will continue to be vegan after January? And how many will last the month? And does it really matter?
I watched a very interesting video today, Sarah Richard tries to live an entire week without plastic. Watch her story here
With all the plastic packaging around, even eating is incredibly difficult. Sarah's lesson from this is that it just isn't practical to live without plastic all the time, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to reduce what we use. (Refuse the plastic straw people, please! Can't live without straws? Suck on these reusable beauties instead.)
I read a book by Glenn Livingston where he points out that, just as you wouldn't smash out all your teeth if one tooth needs pulling, just because you slip up with your decision (this was about dieting to lose weight) doesn't mean you haven't achieved and succeeded to come degree. If you can't manage being vegan all the time then most of the time is still better than none of the time.
'Flexitarian' - what a ridiculous word! Or what about 'vegivore'?! These terms are both supposed to be applied to vegetarians that sometimes eat meat. What if we just didn't put labels on people? 'Hi, I'm Hannah and I'm a person that eats food.' 'Oh hi Hannah, I'm a person that eats food too.'
Don't misunderstand me. I think everyone should consume fewer animal products for the sake of the environment etc. etc. However, I would much rather someone had a meat-free day once a week than didn't do anything at all. Environmental issues are all of our problem, if we all make small changes and talk openly and positively about what we can do then we will move forward together.
Here is some wonderful vegan food to inspire your next meal :)
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