Tuesday 26-01-2021 - 10:53

This year as an Officer team we took part in Veganuary in our own way. Read on to find out what we pledged, how we raised awareness during the month, and what our reflections on the experience are now that the month is drawing to an end.

You might be asking what is Veganuary? Don’t worry we’ve got you covered!

Veganuary is a term coined by a UK non-profit organisation of the same name in 2014. Their goal is to encourage people to try a vegan diet for the month of January – and beyond. It continues to grow year on year with 400,000 people taking part in 2020.

What were our Officer pledges?

• Charlotte pledged to cut out all cheese and milk for the month, and to only buy locally sourced meat
• As Molly already follows a vegan diet, she pledged to look into how to make it more environmentally sustainable
• As Lucy has been a vegetarian for a number of years, she pledged to follow a vegan diet for the month

These pledges were posted on Lucy’s Facebook feed to introduce everyone to the campaign and to hold us accountable to them.

How did we raise awareness?

In addition to these pledges, we also wanted to open the discussion and raise awareness of vegan diets. In week two Charlotte inspired us with delicious snacks you can eat and still be vegan, including Oreos, Bournville fingers, and Linda McCartney’s pulled pork burger! In the same post she also included some vegan restaurants in the local area! Check out the post here.

In week three, Molly continued the discussion and posted some of her favourite local shops such as “Another Weigh” in Kendal and Penrith, a zero-waste shop, and “Granny Smith’s” in Ambleside, a local greengrocer. In the same post, Molly also included some of her favourite online vegan resources she uses regularly, super helpful for anyone new to the diet! Read the post here.

Officer reflections

So what did we learn from this experience?

• Charlotte likes the idea of reducing meat consumption and will be continuing with this mindset going forward. However, she found that going vegan is more difficult than expected when eating out. This is because of the lack of variety in vegan fast food currently (supermarket meal deals etc.)
• Molly found it interesting to learn more about the process food goes through and how far items travel to get to UK shops, and will be continuing to make a conscious effort to be more environmentally friendly.
• Lucy found it easier than expected when planning meals and was pleasantly surprised to find that some of her regular meals were already vegan! She also enjoyed the opportunity to try new recipes throughout the month. Going forward, she will be having some vegan meals and some vegetarian meals every week as this is more sustainable long term for her.

Final thoughts

At the end of the day, we feel that any small step you take towards creating a more compassionate world is a step in the right direction. Even if this is going vegan for one day a week, taking reusable cutlery with you when eating out, or only buying locally sourced produce. Focus on one small step, build it into a habit, and continue taking steps at a pace that suits you. If everyone does this these small steps will make a huge difference to our planet!

*Image was taken during August in between lockdowns – all Covid guidelines in place at the time were followed.