Veganuary going global – helping animals one meal at a time

New Zealanders are encouraged to try eating vegan this January as part of a worldwide movement called Veganuary, says SAFE.

The organisation is urging Kiwis to make their New Year’s resolution count by taking part in a vegan challenge that is better for animals and the environment, and contributes to good health.

Traditionally, the New Year has been the time to implement change. Removing animal products from your diet covers all the bases for ‘doing good’: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution from animal agriculture, looking after your health, and the one that has the most impact: positive change for the animals.

“In a similar way to Movember, Veganuary encourages participants to step out of their comfort zone and try something a little different,” says SAFE’s head of campaigns Mandy Carter. “Many people are shocked when they see cruelty to farmed animals exposed in investigations and wonder how they can help. The number one thing is to cut out, or cut down on eating meat and dairy.”

Interest in plant-based eating has grown worldwide in recent months. New Zealand’s new governor general, Dame Patsy Reddy, is vegan; a ‘best restaurant’ award was won by Smith and Daughters vegan restaurant in Melbourne in September 2016; ‘vegan food’ was one of the top searched terms on the web in New York in 2016, and there has been an explosion of vegan food choices on our shores with supermarkets stocking a wider range of plant-based foods. New Zealand also got its first fully vegetarian fast-food chain, Lord of the Fries, and petrol station Z Energy introduced a permanent vegan pie to their selection.

The groundswell of kinder food choices is backed up by research. Earlier this year, Roy Morgan Research announced that the proportion of Kiwis who say vegetarian food is all, or almost all, they eat has grown since 2011, to 10% of the population.

The United Nations recommends reducing consumption of meat and other animal products in order to help the environment and the World Health Organisation has found that about one-third of cancer cases can be prevented with a healthy plant-based diet, physical activity and a healthy waistline.

Each year in January, global charity Veganuary encourages people to take the challenge to try a vegan lifestyle, providing support and guidance throughout the month and beyond. SAFE is providing a New Zealand version of the challenge, which is an email series full of hints and tips for beginners, and delicious vegan recipes such as peanut butter ice cream cake, sticky date pudding, cashew-stuffed baby eggplant, pumpkin-sage risotto and mushroom and basil lasagne.

The challenge was developed alongside SAFE’s FREE 100% Vegetarian guide. The guide and emails are specific to New Zealand and help and encourage those wanting to remove animal products from their diet.

New Zealanders are encouraged to join other compassionate eaters, take SAFE’s six-week challenge and visit
http://dev.safe.org.nz/pledgeveg to register.