The L-Plate Vegan

Since you’re reading this guide, you must be either taking your first faltering steps in veganism, or thinking about it. Good for you!! Your friends and family have probably wasted no time in filling your head with ridiculous horror stories – the extra head you will grow, not to mention the endless mountains of lentils you will have to eat. But you know that this is rubbish, don’t you? Don’t you?! Let me spell it out.

Veganism is…

…good for you. A vegan diet reduces the risk of heart disease, some cancers, strokes, rheumatoid arthritis, kidney stones, high blood pressure, asthma and allergies. It also reduces the chance of you contracting food poisoning to almost zero. And of course you avoid all those chemicals, growth promoters and antibiotics that are pumped through the animals. (Further information in Viva! Guide 7 – Your Health in Your Hands and Guide 2 – Stop Bugging Me.)

…good for the animals. If you’re already a vegetarian you’ve undoubtedly helped reduce animal suffering, but the dairy and egg industries are no picnics for the animals involved. Cows must be repeatedly made pregnant for the production of milk and their offspring either killed at one or two days old or reared for veal, beef or milk. Dairy cows are killed at about five years old for ‘low grade’ products such as burgers, sausages and meat pies. Naturally, they would live until at least 20. Each year some 150,000 cows are still pregnant when killed in the UK. Goats kept for milk are also killed prematurely for goat meat – often by religious slaughter methods for an ethnic trade.  

And as for battery egg production… hens are imprisoned in cages, row upon row. Since only the females lay eggs, 40 million day-old male chicks are killed every year. And the label ‘free range’ is no guarantee that eggs are cruelty-free – large scale commercial production can mean thousands of hens on the floor of a shed never finding their way outdoors. The RSPCA Freedom Food symbol sadly approves factory farms and so is no assurance of hens being genuinely free range. However, eggs marked ‘free range’ and ‘Approved by the Soil Association’ does mean that animal welfare standards are higher than the norm (but the male chicks are still killed). All hens (free range and caged) are killed prematurely – and made into stock cubes, soups, baby food or pies. (Further information in Viva! Guide 11 – Murder, She Wrote.)

…good for the environment. Forests are destroyed to farm cattle, as are British woods and hedgerows, resulting in a loss of habitat for countless species. The soil is poisoned with chemicals to increase crop production that is destined for animal feed. The waterways are polluted with livestock slurry, and cows belching and farting out all that methane contributes to global warming. (Further information in Viva! Guide 9 – Planet on a Plate.)

…good for the planet’s people. 800 million people are hungry and there’s no need! We could easily produce enough food to feed everyone if only we stopped feeding all the crops to the animals. 100kg of plant protein produces only 9kg of beef protein or 31kg of milk protein. Doesn’t it make sense to just eat the plants?! (Further information in Viva! Guide 12 – Feed the World.)

What is a vegan anyway?

So, now you’re convinced that veganism isn’t barmy, you’ll want to know what it involves, won’t you? One thing it doesn’t involve is deprivation or martyrdom – there really is no need to sit around munching your way through a stack of lettuces and feeling sorry for yourself (unless, of course, you like lettuces and feeling sorry for yourself!). Ask any vegan what they eat and they will look at you in astonishment. The foods available are so varied, so tasty and so easy to prepare, it’s a miracle that we do anything other than eat! (Truth be told, some of us don’t!)

Now I’m not saying you won’t miss a few things at first – cheese and chocolate are often the hardest to kiss goodbye, but there are vegan alternatives available, so don’t despair. For delicious vegan recipes, see Viva!’s Guide, Martin Shaw Cooks Veggie (£1.50 inc. p&p from Viva! – call 0117 944 1000 to order, Mon-Fri).

What’s the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan?

Well, a vegetarian simply does not eat any dead animals, or bits of them. So this means no meat, poultry (chicken, turkey etc), fish or other water creatures (such as prawns and crabs), or any by-products of these industries, such as gelatine or animal fats. This means eating only ‘vegetarian’ cheese, as some cheeses are made using rennet (taken from the stomachs of calves – yuk!). Many vegetarians will only eat free-range eggs too, because of the cruelty of the battery system.

A vegan will not eat any of these either, but will also avoid eggs (free-range as well as battery) and dairy produce (products made from cow, goat, sheep or any other animal’s milk). This includes milk, cream, yoghurts, cheese and anything that contains these products or derivatives of them.

Honey is also avoided, because bees are frequently killed during its production. And finally, a vegan will avoid wearing wool, leather and silk, and using cosmetics or toiletries that contain animal substances. In fact, a vegan won’t eat or wear or use anything that comes from any animal, dead or alive.

Sounds like a lot to remember, huh? To begin with you’ll be reading every label in the cupboard, looking up things like ‘lanolin’ in your dictionary and trying to remember why you embarked on veganism in the first place! But it does get easier and no one will blame you if you make a mistake. We all do. Just take things at your own pace. And remember, you’re taking the biggest, most important step to end the cruelties to farmed animals, meted out on a daily basis.

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