Anyone thinking of doing Veganuary?

[DuggeesWooOOooggle]

Have thought about it the last few years but chickened out for various reasons (tea or coffee without proper milk being one!)

Now feel I ought to give it a go. We eat plenty of plant based meals as it is but hopefully doing it will widen the repertoire and help me reduce dairy intake by making me rely on alternatives for a month. Going without meat won't be too hard but cheese definitely!

However we are moving house mid month and I think I am pregnant (the test was very very faint so waiting til tomorrow to do another) so if I don't last the distance I won't beat myself up too much. Have a DH and 3 year old DS who won't be joining in.

Anyone else?

I'm doing it for animal welfare reasons, but am torn. The vegan digestives and the peanut butter both have palm oil in.

Also, you're right that the alternatives can feature a load of junk, so I need to try to eat pure (apple instead of biscuit? Avacado instead of peanut butter?) But then when you talk of water, gas needed to produce large quantities of anything, you can tie yourself in knots.

I looked at the ethical dairy site which leaves calves with mothers. A starter four pack of cheese is £25 and I can't afford that.

Is there such a thing as the local farm that would simply produce milk/cheese the old fashioned way, not mass produced and putting cows under stress/harm?
However, somebody said there is never an ethical route to dairy, that cow's milk is intended for calves full stop.

I don't eat a lot of dairy. I don't eat eggs (unless they were in a big cake) so much of my already vegetatian diet is already vegan. I tend to eat ratatouille with jacket potatoes/pasta, veg stews with brown rice/bread.
I have little milk in coffee (currently replaced with oat milk) and a scraping of butter. Maybe you're right to just ditch it rather than try to replace it with lots of fake substitutes? Driving myself mad...

Meridian and pip & nut peanut butters don't contain palm oil, HandsOff, we get the 1kg tubs as we get through so much in this house! No added sugar or salt either (although I think pip & but has a bit of salt).

Try looking at recipes on Pinterest etc to find some cookies etc. It might seem a bit of a chore making your own but they'll taste miles better and at least you know what's in them.

You can make nut butter and avocado is not vegan.

If you're going down that route @BecomeVeganItIsMarvellous then kiwi fruit, almonds, butternut squash and a load of other things also 'aren't vegan'.
Your diet would be very limited.

How are they not vegan?

It's because some are farmed using commercial beekeeping

I'm not but some of the ideas in here sound nice. May borrow!

Exactly @3boysandabump

I didn't even know about kiwi and avacado etc. Pants.

I will also look into the spreads, thanks.

Maybe I should just say dairy free instead of vegan.. although already looking at make up, toiletries, cleaning products, clothing.

The only way is to live naked on a mountain top drinking stream water.

Vegan cheese is awful to start but once you’ve gone cold turkey and been off cow milk cheese for a while it smells like vomit and vegan cheese makes a fine swap.

If any of you fancy another challenge and lots of support look up Challenge 22.

Oh and watch this to remind yourself what it’s all about

Well if you’re dairy free at least you can still eat eagles.

Eggs

Avocado, palm oil, almonds.......... are all vegan they may not be ethical but they are vegan.

Aquafaba is a really useful ingredient if going dairy free. It's the liquid from tinned or cooked chickpeas and can be used as an egg substitute in e.g. pancakes, mayonnaise, meringues. About 3 or 4 tablespoons = 1 egg

www.plantbasednews.org/post/are-avocados-vegan-expert-says-yes

Had a good 3rd day of Veganuary today, tried soy yoghurt and thought it was nice. Dinner was homemade pizza with lots of veggies but left off the cheese and it still tasted good. Then due to a chocolate craving I nipped out for a bar of green and black 70% dark. With milk chocolate I feel the need to eat loads but found that with dark chocolate I was satisfied with just a few squares.

I meant egg free obviously!

Sigh.... Well unless you grow your own and don't step on an ant on the way to the veg patch how on earth are you ever going to truly in know what is or isn't vegan?

You do get to the point with all this that it's nigh on impossible so why bother? Just read a metro article about a couple who fed their baby daughter such a restricted vegan diet she got rickets, had brittle bones and weighed 10lb at a year old when she was hospitalised (and then taken into care). No one wants to be like that but you just wonder started cutting out one thing then another then where does it end? It should be about abundance not restriction.

Eating Eagles - now that's definitely not vegan! Don't like eggs fortunately.

Yes, guess I have to draw a line somewhere. Some great advice on here thanks.

If you want to keep eating dairy products, but are concerned about the ethics of it, then an angle could be to try to find a local farmer who sells direct, go for a look around the farm, then purchase direct from them.
There's not many people following that model at the moment, but Our Cow Molly is one I can think of: www.ourcowmolly.co.uk
They seem to be making a good go of straddling the ethical yet conventional gap.
It's not to say you will be won over by dairy farming, but talking directly to the farmer, and finding one whose business you are happy to support, is one way to keep on with a conventional yet ethical diet.
I don't agree that livestock farming - for dairy or meat - is inherently cruel, as I accept that animals are killed in a humane manner for my consumption.
But I do pay the price for purchasing local and high-welfare meat. I'm lucky in that aspect that I work in the farming sector and so get the inside view on how farms work and maybe I am a bit biased

On that same note, whatever food choices you make, I think it's always a good thing to try to find out more about how the food you eat is produced.
For example, fruit and veg production in this country takes up a lot of land, uses a lot of chemicals, and has a significant impact on soil, water and air quality. It certainly means that I make much more of an effort to minimise food waste, when I see the land & time and money that goes into producing it.
Open Farm Sunday is a good place to start.

I'd do it, but my DH and the children would not be on board. Maybe a future year when I can manage different meals

I had a lovely dinner which included all these things . The pulled pork is lovely and I even enjoyed the olive tofu !

HairyToity I was vegan when DH and the kids weren't; I just cooked vegan meals and they added meat/cheese as preferred. Over the years DH has gradually decided I have a point and now voluntarily eats the same as me 90% of the time! The kids are still a little reluctant but now reject butter and cow milk because they dislike the taste, so steady progress...

It's impossible to be 'perfectly ethical' IMO so let's all do what we can every day 😊

‘Pulled pork’ Yum!

Rehydrated Soya Protein 67%], Smokey BBQ Sauce 28%] Water, Sugar, Tomatoes, Spirit Vinegar, Sugar Syrup, Modified Maize Starch, Salt, Flavourings, Smoke Flavourings, Spices Paprika, Pepper, Allspice], Preservatives: Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate: Thickeners: Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum; Sunflower Oil, Hydrolysed Rapeseed Protein], Onion Extract, Natural Flavourings ^Wheat], Pea Fibres, Sea Salt