Are you doing veganuary, and if so, why?

[HowToSurvive2021]

There is the usual plethora of 'vegan' food in the supermarkets and just wondering what are the perceived benefits of eating fake animal products for a month.

We're going to be eating a mostly vegan diet focusing on whole foods rather than fake meats.

Why? Well because I have a list of health issues that is expanding rapidly and I can't think what else to try to become a bit healthier (and lose weight!)

Because this isn't based on how I feel about animals (we only eat local, organic meat anyway) we will be starting in a couple of weeks when the freezer is empty as we're also trying to hammer debts this year and not shop for the sake of it 'being supermarket day.'

So yes. Heath for us. Hth.

I love meat but try to eat vegan a few times a week and then a "fake" meat product once a week maybe, keeps the meat intake down and good for the planet. You sound like you think these products are bad? They've obvs not good for you but better for the planet than meat and some are good so if you're a meat eater you don't miss it

The benefit is that animals don’t have to suffer for them :)

@Scrowy

Nope I do lambuary instead. Tasty, in season all year in the UK very low environmental impact, no air miles and goes well with the veg that is currently readily available in the UK (sprouts, winter broccoli etc)

Why do people come onto vegan threads to announce how much meat they eat?

The new vegan tastes like chicken from Subway is amazing by the way. As is their new vegan double chocolate cookie.

@CovidCarol

The lambs are around 6 months old when slaughtered, aren't they? That's still a baby in my eyes. Disgusting that pigs are younger than that too

Do you know what a six month old lamb looks like? They don't look like babies.

It depends on the farming system but most go between 6-12 months.

I've attached a couple of pictures of a lambs at around the age they would be going to slaughter.

If you want to do an 'ethical eating' month there are lots of things you can do that aren't go vegan though
Only eat food produced in the UK
Only eat high welfare meat (if that makes it expensive, eat less of it)
Decide to eat XX percentage of food grown within XX miles of you (we could easily do 60% within 25 miles, but I appreciate that's probably unusual)
Only eat food that doesn't come in plastic
etc etc

I'd say all the processed stuff is to aid an easier transition for those trying out veganism for the first time. DP is almost totally vegan and I eat vegan with him a lot of the time, it is incredibly hard to sustain, these products just make it a bit easier for people to dip their toe in and see what's available.

Bear in mind that many people who decide to go vegan do so because of the ethics of eating animal products, not because they don't like the taste. My DP loves burgers, but doesn't want to eat cows, so a really good faux-meat burger is great on the odd occasion; but like any processed foods we don't eat it all the time.
We'd never put 'fake meat' in a curry or chilli for example, we just make those dishes with veg and beans.

My gripe is the veggie ready made foods now being subbed for vegan versions. There is definitely something that is used in vegan foods that tastes weird and coats the mouth (and makes me feel nauseous).

I don’t buy much ready made stuff but there are a couple of things I used to buy which are now veganised and pretty horrible.

I don’t think there will be so many people found Veganary this year - it’s been a crappy year and the people that I know who have done it love an audience (which they won’t really get this year).

@ThatIsNotMyUsername

My gripe is the veggie ready made foods now being subbed for vegan versions. There is definitely something that is used in vegan foods that tastes weird and coats the mouth (and makes me feel nauseous).

I don’t buy much ready made stuff but there are a couple of things I used to buy which are now veganised and pretty horrible.

I don’t think there will be so many people found Veganary this year - it’s been a crappy year and the people that I know who have done it love an audience (which they won’t really get this year).

What vegetarian ready made foods have been made vegan?

A lot of the Quorn items (although they have brought back some of the sausages). My local supermarket has a vegan/veggie section - all the quorn items are the vegan versions (the vegan versions of their ‘slices’ are beyond grim) and the majority of the items are vegan. Ditto local health food store (all the chilled section sausages, grills, fake bacon, etc are vegan)

That sounds like an issue with your local supermarket tbh. In my local Tesco vast majority of the Quorn products are the standard version with a couple of the vegan ones thrown in here and there.

Normal Quorn is still readily available. It's not like they have replaced the products with vegan versions and got rid of the ones with milk and eggs in.

Not sure if you are talking about specific brands of food sold in health food shops but I was under the impression that the vast majority of substitute products sold there have always been vegan. Before veganism became mainstream vegans would go to health food shops for substitutes and ready meals.

No there was definitely more veggie stuff (been a veggie pushing 40 years now) and vegans (the ones I know anyway) would be more into using unprocessed ingredients from scratch (and against fast food places like McDonald’s etc so wouldn’t buy a bean burger in there or anything that was trying to be ‘like’ a beef burger).

@ThatIsNotMyUsername

No there was definitely more veggie stuff (been a veggie pushing 40 years now) and vegans (the ones I know anyway) would be more into using unprocessed ingredients from scratch (and against fast food places like McDonald’s etc so wouldn’t buy a bean burger in there or anything that was trying to be ‘like’ a beef burger).

But were they definitely not vegan previously?

Vegans have always eaten junk food and processed food ime. It was just a little harder to get hold of before it became mainstream so they would head to health food stores for their occasional junk food fix. It doesn't mean they weren't eating a mainly whole foods plant based diet the rest of the time.

@ThatIsNotMyUsername
Quorn still have all their veggie stuff. They have just added a vegan range alongside it? Every supermarket near me either stocks both or just the veggie stuff.

Yes I realise how daft going to a health food store for junk food sounds. Behave yourself .

[quote Veeg34]@ThatIsNotMyUsername
Quorn still have all their veggie stuff. They have just added a vegan range alongside it? Every supermarket near me either stocks both or just the veggie stuff.[/quote]
Same near me. The huge Tesco Extra near me didn't even start selling Vegan Quorn until late 2019. Even now they don't stock much of it. Vast majority is just the standard veggie version.

Even veggies like a greasy fry up for Sunday breakfast! We can’t be 😇 all the time!

I'm not fully veggie, but about 95%. Not due to animal welfare particularly...just not keen on meat. I do like a bit of lamb though.

Maybe it’s just near me... quite a lot of trendy folks around here now! Definitely far less veggie options on the shops (and eating out).

@ThatIsNotMyUsername

Maybe it’s just near me... quite a lot of trendy folks around here now! Definitely far less veggie options on the shops (and eating out).

Maybe.

I'm still curious what brands of mock meats in your health food store were only veggie until recently but have now been made vegan.

Not all the brands necessarily changing (some have though) but also the brands stocked. There are some that I have bought from out health food store that were veggie but are now vegan. I guess it’s business (why make 2 versions when one will do?) but there is definitely something used in them that is yukky.

Another vegan bashing post.

There is so much more to a vegan diet than fake meat, but only if you have a good imagination, are willing to change and learn, and have a strong social conscience, but even if you only ate fake meat, the benefit is that the world would recover from the mass battering it’s had from greedy consumers

@ThatIsNotMyUsername

Not all the brands necessarily changing (some have though) but also the brands stocked. There are some that I have bought from out health food store that were veggie but are now vegan. I guess it’s business (why make 2 versions when one will do?) but there is definitely something used in them that is yukky.

What brands though?