Veganuary 2024: Everything about the Vegan January challenge

class = “sc-cffd1e67-0 fmXrkB”>

A popular New Year’s resolution: Eat fewer animal products. For health, animal and environmental reasons, more and more people around the world are choosing a vegetarian (avoiding products derived from killed animals) or vegan (avoiding all products of animal origin) diet or lifestyle. He wants to support the Veganuary campaign.

Every year in January, it encourages people to go vegan for a month. The campaign wants to show that veganism is easier than you think. According to the nonprofit’s website, more than one million participants have been motivated to join the campaign since it started in 2014.

Last year, more than 400,000 participants tried the challenge in more than 180 different countries. Many participated for health reasons or for the welfare of the animals. Last year, hundreds of brands, restaurants and supermarkets also advertised in the campaign. Companies followed suit: According to the statement on the organization’s website, more than 1,200 new vegan products and menus were introduced to the British market alone.

The ambassadors of the campaign include many celebrities, including actors, musicians and athletes. Aargau’s top model Manuela Frey took part in Veganuary for the first time in 2022. She was very happy. “Your action is unprecedented. It encourages people to try a plant-based diet. As an animal lover, I think this is an incredibly good thing,” she said.

Feeling like you want to switch to a healthier, cleaner and gentler diet but need more information? Ask questions, try things, do your research, and make decisions based on facts, but don’t ignore your feelings. Veganuary is a great place for new discoveries!

Veganuary’s vision is a “vegan world.” Animal farms and slaughterhouses should be made unnecessary and animal suffering should be prevented. According to Veganuary, food production should not be accompanied by environmental destruction, increasing climate change and species extinction.

But Veganuary’s focus is also on fun and curiosity: You should be able to enjoy the experiment – ​​ideally together. The organization also provides advice and recipes to participants.

Harvard University’s Animal Law and Policy program researched Vegan’s achievements in January 2020. All participants of the campaign have been doing this together since 2014:

• 103,840 tons of CO₂-equivalent to savings
• Savings of 405 tonnes PO43 equivalent (eutrophication).
• Saving 6.2 million liters of water
• and saved the lives of more than 3.4 million animals (according to Vegan Society UK’s Veganalyser).

But be careful: a vegan diet is not automatically healthy. Here too you may run the risk of eating a diet that is too one-sided or high in calories. Additionally, there may be a deficiency in the intake of some nutrients such as protein, vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, zinc, iron, iodine and omega-3 fatty acids. A vegan diet is generally not recommended for certain population groups, such as pregnant women, breastfeeding women, infants, children, adolescents and the elderly.

A common fear: Vegan nutrition – it will be complicated! Veganuary argues that the difference between a non-vegan diet and a non-vegan diet is not that big. There are already many alternatives for meat and dairy products, even in many traditional grocery stores. For beginners, these top ten tips from Veganuary will help you test vegan moonshine simply and conveniently.

1. Planning: Plan your meal in advance and purchase necessary items in advance. Shopping lists containing items for different meals are recommended.
2. Look for everyday items that are already vegan: Many popular everyday items are vegan, such as pasta, rice, many types of bread, jams, tomato puree, many cookies, spices, coffee or juices. So maybe you don’t need to change your diet as much as you think.
3. Settle in: You shouldn’t change your entire diet overnight or eat things you don’t like. The products you find particularly delicious probably have vegan versions available.
4. Make your favorite menu vegan: If you prefer sausage instead of grilled vegetables, you should try tofu sausage. Even popular dishes like spaghetti Bolognese, lasagna or burgers can easily be prepared vegan.
5. Make yourself aware: Vegan foods open up a wide variety of new dishes and recipes. If you want and enjoy it, you should definitely try and try new things. Individual preferences can also be explored and expanded upon.
6. Have snacks ready: There are also vegan snacks like chocolate, nuts or cookies. If you get hungry on the road, you should definitely take some with you.
7. Perseverance pays off: Sometimes you have to search for a while until you find a product that suits your taste. The only thing that will help: don’t give up! There are now countless varieties of vegan meat or vegan milk that you have to patiently browse through.
8. HappyCow: If you want to eat out, the HappyCow app helps you find a restaurant that serves vegan food.
9. Build a team: You don’t have to do the experiment alone; More fun together! So it makes sense to get together with other vegans and experiment together.
10. Be kind to yourself: Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, and that’s normal. So you don’t need to give up.

Source : Blick