Why Veganuary won't see you missing out

By the time this article is published Veganuary will already be in full swing.

Our group always gets very excited at this time of the year, firstly because our digital advert goes up in a local superstore car park and secondly because of all of the goodies companies come out with to tempt us as well as people trying Veganuary. 

I spoke to one of the directors of Veganuary recently and she said that they have almost given up on trying to work out how many people actually did Veganuary each year as there are so many doing it – some people sign up with them (which of course they can count up) but so many others just do it of their own accord.

In fact ‘Veganuary’ is now a recognised event in the same way as Dry January, Stoptober, Movember etc and their thoughts are that people don’t even realise there is a charity behind their work.  

Veganuary concentrates on the plant based food part of veganism. Long term vegans know that veganism is so much more than just the food part – but it is a good place to start. 

After all, haven’t most of us just spent Christmas with food at the centre of everything we do – whether it is works nights out or Christmas dinner. Everyone sees food as a source of comfort and being together with people so if you are making a change around food it is going to feel like a big change. 

People will try Veganuary for a number of reasons – for health, whether short term immediately after the excesses of Christmas in the same way that some people will do Dry January.

Or it could be that they are looking to make a longer term change and need to start somewhere. Others will try it because they have heard about the environmental impact and others because they have seen or read information about what happens to animals in the food industry.

Whatever your reason for trying Veganuary like any challenge worth doing, it is worth doing well. There is so much support out there now for people trying plant based food this month. 

You can of course sign up to Veganuary through their website or social media and they will send you information and words of encouragement and recipes for you to try for the full month. But you can also look for your local vegan groups – they will be more than happy to help. 

There are many in the North East and they will happily direct you to the best places to get products and give you encouragement. And don’t be afraid to ask questions – all of us vegans started somewhere and we have all asked those same questions.

 We all want more people trying a kinder lifestyle and getting the most out of it.  

So whatever your reason for trying Veganuary, hopefully you will see that it isn’t bleak or about missing out and that you can continue it long after January has ended.