With the New Year upon us, now is a great time to explore going vegan… for one month. That’s the premise of Veganuary.
Veganuary is a UK nonprofit organization that promotes and educates about veganism by encouraging people to follow a vegan lifestyle for the month of January. Since the event began in 2014, participation has more than doubled each year. Veganuary can also refer to the event itself.The event is a 31 day challenge. Check it out. http://www.veganuary.com
There are three primary reasons someone chooses to go vegan.
- Health… often weight loss
- Animals
- Environment
Health
In the truest sense, vegans give up all animal based products including beef, fish, lamb, pork, poultry, and dairy. Their diet is void of anything that is remotely connected with animal products.
Eating a balanced, whole food, plant-based, vegan diet is incredibly healthy. Food choices include beans, legumes, lentils, nuts, fruits and vegetables.
When done right, most people will get to a healthy weight, have more energy, be more focused and in many cases, reverse common diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease and Type II diabetes.
The essential part of being a healthy vegan is a balanced diet void of vegan junk food.
Animals
Although many people become vegan for their health, they tend to stay for the animals. Curious about what veganism entails, a great majority of people watch documentaries, read blogs, books and articles and surf YouTube for as much information as possible.
This is when they find out about the autrosities of factory farming. As previous mentioned, once you do learn the truth, you’ll likely never go back to how you ate pre-vegan.
Environment
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see what’s happened to the environment due to human behaviors including our choices around food. Factory farming is one of the primary contributors to pollution and environmental issues. To pretend this is not the case, is taking us on a road to further destruction.
Most viruses are a direct result animal factory farming. When COVID-19 first reared its ugly head, factory farms were shutting down. Hoping this would be a wake-up call, many vegans watched hoping things would change for the better.
Sadly, due to big money, misplaced power and a short-term view of the destruction caused by factory farms, a shutdown was only temporary.
This would have been a great time to restructure some of our food supply to a more sustainable production process. But that was not to be. Thus the reason, it will take each and every one of us to do our part to save our health, the animals and the environment.
As we move into 2021, what is your commitment? If you’re already vegan, will you become more of a voice for the voiceless. An advocate for the environment or an example of how to live your healthiest life possible?
If you’re dipping your toe in the water, are you willing to give Veganuary a try? At least for 31 days?
Recommended Resources
https://kit.co/KathleenGage/plant-based-eating-for-health-vegan
