This Friday is World Vegan Day, and it actually marks the start of World Vegan Month too. Regular readers and loyal fans of Little Soap will know that we advocate a healthy, plant-based approach to life- be it food, cosmetics, clothing- and we often encourage you to follow suit. We're not evangelical about it, but we do love to shout about the benefits this way of life brings. We do this for the planet, for the animals and for ourselves. So to celebrate, we're going to delve a little deeper into these three really good reasons to go meat-free for World Vegan Day... please read- it might just change your life.
Do it for the animals
You don't need to be an avid animal lover to realise that the way some animals are treated throughout their short lives and in death proves that there are many things wrong with certain industries across the world. Vegans believe that all sentient creatures are deserving of life and freedom. They believe that we should seek to avoid cruelty, exploitation and suffering towards animals- and instead if buying in to industries that do not follow these rules, we should instead seek alternatives for our own consumption. This means avoiding eggs, dairy, meat and animal products. This means reading labels carefully. This means taking a pledge to never knowing contribute in any way towards the harm or exploitation of animals. This means honouring and accepting that the life of an animal is important, and that they have as much right to it as we do as humans. If you opt out of buying meat at the supermarket, you are helping to reduce the demand for it- and this ultimately leads to fewer animals being bred for slaughter. As Animal Aid states,"We call ourselves a nation of animal lovers, yet every year in the UK alone, around 1,000 million animals are bred and killed for food. That’s around 2.7 million every single day. Most of them will have been reared in factory farms and slaughtered at just a few months or weeks old."You don't need to be a part of it.
Do it for your health
Periodically, and especially around January when Veganuary campaigns kick off, there is much talk about the health benefits of a Vegan diet. Often people assume that they will lose weight and gain health simply by switching from a meat based diet. Sadly though, veganism isn't the miracle diet plan everyone has been looking for... but if planned properly, it really will transform your health.
The key to making a positive change for your health is all in the planning. There are plenty of vegan 'junk foods' out there if that's what you're after, but there are also way more ways that you can really do this properly, and really turn it all around as far as your health and wellbeing is concerned.
Don't jump into a plant based lifestyle with your eyes closed. Proper planning will ensure that you stick with this for life, making the changes you need to adopt veganism as a lifestyle rather than a diet. It's important to make sure that you're getting all the nutrients that you need, and it may be that you'll need to add specific supplements to your shopping list too. Check out the information pages on the Vegan Society's website.
Ultimately, you should aim for a well-rounded plate at each meal- with health fats, protein and carbohydrates. Drink plenty of water, cut down on alcohol caffeine and processed foods. Eat well, eat plenty and eat right.
Do it for the planet
You may have already read our post on going vegan to fight climate change. We cannot state this enough. Making the switch will drastically help to cut our carbon footprint and this is something we need to do now. We simply cannot live our lives with our eyes closed to the problem any more, and it's time we all made simple changes to fight against the destruction that's taking place every single day. Put simply by the Vegan Society,"The production of meat and other animal products a heavy burden on the environment - from crops and water required to feed the animals, to the transport and other processes involved from farm to fork. The vast amount of grain feed required for meat production is a significant contributor to deforestation, habitat loss and species extinction... making the switch to veganism [is] one of the easiest, most enjoyable and most effective ways to reduce our impact on the environment."Read more about the environmental impacts of veganism here.