Going vegan is one of the best decisions I have ever made and I absolutely LOVE helping people to transition towards the lifestyle. I went vegan overnight in July 2016, completely unaware of Veganuary which would have made the transition even easier again! Running since 2014, the UK based campaign has held the hands of thousands of people worldwide who want to try being vegan for the month of January. It's had such a ripple effect on corporations (remember the vegan Gregg's sausage roll queues?!) I'm already beginning to see new vegan ranges plumping up the supermarket shelves - Aldi, I'm looking at you xoxo
If you're reading this, hopefully you're ready to give it a go so let's jump in to the advice.
Veganuary.com is an amazing resource in itself where if you sign up (with just your name, email, and country) they'll send you a stellar starter pack on EVERYTHING you need to know, from why try the challenge to nutrition tips and everything inbetween. Like Movember, you can even create a fundraising page and raise money for charity during the month! They also send you a beautiful PDF recipe booklet put together by a rake of celebrities and sport stars, most of which you'll probably be surprised to find out are vegan! I would definitely encourage you to sign up to that if you're trying the challenge as you'll have access to constant support.
Now, for some advice from me personally, the FIRST thing I'll say to you is Know Your Reason Why. Why do you want to go vegan for 31 days? Is it for environmental or ethical reasons? Or do you simply want to eat better and improve your health? Whatever is calling you the most, fill your cup with some facts & motivation that will give you strength to stick with the challenge as opposed to caving in for convenience or cravings' sake. Watch documentaries, read books, follow content creators or listen to some podcasts on the topic. Here's what I'd digest for reach reason:
A) For the Animals 🐷
I'm an ethical vegan meaning I'm doing this for the animals first and foremost. Movies like Babe and Chicken Run honestly inspired me so much as a kid! When I'm faced with a convenient or tasty animal product, it's this moral code that gives me strength to say no.
Video: Bite Size Vegan talk in Dublin - it's easy to think Ireland's 'humane' practices are some of the best in the world. I think when you watch this video, you'll understand there is nothing humane about the legal practices here.
Documentary: Dominion - a harrowing visual into how non vegan food is made. If this graphic content will be too much for you, this short Interview Doc with ex slaughterhouse workers is an easier watch albeit still difficult. Seaspiracy is a great one for our fish friends.
Book: Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer - after becoming a father, he questions his choice to eat animals and embarks on a reseaerch project interviewing people from farmers to animal rights activists to slaughterhouse workers. It's a great book to read and not too graphic.
Podcast: I'm going to plug one of my own episodes here; an interview with Irish veterinarian Niamh who went from a typical meat-eating diet to a vegan one during college due to the conditions & practices she witnessed while on placement. Vegan activist Earthling Ed also hosts The Disclosure Podcast which is a great source of ethical arguments for veganism.
Film: Bare with me, but the Netflix film Okja will break your heart. The film itself may not be perfect, it's movie for a younger audience that has some silly characters in it, but the ending packs such a punch it turned one of my friends veggie. It's not graphic, but when you imagine the animals like cows we put through the same ending - oof. I was in tears.
B) For the Planet 🌏
Water use, pesticde use, pollution from animal waste, and land use are the main causes of environmental degradation when it comes to animal farming. Many naturally think that the local chicken they buy is less harmful than buying tofu imported from outside Europe. Alas, with transport emissions in the food industry (10%) being low, what you eat matters much more than where it came from.
Video: A short 10 minute YouTube by Earthling Ed on how veganism could save the planet.
Documentary: Cowspiracy. It's a classic but gives a great overview to how animal agriculture wreaks havoc on our environment. Eating Our Way To Extinction is more recent (2021).
Book: The Proof Is In The Plants by Simon Hill. I LOVED this book because it also clearly explains the nutrional side of sustaining ourselves as well as the planet in an easy to read manner for those of us who are not nutritionists!
Podcast: I'm going to reference Simon Hill again but this time his interviews with environmental researcher Nicholas Carter. His Linktree has so many more resources and interviews I've yet to hear!
C) For Your Health 🫁
The science is clear: the more whole plant-based foods we eat, the healthier we are. I am not a qualifed nutrionist, so I will let them take over:
Documentary: What The Health on Netflix is a great starter but there's also Game Changers and a new doc I have yet to see called You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment. Live to 100: The Secrets of the Bluezones isn't a vegan documentary but the evidence of plant food benefits is staggering! All of these are on Netflix.
Book: How Not To Die by Dr. Michael Gregor. It's not a light read overall but it is broken into sections on every ailment/disease you can think of! He also has a great nutrition podcast on up to date science and runs NutritionFacts.org
Podcast: Again, the podcast that was so helpful to me when going vegan was Simon Hill. He's a nutrionist who sticks to the most up to date science rather than saying vegan is the way forward because that's how he feels. He's rooted in the science of nutrition so if health is your goal, this podcast, The Proof, is a goldmine of interviews.
There are literally THOUSANDS more resources on the above, but these are the ones that I personally would recommend. The Happy Pear are another great Irish resource for recipes.
My second tip is Don't Overwhelm Yourself. Going vegan doesn't mean you have to throw out your beloved pasta dishes for some Nicoise Salad or Mushroom Bourguignon (I don't even know what they are, I just searched fancy dish names...). The dishes that you like, be that a chicken curry or spag bol, keep eating them, just swap out your animal products! In big supermarkets you can get seitan based chicken strips and mince.
While the vegan cheese game still has a long way to go, vegan cream cheese tastes the exact same as regular cheese (speaking as a former cheese addict here...) and the Applewood Vegan cheese slices are CLASS. Nutrional yeast is something packed with nutrition that adds a nutty cheesy taste to my pasta as well.
If you have a sweet tooth, remember that cocoa is vegan, it's just (cow) milk chocolate that isn't. Big supermarkets will have a brand called VEGO that's just AMAZING and Aldi have vegan chocolate that's class and affordable. Jellytots & Fruitpastilles & Skittles are vegan, as are JammieDodgers and most Chocolate Bourbons, if you want some starter points.
The Milk Chooses The Wizard - soy milk is not for everyone. I HATE it. I love the organic barista oat milk from Minor Figures. It's creamy and tasty like milk should be (I used to drink 1-2 litres of full fat cow milk a DAY). Coconut is tasty but can be overpowering. Try the various flavours like rice and almond, and stick with the one that works for you! I do find it worth investing in the bigger branded milk for taste and texture over the supermarket own brand one, especially if you're transitioning from cows milk.
If you want to treat yourself to eating out, the app Happy Cow is a bloody godsend. It tells you where has registered vegan options near you, or even fully vegan or veggie restaurants! I use it while travelling the whole time.
There's also places that might not be on there like Burger King or Boojum which both have vegan meat options, just FYI...
Don't Throw In The Towel! - look, it's very likely you're going to slip up and it won't be a perfect streak. Try your best and stick with it as best you can! In my 8 years of being vegan I have made plenty of mistakes. Imagine me just throwing the whole lifestyle out the window because of that!
Ingredient tip: when checking ingredients, if something says it 'May contain milk' but doesn't have milk or any other animal product in it, then that's just an allergy caution. For example, Cadburys hot chocolate powder is naturally vegan! It only says 'may contain milk' so enjoy your oat milk hot chocolate with vegan marshmallows (get them in health food shops!).
These are the main things I can think of now, but definitely find yourself some vegans to follow on socials like VegHuns or IAmTabithaBrown and if you're still on Facebook, there are some great groups there like Vegans of Ireland or Products Suitable for Vegans in Ireland that I find really useful.
Now, I don't have enough time to go into the resources you may need or will find useful, but I really mean this when I say, reach out to me! Send me a message on Instagram or comment here or email [email protected]. If you have my number, WhatsApp me! There'll be no judgement or shame, just a very excited Ceara who loves helping people eat more plants.
Go on, give it a go. Good luck! Xx