Beyond Veganuary: Turning Over a New Leaf About Food
The plants vs animals food war is raging but with climate change threatening our future, it’s time for a truce.
It seems that veteran food journalist Joanna Blythman can’t hold her tongue when it comes to the ‘V’ word. At every opportunity she claims vegan diets are unhealthy, food tech is sacrilege, and corporations are cashing in on the surge in demand for vegan food (on this last point, we agree). Her recent article in the Guardian is no exception: “Veganuary is huge. But is it really as simple as animal foods bad, plant foods good?”.
Joanna expresses concern that the Veganuary campaign to encourage us to eat more plant foods is hoodwinking us. She also says we might view fast-food enterprises in a new light, transformed into green superheroes: “If it’s vegan, it must be green and healthy, right?” But is her concern misplaced?
An advocate for real food from sustainable systems, Joanna has long made a stand against highly processed food that fuels our addiction to sugar, salt, and fat. But more recently, she has narrowed her focus to vegan food. Accusing fast-food giants of producing vegan foods to cash in on dietary trends, she says they’re exploiting the public perception that plant-based foods are healthy. But could they just…
