Veganism — Britain’s newest trend
In 2017, there are now three times the number of vegans than there were 10 years ago, making veganism one of the fastest growing lifestyle movements. Over half a million people in the UK are currently vegan and this figure is set to rise.
According to VeganBites, the main reasons for people going vegan is either due to concerns about health issues or about animal rights — or a combination of both.
Stevie Shephard, the woman behind the blog and Instagram, ‘The Brighton Vegan’, explains that her reasoning for making the switch was because she “couldn’t find an argument for the killing and exploitation of animals that was beyond personal enjoyment”.
This month, Ben and Jerry’s brought their dairy-free ice cream to the UK. Meanwhile, McDonald’s launched their first vegan burger. Both of these companies continue to profit from non-vegan products. It cannot be denied that they are making veganism more accessible — but is this helpful or a hindrance for a vegan community that is trying to permanently halt the creation and distribution of animal products?
Catherine Gill, also known as ‘The Dirty Vegan’ through her blog of the same name, says: “These companies do make the prices of their vegan products affordable, thus making veganism easier for everyone to take part in.
“The positive aspects certainly seem to outweigh the downsides, but my eyes are still open to the fact that some of these companies that offer vegan options still test their other products on animals, which is not vegan-friendly.”
On the contrary, some vegans are opposed to this idea. Nacho, the owner of the fully vegan, London based café named ‘The Black Cat Café’, says: “I think these companies have no intention of stopping their contribution to the suffering of animals so, by making vegan products it is a way for them to make money out of the demand.”
On social media, vegan influencers have blown up — from vegan body builders such as Jon Venus, to vegan chefs such as the Cheap Lazy Vegan — with more vegans producing content that illustrates how easy veganism can be.
Lucy Johnson, who runs a vegan-centric Instagram called ‘The Ugly Vegan’ , where she posts photos of her low-cost and simple vegan meals, explains: “I started my Instagram because I was fed up of social media’s negative portrayal of veganism. It makes veganism look inaccessible, expensive and exclusive.”
Recent trends in supermarket products make it clear that there is a demand for vegan products. In 2016, Sainsburys introduced a range of their own vegan cheeses and according to VeganFood&Living magazine, vegan food sales in the UK went up by 1500% in 2016.
“In today’s supermarkets the plant milk is next to the dairy, tofu is near the meat and vegan ice cream is on the same shelf as non-vegan ice cream. It’s visible and normal so it makes it easier for people to make a change,” says Stevie Shephard of The Brighton Vegan
It is not just supermarkets that are supporting veganism; last week the restaurant chain Wagamama’s released its new vegan menu and Pizza Hut announced they’re trialling vegan cheese pizzas.
Stevie Shephard adds: “It’s a real sign of the times that the big national chains are making the effort to court vegans. They’re seeing that there’s enough vegans now to make it worth their while — developing a new specialised menu like Wagamama has doesn’t come cheap — it feels like they’ve done it properly.”
Vegan eateries are seeing the changes happening too. Black Cat Café owner, Nacho, says: “We’ve observed there are more vegan businesses opening in our area and we’re still busy here — I feel that there are definitely more people turning vegan or becoming interested in vegan food.”
