WELLBEING WEEK
MNL
WELLBEING WEEK
City’s eateries at heart of plant-based revolution great thing that is but in reality, they usually offer one thing on the menu and that’s about it. It’s never really that amazing and it seems it’s just put there so they don’t miss out on a big group of people booking because one of them is a vegan. I can’t think of many places where I order the vegan option and it doesn’t take twice as long. To be fair though in terms of the actual specific plant-based restaurants I’m seeing massive improvements and plenty of new options so it definitely is getting better but those places that aren’t specific to vegans still have such a long way to go. How can things imrpove? I think we just need to keep getting more variety in the plant-based restaurants and see more effort from the bigger mainstream companies really. If they do want to cater to vegans then give us good alternatives and not just one average item to tick a box. There are also still places that dont cater to us at all and even those that claim to have a vegan option but whenever you do go in it never actually seems to exist. Like they’ve just made it up to seem good for passers by but just hope nobody ever goes and orders it.” As Veganism becomes ever more popular, many brits are making the switch in diets for a number of issues from animal welfare, concern for the
Veganism is rising in Liverpool and across the UK. EVAN BARTON looks into the growing popularity of the plantbased industry and the benefits for our wellbeing
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he UK’s vegan scene is expanding at a rapid rate with over 6,000 vegan friendly restaurants across the country and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. According to thegoodnessproject, the number of vegans from 20142019 quadrupled from 150,000 to 600,000 which is now actually just over 1% of the population. When you combine these figures with vegetarians, that means roughly 6 million people identify as veggie or vegan. It is encouraging times for vegans with most major restaurants and fast-food chains like McDonalds, Greggs, Burger King and even Nando’s offering plant-based items, the accessibility of making the switch to a meatfree diet is becoming practically mainstream. This is especially the case here in the North-West, Liverpool ranks 7th and Manchester ranks 6th in the most vegan and veggie friendly cities in the UK according to Nisbets.com. In Liverpool, Finder. com in 2021 ranked Liverpool 91st with an average of 4,501 people per restaurant as opposed to 3,406 in
2022. This clearly shows the vast and rapidly expanding plant-free business that is spreading through the city and is a very promising sign for every individual trying to go meat-free. MNL spoke to Tom Johnson, a student at the University of Liverpool who made the switch from vegetarianism to veganism in 2019 to find out if the cities plant based expansion is really as good as it sounds. How does Liverpool compare to where you lived originally for a plant-based diet? That’s the thing really, being from Ellesmere Port meant here wasa limited number of options locally. I’ve always just made meals myself but when it comes to eating out or getting fast food that’s when I’d struggle. You either went to the same place repeatedly or got the train into Liverpool, which is a bit too much effort really if you just wanted a quick bite to eat. So in those terms yeah Liverpool is like a vegan utopia but I think most places would be compared to Ellesmere Port. Are things getting noticeably better for vegans? Yes and no. I think people see that a restaurant offers a vegan alternative and automatically just assume what a
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environment and weight management. Science has also claimed it can help reduce chances of certain types of cancers, improve kidney function,lower blood sugar and combat the risk of heart disease. With expanding restauraunts and a growing variety of selection, now may just be the best time to make that switch to a plant based diet or even to simply reduce your meat consumption. Whether your reason is to be healthier or to protect the environment, it is definitely worth a try.
