Highlights

Live Vegan for Less

The Covid-19 pandemic has presented several challenges to the way we live our lives, with evidence suggesting that over 70% of the general public are worried about the cost of food. In light of this we launched our Live Vegan for Less campaign, which shows how vegan living doesn’t need to break the bank.

Many people still see cost as a barrier to veganism due to the common misconception that vegan food is always more expensive than non-vegan food. While some of the exciting new vegan products can be pricy, we know that it’s perfectly possible to eat vegan on a budget.

The recipe hub on our website provides cost-effective ways of preparing tasty and nutritious vegan meals, showing that vegan living can be affordable for all. To support this, we’ve also conducted our own cost comparison research, which you can find at vegansociety.com/liveveganforless. This research highlights the fact that nutritious plant proteins are in fact some of the most affordable sources of protein on the market.

Throughout May we hosted virtual cook-along videos on our Instagram Live with Chef Day Radley. These fun live

Our new campaign Live Vegan for Less

sessions inspired our followers to create quick and easy meals on a budget, with only a handful of ingredients.

We’ve been compiling budget tips from members too, so please feel free to email campaigns@vegansociety.com with your own!

Food bank donation

Unfortunately, many events The Vegan Society was due to attend this spring and summer were postponed. This meant that we had a surplus of products which were intended to be given out to event attendees as samples. These products were donated to us by some of our fantastic Vegan Trademark holders, including Mr Lee’s Noodles, Brave Foods, Munchy Seeds and Clearspring.

The products were due to reach their use-by date before the rescheduled events took place, so we needed to find a useful home for them. We got in touch with local organisations The Active Wellbeing Society and The Real Junk Food Project, who were more than happy to take them off our hands. Our trademark holders were pleased to hear that their products were still being used for a good cause.

Communications Manager (interim) Lauren Williams, enjoying Parker’s company while working from home

Home working

We are pleased to say that Vegan Society staff have coped very well with the switch to working from home. Here, staff share what the experience has been like for them.

Sophie Glenn, who works in the Trademark Team, says, “In just two days, The Vegan Society managed to get our entire workforce working remotely. To adapt to this change, I tried to keep my working day as similar as possible to my day in the office.

“I have daily video calls with my team, which has really helped to bring about a sense of normality. I do, however, miss the communal tea and coffee making in the office, and the 12.30 lunch crew. I’m looking forward to returning to the office and seeing my colleagues in person.”

Lauren Williams, Communications Manager (interim), says, “Our team have managed to work on and produce some fantastic projects remotely, including the creation of our new podcast The Vegan Pod. I’m proud of how well my colleagues have coped during this time and we will strive to continue great work. This is all possible with our members’ support – thank you!”

Clare Straughan joined The Vegan Society to head up our Finance Team in early April. She says, “I had no idea how it would feel to start a job during lockdown. However, everyone made me feel right at home, and I enjoyed learning all about the organisation and my new team.

“Working from home without nurseries poses challenges with childcare, but I’m grateful for the extra time spent with my son, keeping each other safe. I’ve become used to working with the occasional Spider-Man toy on my head!

“I’m really looking forward to meeting everybody in person when it’s safe to do so, but thanks to the technology and my amazing colleagues, I’m really enjoying working for The Vegan Society in any capacity.” Healthcare workers outreach In May, Dietitian Heather Russell took part in an online webinar hosted by Oatly, at which she educated health and nutrition professionals about vegan diets. Over 500 people tuned in to take part – double the number at previous Oatly healthcare professional webinars.

Heather covered practical tips for getting essential nutrients from plant-based foods and ensuring vegan diets are well-planned and balanced. She also answered questions from the audience at the end of the session. These questions ranged from the affordability of vegan diets to sports nutrition. The majority of participants said that the session had greatly improved their knowledge of plant-based diets.

Our Dietitian took part in an online webinar

Medical nutrition product developed

Undernutrition is a public health issue that affects millions of people in the UK. There are many reasons someone may be undernourished, including a reduced appetite and having a health condition that results in higher nutritional requirements. In some circumstances, a medical nutrition product – often in the form of a high-calorie, high-protein milkshake – is prescribed. While similar vegan-friendly products exist in the commercial sector, the medical nutrition sector has up until now been lacking.

The Vegan Society has worked with medical nutrition company AYMES to reformulate one of their products so that it meets our vegan requirements. This product comes in a powder and is the first supplement of its kind – a balanced medical nutrition product carrying the Vegan Trademark.

We hope that health services throughout the country will make balanced vegan medical nutrition available on prescribing guidelines, enabling them to offer better treatment to vulnerable vegans experiencing undernutrition. We also anticipate further steps forward as innovations in the commercial sector transfer over to the medical nutrition category.

Vegan Trademark directory With people shopping online more than ever before, we decided to make it easier for the public to find products

registered with the Vegan Trademark. We created the Vegan Directory – a document that lists nearly 450 UK businesses which are operating with direct-to-consumer online sales. Ordering directly from a business is one of the easiest ways to support your favourite brand, and with a huge variety of goods included, the directory is intended to be used both during and post lockdown. Visit vegansociety.com/vegandirectory

Some of our personal favourites to keep us going in these uncertain times include the beautiful chocolates from the Functional Food Company, relaxing bath bombs from Miss Patisserie and soothing candles from Spry – all of which would also make a fantastic gift for a loved one.

Research News

The Vegan Society’s Researcher Network is a group of academics who have interests in veganism and vegan-related fields. In 2019 we launched Research News – a regular blog on our website that members of the network could submit to.

We’re pleased to say that this section of the website is gaining attention and publishing some really thoughtprovoking pieces. In the last few months we have included pieces on mental health, mindful activism and the intelligence of vegans. Please do visit vegansociety.com/researchnews and follow our social media channels for updates on our latest expert-written pieces.

Photo: Iain Green

Rescued ex-battery hens featured in Catherine Oliver’s Research News article