Editor’s Letter & Contents
Editor’s Letter
A
re you one of the many people who feel happier and healthier since going vegan? In this issue of The Vegan, we are exploring the crossover between veganism and wellbeing – a word that has associations with physical and mental health and quality of life.
Our Researcher, Dr Lorna Brocksopp, explores some of the links between veganism and wellbeing in her article on page 18, and shares how, for her, veganism is the only path that makes sense.
Working to make the world more vegan can seem like an endless task. We are faced with the realities of animal farming and the uncomfortable truth that often our closest friends and family members have different attitudes towards other animals. Our article on page 20 will provide you with some tips on avoiding burnout. Chase Armitage, vegan stunt person, actor and athlete, is an inspiring advocate for veganism who champions plant-power at every opportunity. Read our interview with Chase on page 9.
Contents 03
Achievements
09
Essential updates on Vegan Society news
highlights 06 Media The Vegan Society in the press changed 09 Everything Vegan stunt actor Chase Armitage
13
Avant-Garde Vegan
18
Veganism and wellbeing
20
How to avoid activist burnout
24
Catering for Everyone
26
Active vegans
31
Nutrition
32
Shoparound
38
Local and Group Contacts
Delicious recipes from Gaz Oakley
13
Is there a link?
Tips on self-care
An update on our latest campaign
Keeping up with our amazing volunteers
20
Know your iodine and selenium
New vegan products to look out for
Listings of our local volunteers Issue 2 2018 | The Vegan 1
Achievements
Celebration of vegan business
VNutrition
2018 is set to be a year of great strides forward in veganism. We kicked this off with our All Party Parliamentary meeting in January. The vegAPPG is a quarterly meeting, co-sponsored with V for Life, the charity for older vegetarians and vegans. This meeting focused on the rise in vegan business, and aimed to encourage parliamentarians and those involved in government to learn about and support this growth. The APPG featured stands and products from some of our Trademark holders, including Original Source, Fry Family Food and Magic Rock Brewing Company. The event was kicked off by vegAPPG officer Christina Rees who spoke about her difficulties finding soya milk in shops many years ago – how times have changed! She was followed by special guest and actor Peter Egan who took to the stage, describing veganism as “a lifestyle choice that connects my head and my heart.” Trademark Relations Officer Abigail Stevens followed him, and spoke about the great surge in Trademark applications and the need for reliable vegan labelling. Altogether the event was a great success, and cemented the leaps forward made by the vegan movement.
Keen to help people get to grips with the fundamentals of vegan nutrition, we created a new tool to help make the transition as easy as possible. VNutrition is a free app designed to help vegans hit their nutritional targets every day by providing an easy-to-use checklist and personalised tips. The app features handy hints and colourful illustrations that bring to life the basic principles of vegan nutrition, helping users to learn about portion sizes, getting their 5 a day, hitting their targets for protein, calcium and omega-3 fat and ensuring appropriate supplementation. A simple checklist enables users to assess their nutritional intake, and a progress graph and personalised tips help them to identify areas for improvement. VNutrition was created with the expertise of our resident Dietitian Heather Russell. Heather says, “The app is based on UK guidelines about healthy eating and the best available evidence around vegan nutrition, and we hope it will help a large number of vegans and the vegan-curious.” Already proving popular, the app has been downloaded thousands of times. It is available for free on Google Play and iTunes.
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Sport
Tell me about when you decided to go vegan My journey started about four years ago now. I was in a Nando’s and it hit me. My whole reason was the ethics. I think compassion is deeprooted in all of us, but what’s happened over time is that we’ve been blinded to the fact that animals suffer for that plate of food. We all know deep down that the animals are absolutely suffering and going through hell but sadly a lot of us choose to turn a blind eye. I couldn’t do that anymore. Everything changed when I went vegan. Veganism was just the tip of the iceberg. I went down the rabbit hole and one thing led to the next. So much opened up for me. I always say that I would go vegan even if it meant being unhealthy, but it’s actually the complete opposite. When you go vegan it improves your health as well as the life of another being. Win-win, as they call it. A lot of people into sports think that going vegan is going to restrict them. I always tell people that when I was 18 I used to have ankle problems and knee problems. I’m 32 now and I feel better than I did when I was 18. I really want to put that point across to people – if you go down the plant-based route, you can actually up your performance and you can up how you feel every morning when you get out of bed to tackle the day. You’re currently on the road with the Fast and Furious live tour – are you enjoying the shows and what has it been like from a vegan perspective? It’s been really good! It’s been crazy up until this point with lots of rehearsals and long days, but it’s all been worth it. The hard work is done now so it’s nice that we’re into the fun part where we can just enjoy it. I really enjoy travelling. I like to look on the Happy Cow website and get excited about all of the new vegan restaurants I can try. It’s so nice to go and find those little gems that are tucked away in a new city.
Are people surprised you’re vegan? When people see me doing stunts and see how much energy I’ve got and then find out I’m vegan afterwards they can be quite surprised. It is still something that we need to keep pushing out there – the fact that some of the very best athletes are thriving on plants. And that’s such a great way of educating people – inspiring their interest through great health. You don’t even have to preach it. If you can be a shining example people will naturally enquire. Then it’s like they planted the seed in their own mind instead of you doing it for them.
Are any of your co-actors vegan? Yes, I’m working on the show with one of my best friends who has been vegan for a good couple of years. He’s also a parkour athlete so we obviously get on like a house on fire. Since I’ve joined the Fast and Furious Live team we’ve had our costume designer go vegan after we planted the seed. Quite a lot of the other drivers and actors are giving it a go. It’s cool – we’ve obviously had our influence on the catering department too. They wouldn’t be producing vegan options if we weren’t there. They’ve done a great job and I know a lot of non-vegans are now trying the vegan option because it’s there.
How did you get into parkour? I’ve been doing it for 18 years now. I got into it from watching Jackie Chan movies when I was a little kid and I was absolutely mind blown by it. You know when you see something and you think – that’s what I want to do? I absolutely went at it like an arrow and never turned back. When I got into parkour I was pretty much at the forefront of it. I know I got into veganism later, but it still feels like I’m at the forefront of this amazing new movement. Similar to parkour, it’s all about freeing the mind and seeing what you can achieve and also, for me, inspiring people to live a better life.
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Sport
That’s why veganism resonates so well for me. It’s a movement to be the best version of yourself and to help the planet and to help the animals and to help other people. It’s all forward movement and overcoming mental barriers – same as parkour. Do you have any tips for people encountering activist burnout? Just recently I went on a bit of a marathon of watching all of the vegan documentaries and videos. The fact is that animals are abused every single day. But the truth is that we can only do as much as we can do in the moment. To burn yourself out isn’t helping the cause. I think you need to remember that and understand that your mission is so important. Every day I think to myself to just make that one change in somebody’s mind, or influence something small like the catering on set. If you can do that you’re changing the world. All we can do is to do our best. We’ve got to be that light of inspiration to other people, and we do have to be active and promote it, but there is no energy to be found in letting it get to us. You can’t focus on what’s out of your hands. We can only do so much. What are some of your favourite foods for training and recovery? I’m a big fruit man. I eat loads and loads of fruit. We eat a lot of Asian-influenced food too, so a lot of fermented tofu, curries with lentils and rice. When I go to the gym and do high intensity exercise I always have nuts with me because they’re a very good source of protein and fats.
I’ve got kind of a Harry Potter cupboard of potions – spirulina and chlorella, all kinds of stuff … I really like shilajit. It’s a black kind of goo that comes from the Himalayan mountains. Veganism for me is also a way of longevity. I really want to have longevity – I think everybody does. I live a good life and I would like to extend it for as long as I can. How did you learn about nutrition? Ever since I went vegan it’s been a journey of self-enquiry and self-discovery and research. And since then I’ve found what feels right for me. You learn to listen to your body better, I find, when you go vegan. I think that’s a skill we all need to improve – to listen to our bodies. I remember when I used to eat anything – I would have a massive Domino’s pizza, and it tastes great but you feel terrible afterwards and you pass that off as normal. Since I’ve gone vegan I’ve really tried to listen to my body and I’ll eat what I feel it needs. Generally I’ve moved towards the stuff that actually makes you feel good. What are your goals for the future? I’m thinking about trying to do another world record this year, which will probably be like the most flips over a Lamborghini. But other than that, a long term goal is that I want to set up a wellbeing centre with my wife – a retreat where you can speak to people about training, nutrition, meditation, movement. We’ve spent a lot of our own lives enquiring into these topics and we’d love to pass on that knowledge and experience to other people someday. Follow Chase at @chase_armitage on Twitter and Instagram Issue 2 2018 | The Vegan 11
Recipes
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Recipes
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Research
Veganism & wellbeing Vegan Society Researcher Dr Lorna Brocksopp explores the link
W
ellbeing. It’s a word that is increasingly on everyone’s lips, but what does it actually mean? Wellbeing is often related to happiness, and there seems to be a growing hunger for a truer, more achievable and sustainable happiness – one that is more than the fleeting instant gratification associated with materialistic pursuits or the addictive ‘like’ on Facebook. It is precisely here, in this more sustainable, quieter, gentler notion of wellbeing that we see connections with the vegan way of life.
What is eudemonia?
What is hedonism?
• Engagement with others – including other animals and the environment • Our relationship with ourselves through personal development, self-care and learning (known as ‘flourishing’) • Expressing gratitude and using our strengths to serve something greater than ourselves (e.g., altruistic behaviours: helping others and showing compassion).
When I first started researching mental health and wellbeing over 20 years ago, I found two overarching concepts of wellbeing enormously helpful. The first sees wellbeing as hedonic (coined by Greek philosopher, Aristippus) and concerns striving for minimum pain and maximum pleasure. This pleasure can be short-lived and involve instant gratification. Hedonic activities include the ‘thrill’ of buying new things, a ‘like’ on social media and various other addictive activities or technologies that all form part of what is known as the “hedonic treadmill,” meaning that the more we have, the more we want. Generally, this type of wellbeing comes from external stimuli (e.g., consumerism, advertising) and although such sources aren’t necessarily a bad thing, they can have negative effects on our spiritual, emotional, physical and social health if this is our only source of wellbeing. 18 The Vegan | Issue 2 2018
This is why, through my own research, I found that there’s a need for balancing the hedonic pursuit of wellbeing with a concept called eudemonia (as explained by Greek philosopher Aristotle and translating as “our true nature”). Eudemonic wellbeing concerns finding meaning and purpose in our day-to-day life and living in accordance with our inner values. We could describe it as “a quiet contentment” or sense of inner, spiritual wellbeing. It is here that I see the natural link with veganism. Eudemonia is about feeling a sense of connectedness with yourself, others and the world around you. This may be achieved through:
It is precisely this type of wellbeing that “Second wave” Positive Psychology now emphasises as the most important path to long-term happiness, and I would tend to agree.
The Self and the Other Although I personally believe there is a natural link between eudemonia and veganism, there is a lack of research and discourse connecting the two fields. Despite the explosion of interest in happiness, compassion, mindfulness and other
Activism
How to avoid activist burnout Advice for taking care of yourself – even while you’re trying to change the world
Y
ou may have heard of activist burnout, which occurs when the work of a social justice campaigner begins to negatively affect their health. This can also be connected to compassion fatigue, a feeling experienced by people who frequently witness pain or suffering, resulting in emotional trauma. As vegans we are susceptible to these types of mental strain, whether we take on too much outreach work or find ourselves spending too long watching disturbing documentaries. But if this rings true for you, don’t worry – there are steps you can take to do your best for animals and care for yourself at the same time.
Find a community A symptom of compassion fatigue can be a sense of isolation – the feeling that you alone care. This can be particularly easy in the vegan community, as we are (for now) very much in the minority. Focus on the fact that there are millions of people all around the world who feel exactly as you do. If you don’t know any vegans in your area, it’s always worth finding out if there is a local group. If you can’t find anything, why not create your own? We can provide help and support along the way. It can also be a great support to speak to other vegans online. There are forums, groups and pages for every subject you can think of. Speaking to like-minded people will help to remind you that you most certainly are not alone – you are an important part of a growing movement for global change. 20 The Vegan | Issue 2 2018
Take a break It is too easy to put yourself second, and this is something which should be avoided. Make some time to do things you love, purely for your own enjoyment. This will give you the much-needed chance to recharge. You can also make the choice to unfollow animal rights accounts on social media that tend to use graphic imagery. As someone who is already aware of the violence of animal product industries, you do not need to continue to subject yourself to viewing it. Similarly, if you often find yourself locked into discussions with unsympathetic non-vegans, it is good to learn how to recognise when a conversation is only serving to upset you, and to shut it down.
Campaigns
Next steps
Vegan food for everyone in Portugal
We’ll be tasking our wonderful network of national campaigners to contact their local Council. Their Councillor can lead by example by addressing their own vegan provision, put pressure on local institutions to improve their vegan offering and even propose a motion to declare support of veganism in their area. Later this year we’ll be working with the International Vegan Rights Alliance to develop a petition to policy makers. We’d like to see legislative change that ensures that across the public services vegans and non-vegans alike can access healthy vegan food. Specialist restaurants and allocated vegan aisles in the supermarkets are not enough – we want to see great vegan catering for everyone!
We want to see vegan food offered to everyone, everywhere across our public services. This might seem like an ambitious goal, but an example of a change in the law in Portugal shows how we can achieve this. While the number of vegans living in Portugal had been increasing, there was little effective protection from discrimination based on their ethical beliefs. This all changed in 2017 with the approval of a ground-breaking law that established mandatory vegan options in all public sector canteens, following a petition effort initiated by the Portuguese Vegetarian Association. The petition was launched in early 2015. Before this, vegans and vegetarians alike were subject to various forms of discrimination such as: • The inexistence and lack of access to vegan food in public institutions • Bullying and psychological abuse relating to their personal beliefs • Exclusion and stigmatisation at work and schools. The petition was promoted through social media and quickly gained a lot of support, amassing over 5000 signatures in just a couple of weeks. By February 2016, it had amassed over 15,000 signatures through some successful campaigning efforts on social networks and with the support of print media, substantially increasing the visibility of the petition. The petition attracted cross-party political support which was one of the keys to getting it into law. Portugal has a ‘People Animals Nature’ party which naturally got on board with the campaign. Despite achieving general consensus among parties in the Portuguese parliament that implementing vegan options across public catering was a good idea, the bill still faced many hurdles on its route to becoming law. Eventually, the law was approved by parliament last March. Portugal had made history, and provided an inspiration to vegans all around the world.
Get involved Visit vegansociety.com/cateringforeveryone to stay up to date, and email campaigns@vegansociety.com with your difficulties and successes.
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Volunteers
Active Vegans Alex Douglas, Volunteering & Engagement Manager The first half of the year always has more going on in terms of events and outreach, but 2018 has been even busier than usual. We’ve been to two shows that have been huge compared to last year, and our volunteers across the country have been attending increasingly more events, which means they are running stalls for us every single weekend. I’ve heard several times that 2018 is going to be the year of veganism, and it’s certainly looking that way so far. If you’d like to run stalls for us in your local area and help people go vegan, email volunteer@vegansociety.com for more info – we’d love to have you on board!
Shetland Vegans In October 2014 we started a Facebook group for Shetland vegans and those interested in veganism. Shetland is a small island in the north of Scotland with a population of about 22,000. The group now has 148 members, but only a small number of those are vegans. Some members occasionally meet up for meals in local restaurants and we have recently had our first potluck, which we plan to do more of in the future. We have also opened a public Facebook page called ‘Vegan - Shetland’ where we share our blog that we fill with informative Q&As from members of the group, along with favourite recipes, tips and vegan resources. There is a handy post showing which restaurants and cafes in Shetland have vegan options. We strive to support vegans and aspiring vegans in Shetland in any way we can. Wills and Yetti 26 The Vegan | Issue 2 2018
Outreach in Eastbourne We ran a Vegan Society stall at Seed Swap in Lewes, which worked really well in this venue. There was a good mix of visitors and a steady stream of people asking questions. Many people were already vegetarian and interested in taking the next step and going vegan. We had a good range of leaflets with information about animals, health and the environment. We also had food samples as they are a good conversation starter and draw people over to the stall initially. A lot of people went away encouraged to do further research. Doing similar events is definitely worthwhile and a great way to get people thinking of that next step to a more compassionate lifestyle. Carol and Evie
Veganise your town If you were following our Vegan on the Go campaign last year, you would have seen that we developed a range of resources to help people make their local area more veganfriendly. Featuring informative leaflets, calling cards and window stickers, we put together hundreds of packs to help you speak to your local independent cafes and restaurants. We’ve heard back from plenty of people who have worked hard to make the campaign a success. Ian Tarplee says, “Thanks for sending out the pack. I am really enjoying having conversations with my local cafe owners and staff. So far, most responses have been very positive.” Ian has spoken to many local business owners, with several adding vegan options and advertising them well. If you would like to get stuck in and help your local area become more vegan, you can request a free pack at vegansociety.com/veganonthego.
Nutrition
Spotlight on iodine & selenium
N
utrients like protein and calcium regularly crop up in conversations about vegan nutrition. You’re probably less likely to find yourself chatting about iodine and selenium, but they’re definitely worth a mention.
Why they’re important Your thyroid gland uses iodine to make hormones that control how fast your cells work, and consuming too much or too little can lead to thyroid disorders. It’s critical to optimise iodine status during pregnancy, breastfeeding and childhood due to the role of this nutrient in brain development. Selenium is part of lots of enzymes, which speed up reactions in your body. It’s important to avoid both dietary deficiency and an excessive intake of selenium. Too much can cause selenosis, and even a mild form of this condition can result in the loss of skin, hair and nails.
Daily targets for UK adults Nutrient
Target(s) in micrograms
Iodine
140 (250 for pregnancy & breastfeeding)
Selenium
60 for women & 75 for men
Iodine and selenium in vegan diets There’s no easy way of establishing exactly how much iodine and selenium you’re getting from your vegan diet as it depends on where the plants were grown. Generally, plant foods provide low amounts of these nutrients, with some exceptions. Seaweed contains a lot of iodine. However, there are some issues to consider: • There is huge variation between different types; the daily upper limit set for iodine can easily be exceeded by eating kelp and others • Some varieties are contaminated. For example, hijiki contains a high level of arsenic
Both spikes and long-term increases in iodine intake have been linked to thyroid problems. Arguably, non-seaweed supplementation is the best way to ensure a reliable intake of iodine. This is why The Vegan Society’s VEG 1 supplement contains iodine. Iodine supplements aren’t suitable for everyone, so it’s a good idea to speak to a health professional before using one. If you don’t want to use an iodine supplement, consuming one and a half to two sheets (4g) of nori might provide the recommended daily intake. However, please note that this option is not advisable during pregnancy, breastfeeding and childhood. Adding iodised salt to your vegan diet is not a good option because of the link between salt and high blood pressure. The selenium content of Brazil nuts is variable, but tends to be high, and eating just two a day might meet your body’s need. Alternatively, you could use a supplement to guarantee a reliable intake. The Vegan Society’s VEG 1 supplement also contains this nutrient.
Take-away tips • Arguably, supplementation is the best way to ensure a reliable iodine intake • If you don’t want to use an iodine supplement, one and a half to two sheets (4g) of nori might provide the recommended daily intake • Eat a couple of Brazil nuts daily or use a supplement to optimise your selenium status If you’re keen to find out more about vegan nutrition, check out the resources at vegansociety.com/nutrition, including the new VNutrition app. Heather Russell Dietitian
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Shoparound
Shoparound
Shop with confidence for products registered with our trusted Vegan Trademark
One Planet Pizza Have you had a chance to grab a slice from One Planet Pizza, the UK’s first 100% vegan frozen pizza company? Choose from their awardwinning range of four pizzas, all registered with the Vegan Trademark. Made fresh in the south of England, they are available in over 180 independent stores from Inverness all the way down to Penzance. Visit oneplanetpizza.com for their interactive stockist map or order online from Alternative stores and TheVeganKind Supermarket.
White Witch Skincare White Witch is an Irish ethical skincare company that makes all of its products from natural, organic ingredients including wildflowers, plants, oats and seaweed sourced from the local coastline. This year, in line with their motto ‘Harm None’ they made the decision to make all their products 100% vegan as well as produced in plasticfree packaging. To see the range and purchase visit whitewitch.ie/shop for Ireland or wearthlondon.com for the UK.
PlantWarrior Plant-Based Protein PlantWarrior Plant-Based Protein powder is a natural, high-quality formula made from rice, pea and hemp protein. Sweetened with stevia and a touch of cocoa for a chocolatey flavour, the formula is suitable for those with gluten allergies and dairy allergies. It benefits from a complete amino acid profile that helps you build muscle with natural results. For every bag sold, PlantWarrior plant a tree. Visit plantwarrior.co for free UK delivery, or worldwide shipping from only £4.99.
Protein Ball Co. Vegan Range Founded by husband and wife team Matt and Hayley Hunt, The Protein Ball Co was born of a need to find healthy, all-natural protein snacks for their family. Their Vegan Trademark-registered flavours include Goji & Coconut, Lemon & Pistachio, Peanut Butter & Jam and Raspberry Brownie: all made with a pea and rice protein blend. They’re also gluten-free, wheat-free, soy-free and without GMOs or added sugars. Find them in many establishments including Holland & Barrett, Planet Organic, online at Ocado or at theproteinballco.com
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Membership
Your views Film recommendation I recently came across a really good quote about vegans in a film that has nothing to do with the cause. The quote is in the 2014 film Time out of Mind, which features Richard Gere (George) and Ben Vereen (Dixon). The film is about homeless people in New York City and their struggles with life. When the two main characters go into a vegan restaurant to use the bathroom facilities, the owner asks them if they want some free food to take away. In response to the offer, Dixon says to George: “Vegans ... Kindest people on the planet. Takes a man who don’t eat animals to treat another human being right.” As I was once homeless myself, and lived in my car for some time due to mental health issues, I find this film really uplifting! Tim Wilkes
Reuniting friends
Older vegans’ experiences
Vegan Society member Albert Kaplan is seeking to contact an old friend, Len Arrownsmith. He can be contacted on albertkaplan@att.net.
Having been active in animal rights issues/ veganism for 35 years, I had to “slacken off” a little. Now in my late 70s, the past few years spent partially in the “other” world of U3A (University of the Third Age) have been sobering to put it mildly. In six years I have only come across one vegetarian. Some of the comments I have received, in some of these groups, have been startling and ignorant. How have other, older vegans fared? Bo Lennox
Sad news Jim Payne, founder of Dolma Vegan Perfumes, sadly passed away in November 2017 at the age of 89. He was a qualified chemist and had been a practising vegan for well over 55 years. Jim started the business in 1982 and showed that it was possible to produce quality fragrances, which could be used with confidence by vegans and vegetarians, without using any substances of animal origin and also being entirely free from animal testing.
Have your say! Write Donald Watson House, 21 Hylton Street, Birmingham, B18 6HJ Email editor@vegansociety.com Facebook /TheVeganSociety Twitter @TheVeganSociety Comments may be edited for publication. 34 The Vegan | Issue 2 2018
Buy online
Buy Online
Books Recipe Book Pack – £10 (RRP £31.39) Vegan: 100 Everyday Recipes 500 Vegan Dishes My Vegan Travels The Vegan Cookbook by Adele McConnell – £7.99 (RRP £9.99) Irresistible plant-based recipes that everyone will love. The Vegan Cookbook isn’t merely about creating great meat-free food. It’s about producing sensational dishes everyone will want to make time and time again. With over 100 delicious recipes, discover how nourishing vegan cooking can be. From simple salads and stews to indulgent desserts and treats, there are easy, satisfying meat- and dairy-free dishes that anyone can enjoy.
Clothing
Offer
We have launched our biggest clothing range to date through ethical manufacturer Teemill, using certified organic cotton in an ethically accredited, renewable energy-powered factory. All products are printed in the UK using self-developed low waste printing technology. Your T-shirt won’t be printed until you place an order, reducing the amount of potentially unsold clothes. Children’s T-shirts are available. The full range can be viewed at vegansociety.teemill.com.
Use the code ISSUE2SHOP2018 for a 10% discount on all accessories and books on our webshop (excluding the recipe book pack and Teemill clothing). Quote the code at checkout or over the phone – 0121 523 1731.
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Show your support for The Vegan Society and purchase our high quality Americano Cups, Pollock Water Bottles and Coffee Mugs. We also offer various designs of badges, colourful wristbands, eye-catching window stickers and handy picnic bags. This offer is for a limited time only and is dependent on stock levels.
Local Contacts
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Local Contacts
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