The Vegan 2024 Issue 1

SANCTUARIES AND SAFARIS

Ethically encountering animals abroad

VEGAN CHINESE RECIPES

For Chinese New Year HEALING THE CLIMATE With Dr Sailesh Rao

Welcome to the first edition of The Vegan for 2024! Our main feature for this issue is by Lauren Taher. Lauren has spent the past year travelling the world, looking for ways to interact with non-human animals in a way that aligns with her ethics.

Just in time for Chinese New Year, we have included three delicious recipes from the beautiful new book Vegan Chinese Food by Yang Liu and Katharina Pinczolits. If you’re looking for inspiration of a different kind, turn to page 17 to read an interview with the climate activist Dr Sailesh Rao.

Our nutrition feature topic was suggested by a reader. Dietitian Andrea Rymer shares tips on how to follow a balanced vegan diet if you have a nut and peanut allergy. As ever, we also have a delicious accompanying recipe.

Dr Jeanette Rowley, expert on veganism and the law, has provided our first Deep Dive article of the year. Jeanette outlines the history of veganism and the law in the UK and explains how pushing for vegan rights can further our cause.

Send your letters, suggestions and comments to editor@vegansociety.com. You could be in with a chance of winning our next Star Letter prize!

Elena Orde, Editor

FROM THE CEO

I hope this edition of our magazine finds you well. 2023 was a successful year for The Vegan Society in terms of campaigns, events, the Vegan Trademark and more. Due to your support as a member, and the hard work of our staff and volunteers, we took steps towards all of our strategic goals, which in turn paves the way to a more vegan world. We are currently compiling Our Impact, our annual publication which analyses the progress we’ve made as an organisation. This will be included with Issue 2 of The Vegan, and I hope you find it inspiring when it arrives.

World Vegan Month in November made a splash, with the relaunch of our Vegan and Thriving campaign. We are gearing up towards The Vegan Society’s 80th anniversary celebrations, which will kick off in November 2024 and run for a full calendar year. There are plenty of exciting plans in the making – please email ceo@vegansociety.com if you would like to share yours with me.

Sustainable Printing

The Vegan Society cares deeply about the future of our planet and all those we share it with. We are committed to operating as a responsible, sustainable organisation which means we are conscious of the social, economic and environmental impact in all that we do. With this in mind, we are very pleased to announce that we work with Seacourt to print and distribute The Vegan Seacourt are the UK’s leading environmental printing company and work closely with their clients to ensure that all material is produced with the lightest environmental footprint possible. In fact:

• Their presses are 100% free from water, alcohol and harmful chemicals

21 Hylton Street, Birmingham, B18 6HJ 0121 523 1730 info@vegansociety.com vegansociety.com

Looking ahead to this year’s activities, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to bring a new campaign to life, which I’m sure will resonate with so many of you. Read more about this in the highlights pages. The Vegan Trademark continues to go from strength to strength, as we make headway in new countries and new industries, always striving to make veganism more easily understood and more accessible for everyone.

All of us were terribly saddened to hear of the death of our Ambassador, Benjamin Zephaniah. We were privileged to have Benjamin support our work at the society for many years. A passionate advocate for the animals, as well as a brilliant poet, writer, musician, actor and broadcaster, his loss will be felt deeply in the vegan community and beyond, and his legacy will continue to inspire for years to come. We will include a more substantial tribute to Benjamin in our next issue.

Thank you for your continuing support as members of The Vegan Society. Our values of compassion, sustainability and health are more important than ever, and we believe we are making a valuable difference in these areas, with your help, every day.

Steve Hamon, CEO

• They use inks that are vegan and free from volatile organic compounds

• They are powered by 100% renewable energy

• They send zero waste to landfill

As a result, they are Net Positive (beyond carbon neutral including the entire supply chain). Every time they produce a piece of print, they take responsibility for more carbon than they are generating – what they call Planet Positive Printing

We hope you enjoy reading this issue, knowing that it has been produced in line with ethical, sustainable principles.

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The views expressed in The Vegan do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or of The Vegan Society Council. Nothing printed should be construed to be The Vegan Society’s policy unless so stated. The society accepts no liability for any matter in the magazine. The acceptance of advertisements (including inserts) does not imply endorsement. Complaints should be made in writing to chair@vegansociety.com or ceo@vegansociety.com or by post. Visit vegansociety.com/complaints-procedure to find out more.

Editor Elena Orde Designer Violeta Pereira Cover image Lauren Taher

Campaigns teasers

Thank you for your support for our campaigns in 2023. You may have seen our health campaign, Vegan and Thriving, shared across social media towards the end of last year. Kicking off in January we will have a billboard for the campaign across high-traffic locations in London, showing a variety of vegans in their happy places and emphasising that anyone can thrive on a plantbased diet. If you spot our billboard, be sure to take a snap and share it with us on social media.

This year we will also be launching our brand-new campaign, Conscious Choices, which will focus on veganism beyond food, encouraging the vegan-curious how to show compassion to animals in all areas of their lives. We will also be rebranding one of our other animal-compassion campaigns, and relaunching Vegan on the Go – so watch this space!

Volunteers

The Community Network volunteers had an outstanding end to 2023. Organiser Chrys McLaren secured a static display at the new Climate Change Centre, St Austell. This will highlight the link between environmental issues and animal agriculture. Thank you, Chrys!

We also held displays in 16 libraries across the UK throughout World Vegan Month, promoting Live Vegan for Less and distributing our three-course festive menu.

Advocate Isla McMorrow spoke to the ’Plant-Based Universities - University of Glasgow’ meetup, highlighting our Catering for Everyone campaign.

The collective work from the Community Network makes a huge difference in our outreach efforts – from writing to MPs, to holding stalls and posting on social media.

Interested in volunteering with us? Email communitynetwork@ vegansociety.com for further details.

Paid opportunity for vegan artists

TheCommunity Network makes a hugedifferenceinour

We are looking for two vegan artists to work with as part of our 80th anniversary celebrations. The first project requires a digital artist for several different designs, which can be completed remotely. The second project requires a graffiti/spray-paint artist for a large-scale mural to be completed in Birmingham. Both artists must be comfortable working within The Vegan Society brand guidelines. To apply, please submit two examples of your work to anniversary@vegansociety.com. The deadline for submissions is 31 March.

Our brand-new campaign, Conscious Choices, which will focus on veganism beyond food

makers. We curated an incredible line-up of speakers to share their insight with attendees, including Fiona Oakes (Vegan Society ambassador and world-recordbreaking athlete), and celebrity entrepreneur Jamie Laing. Our CEO Steve Hamon spoke about the opportunity that the plant-based food sector presents for sustainable growth in the UK, alongside Toni Vernelli from Veganuary. Delicious plantbased samples were provided by some of our trademark holders, including Lola’s Cupcakes, Eat Real and Clive’s Pies, among others.

Engaging politicians

In November, we ran the quarterly All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) meeting on Vegetarianism and Veganism, alongside charity Vegetarian for Life. The aim of the meeting was to facilitate conversations amongst key stakeholders and decision makers to ensure that at least one vegan meal will be guaranteed on every public sector menu in the UK. We highlighted our latest Catering for Everyone report, which shows which councils are meeting their obligations to cater for vegans and which still have work to do. Several key stakeholders presented at the APPG, including several

in Manchester. She attended a Countryside Alliance event looking at the ‘threat posed by vegans and animal rights activists’ to ‘livestock’ farming and other animal industries. Claire questioned the panel on ensuring the coming plant-based diet shift didn’t leave animal farmers behind. Guardian Environment reporter Helena Horton tweeted about the event, mentioning The Vegan Society. It is encouraging to see animal rights issues being addressed on this high-profile platform.

Nutrition highlights

CouncillorRiaPatelspeaking

Earlier this year, dietitian Andrea Rymer delivered a lecture on vegan nutrition and practical kitchen skills to dietetic students at Birmingham City University. She also gave a presentation to the food service, catering and dietetic team at Nottingham hospital, outlining their responsibilities to cater for vegans and giving practical tips and advice about how to do so. Andrea was interviewed on the Veggie Doctor Radio podcast, which you can find on YouTube.

Andrea also appeared on a panel: ‘Human Health is Planet Health: How to Look After Both’ at the Sustainability Show in Manchester, and gave a well-attended talk on raising vegan children at Vegan Camp Out.

at our

In November, we ran the quarterly All-Party Parliamentary Group meeting on Vegetarianism and Veganism

The Vegan Pod

Have you been keeping up with our podcast, The Vegan Pod? A popular recent episode examines the question “has the vegan bubble really burst?” This was in response to news articles towards the end of 2023 stating that interest in veganism is plateauing and sales of vegan products are dropping. Host Rachel New interviewed vegan entrepreneurs Joe Hill and Rik Roberts about the highs and lows of running a vegan business and their insights into the future of veganism.

Other recent episodes include “Should public services provide more vegan options?” and “Should veganism be used as a vehicle for comedy?” A new episode is released every month and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.

Vegan vs plant-based research

One issue the Research Team has been grappling with recently has been that of labelling. The discussion about ‘vegan’ vs ‘plantbased’ as a descriptor for products has been ongoing for a few years now. The latest On the Pulse webinar series, hosted by The Vegan Society to facilitate conversations between academics and those working in and interested in vegan fields, focused on this topic. Dr Jack Waverley, member of The Vegan Society’s Research Advisory Committee and Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester, presented his findings on the vegan vs plant-based debate. Vegan Society members are encouraged to join future On the Pulse events,

(vegansociety.com/on-the-pulse-webinars). Follow our social media channel to stay up to date.

The Research Team also presented to businesses at the Meat Free Strategies conference about our plant-based vs vegan research, and why consumers prefer ‘vegan’ as a label.

The best of the blogs

ur Live Vegan for Less blog series continued into December, with a well-received blog all about saving money in the holiday season with homemade gifts, decorations and cards. We also shared a blog entitled Six Budget Friendly Vegan Snack Recipes, which gained thousands of views.

Our blog ‘Vegan is the new Black!’, shared as part of Black History Month in October, was written by Akil Goin. The piece celebrates Black veganism as a powerhouse in making the movement a fun and compelling one in the news and media.

International Men’s Day takes place on 19 November, and was created to advocate for men’s health, wellbeing and positive value in our society – virtues that align with the ethos of veganism. To highlight the day, we wrote a blog championing several vegan men who demonstrate lifestyles which prioritise health, compassion and environmental sustainability. From the late poet and activist Benjamin Zephaniah to comedian Romesh Ranganathan and athlete Brendon Bale, we sought to highlight the positive masculinity which helps to bring our movement to more people than ever.

AkilGoin

I adore all animals and dreamed of witnessing different species in their natural habitats. I’ve never been a fan of zoos or safari parks.

Lauren meeting the residents of Dogs of Ella sanctuary, Sri Lanka

SANCTUARIES, SAFARIS AND SIGHTINGS

Lauren Taher shares her opinions on how vegans can ethically encounter non-human animals abroad

In January I left my life as a primary school teacher behind and set out to travel the world, carrying just the essentials in a backpack. I was lucky enough to visit some of my bucket list destinations, from Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, New Zealand and Australia to Fiji, Singapore, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bali and South Africa. Phew! I think that’s all of them, but I somehow always manage to forget one.

I adore all animals and dreamed of witnessing different species in their natural habitats. I’ve never been a fan of zoos or safari parks. I know it’s argued that many of them do great conservation work, but watching beautiful creatures living in cages has never sat easy with me.

My trip had been a year in the making, so my very organised brain had planned an itinerary of exciting trips and visits for each destination, scouting out the most scenic and recommended places to visit from my stack of travel guides and piles of travel magazines. I wanted to see as much of the world as possible, whilst visiting the less touristy places. I especially wanted to visit sanctuaries, as I love the idea of meeting like-minded people doing good for animals, rescuing them, caring for them and keeping them safe.

Sanctuary disenchantment

The definition of ‘sanctuary’ is a refuge or place of safety from pursuit, persecution or other danger. When I think of a sanctuary I think of a haven, somewhere calm and free of risk or harm. I think of churches, retreats, of places where I feel relaxed and at peace.

In 2019, before the pandemic, I had visited an elephant sanctuary in Thailand. This sanctuary visit involved learning a little about the elephants, feeding them fruit and washing them in a huge lake. The elephants seemed to be well looked after, but I had fallen into the trap that many tourists do.

Whilst bathing in the lake, I stroked one elephant on the bridge of his trunk. He seemed to have taken a liking to me. But in this magical moment, I looked into his eyes and felt sadness wash over me. I looked around to see people taking selfies and posing with these beautiful creatures, not stopping to think whether they wanted to be here with us. How many times had they submitted to this today? This week? Were they scared? What happened when the tourists left? Were they treated well? Thoughts raced through my mind, and I felt uneasy.

There are some truly wonderful places which are making a difference – it just takes a little extra time and effort to find them.

I tried to ask the individuals working there some of these questions, but because of the language barrier, or because they didn’t want to tell me, I didn’t get an answer. Ultimately, these employees were going to tell me what I wanted to hear because I was the source of their income. It made me question everything I thought I knew about socalled sanctuaries. Although the elephants appeared well, ultimately, they were putting on a show for tourists to turn a profit.

When returning to Thailand this year, I wanted to see if there was some kind of volunteer program available where I could live and work with elephants. I wanted to spend time with the animals in a way that was constructive and helped them – not a mass tourist destination.

I did extensive research and honestly, none seemed ethically viable. Some sanctuaries work with the locals to take care of the elephants, but their movement is still restricted, and they are used for riding. I looked up reviews on Trip Advisor and was shocked by what some travellers had seen – some reporting witnessing elephants chained up and whipped. It was a real eye-opener that companies claiming to be keeping these animals free from harm were taking people’s money and yet, in some cases, treating them appallingly.

Safari

A safari can be defined as an expedition where people can observe free-living animals. Again, as with the term ‘sanctuary’, the word can describe a myriad of experiences, some interfering with the animals’ lives and causing them distress, and some run on much more vegan principles.

During my travels, visiting national parks was an unforgettable experience. It was so easy to jump into an off-road car with an experienced guide and observe animals in the wild. In South Africa, I was lucky enough to see lions, giraffes, elephants, zebras and hyenas to name just a few. I learned so much about the different animals and found it fascinating the way some travelled in packs whilst some preferred to be alone.

I was comfortable that the experiences I had were not distressing the animals I witnessed. We were instructed not to leave the vehicle, and if the guides deemed the animals to be too close by, we would move on so as not to disrupt their day.

On one trip, we saw a lioness with a cut around her neck. The guide explained that she had been caught in a snare left by poachers. He clarified that park rangers do not interfere with the animals if they are injured by each other, as this is part of the natural circle of life. They do intervene, however, if their injuries are caused by humans. The lioness had been set free from the snare by vets and the park rangers who had managed to help her, hence the mark left behind on her neck from the removal of the trap. It was so sad to think that anyone would want to hurt these beautiful animals.

Dogs of Ella

My experiences in Thailand had impacted my view of visiting any more sanctuaries. As there is no legal definition of the word, I was concerned that any place could call themselves

a sanctuary yet not care for the animals they were reportedly looking after.

When enjoying coffee and cake in a little vegan cafe in Ella, Sri Lanka, I saw a sign for a local dog sanctuary. I had a quick Google and saw such positive feedback from tourists that I thought I would look for myself. I paid my bill, feeling content that a proportion of this would be donated to the dogs, before jumping in a tuk-tuk.

Dogs of Ella is a charity that works to get dogs off the streets, caring for them whilst helping them to receive any medical treatment they might need. In Sri Lanka, there are so many stray dogs suffering due to lack of food, being hit by traffic, heat exhaustion, parasite infections and illness. I had already been saddened by the sheer number of dogs I had seen on the streets. I’d spent my evenings distributing crackers, snacks and water to the pups. It wasn’t much, but I just kept thinking that if one pup went to sleep with a full tummy then I had made a difference.

Thankfully, Dogs of Ella was tackling the problem too. They also work with tourists to rehome the pups. Staff explained to me that that often tourists fall in love with one of the dogs and end up adopting them. They showed me their Instagram page, showing dogs who had been rehomed all over the world. It was so lovely to see them in their new homes with their loving families.

Unlike other sanctuaries, Dogs of Ella didn’t charge a fee to visit, despite relying on the money donated by tourists for the treatment and care of the dogs they look after. They asked me to visit their GoFundMe page if I wanted to donate. The lovely staff seemed to care for each dog, knowing each pup's name and personality inside out.

I was surprised that after all the dogs had been through, they were so gentle and excited to spend time with visitors. The second time I went to visit (yes, I went back!), I simply sat on the floor and the dogs lay snoozing around me, popping over for a little bit of fuss and then returning to bask in the sun. Dogs of Ella had restored my faith in sanctuaries.

Dolphin Encounter

One of the most memorable experiences on my travels was swimming with wild dusky dolphins in Kaikoura, New Zealand. I have always wanted to see these beautiful creatures up close but wanted it to be on their terms, not a paid experience where they were enclosed for tourists' amusement.

I was recommended a company called Dolphin Encounter by a like-minded friend who had been on a trip to New Zealand some years ago. The company has a specific dolphin swimming and watching permit issued by the Department of Conservation.

After getting suited and booted in full wetsuits and snorkel gear, we were off to the first dolphin viewing spot. The boat dropped people in the middle of the ocean and the crew explained that the dolphins might come over, but they also might not. They gave us tips to engage with the dolphins, telling us that they loved it if you sang underwater. They also highlighted that we were in their territory, so whilst they might be curious and swim over, we needed to respect their space and not touch them.

After a few minutes of swimming and staring through my goggles, not wanting to blink in case I missed something, the captain said we would move to another spot as there were no dolphins. As I was making my way back to the boat, the crew began to shout and point into the distance. Dozens of dolphins were bouncing out of the water, heading in our direction.

I was a little bit panicked. I was suddenly hit with the realisation that I was in the water with wild dolphins, dolphins who had teeth. But as they got closer, I realised what gentle creatures they were. Dancing around dangling flippers, they were so beautiful and playful. They swam in circles around everyone, diving in and out of the water. I was mesmerised.

After the dolphins moved on, we clambered back onto the boat and were given more opportunities to get in the water in different locations. Each stop was just as magical as the last. On the way back to shore, we saw hundreds more dolphins from the boat while the skippers told us fascinating facts about them.

Protecting turtles

Whilst in Sri Lanka, I also visited a turtle sanctuary. Again, I did extensive research before booking, as I wanted to make sure it wasn’t simply a money-making pool. This sanctuary had a warm vibe, and the gentleman who showed me around was very passionate about looking after the turtles in his care. There were lots of injured turtles being rehabilitated in tanks. Sadly, the most common injuries were due to human activity: many of the turtles had been caught in plastic or bits of fishing net or had digested litter thinking it was food. I was assured that these turtles would only be confined to their tank until they were well enough to be set free into the sea. The sanctuary was also a hatchery, and I was lucky enough to be allowed to watch some of the turtle eggs hatch in the sand. Later that evening, I was invited back to the beach to let some of the older baby turtles into the sea. This was the best time of day to do this due to there being fewer predators. Although the chance of survival for these little guys was low, they were given the best chance to begin their lives. It was surreal to watch the baby turtles racing towards the sea –they clearly knew where they belonged. They were free, like all animals should be.

Recommendations for travellers

My advice to anyone travelling is to do your research before visiting places where there are animals. If you intend to visit sanctuaries, read reviews and ask questions before booking. Support the sanctuaries where the money you donate goes to the upkeep of these animals and not into the owners’ pockets. There are some truly wonderful places which are making a difference – it just takes a little extra time and effort to find them.

I would definitely recommend visiting animals in their natural habitats. Go to national parks, and if you are going to do an organised trip, choose wisely, looking for the companies whose ethos cares for the welfare of animals. If you can leave a review online for places you have visited, this will help inform future travellers, and if you have a positive experience, see if you can stay in touch via social media.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR

To celebrate, here are three flavour-packed recipes from the wonderful new book Vegan Chinese Food by Yang Liu

SWEET AND SOUR TOFU

Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

500 g firm tofu, diced into 2 cm cubes

80 g cornflour (cornstarch), plus 1 tsp extra

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp Chinese dark vinegar or rice vinegar

80 g tomato sauce (ketchup)

120 ml rapeseed oil

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 spring onion, finely sliced

Heat a wok or frying pan over a medium–high heat. Once hot, add 90 ml of the oil. Add the tofu and pan-fry on all sides until golden and crispy, then take it out. Note, the tofu dice might stick together. Just separate them carefully with a spatula or chopsticks when pan-frying. Add the remaining oil and the garlic and stir for 30 seconds, then return the tofu to the wok and add the soy sauce mixture. Let it cook for a few minutes until the sauce has reduced by two-thirds and the remaining sauce has thickened, then add the spring onion before serving. Serves

Sweet and sour dishes are popular in many southern regions of China. In contrast to many other savoury and spicy tofu dishes, the tofu in this recipe is first pan-fried until it is crispy, then cooked in the sweet-sour sauce until tender. After cooking, the tofu becomes very succulent and moreish.

Directions

Coat the tofu in the 80 g cornflour. In a bowl, mix together the sugar, salt, soy sauce, Chinese dark vinegar, tomato sauce, remaining tsp of cornflour and 100 ml water.

DI SAN XIAN

地三鮮

Prep time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

500 g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into medium chunks

300 g aubergine, cut into chunks

3 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp vegan oyster sauce*

½ tsp sugar

½ tsp cornflour

150 ml rapeseed oil, plus extra if needed

200 g green bell pepper, cut into short lengths

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1/2 onion, cut into short lengths

1 spring onion, sliced

*Vegan oyster sauce can be found online or in specialist vegan stores. Alternatively, you can replace it with miso paste or mushroom stock.

Dì san xian is the most popular vegetable dish from the northeast of China. The name roughly translates to ‘three delicacies from the earth’ because it consists of three key ingredients: aubergine, potato and sweet peppers.

Directions

Fill a saucepan with hot water and place a steam rack in the pot. The water level should not be higher than the steam rack. You can use a sieve or colander if you don’t have a steam rack. Place the potato on the steam rack, cover with a lid and let it steam over a high heat for 12 minutes, then remove. Add the aubergine, cover with a lid and steam for 3 minutes.

In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, vegan oyster sauce, sugar and cornflour with 1 tbsp water.

Heat a wok over a medium–high heat and, once hot, add the oil and pan-fry the potatoes until golden and crispy on the outside, then remove. Pan-fry the aubergine until it’s cooked and a bit brown on the outside, then take it out. Add the pepper and fry for about 1 minute until it is a bit cooked and wrinkly on the outside. Remove and set aside.

Add a bit more oil to the wok if necessary, then add the garlic and stirfry for 15 seconds before adding the onion and frying for 30 seconds. Add the potato, aubergine and pepper, and stir-fry for another minute. Add the sauce, and cook for another 3–5 minutes until most of the sauce has evaporated. Add the spring onion and serve.

Ingredients

120 g glutinous rice flour

75 ml hot water

3 ripe mangoes

180 ml plant-based milk

MANGO STICKY RICE BALLS

多芒小丸子

Prep time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes

Mango sticky rice balls is a very popular dessert from Hong Kong. The fresh mango, the smooth coconut milk and the slightly chewy sticky rice balls make this a delicious and refreshing dessert. With only four ingredients and with no added sugar, it is easy to make and suits a variety

Mix the glutinous rice flour with the hot water, stirring everything together well with a spoon or chopsticks. After it has cooled down a little, knead it into a dough. Prepare a bowl of iced water. Take a little of the dough at a time and roll it into a small ball. Or take a bigger piece of dough, roll it into a long rope and cut it into equal pieces then roll those pieces into balls. You can make them bigger or smaller depending on your preference.

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the rice balls, stirring regularly to prevent them sticking to the pan. They are cooked when they oat to the surface. If the balls are about the size of tapioca pearls, they take about 3 minutes, but if they’re larger they’ll take a little longer. Remove with a sieve and immediately plunge into the iced water.

Peel the mangoes and cut the flesh into dice. Purée half of the dice with the plant-based milk in a blender. Divide the mango purée, rice balls and mango dice evenly between two serving

Vegan Chinese Food by Yang Liu (Hardie Grant, £24), Photography© Katharina Pinczolits

I realised I had just made a very serious promise to a little girl on behalf of my generation.

Dr Sailesh Rao and his granddaughter Kimaya

BECOMING CLIMATE HEALERS

Environmental activist Dr Sailesh Rao talks to Elena Orde about tackling the climate emergency and the important promise he made to his granddaughter

How did you first become involved in climate activism? It’s a very different direction to your early career.

It is! I was working as an electrical engineer to improve internet connection speed. One day I came home and saw Al Gore talking on the TV about climate change and global warming. This was in 2005 before his movie The Inconvenient Truth came out.

I was so shocked by what he was saying. I said to my wife, “If half of what he’s saying is true, I’m wasting my time.” She said if I thought it was important, I should look into it. I did, and within a month or so, I told her that it was far worse than I’d thought. I said, “We have to close our company and focus on this full time.” And that’s what we decided to do.

I wrote to Al Gore in 2006 and asked how I could help. He suggested I come to Tennessee and get trained by him. I did that and then spent some time giving his talk to different groups around America. After a year, I realised that to really address this problem we have to look at it from a holistic perspective, not just as an energy issue. And so, I started my non-profit organisation Climate Healers.

Tell me about the work of Climate Healers.

The objective of the organisation is to reverse climate change. Everything we do is towards the greatest transformation in human history. We need to go from a climate heating civilisation to a climate healing civilisation. Our climate heating civilisation has successfully prevented the Earth from ever going back to the Ice Age again. So, we can actually congratulate ourselves for that. But now we have gone too far – we are overheating it. We need to bring the temperature back to a stable point and leave it there for our children and grandchildren. That is the harmonising phase.

What is needed to get us to this harmonising phase? It requires us to pretty much do the exact opposite of everything we’ve been doing so far. Right now, our routine lives are heating the planet. We need to get to a stage where

our routine lives are cooling it. It’s a cultural and spiritual reversal. We have to go from a species that is separated from nature, to a species that is connected with nature. We need to reverse the ego hierarchy – we think we’re the smartest of all the species, and men think they’re smarter than women. We need to reverse that hierarchy, which means men at the bottom and we’re here to serve the women, serve the children, serve the animals. I call this the ‘server phase’. From here we can reach the harmonising phase, where everyone is equal.

At Climate Healers we have several strategic actions we’re working towards. One is education. Another is policy changes that we advocate for at the UN. We want the UN to drop goal number eight from the sustainable development goals and replace it with a new goal. Goal number eight is ‘economic growth’. To me that is a Trojan horse. It’s not supposed to be there because if you meet the other goals – no poverty, zero hunger, good health and wellbeing, no one really cares that the economy is growing, right? So why is it there? It’s put there for everybody to pretend to meet all the goals by just growing their economy. We want to replace this goal with a new one – zero animal exploitation.

An important part of your work is a promise you made to your granddaughter Kimaya. How did this come about?

big trouble. And she made me pinkie promise with her. She went to sleep, and I realised I had just made a very serious promise to a little girl on behalf of my generation. At first, I thought, who am I to make this promise? But then I realised that to solve any problem, the first person you need to get involved is a systems engineer – which is me. And, as a generation, we have to report to the younger generation. Since that day, I’ve seen Kimaya as my boss.

How can we strike a balance between the responsibility of individuals and the responsibility of corporations and governments?

Individuals now have to consciously take care of their own health and that of the planet. No one else is going to do that for us. There are temptations that corporations will throw at us, because they’re all trying to grow. We need to grow first as individuals where we consciously decide to heal ourselves. It’s like the oxygen mask rule – you have to fit your own mask before helping others. And as we start changing, the corporations will change with us, and the government will change with us. We cannot expect change to happen top down. It is a complex nonlinear transformation, but it starts with the grassroots.

Go beyond being vegan. Try to spread veganism as much as possible.

I looked at the leading indicators of how soon we have to make this transformation happen. A leading indicator is loss of biodiversity – how fast we are losing animal species. Between 1970 and 2010 we wiped out 52% of wild animals on the planet in terms of total weight. That is on top of 60% of wild animals that had been lost between 10,000 years ago and 1970. I took this information and extrapolated it, assuming that we were killing wild animals in proportion to the size of the economy. By following the extrapolation, we were on track to lose 100% of wild animals by 2026.

That evening I was reading my granddaughter a story in bed. At the end of the story, she asked me, “Grandpa, who were the first human beings?” I said, “Imagine that you're standing on the street and you're holding your Mama by your hand. And you ask Mama to bring her Mama to stand by her side and so on. So, you have created a long line of mothers on this side of the street and on the other side of the street you ask the chimpanzee to do the same thing with her mother and her grandmother and so on. By the time these two lines go from Phoenix to Tucson, it's about 180 kilometres or so. They will merge because both lines are going to say that's my Mama too.”

Immediately she sat up in bed. She said, “Are you telling me that animals are my family? So why are people eating my family? Grandpa, make them stop.” I was trying to console her, and I said, “Kimaya, it’s my job to make them stop.” Her eyes went wide, and she said, “This is your job? You know you haven’t done your job?” She shook her finger in my face and said, “Do your job! When will you do your job?” And I blurted out that I’d better do it by 2026, otherwise we’re all in

What projects or plans do you have coming up?

We are focusing on a project called Food Healers. We want healthy food to be freely available to every human being on the planet. Zero hunger, and good health and wellbeing, are UN goals. If we want to meet these goals, we need to make healthy food freely available to everyone.

With Food Healers we are teaming up with other organisations to make whole food, plant-based meals available to everyone. Anyone who wants to eat unhealthy food would need to pay for it, but healthy meals should be free. That will make health the default for humanity.

There are good people everywhere. We are creating a network of those people, from cooks to people who have kitchens and utilities, to volunteers to distribute the food. We have to recreate what McDonald’s have done, but with free, healthy food.

What message would you like to share with our readers?

Go beyond being vegan. Try to spread veganism as much as possible. We need to share the message that all animals are fellow passengers on spaceship Earth, and they have a right to live without interference from human beings.

I would also suggest joining reforestation efforts and helping to bring back the native forests and native wild animals to your local area. If we restore native ecosystems on all the current grazing lands of the world, I know we can completely reverse climate change.

Visit climatehealers.org to learn more.

Wanted

Looking for a simple way to live

Hello, I've been an ethical vegan for thirty years and been involved voluntarily with animal rescues, campaigning, community coops and eco-projects. I'm looking for a quiet, small secluded plot/eco structure/caravan/ barn/out-house/boat or tiny house, preferably in the south west.

Willing to do some part-time ethical work in lieu and/or as well as pay some rental, maximum £200pm. Trustworthy, respectful, multi-skilled, independent and discrete.

Can we help each other?

References, deposit, etc available. Happy to answer any questions you may have - Please contact me: Debbie, 07933 896718

,

VOLUNTEER OF THE SEASON

Meet Sarah,

a

fantastic volunteer helping out with a wide variety of tasks

Tell us about your volunteer role

Part of my role involves packaging and distributing leaflets which have been requested for stalls and outreach. I find it really satisfying to be involved in spreading great educational material, while spending time with others working for important goals and never having to navigate ham sandwiches in the fridge.

Recently I’ve started organising and archiving an assortment of physical materials from The Vegan Society’s history. 1940s editions of The Vegan are straightforward to file logically; Donald Watson’s hat and stick less so. It’s fascinating dipping into the vegan discourse of yesteryear – some recipes I’ve found are a little dated, but most writings are amazingly prescient and demand profound respect for pioneering vegans.

Tell us about your career

I recently retired after a 32-year career as an NHS GP. I felt burned out, but wanted to keep working on stuff that matters. For me, that’s become promoting the vegan message. I used to describe my motivations for vegetarianism as concern for animals and climate. Ditching eggs and dairy to further shrink my carbon footprint, I learned more about those industries and was appalled by my previous complacency and lack of curiosity. I proceeded to embrace my new identity (pesky vegan with an actual medical degree), upskilled myself in nutritional science, and of course, scoured the internet for amusing vegan memes.

Inadequate promotion of healthy plant-based diets is a huge missed opportunity to improve health. Diving into the evidence for a wholefood plant-based diet to maintain health and treat disease made me passionate about spreading the message to health professionals like my former self. I shamefully recall immediately interrogating anyone with low serum B12, ‘So are you vegan?’ They never were. Vegans

tend to be aware of B12 needs and address them, yet doctors rarely scrutinise adequacy of omnivorous diets.

Have you done any other volunteering?

After years of despondency about the state of our world, in 2019 I jumped into activism, discovering the empowering and healing potential of direct action. Political progress on climate and environment remains glacially slow, but animal rights has become the space where I feel happiest and most hopeful because I see attitudes shifting. Whether on a supermarket sit-in, blocking a dairy distribution centre or doing street outreach, I’m unfailingly energised by support from likeminded activist friends and the high when a non-vegan suddenly makes the connection and alters their mindset.

I recently trained as an Animal Aid secondary school speaker, and I’m nervously preparing for my debut presentations on veganism and animal rights. I’ve been invited into our city council ‘Food Strategy’ space by hassling at council meetings about plant-based catering. This won’t be a quick win, but I’ll keep prodding! I also volunteer for Birmingham Green Party, a local food waste project and a befriending scheme for young unaccompanied asylum seekers.

What are you passionate about outside of veganism?

Running is key to my health, happiness and stress management. I’m a keen member of Vegan Runners – now the largest club represented nationally at weekly Parkruns. Creaky knees now preclude marathons and fast times, but I can still enjoy passing someone shocked when overtaken by a middle-aged woman in Vegan Runners kit who doesn’t immediately collapse from protein deficiency.

I value simple pleasures: eating, walking, talking and just being with my pack – my close family and barmy dogs who tolerate my idiosyncrasies, and amazingly, love me back.

VEGAN VEGAN

is here to support you.

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Shop with confidence for products registered with the trusted Vegan Trademark

Cats and the City Tofu Cat Litter

Cats and the City’s Tofu Cat Litter is a low-tracking, dust-free litter with odourneutralising qualities to help keep your living space clean and fresh. The easy clumping and high absorbency of the litter also make cleaning it effortless. Made with biodegradable ingredients and recyclable packaging, it is kinder to the planet too. They are gently scented with three options to choose from: charcoal, green tea and milk, and all are Vegan Trademark certified. Available at catsandthecity.co.uk

Each ingredient in Anara Skincare’s Vegan Trademark-certified range works in harmony to help with the well-ageing process. The range is made in England and is designed for all skin types, to deliver a luxurious sensory experience. Each product is multi-use and suitable to use around your delicate eye area, your face and neck. Available at anaraskincare.com

Lavender and Lemon Cleaning Products

Lavender and Lemon offer home cleaning products that are made with organic, biodegradable ingredients. The products are Cosmos and EcoCert approved and free from phthalates, synthetic fragrance and harmful chemicals. They also come packaged in stylish, refillable aluminium bottles. Lavender and Lemon’s Vegan Trademarked products include an All-Purpose Cleaner, Cleaning Powder, Gentle Laundry Detergent, Toilet Cleaning Tablets and Washing Up Liquid. Available at lavenderlemon.co.uk

Sweet Freedom Barista Coffee Syrups

Elevate your coffee through the cold winter months with Sweet Freedom’s Barista Coffee Syrups. Available in convenient 250 ml and one litre bottles, they come in hazelnut, vanilla and caramel flavours. Like Sweet Freedom’s other syrups and spreads, the coffee syrups are sweetened with fruit instead of refined sugar or artificial sweeteners. Available at sweetfreedom.co.uk – use the code VEGANSOCIETY15 for 15% off until 29 Feb.

T&Cs: not to be used in conjunction with other offers, one use per person, excludes merch and supersize products.

Anara Skincare

Raw Halo Truffle Centres

Natural Soul Skincare

Natural Soul is a skincare brand that has been specially developed with essential oils for those who prefer more natural skincare. The Vegan Trademark-certified range is handmade with ingredients that have been sourced from around the globe and combines Eastern and Western beauty knowledge. Suitable for all genders, the products are multi-functional and do not contain any parabens or preservatives. With sustainability in mind, Natural Soul Skincare use recyclable and reusable packaging materials. Available at naturalsoulskincare.co.uk

Raw Halo have launched two new chocolate bars: Mylk & Hazelnut Truffle Centres and Dark & Salted Almond Truffle Centres. Raw Halo make Organic Farmers and Growers-certified chocolate with ingredients from small organic farms in a social enterprise chocolate factory and use plastic free, recyclable wrapping. As well as being vegan, these soft truffle centre bars are dairy free, sweetened with coconut sugar – and their largest bars yet! Glowing with good vibes, they’re perfect for a little everyday luxury. Available at rawhalo.com, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Holland & Barrett, Abel & Cole, Planet Organic and more.

Bumboo Toilet Paper

Curl Jar Curl Activator

Curl Jar’s Vegan Trademark-certified Curl Activator is a styling solution and light conditioning treatment that helps enhance natural curl patterns for wavy, curly and coily hair. It’s suitable for sensitive scalps and contains 91% natural ingredients, including cold pressed tamanu oil. The medium hold and detangle formulation help make styling your waves, curls and coils easier. Available at curljar.com

Bumboo’s soft, three-ply toilet paper made from bamboo is a vegan, sustainable swap to introduce to your home. Each purchase not only ensures comfort but also actively combats deforestation. Bumboo plant a tree for every box purchased, by working with Eden Reforestation Projects who help communities devastated by deforestation to restore forests and their livelihoods. Available at bumboo.eco

MEMBERSHIP

Letters

Star Letter

I recently went into a bakery and enquired if any of the cakes were vegan. The owner promptly pointed out 75% of the offerings were suitable. I asked why they were not labelled as such. She replied, "We don't sell them if we do". This was not the first time I had experienced this.

I feel that the word ‘vegan’ has negative connotations with the wider population. ‘Plant-based’ is more accepted but is only about diet, not clothing, cleaning and beauty products.

In the meantime, we can smile at all those eating delicious vegan cakes without them even knowing it. A few more cows and chickens saved.

By Rob Leake

Congratulations to Rob, who has won a £50 voucher from sustainable lifestyle online shop Veo (veo.world). Next issue’s winner will receive a set of Alexandra Kay Me Time Scents (worth £45) from Green People). Send your letters to editor@vegansociety.com or our usual postal address.

Companion animal diets

For years, I have often referred to humans as ‘paradox monkeys’. Paradoxically the most and least intelligent animals to walk the Earth. Capable of amazing achievements and sometimes incredible kindness and consideration, but tragically usually living cruel and destructive lives.

Vegans give me hope. Especially the ones who bother to learn that even their beloved cats and dogs can thrive on a plant-based diet. Humans created domestic cats and dogs. The least we can do is feed them in a way that helps to give them healthy lives without exploiting and murdering other innocent animals. Dogs are omnivores and obviously thrive on a plant-based diet. Cats can be given food with synthetic B12 in it, in preference to feeding them the waste of the repugnant 'meat' industry which itself often gives synthetic B12 to their many 'farm' animal victims. Why support the 'meat' industry when cats can also thrive on a plant-based diet?

We all get to choose to be either incredibly kind or incredibly cruel. There is no in-between. What do you want your legacy to be?

By Coleen

Visit vegansociety.com/news/blog/vegan-animal-dietsfacts-and-myths to read a blog by Dr Andrew Knight on vegan companion animal diets.

Membership News Events

The Supporter Services team attended VegFestUK London in November. The team enjoyed speaking to the public and raising awareness of the society by talking about our work and promoting our new merchandise and our multivitamin VEG 1.

80th anniversary celebrations ahead

2024 is a big year for The Vegan Society with our 80th anniversary celebrations starting in November. As part of this, look out for some membership-themed offers and blogs later this year.

Discounts

In return for becoming a member at The Vegan Society and supporting our work and campaigns, we offer 10% off our multivitamin VEG 1 and over 100 third-party discounts. This includes the ever-popular 10% off at Holland & Barrett, which you can claim by showing your membership card in-store or using code vegan10 online.

• Treat yourself or a friend to three issues of Vegan Food and Living for £2.99

• Choose plastic-free solid skincare formulations with 20% off at SBTRCT skincare

• Stock up on healthy snacks with 10% off at Wallaroo and 20% off at Brave Foods

All member discounts can be found in The Members’ Area of our website. Please contact us through membership@vegansociety.com if you have any problems accessing your account.

Do you have any ideas on how we can improve the discount list? Contact us at discount@vegansociety.com or on 0121 523 1730.

Members’ Roundup

Have you signed up for our monthly Members’ Newsletter yet? The newsletter allows our members to keep updated with society campaigns, research, media news, member-

exclusive competitions and discounts. Recent memberexclusive competitions have featured a selection of books such as Thing: Inside the Struggle for Animal Personhood, Easy Vegan Christmas and Plant Milk Power, as well as an aromatherapy gift set from The Little Peace Company and a box of Roly's Fudge. Contact membership@vegansociety. com if you would like to sign up for the Members’ Newsletter.

Annual General Meeting 2024

The 2024 AGM will be held on Saturday 18 May 2024 at 1pm. The meeting will only be held online.

Election of Council members

Applications for membership of the governing Council (board of directors) of The Vegan Society are invited by Wednesday 1 March. The role is voluntary, but reasonable expenses can be claimed.

Key qualities for all trustees are commitment, enthusiasm and the ability to consider issues thoughtfully, communicate effectively and work well with others. To ensure effectiveness and diversity, members from a wide range of backgrounds and with a broad base of skills and experience are sought. Experience in finance/accounting, audit/risk management, charity law or acting as Treasurer are particularly welcome.

Currently, the time commitment is monthly meetings usually lasting three hours. However, this may change if it's deemed sensible to return to office meetings which would be less frequent but longer. Training would be approximately 1.5 days per year. Emails may at times take a few hours per week, particularly in the approach to a Council meeting or AGM.

Candidates must have been full members of the society for at least a year and be aged 16 or over on the date of appointment. Candidates should support the society’s objectives and mission (vegansociety.com/vision-andmission) and be committed to a vegan lifestyle.

For a candidate pack or further information about becoming a trustee, please contact the CEO (ceo@vegansociety.com) and Council Secretary (council.secretary@vegansociety.com) by email or by post (Donald Watson House, 21 Hylton Street, Birmingham, B18 6HJ). Visit vegansociety.com/candidate-pack to download the candidate pack.

NUT ALLERGIES

As the name suggests, tree nuts grow on trees and there are eight types: almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, Macadamia nuts, pecan nuts, pistachios, shea nuts and walnuts.

Peanuts share a similar protein to tree nuts, and although not automatic, it isn’t uncommon for someone to be allergic to tree nuts and peanuts. This is known as cross-reactivity, and those with an allergy to peanuts and/or tree nuts also have an increased risk of an allergy to sesame, with the addition of lupin (another type of legume) for those with peanut allergies.

Other foods that may be mistaken for nuts include coconut, nutmeg, water chestnuts and butternut squash, but these are perfectly fine for those with nut allergies.

Food labelling

If you do have an allergy it’s important to read food labels carefully and recognise the difference between ‘may contain’ and ‘free-from’ standards. Despite Brexit, the UK still follows EU food labelling legislation regarding the 14 most common allergens, which include tree nuts and peanuts. This means the allergen must be emphasised in the ingredients list, for example in bold or capitalised text. Food labels outside of the EU will differ so it’s important to check ingredients carefully.

As well as allergens highlighted in ingredients lists, there may be other precautionary labels stating ‘may contain nuts’, ‘made in a factory that produces foods containing nuts’ or something along those lines.

There isn’t a law to recommend precautionary labelling, meaning there is variation between products, but dry foods such as cereals, biscuits and chocolate are at more risk of cross-contamination with allergens during production over other foods. The safest bet for people with allergies is to avoid products that ‘may contain’ the specific allergen.

Allergic reactions

Signs and symptoms may differ for individuals with allergies to peanuts and/or tree nuts, with the most severe reaction

being anaphylaxis, which can be fatal. Most reactions will be mild to moderate and include itching, swelling, skin rashes, nausea and diarrhoea.

Peanuts and children

A common concern when raising children is how to safely expose them to common allergens, including peanuts. Infants with eczema and/or an egg allergy are more likely to develop a peanut allergy, and it is thought that early introduction can support the immune system's ability to tolerate the protein. It is therefore recommended to introduce peanuts in the form of smooth peanut butter at the time solid foods are introduced (around six months). A consistent exposure to peanuts is thought to maintain tolerance, so continuing to offer 1–2 teaspoons two to three times a week is ideal.

Nutritional profile of nuts

Some tree nuts and peanuts can be good sources of protein, iron and zinc, but these nutrients can easily be replaced by including other quality sources of protein in meals and as snacks. Options include kidney beans, pumpkin seeds, chickpeas and lentils.

Selenium is a nutrient deserving attention in vegan diets. Brazil nuts are a rich source of selenium, therefore supplementation should be considered, especially for those avoiding nuts.

Tree nuts and peanuts can provide a great source of healthy fats, and walnuts are particularly rich in essential omega-3 fats. Vegans avoiding nuts can get enough healthy fats from avocado and small amounts of rapeseed or vegetable oil, as well as chia seeds, ground linseed (flaxseed) and hemp seeds.

Eating out

Food businesses are required by EU law to provide allergen information. To avoid disappointment, those with nut allergies may wish to call places before visiting to make sure they are catered for. Allergen cards are available in a number of languages from Allergy UK, which can save time explaining allergies and allows the establishment to understand the seriousness.

If you are cooking for a friend with a nut allergy, it is

important to follow food safety guidelines to minimise crosscontamination risk. Check the severity of your friend’s allergy, as tiny traces of tree nut and peanut proteins can cause an allergic reaction in some who are more sensitive. Ensure that all work surfaces and chopping boards are well cleaned using hot, soapy water, and use separate containers and thoroughly cleaned utensils.

Practical tips for vegans with nut allergies

Nuts can be an ideal snack when on the go, and many supermarket snack pots and bars regularly feature a variety of peanuts and tree nuts. You can make your own crunchy snacks by adding your favourite seasoning to cooked edamame beans or chickpeas and air frying or roasting them in the oven. Toasted seeds such as pumpkin and sunflower seeds as well as puffed rice or quinoa and oats are perfect ingredients to have a dab at making your own snack bar. Check out the recipe on the next page for inspiration.

Cashew cream sauce is a firm favourite for vegan recipe creators. A nut allergy doesn’t mean you have to miss out on this creamy goodness, as sunflower seeds make a fantastic replacement. You can also blend tofu with a nut-free plantbased milk for similar consistency, adding nutritional yeast for that cheesy, nutty flavour we all crave (bonus nutrients if you opt for fortified nooch!)

For those with nut allergies, spreads such as hummus, refried beans and lentil pâtés are good alternatives to nut butters and can be simple and affordable to make at home.

If you suspect you have a food allergy, it is important to speak to your doctor for specialist support. Your doctor can refer you to a dietitian that specialises in the diagnosis and management of food allergies safely, ensuring you aren’t cutting out foods unnecessarily and that you are getting a balanced diet.

Thank you to the person who suggested this topic in our latest readership survey. If there is a topic you would like us to cover in a future nutrition feature, please email editor@vegansociety.com or contact us on any of our usual channels.

NUT-FREE CEREAL BARS serves 10

Ingredients

100 g Medjool dates

50 g vegan margarine

150 g porridge oats

30 g sunflower seeds

30 g pumpkin seeds

30 g whole linseeds

30 g desiccated coconut

50 g dark chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

2. Soak the dates in hot water for 30 minutes, or boil them for 10–15 minutes.

3. Melt the vegan margarine, and add the drained dates and melted margarine to a food processor.

4. Blend the mixture until a smooth paste is formed.

5. Add the oats, seeds and desiccated coconut, and mix it all together.

6. Line a baking tray with parchment paper, and spread the mixture onto it. You want it to be around 1.5 cm thick.

7. Bake this for 20 minutes before removing it from the oven and leaving it to cool.

8. Melt the dark chocolate in an ovenproof bowl over a pan of boiling water.

9. Drizzle this over the seeded tray bake, and place the tray in the freezer for at least an hour to set.

10. Remove the tray from the freezer, cut the bars into 10 generous portions and store them in an airtight container in the fridge.

Article and recipe by Andrea Rymer, Dietitian

Photography by Hannah Hossack-Lodge

We have made huge progress since the start of the campaign around thirteen years ago. Grounded by research and professional legal activism, vegans are now protected under the domestic law of the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany, and we have been able to influence policy across both the public and private sectors, in consumer contexts, education and in employment.

VEGANISM AND THE LAW

Dr Jeanette Rowley outlines the legal rights of vegans in the UK,

and how the law can be used to advance our cause

Just over a decade ago, I started promoting the fact that vegans had protection under human rights law and had been protected since 1993. I founded the International Vegan Rights Alliance to bring together a worldwide network of vegan lawyers, legal academics and other professional supporters to research law and veganism and to raise the profile of veganism in law, protect vegans from unfair treatment and discrimination and use law to help bring about changes in policies and practices to support the campaign for animal rights.

We have made huge progress since the start of the campaign around thirteen years ago. Grounded by research and professional legal activism, vegans are now protected under the domestic law of the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany, and we have been able to influence policy across both the public and private sectors, in consumer contexts, education and in employment.

Why do vegans need the protection of law?

Our advocacy work shows that some vegans experience unfair treatment as consumers of goods and services, in education and in employment.

As consumers, vegans have had their food intentionally spiked with non-vegan ingredients. They have been verbally abused, treated with hostility by restaurant staff and directly discriminated against when trying to book a holiday. Some vegans in hospitals and prisons tell us that they are not being treated with respect and have had to make formal complaints about the lack of vegan food. Vegans asking for information about vegan alternative medications have been met with a dismissive attitude.

In education, vegan pupils have been bullied due to their beliefs. They have been told not to talk about veganism in class discussions about dairy farming. Parents have been told that they cannot have an ‘authorised absence’ to give their vegan children an alternative educational experience when the school has arranged for a non-inclusive trip to a zoo or an aquarium. Parents of vegan children sometimes struggle to obtain vegan food in school, and the vegan menu provided for vegan children sometimes does not meet the school food standards.

Vegans in the workplace are often the target of jokes and

‘banter’ that goes beyond a reasonable threshold. Vegans have been ‘required’ to attend horse racing events to entertain clients and team building meetings in similar noninclusive environments, such as ‘hog roasts’. Vegans explain to us the harassment they endure, and some have been told to find alternative employment and have even had their employment contract terminated.

Our rights and advocacy work supports all vegans experiencing unfair treatment, and I process over 300 complaints and queries from vegans every year.

The laws that protect vegans

Human rights law

The primary source of legal protection for vegans is the human right to freedom of conscience. The origin of this right is Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.¹ The long, formal title is the ‘human right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion’, but it is commonly shortened to ‘freedom of conscience’ or ‘freedom of belief’. In Europe, this right is given legal effect in Article 9 of the Convention and in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights² outside of Europe.

In the UK, the rights granted by the Convention are given legal effect in the Human Rights Act 1998. Under this legislation, public bodies must not act in a way that contravenes the rights granted by the Convention. The right to freedom of conscience grants everyone the absolute right to hold beliefs of choice. Nothing and nobody can force an individual to change their beliefs. However, the practice of the right to freedom of conscience can be limited, but only if a law that is required for a good reason exists.

equipment and food.

I also identified that under human rights law, vegan parents are entitled to respect for their moral convictions in the education of their children, and schools are required to teach the curriculum in a ‘critical’, ‘plural’ and ‘objective’ way. This is important when we consider educational activities such as chick hatching and visits to farms because in the absence of a vegan perspective, it is biased activity.

Equality law

Under human rights law, everyone has the right to equal treatment. In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 gives effect to this principle and prohibits discrimination against people with protected characteristics. The UK’s equality law is partly grounded by European directives which are separate to the requirements of the Convention, but the legal test for protection for ‘religion or belief’ in the UK is derived from the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The legal test employment tribunals use to assess whether an applicant has a ’qualifying’ belief states that:

Our rights and advocacy work supports all vegans experiencing unfair treatment, and I process over 300 complaints and queries from vegans every year.

• The belief must be genuinely held.

• It must be a belief and not an opinion or viewpoint based on the present state of information available.

• It must be a belief as to a weighty and substantial aspect of human life and behaviour.

• It must attain a certain level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance.

• It must be worthy of respect in a democratic society, be not incompatible with human dignity and not conflict with the fundamental rights of others.

The Commission of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) found in 1993 that veganism is protected under the right to freedom of conscience. This case concerned a vegan prisoner in the UK who argued that a requirement for them to work with dyes in the prison print shop contravened their right to freedom of conscience because the dyes were tested on non-human animals.³ Although the court found that vegans can be protected under the right to freedom of conscience, it felt that if there was any interference with the prisoner’s veganism in this case, it was proportional to the prison achieving a legitimate aim and so the prisoner was still required to work in the prison print shop.

The human right to freedom of conscience is considered to be a primary human right. In fact, it is so important that it is given special prominence in the Human Rights Act 1998. Public bodies such as schools, hospitals, the care sector, prisons or police services in relationships with vegans must consider and do everything they can to accommodate the needs of vegans. This is important in relation to, for example, the provision of uniform items, personal protective

It is easy to see how veganism meets this legal test, and its application to a case brought to an employment tribunal in 2020 confirmed that veganism was a protected belief in the category ‘religion or belief’.⁴

In 2022, an employment tribunal in Scotland heard that an employee’s line manager made jokes and laughed about her veganism, waved meat close to the vegan’s face and encouraged her to handle and eat meat.

The judge said that the employee was vegan for ethical reasons and that the claim for harassment was wellgrounded. Specifically, the conduct was unwanted and created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating and offensive environment for the employee. The judge said that the line manager had breached the Equality Act and awarded the employee £10,000 for injury to feelings.⁵

The public sector equality duty

The Equality Act 2010 also entrenches a particular duty on the public sector, which is required to ‘go further’ than simply avoid discriminating against protected groups. The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) requires all public bodies to think

carefully about how decisions they make impact people with protected characteristics. They must eliminate discrimination, provide equal opportunity and foster good relations between people with protected characteristics and people without protected characteristics in the interests of breaking down prejudice and promoting understanding.

We believe that public bodies have a duty to help normalise veganism to deal with prejudice against vegans and help people understand that veganism is a serious philosophy and way of life that is protected by law.

How the legal duties to vegans help change policy and practice

The legal duty not to discriminate against vegans, together with the application of the PSED, have an important role in much of our work. For example, our Catering for Everyone campaign⁶ asks for the provision of vegan food across the public sector. We argue that decisions made about food procurement must include the needs of vegans as a matter of human rights law, the prohibition on discrimination and the PSED. By using legal principles and relevant legislation, we have successfully argued that vegans have a right to be provided with vegan food when in the care or control of public bodies.

Our Play Fair with Plant Milk campaign is also grounded by law.⁷ We want the UK government to include plant-based milk alternatives in two government-run health schemes: Nursery Milk and Healthy Start. Following presenting the legal arguments, the Scottish government legislated to provide equal funding for plant-based alternatives to cow’s milk in its Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme. Our vegan rights approach to this issue included releasing a legal opinion.⁸

Our education work is grounded by the legal duties to respect the convictions of parents and the responsibility to be inclusive and accommodate the needs of all pupils. Under equality law, schools must not disadvantage pupils in the way they teach the curriculum. Our legal approach to the inclusion of vegans in education has helped vegans⁹ and resulted in policy changes, such as the removal of an unfair drinks policy in school¹⁰ and vegan-friendly resources being purchased by a school for its library.

What we have seen, as a result of using legal provisions over the last 10 years, is that food procurement and provision policy across the public sector has resulted in vegan food becoming more widely available. We have also seen changes in policy, such as healthcare professionals providing information about vegan alternative medications. These changes help make veganism easier to sustain and adopt. But we have a long way still to go.

Footnotes

1Universal Declaration of Human Rights, un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-humanrights

2ICCPR, ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civiland-political-rights

3W. v. the United Kingdom, ECtHR App. No. 18187/91 [decision 1993]

4Casamitjana v The League Against Cruel Sports, ET 3331129/2018, [decision 2020]

5Ms K Reilly v. RT Management Bridgeton Limited, ET 4107984/2020 [decision 2022]

6The Vegan Society, “Catering for Everyone,” vegansociety.com/cateringforeveryone

7vegansociety.com/whats-new/news/play-fair-plant-milk-calls-include-vegan-milk-schools-

The future

There are a number of issues affecting vegans that I believe can be influenced through a vegan rights approach. The education system must undergo urgent reform because entrenched prejudice against non-human animals has resulted in the curriculum not being taught in a critical, plural and objective way, which typically means that vegan pupils are not heard and can feel isolated and excluded. Vegan parents and pupils are legitimate rights holders and are empowered by law and should never feel intimidated when discussing their needs.

We also urgently need food reform across the public sector. At the moment, individual vegans can request vegan food where none is provided, and although individual action has brought about policy changes, we need to go much further to normalise the vegan diet and way of life.

Another issue that is close to my heart is respect for vulnerable vegans with healthcare needs. I hear too many stories about health professionals being dismissive about a vegan’s dietary needs or their need to be given information about prescription medications. I also want informal and formal complaints made by vegans to be dealt with much more effectively.

The human rights to freedom of expression and protest are also important guaranteed fundamental rights. However, these important rights have been significantly eroded over time by the introduction of public order laws that lower the threshold of criminal activity and significantly increase police powers to search and arrest campaigners according to their interpretation of legislation. The police are even empowered to decide that campaigning vegan friends walking down a road linking arms are committing a criminal offence.

People involved with vegans, whether in the public or private sectors, have a legal duty not to discriminate against them and take steps to accommodate their needs as far as is reasonably possible, and under human rights law the police are under a legal duty to facilitate our right to protest. Discrimination, harassment, hostility, being less courteous and rejecting or dismissing a vegan’s valid requests are all unacceptable and can result in complaints, escalated complaints and even litigation. Our use of law to protect vegans and advance veganism is critical to our mission to bring about a world where humans do not exploit nonhuman animals.

Visit vegansociety.com/rights to find out more. Email knowyourrights@vegansociety.com if you are currently experiencing difficulties.

par-cow%E2%80%99s-milk

8The Vegan Society, “Department of Health Nursery Milk Scheme: Legal Opinion,” vegansociety.com/sites/default/files/ uploads/downloads/Legal%20Opinion%20Nursery%20Milk.pdf

9The Vegan Society, “Vegan student forced to ‘study unit on farming or fail’ wins case against college,” vegansociety.com/news/news/vegan-student-forced-%E2%80%98study-unitfarming-or-fail%E2%80%99-wins-case-against-college

10 The Vegan Society, “Primary school forced to change ‘cow’s milk or water’ rule after vegan dad fights discriminatory policy,” vegansociety.com/news/news/primary-school-forcedchange-cows-milk-or-water-rule-after-vegan-dad-fights-discriminatory-policy

CATERING FOR EVERYONE

How we are pushing councils to improve their vegan catering

Vegans continue to struggle with access to heathy and nutritious food on public sector menus.

Whether in schools, hospitals, care homes or other institutions run by local authorities, vegans often face limited or no options.

Veganism is a protected characteristic under UK equality law, and it’s therefore important that local authorities take steps to be inclusive of veganism and ensure that everyone is properly catered for.

You may personally have experience interacting with your local council over catering issues and been left frustrated by the process. There are hundreds of councils across the country, and each has their own priorities and approach to managing local services.

Trying to understand whether your local authority is taking steps to be inclusive of veganism is no easy task. So that’s why we at The Vegan Society sent Freedom of Information requests out to all 380 local authorities across the UK with a set of questions to determine how well they’re catering to vegans and what steps are being taken to reduce animal product consumption to meet environmental goals.

Demanding better

For the purposes of our Catering for Everyone report, which

was published in September 2023, we focused on 209 higher-tier authorities for whom sufficient data was available. We used a traffic light system to grade the councils. We found that 19 councils were doing good work to be inclusive of vegans and were graded green, 136 were taking some steps to be inclusive of vegans and were graded amber and 54 councils were failing to be inclusive of vegans and so were graded red. With so few councils that are doing well in this area, there is a clear need to demand change from councils across the country and from the UK government too.

The pressure is on for local government to act. We have already seen cases of councils taking promising steps to lead by example when it comes to the climate crisis with many declaring climate emergencies, publishing climate plans and some signing the plant-based treaty. Clearly the power to act exists. Taking steps to be more inclusive of vegans is not only a positive change for the sake of inclusivity but it can also directly impact climate goals.

National Food Strategy

In 2021, the UK National Food Strategy was published which recommended a series of measures to improve the food system and address public sector catering. One of these recommendations explicitly mentioned that local authorities have a responsibility to provide environmentally sustainable food. This is because 1.9 million meals are provided through public sector catering each year. This food should be environmentally sustainable, nutritious and accessible to all who need it.

A lot of work has taken place to get the conversation rolling. Our report was picked up by local media in different parts of the country, drawing comment from councils –particularly those who had the most room for improvement. We also launched the report in parliament at the House of Lords in November. MPs and councillors were present to hear all about our work and the need for improved public catering. Our hope is that those with the power to make change will act. But we also need your help.

Take action

On our website, you will find a template letter that you can sign and send to your political representatives. This letter will help you to engage with local politicians and encourage them to back our Catering for Everyone campaign to improve vegan options on public sector menus. We need local people to be engaged on this issue which you can do by adding your voice to this campaign.

Taking action is especially important if your local council has been graded 'amber' or 'red' in our report. You can use our template email to directly address your councillors and ask them to make positive changes to

be inclusive of veganism and to provide better vegan options on their public sector menus. If your council has been graded 'green', please write to your MP to acknowledge and praise this achievement.

Sign the petition

u can also support this campaign by signing our petition which urges British politicians to guarantee at least one vegan option on all public sector menus. If you would like to read the full report, you can do so by going to the Catering for Everyone campaigns page on The Vegan Society website. We also encourage you to promote the report to your representatives and to anyone who you think would benefit from learning more about the importance of improving public sector catering. We need to make more ethical, sustainable and inclusive food choices. By adding your voice to the Catering for Everyone campaign, you can be part of this change.

vegansociety.com/cateringforeveryone

By Alex Huntley, Research Assistant

EVENTS

West Yorkshire Vegan Festival

Saturday 9 March (10am–5pm)

Huddersfield Town Hall, Ramsden Street, HD1 2TA westyorkshireveganfestival.com

Ormskirk VeganFest 2024

Monday 1 April (11am–4pm)

Ormskirk Town Centre, Moor Street, Lancashire, L39 2AW facebook.com/events/6462029853852915

Scottish Vegan Festival

Sunday 7 April (10am–5pm)

Assembly Rooms, 54 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2LR

facebook.com/events/3514908198796513

Reading Vegan Fiesta

Saturday 20 April (11am–4pm)

Forbury Gardens, 26 The Forbury, Reading RG1 3EJ sparkleveganevents.com/readingveganfiesta

Irish Vegan Festival Belfast

Sunday 21 April (10am–5pm)

Europe Hotel, Belfast, BT2 7AP irishveganfestival.com

Eaglescliffe Vegan Fair

Saturday 4 May (10am–4pm)

Egglescliffe Community Centre, Durham Lane, Stockton-on-Tees, TS16 0EH facebook.com/events/1531415290718934

Greater London Vegan Festival

Saturday 18 May (10am–5pm)

St Mary’s Church Marylebone, York Street, London, W1H 1PQ greaterlondonveganfestival.com

North Shields Vegan Fair

Saturday 22 June (10am–4pm)

Linskill Centre, North Shields, NE30 2AY eventbrite.co.uk/e/north-shields-vegan-fairtickets-633268512167

South East Vegan Festival

Saturday 13 July (10am–5pm)

Saint Mary’s Stadium, Britannia Road, Southampton, SO14 5FP facebook.com/events/189741647353433

Vegan Camp Out

Friday 26 July – Monday 29 July

Bicester Heritage, Oxfordshire, OX26 5HA vegancampout.co.uk

VEGANICIT Y SPRING OFFER

REVIEWS

third book it is!

Now let’s get one thing straight here. I’m vegan but I’m impatient and I can’t cook. So, if I’m cooking anything, it needs to be easy, delicious and it needs to be fast. This is where Dirty Vegan comes in.

Crammed with simple but hearty recipes, not to mention mouth-watering images alongside them, I found this book really easy to follow. The presentation and style are accessible and more importantly, I’m now able to cook something that doesn't involve potato waffles.

There are chapters for those wanting a quick and easy snack, as well as longer dishes for those who like to take their time in the kitchen. Each recipe comes with a short passage detailing why Matt has included it in the book. His conversational style is so down-to-earth and honest that reading this book felt like talking to an old friend.

There are some very creative recipes in this book, including Creamy Roast Garlic and Squash Soup and Avocado Chocolate Mousse. I particularly enjoyed whipping up a quick Vegan ‘Tuna’ Sandwich (a recipe I never knew existed), and Matt's simple Coconut Smoothie Bowl has become a regular fixture in my breakfast routine.

Personally, I would have found it useful if there was a note with each recipe indicating whether it could be frozen or not. But overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves delicious and fast plant-based food. As Matt himself would say, it’s ‘proper banging’!

over the world and their professions are just as varied as their backgrounds – activists, creatives, educators, chefs, athletes, physicians, scholars and more.

Having listened to the show for over a year, I can personally attest to its inspirational qualities. The wide spectrum of people and projects offers something of interest to everyone, and the underlying belief is always that positive change is possible.

It’s fascinating to hear from someone who lives in a country that you may know next to nothing about and learn about their culture and the vegan situation there. One of my favourite episodes was the interview with Jack Lekishon from the Maasai Mara in Kenya.

The hosts and guests are passionate about ending all forms of oppression. They highlight that the biggest challenges of our time are all connected and that intersectional veganism can help with most of them (for example, animal and human exploitation, food injustice, climate change, pandemics, malnutrition and capitalist/patriarchal structures at large).

If I had to criticise something, I’d say it’s the occasional product advertising (by one of the hosts), which disrupts the listening flow somewhat. Also, each episode starts with about 15 minutes of chatting and news exchange, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

I think Our Hen House is just what a vegan podcast ought to be, as it’s about connecting all kinds of different people through the common goal of creating a better world for all animals (non-human and human).

No Meat Required: The Cultural History and Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating

by Alicia Kennedy, reviewed by Nicholas Tuck

The writer has taken the opportunity with this book to focus on some of the key themes that underpin her writings: namely, the toxic impact of the meat and dairy industry on nonhuman animals, the environment, social justice and Indigenous peoples.

The Western obsession with meat is examined, and statistics are provided which underline the importance placed upon meat within contemporary society, particularly in the USA, where each person consumes an average of 100 kg of meat per year, and the government subsidises the meat and dairy industries to the tune of $38 billion (£31 billion) annually.

This culture is described as ‘carno-phallogocentrism’, a term coined by philosopher Jacques Derrida to describe the power held by white, meat-eating men. It also examines how this culture is being exported globally, most notably to China, which now consumes 28% of the world’s meat and half of all pork. The industry is estimated to cause up to 37% of total greenhouse gas emissions, and consequently, global warming. The fake meat industry also comes in for criticism for placing profit above people, its treatment of its workers and adverse impacts on Indigenous communities.

The book argues for an evolution towards a plant-based diet, which would result in less soil depletion and yields more energy per calorie than animal-sourced foods. It is stressed that diets must be ‘appropriate to place’ and sustainable within local communities.

As might be expected from a food writer, there are many vivid descriptions of mouth-watering vegan dishes, but the book is at its best when surveying the current global food systems and provides clear, rational and persuasive arguments against its injustices and for transitioning to a plant-based, vegan diet. What it lacks is a clear roadmap on how this could actually happen given the existing global power hierarchies.

Chicken Run 2 – Dawn Of The Nugget

reviewed by Laura Buchenlicht

Unlike the original Chicken Run from 2000, the sequel has sparked a debate about how pro-vegan it is. I found Chicken Run 2 to be a prime example of speciesism (the subtitle alone is a clue, because it makes fun of a chicken’s mutilated corpse using carnist language). It is a story made by humans for humans – and let’s be honest – about humans.

The story starts on a paradisical island, which shows off the richly detailed animation and where the audience is introduced to all the eccentric and endearing characters from the first film. Although the storyline is predictable, the film rests well on the charm of these characters. Add to that the absurdist humour and an upbeat soundtrack, and it could very well have been a very enjoyable story about staying true to yourself and helping others.

However, my stomach started to turn early on, when Molly (the daughter of the prequel’s heroic couple Ginger and Rocky) and her friend Frizzle get on board a truck that transports chickens to ‘Fun-Land Farms’. The chickens inside are all excited and blissfully naive, rather than scared, even when falling through a trapdoor and landing on a giant conveyor belt. Even if the chickens were actual humans in the story, the analogies to the holocaust and the slave trade would be disturbing.

The film does, however, feature an accurate depiction of capitalism. The advertising talking about the ‘problem’ of farm animals’ fear may stimulate some empathy for real animals. But as it is embedded in comedy, it sadly doesn’t leave much impact.

It seems that the storytellers don’t want the assumed carnist audience to take anything very seriously. The biggest proof for this came roughly in the middle of the film, in the form of violence which is not graphic but is impactful, to which the chickens barely react.

Whether it will cause the sales of plant-based nuggets to rise or not – Chicken Run 2 is about as pro-vegan as McDonalds.

Have you seen Chicken Run 2? What did you think? Email us at editor@vegansociety.com with your thoughts.