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Issue # 022
April 2
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Plant Powered Planet HEATH
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LISA
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AFTER VEGANUARY
What happens when Veganuary is over?
ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE Cleaning up Chorkor Chemuenaa, Accra, Ghana
Vegan Nigerian Kitchen Nigerian cuisine the vegan way with Tomi Makanjuola
Contents Campaigns & Events VegfestUK London 2022: Shaping up nicely...
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After Veganuary: What happens when the plant-based hype is over?
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Building Collective Power through Community Kitchens, Micro Food Gardens and a book of Plant-Powered Recipes
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Environmental Injustice & Chorkor Chemuenaa in Accra, Ghana
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People Tomi Makanjuola & the Vegan Nigerian Kitchen
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Lisa Gawthorne: Entrepeneur, Team GB athlete & vegan leader
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Hench Herbivore: From YouTube & protein, to recovery & CBD
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Heather Mills: VBites, World Records & what the future holds
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Making friends & learning to be kind through animal sanctuaries
92
66
Published by VegfestUK Ltd: info@vegfest.co.uk // Plant Powered Planet: www.plantpoweredplanet.co.uk
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46 12 52
92 16
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Contents: continued Lifestyle MAD Promotions: A chat with Karin Ridgers
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Hempen: Creating sustainable rural communities around the production of hemp
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How to travel as a vegan in Morocco
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Yaoh Hemp: Celebrating 20 years with the gift of sustainable packaging
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‘Must-Haves’ this Summer: A round-up by Karin Ridgers
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Plant Based Health Online: One Year On
108
Your Vegan Adventure Wardrobe: How to find Vegan Outdoor Adventure Clothing
122
Food Casa Vegan: Plant-Based Meat Substitutes in Lagos, Nigeria
82
GreenBay: A round-up for Springtime shoppers
98
Veg Technology: Where non-sentient beings meet Engineers
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Published by VegfestUK Ltd: info@vegfest.co.uk // Plant Powered Planet: www.plantpoweredplanet.co.uk
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Editor
Karin Ridgers
Content
Tim Barford
Design
Pete Metcalfe
Welcome Welcome to the 4th issue of Plant Powered Planet, and what another splendid collection of wonderful features and contributions it is, from our friends, both old and new. Here we are in the spring of 2022 already, looking forward to a wonderful summer, before the highlight of the year for us in the autumn - our return to live events and Olympia Grand in London for VegfestUK London on November 12th & 13th. Included also is our very own Plant Powered Planet Stage, hosted by myself, featuring a number of fabulous guests including (we hope!) 4 of our interviewees for issue 4 – the most excellent Tomi Makanjuola, AKA The Vegan Nigerian, the inspirational Heather Mills of VBites fame, strongman Hench Herbivore and outstanding UK athlete and head of Bravura Foods, Lisa Gawthorne. You can read all about these fantastic four in Issue 4 as well as catch up with a roundup of vegan goodies both via GreenBay vegan supermarket AND my very own roundup of recommended vegan ‘must-haves’ this summer! Plant Powered Planet Magazine is honoured to include some educational features from around the globe – including a piece on the exotic and tantalising delights of travelling vegan in Morocco. There’s a look at a new vegan plant-based ‘meat’ development in Nigeria with Casa Vegan and a report from Mart Tino in Ghana about some of the environmental problems faced by local communities in Accra, Ghana. Also a report from the Philippines about solutions-based projects providing food and stability to local communities – plus a lovely ‘Vegan Travel’ round-up from Emma Fry with some vegan outdoor apparel options forbudding vegan adventurers, and a food blog featuring residents from a local animal sanctuary! Talking of solutions, Hempen feature prominently in this issue, with their UK-grown hemp crops and products, and there’s a quick catch up with Plant Based Health Online one year on from their formation. A focus on sustainability is the key behind the new Yaoh Hemp Products packaging for 2022, with a brief look at their new sugar beet biopolymer and potato bio-resin bottles and tubes. My very own MAD Promotions PR company gets a short profile, and we are honoured to welcome once again our guest writer Jordi Casamitjana - author of ‘Ethical Vegan’ - for not one, but two absorbing features, one looking at what happens after Veganuary is over, and an indepth look at vegan technology and farming developments. That’s about it for Issue 4 – jam-packed yet again with something for everyone. Planning has already begun for issue 5, due out in late July. Karin Ridgers Plant Powered Planet Editor
The views expressed in Plant Powered Planet Magazine do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor nor VegfestUK Ltd, and neither
the Editor, Design Team or VegfestUK Ltd accept any liability for any matter in the magazine, nor can be held responsibile for any actions taken as a result of the content of this magazine. Advertisements and paid promotional copy are accepted without implying endorsement by the editor or publishers. Paid promotional copy is marked ‘Promotion’ on the appropriate pages.
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Shaping up nicely... Plans for the 8th annual VegfestUK London event at Olympia Grand in November 2022 are “shaping up nicely” with a number of new exhibitors already embedded and a steady stream of enquiries as the floorplan continues to fill out following the announcement back in December 2021 that VegfestUK would be returning once more to live events at Olympia in the autumn of 22. “There’s a lot of new vegan businesses and even some that were started on furlough money during Lockdowns” report the organisers “and we are seeing a real hunger for vegan businesses for a return to live events after such a lengthy enforced absence. And it’s not just new businesses – a lot of the established vegan brands have seen increased sales during the last 2 years as healthy living and strong immune systems, coupled with a rise in plant based diets and sustainable lifestyles, has meant a bit of a boom for many – and they are gearing up to get back out and about again amongst the public.” Big crowds are anticipated come the autumn, with tickets on sale in September, but for now the interest is firmly on businesses and exhibitors in what for many is still testing times. 6 I Plant Powered Planet
“For 2022 we have a strong new vegan business focus” organisers explain, “with the added bonus of a whole area devoted to vegan businesses, growth and development – the Vegan Business Tribe Live area will be making its debut in 2022 with a number of vegan business startups exhibiting in the area alongside a stage devoted to vegan businesses. Businesses have had it tough regardless of sales and VegfestUK London is a really good place to re-establish contacts, network, sample, sell, conduct market research and customer feedback, brand, market and capture data – all in one spot. That alongside the added support from the Tribe Zone really does give a focus to the developing vegan business for 2022.” “VegfestUK London plays a unique part in the vegan
“
For 2022 we have a strong new vegan business focus, with the added bonus of a whole area devoted to vegan businesses, growth & development.
”
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”
The event website is now live for bookings and exhibitors can register their interest here.
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calendar in the UK” add the organisers, “and in many respects has helped shape the vegan movement over the previous decade or so. The advent of the conference facilities back in 2015 gave rise to some fabulous vegan summits and some ground breaking frameworks, ideas and campaigns. 2022 is all about reconvening, coming back together, reconnecting and especially supporting small vegan businesses, animal sanctuaries, charities, campaigns and individuals who are striving to make a difference in this world.” And with the event coinciding with #COP27 in November, there is even more of a focus on coming together, collaborating and presenting both a united and effective front for animals in the face of continued mass use and abuse of animals, and the ensuing environmental destruction. The website is now live for bookings and exhibitors can register their interest here.
Vegan Business Tribe Live A new area dedicated to vegan businesses and especially start-ups and scale ups, with 12 exhibitors in the area and a stage featuring industry experts covering a wide range of topics and discussions, all with a business focus. Run by the incomparable Lisa and David from Vegan Business Tribe, this area promises to deliver a fabulous array of talent, experience and support for all things vegan business related. Plant Powered Planet Hosted by our own Karin Ridgers and featuring a display of superstars and movers and shakers from amongst the wider vegan community on stage with Karin, with interviews, talks, panels and discussions, mostly light hearted, inspirational and uplifting. Karin’s guests are always dazzling and delightful
and never fail to impress, and the Plant Powered Planet Stage has all the makings of the place to be at VegfestUK 2022! Art of Compassion Exhibition An expanded exhibition area right at the heart of the event in the centre of the floorplan, and featuring the fabulous Art of Compassion Project, a collective of over 70 vegan artists from across the globe. And plans afoot for a number of timelines displaying the history of some of the animal sanctuaries and animal campaigns groups from the last few decades. Find out more about VegfestUK London 2022 here:
london.vegfest.co.uk
Tickets on sale and full line-ups announced in the autumn. A number of new & expanded features at VegfestUK London 2022 include:
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A chat with Karin Ridgers Plant Powered Planet editor Karin Ridgers is one of many multi-talented individuals in the modern vegan movement, and has been inspiring vegans through her promotional work for years. Having worked with many celebrities, brands, influencers and individuals through her PR company MAD Promotions, Karin took a load off to chat to us about the good times.
Hi Karin! So tell us about how Mad Promotions came about. Well – if I go right back I have always had a fascination with fame… I have always wanted to be an actress and enjoyed co-running some local theatre groups. However what I really loved was getting the bums on seats. Everyone wanted to be the best in their acting role, learn their lines fast and give super performances (as did I!) however what was the point if there wasn’t anyone in the audience? And I seemed to have a knack for giving the journalists what they wanted – a good story, relevant news, media tickets (!) and the performances would sell out. Similarly when I was presenting my radio show at the radio station many 10 I Plant Powered Planet
years ago, I used to get the guests in and ask them to tell everyone about the station – even go into shops in the high street and turn their radios over to listen to us. So one day I had a lightbulb moment – instead of doing my mundane banking job I will set up my own PR business. And knowing nothing about business I launched MAD Promotions – for people who are Making A Difference, in January 2005. That’s a long time ago! It really is and time has FLOWN by! It has gone so fast. As I love my work it doesn’t feel like work at all – and the days, weeks and months just zoom by. Yes there are challenges, no one tells you if you don’t work you don’t earn and lunch breaks and even time off sick are a past memory! As far as I know
I was the first person to really focus on vegan clients, so I’m still known by many media as the go to vegan contact! What stands out for you? Even though I have been running MAD Promotions for 17 years I still just jump for joy when I gain my clients coverage… I know they have beaten the competition to win this fantastic space. It may be online, in print, on radio and on TV. And of course I have spent this long working with vegan brands such as Frys, Vegusto, Sheeze, Om Bar and many more – some when they first came out - I’ve had the privilige to watch them become household names. Not to mention of course having the fantastic opportunity to promote veganism with my VegfestUK work. It’s inspirational to me to
coach media to be vegan, having media contacts visit VegfestUK events and gaining so much editorial coverage for veganism and for VegfestUK at the same time. I have had clients tell me they ‘love me’, they ‘can’t live without me’ and been to their weddings, awards events and more. It is a very close relationship – I am a friend, a coach, a business adviser and even a shoulder to cry on at times. What are you up to now? I am working with the most fantastic clients – I adore them! Check us out on Facebook & Instagram you can see much more! I have some new amazing team mates working with me now too as we are receiving so many media requests everyday. We are also expanding our exciting work with influencers and celebrities. What would you say to anyone wanting to start their own vegan business? Go for it. Do whatever it takes. Find good team players and supporters. And make sure everyone knows about you!!
” As far as I know I was the first person to really focus on vegan clients, so I’m still known by many as the go to vegan contact!
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Tomi Makanjuola & the Vegan Nigerian Kitchen Tomi, a.k.a The Vegan Nigerian, is a wonderfully adept vegan chef and author, specialising in Nigerian cuisine. Tomi’s cookbook ‘Vegan Nigerian Kitchen: 100 classic recipes with a plant-based twist’ hit the shelves of all good bookshops in November 2021, and is available both in paperback and as an ebook. Tomi took some time out of her busy schedule to chat to editor Karin Ridgers about the last couple of years, the new cookbook and her plans for the future, hopefully post-COVID.
Hey Tomi! How are you? What are you up to at the moment? I’m doing great, thanks! These days, I am mostly creating content, developing recipes and running online cooking workshops. My work with The Vegan Nigerian keeps me pretty busy. You’ve been vegan nearly a decade now – tell us what started you off. I was drawn to veganism as a way to improve my health and boost my dwindling energy levels, but what truly kept me vegan was my desire to take a stand against all forms of animal exploitation. The more research I did into veganism, the more I was convinced that it was the right transition to make. 12 I Plant Powered Planet
I read books like ‘By Any Greens Necessary’ and watched documentaries like ‘Earthlings’ and my mind was made up almost overnight - I haven’t looked back since. My top tip for anyone looking to make the shift is to carry out as much research as possible and explore all the benefits. Tell us more about your cookery classes. Prior to the pandemic, I had started hosting in-person cooking classes in London, but things changed drastically in 2020 and I had to switch to online classes. The pivot has been wonderful. Not only are the classes a great way to bring people together to bond over a shared love of food, but it’s been wonderful to introduce many non-vegan
participants to veganism and show how abundant the diet and lifestyle can be. I’ve had the pleasure of hosting private cooking classes for people wanting to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays and hen parties, and also for corporate teams looking for a way to stay connected while working from home. The beauty of online is that anyone can hop on from anywhere in the world. Everyone always leaves with a smile and some delicious lunch/ dinner to enjoy! What’s this with the Airbnb? Airbnb has been an incredible avenue for spreading the vegan Nigerian message. They first approached me to join their newly created ‘Experiences’ platform
“
It’s been wonderful to introduce many non-vegan participants to veganism Plant Powered Planet I 13
Pictured: Nkwobi
back in 2016. At the time, I hosted in-person dining events for travellers coming in to London and I had the opportunity to meet people from various countries such as Sweden, the USA and Canada. Since then, they have launched online experiences as well, meaning anyone around the world can book a spot on one of my classes and learn how to make authentic vegan West African food.
love diving in and exploring what Nigerian cuisine has to offer. It’s filled with 100 mouth-watering plantbased recipes from different regions across Nigeria, lots of full-page photographs, a handy meal plan, a comprehensive
And you have a new cookbook out? I am so excited that Vegan Nigerian Kitchen is now out in the world. It was a true labour of love to put it all together and I am certain readers will 14 I Plant Powered Planet
Pictured: Abula
glossary of Nigerian ingredients and a quick guide to going vegan. You’ll find warming soups and stews, sweet and savoury snacks, rice dishes, and lots more. It’s a cookbook for all food enthusiasts; for those who love to explore
Pictured: Egusi & Fufu
culture through food, and it makes a perfect gift for the foodies in your life. It’s currently available as a paperback on all Amazon stores or you can get a digital copy through my website vegannigerian. com. You must have a favourite recipe? Or is that not fair on the others ones? It’s almost impossible to pick just one, but I have to say that the Miyan Taushe (northern Nigerian pumpkin stew) is simply incredible. Another must-try is the Efo Egusi, a hearty traditional soup made with spinach and ground melon seeds - pair that with some pounded yam, rice
[Vegan Nigerian Kitchen] is filled with 100 mouth-watering plant-based recipes from different regions across Nigeria, lots of full-page photographs, a handy meal plan, a comprehensive glossary of Nigerian ingredients and a quick guide to going vegan. Plant Powered Planet I 15
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or plantain and you’ve got a winning dish packed with tons of nutrients. You do personal vegan coaching too – what barriers do you find that most people face when aiming to go vegan? I have noticed that a lot of people struggle with navigating social situations and relationships when they decide to go vegan. The fear of not fitting in and being perceived as a ‘nuisance’ is very real. A lot of people also struggle with what to eat as a vegan and meal planning often seems overwhelming or daunting at first, especially if they are not familiar with what ingredient substitutions work best.
And what solutions do you offer? As well as offering practical tips based on my own personal experience and what has worked for many people, I also make sure to focus on the ‘why’ of going vegan, as I truly believe that this is what makes the conviction solid. Learning about the current state of animal exploitation and its far-reaching effects on animals, public health, the environment, human rights and more, clients are able to internalise why veganism is important and needed. With that, they feel reassured that they are on the right path and that they can navigate whatever comes their way.
Veganism really seems to be growing globally – is that the case in Nigeria? In Nigeria, there is certainly small but visible progress. Each time I visit, there are more vegan options available. In Lagos city, where I grew up, you’ll find the first fully vegan restaurant in the whole of Nigeria, and you’ll also find a growing community of vegans who meet up regularly and host all kinds of events. I am optimistic about the way things are going. What would you like to see happen next? Both for yourself, and others. My hope is that more and more people will embrace veganism. As a collective, we cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the atrocities of animal exploitation. We should all feel empowered to embrace a new way of doing things, all whilst continuing to celebrate our various cultures, backgrounds and cuisines. With the work that I do, I hope that I continue to reach members of my community and beyond, showing how you can thrive on this lifestyle.
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After Veganuary: What happens when the plant-based hype is over? Veganuary is a hugely positive, month-long plant-based celebration that each year boasts ever-growing figures of new plant-based converts all over the world. But what happens when the dust settles and our new-found allies find themselves in February? Jordi Casamitjana, author of ‘Ethical Vegan: A Personal and Political Journey to Change the World‘ sought to find out.
These are his findings.
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Mathew Glover and Jane Land started a new organisation that gave many people the push they needed to try veganism — well, a Interested? t u o Check plant-based diet — Veganuary! for 31 days. My last step took me 23 days. For several years, I received information from multiple sources — some quite subtle while others more obvious — that was pointing me in the right direction. But I needed a push, so, to summon the courage to change, I spent 23 days in isolation on an island in the North Sea during the winter of 2001. This is what it took me to move my intellectual foot forward and make the final step that would metamorphize me from a crawling carnist to a flying vegan. I landed on the island with lots of provisions, which included milk, cheese, and tuna, and while writing a novel in the snowed cottage I used them all. But then I left the island, and I never willingly consumed another animal product for
food. I needed a push, and I created a very dramatic one. Other vegans I know also needed a notch, and for some, January is a good month to get it. The New Year’s resolution has for a long time been used as a self-made push to change an undesired trait, accomplish a personal goal, or improve behaviour. Even the Romans began each year by promising deeds to the god Janus — for whom the month of January is named. But that’s just one day, often misty and forgettable after a long night of drunken celebrations. Like in my case, you may need a bit more than a day to seal the deal. You may need a few weeks. Three or four may do.
”
Veganuary for January
When you discover that becoming vegan is something that most people should be doing, you may try to find ways to convince your friends and family to join you. If that doesn’t feel enough, you may become a vegan activist and do some vegan outreach in the streets. But if you are a businessperson with an entrepreneurial flair, you may want to go higher. An English couple tried that in 2014. Mathew Glover and Jane Land started a new organisation that gave many people the push they needed to try veganism — well, a plant-based diet — for 31 days. They called it Veganuary, and this name, although may sound a bit Plant Powered Planet I 19
weird the first time you hear it, is actually quite clever. By joining Vegan and January, and by tapping into the spirit of the New Year’s resolutions with the guilt of over-indulging holidays, they created something memorable. Interestingly, this brilliant idea started with a moustache. This is what Matthew said to Elysabeth Alfano during a 2021 interview for her Plant-Based Business Hour broadcasted on UnchainedTV: “I’d taken part in a campaign called ‘Movember’ where you grow a moustache for the months of November. I thought it was such a great campaign. So, when I got together with my wife Jane, we started to think about: what is the best thing we can do for the animals? Well, we thought about ‘November.’ Vegan had to be whatever someone would be doing for the month, obviously. And then, what was going to be the best month? And, really, it had to be January because of New Year’s resolutions. People eat so much food at Christmas. Also, most people focus more on health and chucking things. We had ‘vegan’ and ‘January’, and we thought, well, Veganuary, is that going to work as a word? And it took off. We were so lucky. The media immediately picked up on it, which was great.” 20 I Plant Powered Planet
In 2017 Matthew and Jane stepped down from running the charity but still serve as trustees on its Board. They did tap into something real. Research has shown that January is the month when more people try plant-based diets. According to YouGov data, 5% of Britons tried going vegan in January 2021, while another 3% were already plant-based. Among 18–24-year-olds, 6% were already vegan, while a further 8% tried it in January. About 34% of British people agreed that they would like to reduce their meat and dairy consumption. According to Neilsen, one
in eight British households bought meat alternatives during January 2021. Veganuary is a non-profit organisation that encourages people worldwide to try vegan food for January and beyond. But it also has a corporate outreach side asking businesses to offer new vegan options for January. During the 2022 campaign, 1,561 new vegan products and menu options were launched in their key campaign countries. Although it started in the UK, Veganuary is becoming increasingly global. They have expanded into the USA, and in 2022 they also ran campaigns in India, Germany, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil.
They did tap into something real. Research has shown that January is the month when more people try plant-based diets. According to YouGov data, 5% of Britons tried going vegan in January 2021
Pictured: Hollyoaks star Eva O’Hara - Veganuary ambassador. Image credit: Veganuary
When people sign up for the 31-day challenge, they get access to cookbooks, easy meal plans, nutrition guides and 31 coaching emails. Since its creation, Veganuary has relentlessly been growing in terms of the number of people who sign up for it. From 3,300 in the first year, passed the 100,000 mark in 2017, passed the 200,000 in 2020, nearly reached 600,000 in 2021, and got more than 629,000 in 2022. According to a press release from the organisation, this year, people tried Veganuary from 228 countries and territories which included every country in the world except Tajikistan and North Korea.
Commenting on the impact of Veganuary’s 2022 campaign, Ria Rehberg, Veganuary’s CEO, said: “At Veganuary we share one common dream: We want to live in a vegan world. A world without animal farms and slaughterhouses. A world where food production does not decimate forests, pollute rivers and oceans, exacerbate climate change, and drive wild animal populations to extinction. A world where everyone is able to enjoy an endless variety of delicious and nutritious foods while protecting the planet and animals.”
And while it will take the effort of countless people, organisations and initiatives to make this dream a reality one day, each January, I can feel us get a step closer to that vision. Veganism isn’t standing in the corner anymore; it’s become a popular choice that many of the world’s largest food businesses are embracing as the big new thing.” On their website, Veganuary says: “We aim to inspire people all over the world to try a vegan diet in January and beyond through our 31-day pledge. Millions of people
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from all around the world have taken part since we began in 2014, but we are aiming for a fully vegan world!”. But a fully vegan world is a world where everyone follows the philosophy of veganism, which, as defined by the Vegan Society, goes beyond diet. A full vegan (also known as an ethical vegan) seeks to exclude all forms of animal exploitation and cruelty, not only those related to diet. So, although I believe the founders of Veganuary are ethical vegans, it seems the organisation is not openly asking for
people to become ethical vegans, just to try one aspect of the lifestyle associated with this philosophy (the diet) for one month. They do hope that after trying it for a month many people may stick to it for longer — preferably for life — but stick to the diet or the philosophy? They talk about the vegan world, but do they mean the PlantBased world? The vegan diet world? Veganuary has a page titled “5 ways to help animals after Veganuary”. These are 1. get active for animals; 2. replace non-vegan clothing; 3. swap out
Pictured: Dirty Sanchez star and ‘Dirty Vegan’ Matt Pritchard; Veganuary ambassador. Image credit: Veganuary
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toiletries and cosmetics; 4. clean up your household items, and 5. donate to vegan organisations. But is this a “bonus” type of suggestion, or the ultimate goal? It doesn’t seem to be prominent throughout their campaign. Is this because those whom Veganuary are targeting are not quite ready for such a commitment? Is it because those who take the challenge are only interested in food? Is this because their intended audience is not the type of people who would become ethical vegans? I thought it would be interesting to find out about
this by trying to see what happens to the people who tried Veganuary after a year or two. To do that, I had to find a way to track them and ask them whether they are now ethical vegans, just plant-based, vegetarians, or any of the other types of diets that are commonly defined today. Celebrities Doing Veganuary Some people are easily traceable because they are, by definition, public figures. If they are important celebrities, they may be very precious of their privacy so they could only be tracked by checking what they want to post to the world on their social media or during interviews. But this is a start. One of them is the British naturalist, wildlife photographer, author and TV presenter Chris Packham. He did Veganuary in 2019 and it seems he has been at least plant-based since. And he did it very publicly, posting frequent tweets and videos about his experience. On 3rd February 2019, The Guardian published an article from him titled “I did Veganuary, and now I’m staying vegan. Here’s what I’ve learned so far”. In it, he states: “I haven’t actually eaten meat for 30 years, although I occasionally ate fish and felt bad about it. Two years ago, I visited a modern British dairy farm
” I thought it would be interesting to find out about this by trying to see what happens to the people who tried Veganuary after a year or two. To do that, I had to find a way to track them and ask them whether they are now ethical vegans...
where the cows were kept in very clean conditions, indoors, all year round. I hated it. So, I switched to oat milk, and last year I gave up eating cheese. But there are still plenty of animal products in cakes and biscuits. And so, until 1st January, I wasn’t vegan.”
At the time, after the 31 days of doing Veganuary, it seems that he was not prepared to go all the way and become an ethical vegan. He wrote: “Three days into February, I haven’t eaten anything non-vegan yet. I’m staying vegan. But I’m not listening to the ultras, and I’ll draw my own lines in the sand. I don’t see a problem with eating locally produced honey, for instance.”
In October 2021, Packham was interviewed for PlantBased News by Juliet Gellatley, the founder of the vegan organisation Viva! during the Vegan Campout. He said:
“I’ve been vegetarian since my early 20s. I thought I would basically just cut down on meat but then I found that when if I ate meat after a sort of sixmonth break it made me ill, actually. So, I thought, well, that method is off the menu. So, let’s just forget about the meat and then I carried on eating fish. But, of course, got to the point, as I got older, when we recognized that our fish stocks are seriously imperilled. They’re on the brink, many of them, eight
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It seems that Packham’s vegan journey has been very gradual, so I would expect that he has continued in it since 2019, and if not now yet, at one point he will move deep enough into veganism to reject all animal products as any ethical vegan can do today. Whether he would accept this label would be, of course, entirely up to him.
Above: Veganuary’s stats following the 2021 campaign
out of ten of our fisheries, are overfished. So, then it became clear to me that eating fish was unsustainable. And I never told this line with the fact that the fish didn’t feel pain and all of this nonsense. So, again, from a scientific point of view, you wouldn’t entertain that in any way shape or form. The interesting thing is it was factory farming that finally pushed me from vegetarianism to veganism. I went to an all-indoor dairy unit. It was remarkably clean. None of the animals was being abused, although genetically I might argue that they have been in the past given their rather bizarre shape of them. So, in that sense, 24 I Plant Powered Planet
you wouldn’t say that there were any immediate husbandry issues. But the fact is that these animals never went outside. They did three lactation cycles, they have their calves taken away instantaneously. I just have never been to one before, and I should have done. And it honestly was this close to ‘Brave New World’ which I’d read as a 14-year-old, that I could ever imagine. And I got in the car that night after spending the day there, and that was it. The game was over. I knew that I couldn’t trust myself or the food labelling, to be able to access good quality organically produced animal husbandry friendly dairy products.”
The actress Kellie Bright, mostly known for her role as Linda Carter in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, did Veganuary in 2017, but veganism did not stick to her. In 2020 she wrote an article in the Metro titled “Veganuary is for everyone but to get people on board we need to avoid the vegan label”. In it, she explained she still consumes animal products, as it was her intention when she did the challenge. She writes “When I did try veganism it was never with the end goal of becoming a vegan for life… I first signed up because I’d been watching films and documentaries about veganism. There were a lot of pro-plantbased discussions and my husband was interested in any connections to health and fitness that introducing a more vegan diet might achieve… Still, I’m not committed to being vegan all of the time. I am not very good with labels — I have heard extraordinary terms like ‘flexitarian’ but I’d rather not use any
of them. Since I finished Veganuary, just giving it a go as much as possible has changed my life… On a really primal level, I believe that we are designed to eat meat but we certainly shouldn’t be consuming as much as we do. The planet can’t support that level of intake.”
I have been lucky enough to be able to engage other celebrities directly as I have personally known them for some time. One of them is the actor Peter Egan (younger generations may know him more for his role as the Marquess of Flintshire in Downtown Abby, but older ones may know him for
Pictured: Writer Jordi Casamitjana with actor Peter Egan
many more). I knew he became vegan after doing Veganuary in 2016, and I know he is an ethical vegan now, so I asked him how the experience was: “Veganuary was instrumental in structuring my journey in adopting a full vegan lifestyle. The support was phenomenal in
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terms of advice in relation to creating a balance in terms of food choices and introduction to a wonderful variety of plant-based foods and how to source them. It was also great to be able to relate to a team who knew what one might miss when transitioning.... cheese and chocolate options and delicious vegan substitutes. Also advice in relation to vitamins and supplements as well as clarity on vegan omega 3 options and anything that is capsule wrapped with hidden animal product. All in all, a perfect introduction to a vegan lifestyle without any pressure but full of encouragement.” Peter has clearly become an ethical vegan. He was one of the people kind enough to revise my book Ethical Vegan and talk about it during the online launch (due to COVID) in December 2020, hosted by VegFestUK. Jasmine Harman, the English television presenter, did Veganuary in 2014 (the very first year), Deborah Meaden, the British businesswoman and TV personality, did it in 2020, and Rebecca Callard, the English actress and writer, also did it in 2020. Toni Vernelli, Veganuary’s International Head of Communications and Marketing, told me that all three stayed vegan. 26 I Plant Powered Planet
I get why many celebrities, who are always under public scrutiny, may not want to commit themselves to any behaviour based on ethics — in case they are caught deviating from it and disappointing fans. They also may have been approached by advocate organisations or PR people who directed them to express their experiences
in particular ways (some, like Peter and Chris, are official “Veganuary Ambassadors”). So, I was more interested in knowing what “ordinary” people — If you know what I mean — have been doing after Veganuary, as they don’t have any of that. Luckily, the Veganuary organisation has been collecting some data.
Pictured: A Place In The Sun host Jasmine Harman; Veganuary ambassador.
What Do They Say After the 31 Day Challenge? After people sign up for the plant-based diet challenge, they fill out a signup survey from which the organisation pulls up some stats after January. In 2020, their analysis showed that 37% of the 350,000 participants signed in to spare animals from suffering, 18% to protect the environment and 38% for health. 51% were still eating the flesh of terrestrial and aquatic animals when they took the pledge, 30% were vegetarian, and 19% were vegan. As in previous years, the majority of participants were female (83%) with nearly one-third of signups (29%) aged between 25-34.
In the 2021 challenge, the stats showed that almost half (46%) of the 582,000 participants said animals were their number one motivation for trying vegan, followed by personal health (22%), the environment (21%), for a change/ challenge/curiosity (5%), global health (4%) and for a friend/partner/family member (2%). Nearly three-quarters (74%) were still eating animal flesh when they signed up to take part, 24% were vegetarian, and 12% were vegan. Also, 65% were aged between 25 and 54, followed by 55-64 (15%) and 18-24 (14%). 85% were female. As for 2022, almost half (44%) of the 629,351 participants said animals
Above: Veganuary’s stats following the 2021 campaign
were their number one motivation for trying vegan, followed by personal health (21%), the environment (19%), change/challenge/curiosity (7%), global health (5%) and for a friend/partner/family member (2%). Half (51%) were still eating flesh when they signed up to take part, 32% were vegetarian and 17% were vegan. Interestingly, in 2021 there was a considerable increase in the proportion of non-vegetarians and non-vegans who tried Veganuary, but in 2022 these returned to the 51% value of 2020. As for the rest of the demographic stats, 2020 and 2022 are very similar. After 31 days, participants were asked about how the experience was, and what they were planning to do about veganism from then on. According to the stats published by Veganuary, the participants of 2020 showed the following responses: More than half (59%) of the non-vegan participants maintained a fully vegan diet for the whole month and 72% of them said they were planning to stay vegan after Veganuary. More than three-quarters (77%) of those who didn’t manage to finish the challenge without eating animal products said they were very/extremely likely to try veganism again in the future. Plant Powered Planet I 27
” Our follow-up survey of Veganuary 2021 participants found that six months after completing their one month vegan challenge, 82% of those who were not vegan when they signed up had maintained a dramatic reduction in their animal product consumption.
As far as the 2021 participants are concerned, almost two-thirds (61%) maintained a fully vegan diet for the whole month, 40% said they were planning to stay vegan, 75% of those not staying vegan planned to at least halve their intake of animal products going forward, and 75% were very/extremely likely to try vegan again in the future. Talking about the 2021 participants, the Veganuary’s 2022 Campaigns Review says: “Our follow-up survey of Veganuary 2021 participants found that six months after completing their one-month vegan challenge, 82% of those who were not vegan when they signed up had maintained a dramatic reduction in their animal product consumption. Thirty per 28 I Plant Powered Planet
cent were still eating a fully vegan diet; 38% were eating at least 75% less meat and other animal products than pre-Veganuary; and 14% were eating at least 50% less.” So, it seems that, in six months, the percentage of those still eating a fully plant-based diet dropped from 40% to 30%. In the 2022 survey, over half (55%) maintained a fully vegan diet for the whole month, 36% said they were planning to stay vegan, 74% of those not staying vegan planned to at least halve their intake of animal products going forward, and 76% were very/extremely likely to try vegan again in the future. That year, before participating in Veganuary, 31% of those who were not
already vegan planned to stay vegan at the end of their pledge but after participating 36% now said they planned to stay vegan. Comparing the data published for the three years is not straightforward. The data on their website for 2020 only shows the percentage of those who said they would carry on with the vegan diet (72%) from those non-vegans who ate a full vegan diet for the entire month, while it seems that the 2021 and 2022 data shows the percentage of those who said that would carry on (40% and 36%) from all non-vegan participants (those who did the whole month and those who did less). But knowing the total number of participants I could calculate that for 2020 the percentage of all non-vegan participants who said would stay vegan is 52%. Therefore, it seems that this percentage has been declining during the last few years (a drop of 16 percentage points since 2020). One explanation may be that, as veganism becomes mainstream, more people less motivated are trying it for other reasons other than as a “resolution” to see if they can become vegan. The six-million-dollar question is, though, how many of those 40-36% of previously non-vegans who said they would stay
vegan after Veganuary, actually did stay for more than a year. I could not find any stats from Veganuary that answered this question beyond six months (I guess they may not be able to follow up those who signed after years have passed because of the limitations imposed by legislation protecting people’s data), so I decided to do my own mini-research about it. How Many Stayed Vegan After a Year? I discovered that on the 31st of January, Veganuary normally posts on Facebook a post
congratulating people who made it. Several participants comment on those posts, often explaining a bit how it went, and whether they were planning to carry on. I realise that I could attempt to message these people who did it more than a year ago and ask them if they are still eating only a plant-based diet. I did it with two posts, one for 2020 and another for 2021. I went through all the comments of those who had tried Veganuary for the first time and who were not vegan before. The stats of what I interpreted these commentators had
said they would do after January are the following: 38% said they would stay Plant-Based, 33% did not say what they would do, 17% said they would go Vegan, 4% that they will become Reducetarians, 4% Flexitarians, 2% Vegetarians, 2% Pescatarians, and 1% would not change their diet. Adding the PlantBased and the Vegans (ethical vegans) together, 55% said they would continue with the diet. I send all those who commented and were not vegan before a message. In the 2020 post, this means 89 different people (88%
Pictured: Actor & Model Georgia Meacham; Veganuary Ambassador. Image credit: Veganuary
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Pictured: Wildlife photographer, author & activist Chris Packham; Veganuary ambassador. Image credit: Veganuary
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On 3rd February 2019, The Guardian published an article from [Chris Packham] titled “I did Veganuary, and now I’m staying vegan. Here’s what I’ve learned so far”.
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of which were female, fitting the overall gender stats of the year). I sent them this message on 28th February 2022: “Hello XX. I am Jordi Casamitjana, and I am currently working as a freelance writer on vegan issues. I noticed in a comment you made on a Facebook post of Veganuary back on 31 January 2020 that you did Veganuary then. I am currently writing an article for the Plant-Powered Planet Magazine on how doing Veganuary has changed the habits of people, so I am contacting all those who commented on that post saying that they finished Veganuary, to ask one simple question. Would you be willing to answer it? I will not include your name in the article. I am aiming to get some statistics from the answers. This is the question: Two years on, which of these do you consider you are today? 1) An Ethical Vegan (avoiding animal products not just in diet, but also in clothes, cosmetics, household products, hobbies, etc.). 2) A Dietary Vegan (avoiding all animal products in my diet only). 3) Vegetarian (avoiding all meat, including fish, only). 4) Pescatarian (avoiding most meat except fish). 5) Flexitarian (eating mostly vegan food but occasionally eating animal products, including meat). 6) Reducetarian (eating the
same I ate before doing Veganuary, but less proportion of animal products). 7) Same as before doing Veganuary. 8) Other (please explain).” From the 89, 19 replied with an answer (only one of them male). I tried to do the same with the 2021 post. For that one, only 44 different people who had done Veganuary for the first time commented (95% women). However, when I tried to send them the same message, Facebook did not allow me. Perhaps someone had complained that my unsolicited message was not welcomed, so I could not send it to anyone anymore. I waited one day, and the following day I sent this different shorter message: “Hi XX. I am a freelance writer, and I believe that you did Veganuary in 2021, based on a comment I saw on a Veganuary post. I am writing an article about people who have done it. Would you mind if I ask you a quick question?” This went through, but only five people replied (all females), to whom I sent them the first message. So, between the two years, I contacted 133 people, from which 24 replied. Not a big sample, but considering that it comes from a sub-set of particularly enthusiastic participants (those who bothered commenting on the Veganuary posts), and assuming that those who carried on with the diet
would be more likely to reply to my question (as they would feel proud about it), their answers may give me a rough estimation of the maximum percentage of participants still following the diet one or two years after doing Veganuary. The results for the 2020 sub-set alone (after two years) were Plant-Based 35%, Vegetarian 25%, Vegan 20%, Reducetarian 10%, Flexitarian 5%, and 0% the rest. For the 2021 sub-set alone (after one year) were Vegan 60%, Vegetarian 20%, and Flexitarian 20%. Joining both sets (24 replies), the overall results were Vegan 29%, Plant-Based 29%, Vegetarian 25%, Reducetarian 8%, and Flexitarian 8%. What is significant about these results is that I think this is probably the first time that the question had been put to them giving them the chance to choose between ethical vegans and dietary vegans (plantbased), and 29% said they had become the former while 29% the latter (altogether, 58%, the majority of this sample, continued with a plant-based diet). So, around half of those who stayed with the diet became ethical vegans in one or two years. Here are the explanations that those who replied with anything more than one number sent me: Plant Powered Planet I 31
“Currently 2. I was a pescatarian before doing Veganuary and have gone back and forth a bit. Did Veganuary this year again and kept going.” “The answer would be 1) I went fully vegan after Veganuary and have every intention of continuing to be for the rest of my life.” “3 but trying to reduce all the animal items I consume bit by bit month by month.” “I would say nr 2. I’m still eating vegan. And I was eating vegan before too. The issue is that I now live in a country where veganism is not too popular so at work I don’t have a lot of opportunities to eat 100% vegan. So, I can say that 99% of the time I eat vegan and I’m planning to continue.” “I would class myself as 2 but working towards a 1.” “Hi, I’m vegetarian (although most of what I eat is plant-based).” “Mainly vegan including clothes and shoes. I sometimes have dairy if I am visiting restaurants or friends and family where there are no vegan options available. Still struggle with plant milk in tea so generally drink Earl grey.” “I’d have to answer dietary vegan but trying hard to be an ethical vegan. I was vegetarian for years before doing Veganuary, haven’t looked back, much easier than I could ever have imagined.” “I was a vegan for nearly a year, but unfortunately due to health reasons was put on medication that was not vegan. I used that as ‘an excuse’ to start eating cheese again so I would mostly eat vegetarian now but would eat meat on a few occasions now. Hope that helps. I think if the medication hadn’t have been an issue I would most likely have stayed as a vegan with maybe the odd dairy product but I still mainly keep to vegetarian.” “8. I am sticking with a vegan diet as much as possible but occasionally having some dairy if the options are limited. So probably about 90% vegan. I’ve been a vegetarian for over 40 years.” “I consider myself an ethical vegan. So far haven’t had any slip-ups, and I have no intention of going back to an omnivore diet.“ “I was a meat-eater before Veganuary. I am 90 per cent vegan but occasionally have dairy when eating out. I still strive to be vegan for ethical reasons.” “I’m still an ethical vegan and will never go back.” “I am between 1 and 2. I don’t consume anything animal-related. I am in the process of changing cosmetics, cleaning products etc to vegan abs ones that aren’t tested in animals. I was vegetarian for approximately 27 years, then did Veganuary and haven’t looked back.” “I am 1). Hadn’t thought of having a name or title as such but 1) fits my lifestyle. I actually managed a vegan diet for 4/5 months after Veganuary but am since back 32 I Plant Powered Planet
Pictured: Harry Potter actress Evanna Lynch & Veganuary ambassador. Image credit: Veganuary
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to vegetarian. No milk though and rarely other dairy products and hope to keep cutting out animal products to eventually be vegan. I do avoid animal products on other items I buy as much as possible but no expert at this yet.” “Hey, I’m a bit of everything! I definitely don’t eat anything that comes from the sea, been like that for 4 years now for ethical reasons. I have always shopped ethically cosmetic, household products etc. I am flexitarian but I am vegan for breakfast and lunch. For dinner, I sometimes eat meat, but I only eat chicken and beef. I don’t eat any other meat types. I definitely eat more vegan foods than before Veganuary and have switched from eating vegetarian at breakfast and lunch to vegan. I only drink oat milk now. I would like to be a full-time vegan, but a lot of the vegan products use coconut and the coconut can be sourced by cruelty using monkeys. When I buy meat now I choose meat that is slaughtered where it’s lives so not travelling miles to a slaughterhouse and has been free-range. Because my partner eats meat it’s hard to be a full-time vegan.” As I said earlier, this method would overestimate the percentage of those becoming vegan or plantbased as they are more likely to reply to my questions, and they were already a sub-group more likely to have commented on the Facebook post. So, the results do not represent all Veganuary participants, but rather the “responsive” participants, those more likely to respond if we ask them for their diet status now (in other words, those more likely to have changed their diet after Veganuary). We can use the 29% of ethical vegans after Veganuary as the “maximum” percentage, knowing that the real value would be less than that. Remember that, from the Veganuary questionnaires, in 2021 around 40% said they would carry on only eating plant-based food, and six months later this went down to 30%. With our data, we now know that a maximum of 34 I Plant Powered Planet
around half of those were ethical vegans one or two years later. That means 20% of the non-vegan participants, at the most (or 18% if we use the 2022 percentages). What Does This All Mean? The data from my mini-research is not statistically significant and is from a tiny sample, but this is the only thing I got. Nevertheless, I think it can help me to arrive at some conclusions beyond pure speculation. If up to 20% of the participants in the 2021 Veganuary became ethical vegans and still hold this philosophy one year after, as that year 582,000 people signed in, a maximum of 116,400 could be ethical vegans now. Let’s be conservative and assume that the real figure is 10 times smaller than that, around 12,000 people. That is still something. We are talking
about thousands of people who become ethical vegans thanks to a campaign. Some of these may indeed leave veganism later, but some of those Plant-Based people could become ethical vegans later too, so the conclusion “thousands” still feels right to me. If you expected that most would become ethical vegans, this may sound disappointing, but I did not. I actually expected fewer, considering how little I could see about the philosophy on the Veganuary website. Would more women stay feminist if they tried some aspects of feminism for 30 days? Would more people become environmentalists if they tried eco-transport for a month? Would more people stop drinking after doing dry January? How many of the resolutions made in New Year are still complied with two years later?
If you are an ethical vegan and someone said to you “I have found a way to make thousands of ethical vegans every year by just making them sign up to a website”, what would you say? You would say that’s fantastic, would you not? Is not that this project involves spending that many resources for participant, so everyone who doesn’t make it is a significant loss to the organisation, right? And if they told you that this project would allow many vegans from different countries to have a full-time job promoting this campaign for a vegan company, what would you say then? Even better, I would say! And this year they have generated more than 4,351 international media stories. In terms of cost-effectiveness, which
other vegan outreach campaigns can claim better results? I have done vegan outreach of several types (the Cube, leafleting, Earthlings Experience, stalls, etc.), and in my best month, I might have managed to have meaningful conversations with perhaps 100 people who may be willing to take veganism seriously and may give it a try. But these are not people who I “converted”. This is just the equivalent of people who signed on to Veganuary. I would never see those hypothetical 100 people again, and if they tried without any support, it is reasonable to believe that a lower percentage of 20% would be ethical vegans after two years? Yes, it is. The percentage
is likely to be much lower. I now spend my time trying to help people stay vegan with my writing (mostly in vegan echo chambers) rather than trying to help carnists in the world to try veganism, but I know targeting the general public is a far more difficult task, so any ethical vegan for life created “from scratch” is a worthwhile effort. If during all my street outreach I would only have managed to help one full carnist to become an ethical vegan for life, I would not feel I have wasted my time. Each ethical vegan that exists reduces the distance we need to travel to get the critical mass of vegans required to make a significant political change towards the vegan world. And it increases the chances of new committed activists being formed, some of whom may be good tacticians who can make a strong impact with their campaigning. What matters is not the decreasing demand for animal products, or the number of animals “theoretically” saved by buying plantbased alternatives. What matters is the number of ethical vegans determined to change the world. With the accounts of some vegan celebrities who may become an inspiration to others, and with the analysis of the available data, I am certain that Veganuary “makes” ethical vegans. It may have a higher impact Plant Powered Planet I 35
on temporarily changing people’s behaviours, but for me, that is just a side effect of trying to help people to become vegan. The data does not show that enough flexitarians or reducetarians are created to justify changing Veganuary’s name to Flexinuary or Reducenuary. And although it could be argued that a more fitting name may be Plantbasednuary, it doesn’t have the same ring to it or the same value either, right? Mathew Glover and Jane Land went to start other vegan campaigns (such as the Million Dollar Vegan Campaign), but also
founded a new food company called VFC (Vegan Fried Chicken) which produces fast-food style vegan “chicken”. He was interviewed by The Green Queen about it in an article titled “Vegan Chicken Brand VFC: Why We Banned The Term ‘PlantBased’ In Our Marketing.” In it, he said the following: “We’re activists first and food producers second. ‘Plant-based’ doesn’t cover how we feel or what we want to achieve as a company. The word ‘vegan’ accurately reflects that promise we made to do all we can to rid the world of factory farms and spare the lives of birds.”
I am certain that Veganuary “makes” ethical vegans. It may have a higher impact on temporarily changing people’s behaviours, but for me, that is just a side effect of trying to help people to become vegan. 36 I Plant Powered Planet
If the spirit of Veganuary’s founders has not been diluted in the current organisation, the ultimate goal should be making ethical vegans after the plantbased hype is gone. There may be several flexitarians, reducetarians, vegetarians and plant-based people created for each ethical vegan “achieved”, but this could be seen as by-products. Like the many drafts before a Nobel prize-winning novel is published, or the many “studies” after a museum-worthy painting is finished. All valued by themselves, but not as much as the final work of art. Veganuary makes ethical vegans. I am now convinced it does. It would be nice if those running it could find a way to make more, so I hope they are trying and not settling for less. Easier said than done, I know, but that is what making a vegan world is all about. There is Veganuary.
life
after
Don’t waste it. By Jordi Casamitjana Author of ‘Ethical Vegan: A Personal and Political Journey to Change the World’
Pictured: Professional Actor Peter Egan, an ambassador and keen animal rights activist. Image credit: Veganuary
Interested? Check out Veganuary!
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Creating sustainable rural communities around the production of hemp When founding member, Joe, first discovered the enormous potential of the hemp plant, he envisioned how it could be produced to create sustainable, rural communities. In 2014, he approached an organic farmer on the Hardwick Estate and explained the agricultural benefits of the hemp plant.
The farmer had also heard about the wonders of hemp and so agreed to work with this experimental crop. The following year 27 acres were planted, the first seeds of Hempen were sewn. Having harvested a bumper crop, Joe attracted a group of friends who also believed in the possibilities the plant offered. Hemp is already part of a booming CBD industry and can be grown organically. The diversity of this plant means the products it can become are almost endless; hemp paper, hemp fuel, hemp fabric, hemp plastic and so much more! In 2015 Hempen formed as a worker co-operative, representing the equitable, sustainable and ethical production of hemp products - for health, wellbeing, culinary and cosmetic use. Over the years 38 I Plant Powered Planet
we have developed an incredible team of dedicated co-op members, employees and committed volunteers who have continued to help us realise our mission: ‘To cooperatively cultivate hemp solutions for people, community and planet’ Plant superpowers Many of the claims about hemp sound a bit farfetched; the seed is a superfood, hempcrete is a wonder construction material, its fibre makes strong fabric and rope, the flower makes a powerful medicine, the root rebuilds and remediates depleted soils, growing hemp plants in open fields is great for wildlife biodiversity. Yet, all of this is true. At Hempen, we understand how important hemp is as a resource and its capacity to grow abundantly.
As the world approaches breaking point, this versatile green crop can aid our transition to a sustainable and environmentally conscious economy. The hemp seed is the most complete protein to be found in the vegetable kingdom, containing the optimum balance of omega fatty acids for absorption by the human body. It has 21 amino acids and nine essential amino acids, which our bodies require, (but are unable to produce). All our hemp seed products are raw and natural. The seed has a crispy shell full of fibre, in recipes, the hemp seed can be eaten whole, sprinkled on meals, mashed into pesto, blended to make milk or toasted for a snack. The immense nutrient value in the seed, creates an easily digestible
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protein, which is handy when milled into a protein powder and flour! This earthy fibre rich superfood is a whopping 48% plantbased complete protein. Pressing the seed into an oil ensures the precious golden ratio of omega 3, 6 and some 9 are retained.
We can then process the seed into a deliciously rich oil for salads as a dressing or drizzled over bread. It can even be used as a health supplement by taking a teaspoon or tablespoon every day. Gone are the days of requiring cod liver oil tablets!
Pictured: Hempen’s organic hemp seed
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on the farm
What is the Endocannabinoid System (ECS)? Any part of the hemp plant that is of green matter holds hundreds of compounds, including a range of cannabinoids - like CBD - that are known to bring our bodies into a state of balance. Cannabinoids play a crucial role in regulating our Endocannabinoid System (ECS); an integral system found in all animals except for insects. The ECS is a highly communicative network across the entire body which interacts with our physical, mental and emotional states. You might imagine it as the switchboard to our body’s homeostasis, reacting to internal and external stimuli by bringing the body back into balance.
Cannabinoids interact directly with both the immune system and the central nervous system through the endocannabinoid system. CBD also holds incredible anti-inflammatory properties. As a consequence of previous obstructing policies, only a small fraction of cannabinoid research has been sourced from clinical trials.
Why grow organic? Produce that’s free of pesticides and grown with sustainability at its core is healthier, both for the environment and for the people consuming it.
So why don’t we expect the same quality from our supplements and health products? When we’re trying to improve our health, it makes sense to find the products which have been produced according to the
However, as a civilisation we have been using hemp since ancient times, and throughout history. Scientific studies and research are growing as more is being discovered about how important cannabinoids are to our overall health and wellbeing. Pictured: Machinery aiding the team duri
ng harvest
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“
It can even be used a health supplement by taking a teaspoon or tablespoon every day.
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”
highest standards possible, which organic certification offers. Any natural CBD extract (i.e. not synthetic) is made by processing hemp flowers into a thick resin. This extract is then mixed with a carrier or other ingredients into the products you choose. With any CBD extract made from non-organic hemp, there will be a much higher concentration of toxins and heavy metals than would be found in organic extracts. Organic certification ensures that no pesticides or synthetic agents were used, making sure the hemp plants are as pure and natural as the specific certification deems acceptable. The benefits of organic hemp go beyond the final product. Chemical fertilisers and pesticides destroy the microbial life which is so vital to the health and resilience of soils. When hemp is grown organically and without the use of pesticides, the soil is protected from further degradation as well as improving the water retention and nitrogen content. With so many reasons to go organic, it’s surprisingly difficult to find certified organic produce. In the UK, the demand for organic produce is far greater than the supply. With so few farmers growing hemp - and even fewer growing organically
- it’s no wonder the high quality and toxin-free extract is difficult to source. Surprisingly, hemp cultivation is still largely restricted in today’s society and often trapped in red tape. Hempen exists to increase the amount of organic hemp grown in the UK and British Isles, working to build a collaborative industry that supports its farmers, processors and customers. Difficult Legislation When the benefits of regenerative farming, organic hemp and CBD products are not fully understood by legislators and law enforcement, ethical products are more difficult to
produce. Our food system has been dominated by a handful of corporations, providing convenience foods at a great cost to our health, communities, local supply chains and the soil. Until we see change, organic and quality products tend to be more expensive to cover the costs of additional processes. The World Health Organisation stated that hemp poses no public health risk and the United Nations claimed that it should not be a controlled substance. So why is low THC industrial hemp illegal to grow without special government permission? Since 2018 only a few farmers have been able to jump through the
We believe that hemp grown for food or well-being should always be certified organic… Organic certification is the only way to know the integrity and safety of the hemp product from seed to shelf. Plant Powered Planet I 43
bureaucratic hoops to get a hemp cultivation licence and there are only about 20 licensed UK growers, totalling just 2,000 hectares.
In fact, we often struggle to meet the demand for organic UK grown hemp, as the government hasn’t approved enough organic hemp farms.
In 2019 Hempen was denied the renewal of our licence midway through a growing season, forcing us to destroy a healthy crop valued at £200k. It turns out that the Home Office had decided that farmers could no longer cultivate for CBD use. If we could have harvested the same field for CBD, it would be worth £2.4 million. Now, all CBD extracts in the UK have to be imported. We currently grow in partnership with farms across the British Isles for seed and fibre use, while governmental guidance on hemp cultivation and processing continues to be unclear.
Liberate Hemp
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This year, we are part of a campaign to ‘Liberate Hemp’ so that all life on earth can access this mighty plant. There are so many beneficial foods, cosmetics and structures we could make… if only we could grow more! The time is now. Our aim is to render the outdated licensing regime redundant so that one day we won’t need to ask for permission from government ministers with conflicted interests. Hemp will be decriminalised so that the potential of this plant can be fully realised.
‘From seed to shelf, your support is our growth. We’re cultivating a hemp renaissance across the British Isles, for the health of the people and the land.’ Together, we will empower anyone who wants to access hemp and learn about its myriad of benefits. Let’s cultivate hemp together and overgrow the government’s licensing regime. For more information, visit: Liberate Hemp
Hempen Website
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Lisa Gawthorne: Entrepreneur, Team GB athlete & vegan leader Lisa Gawthorne is a powerhouse. Her tremendous success shows no signs of stopping - from competing as a vegan athlete for Team GB to running and growing a successful chain of vegan businesses under the banner of Bravura Foods to name but two examples. Lisa very kindly took the time to speak with editor Karin about life on and off the track these past couple of years, as well as what lies ahead.
A busy year for you – especially in business terms. New products on the horizon?
What developments are you seeing with sustainable packaging? Is it getting easier?
2022 will definitely go down as one of our busiest years that’s for sure! We have been super busy working on new product development in vegan confectionery across our two award-winning brands – Panda liquorice and Free From Fellows.
It’s becoming the norm now to see products in many categories that have moved across to sustainable packaging options, we are also currently in the process of doing this and are looking forward to bringing that into play across all our brands. I hope one day it’s the only option available on the market.
Our vegan mallows under the Free From Fellows brand are doing extremely well and it doesn’t stop here – we are looking forward to continuing growth of that brand with new additions and pack formats to satisfy demand.
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You must have a personal favourite amongst your sweets? Yes – that’s an easy one, it’s the vanilla vegan
mallows, they taste amazing and I use them as a nice pre-workout fuel too as they are kind on the stomach before racing or training, as well as being super tasty, free from the top 14 allergens and totally cruelty free. I mean vegan wine gums, come on… that’s like stepping back into childhood for some of us! Haven’t eaten a wine gum since can’t remember... Wine gums were my favourite until we launched the mallows! The wine gums are part of our sugar free range too – so great if you love sweets but want to cut down on sugar.
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We have been busy working on new product development in vegan confectionary across our two award-winning brands Pictured: Lisa presenting at Goldman Sachs HQ
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On a serious note, how important is it to wean kids off gelatine and sugar?
Below: Lisa in Romania at the European Championhips in 2019.
I think education on both these areas is key and it starts with parental guidance. We all know from the headlines that the obesity crisis is still ongoing in the UK and its affecting younger generations more than ever before, hence the introduction of the governments HFSS rules in the case of sugar / salts / fats. On the gelatine side of things, it still astonishes me how many people are not aware of what this is and how much it features in the sweets that they are eating. Let’s be totally honest, no child is gong to be truly happy if they knew exactly what gelatine was and how its used in their sweets, and furthermore there is so much choice now in vegan confectionery that you really don’t have to be consuming it. You are of course an athlete of some standing – representing the UK again this year? It’s been another strong start to the year for me, hot off becoming the silver medallist in the 1500m British Championships last year, I became the 3000m champion in my age group in Jan at the British Masters Championships and I also qualified to represent
England once again in the 10K which is taking place this September in Bristol. Multisport wise, I am still doing well in duathlon (run-bike-run), I just won my age group last weekend at Oulton Park Sprint Duathlon which has given me automatic qualification for the World Championships in 2023 and I am competing at both the European and World Champs this year in Bilbao and Romania for duathlon. In between those key races, I will be using local races to keep nice and sharp! The last 2 years must have been a nightmare from a competitive perspective – but you’ve kept fighting fit? Without fitness, I would have been lost - it’s played a huge part in my life for such a long time now and I really do class it as a
healthy distraction. When all the competitions were cancelled, we as athletes all became lost as we are so routine, schedule and competition-driven then suddenly it was all taken away and that was hard. The sector responded really well with lots of virtual races that I really clung onto and tried to do as much as I could to ensure my fitness remained on track. It wasn’t the same as racing face to face but there was something quite refreshing about racing against your own watch knowing others would be doing the same. It was as good as it was going to get and I was really thankful for that during the lockdowns. We see you’re somewhat of an accomplished artist now too? Well I am trying! I started practising watercolours Plant Powered Planet I 49
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I became the 3000m champion in my age group in Jan at the British Masters Championships and I also qualified to represent England once again in the 10K which is taking place this September in Bristol. about three years ago, completed an online course then went on to experiment with oil painting too. I find both really useful again to reduce work related stress and to manage anxiety. For me, painting offers escapism and deep mindfulness which is a great contrast to the busy hum-drum of daily business. Just recently I had some of my watercolour and fine liner paintings commissioned by an art gallery in Scotland so that was pretty special too.
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I really feel I am just at my early stages of learning with painting, I feel its going to be there with me for the long haul. And we have seen a clip of you playing the piano! A remarkable array of talents!
My sister is a great piano player so we always had a piano in the house growing up – I didn’t take much notice of it back then but having a piano in my house has been a godsend as I love to learn a lot of the modern music and just try new things. I always try and sneak in a quick go when I see one in a hotel reception!
You are a big fan of Veganuary – tell us a little more. I honestly believe that Veganuary will go down in history as the most influential organisation driving interest and uptake in veganism. I love their approach; they are informative, they are real, they have good influential ambassadors on board, retailers and wholesalers understand their cause more than ever before (most have dedicated Veganuary fixtures in store now each year).
They have without a doubt been instrumental in driving interest and growth in the market fuelling manufacturers to think outside the box with product development, so I am in full support of everything they do. Do you have any companion animals? I have a Bengal cat called Yoshi, he is a handful but he is a real character and features more than I do on my Instagram feed, but he’s too cute not to share with the world!
Hopes for 2022? To continue at this rapid pace of brand growth for our vegan confectionery products in the business and to continue competing and smashing PB’s in athletics and in duathlon. Above all, just to be happy and thankful for life. It really hits home when we think about Ukraine, we realise how lucky we are right now and I try to not take that for granted, practising daily gratitude rituals to keep everything in perspective. And finally – we very much hope you will be joining us on our Plant Powered Planet Stage at Vegfest in November! We do hope you can make it… I am really hoping to be there, I am just waiting on confirmation as I may be racing that weekend but I will know more soon. If I am not racing, I will see you all there as I love the show. It really is the best! For more information about Bravura Foods, visit:
For more about Lisa, check out her Linktree:
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Hench Herbivore From YouTube & Protein, to Recovery & CBD Hench Herbivore, aka Paul Kerton is a force for good in the modern vegan movement. Paul manages to balance content creation with being ripped but his health isn’t sacrified in the pursuit of his appearance. Hench is both a personal trainer AND a qualified nutritionist, and is acutely aware of the impact lifestyle and dietary choices have on health.
Hench? How are you hanging? You must be happy the gyms are open again… I am extremely happy! I did not have the same zest for training working out at home with limited equipment and weight. Also, I’m so busy making content that my social life is rather limited. I didn’t realise just HOW important all the people at the gym are to me. That sense of camaraderie and kinship. It is SO good to be back!! You’ve kept yourself busy these last couple of years? Yes, as well as growing our YouTube channel and Instagram page we released our third cookbook “Speedy Vegan”, for those that wish to eat a healthy whole foods-based vegan diet but are short on time to cook. We also launched our online nutrition course “The Ultimate Guide To Plant-Based nutrition” which is the culmination of my 10 years of experience as a vegan PT and nutritionist and my partner Gemma’s as a plant-based 52 I Plant Powered Planet
Chef. We really wanted to cut through all the noise and nonsense regarding vegan diets and empower everybody to be able to become their own nutritionist. And lastly, we just launched our premium online coaching service for those that want to once and for all take their health, body shape and fitness to the next level while having all the hard work done for them. Well, the nutrition and workout plans, anyway. They have to still do all the lifting, obviously! We’re finding the whole process hugely rewarding seeing people realise their fitness goals. And you must be looking forward to events again right? My favourite thing about being a content creator, YouTuber, influencer, whatever you want to call it, is meeting all our wonderful supporters that watch, like and share our content and communicate with us digitally. It’s like an army of friends that you just haven’t met in person yet. Numbers (of followers) on
FREE Vegan Nutrition E-Guide! Plant Powered Planet I 53
Hench – you are still a young man – but are you noticing any difference year to year as you train?
a screen means nothing really. It’s hard to get your head around. But when you meet smiling face after smiling face thanking you for your efforts in promoting something as emotive as veganism, well let’s just say it can make you well up just a little bit. And to look around and see thousands of like-minded people who ALL care about animals just as much as you do, it’s like a real breath of fresh air that gives me hope for the future and reignites my passion for this even more! Of course, it doesn’t hurt that ALL the food is vegan and delicious!
fitness quickly go through the roof and my ability to burn fat increase, but it was adequate stimulation to keep the size in my legs as I was dropping the fat. I still train my upper body in the typical bodybuilding style but instead of splitting the muscle groups up and destroying them with hard workouts once per week I change to a push/pull split, lower the intensity and up the frequency. The mantra is “stimulate rather than annihilate” as the reduction in calories required to burn fat off would mean that I’d be overtraining and actively eating up my muscles otherwise.
Talking of which – we very much hope you will be joining us on our Plant Powered Planet Stage at Vegfest in November? We do hope you can make it...
Hench’s current fitness regime:
Try stopping me! I went to my first UK VegFest in 2015 and I believe I’ve been to every single one since! So c’mon, what’s your current training routine? I’m doing a cutting cycle at the moment, which has changed for me in the last couple of years. During the first Coronavirus lockdown, I took to doing hill sprints on my bicycle instead of my usual squats, deadlifts and leg extensions, etc. I found that not only did my cardiovascular 54 I Plant Powered Planet
You flatter me! I will actually be half a century old next year, but there are certainly no signs of it slowing me down. I noticed a massive difference to my recovery by switching from an animal-heavy to a whole foods-predominant, plant-based diet. You see it all the time now. Athletes switching to plant-based diets, particularly once they become injured. It is so anti-inflammatory and
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Hill sprints
Walk
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Upper body push
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Upper Body Pull
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Hill sprints
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Upper body push
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Upper body pull
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Rest day *
Rest day *
* Rest day - active recovery. (Usually a long, gentle walk or bike ride, preferably in nature)
full of antioxidants (neither of which can be said for animal products). While we’re younger we can SEEMINGLY get away with eating rubbish and still perform to a high level athletically. But make NO mistake, animal products and processed junk ARE doing harm to the body. Harm which may not reveal itself for many years, but it IS happening. By the time middle and older ages come we’re now seeing the vegan athletes oftentimes breaking away from the pack in terms of perfromance as the body is not so broken-down and we’re less likely to be saddled with the diseases of affluence that affect so many. We can perform just as well, if not better, on a healthy, balanced plant-based diet, so why wait until middle and older ages or for the first heart attack, I say?! What about the protein myth? Oh, it’s certainly very important! A lot less so than the fitness industry would have you believe, but vegans with serious strength and physique goals would often benefit from the addition of one or two servings of a protein powder or other processed protein food such as seitan or tofu in their diet. The average person without such aspirations would likely get twice as much as they needed if their vegan
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When you skip all the hyper-palatable sugar, oil and salt-rich foods for long enough you lose the taste for them. You also get to feel super-well and by falling off the bandwagon, you REALLY notice it! diet was centered around whole foods such as legumes, whole grains, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Even fruit contains about 5% protein on average and it all adds up! There must be a favourite food of yours in the Hench household...
Our favourite food by far is masala dosa with sambar. Indian thin, crisp crepe made from rice and mung bean flour with a dry curried potato and lentil filling served with a spicy fermented lentil soup. It is the most popular street food served in Southern India and I can see why! I developed a high protein version using quinoa and various dahl which you can find on our YouTube channel, but in all honesty it does not compete flavour-wise with our
local restaurant Namaste Village. I could eat their food for every meal!! Spill the beans – do you have any cheat days? You know, just eat whatever and not think about it?
Knowing what I know about nutrition and disease risk, no, not really. And to be honest I don’t want to. When you skip all the hyper-palatable sugar, oil and salt-rich foods for long enough you lose the taste for them. You also get to feel super-well and by falling off the bandwagon, you REALLY notice it! I think of it this way; imagine you have two glasses. One has mud in it, representing those that pay no attention to healthy eating in favour of that instant gratification. The other is full of crystal clear water. Put a little dirt in with the Plant Powered Planet I 55
mud and you won’t see the difference, but sprinkle that in the clean vessel and it’s a whole different story! I believe that most people are so used to things like tiredness, foggy thinking, headaches, gut issues, etc. that they don’t register them and just think that the way they feel is “normal”. That said I’m not totally averse to going a little off-piste on a rare occasion, say I’m at a restaurant, and the options are limited. There are certain things I won’t relent on. Like coconut oil (full of heart attack-inducing long-chain fatty acids), refined sugar (the second biggest dietary cause of Alzheimer’s which is now the number one cause of death in this country) and, of course, chopped-up pieces of dead animals who died screaming.
How effective has CBD been in your life? We know you’re a bit of a fan MASSIVELY! I’m a huge fan. This powerful anti-inflammatory is good in so many ways. From exercise recovery and pain mitigation to reduced anxiety and improved mood and at the end of the day it helps calm my busy mind, allowing me to more easily drift off and get a restful night’s sleep, which is so restorative. Any tips for people who wanna look like you? We all know HOW to build muscle and burn fat. Eat enough calories and protein, work out and take sleep seriously. I think that the key to success is the willingness to make sacrifices to achieve our goals.
We all know HOW to build muscle and burn fat. Eat enough calories and protein, work out and take sleep seriously. I think that the key to success is the willingness to make sacrifices to achieve our goals. 56 I Plant Powered Planet
If we constantly skip sessions when we’re feeling a little tired, stay up late partying and eat our weight in doughnuts then we will never get there. Training, nutrition and rest ALL need to be at the top of our list of priorities. One other thing that I will add, and that I have witnessed being the secret sauce for many, is accountability. Hire a coach or at the very least post on social media so that others are watching you. Share your goal and as many stats as you’re comfortable sharing (physique photos, body weight, waist circumference, etc.) Announce how many times you plan to go to the gym and then do weekly updates of your progress (and whether you made it to the gym each day or found an excuse not to go!) You could even do daily photographs of each meal to keep you on track. Personally, I’ve never needed to do all that. After seeing the terror that I used to put animals through in order for them to end up on my plate I now feel that I have a duty to save as many as possible by promoting veganism in this positive light so hopefully more will follow me and it’s an incredibly powerful driver. When I used to PT my vegan clients 1-on-1 and they were struggling I would always say “for the animals”! Not once did anyone ever fail to get that last rep!
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I would always say “for the animals”! Not once did anyone ever fail to get that last rep!
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What’s next for the Hench? We’ve a lot of incredibly exciting things lined up for the future as it looks as though we are going to be starting a new business with some like-minded and very driven and ambitious souls. I’m not allowed to delve too deeply into it at this stage but it will be very multi-faceted leveraging technology, media and celebrity to make veganism more appealing to the masses. We plan to also provide other services that will make it easier for people to transition to eating more whole foods predominant vegan nutrition by meeting them where they are at while also providing a framework for success as they’re inspired to commit more time and energy into cooking.
FREE Vegan Nutrition E-Guide!
Any final words? Despite initial fears, going vegan in no way hampered my physique goals, in fact in many ways it was a boon! I am confident that the way I was going at it that by now I’d likely have had some kind of health scare had I not have ditched the masses of animal products that I used to eat. I’m thriving, my vegan PT clients are all thriving and you can too. We can live longer, happier and healthier whilst creating a kinder world. What are you waiting for...? Thanks Hench! See you in November!... 58 I Plant Powered Planet
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Heather Mills: Vbites, World Records & what the future holds Heather Mills is no stranger to most, with a very colourful and prominent history within the plant-based market & vegan world. Not only that, Heather still holds the World Record for ‘the fastest disabled woman on the planet’, speedskiing at speeds of up to 166.84 km/ph! Achieving highly in multiple areas, Heather turned her attention to Vbites after purchasing the Redwood Wholefood Company in 2009 and continued that trend. As of today, Vbites sells ‘130 vegan products to over 20 countries around the world’, has opened multiple cafes and restaurants from UK to New York and now has a dedicated vegan factory producing Vbites products day in day out.
Heather – good to see you – how have the past couple of years been for you? It is a pleasure Karin, you are such an inspiration - your dedication and commitment to the vegan cause for decades is admirable. It’s been an absolute rollercoaster - a complete mixture of highs and lows. I have never been busier in my life and I’m a pretty busy person, 20 hour days seven days a week to keep the companies alive through this difficult period. First of all Brexit and then Covid, and Brexit
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is still a disaster with import and export issues for many companies. On a positive note we have partnered with a family business in Germany who have relationships with 20,000 fair trade farmers so we are now the first meat fish and dairy-free company that is farm-tofork within Europe and the UK. As you can imagine one year of due diligence is no mean feat through Covid, but we did it, saving the factories in the process and have massively scaled too, especially in the dairy-free and fish-free sectors.
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Europe, the Middle East and America are the biggest growth markets for us, but we continue to supply the UK, and when the British people want to start buying British products we are there. The V Bites site – “Plant Based Valley” – how’s that going?
You must be proud of the jobs you have created in the area.
We currently have three factories in the UK and we have now expanded into Germany and Austria since merging with our new minority shareholder partners… However the north-east certainly is the plant-based valley of the world because we have the largest 100% plant-based facilities in the meat, fish and dairyfree sector, Despite all the odds. So the dream is happening, but it is a lot of work as you can imagine!
It’s been a real team effort of a small group of us who have gone the extra mile to make this happen, many of my friends said I should step back before I kill myself working crazy hours but I just knew we could make it work and I put a brilliant team together to take it to the next level.
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Plans for the site? Will it still develop and attract new businesses? The different factories do different things. One in the north-east is 100% allergen-free making 29 different varieties of plantbased cheese. One of the others makes meat-free and fish-free products. We have some start-ups making ice cream and oat milk, who will soon be moving into their own facilities so they can continue growing in the market.
And abroad? Are you exporting a lot? Or has Brexit hampered plans? Most of our business is exported because the British market is saturated, and many countries are still in their infancy. Europe, the Middle East and America are the biggest growth markets for us, but we continue to supply the UK, and when the British people want to start buying British products we are there. Unfortunately a lot of people are buying vegan cheese from Greece and vegan burgers from America.
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The north-east certainly is the plant-based valley of the world because we have the largest 100% plant-based facilities in the meat, fish and dairy free sector, Despite all the odds. How’s the skiing going? You are a world champion!
I had a choice to continue with my ski career or focus 100% on the business to keep it alive and scale it so I had to give up ski racing, at the age of 47. However yes I still hold the world record for Speed Skiing, Skeleton and Ski Jumping.
The whole point of doing it at a later date was to prove you can still be fit and compete on vegan protein.
And recent new hobbies or pastimes?
Now I have a bigger team I’m hoping over the coming months that I can finish learning my languages, and start practising my Saxophone again. You have a number of other vegan businesses too? The Be at One brand for example?
Yes the Be At One vegan make-up brand has just launched into 250 stores in Austria & Germany,
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” [Veganuary] Great tasting products are essential because most people really don’t care about anything other than themselves, but once they are given food that is great it makes it very easy for them.
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and next is Slovenia and Croatia in June and July. We created this range so it would be top quality but at a low price. Next it launches into the Middle East because a lot of people don’t realise that there is pig in a lot of make-up and that is not only not vegan, it is not kosher and against Islam, so we have solved that also. Where do you see the next big growth for vegan products? Cheese, cheese and cheese! We need to convert the vegetarians to
veganism and cheese is often the stumbling block. Meat-free will always be second, and as far as the next big growth - fish will be next... We have worked out a way to put my vegan high-level DHA into our fish products - a few people cannot convert a short chain fatty acid to a long chain fatty acid from linseed and flaxseed so this is a perfect solution. I remember you led the way with your vegan Toona paté as well as fish-free fingers and fish-free steaks… Our fish-free steaks, fingers and Paté are still very popular especially in the Greene King pubs now they’re open again. They’re made from Konjac, as it makes it very easy to digest.
The next ‘wave’ in food will be about the digestive system and low fodmap foods, as it affects everything we do mentally. Big fan of Veganuary? It’s a brilliant movement and a great force for change, I just dream of the day when it runs throughout the whole year, and we can only do this with great tasting products, education and awareness. Great tasting products are essential because most people really don’t care about anything other than themselves, but once they are given food that is great it makes it very easy for them. When they stop eating animal products they start looking at them as living beings, so then they start to care. Tips for newbies: Start by eliminating milk and try one of the plant milks available. Don’t give up
on the first one if you don’t like it. I started with Soya, and then I stopped liking it and I moved to oat, then I had rice in my cereal, and when we started VBites cafés in 2008 we had quinoa milk and hazelnut was a popular one too.. My hope is that people start to think about how short life is and that we must be kinder to each other and every other sentient being. I have lived my whole life working in and watching wars throughout the world. If we can just calm the egos And stop fighting we can create happiness, as life means nothing without it. And finally – we very much hope you will be joining us on our Plant Powered Planet Stage at Vegfest in November! We do hope you can make it... I will do my best to be there… Keep up the great work. Thanks Heather! Hopefully see you later in the year! For more information on VBites, check out their website and social media pages here:
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Building Collective Power through Community Kitchens, Micro Food Gardens and a Book of Plant-Powered Recipes By Karla Rey
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The Food Today Food Tomorrow initiative in the Philippines is a new initiative set up to provide both immediate food relief and longer term food solutions. Karla Rey reports.
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Pictured above: Kusinang Bayan. The community kitchens were intensely nostalgic, as we in the program coordination team discovered. It was not just about cooking and distributing food; it was also about sharing stories, having a laugh, relationship building, developing community leaders, and collective empowerment.
The Food Today, Food Tomorrow (FTFT) program has its roots with Lingap Maralita (translated to Care for the Poor), one of the food relief initiatives that came about in the early days of the pandemic when the extreme enhanced community quarantine (EECQ) was put into place in the Philippines. Starting on the first week of April in 2020, LM was a call for action and solidarity with those who barely had the safety nets to survive the severity of it - like informal workers, street dwellers and the landless. 68 I Plant Powered Planet
Starting on the first week of April in 2020, LM was a call for action and solidarity with those who barely had the safety nets to survive the severity of it - like informal workers, street dwellers and the landless.
Lingap Maralita sourced fresh organic vegetables from small farmers and brought these to poor urban communities in Metro Manila through partners on the ground and volunteers from Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY). While still a stopgap solution, LM made sure that the poor, despite their poverty, were not treated as mere beneficiaries of charity. Vital to the project were the weekly kusinang bayan (community kitchens) which are community-led, and managed per cluster on rotation so there is shared accountability.
Beyond the food relief, the project and LM partners’ social media channels became platforms to shed light on how crises impact the most vulnerable sectors more and a way of showing the interdependence of our rural and urban systems. It was also during LM’s run that officers of Payatas’ Pinagkaisang Lakas ng Mamamayan (translated to United People’s Strength), approached the LM core group and expressed their interest in a more sustainable way to secure food by growing it themselves.
Thus, the two-pronged Food Today, Food Tomorrow (FTFT) program was born. Shaped by consultations with the communities and partner organizations, FTFT combines the previous food relief model (Food Today) to immediately address hunger, while the micro food gardens (Food Tomorrow) attempt to address food insecurity. Piloted in November 2020 in Payatas, 20 volunteer urban growers co-designed a community-based food security strategy. Today, some of these farmers are now trainers in the replication site in Bagong
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We continuously work with partners and civil society organizations who understand and believe in the need to dismantle the systematic problem that hinders the urban poor from accessing good, clean and fair food.
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Pictured left: Makisawsaw Book in LA: Makisawsaw Recipes x Ideas: Community Gardens Edition features 70+ healthy, delicious, plant-based recipes that invite you to eat & act in solidarity—from the garden to the kitchen. In the US, the book is available through Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural.
Silangan and share their experience and empower other members of the community to do the same. We continuously work with partners and civil society organizations who understand and believe in the need to dismantle the systematic problem that hinders the urban poor from accessing good, clean and fair food. Beyond the sharing of resources and creation of common assets to sustain their agrobiodiverse food gardens, we also continue to seek ways on how to amplify
the call for the protection of their basic rights, especially their right to safe, healthy and affordable food. For our efforts, we have been recognised as Slow Food Heroes in September last year. So what’s a plant-powered recipe book got to do with it? If you have not come across the first Makisawsaw book, it played on the concept of sawsawan or condiments commonly used to customize a dish
to one’s taste. The book was published a year after Makisawsaw, a condiment-making event that also provided an opportunity for concerned citizens to meet with the union members who participated in a strike to call out the unjust labor practices of NutriAsia, one of the big manufacturers of some of the Philippines’ top brands of sawsawan. You see, sawsaw also connotes ‘dipping’ into or taking part in affairs or conversations that are not in one’s usual sphere. It’s
Pictured above: Makisawsaw Book Launch: The Makisawsaw Community Book Launch was held last November 27 at the Solidarity Garden, Bagong Silangan, Quezon City. The book draws much inspiration from produce that can be grown in community gardens just like the Food Tomorrow gardens in Payatas and Bagong Silangan that organically grew eggplant, ampalaya, tomatoes, and more. Plant Powered Planet I 71
a foot in. Makisawsaw, the book was an invitation to engage with the political nature of food and was a tool to raise funds to help the union workers. The intent of Makisawsaw Recipes x Ideas: The Community Gardens Edition book follows the same truth in that proceeds will support the FTFT program. More than just recipes, the book also contains stories that endeavor to make cooking a shared experience between the contributors
including award-winning chefs, the community, and the person following the steps in making a dish. “To make sawsaw is to touch the surface of things only, and that is what the Makisawsaw series offers (at the least). It shows that the plants we enjoy as food grow from earth that has long been enriched by the blood and sweat of the toiling masses,” said Faye Cura, founder of Gantala Press, at the Gardens of Resistance event organized with Malaya in the US.
The book aims to be a reminder that the basic yet potent form of power we all have is our ability to choose, including where and how we spend our time and money on. It calls on each of us, who most likely already research many of the products we buy and tell our circle about, to start doing the same with our produce and kitchen staples. It suggests that we can all actively seek out, buy from, and recommend growers and companies, particularly smallholder
Pictured below: Gulay Bouquet: As a member of the Slow Food network, FTFT contributes to the vision of “good, clean, fair food for all” by creating micro food gardens through agroecological practices, with the dream of bringing back bahay-kubo biodiversity in urban poor communities and making them as common as neighborhood sari-sari stores as sources of organic produce.
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farmers as well as smaller producers that have made real commitments to addressing climate change and regenerative agricultural practices. Because if we all do, we will not only be supporting businesses to keep up its good work but we will also be showing other businesses that there is a growing consumer base for whom business-as-usual will no longer cut it. The product of the hard work of many individuals and communities, the book and the program that it supports give us hope that there is power in caring, in being present, and standing in solidarity with the people. It is through this collective work that we can help create a system that is equitable, sustainable, and just for everyone. By Karla Rey Food Today, Food Tomorrow For more information on the projects mentioned in this story, visit:
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It calls on each of us, who most likely already research many of the products we buy and tell our circle about, to start doing the same with our produce and kitchen staples.
AstigVegan: Fil-Am vegan chef, Richgail Enriquez-Diez, popularly known as AstigVegan, is one of the contributors of the Makisawsaw book series.
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How to travel as a vegan
in Morocco By Dr. Najoua El Mesmoudi So, you’ve had Morocco on your travel Wishlist, and after a long two years wait, the skies are finally open again. As a vegan traveling to an Arabic country, you might be familiar with the clichéd view of Morocco as non-vegan friendly, because of the place that meat holds as a symbol of generosity and hospitality.
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It is true that meat still occupies a central place in Moroccan gastronomy but the food preferences in the country are slowly catching up with those of the vegan movement in Europe. Although there is no official data of the number of vegans in the Moroccan population, the association of Moroccan vegans and vegetarians “Veg’Morocco” has members in most Moroccan cities. Its Facebook group, “Moroccan vegans” is currently approaching 3,000 members, signalling a definite change in cultural norms and an increased interest in a cruelty-free way of life. The country is leading the vegan movement in the Arab world and Africa as it held for two consecutive years the first vegan festival in the region “Vegfest Morocco”, a festival founded by the vegan activist Simohamed Bouhakkaoui. A sure sign of the slow but sure increase in the demand of vegan foods is the availability of Tofu, nondairy, plant-based milks and cheese analogues, and vegan meat substitutes at large hypermarkets such as Carrefour, in most cities in Morocco. Until the burgeoning interest in veganism becomes widespread, here are some tips you may want to consider getting the most 76 I Plant Powered Planet
” And so, it is always safer to choose fruits as a sweet treat, and in Morocco, you can rest assured that you will be served some of the freshest and tastiest fruits.
of your experience when traveling to Morocco as a vegan.
Before you leave, be sure to pack your Vitamin B12, Vegan Vitamin D, Zinc, and algae oil. Other vegan-friendly travel essentials include protein powder and vegan snacks. Health food stores in Morocco are not readily available. Other supplements such as Iron, calcium or spirulina can be found at pharmacies. Choosing where to stay
As you might expect, there are no fully vegan hotels in Morocco and hotel menus are rarely vegan-friendly. If eating at the restaurant, keep in mind that many items that seem vegan at first might actually be cooked with non-vegan ingredients such as butter in the case of “Rghaif” (Moroccan pancakes) or
sautéed vegetables. If in doubt, it’s a good idea to ask about how the chef prepares those items. As it is often the case at restaurants, you will have the option to have your dish veganized to accommodate your dietary preferences but remember that even if you are staying at a top star hotel, your wait staff might not know what vegan means. It’s better to be really specific and explain that you don’t want “any red meat, chicken or fish, no parmesan on the pasta or the pizza, no gelatine or cream on desserts and no chicken stock in the soup”! The hardest dishes to make vegan for the kitchen are desserts because they contain eggs, butter and are often soaked in butter and honey. And so, it is always safer to choose fruits as a sweet treat, and in Morocco, you can rest
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assured that you will be served some of the freshest and tastiest fruits. Staying at an AirBnB could be a better option If you’re traveling with other people and if you want to have a larger choice of vegan meals. Besides being cheaper than a hotel, you will have access to a kitchen and more often than not, a cook who will escort you through a range of exquisite local vegan dishes that are bursting with flavour and made with love. Exploring Moroccan restaurants Traveling is all about experiencing the local food culture. If you are staying in Casablanca, you will be in luck, as you will find some strictly vegan restaurants such as Niya. Besides these few options and if you are visiting other cities, you may want to try some popular and satisfying vegan dishes readily available in restaurants. Here is your guide to the most common vegan dishes that you can order anywhere in Morocco: Breakfast options: You can have an experience of the authentic Moroccan morning table simply with some Moroccan bread, fragrant, locally produced olive oil and some briny bitter or spiced olives, accompanied with a glass of 78 I Plant Powered Planet
Moroccan tea made with mint or a dozen of other aromatic herbs. Other local breakfast vegan options are: Baghrir, these sweet fluffy semolina pancakes are usually dripped in a hot mixture of butter and honey. Ask that they be served dry. You may want to add your own agave or maple syrup before consuming, Besara, a staple food during the winter season, this delicious and humble fava beans puree is usually served with bread and garnished with olive oil and cumin, Taktouka, a zesty cooked salad made of tomatoes and green pepper. Enjoy it warm or cold, with crusty bread to scoop up the salad. A typical breakfast table will also include the popular “Rghaif” or “M’semen”, which are square laminated pancakes. Those are generally not vegan because they are made with butter. Similarly, “Harsha”, a staple pan-fried bread made from semolina, is usually made with milk. Lunch/dinner options When it comes to ordering a main dish at Moroccan restaurants, your options are a bit limited, but some restaurants may have vegan tagines on the menu Plant Powered Planet I 79
or make a veganized version for you. Luckily, side dishes are usually always vegan. And so, you can feel feasted creating a full meal from a variety of delicious hot and cold side dishes. Here are some of your options:
Baqoula (Khubeiza), is another humble but super delicious side dish made from steamed mallow or spinach, seasoned with olive oil, spices, olives, and preserved lemons. This healthy salad can be eaten hot or cold as a dip with Moroccan bread.
Zaalouk, made with grilled eggplant, olive oil and tomato, is a great summertime salad that you can enjoy as a dip, just like Taktouka,
In the soups category, “Besara” or a lentil stew, made with green lentils and an extra dose of cumin are filling and readily available options.
Potato Salad, seasoned with mixed cumin, coriander, garlic, and olive oil,
Lastly, if you are offered vegan couscous, please note that it is probably not vegan because the couscous itself is usually prepared with butter during the hand-rolling process.
Beetroot salad, the extra coriander and cumin give all the flavour to this salad,
Unless specifically veganized, *all* local desserts and sweets will be cooked with butter and sweetened with honey. A popular street snack you can enjoy with peace of mind is “Sfenj”, the Moroccan street Beignets. 80 I Plant Powered Planet
Desserts/Snacks options Unless specifically veganized, *All* local desserts and sweets will be cooked with butter and sweetened with honey. A popular street snack you can enjoy with peace of mind is “Sfenj”, the Moroccan street Beignets. It is usually soaked in honey but served plain. Souvenir shopping Besides its cuisine, Morocco is world-renowned for its handicraft. If you like the bohemian look of the embroidered Moroccan leather slippers (Belgha), you can now get ethically made Moroccan style embroidered slippers from the local brand “Amaz”; a vegan and eco-conscious brand that makes unique modern sneakers with elements of the traditional embroidery. Find them here. So, if you were at all worried about traveling as a vegan to Morocco, don’t be. You are always welcome to contact the Facebook group, “Moroccan vegans” for any additional tips. Besides immersing yourself in the beauty of this land, you can bring home the experience of the Vegan side of Moroccan culture. By Dr. Najoua El Mesmoudi Author of ‘How to Travel to Morocco as a Vegan?
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Casa Vegan: Plant-Based Meat Substitutes in Lagos, Nigeria Olaoluwa Fashola has a factory in Lagos State, Nigeria, producing vegan meat substitutes. Already with a Plant-Based Burger and Plant-Based Chunks, Casa Vegan is currently developing other products to hit the shelves soon.
Hi Olaoluwa! Firstly, tell us where you’re based.
Tell us about the product range!
We are based in Lagos, Nigeria. I chose to have this start up in Lagos as it is where I am from, a major African financial centre and the economic hub of Lagos State and Nigeria at large.
We currently have 2 plant-based alternative protein products awaiting NAFDAC (National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control) approval; a plantbased Burger patty and plant-based chunks (similar to diced beef). We are working on some other meat substitutes - plantbased mince, plant-based sausage, an alternative to chicken and some research & development on seafood alternatives.
For your readers by the way, Lagos isn’t the capital of Nigeria - it’s Abuja! You have a factory making plant based options? We recently opened our workspace / factory in Lagos - in the central axis of Lagos to be exact. This means we are able to service clients on both sides of the city; the mainland and the island.
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And the ingredients? We only use 100% natural, organic, some upcycled, locally grown and sourced ingredients, as our mission is to ensure we reduce waste, as well as the reliance on imports.
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We only use 100% natural, organic, some upcycled, locally grown and sourced ingredients, as our mission is to ensure we reduce waste, as well as the reliance on imports.
Our focus isn’t just on profit margins and the bottom line, we wanted to deliver a truly high quality local product without sacrificing nutrition. As our products are protein alternatives, it was key to ensure we delivered very good nutrition; in particular a good level of protein; 100g of our Chunks contains 19g of protein, 100g of our Burger Patty contains 18g of protein. The first question I always get asked by Nigerians & Africans once they find out I am vegan is “where do you get your protein from?”.. now any Nigerian or African going plantbased can simply answer.. Casa Vegan’s plant-based alternatives of course!
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Are you selling to shops yet? Not yet, as we are awaiting our NAFDAC approval, meaning we cannot sell them as packaged good sfor now, hence we cannot stock in supermarkets. However, we have had positive discussions with a few supermarkets that are ready to take stock as soon as we are approved.. come on NAFDAC! We are also looking to supply to any business that want to keep up with the global trend by diversifying their menus; restuarants, corporates, caterers, schools etc. Any plans to export? Yes, we want to make products that are unique and that resonate with the Nigerian & African palette. We believe this approach will provide the needed familiarity for our target market, aswell as give us exportability. When’s the website launch? We plan to launch the site & open up online sales as soon as we get our NAFDAC approval. What’s the demand for plant based options like currently? It’s currenlty a niche market, hence not as high a demand as you would get
for meat. However, the market is growing, similar to the trends we see globally! There are more and more people appreciating the need to change their lifestyle or just simply eat less meat. A large part of our strategy is to create awareness, educate and most importantly make our alternatives accessible.
What’s driving that growth? Health? Environment? The change is driven predominantly by health concerns, most people now realize and appreciate the positive changes diet and the right lifestyle can have. However, you also have people that adopt a Plant Powered Planet I 85
plant-based diet in going vegan or flexitarian, as well as to lose weight. Of course the availability and accessibilty of good quality options also plays a key part towards a shift to a plant-based lifestyle. Plans for the future? We want to develop a full portfolio of animal protein alternatives, using local ingredients, have a full in house farm-to-table operation and be a major alternative protein manufacturer across Africa, and then of course; take over the world!
What would you like to see develop? Do you get any help from the Government? Any support? OMG, where do I start! Firstly, support from the government for entreprenuers - This can be via government programs, incubators, subsidies, training and development, there is an endless list. Right now young and brilliant people with amazing ideas don’t have the support to implement / scale their businesses, people
need to look for grants from outside the country, rouge investors or even result in doing the wrong things just to raise some cash. This means alot of briliant ideas never get implemented or die due to the greed from rouge investors and bad deals! What we need is better infastructure - The entire system isn’t favourable to new start-ups, bad transportation and roads - meaning the inability to get around to conduct key business or attend key meetings. There are high levels of inflation - making it expensive to run a business or forecast. Then there’s poor education resulting in poor quality staff and the inability to have / implement a longterm strategy as a leader. Even product registrations take months, if not years! People in business need to be both creative and thick skinned to succeed... I am learning as I go. Will people shift to a plant-based diet do you think? Yes, they will! This is based on the global trends and historic trends & patterns between Nigeria and places like the UK and the States. However, we don’t believe the entire country or continent will become vegan anytime soon! Thanks Olaoluwa. Great talking to you. All the best!
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Yaoh Hemp: Celebrating 20 years with the gift of sustainable packaging Yaoh, the UK’s original hemp company, is celebrating 20 years in 2022, and this year moving into sustainable packaging.
Yaoh, the UK’s original hemp company, is celebrating 20 years in 2022, and this year moving into sustainable packaging. Yaoh Hemp Products was founded in 2002 as a vegan, green ethical hemp company, available only via the independent health stores and avoiding the supermarkets and multiples. This last 5 years has seen a big drive towards sustainable packaging and away from plastic, but that has not been without its challenges for a compact and bijoux independent company like Yaoh. And whilst of course it’s essential that the big companies move into sustainable packaging as a matter of course, it hasn’t always been an easy path without big budgets. But for 2022 Yaoh are proud to announce a big
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shift into sustainable packaging as they celebrate 20 years in the trade. With packaging in mind, Yaoh products break down into 4 main categories – the Lip Balms, the Moisturisers & Body Butters, the Bath and Sun products, and the Dehulled Hemp Seeds. Previously Yaoh products have been plastic heavy for multiple reasons and part of that
was the prohibitive costs and minimum order quantities for sustainable packaging options. “When we first looked at this in 2016 prices and MOQs were so high that we were effectively priced out the market” acknowledges Yaoh managing Director Fred Stephenson, “but with the advent of more options and better prices and MOQs, it’s a move we can now make”.
Yaoh have a number of new products out in 2022 as well as a whole new redesign – and a shift into sustainable packaging away from virgin plastic including:
Moisturisers and Body Butters now in Glass Jars with aluminium lids, fully recyclable at standard outlets.
Sun Products & Bath Products now in Biopolymer bottles made with Sugar Beet Biopolymer, Post Consumer Recycled content, and virgin materials, fully recyclable. SPF 25 also available in Glass Jar.
Lip Balm cases made with potato bio resin, PCR and virgin material, fully recyclable.
Dehulled Hemp Seed in cardboard cases and thin plastic sachets for freshness, avoiding full plastic pouches.
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” Whilst of course it’s essential that the big companies move into sustainable packaging as a matter of course, it hasn’t always been an easy path without big budgets. But for 2022 Yaoh are proud to announce a big shift into sustainable packaging as they celebrate 20 years in the trade.
In addition... Labels sourced from renewable wood-based raw material. Inks for printing - low impact and plant-based. Glues for labels low impact plant-based. All packaging materials suitable for vegans in line with Yaoh’s vegan ethics. New ranges are out in the summer of 2022 – check the website www. yaoh.co.uk for updates, and keep posted with the monthly Yaoh e bulletin – sign up on the home page www.yaoh.co.uk.
Below: Yaoh’s ever-evolving range of popular vegan lip balms, due to be released throughout 2022 in their new potato bio-resin and recycled plastic packaging. In order from left to right, Coconut, Mango, Watermelon, Blueberry, Strawberries & Cream, Spearmint & Natural flavours.
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Product Focus Original Moisturiser The Original Moisturiser has consistently been one of the best selling products from the Yaoh range since its debut in 2002, and now celebrating its 20th anniversary with a wonderful makeover and lush new design whilst still retaining the original formula of this much loved product. Rich in hemp seed oil, deeply satisfying and incredible value too. Healing Salve The Healing Salve is like an old fashioned ointment, ideal for skin abrasions,
dry skin, rashes, itches and challenging skin conditions as well as post tattoo after care – and nappy rash! An all round soothing ointment very rich in hemp oil and full of healing herbs, freshly made in small batches ensuring a genuine botanical delivery of quality ingredients, making it an essential for the 21st century family bathroom cabinet. SPF 25 Glass Jar The SPF 25 is mineral based with no added chemicals, providing a UVB factor 25 protection and a UVA equivalent to 3 stars. An easy going
lotion that covers well and sits comfortably, without washing off too quickly in the sea. Ideal for kids and families and now in a handy Glass Jar. Lip Balms The much loved Yaoh hemp lip balms have also had a makeover for 2022 with a new design and the fabulous new potato bio resin cases, available throughout 2022. The Mango, Blueberry, Natural and Strawberries n Cream are already available in the new cases, with the Coconut, Spearmint and Watermelon flavours to follow shortly. Other Sun Products The SPF 15 and SPF 30 are now available in the new sugar beet biopolymer bottles , providing all round protection with a lovely smooth lotion that that is water resistant and excellent value for money all round. For more information, onling shopping, special offers and up-to-date information on Yaoh Hemp Products, check out the Yaoh website & these social media pages:
Above: Yaoh’s mineral-based SPF25 sunblock in glass jars.
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Making friends & learning to be kind through animal sanctuaries By Jodie Barchha Lang
Jodie Barchha is an actress, blogger & influencer, posting under the user @GreenVegan1 on Instagram about animals and veganism, food posts and more. In this feature Jodie tells us about getting involved in animal sanctuaries and how that improved her awareness of the intelligence of cows - a creature taken for granted on a mass scale.
From a young age I have always loved animals. Whilst children in the playground were playing hopscotch I’d be in the corner talking to the snail crew. Our house when I was young was a revolving door for those in need of shelter: dogs, cats, tortoise, terrapin, fish, birds, including at one point a duck. Then there was the chicken Katie we had running round the garden. To my mother, a house without animals wasn’t a house. As I grew up I had my trusty steed, Bodie the dog, who never left my side. He didn’t know he had legs until he got much older because I pushed him around in a pram. Losing him was the first time I’d ever experienced grief in such an overwhelming way. 92 I Plant Powered Planet
My love of animals never went away and only grew stronger as I turned vegan and bonded with them more. Over the years I’ve grown a particular love of cows and bulls. Many people don’t realise how intelligent cows are. For example studies show they can remember human faces they haven’t seen for 6 months. I became a patron at the Retreat Animal Sanctuary in Kent, the most wonderful place that I visit as often as I can - despite the 6 hour journey. Sitting with the cows brings so much peace and harmony. Animals are so healing and we can learn so much from them. In our busy hectic lives to sit and just ‘be’ with the animals
can be the most wonderful experience. Just recently I have helped at a sanctuary called Whitegates where a particular little bull loves to play ball… I took a large yoga ball to play with him after feeding time which I hid behind some wood - before I knew it he had found it and was trying to get it out to play with! We played for a while, me rolling the ball to him and he would push it back to me - a game which he thoroughly enjoyed before snuggling down with his companions. Cows are such gentle, social creatures who often will sit whilst you play music or sing. They love a cuddle and a fuss and I often liken them to large puppies. Cow kisses are lovely but you can often
I took a large yoga ball to play with him after feeding time which I hid behind some wood - before I knew it he had found it and was trying to get it out to play with!
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but now they are some of my favourite things to do. I have seen most animals that have suffered the most horrific abuse and neglect still manage to trust and show love, which is why I think our compassion and view of them as a collective must change. A cows favourite food... During my time as a food blogger for Green Vegan I’ve written many meal plans to help people and help educate them on animal welfare. I decided instead of writing a food blog for us people I would instead write a food diary for a cow for you to have a mooch at! Cow Food prep from Green Vegan and Emma Eustace:
Above: @GreenVegan1 on Instagram.
end up with more saliva on your face than you bargained for! When I was younger I didn’t have a particular liking for cows, but being involved with them and going to sanctuaries has 94 I Plant Powered Planet
really developed my love for them. Animal sanctuaries are a great place to meet and make friends with animals. To this day I would never have imagined I would be playing ball, a recorder or sitting and singing to the cows
- Alfalfa pellets - Hay in abundance! - Healthy Treats - Banana - Sprouts - Apple - Carrots (Naughty treats!) - Ginger biscuits - Polos - Crackers The good cows and bulls eat their veggies of course, but the naughty ones spit them out and demand sweet treats - otherwise they might eat your t-shirt!
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To my mind, I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man. Mahatma Gandhi
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Since the majority of the 1.4 billion cows on the planet are raised as livestock, reducing our consumption of meat and dairy products has been proven as an effective way to combat global climate change.
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Did you know... Cows Only Have One Stomach — With Four Compartments While it’s often said that cows have four stomachs, that’s not technically true. Cows actually have one very big stomach with four distinct compartments that each serves a different function. This complex digestive system allows the cow to better process the 35 to 50 pounds of grass and hay they consume on a daily basis. It’s in the second part of the stomach, called the reticulum, that cows produce cud, a taffy-like substance that cows will burp up and continue chewing to finish their meal
They Are One of the Biggest Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions When cows digest food, fermentation results in a large amount of methane; cattle produce 250 to 500 litres of the gas per day, and it’s a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Livestock is responsible for 14.5 percent of all emissions, and beef and dairy cattle outpace all other livestock as methane emitters. Since the majority of the 1.4 billion cows on the planet are raised as livestock, reducing our consumption of meat and dairy products has been proven as an effective way to combat global climate change.
I am Vegan for the animals, my health and the planet, there are many who get frustrated because others do not follow on this path. But we must remember that unless we were born Vegan we were once in the stage that others are at now, and only by educating, supporting and being compassionate, hopefully we can grow this community and make the planet more sustainable for us all. In the words of Billy Thompson at the Retreat Animal Sanctuary: “Be kind, it’s easy.” By Jodie Barchha Lang Plant Powered Planet I 97
a round-up for Springtime shoppers Hello from Paula Anderson and the team at GreenBay! We are the UK’s First Omnichannel Vegan Supermarket – as well as online we have our store in West London… Come and say hello! We are celebrating 5 Years in business too this year! We are passionate about sourcing plant-based products, especially those small local ones that are either not available all in one place, or at all.
However despite veganism being on the rise and “mainstream”, there are so many innovative brands that struggle to put their products into traditional supermarkets, for multiple reasons starting with, of course, expenses connected to fees that are required (such as for marketing), product volumes, minimum order quantities, margins and the list goes on.
Those brands thrive here with us at GreenBay, and we love connecting them to our customers. Rather than focusing strictly on one customer group, we welcome and accommodate all. Whether you are a vegan looking for some cheeky treats, or paying attention mainly to clean ingredients lists, a vegan-curious, flexitarian, trying to reduce their carbon
footprint, lactose/egg/ gluten intolerant, prioritising cheaper products or happy to spend more on artisan brands... or even some combination of any of those, you will find what you are looking for with us at GreenBay. And here we would like to tell you lovely Plant Powered Planet readers about our current favourites – although this is very hard with over 1,200 products to pick from!
VegiSteak Vebab Packed full of spices and flavour, this Vebab is the perfect alternative to a meat kebab and will quickly satisfy your taste buds. One of our most recent editions to GreenBay that has made a comeback to the UK after over 2 years. Tofu-based traditional mid-European meat called “Cevabcici” (which tastes somewhat like kebab but BETTER)
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No Tellin’ Porkies Scratchings These are not for everyone, but if you love them, you LOVE them. Crispy and “burnt” taste to replace meat-based pork scratchings.
Primal Jerky This one has been on the market for quite a while but it’s still amazing to think that even jerky can be replaced for plantbased very easily.
Yogan Seaweed Buuutter Plant-based butter alternative enriched by all the benefits seaweed holds, including iron and B12.
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Odontella Vegan ‘Salmon’ Our ultimate “fish” bestseller and I’d say the most realistic plant-based smoked salmon on the market.
New Roots Fondue Creamy, melty and slightly spicy fondue cheese that is made for sharing! Comes from a small Swiss vegan company called “New Roots” who focus on creating delicious healthy plant-based cheeses from organic cashew nuts.
VegiSteak Halloumi Probably the first realistic Halloumi on the market. It’s made out of tofu, giving it not only great taste, but also fabulous nutritional values! Comes from a small vegan company in the Czech republic that has been on the market ever since the 90s, putting health as a first priority.
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GreenBay Braised Sausages
So there really is no excuse! There is a vegan version of just about everything at GreenBay.
Our very own range of super-juicy sausages that our customers just love. They are perfect for hot dogs, on pasta, or just straight from the pack.
Thank you for reading and remember to follow Plant Powered Planet as well as GreenBay on our socials! By the GreenBay Team
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‘Must-Haves’ this Summer A round-up by Karin Ridgers Plant Powered Planet and regular contributor Karin Ridgers picks her best-of vegan ‘must-haves’ for this spring and summer. Look and feel fabulous without compromising your values!
One-Piece Low Rise Swimsuit Yes we can now even pick up a vegan swimsuit! The one piece low rise swimsuit at Liberty & Love with adjustable zip detail, open and a cross back design choice is double lined to avoid transparency and greater durability. It’s a beautiful piece and fits perfectly to the body. Excellent quality, fast dry and vegan! The swimwear is made from recycled products and the dyes are not tested on animals and is ethically produced. Shop here.
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Vendula London Posh Paws Spa Backpack Vendula London launched in 2003 and has grown to be one of fashions quirkiest brands with one guiding philosophy – to make others ask…. “where did you get that bag?!” Their ever-growing list of fans (Vendulettes) are across the UK, Europe and North America. They are passionate about slow fashion and their vegan friendly bags and accessories.
As well as absolutely lovely material the Posh Paws Spa Backpack has two detachable straps that allow you to use it either as a backpack, a crossbody or a grab bag depending on the occasion. It has lots of space inside for what you need to have with you and of course it looks great with its spa-themed
artwork. That pampered pooch is still taking it easy but maybe you can get her on a lead and take off somewhere for an adventure with all your essentials in your backpack? Shop here.
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Proudly Vegan Wines The sun is out – what beats a warm evening and a glass of vegan wine?! As we know it can be hard to know exactly whether your wine is vegan or not. Egg white gelatine and milk protein can all be used in the winemaking
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process and with unclear labels a walk down the wine aisle can be a confusing experience. The Proudly Vegan range is wonderfully clear in its complete lack of animal products right down to the ink and glue on the labels making it accessible to all. Registered by the
Vegan Society and available at GreenBay. A zesty and refreshing wine with tropical hints of passion fruit gooseberry and lime this mouth-watering wine loves risotto with peas and recipes with flavours of lemon garlic coriander and ginger. Shop here.
Ringana Fresh Eye Serum I have to say how surprised I was in seeing the amount of eye creams with animal products in. I have fallen in love with this highly ethical and all vegan brand from Austria and their eye cream really works. Fresh Eye Serum is created using a high-quality plant cocktail of cypress, witch hazel, red wine leaves and ruscus which stimulates microcirculation. Active substances from the Atlas cedar and a highly concentrated, encapsulated extract from the fruit of blueberries reduces dark circles and bags. Paracress and natural peptides have a firming effect and combat dryness lines. Use a tiny amount and dab gently around the eye area using your ring finger. Shop here.
Biocera Water Jug If you know me you will know I am the biggest water fan and have drunk litres and litres daily since my teens. I have avoided drinking from plastic bottles since I can remember and I fell in love with my Biocera jug years ago. It filters chlorine and reduces heavy metals and dissolved organic residues such as benzene and pesticides. It alkalises water, typically elevating the 7.5 to 9.5 too. Top your glass water bottle up daily and you can keep the filter in the fridge for lovely cold water too. Shop here. Plant Powered Planet I 105
VEGAN Happy Denim Jacket What says cool like a denim jacket? One that spreads some vegan love at the same time! VEGAN Happy has done it again with a stunning new collection of clothes including this cruelty free jacket with various messages on the back. 106 I Plant Powered Planet
A wardrobe essential for everyone. Versatile and on-brand, this denim jacket features contemporary cropped feminine fit, contrast twin-needle stitching, shank buttons, and classic denim jacket panelling.
So that’s my top picks for this issue of Plant Powered Planet! There are so many fabulous vegan products out there - I’ve helped to narrow things down a little bit. Roll on the summer! Karin Ridgers, editor of Plant Powered Planet
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Plant Based Health Online One Year On Borne from the hugely successful Plant Based Health Professionals UK, a humongous collection of vegan & plant-based medical professionals providing free resources and inspiring change within the National Health Service and beyond, Plant Based Health Online is one year young, and has already seen its fair share of success too. We caught up with the founders Dr Laura Freeman & Dr Shireen Kassam to find out how things are, one year on.
PBHO is one year on – successful venture? We are excited to have made it to our first anniversary and beyond. As with any new venture it’s had its ups and downs and running a business has required skills and knowledge that we were definitely not taught at medical school. Plant Based Health Online (PBHO) remain the only CQCregistered plant-based
lifestyle medicine service in the UK so the pressure is on to demonstrate the efficacy and value of our practice. What have been the main achievements? The achievement we are most proud of is to be able to help our clients regain their health through the power of plant-based nutrition and lifestyle medicine. Some have been
able to reverse chronic health conditions, others have avoided the need for medication, and we have even had couples who have successfully conceived a baby after adopting our lifestyle approach. Everyone has been empowered to take back control of their health with improved quality of life. Additional achievements are the relationships we have formed with other organisations such as the Chartwell Cancer Trust who are part-funding our cancer programmes, Psychiatry UK who will be sign-posting clients to our services and Fertility Plus, who share our passion for healthy lifestyles for improved reproductive health. What are some of the hurdles you’ve faced? The main hurdle is getting the word out that our service exists and is ready
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Check out Helene’s : testimonial
and able to support individual health in a way that is different, yet just as effective and rooted in evidence as conventional treatments offered by the NHS. Most of the UK public do not expect to pay for this sort of healthcare given that that the NHS is free at the point of access.
However, the reality is that the NHS is under ever increasing pressure on their limited resources and is functioning at overcapacity such that preventive and lifestyle medicine is not a key focus. In the UK, most of us will spend on average 12 years
in ill health from conditions that could have been prevented or at least significantly delayed in onset yet the NHS and society as a whole has failed to address this loss of healthy life. Changing the current healthcare paradigm however will take time.
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What are the solutions do you think? In addition to a bigger spend on marketing to improve our visibility, our survival will depend on those in the NHS who hold the funding recognising the powerful impact a lifestyle medicine approach can have on the health of the nation. Studies have clearly demonstrated the cost saving to healthcare and wider society, so let’s hope that going forward the NHS prioritises this type of healthcare.
” Some have been able to reverse chronic health conditions, others have avoided the need for medication, and we have even had couples who have successfully conceived a baby after adopting our lifestyle approach.
What are your plans for 2022?
How can people help with your work?
Are you noticing any changes in lifestyle habits?
More of the same with an additional focus on our group programmes that are an efficient and cost-effective way of delivering personalised lifestyle medicine interventions. This type of doctor-led consultation benefits from peer support from others who are experiencing similar health challenges and has been extremely valuable to our clients. We now have group programmes for people living with cancer, type 2 diabetes, weight management, fertility, inflammatory bowel disease and prehabilitation for improved surgical outcomes. More conditions will be addressed in this way as demand for our service increases.
Help to spread the word about our services. Inform friends, family members and colleagues that the key to a long and good-quality life is preventative healthcare through the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits. In addition, that even if a person has an established medical condition such as high blood pressure and cholesterol or type-2 diabetes that there is every possibility that the condition can be treated or even reversed using a plantbased lifestyle approach. Everyone can tell their family doctor and practice that they want to have access to services like ours.
In general, more people appear to be interested in preventative measures to maintain good health. This is undoubtably due to the fact that the pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of the population to COVID-19 because of the high prevalence of underlying chronic health conditions. In addition, the benefits of a plant-based diet have been further highlighted as the now famous ZOE symptom study found that those participants eating a healthy plantbased diet had a significantly lower risk of getting COVID-19 infection and a significant reduction in the risk of severe disease. In addition, the worsening climate and ecological crisis
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has further highlighted the need for widespread adoption of a plant-based diet. Is the PBHO available for people outside of the UK? Most of our consultations and programmes are only available in the UK except for consultations with our dietitian Lisa Simon, who can accept clients from anywhere in the world, except Canada and the US. Are there any similar organisations available elsewhere? The US has the most established and similar service to ours, Plant-Based Telehealth, and in fact we modelled PBHO on this service that started a year
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before us. Canada also has a number of lifestyle medicine practices that also use a plant-based dietary approach. The largest one we are aware of is Aroga.
If you would like to find out more about PBHO and it’s services, visit their website and social media here: plantbasedhealthonline.com
Here in the UK, the NHS in Dawlish has launched a similar service called Whole Life and local patients can be referred to the service. What are your plans long-term? Our blue-sky thinking is that the NHS will embrace our approach to healthcare, and we can expand our team to take on more and more NHS patients. We have a long way to go but hopefully in time our results will speak for themselves.
Check out Jana’s : testimonial
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Environmental Injustice & Chorkor Chemuenaa in Accra, Ghana By Martin Stanley Adansi You may not have created the mess but you have a major role in making Mother Earth green again. Veganism involves environmental affairs such as pollution, exploitation, & deforestation, and we’re all required to act consciously to liberate the worlds inhabitants.
Our ocean covers most parts of the land surface and it is terrifying how it’s being filled with unimaginable waste materials ranging from plastics, electronic waste, organic waste, textiles and more. Most people tend to turn a blind eye to the problem which makes it escalate further everyday. Environmental injustice is one main cause of this crisis. Human activities are the drivers of this menace and until we uncover the actual polluters, low income communities will always be tagged as the main cause of pollution in a particular society. This is what environmental Injustice basically means.
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WHERE? Chorkor Chemuenaa is a community located in Accra - the capital city of Ghana. This location had been one of the beautiful lagoons in the country, situated close to the ocean many years ago, but unfortunately it’s being affected with human activities such as improper waste disposal methods and linkage of other water outlets which usually contains trash from different communities. It contained marine species originally but they have all perished due the pollutants that were introduced.
As an extension, veganism seeks to address the various injustices humans and non-humans encounter, in order to provide the necessary exposure that can lead to a sustainable plan being developed. This is absolutely a form of injustice that needs attention, as these are crucial situations regarding the disproportionate exposure of low income societies to pollution and the extent of its effect on health and environment.
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We may not all be affected by this crisis but we are obviously responsible for most of the waste materials available in our local water bodies and oceans at large. It’s thereby our duty to educate ourselves on how best to handle the situation.
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As inhabitants of various communities, we may not all be affected by this crisis but we are obviously responsible for most of the waste materials available in our local water bodies and oceans at large. It’s thereby our duty to educate ourselves on how best to handle the situation. WHICH GROUPS ARE AFFECTED? Everyone has a right to a safe and healthy environment but there assertions that hazardous waste is concentrated in minority and low income communities. These minority groups are understandably agitated 116 I Plant Powered Planet
and are keen for more research on environmental inequalities and policies to facilitate improvement in conditions. Observations found most pollutants to be electronic waste and plastics accumulated in the lagoon ,thereby replacing the marine life that once thrived in these waters. The minority groups have always been aware of the main source of trash in their neighborhood and are also without a single doubt they are part of the problem. Unfortunately, there is an underlying assumption which tags the Chemuenaa people as the main polluters of the lagoon connecting to the
ocean. Evidence shows that most of these pollutants in the lagoon have a source and it usually starts from communities distant from the actual scene. This is because the structures that were built to contain waste water were linked to the lagoon connecting to the ocean. These structures which are smaller tunnels/gutters collect not just water but trash from other communities due the improper waste disposal methods employed in those areas. As these groups grew increasingly concerned about the exposure to the pollutants, the state of the lagoon led them to consider the broader implications of living in close proximity
to this menace. There have been similar articles written about this situation and I think it is high time the writers start to pay attention to both the majority and minority communities.
aware of the extent they are being affected.
better place to live in the long run.
WHY DON’T THEY MOVE?
This form of action seems like a great response and the provision of technical equipment and attitudinal change will definitely reduce the mess and eventually eliminate the crisis.
An interview with some occupants who have been living at the place for decades revealed how eager they’d love to move to a better location.
Generally, Income generated from trading plastics and other recyclables is one of the factors keeping some residents from moving.
Other occupants also believe in “staying where they were born” regardless of the situation so with this mindset, nothing will trigger their relocation. There’s the claim that they are comfortable and have absolute peace of mind.
Ernest resides very close to the scene and tries to make a living by collecting plastic sachets to be recycled. He was open to tell us how the community tried their best to protest and make the government
Just like Ernest, there are others who wish to be out of the community but are worried about losing their source of income. Ernest lamented how unsustainable his job was and how he would actually need a
Ultimately, Funds to relocate are the main reason why the majority of people are still living in the neighborhood. It is also interesting how there’s been a steady decrease in the population for the past 15 years.
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RESPONSE There are active organizations playing a major role to control the crisis all over. These are government institutions, NGOs and individuals who have realized the extent of the crisis and how our ocean is being affected. Environmental Justice organization PLASTIC PUNCH is a non-governmental organization that has been on the frontlines creating awareness about the dangers of plastic pollution and providing sustainable environmental studies. This organization has impacted communities through clean up events and also providing educational platforms to awaken the youth. Plastic Punch is still exploring the communities affected by these
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[PLASTIC PUNCH] has impacted communities through clean up events and also providing educational platforms to awaken the youth.
injustices and will surely come up with sustainable solutions to serve the people and make the environment a better place.
VIBRANT VEGAN SOCIETY OF GHANA (VVESOG) is a vegan community that is also an active group that highlights the injustices humans and non-humans are exposed to. VVESOG has played
a significant role in creating awareness of animal exploitation and educating the masses to be more conscious about the climate, as well as providing details about how a plantbased food system can change the world. The issue of the Chemuena community has been raised with attendees of VVESOG vegan events to
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VVESOG has played a significant role in creating awareness of animal exploitation and educating the masses to be more conscious about the climate, as well as providing details about how a plant-based food system can change the world.
make them aware about the injustices the occupants encounter, as well as providing environmental-friendly tips to improve the situation. In recent times, the government launched an agenda to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa. It has since created a path to encourage monthly cleanups which will go a long way to control the amount of pollutants that are exposed to the ocean. Additionally, Operation Clean Your Frontage is another policy which has been initiated to dismantle unauthorized structures
Below: Highlighting the plight of those facing Environmental Injustice in Accra, at a Vibrant Vegan Society of Ghana event.
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Above: Tivai, founder of Vibrant Vegan Society of Ghana speaking with students about veganism and environmental injustice.
situated at specific sites. These unauthorized structures have contributed to recent floods which again, mostly affects low income communities & minorities. Government officials should have to hear the voice of the occupants of these communities, as they know what is sustainable for the land and what is not. As mentioned before, these communities are eager for more research to be conducted on how to reverse the crisis. A perfect instance is when the government built a bridge to aid movement of people in the community, but unfortunately, it got washed away during a heavy downpour.
Claims were made that the occupants deliberately destroyed the bridge. How is this possible? Finally, the best way to address this form of injustice is to embrace the vegan intersectional movement, which will enable the voices of the community to be heard.
crisis because the community is dependent on the efforts of the government and other private corporations to change the narrative. The situation also calls for environmental justice activists from the diaspora to show support in solidarity, in order that we might make the continent a better place.
It is obvious how technical efforts could reverse this
By Martin Stanley Adansi aka Unapologetic Vegtino For more information on PLASTIC PUNCH, VIBRANT VEGAN SOCIETY OF GHANA & Unapologietic Vegtino:
Your Vegan Adventure Wardrobe: How to find Vegan Outdoor Adventure Clothing The team here at Plant Powered Planet are delighted to welcome back Emma Fry, founder of Vegan Adventure Holidays for another bundle of advice and travel tips for those hoping to get outdoors the vegan way this year! This time Emma fills us in on navigating potentially non-vegan clothes and equipment shopping ahead of your adventures in 2022.
Hi, I’m Emma, the owner of Vegan Adventure Holidays! Whether you’ve been an outdoor enthusiast for years or recently discovered the power of the great outdoors — my aim is to help you feel inspired, empowered and help you grow your confidence in your outdoor skillset so that you can have some amazing adventures of your own. The first step to becoming a confident day or multi-day hiker is creating a vegan outdoor adventure wardrobe, one that’ll protect you against the conditions of your chosen destination 122 I Plant Powered Planet
and keep you comfortable during periods of intense physical exertion. To help you out, I’ve listed my top tips below! Layering Essentials Don’t underestimate the importance of layering; an effective system will retain warmth, wick moisture to keep you dry, and protect you against the wind, rain and potential snow. The layers you choose will depend on the conditions you expect to face and the duration of your hike, but it’ll generally be formed of three crucial parts:
The vegan outdoor adventure market is growing, and there are some great animal-free alternatives to leather, suede, and wool. Plant Powered Planet I 123
Base layer: A breathable, moisture-wicking base layer will provide much-needed thermal insulation. Mid-layer: A quick-drying mid-layer, such as a fleece, will keep you warm by retaining heat and helping moisture (such as sweat) evaporate. Outer layer: Depending on the conditions you’ll be exposed to, your top layer may be a fully waterproof ‘hard shell’, a synthetic down jacket, or even a lightweight, wind-proof coat. Vegan Materials The vegan outdoor adventure market is growing, and there are some great animal-free alternatives to leather, suede, and wool. Thanks to ground-breaking brands like PrimaLoft, it’s also possible to find vegan-friendly alternatives to down with the same insulative properties. PrimaLoft microfibres are engineered from recycled plastic with carbon-saving technology and can be found in products from Patagonia, Helly Hansen, and Adidas.
Above: A fully waterproof ‘hard shell’, such as this Mammut jacket.
Cotton may be a great vegan-friendly material for the day-to-day, but I don’t recommend wearing cotton-based clothing while hiking. As cotton isn’t a moisture-wicking material, it’ll lock in your sweat 124 I Plant Powered Planet
Pictured: Vibram boots such as these will keep your feet warm and dry.
or any rain it’s exposed to, and will make it difficult for your body temperature to regulate. In some conditions, this could lead to hypothermia. As a result, I suggest wearing fast-drying alternatives, such as polyester. Where to find vegan-friendly outdoor adventure gear Alongside offering a wide range of vegan-friendly garments (including synthetic down jackets and vests) Patagonia is making waves in the market when it comes to sustainability. They commit to using recycled materials where possible, champion low-impact manufacturing processes, and invest in durability and repair services – ensuring long-lasting products that’ll see you through adventures time and time again.
ll If you love a and things vegan dventure, travel and a our on to grab y tt u b is th k clic nture utdoor Adve O n a g e V e fre elf nd get yours Starter Kit a of summer full set up for a adventures!
@veganadventureholidays
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Veg Technology: Where non-sentient beings meet engineers Jordi Casamitjana, the author of the book “Ethical Vegan”, gives an overview of the types of Veg Technology that are currently in development to accelerate the transition away from animal products.
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I am not a technophobe. I like science because I am a scientist myself. Although I am not an academic, I am a zoologist. My expertise is on animals, not bacteria, fungi, plants, rocks, molecules, galaxies or sub-atomic particles. But during my university studies, I specialised in ethology (the comparative study of animal behaviour in natural habitats), which means that I am a “boots” scientist, not a “white coat” scientist. I observe animals in the wild, not in labs, and one thing we can say about the wild is that it’s full of all sorts of life. Whether you are a herbivore who eats them or a carnivore who hides behind them, most animals lives are intimately connected to plants. And in the wild, fungi, bacteria and algae are everywhere. There are about 7.77 million species of animals on Earth, but, around them, it is estimated there are at least 72,500 algal species, 391,000 species of plants, 12 million species of fungi, and two billion species of bacteria. What is the difference between these groups of living organisms? Well, ignoring the precise definitions created by scientists to classify each organism in a particular group, in a nutshell, animals are complex multicellular moving sentient beings who eat 128 I Plant Powered Planet
other organisms to obtain energy. Plants are complex multicellular growing sedentary non-sentient beings that obtain energy directly from the light. Fungi are spore-producing non-sentient beings that feed on organic matter to obtain energy. Algae are simple non-flowering aquatic non-sentient beings that obtain energy directly from the light, and bacteria are very simple unicellular non-sentient beings which have cell walls but without organelles or an organized nucleus, which can use many different methods to obtain energy. And that is not all. We also have the Archaea, the Protists, and the Viruses, but I will not bother you about them. The point I am making here is that the diversity of life on this planet — and possibly on other planets in other star systems — is huge, but we pretty much could divide everyone into two groups depending on whether the organisms are sentient and how they obtain their energy. For instance, if you are sentient and eat other organisms, you are an animal. Here is how I define sentience in my book “Ethical Vegan”: “At its most basic meaning, sentience is the ability to experience positive and negative sensations, which requires two things:
firstly, senses to perceive the sensations from stimuli coming from the environment, and, secondly, a nervous system to process such sensations and translate them into experiences which allow the animals to react accordingly, depending on whether they are negative or positive (i.e. fleeing from an adverse environment or moving towards a source of food or a mate).” And those organisms that have sentience during a considerable proportion of their life are sentient beings. For a vegan, that’s very important. Why? Because we vegans seek to exclude any form of exploitation of any other sentient being, which means we avoid eating any, or any of their secretions. We, as vegans, are animals who have voluntarily adopted a philosophy as the basis of our lifestyle that prevent us from consciously using other animals for food, work, clothing or any other purpose — If we have a choice, that is. We don’t avoid consuming living organisms altogether as all vegans are animals, so we obtain our energy by consuming other organisms (or their parts). But we avoid those organisms that are sentient. It is therefore essential that we vegans know the difference between a sentient being and a non-sentient being.
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In the wild, fungi, bacteria and algae are everywhere. There are about 7.77 million species of animals on Earth, but, around them, it is estimated there are at least 72,500 algal species, 391,000 species of plants, 12 million species of fungi, and two billion species of bacteria.
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It doesn’t matter if they use their sentience for complex behaviours like a chimp or simple ones like an earthworm. If we are true to the definition (and the spirit) of veganism, we avoid harming all animals.
In this regard, science has made vegans’ lives easier. It has put all sentient beings in the same “Queendom.” I call it the “Animal Queendom” (it’s actually called “Animal Kingdom”, but I thought I would switch it in this article for equality’s sake), and we avoid exploiting or consuming any member of such Queendom. Any animal. It doesn’t matter if they are big like a whale or small like a mosquito. It doesn’t matter if they move fast like a falcon or hardly move like a mussel. It doesn’t matter if they use their sentience for complex behaviours like a chimp or simple ones like an earthworm. If we are true to the definition (and the spirit) of veganism, we avoid harming all animals. 130 I Plant Powered Planet
For everyone else, it’s often open season. Most vegans limit little how they exploit and consume non-sentient beings, as the definition of veganism doesn’t specifically tell us about it. However, other vegans, like myself, care about plants and the environment too, so although we still consume the former and interfere with the latter, we try to be careful and be as harmless as possible. We take the concept of ahimsa, one of the basic principles of veganism that means “do no harm”, as a limitless concept. We try to apply it to anything that can be harmed, beyond sentient beings. Ethical eco-vegans like me avoid consuming or exploiting animals and are careful in
consuming and exploiting other living organisms because we want to minimise the harm we may inflict on them. But this second part may be tricky. We may need some help to get it right. We may need the assistance of scientists to tell us how we can minimise our blood and carbon footprint — and any other footprint that could be devised to measure harm. And we may need the help of engineers that devise innovative methods to obtain food, energy and materials from non-sentient organisms. Enter Veg Technology. What is Veg Technology? As far as I know, there is not an official definition of Veg Technology (which sometimes may be referred to as VegTech, PlantTech, Vegetable Tech or Veganic Tech). So, I thought I would create one myself: Any emerging technology aimed to produce food, materials, pharmaceuticals or energy from non-animal biological sources. Let’s unpack this definition a bit. In this case, the Veg is short for “Vegetable” (it is not an acronym for Virtual Environment Generator, Vapor Energy Generator, or Very Evil Grin). I took the liberty to interpret the concept of “vegetable” as
meaning “part of a non-animal organism used for human consumption”. I know that the actual definition is “part of plants used for human consumption”, but I chose my meaning considering that, colloquially, people use the term plant-based as meaning non-animal-based (no plant-based person or product uses the term ‘plant’ in such labelling as only to mean coming from the plant Queendom, and not from fungi, algae, etc.). By emergent technology, I mean technologies that are currently developing, or that are expected to be generally available within the next decades, which can create significant social or economic effects.
I, therefore, exclude old technologies that humanity has been using for centuries, or any gimmicky technology unlikely to have any impact on people’s lives when properly scaled up and made available to everyone. I should point out that a biological source is not the same as an organic source. Fossil fuels and their derivatives are organic in nature (as are based on carbon and originally come from dead living organisms which after millions of years have become oil, gas or coal) but are not biological. A biological source is a living organism or a dead organism that was recently alive.
As far as the concept of “material” in the definition is concerned, it covers anything that is a form of matter used for its physical properties other than the energy, nutrients or physiological changes they can provide when consumed, chemically digested, injected into someone or burned. So, things like fibres to make clothes or furniture, structures to make frames, solids to make receptacles, covers or packaging, etc. Now that we have defined the “what”, let’s look at the “why”. Emerging technologies have always been with humanity since the first Homo habilis started making tools out of rocks about 2.3 million years ago. We never stopped creating new ways to manipulate the world and to get food, materials, medicines and energy to make life easier for us. So, that part of “why” is “because this is what humans do.” But other parts are more important. We are currently experiencing a series of global crises that could be summarised as “what humans do is messing everything up”. The human-made climate crisis, the massive extinction
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” It seems that “old technologies” have gotten out of hand, and we need “new technologies” to correct our errors — and to do it fast as we don’t have that much time.
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of other species, the destruction of ecosystems, the suffering of a growing human population that distributes food unequally, the torture of trillions of sentient beings exploited for all sorts of purposes, etc. It seems that “old technologies” have gotten out of hand, and we need “new technologies” to correct our errors — and to do it fast as we don’t have that much time. We need new renewable energy sources to replace the old “burn something” technology. We need new plant-based agriculture to replace the old “kill everyone that moves” technology. We need new holistic pharmacological approaches to replace the old “take these pills every day” technology. We need new non-polluting transport to replace the old “burn to push” technology. And if any of these new technologies do not use animals as their source, we can solve many of those global crises at the same time. And finally, another important component of the “why” of Veg Technologies is to help those ethical vegans like myself to reduce even more their carbon and blood footprint, and be able to thrive while harming less of what can be harmed. If we can obtain all the food, materials, pharmaceuticals or energy we need without harming any living organism or the environment, not just
without harming any sentient being, then we should try to go for it. And if that possibility is just that, a possibility and not a reality yet, this is why we need to develop emerging technologies until they are widely available to everyone. Knowing the “what” and the “why”, it’s time to look at specific examples of “how.” Plant-Based Veg Technology The term AgTech (short for Agricultural Technology) is often used meaning technologies to increase productivity and yields in agricultural systems to account for an increased demand for food. That applies both to animal and plant-based agriculture, both of which started a millennia ago. It is believed that plant-based agriculture may have developed first, around 11,500 years ago, and animal agriculture followed about 10,000 years ago. Since then, both evolved all sorts of new greed-based technologies culminating with the disastrous factory farming of animals and the destructive monocultural forest-destroying mega-crops we find today. One solution to these problems is Regenerative Veganic Agriculture. In the 1950s, organic farming was developed from those concerned for the
environment and all the pesticides and chemical fertilisers traditional agriculture was using. However, for vegans, organic farming was an incomplete solution, as although it avoided most animal-killing pesticides, it used products from animal agriculture, such as animal manure. In 1960, we first saw the term “veganic farming” published in Rosa Dalziel O’Brien’s gardening column of the Vegan Society’s magazine. It is the organic cultivation of plants and crops with a minimal amount of exploitation or harm to any animal. For instance, no use of animal manure or bone/fish meal (using instead mulch, vegetable compost, green manure, or chipped branched wood), no pesticides of any sort, and no use of animals to plough fields either. Veganic farmers use crop rotation and polyculture, which although at the time it may have looked like Veg Technology as we defined it, was pretty much rediscovering old technology that had been forgotten. With time, veganic farmers grew in numbers and became organized, developing different approaches and standards, and looking more at the wider environmental effects of their crops. This is what became Regenerative Veganic Agriculture, and Plant Powered Planet I 133
although it was still very much inspired by old technology, the new ecological knowledge made it look for new emerging technologies too. For instance, the use of animal manure might have been an important part of traditional organic farming approaches avoiding industrialised techniques, but the ethical imperative that makes vegans avoid all animal products meant that this option was off the table. An extra effort had to be made to replace it with plant and fungi sources of soil fertility. Veganic farmers used slightly different approaches to tackle this issue, and in different
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parts of the world, different terms have been used to describe them (such as Stockfree Farming, Veganics, Biocyclic Vegan Agriculture, Vegan Organic, etc.). Some international standards were created to specifically define such different approaches. For instance, in the 1950s, the German Adolf Hoops pioneered Biocyclic Vegan Agriculture (BVA), which was so named by Dr Johannes Eisenbach in the 1980s. In 2017, its official standards became international. It especially promotes biodiversity, healthy soil life, the closure of organic cycles, and systematic build-up of humus.
In 1996, the Vegan Organic Network was formed in the UK, and created its veganic standards called “Certified StockfreeOrganic”. Its members grow organic crops with only plant-based fertilizers, encouraging functional biodiversity so pesticides are no longer necessary. The standards show four types of practices: recommended, permitted, restricted and prohibited. Among many rules, no pesticides, no herbicides, no GMOs, and no animal by-products are permitted in any part of the chain. Farmers cannot keep animals for food production or commercial gain, must minimise their reliance on off-farm inputs and
Pictured: Rich Hardy, member of Vegan Organic Network, and veganic grower featured in Plant Powered Planet issue 2.
non-renewable resources, use physical barriers to deal with competing species, and do not intentionally kill any animals. Another member of Regenerative Veganic Agriculture is Veganic Permaculture. Permaculture is a philosophical approach to land management adopting arrangements observed in stable natural ecosystems, and it was developed in the 1930s by the American Joseph Russell Smith, Japanese Toyohiko Kagawa, Australian P. A. Yeomans and Tasmanian Bill Mollison in the 1960s. When you remove the animal component in it, it becomes veganic permaculture.
The use of companion planting, catch crops, extensive crop rotation and the implementation of semi-natural habitats within the boundaries of and/or on the cultivating land are common practices among veganic farmers that are inspired by old farming methods, but there is also room for new tech as well. For instance, using ultra-lightweight robots for less disruptive precision farming. Ground mobile robots, equipped with advanced GPS technologies for positioning and orientation, navigation, and sensing, are already used in the mining, forestry and farming industries. They use the concept of
In 1996, the Vegan Organic Network was formed in the UK, and created its veganic standards called “Certified Stockfree-Organic”. Its members grow organic crops with only plant-based fertilizers, encouraging functional biodiversity so pesticides are no longer necessary.
UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle), and although they might have been originally designed to work faster, they could be designed to work more carefully, and cause less disturbance in the soil and the plants harvested. They could even be designed to detect fauna and avoid accidentally crushing animals — one of the problems with traditional agriculture that many vegans ignore — and to deal more efficiently with plant pathogens without the need for chemicals. The EU has been developing projects for “Smart Agri-food Systems”, which include robotics, micro-nano-bio-systems, and GPS-EGNOS based Precision Agriculture using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). These have near real-time sensing information for precision agriculture applications such as water stress monitoring, detection of nutrient deficiencies and crop diseases. It’s not only about high tech futuristic machinery, though. Sometimes what is innovative are the methods and procedures used. Anna Sweet is the CEO of a video games company and Nate Salpeter is a nuclear engineer with a background in climate technology. Seven years ago, they decided to move into a farm outside Silicon Valley they called Sweet Plant Powered Planet I 135
Pictured: ‘Namib’ Beetle, which collects moisture from early morning fog “on filaments that condense mist”.
Farm. They transformed it into a 20-acre animal sanctuary that keeps more than 150 rescued farmed animals, and a 2.5-acre organic farm that grows more than one hundred crops. But being engineers, they started to develop all sorts of new tech for their fields. They made Sweet Farm an AgTech non-profit researching and investing in new technology programs, supporting start-ups that are working to make our food system more sustainable and compassionate. For instance, they use human waste processed at very high temperatures to create biochar they use to enrich their green fertiliser. This is what Nate told the L.A. vegan broadcaster Jane Velez-Mitchell in a 2021 interview for UnchainedTV: “We do have a robust compost program out here. We integrate in 136 I Plant Powered Planet
the shavings from our barns, the animals have bedding, as a carbon source. And we also integrate in biochar. You take the biomass out of the wastewater treatment, you burn it at a very high temperature with very low oxygen content, and it turns 100 tones of biomass into one ton of biochar, breaking down all the pharmaceuticals, all the pathogens. All of that becomes carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, etc. Constituent elements; benign elements at that point. And the carbon source becomes a great water retention device. We integrate it into the soil. It absorbs nitrogen from the compost pile and then releases it more slowly.” They also experimented with duckweed. They have ponds where birds defecate, which increases nitrogen and phosphorous
content in the water. This leads to duckweed growing, which causes oxygen depletion in the water. But now they use it as a nitrogen source to fertilise their crops, boosting the moisture and nitrogen content (while at the same time the floating duckweed covers the surface of the pond reducing evaporation, which is a problem in California). Another way they addressed the lack of water problem was working with a company that uses biomimicry technology, imitating a specific type of sub-Saharan African beetle called the Namib beetle. They collect water droplets on filaments that condense mist. Regarding using PlantBased Veg Technology for advances in the pharmaceutical industry, another Californian company seems to be leading on this. Sofia Elizondo, Jim Flatt and Lea Chae co-founded
This leads to duckweed growing, which causes oxygen depletion in the water. But now they use it as a nitrogen source to fertilise their crops, boosting the moisture and nitrogen content.
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a biosciences company called Brightseed in 2017. In it, they created Forager®, the first artificial intelligence platform to map the world’s molecules and predict which of them have the greatest impact on critical health areas. Little is known about what happens when we eat plant-based foods, about what beneficial molecules in the plant, called phytonutrients, interact with what biological
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targets in our bodies. What Forager® does is map millions of bioactive natural compounds trying to make new connections between the natural world and human health. It has already analysed over 700,000 compounds for their health properties and is on track to surpass 10 million by 2025. The result? Potentially more plant-based effective medicines based on natural compounds.
Alga-Based Veg Technology Similarly to plants, algae obtain energy from light, but they are much simpler non-flowering organisms that tend to grow in aquatic environments (there are some exceptions, as the symbiotic algae that live in lichens together with fungi). Although relatively rare, people have been eating algae for a long time. Seaweed is the term
Similarly to plants, algae obtain energy from light, but they are much simpler non-flowering organisms that tend to grow in aquatic environments
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Pictured: Seaweed, often eaten as a snack or used to wrap Sushi
used for edible marine algae, and the Japanese eat lots of it (Nori, Kombu, Hijiki, and Wakame). Also, two popular forms of “algae” are used in modern cuisine: Chlorella, a freshwater alga which has been found to contain vitamin B12 (as well as iron, zinc, magnesium, vitamin B2 and Omega-3 Fatty acids) and Spirulina, which is, in fact, a cyanobacterium (a type of bacterium, incorrectly referred to as a “blue-green alga”) and therefore not a true alga itself. Alga-based Veg technology can also be found in the fields of seaweed farming, food ingredients and food supplements. Kelp farming is the practice of cultivating and harvesting seaweed. The top seven
most cultivated seaweed taxa are Eucheuma spp., Kappaphycus alvarezii, Gracilaria spp., Saccharina japonica, Undaria pinnatifida, Pyropia spp., and Sargassum fusiforme. Seaweed farming is a carbon negative crop, with a high potential for helping to address our climate emergency. The IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate recommended “further research attention” to kelp farming, making it a veg technology with great potential. KelpCrofting is a seaweed farming business growing kelp in the Isle of Skye’s waters, on the West Coast of Scotland. Crofting is a form of land-tenure and small-scale food production that has taken place in Scotland’s Highlands
and Islands for hundreds of years, but is also a social structure that was traditionally defined by its common working communities. This is what KelpCrofting says are the benefits of growing algae: “generating income, slowing climate change, water remediation, fuelling environmental economies, and providing new habitats (seaweed farms provide seasonal habitats for fish and small invertebrates, which can attract mammals and birds, enhancing local biodiversity).” One type of algae, agaragar, has become one of the major replacements of animal gelatine. It can also be used as a thickener for soups, fruit preserves, ice cream, as a Plant Powered Planet I 139
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Fungi are very important for vegans too, even if many don’t realise. Many of us get our precious B12 vitamin from fortified foods such as nutritional yeast or spreadable yeast extracts — Marmite and the like. Yeasts are members of the Fungi Queendom.
clarifying agent in brewing, and for paper and fabrics production.
Regarding supplements, in addition to B12, many vegans (including I) take Omega 3 supplements (although there is no scientific consensus yet, this important fatty acid may be lacking in vegans who have been vegan for many years). Pescatarians use this as their excuse to eat fishes, as they are said to be high in Omega 3. However, many people don’t know that this is because fishes eat algae, which are the organisms
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that produce Omega 3 acids. So, vegans now go straight to the source, getting this directly from veg technology companies such as NothingFishy that extracts it from algae. So, thanks to algae, the pescatarian excuse does not hold water anymore. Fungus-Based Veg Technology
Plants get most of the vegans’ praise, but we should not forget fungi. Disregarding the recreation side of some of the psychotropic versions that have become popular
in some circles, mushrooms (the most known form of fungi) have been part of human diets for time immemorial. Fungi are very important for vegans too, even if many don’t realise. Many of us get our precious B12 vitamin from fortified foods such as nutritional yeast or spreadable yeast extracts — Marmite and the like. Yeasts are members of the Fungi Queendom. They are single-celled microscopic fungi with at least 1,500 species identified so far. Without them, we would not have bread, cakes or beer, so they are quite important as a source of food — and merriment — for many people. We also eat fungi directly (those that are not poisonous), or even drink them (the Kombucha tea drink is made with the fungus Medusomyces gisevii). Quorn is a meat substitute product created in the UK in 1985, which most vegetarians in this country know well as it kind of monopolised the meat substitute market for some time. What most people don’t know is that it is made of fungi. All Quorn foods contain mycoprotein (a protein made in fungi) as an ingredient, which is
derived from the Fusarium venenatum fungus. In most Quorn products, the fungus culture is dried and mixed with egg albumen, but a vegan formulation has now been developed which uses potato protein as a binder instead of egg albumen. This new fungus-based veg-tech is responsible for the hugely successful Gregg’s vegan sausage roll, which in 2019 surprised everyone and turned the company around — It contributed to a year-on-year sales increase of 13.5%. Ryan Bethencourt is the founder of Wild Earth Pet Foods and co-author of “The Clean Pet Food Revolution.” Ryan is a biologist who has been an ethical vegan for 13 years, and when in 2018 he realised that 30% of the meat consumed in the US goes to feed companion animals, he went into producing plant-based dog food. When he researched this, he decided to use fungi. The company’s first cultured protein product was from human-grade Koji, an eco-friendly and renewably sourced fungus. But one of the most interesting Fungus-Based Veg Technology can be found
in the production of new materials, not food. Eben Bayer is the CEO of Atlast Food Co and Co-Founder of Ecovative Design, a leading biomaterials company growing high-performance award-winning products from fungi. Mushrooms grow by actually taking water and pushing it into the tip of the hyphae, which is the single unit of the mycelium, the microscopic network of growing filaments that constitute most of the biomass of fungi (the mushroom is only the reproductive organ we see when the fungus spreads its spores). There are all these millions of microscopic fibres connecting, which make the mycelium mass, and they can insert incredible pressure. Some can produce very strong and hard materials, while others are very soft and supple. Eban decided to use these properties to produce biodegradable packaging. He chose hemp hurd, which is a by-product of hemp fibre, used it as the base material and then the mycelium fibres grow through and around, binding it together. This material is now used to make all sorts of fungus-based moulds to replace Styrofoam plastic
moulds (which cause a great deal of pollution as they don’t degrade). He now also uses fungi to make fake meats. Dr Matt Scullin is the CEO of the biomaterials company MycoWorks. He created Fine Mycelium, a patented material that can be grown from fungi to replicate the appearance and feel of leather. Bolt Threads, another biomaterials company, created another mushroom leather material called Mylo™, and it is developing products with Adidas. This is no longer a vegan gimmick. This is a growing industry making an impact because it’s more environmentally and animal friendly, and easier to produce. Mushroom leather can be grown in pieces to the specific size and shape
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required by a designer, so there is no waste and no need to cut too much. And this technology has been in development for some time. Danish product designer Jonas Edvard developed in 2013 an organic mushroom textile called MYX using mushroom spores and plant fibres. It was created using the waste material from commercial oyster mushroom production. And fungi can also be used in all sorts of cool environmental applications. For instance, agricultural waste disposal, Mycofumigation, biomass to biofuel, and fungal degradation of plastics.
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Bacterium-Based Veg Technology If you go back at the beginning of this article to check how many bacteria there are and how they obtain energy, you will realise that mastering Veg Technology based on bacteria has a great potential to be a game-changer. Considering how easy is to grow bacteria and how many types there are that use different ways to feed themselves, we should be able to use them to replace many animal products. In the case of food, bacteria have been used for centuries. Fermentation is the process in which the
activity of microorganisms like bacteria or fungi brings about a desirable change to a foodstuff or beverage (such as making it more digestible, creating more nutrients, or breaking it down to more absorbable parts). It’s the process used to make wine from grapes, beer from barley, yoghurt from cheese, or tempeh from soya beans. It’s the bacteria that work to transform sugars into alcohol. But not only that. The bacteria that do this is sometimes eaten with the food they fermented, helping to create a healthy microbe biome in our intestines. Popular food such as the
Above: Milked documentary mentioned below, based in New Zealand. Narrated and co-produced by Chris Huriwai.
German Sauerkraut is made of fermented cabbage still containing lactic acid bacteria. Or the Korean kimchi, which is spicy fermented cabbage and radish that still contains many bacteria (in particular, Bacillus mycoides, B. pseudomycoides, B. subtilis, Lactobacillus brevis, Lb. curvatus, Lb. kimchii, Lb. parabrevis, Lb. pentosus, Lb. plantarum, Lb. sakei, Lb. spicheri, Lactococcus carnosum, Lc. gelidum, Lc. lactis, Leuconostoc carnosum, Ln. citreum, Ln. gasicomitatum, Ln. gelidum, Ln. holzapfelii, Ln. inhae, Ln. kimchii, Ln. lactis, Ln. mesenteroides, Serratia marcescens, Weissella cibaria, W. confusa, W. kandleri, W. kimchii. W. koreensis, and W. soli). The vitamin B12 that vegans take in the form of supplements is also produced by bacteria.
Many of these fermented foods, though, are old technologies. But there is no limit in what you can try to ferment, and which end product you may want to get from it, and that’s when Bacterium-Based Veg Tech comes in. You can actually use them to create molecules that animals produce, without the use of any animal at all (not alive, not dead, not even a cell from it). You can genetically modify bacteria so they produce molecules that are normally produced by other organisms. This is called “precision fermentation”, and it uses microbial hosts as “cell factories” for producing specific functional ingredients. It can produce specific enzymes, flavouring agents, vitamins, natural pigments, fats, and proteins. For instance, it
can produce whey, the protein found in mammals’ milk. Milked is a New Zealand documentary launched in 2021 exposing the deception of the dairy industry. It is narrated and co-produced by Chris Huriwai, who belongs to the Māori community. It shows how the dairy industry has become New Zealand’s biggest water polluter, biggest greenhouse gas emitter, and is also a major stressor for biodiversity and soil health. But it also shows how such an industry, which relies mostly on exporting whey protein extracted from milk in the form of a powder that is used in many food preparations, is doomed to collapse. This is because of the new emerging fermentation veg technologies. Plant Powered Planet I 143
They use bacteria to produce casein and whey by precision fermentation, from which milk without cows can be made in a much cheaper way. This is likely to disrupt the industry much more than the growth of plant-based alternatives to dairy, especially an industry that survives from exporting such proteins. The Impossible Foods’ heme protein found in the controversial plantbased Impossible Burgers — controversial because they tested it on animals and therefore vegans like myself would not consume it — was created by precision fermentation too.
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Gelatin is a form of collagen (the most abundant protein in our bodies) used in food, medicine and cosmetics after taking it from pigs, cows, and fish. In 2018, the company Geltor, a Silicon Valleybacked start-up based in San Leandro, produced gummy snacks made with collagen from mastodon (an extinct form of elephant). Yes, you read it right. Producing food from a protein of an extinct animal that does no longer exist. How? With precision fermentation. As some mastodon fossils still have some skin attached, the company extracted some cells from them, sent them to a DNA printing company to extract the DNA that
encodes for mastodon collagen, got that DNA sequenced inserted into bacteria, and via precise fermentation mass-produced gelatine from it. It kind of proved the concept that, if people become too stubborn insisting on eating animal proteins — despite scientists and nutritionists advising against it — these could be created without any involvement of any animal whatsoever (not even from animal cells obtained from the animal agriculture industry). You can even ferment air. Dr Lisa Dyson and Dr John Reed run a Berkeleybased food tech company called Air Protein. They make alternative fake “meats” from fermentation
using cultures of special microbes that transform the CO2 in the air into nutrients. When they discovered interesting research from NASA scientists in the 60s and 70s aiming to find new ways to feed astronauts in spaceships on long journeys with very little space, they discovered Hydrogenotrophs. They are bacteria that can metabolise molecular hydrogen as a source of energy. Some of these are Carbon dioxide-reducing bacteria that use CO2 and H2 to produce methane (CH4). You find them in places that are typically below the surface of the earth, like hydrothermal vents. Dr Dyson says that cultivating them to produce
protein for human consumption uses significantly less land versus all the alternatives (for instance, it would take a soya farm the size of Texas to give you the same amount of protein that you get from an air protein farm the size of Disney World). This is quite significant because it means producing a non-animal protein with no arable land required, and much faster. It doesn’t matter where, you could grow this, as there is CO2 and Hydrogen everywhere. And you could do it without any of the accidental animal killings that occur during harvesting, or without having to destroy any habitat to create crops. No animal accidental deaths,
Geltor, a Silicon Valley-backed start-up based in San Leandro, produced gummy snacks made with collagen from mastodon (an extinct form of elephant). Yes, you read it right. Producing food from a protein of an extinct animal that does no longer exist.
no animal products, no destruction of the planet, no animal involvement of any sort. That sounds very vegan-friendly to me. What is not Veg Technology? Not everything that looks like veg technology is. Lab meat is not. Cultivating animal cells in a lab to reproduce a beef steak, a chicken nugget, a tuna filet, or a hen’s omelette, is not veg technology. It’s animal technology. It’s one of the ways the animal agriculture industry can slow down the progress towards the vegan world, where concepts like meat, milk or burger may no longer exist. To survive the growth of the plantbased industries that create alternatives to animal products, meat producers had to find new ways to ensure that the idea of eating animals survives — as otherwise, they would be out of business in a few decades. If most customers realise that they can easily live healthy and happy lives without animal exploitation, the animal exploitation industries will disappear, so finding “new” ways to produce animal products that look less harmful to animals and the environment is the logical direction to go for the meat and dairy industries. This is where lab meat can help them. Growing burgers out of animal flesh cells in a dish in a lab, instead of Plant Powered Planet I 145
animal flesh cells in an animal body on a farm. Still animal cells, still animal flesh, still animal proteins, still high cholesterol, but now grown elsewhere with a lower carbon and blood footprint. They may hope that once people start calling this animal food “cultivated meat” rather than “lab meat”, fewer people would reject it for sounding too “artificial”. It may even sound like it is as benign as cultivating oats, or “cultivating a hobby”. We should not confuse this type of animal cell technology with the precision fermentation to produce animal proteins discussed in the previous chapter. That one involves cultivating bacteria cells, which are non-sentient beings. This one involves cultivating animal cells, taken from sentient beings in the animal agriculture or vivisection industries — either periodically to avoid genetic degradation after extensive cell breeding, or only at the beginning when experimenting in creating specific cell lines. Cell-based meat (another term used to describe lab meat) is an animal product because it contains animal cells, and animals were used in its production. Therefore, I don’t think it is compatible with veganism, and I, as an ethical vegan, reject these products as I reject McDonald’s burgers. For me, they are not 146 I Plant Powered Planet
part of veg technology. They are part of animal technology to cater for meat-eaters, reducetarians and flexitarians, not for vegans or plant-based people. It’s a welcomed development for the meat industry which may survive because of it, but it’s not a development for the vegan industry which doesn’t need it. It’s not even a development for the plant-based industry, as animal cells are cells of sentient beings, while plant, algae, fungi or bacteria cells are not. It’s a development of the “sentient beings” industry. The animal exploitation industry. For those who don’t believe that a vegan world is possible, and think that in the future carnists and vegans will always have to coexist on equal footing, if the carnist half of the world replaces the sources of all their meat and animal products from farms to labs, that would be a good thing, and from that point of view, the animal-cell cultivation technology is an improvement. But I do believe a vegan world is possible — or at the very least worth a try — and if that is the case this technology is likely to delay that. This is why I do not support it and support veg technology instead.
technology away from animals. People who understand the problem of our current climate crises and know what they need to do to reverse it. People who care about the planet, animals and human beings, and who know how to use nature respectfully. We need the expertise of cutting-edge scientists and engineers constantly pushing the envelope to reduce even further our collective carbon and blood footprint.
For the vegan world of the future many of us dream about, we need vegan engineers. People with the right skills to shift
There is plenty of it.
But we need them to be vegan too. We need them to hold the philosophy of veganism, to ensure they don’t stray away from what is ethically acceptable. Entrepreneurs who don’t cut moral corners to win the profit race. Innovators who respect what vegans need and what they don’t want. Scientists with high moral values framing what they can accomplish. Visionaries who are not scared of a world where the word ‘meat’ or ‘milk’ does not form part of human cuisine anymore, and everything people eat comes from plants, algae, fungi, or bacteria. It’s time to push animal technology out of the way and fully embrace veg technology.
By Jordi Casamitjana
Author of ‘Ethical Vegan: A Personal and Political Journey to Change the World
”
we need vegan engineers. People with the right skills to shift technology away from animals. People who understand the problem of our current climate crises and know what they need to do to reverse it.
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Check out our previous issues If you’re enjoying Força Vegan Magazine, why not check out Plant Powered Planet? Plant Powered Planet is another magazine published by VegfestUK. It combines features on serious health and environmental concerns that can be countered with plant-based diets and veganism, with more lighthearted content as well, such as interviews, recipes and introductions to vegan brands and product ranges. We heartily recommend taking a look at Plant Powered Planet, which is a continuation of our celebration of veganism, and hope that you both enjoy it and are also able to share it with others who may also enjoy it too.
Issue 3 Plant Based Treaty The Vegan Society at COP26 The Impact of Agriculture on Wildlife Wetnose Animal Aid Vegan Consumerism Within Ethical Capitalism Plant Based Health Online Greenbay: The UK’s First Omnichannel Vegan Supermarket Celebrates... - What Exactly is Vegan Compleating? - Jasmine Harman: Back In The Sun + lots more!
Issue 2 Feeding Your Vegan Child An interview with TVs Danny Hatchard Robert Cheeke & The Plant-Based Athlete Vegan Society: Planting Value in the Food System The Vegan Vet Crystal Bonnet: Queen of Raw Desserts, with Danielle Maupertuis V for Life A Day in the Life: Juliet Gellatley + lots more!
Issue 1 Vegan Compassion in Action: New Projects Launched to Tackle Human Hunger An Interview with Kirly-Sue Summer of ‘21: Bryan Adams on Tour Vegans Deserve Better than a Fruit Salad Grow Veganic, Save The Planet Is the Plant-Based Sector Immune to Greenwashing? Top 20 Vegan Friendly Passport-Free Things to do in the UK this Summer + lots more!
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