10 Reasons Why it is Cool to Be Vegan

Dominika Piasecka of the Vegan Society has gone vegan as a student and knows all about establishing her beliefs and discovering herself. She realised that her actions didn’t align with her ethics and it was this train of thought that encouraged her to become vegan. Dominika told us more about her lifestyle changes and why it pays to take on veganism…
I grew up being given animal products to eat, so it was empowering to be able to make the decision for myself to stop eating animals. It also felt great to be true to who I am and become conscious of the impacts of my actions. In the 6 years since then, I’ve never looked back. Here are 10 reasons why it is cool to go vegan.
1 The Modern Way
Going vegan was predicted to be the biggest food trend in 2018, meaning more people than ever are now embracing the lifestyle, and over half of Brits know a vegan. There are most definitely vegans at your university and maybe even a VegSoc (vegan/vegetarian society) – given the reputation of vegans liking to talk about their lifestyle, they shouldn’t be hard to find!
2 Saving Animals’ Lives
At its core, veganism rejects the idea of animals being treated as food or commodities. Recognising that all animals have the right to live their lives free from exploitation is the fundamental part of the vegan lifestyle.
Most people already hold vegan values in their hearts; none of us wants to contribute to animal suffering and ideally, we’d all like to live in a world free from violence. However, we live in a world where eating animals is seen as normal and necessary. We fail to act upon our natural instincts because we were conditioned not to care. Most vegans grew up this way too, but somewhere along the line stumbled upon some life-changing information. If there was a way to live a happy, healthy life without contributing to the suffering of others, why wouldn’t everyone choose it?
3 Challenge Yourself
Of course, there is a number of obstacles people face on their vegan journey, and often vegans themselves used to make the same excuses before they changed their lifestyle. It may be difficult to see the neatly packaged piece of meat as the sentient living being it once was but there’s a much deeper story behind it than simply buying some food.
4 Protect our Planet
What we eat has a huge impact on climate change and the natural environment. Animals eat much more food than they produce – for every 100 calories we feed them, we receive back only 12 in the form of their meat or milk. They also produce a lot of waste that pollutes our oceans, causing dead zones devoid of life.
5 Combat World Hunger
World population is growing but even if it stayed the same, it is estimated that we’d need four planets the size of Earth to sustain ourselves if everyone adopted a Western diet. A vegan diet requires about 1/3 land and 1/3 water of what is needed to produce an animal-based diet. Even the guys at the United Nations have urged for a global shift towards a vegan diet to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and climate change. Veganism helps to combat world hunger because it’s much more efficient to eat plants directly rather than feed them to animals who are then eaten.
6 Enjoy Health Benefits
Vegans tend to eat much more fruit and vegetables than the rest of the population which has amazing health benefits. For example, we know that the average vegan lives longer than someone who eats animal products.
Research shows vegans have lower blood pressure, lower chances of getting heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some types of cancer. The British Dietetic Association is the UK’s authority on nutrition and their position is that a vegan diet is suitable at any age or life stage, including infancy, childhood and pregnancy.
7 Explore New Options
Veganism can be a perfect opportunity to explore new, exciting recipes and ingredients and build on what you consider as food. There is a simple and fun shortcut to going vegan – replacing the few non-vegan ingredients in your recipes means that you still get to enjoy the good old favourites.
Most people already eat a lot of vegan food without realising and can make easy swaps such as using dairy-free margarine instead of butter, thickening soup with soya cream, or replacing eggs in baking with mashed banana (yes, it’s possible). Anything can be made vegan with a little creativity.
8 Easy Switching
For those who loathe cooking, there are plenty of ready-made quick vegan meals available in supermarkets. Frozen sections are full of burgers and sausages; refrigerated sections offer lunch on the go and meat alternatives; and snack aisles are great for a wide range of vegan-friendly products.
9 Meet New Friends
Whether it’s in real life, through Facebook groups, apps, or local vegan meet-ups, surround yourself with people who understand you as it can help the transition to the vegan lifestyle smoother. Vegans are a welcoming and helpful bunch, so join online forums or Facebook groups – just search for a local group, e.g. ‘vegan London’.
10 Constant Support
There are also some great challenges to sign up to for free, such as The Vegan Society’s 30 Day Vegan Pledge at vegansociety.com/pledge where participants receive an email every day with tips, advice and vegan recipes to help them ease into vegan living.
In summary, vegan living means looking beyond yourself and taking responsibility for your impact on the lives of animals and the environment. While changing your lifestyle inevitably takes some time getting used to, after a few weeks it will feel as natural as anything.
We’ll be launching an app to help you go vegan for World Vegan Day – it’s called VeGuide and will be available to download from 1 November. For more information please visit vegansociety.com or follow us on social media.
> Dominika Piasecka