A look at World Vegan Month in 2022 and how to get involved
Love them or hate them, vegan products have become a core part of the food, lifestyle, and supplement markets – with November marking what has now become known around the world as World Vegan Month.
This month dedicated to veganism is the brainchild of the Vegan Society, who founded their cause in 1944 and are now cited as the world’s oldest vegan charity – creating World Vegan Month on their 50th anniversary in 1994 to mark the incredible growth of veganism as a lifestyle choice.
Let’s take a closer look at World Vegan Month and how the movement supports those living an active vegan lifestyle.
The vision of the Vegan Society
The Vegan Society was founded as a way of uniting vegans around the world, centralising the ideology that every creature is valuable and that humans can live a perfectly healthy life without relying on animal products for food and in creating clothing and other goods.
The early vision of the society, upon its founding, was to protect animals from exploitation by man – a concept which still lies at the very heart of the organisation’s work and activism. And one of the biggest ways that the society achieves and promotes this vision is by supporting those brands which meet their specification and produce certified vegan products.
World Vegan Month and how to get involved
World Vegan Month tends to be the time of year when more vegan products and animal-free alternatives are added to the shelves, and when brands choose to spotlight the small changes that they are making to offer cruelty-free options for their customers. As a globally recognised month of active lifestyle changes and decisions, world vegan month is also a great time for consumers to try out some alternatives to products and ingredients they rely on as part of their everyday routine – whether it be the milk you put in your tea or the supplements you use to boost your health and wellbeing.
One way to do this is to look out for the vegan certification on products that you use. This mark signifies that not only are the ingredients used completely vegan, but the manufacturing process has also been approved as causing no harm to animals. But is a completely vegan lifestyle and diet healthy, and can it benefit you directly as well as support the welfare of animals?
The benefits of going vegan
Contrary to popular belief, a purely vegan diet does not starve your body of protein or nutrients – in fact, provided you approach the vegan diet and lifestyle with an open mind, you can get all the nutrients you need and more from beans, pulses, fruits, vegetables, and other ingredients which are made without impacting the animal kingdom.
In addition, when you eat a vegan diet, you unconsciously cut out many of the foods which promote poor health and lead to things like weight gain and more serious health conditions. Vegan foods also tend to be lower in cholesterol and salt, and higher in fibre which supports your bodily functions.
And it’s not just food products that present a wealth of benefits to those trying who choose to go vegan.
Lifestyle products which include cleaning goods and beauty must-haves have also seen a significant vegan makeover in recent years, with more and more brands trying out new packaging and different ingredients and formulas which allow them to market themselves as fully vegan. New specifically vegan brands and products have also launched, putting the spotlight firmly on veganism as an integral part of the 21st century world we live in.
Whether you choose to adopt veganism as a personal trial for World Vegan Month or embrace it as part and parcel of a new lifestyle for yourself, there are many benefits to going vegan – and the Vegan Society is here to help.