It’s Veganuary, and like most years, thousands of people have pledged to go vegan for a month. As always, there’s lots of coverage in the media about veganism, with recipes and guides to vegan living. It’s wonderful to see.
This year though, we’ve noticed an extra helping of negativity creeping into the conversation. An article about how veganism is ‘snake oil’ in the national press here, a blog piece challenging the idea that veganism can save the planet there, all with the same tired old arguments about almond milk and soy and the assumptions that vegans eat only quinoa, avocado and mock meats with their higher carbon footprints.
Here are some of the vegan myths that continue to circulate … and why they’re not true.
Vegan Myth 1 – it’s not sustainable
Avocadoes, almond milk and quinoa are not sustainable and vegans eat avocadoes, almond milk and quinoa therefore veganism is not sustainable. I have heard this argument so many times, usually from people who have scoured the internet to find the handful of studies that support their view that veganism is an unsustainable way to live, even though there’s a growing body of evidence that a plant based diet is the kindest diet for the planet – this study from Oxford University for example concluded that the lower the fraction of animal-sourced products in our diets, the greater the health and climate benefits will be.
It’s true that almond milk, avocadoes and quinoa aren’t particularly sustainable. Almond milk still has a considerably lower footprint than dairy milk, however. And an avocado only needs a fraction of the water required to produce the same amount of beef, as does quinoa.
I also honestly don’t know anyone who eats the shed loads of these foods that would be required to create a higher carbon footprint than an omnivorous diet. We hardly ever drink almond milk, eat quinoa equally rarely, and avocadoes when they come in our veg box. And omnivores eat these things too!
As for soy, which is often cited as another reason veganism is bad for the planet as its production requires the destruction of extensive natural habitats – most soy is grown to feed animals being raised for slaughter.
Vegan Myth 2 – it’s unhealthy
Vegans exist on a diet of fake sausages, bacon and Beyond Burgers which are unhealthy and bad for the planet. No one should be eating meat, or mock meats, every day. Meat free burgers have similar amounts of saturated fat and sodium to beef burgers, though without the cruelty that goes into them. Mock meats are great as a treat, and good if you’re transitioning to a vegan diet and want to stick with familiar tastes, but whole foods are better for your health, and better for the planet.
The Oxford study mentioned above also looks at the major health benefits of a vegan diet, and the positive consequences of eating fewer animal products.
Vegan Myth 3 – you can’t get well-balanced vegan diets
A vegan diet isn’t balanced or healthy. Any diet can be unhealthy if it isn’t well balanced and a vegan diet is no different. I could live on chips and dairy-free chocolate and truthfully say I was following a vegan diet, but it would be far from healthy or well balanced. However, the British Dietetic Association says that a well balanced vegan diet is healthy and appropriate for all life stages, and NHS advice is that it’s possible to get all of the nutrients you need with a well planned healthy vegan diet. As long as you make sure you’re getting all the vitamins you need – vitamin B12 is especially important – a plant based diet is a healthy and sustainable one to adopt.
Vegan Myth 4 – being vegan costs too much.
It’s expensive being vegan. As above! Any diet can be expensive if you make it so. Yes, it’s true that food producers often whack on a ‘vegan surcharge’ to new vegan versions of their food – Cadbury’s are recent offenders with their vegan chocolate bar costing around twice what a standard bar of Dairy Milk would. And yes, you can be a vegan and live on expensive mock meats, out of season vegetables and Booja Booja truffles (which are amazing, just kind of pricy!) But a home cooked vegan meal made from scratch, is usually not going to cost as much as something that contains chicken, meat or fish. An Oxford University study from last year showed that a vegan or vegetarian diet is the cheapest option in high income countries. Try our cheap as chips lentil dhal or pasta arrabbiata, or have a look at the Deliciously Ella blog for budget vegan recipes. We subscribe to Oddbox, who deliver wonky fruit and veg to us every week for less than £20 – each box comes with a meal plan and recipes, so you can make lots of delicious meals from scratch.
Vegan Myth 5 – it’s too hard to be vegan.
Being vegan is too difficult and complicated. When I went vegan over a decade ago, yes, that might have been true. There was very little information around about vegan food, and very little decent vegan food outside of health food shops compared to what can be found now in your average supermarket. Now, it’s much easier. If you’re just getting started, I recommend checking out Bosh for their simple, delicious vegan recipes – starters, mains and snacks.
One of our favourite vegan dinners is just spaghetti with chilli, lemon juice and a courgette, grated and fried. That’s it. It doesn’t need to be complicated at all, unless you’re looking to bake bread from scratch and make your own mock meats for every meal (yes, we know someone who did this for Veganuary and unsurprisingly didn’t make it to the end of the month!)
Vegan Myth 6 – vegans are annoying and smug.
Vegans are sanctimonious and always want to tell you that they are vegan within five minutes of meeting you. There are smug, sanctimonious people in every community, from your local Facebook selling group to the international knitting community (no disrespect to knitters!) and veganism is no different. And if someone tells you they are vegan early on in a conversation, consider that it might be relevant – I’ll only bring it up if I’m offered food that may contain dairy or eggs, or if it’s genuinely relevant to the conversation.
To find out more about going vegan this January, visit the Veganuary website.
Read more about vegan myths in this new book by Ed Winters.
And try some of our vegan recipes, from starters to main courses and baking!