A delve into the world of veganism

For the 33-year-old made the decision to go completely vegan 10 years ago. Before that she was vegetarian.

While health and happiness helped to motivate her to make this diet shift, her love of animals trumps everything, and it’s only natural that her four-legged friends should tread this path too. “Veganism has gone crazy, and it has not only led to more ingredients landing on supermarket shelves and on restaurant menus, but it has also spilled over in the dog food world,” said Victoria.

But there is a more serious aspect to vegans shouting about their lifestyle for what feels like 24 hours a day. Although it has become trendy to “eat clean”, and a plant-based diet is often viewed as clean, veganism’s roots are deeply embedded in the world of animal rights activism.

Just this week it was reported that vegan activists had published an online map showing the names and locations of more than 18,000 dairy farms across England and Wales. Activists behind the Project Calf website were urging people to visit the farms, confront farmers and then film their responses when asked about dairy farming practices. “The aim is to bear witness to the suffering of the animals on dairy farms and gather footage of what is happening to them to show people where their dairy products really come from,” it says.

And while Victoria is against any sort of violence, she feels if she just told that friend how their omelette ended up on their plate, or that stranger in the fut coat how the mink or coyote that had worn it before had suffered, perhaps they’d reconsider. “Having said that I do understand why vegans get very angry because they care about these animals so passionately. But I’m a firm believer in educating people. Having a calm conversation as a way of getting your point across is a better way,” said Victoria. “It wasn’t like I had a lightbulb moment. I drank milk as a vegetarian, but I never ate eggs. I found out dairy is scary, and I realised that the milk was coming from the animals I loved so much,” said Victoria, who lives in Carlisle.

However, the farming industry is fighting back against what they say are ‘misleading’ claims from vegans during the Veganuary campaign, which was running last month, and are reminding the public about the benefits of meat and dairy in a balanced diet.

Robert Craig, is a Cumbrian dairy farmer, and also a Nuffield Scholar who studied global sustainable food production travelling to India, China, New Zealand, South America and California in 2012/13.

He says in the past going vegan was all about animal welfare whereas the most recent growth in veganism appears to be driven by spurious health claims while also arguing that going vegan is saving the planet from global warming. “It does beg the question though, why we’re seeing the growth now? It’s not as if we’ve just learnt how to grow nuts and vegetables or that some of us have just discovered in order to eat meat and dairy we must first keep animals and that farming animals for food might seem cruel.

“No one would disagree that we should all be consuming a balanced diet including all food types but vegan health claims can be just as spurious and unfounded as the climate arguments. Just compare the nutritional composition of cows’ milk with any plant based alternative - while also investigating and comparing the environmental credentials of where and how it was produced,” argued Robert.

“Very concerning is that many of the new vegan converts are still young and developing,” says Robert. “The long-term health implications of diets short of essential vitamins and micro-nutrients such as iodine can be serious and life-long and the associated cost implications for health could be considerable, adding to an already overstretched NHS which is only just beginning to pick up the treatment costs of high salt, over sweetened and highly processed food. It’s ironic that for decades of being told animal fats were the big health danger, to now realise that actually the opposite is true.”

Vegans have had to put up with being the subject of stereotype descriptions from some quarters over the years, ridiculed for being malnourished, sanctimonious, or lentil-loving, hippies. But a new generation is challenging the stereotypes and aiming to educate those who have previously dismissed veganism as just a fad.

Chris Armstrong is 21 and only joined the ranks of veganism two years ago. “I have always been interested in nutrition and healthy diets. But after some research on the internet I adopted veganism for environmental and ethical reasons, something I feel very passionate about. In Carlisle, veganism among the younger generation is new. Until recently the vegan population has been in the forties, fifties and sixties age groups. This is not the case in cities like Manchester or London,” added Chris, who lives in Carlisle and works as a courier.

“It is not a fad. People are not becoming vegans because it is fashionable. People are not happy about the way farm animals are treated. The internet is bringing down those concrete walls and the public is now seeing what is going on.”

But David Hall, the National Farmers Union North West regional director has hit back. “Much has been said about our diets at the start of this year, but the fact is there are no bad foods, just bad diets. Choice remains fundamental of course, but it is important to have accurate facts and information to help people get there. What aggrieves many of us, as farmers, is the image portrayed of our industry, usually by a small, vocal minority, which in no way reflects the reality of UK food production. We stand proud by our high production, welfare and environmental standards.”

The Vegan Society found there were 600,000 vegans in Great Britain in 2018, or 1.16 per cent of the population. The number of vegans doubled from up to 150,000 (0.25 per cent) in 2014 to 276,000 (0.46 per cent) in 2016, and – incredibly – doubled again from the 276,000 (0.46 per cent) in 2016 to 600,000 (1.16 per cent) in 2018.