What is Vegan Food?

...and why eat it?

A vegan lifestyle is a fun, exciting and tasty way of living with compassion and thought towards animals, the environment, our health and other people.

And a vegan diet is a tasty and healthy way of experiencing your food. There are so many beautiful grains, pulses, beans, soya products, vegetables, fruits, nuts seeds and herbs to try. To eat vegan all you do is replace the meat, fish, eggs, dairy products and honey with a vegan alternative. Vegan food is so much more than the sad stereotype of dull, tasteless hippy food, or a bowl of limp lettuce and a carrot, as I hope to show you with the food I create.

I have been vegan since January 2003 after being a vegetarian for 11 years. I love the new foods I have discovered by changing the way I approach what I eat. It's a win-win situation. I eat amazingly good food and the following also benefit from my choices:

Animals
As a vegan I am not contributing to the suffering of animals that are bred and kept for their meat, eggs or milk. Before I read into it, I assumed that milk and eggs were by-products and caused no harm to animals, but sadly that is not the case. Dairy cows, for example, are kept in a constant cycle of pregnancy and lactation. What happens to the calves that should be drinking the milk? Well, the male babies are either killed straight away or shipped abroad for the cruel veal market. Read more here

Environment
Vegan food is also much easier on the environment! The meat and dairy industry create more greenhouse gases than all the world's transport! Amazing isn't it?! Read more here

Ourselves
Our bodies are not designed for eating meat, eggs or the breast milk of other species. It is well documented that vegan food can significantly reduce the risk of serious diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer and strokes. Read more here

Even non vegan people I know agree they prefer vegan food as it's not only yummy but also easier for the body to handle, and one feels 'lighter' after eating it. Other people I know have relieved conditions such as arthritis and excess mucus through cutting out dairy.

It is so much easier to go vegan these days than even a decade ago. There are plenty of tasty alternatives to things like cheese, bacon, burgers, sausages, mince, fish, chocolate, ice cream, whipped cream and even caviar! But please do go easy on these foods as our bodies prefer as much unprocessed foods as possible.

There are some amazing restaurants around that serve fantastic vegan food. Check out Happy Cow to find ones in your area or areas to where you are traveling. You can make or buy anything in between cheap and basic vegan food, junk food (not recommended in excess!), and luxurious gourmet vegan food.

Other People
A varied vegan diet uses one fifth of the amount of land to produce food for a typical meat-based diet. Vegan food also requires less water. 120 liters of water are needed to produce 1kg of wheat, while 3,700 liters are required for 1kg beef! When the world is already overpopulated and resources are limited then surely the vegan lifestyle makes more sense? In less developed countries such as Ethiopia farmers are forced by poverty to export their best crops to the West only to be used as animal feed for the meat industry instead of using the valuable crops for feeding their families.

As a vegan I live a happy, healthy, tasty, compassionate and guilt-free life. What more can a person ask for? :)

For more info you can look at The Vegan Society's website or contact me for support or more info. You can also check out the booklet I wrote and designed for young people while working for Vegan Society.(Warning: large file!)

Curious about how this food looks and tastes? Start right away by checking out some of my yummy recipes for Life-Loving vegan food and take a look below at some pictures of my delicious food.