All About Veganuary!
Veganuary runs throughout the calendar month of January. This is traditionally a time for New Year resolutions, which commonly revolve around a desire to be more healthy and lose weight after the meat and dairy-heavy excesses of the festive season. As the Christmas bells fade and family and friends part after spending time together, Veganuary brings people from all over the world together in a ready-made online community – ideal for making new friends, swapping recipes and tips about the best vegan sausages or simply venting about missing bacon! You can sign up to Veganuary here.
What's the history of Veganuary?
Veganuary began in the UK in 2014, founded by Matthew Glover and Jane Land. Their idea was simple but ambitious: to encourage people to try a vegan diet for the month of January, with the aim of making plant based eating more accessible, visible, and appealing.
The first Veganuary campaign attracted just over 3,000 participants. Since then, it has grown rapidly into a global movement, supported by charities, celebrities, food brands, restaurants, and supermarkets. Each year, more resources, recipes, and product options have become available, making it easier than ever for people to take part.
Over time, Veganuary has expanded far beyond the UK, reaching countries across Europe, North America, Asia, and beyond. What started as a small campaign has now inspired tens of millions of people worldwide to explore vegan eating, helping to raise awareness of the benefits for health, animal welfare, and the environment.
The aim of Veganuary is to encourage people to try a vegan diet for the month of January and to discover how accessible and sustainable plant based eating can be. By focusing on a short, achievable time frame, Veganuary helps people explore veganism without pressure or long term commitment.
At a wider level, Veganuary aims to reduce animal suffering, lower the environmental impact of food production, and support healthier eating habits. The campaign also works closely with food brands, restaurants, and supermarkets to increase the availability and visibility of vegan options, making plant based choices easier for everyone.
Ultimately, Veganuary is about inspiring positive change. Whether participants continue with a fully vegan lifestyle or simply reduce their consumption of animal products, the goal is to encourage more mindful food choices that benefit people, animals, and the planet.
How is a plant-based diet beneficial for health?
A plant based diet can offer a wide range of health benefits when it is well balanced and varied. It typically includes plenty of fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, all of which are rich in essential vitamins, minerals, and fibre.
Eating more plant based foods is linked to improved heart health, as these diets are often lower in saturated fat and cholesterol. They can also help support healthy digestion, maintain stable energy levels, and contribute to better weight management due to their high fibre content.
A plant based diet may also reduce the risk of certain long term health conditions, including type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. By focusing on whole, minimally processed foods, many people find they develop a more mindful approach to eating, paying closer attention to nutrition and overall wellbeing.
As with any diet, planning is important. Ensuring adequate intake of key nutrients such as protein, iron, calcium, iodine, and vitamin B12 helps make a plant based diet both healthy and sustainable.
How is a plant-based diet beneficial for the environment?
A plant based diet can have a significantly lower environmental impact than a diet high in animal products. Producing plant foods generally requires fewer natural resources, such as land, water, and energy, making it a more efficient way to feed a growing global population.
Animal agriculture is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, particularly methane and nitrous oxide. By choosing more plant based meals, individuals can help reduce these emissions and lower their overall carbon footprint. This shift also helps limit deforestation, as less land is needed for livestock farming and animal feed crops.
Plant based diets can also support healthier ecosystems. Reduced demand for animal farming can lead to less soil degradation, lower water pollution from agricultural runoff, and improved biodiversity. Together, these changes play an important role in protecting the environment and supporting a more sustainable food system for the future.
Several of our staff here at Healthy Supplies are vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian or just trying to eat and live more healthily in general. We’ve built up an impressively huge and unique collection of vegan recipes, which we’ve created and tested ourselves, that will delight your family and friends and make the meat-eaters very jealous! You can find them here. There’s also an absolutely massive range of all kinds of tasty and healthy products for vegans or anyone thinking of taking the plunge and taking part in the next Veganuary challenge – you can find vegan supplies here.