Veganism is becoming increasingly popular.

In the past few years, several celebrities have gone vegan, and a wealth of vegan products have appeared in stores.

However, you may still be curious about what this eating pattern involves and what you can and cant eat on a vegan diet.

This article tells you everything you need to know about veganism.

The term vegan was coined in 1944 by a small group of vegetarians who broke away from the Leicester Vegetarian Society in England to form the Vegan Society.

They chose not to consume dairy, eggs, or any other products of animal origin, in addition to refraining from meat, as do vegetarians.

The term vegan was chosen by combining the first and last letters of vegetarian.

Veganism is currently defined as a way of living that attempts to exclude all forms of animal exploitation and cruelty, be it from food, clothing, or any other purpose.

Vegans generally choose to avoid animal products for one or more of the following reasons.

Ethical vegans strongly believe that all creatures have the right to life and freedom.

Therefore, they oppose ending a conscious being's life simply to consume its flesh, drink its milk, or wear its skin especially because alternatives are available.

Ethical vegans are also opposed to the psychological and physical stress that animals may endure as a result of modern farming practices.

For instance, ethical vegans deplore the small pens and cages in which many livestock live and often rarely leave between birth and slaughter.

What's more, many vegans speak out against the farming industrys practices, such as the grinding of live male chicks by the egg industry or the force-feeding of ducks and geese for the foie gras market.

Ethical vegans may demonstrate their opposition by protesting, raising awareness, and choosing products that dont involve animal agriculture.

Some people choose veganism for its potential health effects.

For example, plant-based diets may reduce your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and premature death (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

Lowering your intake of animal products may likewise reduce your risk of Alzheimers disease or dying from cancer or heart disease (6, 7, 8, 9, 10).

Some also choose veganism to avoid the side effects linked to the antibiotics and hormones used in modern animal agriculture (11, 12, 13).

Finally, studies consistently link vegan diets to a lower body weight and body mass index (BMI). Some people may choose these diets to lose weight (14, 15, 16).

People may also choose to avoid animal products because of the environmental impact of animal agriculture.

A 2010 United Nations (UN) report argued that these products generally require more resources and cause higher greenhouse gas emissions than plant-based options (17).

For instance, animal agriculture contributes to 65% of global nitrous oxide emissions, 3540% of methane emissions, and 9% of carbon dioxide emissions (18).

These chemicals are considered the three principal greenhouse gasses involved in climate change.

Furthermore, animal agriculture tends to be a water-intensive process. For example, 5505,200 gallons (1,70019,550 liters) of water are needed to produce 1 pound (0.5 kg) of beef (19, 20).

Thats up to 43 times more water than is needed to produce the same amount of cereal grains (20).

Animal agriculture can also lead to deforestation when forested areas are burned for cropland or pasture. This habitat destruction is thought to contribute to the extinction of various animal species (18, 21).

Prominent types of this lifestyle include:

Vegans avoid all foods of animal origin. These include:

Moreover, vegans avoid any animal-derived ingredients, such as albumin, casein, carmine, gelatin, pepsin, shellac, isinglass, and whey.

Foods containing these ingredients include some types of beer and wine, marshmallows, breakfast cereals, gummy candies, and chewing gum.

Avoiding animal products doesnt consign you to veggies and tofu alone.

In fact, many common dishes are already vegan or can be adjusted easily.

Some examples include bean burritos, veggie burgers, tomato pizzas, smoothies, nachos with salsa and guacamole, hummus wraps, sandwiches, and pasta dishes.

Meat-based entres are generally swapped for meals containing the following:

You can replace dairy products with plant milks, scrambled eggs with scrambled tofu, honey with plant-based sweeteners like molasses or maple syrup, and raw eggs with flax or chia seeds.

In addition, vegans tend to consume a variety of whole grains, as well as a wide array of fruits and vegetables (23, 24).

Finally, you can also choose from an ever-growing selection of ready-made vegan products, including vegan meats, fortified plant milks, vegan cheeses, and desserts.

However, these highly processed products may be loaded with additives, oils, and artificial ingredients.

Vegans are individuals who avoid animal products for ethical, health, or environmental reasons or a combination of the three.

Instead, they eat various plant foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, and products made from these foods.

If youre curious about this eating pattern, it can be easier to transition to veganism than you might think. However, you may want to consider supplements to ensure youre getting all the nutrients your body needs.

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What Is Veganism, and What Do Vegans Eat?

Photograph courtesy of Tocaya Organica

Buzzworthy Brands is a weekly Restaurant Business feature highlighting innovative growth brands that operators should keep an eye on. A fresh Buzzworthy Brands profile will be published each Thursday.

The concept: Tocaya Organica

The details: A 17-unit fast casual that serves health-focused Mexican food, all of which start out as vegan.

The backstory: Tocaya Organica, which first opened in Southern California in 2016, is an offshoot of the full-service concept Toca Madera. As the founders noted demand for that fine-dining concept, they wanted to create a more affordable, limited-service variation. The original concept inspires Tocaya Organicas menu, although they feature quite different offerings. Tocayas most popular dishes are bowls and salads, all of which start out as vegan with meat and dairy add-ons available.

Why its worth watching: Breakwater Management invested $20.85 million in the two concepts in 2018, helping Tocaya Organica add seven units (with more planned) since then. As consumer interest in plant-based and flexitarian eating grows, the chain is well-suited to capture that demand. In August, the chain hired industry veteran Rudy Sugueti, a longtime California Pizza Kitchen executive, as chief operating officer to prepare the concept for growth.

Photograph courtesy ofTocaya Organica

Our entire menu starts out vegan. We do have nonvegan proteins and cheeses. But people who dont want to eat vegan have to opt in. Most vegans are used to going to restaurants that arent vegan and they have to subtract menu items. Its a reverse engineering of the menu.

I havent seen one comment or complaint from a vegan who had an issue with what were doing. We believe in veganism, but as a brand, we are flexitarian. Were realistic about the fact that were not trying to convince people to go vegan overnight. Theres a seat at the table for everyone.

Its healthier food that is also soulful. Guests dont feel like they have to make a sacrifice to eat healthy. Theres an emphasis on the overall experience. Most fast casuals are focused on how quickly they can get people out the door. Were the opposite. We want to restore the romanticism of hospitality without losing the speed of fast casual. There are touchpoints in the buildout, high-quality plates and bowls and smallwares. Gold forks. Nice furniture and lighting. An in-house music director curates the music.

Were trying to always figure out ways to bring that unique experience to the guests. On the catering side, we have beautiful packaging. In addition to that, we have these fun little touchpoints to reinforce the brand. A catering person would send you a Spotify playlist that features songs that are played in our restaurants.

Were working on supporting the environment through a number of different factors, including the Tocaya Life Foundation. We offer complimentary water to our guests. We had little plastic cups. Despite the fact there was some cost associated, weve started to make the transition to reusable water cups. Weve gotten a great response from our guests. Our guests really care about this stuff. People want to vote with their dollars.

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How a health-focused Mexican fast casual is making room for vegans and flexitarians alike - Restaurant Business Online

A scientist speaking at the National Farmers Union conference has argued that living a vegan lifestyle is more damaging to the environment than eating meat.

The Rothamsted Institutes Graham McAuliffe said that the manner in which tofu a protein foodstuff made from soy milk is produced has a worse carbon footprint than chicken, pork, or lamb produced for eating, according to an unpublished report.

Dr McAuliffe, who models the environmental impact of foods, said that current accepted research which claims that eating meat is worse for the environment fails to take into account that the human body does not absorb as much protein from plants as it does from meat, meaning that on a vegan diet, a person would have to eat more in order to obtain a healthy amount of protein, according to a report in The Times.

Speaking at the conference in London, the scientist said:Without a doubt peas and ground nuts always have a lower environmental impact than any livestock products.

But if you look at tofu, which is processed so there is more energy going into its production, when you correct for the fact that the protein in it is not as digestible compared to the meat-based products, you can see that it could actually have a higher global warming potential than any of the monogastric animals.

To get the same amount of protein, tofu is worse.

The remarks are likely to anger the vegan and environmentalist lobbies, which have been pushing to not only encourage people to stop eating meat but want to punish meat-eating, too, through increased taxation.

Lobbyists have argued for preserving veganism as a legally-protected characteristic, like religion, sex, race, or sexuality. Last month, a judge at an employment tribunal said ethical veganism is a philosophical belief and as such, should be protected by law from discrimination in the workplace.

While activists have said that vegans should be protected from discrimination, vocal anti-meat activists engaged in Cancel Culture on the former editor of Waitroses food magazine for making a joke about veganism in 2018. William Sitwell was forced to resign from his job, but not before receiving threats of harm against him and his family.

The anti-meat movement was also criticised at the farmers event earlier this week, with the president of the NFU Minette Batters saying: The vegan issue has been enormously detrimental to farmers mental health.

The anti-meat lobby could also be potentially detrimental to meat producers physical health, as well. Breitbart London reported in 2018 that there has been a rise in threats of violence against butchers and abattoir workers. In the same year, it was revealed that British meat producers had engaged the support of counter-terrorism police in the wake of the increased threats.

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Veganism Bad for the Environment and Your Health, Say Farmers - Breitbart

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Charles Leclerc, Australian GP 2019

RV Press

Charles Leclerc has revealed he tried becoming a vegan over the winter break.

F1's six time world champion Lewis Hamilton has popularised the idea of veganism in the paddock, with Leclerc's teammate Sebastian Vettel admitting he tried it in 2019.

"The experiment lasted six weeks and I learned a lot," the German said last year.

Now, 22-year-old Leclerc admits he also conducted his own short foray into veganism.

"I tried eating vegan but I didn't feel perfect with it. Nutrition is a very individual thing," he told the German broadcaster RTL.

Indeed, Leclerc said that with his non-vegan regime, he feels more than fit for the start of 2020.

"I've trained a lot - I'm ready, more than I've ever been," he said. RTL said he lost four kilograms over the winter.

"I'm definitely better prepared this year than last year as I now know what to expect from a team like Ferrari."

Finally, Leclerc predicted a calming of tension with his teammate Vettel, claiming "we both learned our lesson" from their clashes in 2019.

(GMM)

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Leclerc admits to trying veganism - GrandPrix

In early January, the Academy of Motion Pictures announced that plant-based food would be on the menu at this year's Academy Awards Ceremony on Feb. 9th. This announcement came after the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards dinners both switched to vegan menus (prompted, at least in part, by vegan "Joker" star Joaquin Phoenix's suggestion they do so), but before Google searches for "vegan Super Bowl snacks" increased by nearly 133% compared to last year.

This new decade kicked off with "Veganuary." The initiative, which had 250,000 participants in 2019, encouraged participants to go vegan for the month; and while for the past few years, trend forecasters and market analysts have predicted that vegan diets would continue increasing in popularity, this seems truly to be the year that, bolstered by cultural movements and celebrity endorsements, veganism has secured a sound space in the mainstream long after January concluded.

Members of the vegan food industry, like cookbook author and blogger Sam Turnbull, have observed a shift in how veganism is regarded by the general population.

"For a long time, vegans were seen as weirdos," Turnbull said. "But now, with a ton of amazing documentaries, books, and media it has become more widely understood that being vegan or eating a plant-based diet is beneficial to the environment, our own health, and of course the animals."

She says that she thinks increased awareness of climate change is inspiring a lot of people as well as the organizers behind major award shows to move towards more plant-based options. This was reflected in a January statement made by the Academy of Motion Pictures.

"The Academy is an organization of storytellers from around the world, and we owe our global membership a commitment to supporting the planet," said the statement. "For the past decade, the Academy has been committed to reducing its carbon footprint. For the past seven years, the Oscars show has had a zero-carbon imprint. We continue to expand our sustainability plan with the ultimate goal of becoming carbon neutral."

Now with veganism becoming more popular, Turnbull said, the demand for plant-based products is rising and the quality and range is expanding. "If you can get a veggie burger that tastes the same as a meat-based one, but no one had to die for it, why wouldn't you?"

As Brian Kateman reported for Salon in July, according to data from the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) and The Good Food Institute, the total value of the plant-based foods market is now approximately $4.5 billion. Notably, products like the Impossible Burger, a vegan beef patty alternative, are now on the menus at over 9,000 restaurants nationwide, including Burger King, Red Robin, and White Castle.

"Better-tasting and more readily available plant-based foods have provided people with a more comfortable way less sacrifice to experiment with plant-based foods," said Justin Lambeth, CEO of vegan cheese company Treeline. "And more and more of these consumers are making the switch from 'flexitarian' to vegetarian and, eventually, to vegan."

If someone doesn't feel like they can jump into veganism completely, theflexitariandiet isprimarily comprised of plant-based foods, but occasionally includes meat or fish. And now with even tastier mock meats and dairy products, it's easier than ever to transition to the plant-based diet.

Treeline, like the Impossible Burger, is an example of the recent innovation in the vegan food sector. Historically, vegan cheeses have been made with a starch and oil base; the starch gave it some form while the oil, typically coconut, allowed the product to stretch and melt like conventional cheese.

According to Lambeth, there was a pretty big problem with that formula.

"Starch- and oil-based products taste terrible," he said. "Moreover, these cheeses weren't cultured, so the familiar acidity and flavor of cheese were missing."

Treeline is made using cashew nuts, without any added starch or oils.

"We actually ferment, or culture, the cashews with a healthy probiotic, known as L. Acidophilus, which produces a creamy consistency, smooth texture and the rich, natural fermented flavors normally associated with fine dairy cheeses," Lambeth said.

Treelines products are now available with major retailers like Whole Foods, Kroger and Wegmans, as well as from foodservice outlets like Le Pain Quotidien and in the plant-based Purple Carrot meal kits.

It's a symbiotic cycle, of sorts. As more people seek out plant-based foods, whether inspired by personal convictions or celebrity influence, the market responds with better vegan options; when there are better vegan options, more people are willing to give veganism a shot or at least post about it on social media.

According to a Pew Research Center study, 88% of Americans aged 18 to 29 use some form of social media. Veganism, meanwhile, is a movement heavily inhabited and driven by young people. A 2018 Forbes report found that 70% of the world population reportedly "is either reducing meat consumption or leaving meat off the table altogether."

"Tell a Boomer you are a vegan and you get a weird 'Oh' comment and 'You're one of them' look," said Lambeth."Tell a millennial you're vegan and you get, 'That's cool, when did you become vegan?' [It's] a conversation starter."

So it's no surprise that veganism is more visible than ever on social media, nor is the advent of "veganfluencers."

The vegan influence isn't uniform though. The Governors Ball, an Oscar ceremony after-party event, will still serve fish and meat. Meanwhile, Grammy attendees had to choose between a "Mtley Cre-inspired Dr. FeelGood superfood platter" and a massive 64-ounce steak.

Continued here:
From the Impossible Burger to the Oscars, the rise of veganism in the mainstream - Salon

Phoenixs impassioned speech about animal rights got mixed reactions

In the most tWisTeD win at the Oscars last night, Joaquin Phoneix won for Best Actor for Joker, a movie about a sad clown. He began his acceptance speech speaking on the many injustices in the world, be they gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights.

Phoenix, whos been a vegan since he was a child and has campaigned for PETA, spoke of how we feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakeable. Then we take her milk thats intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal, and that humans should create change beneficial to all sentient beings. Hes used his platform to advocate for vegan causes before, whether its pushing the Golden Globes to serve a vegan menu, or attending a pig vigil in LA. PETA tweeted support of his message, and Kelsey Piper at Vox wrote that his speech elevated the moral worth of animals.

While Phoenix has used other speeches this awards season to call out social injustices, some people expressed frustration at language that equates drinking diary with injustices like racism or transphobia. PETA has been criticized in the past for co-opting the language of social justice in its work, and for doing things like comparing the Holocaust to factory farming. Vice said that, while his heart was in the right place, more than anything the speech was unhinged. Thats Arthur for you.

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Joaquin Phoenixs Oscar Speech Was About Animal Rights and Veganism - Eater

While the concept of being a part-time vegetarian has been around for decades, the idea of dabbling in the 100% plant-based diet and vegan lifestyle is becoming more widespread than ever before. Dubbed by some as the vegan-ish trend, we are now seeing more everyday consumers, especially the eco-conscious younger generation, as well as high-profile celebrities adopt plant-based eating and vegan habits for a portion of the time but stopping short of full-time commitment to veganism. So, how did this trend come about?

Similar to the concept of being a flexitarian, which doesnt bind those who practice it to a stringent plant-based diet and instead encourages adopting several meat-free or dairy-free days in a week, being vegan-ish refers to following veganism just sometimes. While some have shunned it as the latest trend to come and go, it appears as though the part-time vegan is well becoming a permanent fixture across the world.

Its likely that youll have noticed multiple family members and friends around you choose to try veganism for a month or pledge to stick to meat and dairy-free for several days of the week, thanks to the growing popularity of a number of vegan campaigns. This new decade, for instance, kicked off with Veganuary, which attracted over 400,000 participants this year, almost doubling the figure in 2019.

Social media has been flooded with celebrity endorsements of being vegan-ish too, most famously by idolised pop and R&B singer Beyonce and her rapper husband Jay-Z who followed a vegan diet for 22 days as a part of their so-called spiritual and physical cleanse. While the Golden Globes decided to present a 100% vegan 3-course menu, the Academy of Motion Pictures took a more part-time vegan approach by offering 70% plant-based dishes alongside salmon, wagyu beef and caviar at the Oscars afterparty. The Grammys took a similar vegan-ish approach, with attendees choosing between a Mtley Cre-inspired Dr. FeelGood superfood platter and a 64-ounce steak.

But the concept of kind of ditching meat and dairy isnt new, and had always lingered around in the background for decades. Since the mid-1990s, the idea of being a part-time vegetarian became increasingly popular, and really started to take off in the 2000s when Stella, Mary and Paul McCartney decided to launch Meat-Free Mondays. Although the McCartneys managed to attract hundreds of thousands of followers around the world who would eat vegetarian every Monday, the campaign didnt exactly manage to rebrand plant-based food as cool.

Then as 2010s rolled around, startups began their innovative work to create meat that looked and tasted just like the real deal, but was made entirely from plant ingredients. With their biomimicking technology, we saw the rise in popularity of plant-based meat iterations created by pioneering brands such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. Backed by the growing awareness amongst consumers about the detrimental environmental impact of animal agriculture, and not to mention the scientific evidence showcasing the adverse health effects of meat consumption, eating vegan no longer became associated with only animal welfare and ethical concerns.

The two Silicon Valley companies arguably changed the landscape of the plant-based movement, and the word plant quickly became very much vogue. From the largest fast food chains such as Burger King, Triple Os and McDonalds, to independent restaurants all over the world, vegan beef patties became widely rolled out across thousands of locations, catering to pure vegans, but also the enlarging demographic of consumers who want to occasionally indulge in a cruelty-free, low-carbon meal. According to the Good Food Institute (GFI), the total value of the plant-based food market now stands at a whopping US$4.5 billion.

In general, the rising vegan-ish trend will be a positive for the planet. While of course, cutting out meat and dairy from our diets would be the most impactful individual choice, the popular preference to go part-time vegan, especially if adopted en masse, would significantly drive down the demand for a global industry that is unsustainable, offer a boost to our health, and bring about the motivation to change the world for the better.

Looking for more vegan news? Follow the latest in the plant-based world on Green Queen here.

Lead image courtesy of Vegan Society.

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Vegan-ish: Welcome To The Era Of The Part-Time Vegan - Green Queen Media

Veganism is a cod. Thats what Ive been saying to anyone whos asked me how my first week is going. Ive been whispering it to myself as I rock back and forth in dark corners.

I am hungry, cranky and disillusioned. I have failed many times, mindlessly drinking a cup of tea with God forbid a drop of milk in it or ordering a cappuccino with my vegan bowl.

It was naive of me to think I could jump in at the deep end and give up all animal products overnight, I realise that now.

Becoming vegan must be a gradual process in order not to be hungry, or feel like a failure. It involves completely dismantling your traditional thoughts around meal composition, getting your head around substitutes and making sure you replace the meat and dairy with vegetables and fruit rather than carbohydrates and faddy vegan processed foods. I am impressed and amazed by the people who do it, because it isnt easy.

I needed to be far more prepared than I was. I became complacent after finding vegetarianism relatively easy to get used to and thought a tub of flora spread and a litre of almond milk would see me through till Wednesday.

The reality was quite the opposite. So many of the recipes I had reached for during my first four weeks of meat-free life were now obsolete. The banana bread had eggs in it. The lentil moussaka had milk and butter, the best thing about the black bean chilli was the sour cream and my plans for the Nigel Slater burrata and lentil dish would have to be scrapped. Most of these could be adapted, using flax seeds instead of eggs, nut milk and cashew cheese but that took another layer of headspace that I simply dont possess.

I have collated an array of vegetarian cookbooks, and have scouted out the best vegetarian plates in Dublin (the goats cheese salad in Andersons in Glasnevin is heavenly, the pizza in Cabras new Italian Nero XVI is perfect without meat and Honey Truffle on Pearse Street does salads you would crave) but none of those were any good to me now, certainly not without asking for them to be altered.

Veganism had left me stumped. I knew I had to get breakfast right, so every day I have made Joe Wicks chocolate overnight oats whizzed-up banana, hazelnut milk and cocoa powder infusing the porridge with a naturally sweet, nutty flavour. Served with raspberries and flaked almonds it is delicious, and is a breakfast I normally always make during the warmer summer months.

Dinners were slightly more complicated but I could still make the lentil curry, bean chilli and veggie burgers work, they just missed the ingredients that often made them shine small amounts of cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream and butter can be transformative, Ive learned.

Lunch, though, is where I really faltered. Snacks were difficult too. I could no longer have scrambled eggs on toast, and berries and yoghurt were out of the picture.

The caprese sandwich I reached for in the new deli beside work, Greenville on Tara Street, was now off limits and the majority of the vegan options Ive found consist of dry bread and mushed up chickpea. That would be fine, were I not living off chickpeas as it is.

I threw a grown-up tantrum on Tuesday, crying on the bed about not wanting to go to the gym because I was tired I have been very tired all week and hungry.

On Wednesday, I resolved to get things back on track. I tootled off down to Dunnes Stores on my day off with an armory of Deliciously Ella recipes to prepare for. I had the basket full of rice paper, flax seed and Linda McCartney vegan sausages in the crook of one arm and a flat white in the other. Then I realised . . . a flat white.

This veganism is a pure cod, I said to myself. Can a woman not swan around a fancy Dunnes Stores on her day off with a flat white in one hand and a basket full of nonsense in the other?

Going vegan for a week has made me realise just how omnipresent dairy is in our diet, and how vigilant vegans need to be when cooking and ordering out.

I mean it when I say I have an immense amount of respect for people who follow this diet, and I can see that done right it can have a myriad of health benefits not least because you will be eating greener, fresher food.

It takes a military level of preparation to do properly; as well as an intrinsic belief that this is the diet for you. I possess a capacity for neither of those things, and I will admit that I have failed at being a vegan this week.

I have one more week left of it, and to be honest, Im counting down the days.

Niamh Towey is writing a weekly column about cutting meat from her diet first by adhering to a pescatarian diet, then vegetarian, and nowvegan.

Part 1:Embracingthe challengePart 2:Ifeel a little . . . emptyPart 3:Crying into my dhalPart 4: Life is busyPart 5: Confession about a ham sandwichPart 6:Im hungry, cranky and disillusioned

Sign up for one of The Irish Times'Get Runningprogrammes (it is free!).First, pick the eight-week programme that suits you.- Beginner Course:Acourse totake you from inactivity to running for 30 minutes.- Stay On Track:For those who can squeeze in a run a few times a week.- 10km Course:Designed for those who want to move up to the 10km mark.Best of luck!

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A confirmed carnivore goes vegan: Im hungry, cranky and disillusioned - The Irish Times

Vegetables reign supreme in Bryant Terrys world. In his new cookbook, Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes, the James Beard Award-winning chef and author presents a collection of 150 recipes in which vegetables are the unabashed stars of the table, not the paltry side dishes.

Terrys latest cookbook comes six years after his critically acclaimed Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed. I very intentionally pulled back from book writing and overburdening myself with projects because I wanted to be as present as possible with my children, explains the father of two. In the introduction to Vegetable Kingdom, Terry writes that his daughters, ages five and eight, inspired the book and were among his dishes' first tasters.

One of the litmus tests for the recipes was if they liked it, he says. Kids are brutally honest.

The world of vegetables can be intimidatingly vast, yet Terrys book lays it out in an accessible way alongside his takes on marinades, sauces and spice blends influenced by American Southern, Caribbean, sub-Saharan African and Asian cuisines. Terry credits his daughters gardening class for the approachable architecture of the book, which categorizes recipes by which part of the plant the central ingredient comes from. Starting with seeds such as beans and corns, recipes grow into bulbs (fennel, leeks and the like), then into stems (asparagus and such), flowers (broccoli and its floreted cousins), fruits (squashes and peppers), leaves (greens of every kind) and back down to fungus, tubers and roots.

When I was composing the recipes, I was mindful of the fact that therell be a diversity of readers, he says noting that his audience has varying degrees of comfort in the kitchen. To that end, hes included a couple of beginner-level recipes in each section. (If you could boil a pot of water, you can make this recipe, he says.) These are interspersed with more elaborate meals fit for dinner parties and leisurely, late weekend lunches.

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Veganism Isn't Restrictive in Bryant Terry's Abundant 'Vegetable Kingdom' - Bay Area Bites - KQED

After a month of plant-based eating, it's finally time to order pizza.

This celebration requires cheese. Lots of cheese.

"It's been a hard month," Sean Jensen said between gigantic bites of pizza. "But this is delicious."

This is the first non-vegan meal for Jensen and his co-workers who switched to a plant-based diet for the month of January to see if it would improve their overall health.

At the start of the challenge, each person tested their blood, body mass index, visceral fat and peripheral fat levels.

After 30 days of veganism, the group of seven one person dropped out of the challenge ran the same tests to see if they were any healthier.

Dr. Raj Attariwala, who runs the clinic, says he lost eight pounds but it was mostly muscle.

"I have to tighten my belt but I gained fat," he said. "I'm a skinnier, fatter guy than I was before."

The employees at AIM Medical Imaging have access to the company's Prenuvo full body MRI scans, which allow them to measure the benefits of their diets in great detail.

The team also had tests and analysis work done at the nearby medical clinic Preventum.

Everyone lost weight.Most people saw improvements in their blood tests and visceral fat levels went down modestly.

Attariwala says, however, everyone lost muscle except for one person who started an exercise program partway through the challenge.

"We see that we're thinner and think that we should be healthier, but the truth is we're not," he said.

"My body was basically sucking energy from my muscles instead of from my fat."

Most people found that meal planning was challenging and expensive.It was hard to find healthy sources of protein and it was difficult to stay away fromfoods that were high in carbohydrates.

AIM employee Erica Ferreira says the positive is she learned a great deal about planning meals.

"I'll definitely think about what's going in my body a little bit more from now on," she said. "It was a good experiment."

For Attariwala, who didn't make any changes to his fitness routine, the biggest takeaway from the experiment is the importance of working out.

"It's not just diet, it's exercise, too," he said.

"I'm going to try to eat less and move more."

Around the lunchroom table at the pizza party, the discussion centres around how many foods appear to be vegan such as breads or sauces but actually contain eggs, honey or some other kind of product that comes from animals.

Jensen says he absent mindedly ordered a cappuccino during the challenge and didn't realize he was drinking dairy until he had finished his cup.

"You just have to be so careful," he said.

"When you're out and you think of a place where you can just pick something up quickly, what can you get that's not yam fries?"

Throughout the challenge, everyone also came to appreciate Vancouver's vegan restaurants and realized there are many delicious options.

Jensen isn't giving up meat, and he's certainly not quitting cheese, but he plans to scale back on both.

"I guess you can call me a vegetarian," he said.

"A vegetarian who eats meat."

CBC Vancouver'sImpact Team investigates and reports on stories that impact people in their local community and strives to hold individuals, institutions and organizations to account.If you have a story for us, email impact@cbc.ca.

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Is veganism healthy? This Vancouver office tried it for a month to find out - CBC.ca

Credit: Greg Williams photography / AUGUST

In a much publicised image, vegan activist Joaquin Phoenix celebrates his Oscar win by enjoying a vegan burger with fiance Rooney Mara. The implications of this, in addition to his beautifully crafted acceptance speech, could be immeasurable for veganism as a whole.

Vegan burger chains, plantbased fast food restaurants, and vegan options in mainstream foodservice, are beyond a doubt exploding all over the planet, as consumers wake up to the fact that its time to look towards cruelty-free and more sustainable options, and respond to the heightened availability of delicious and innovative plantbased alternatives to animal flesh.

Phoenix quoted to Veganuary organisers this January: If you look at the climate crisis or the violence of our food system and feel helpless, thinking I wish there was something I could do- you can. And now in 2020, almost everyone can as the plantbased burger becomes omnipresent on the international stage and is taking a giant chunk of the market.

Without even mentioning the enormous range of options available in retail outlets, such as the Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger and all of their peers, this article is to demonstrate the recent influx of vegan burgers in food service around the world, namely from vegan brands who have released news of expansion in the past months.

This is just a sample, and the point is, burgers and fast food are an access point, popular in every corner of the globe. And now that the vegan burger is being endorsed by international celebrities such as Phoenix and Hamilton, this is set to really change the industry as we know it.

However you feel about vegan options at McDonalds or Burger King; the movement is evolving. Vegan industry is at a time of unprecedented growth, and with more options available that any point in history, coupled with a growing awareness of health and sustainability, 2020 is going to see the vegan burger absolutely dominate in 2020. And that is a phenomenal thing not only for vegan industry, but more importantly, for the countless millions of animals it could potentially save.

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Excerpt from:
Vegan Burgers Will Conquer the World in 2020 and Here's Why - vegconomist - the vegan business magazine