BOSH!
How to Live Vegan
SAVE THE PLANET AND FEEL AMAZING
Henry Firth & Ian Theasby

Copyright

HQ

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First published in Great Britain by

HQ, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019

Copyright © Henry Firth & Ian Theasby 2019

Henry Firth & Ian Theasby assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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E-book Edition © 2019 ISBN: 9780008349974

Version: 2019-09-12

Dedication

We’d like to dedicate this book to you. The very fact that you have this book in your hands is proof that you care greatly about the planet and all its inhabitants. It’s people like you who are going to make a difference and, ultimately, change the world.

CONTENTS

COVER

TITLE PAGE

COPYRIGHT

DEDICATION

A NOTE FROM HENRY

A NOTE FROM IAN

WHAT DOES VEGAN MEAN?

WHY?

1. SAVE THE PLANET

2. FEEL AMAZING

3. YOU CAN DO IT

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

HOW?

INGREDIENTS

SHOPPING

DRINKS

COOKING

EATING OUT AND ORDERING IN

BEYOND FOOD

WHAT NEXT?

FAQS

RESOURCES

REFERENCES

THANK YOUS

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

A NOTE FROM HENRY
You’ll have come to this book because you are ready to make a change. My journey to veganism started at a pretty tough time in my life.

At my lowest point, I was running a company that had raised millions of pounds, but I wasn’t happy. My silicon dream had become a silicon nightmare. Around then, I took a trip to Japan to try to gain some clarity, and while I was there, I realised I needed to change my focus to make my mind healthy again. I rediscovered meditation, reading, exercise and a work–life balance. On returning to the UK, I took the decision to act more responsibly with regards to my personal health, and to find a meaningful purpose to my life. I wanted to use my skills to help the planet and, specifically, to help stop climate change in whatever way I could.

At the time, I was working with a close friend of mine, Ian. He went through all those dark times at work with me, and we not only worked together but also shared a house. Then one day he went vegan. I thought it was ridiculous. I made fun of him all the time. I was that guy. I had a freezer full of high-welfare meat and a personal trainer that had me on a high-fat ketogenic diet. I wasn’t going to eat his dubious-looking curries.

Then I watched a documentary – Cowspiracy – that changed everything. I went vegan overnight. With the help of some friends, Ian and I set up our video channel, BOSH.TV, to show the world how to cook plant-based meals that meat eaters would love, and before long we’d had a billion views and were two-time Sunday Times bestselling authors.

Now we are regularly called upon to talk about vegan food on TV, radio and at live events. And we love to share what we know and how we feel. But we think it’s also important to recognise that we each have our own opinions, patterns and issues.

To us, eating vegan food is the proverbial plaster that we can personally stick on the broken planet to help it heal. But we know it’s not that black and white. My dad was the first to let me know that flying to America a couple of times a year can generate as much carbon as being vegan can save. His choice to eat just a bit of meat every now and again, combined with his love of seasonal and locally grown vegetables, and a lifestyle which involves very little air travel, is an environmentally friendly choice that works for him.

But however we look at it, the way most of us are eating now is not OK. The way we farm and make food is destroying the planet, the rainforests and our health, and it is causing huge suffering for billions of animals.

The topic of food is a huge one – and our habits are all so ingrained in us around the world that it can be hard to imagine a different system from the one we currently live in. Yet, we are at a place in our history where we are lucky enough to be able to choose what we eat – in fact, there has never been so much choice! And with this choice comes the responsibility to make informed decisions.

We aren’t preachy, holier-than-thou people, and this book won’t be filled with propaganda and made-up facts. As Northern sons of meat eaters, surrounded by meat eaters, who were brought up eating meat, we’re going to show you why and how we went vegan. We’re going to walk you through why we chose to live a vegan life, and why eating vegan, whether it’s a few times a week or every day, could literally help you to save the planet, feel amazing and live longer.

Whoever you are, wherever you are on your journey, we respect you, and we trust that you’ll make your own informed decisions (even if they’re different to ours) on how to live vegan.

A NOTE FROM IAN
As a vegan, I’m going to say something controversial: you can eat what you like.

Meat is what most people are brought up on. Eating it doesn’t make you a bad person. And not eating meat, being veggie or vegan, doesn’t make you a good person.

Henry and I remember the taste of meat well. We loved steak and roast dinners, and there’s no question that burgers taste great. My mum is the daughter of a farmer. Our families and friends from home still eat meat and we still love them all dearly.

Our families definitely did not expect us to be running a vegan cooking channel, and they’re always asking us why we went vegan. In this book is the answer to that. Mum, this book is for you!

We stopped eating animal products over four years ago. Since then we’ve built the biggest plant-based online video channel and written two bestselling cookbooks, showing people how to make delicious meals that taste even better than meat!

This book contains no propaganda. It’s not designed to try and mess with your mind or turn you into clones of us. We’ve cited our sources and tried to avoid hyperbole. But there’s no doubt, this is important.

If you’re wondering why the number of vegans has more than quadrupled[1] in the past few years and why the number of flexitarians (people who are reducing the amount of meat they eat) is showing similar trends, then this book hopefully holds the answer.

If you’re wondering why so many restaurants have added vegan choices, or are shouting about their vegan offerings, then this book may explain why. Spoiler: the availability of vegan options is not down to an increasing number of vegans, it’s down to an increasing number of meat reducers – those mindful meaties!

If you’re wondering why Sir David Attenborough, or any news channel, declares we should reduce our meat and dairy intake to help the planet, then this book is for you. We’ll share the background to this and give you practical advice on how you can make changes in your own life.

And, finally, if you’re just interested in eating a few more vegan meals, either to help the planet, for your health, to save money or because you’re interested in trying some of the amazing new plant-based foods that are out there, then we’ll help you do that, too. We’ll show you how awesome vegan food can be for your mind, body and soul.

All of this is aimed at you doing it your way. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Anyone who throws a black-and-white absolute answer at you – about anything – is misleading you. So, please come with us as we delve into the murky shades of grey, and we’ll show you how the choice to eat vegan food, and to make vegan an ideal that we work towards, was the best decision we ever made. Ever.

WHAT DOES VEGAN MEAN?
The Vegan Society’s definition of veganism is living in a way that ‘seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to animals’.

In fact, it was the founder of the Vegan Society who actually created the word ‘vegan’. Based in the UK, the society supports vegans all over the world through information and campaigns, and registers products with its Vegan Trademark. We think the bit about it being ‘as far as is possible and practicable’ is massively overlooked in most conversations about what it means to be vegan. Some people will tell you there are very strict rules about what you can and can’t do if you want to be a ‘proper’ vegan – but there aren’t! When you start to really think about it deeply, it’s nearly impossible to live 100% totally vegan. Animal products end up in the weirdest of places – from the ink in your printer, to the interior of your car and even your money.

We see veganism as something to aim for. It’s an ideal, a direction to move towards – we’re still working on it, too – and however far you want to take it, that’s OK with us. In this book, we want to show you the facts. You can use them however you want.

For some people being vegan is all about the food, while for others it’s about other parts of their life too, like their clothes or make-up, or the products they buy for their home. Maybe you just want to eat a few more plant-based meals each week, or swap your dairy milk and cheese for plant-based alternatives. That’s amazing! What we’ve found is that even the small changes, make a big difference. And not only to your life, but to those around you too.

We started BOSH! three years ago, motivated to help the world eat more plants, as a means of reducing climate change. Our videos have reached millions of people, and we’ve lost count of the number who have got in touch to let us know that they’ve gone vegan, or eat far less meat, after trying one of our recipes. We are supportive of whatever positive action you take towards consuming fewer animal products and eating more plant-based foods. Maybe you’ve made a decision that all your main meals are going to be vegan, but you simply can’t live without your non-vegan snacks – we’re cool with that! Whether you go the whole hog (pun intended) or choose to start with a few smaller adjustments, it’s about doing whatever is practicable for you.

Before we went vegan, pretty much every meal we ate was based around something animal-based. At first, we admit, it was a bit of a challenge to go completely plant-based – Ian cooked a lot of brown curries in those early days … But things are much better now – there is so much choice out there! We are excited by the plant-based options on the supermarket shelves, the new vegan restaurants opening up every day and the vegan options appearing on menus in even the most mainstream of fast-food outlets. And, of course, we’ve learned a huge amount along the way too. We’ve learned how to cook really amazing vegan food, and we’re so excited to be able to share that with you through our YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram and our books.

Our mission today remains the same as it was back then. We’ve all heard the facts. We all know about the increased risks of wildfires, extreme weather events and rising sea levels. But recently, the language has changed. We are no longer talking about climate ‘change’, but rather climate crisis and climate emergency. Hearing Sir David Attenborough, Greta Thunberg and Professor Mike Berners-Lee talking on the BBC documentary, Climate Change – The Facts, in clear and certain terms about the huge, extinction-level threats we face as a result of climate change, it brought everything even more keenly into focus for us. We watched, gripped in horror as the first climate refugees were forced from their homes by rising sea levels, and at the deforestation spreading across the globe and the unprecedented California forest blazes in 2018. It’s a lot, we know. And we don’t want to depress or scare you.

But in the face of these terrifying events, it is easy to want to bury our heads in the sand and wait for the inevitable apocalypse. Thankfully, though, Sir David Attenborough along with his co-presenters ended the show with perhaps their most important message of all: they finished by telling us what we can do about it.

The biggest way you can help our planet is to reduce your meat and dairy intake, and move towards a more plant-based diet, become a flexitarian, go veggie or go vegan.

There are so many ways to reduce your meat and dairy intake, but the most important thing of all is to make sure you do it your way.

You need to find a way to make plant-based eating work for you, in your life, right now. Perhaps a fully plant-based, vegan diet is just too big a change at the moment. If so, then a few simple adjustments to your usual routine can still deliver some amazing improvements. Even switching out beef in your diet and moving towards more sustainable options is a really powerful change. Or maybe you want to play with being a flexitarian before you take the plunge – eating mainly plant-based but with the occasional meat, fish and dairy.

Beyond Meat, the groundbreaking new vegan burger company, says 93% of their sales are from meat eaters,[2] showing that the interest in everyone eating less meat is most definitely on the rise. This means that the buying power of flexitarians is causing a huge spike in sales of vegan products! Being vegan is actually being made easier by people becoming flexitarian, because it increases the demand for quality and easy-to-find non-animal products. So even eating a few more plant-based meals, will make a big difference in our overall global consumption.

You don’t have to be a full-blown card-carrying vegan. You don’t have to wear socks and sandals or put hemp seeds in your smoothies. It is not about that. It’s about reducing your meat and dairy intake, whatever that means for you.

Think about what has brought you to this point. Why do you want to live vegan? Is it due to the environment, your health, the animals or for humanitarian reasons? Are you planning to change the way that you shop for non-food products as well? Some clothes, personal care products and make-up are made from animal products – do you plan to cut those out? Or just focus on food for now? Considering all your options will help you stay committed to your decision. It’s a really good time to think about your life and what you plan to do, then make daily decisions keeping you in line with those aims.

It’s simple. Choose animal-free products. As far as is right for you.

As consumers, our biggest power is in what we buy. Reducing the amount of money we spend on animal agriculture is the single best way we can, as consumers, start to make a positive impact. We’re going to show you how to vote against the meat, dairy and animal products in your life, without compromising choice, flavour or lifestyle. You’ll see how easy it is, you’ll feel better and healthier, and you’ll know that you are drastically reducing your carbon footprint, too.

We’ll help you BOSH! your kitchen, your bathroom and your life. We’ll show you how to remove animal products and turn your fave meaty meals plant-based. We’ll give you all the tools you need so you can save the planet and feel amazing.

In Great Britain, the number of vegans quadrupled between 2014 and 2018. There were about 600,000 vegans in 2018, or 1.16% of the population.[3] During that time, BOSH! launched making recipes for our books and our channels, where our videos have been viewed 1.5 billion times. That’s a lot of views!

WHY?

We all want to make a positive change for the world but before we show you how you can do that, we think it’s important to understand exactly why veganism is a part of that change.

We’ll give you a heads-up now that it can make tough reading at times, but we can’t shy away from the facts and so in this section we’re going to start with a few home-hitting truths. They were a real wake-up call for us, and they help keep us motivated every day to do what we do.

About one quarter of our personal carbon footprint in the UK is down to the food and drink we consume.

JOSEPH POORE

Researcher at the School of Geography and the Environment, The University of Oxford.

Pow. What a great milestone! Now we are all talking about meat and dairy as being a huge part of the problem, we can go about starting to fix it.

It’s sadly undeniable that our addiction to steaks, hamburgers and cheese is a core part of the problem. It’s pretty clear to us that we need to reduce our intake of those, so we can reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we are releasing into the atmosphere. As individuals, that’s the most powerful thing we can do to reduce our carbon footprint.

There have been five mass extinctions in the history of our planet. This period that we are living in now has been termed the ‘sixth mass extinction’.[4] This is an entirely human-caused extinction. We’ve killed half of all wildlife in the last 40 years,[5] and since the rise of human civilisation, 83% of wild mammals have been lost.[6] We’re causing the biggest extinction since the dinosaurs, and the first extinction where the cause – us – is acting through choice.

What has brought this about? Well, the loss of animals is partly due to human overpopulation, but also overconsumption. There are a lot of us on this little planet, yes, but our repeated acts of killing for food and destroying habitats are the main destroyers of wildlife.[7] Humans have modified more than half of the Earth’s surface according to their own aims,[8] and it is estimated that 26% of the entire Earth’s surface is now used for livestock grazing.[9]

It’s not just wildlife that’s at risk either. Perhaps the bigger, more frightening danger that we are currently facing is the warming of the planet. Scientists have warned that the ‘catastrophic’ level of 2°C warming is a nightmare we need to avoid,[10] and while this has been popularly framed as a doomsday-like worst-case scenario, in practice, that catastrophic 2°C warming is more like the best-case scenario. [11]

Increased levels of greenhouse gases, including methane and carbon dioxide, are trapping more heat in the Earth’s atmosphere. This prevents it from cooling down properly, and as a result the planet is warming up rapidly, in turn causing dramatic melting of the ice caps and an increasing number of climate-related disasters.[12]

A warming planet also means we can expect more global conflicts.[14] We were surprised by this at first, but it is inevitable: as the natural resources people depend on – water, food, fuel, etc. – become increasingly limited and unpredictable weather events cause climactic damage to landscapes and communities, governments will find it harder to protect and manage their societies. Severe droughts,[15] drowned coastal cities[16] and millions of climate migrants from scorched, desertified countries[17] will leave people feeling uncertain about their futures, resulting in widespread instability and political unrest.

These threats will materialise for the world’s poorest first,[18]particularly those around the equator, and there are already communities whose homes are being threatened or destroyed by climate activity across Africa, Asia, South America and even Alaska,[19] where temperatures are rising more dramatically than elsewhere. Meanwhile, our overconsumption is also affecting the poorest. Isn’t it terrifying to learn that although we produce enough food to feed every human on the planet, over 800 million people go to bed hungry each day?[20]

When we learnt these facts, we have to admit that we found ourselves losing faith in humanity for a while. As soon as you hear statistics like these, it’s easy to feel resigned and deflated – as though you don’t have any control. But we pulled ourselves back out of that hole and realised that there is something we can do – we can all act in a way that does some good for the world. Let’s use these depressing and humbling facts as a motivator to make a change!

We know we are lucky to live in the western world. A world where we import avocados from the other side of the globe to take photos of them in our meals and show people on the internet. It’s not useful for anyone to go around feeling endlessly guilty every day about all that we have, but we do need to acknowledge how privileged we are.

We may not have intentionally caused these problems, but indirectly, by just existing and enjoying the modern world we live in – with all its luxuries and technologies – we have. We must take some responsibility.

We are young professionals who travel on a regular basis around the UK and also around the world. We buy and eat food when we’re out and about. We enjoy our laptops, our phones – in fact, our whole living stems from being online 24/7. We buy clothes that are in fashion and we don’t refuse napkins or take our lunch in a metal box every day.

We have to own up and accept some responsibility for our choices.

Human civilisation has been around for about 12,000 years. The addition of excess carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the planet’s atmosphere has all happened in our lifetime, in the last 30 years.[21], [22] And science shows us we have about the same amount of time left to fix it.[23]

It’s like some kind of sci-fi film plot that the entire history of humanity as we know it lies in the hands of just two generations. And at this point in the story, it doesn’t look much like a happy ending.

How terrifying is that?! But also, how amazing that it is potentially still possible to fix it.

There is, in fact, a lot to be positive about. As we all become more aware of what needs to be done, it’s incredibly encouraging to see people all around the world taking action and making great strides in the name of climate change and the environment.

ANIMAL WELFARE

Climate change isn’t the only reason people come to veganism. There are three main motivations that lead people towards wanting to adopt a more plant-based way of eating and living:

1 The environment

2 The treatment of animals

3 Health

Whatever the reason you started out on your vegan journey, it’s inevitable that the more you read around the subject, the more you will start to care about the other two reasons as well.

Ian started eating vegan as part of a health kick one January, but then it quickly became more about animal welfare and the environment too. Henry came at it with climate change as his main motivation, but then found a renewed love of animals, and enjoyed better health to boot.

If you are fully engaged in your vegan journey – which we encourage you to be at all times – it’s impossible not to start caring about the cruelty inflicted on animals as part of current farming practices around the world. From animals packed into small living spaces or separating mothers from their children in the dairy industry, to the catastrophic destruction of wild fish populations from commercial fishing.

We’re often asked what’s so wrong about organic, free-range, high-welfare meat sourced from herds that roam freely across acres of beautiful fields and whose farmer talks to them every day and knows them all by name. Surely that’s OK, right?

Well, aside from the debate over whether it’s ever OK to kill another creature, the main issue we have here is that it’s simply not sustainable for everyone on the planet to eat in this way. Most people don’t eat, don’t have access to or simply can’t afford to eat meat that has been raised in this way. And we simply don’t have the space on the planet to do it either. Many animal products on supermarket shelves come from animals that have been raised in poor conditions in factory farms, farmed cheaply to meet with demand. [25], [26]

We want to move towards food and lifestyle choices that work for everyone, not a select few.
HEALTH
The majority of people choosing to eat more plants are actually doing so for health reasons.[27] Although animal welfare is a very close second.

We know, first hand, how amazing eating a vegan diet can make you feel. Almost instantly we both felt lighter – we lost weight, sure, but we also felt lighter in ourselves too. We slept better, our digestion was better, our hair was thicker – and a surprising benefit was that our hangovers were easier too! Result! (Although it did take us a while to find the perfect vegan alternative to a hangover bacon sandwich … To be honest, that was one of the main motivations behind our Big Breakfast Bagel in our second book, BISH BASH BOSH!) We also found our energy levels were easier to sustain, rather than having an afternoon dip, or evening slump in front of the TV.

That’s not to say all vegan food is healthy – you can easily be unhealthy on a vegan diet, as you can on any diet. But generally, if you’re eating more veg, then you’re going to quickly see improvements in how you look and feel.

As a happy knock-on effect too, we found we became more conscious of everything we were putting into our bodies. Reading the backs of labels to see if they were vegan or not (more on this later) meant we also became more aware of other ingredients we might want to avoid – the additives and preservatives and colourings that we all know aren’t doing us any good. Of course, we sometimes choose things that we know aren’t very healthy – it’s all about balance after all, and we both have a MASSIVE sweet tooth! – but we’re now a bit more aware of our choices.

But don’t just take our word for it, there’s plenty of science to back it up too.

A diet rich in fruit and veg is higher in vitamins, nutrients and fibre. And since it’s much harder to overeat if you’re mainly eating veg, it’s harder to gain a lot of excess weight. In fact, a growing body of doctors, dieticians and athletes now say that a plant-based diet is the best way to fuel and protect our bodies. There is increasing evidence that eating a well-planned plant-based diet is linked with lower body weight,[28] lower rates of obesity,[29] diabetes[30] and heart disease.[31] For more on why you’ll feel AMAZING on a plant-based diet, see here.

SO WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

Climate change is a complicated problem (err … understatement!) with lots of different perspectives to consider. There are so many contributing factors to climate change that there’s no one clear way out of the mess. When you’re faced with such a multitude of facts and figures, arguments and opinions, we know how easy it can be to feel analysis paralysis! We’re so overwhelmed by the complexity of the problem, we never decide how best to tackle it. Perhaps that’s why historically, as a global community, we’ve not done an awful lot about it so far.

Leading bodies say we need to embark on a World War 2 level effort to combat climate change,[32] and yet it’s definitely a more abstract problem to get to grips with – harder to picture, harder to explain, harder to solve. This can leave us frozen in indecision, right down to the smallest of everyday choices. There are so many people with different answers to the problem that it’s hard to know what to believe. We’re blocked by confusion and doubt.

Are plastic straws to blame? Should we all buy electric cars? Stop taking flights and start going on holiday by train? Where does food waste fit into the problem? Do we have to go veggie? But surely eating local meat and eggs is better than eating avocados and quinoa from South America?

On a personal level, the main barrier we think we all face is a feeling of helplessness.

What can we really achieve, as individuals? How can we change what’s being done by billions of people, if even governments and big businesses are not able to stop it? While some people are unwilling to make changes to help the greater good, surely the vast majority of humanity would want to help, if only they knew how?

Ian went through a phase of using bamboo toothbrushes and tried to live as close to zero waste as he could. But in our job – developing recipes every day – it’s almost impossible to live like this. We made a decision that we could have more impact if we concentrated on our main message of making delicious plant-based food available to everyone. We use sustainable ingredients as much as we can, but we can’t do everything all at the same time. And that’s OK – we do what we can.

We held our love for steak and roast dinners on a proverbial weighing scale and compared it with our love for the world and the future we wanted for the next generation. We loved food, had our favourite meals, and didn’t want to give them up. Henry’s obsession with fish and chips, swimming in tartare sauce, held him back for a while. But as we looked deeper into the facts, we were unable to resist the reality of the situation.

THE MAIN CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE

There are two main causes of climate change which far outweigh any others: animal agriculture and transport.

Let’s start with transport. A return flight from London to New York costs the Arctic three square metres of ice per person.[33] One thing we can all do to reduce our carbon footprint is to consider flying less and avoiding air-freighted goods. Following the rule of supply and demand, if we fly less, fewer flights will take place and air travel will cause fewer carbon dioxide emissions in the future. The same goes for choosing to drive electric cars instead of standard diesel or petrol vehicles.

Animal agriculture, however, has much further reaching consequences. Cutting down your transport emissions reduces your greenhouse gas output. This is a simple equation.

Using the same rule of supply and demand, cutting down on animal products reduces carbon dioxide and methane emissions, land and water use, rainforest deforestation and destruction of wildlife.

If going vegan seems a stretch too far, then even just eating one more plant-based meal per week is a powerful action. If everyone in the UK dropped meat from one meal a week, we could slash emissions by more than 8%, equivalent to taking 16 million cars off the road. It would also mean a 23% reduction in the UK’s domestic and international farmland use and a 2% reduction in our water use.[35] And in the US, if everyone replaced chicken with plant-based foods in one meal per week, the carbon dioxide savings would be equivalent to taking half a million cars off the roads. [36]

The international committee for climate change has said that in order for the UK to reach their emissions targets of a net zero emissions economy by 2050, households will need to undergo at least a 20% reduction in their beef, lamb and dairy consumption.

Source: Climate Change – The Facts

So the science really is that clear. The single biggest thing we can all do as individuals, much bigger than changing our approach to transport, is to eat more vegan, more plant-based meals. Given the wealth of experts across all fields of research telling us to eat fewer animal products, it’s time to act. We now know we can fight climate change with diet change. We are now aware of the consequences of our actions. Past this point, we’re to blame if we don’t take action.

Will we rise to the challenge and save the world we live in, for ourselves and future generations? Our preferences for meat and dairy have led us to destroy the planet, turning forest and grasslands into grazing lands because we love the taste of hamburgers. Come on, guys! That’s madness!

We make enough food to feed everyone on the planet, and yet nearly a billion people starve. We feed the food that they could eat to cattle, so that we can eat steak. Eighty-two per cent of the world’s starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, which are then killed for meat and exported; eaten by wealthier individuals in developed countries like the US, UK and mainland Europe.[37]

It’s time we stepped up to the (vegan) plate and took some positive action.

Animal farming uses up 83% of global agricultural land, but provides just 18% of global calories.[38]

These were the facts that we faced four years ago, that led us, as extremely devoted lifelong meat eaters, to make the decision we made. We loved the taste of meat and dairy, but that didn’t sit right with us. We wanted to make a change. So we went vegan.

That’s all the bad news out of the way. Now for the good news.

Making the decision to cut animal products out of our diet was the best decision we ever made. It’s not restrictive. We eat a wonderful variety of foods and have all the flavours and choices we want.

Since becoming vegan we’ve both become infinitely more open-minded about our food choices. Closing the door on meat, dairy and fish has enabled us to open up a thousand other exciting plant-based doors. Our attitude to food now is far more broad-minded than ever before and, as a direct result, our diet is more diverse than we would ever have imagined.

Ian especially really enjoys ‘veganising’ dishes, and cooking delicious vegan food has become our hobby, passion and our job. When we nail a brand new dish, and we mean really nail it, we get a dizzy sense of satisfaction. High-fives, fist-pumps and whoops are all commonplace in our kitchen. One of the dishes we’re most proud of is our Crispy Chilli Tofu, which mimics one of Henry’s old pre-vegan favourites, Crispy Chilli Beef, perfectly.

Contrary to what the media would have us believe, choosing to become vegan is a powerful and motivating change, and it is actually really easy to do. The power to save the planet is literally in your hands.

Taking shorter showers or using your bathwater to flush the toilet will all have a great impact. Replacing your toothbrush with a wooden one and cycling everywhere will help in so many ways, too. But avoiding meat and dairy is the single biggest way to reduce your impact on the Earth. A plant-based diet – or a more plant-based diet – is better for the planet and will drastically reduce your annual carbon footprint.

Even the least sustainable plant-based food is more sustainable than the most sustainable animal products.[39] That’s something we like to remind ourselves if we ever worry about using ingredients that have questionable sustainability or have travelled far.

A global switch to more veggie-focused diets could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two thirds and save 8 million lives by 2050.[40]

Red meat is responsible for 10 to 40 times as many greenhouse gas emissions as veggies and grains. [41] Beef creates up to 105kg of greenhouse gases per 100g of meat, compared to tofu which produces less than 3.5kg.[42]

Put simply, cows create a lot of methane – basically they fart and burp a lot. Feeding cows grass is a very powerful way to create greenhouse gases. And dairy is not off the hook either. It takes about 1,000 litres of water to make 1 litre of dairy milk, compared to 297 litres for the same amount of soy milk.[43] The least sustainable plant-based milk is significantly more sustainable, from the perspective of emissions, land use and carbon footprint, than the most sustainable dairy milk.[44]

It’s also worth noting that by supporting dairy production, you are still supporting meat production.

They are part of the same manufacturing process, subject to the same questionable welfare issues, and retired dairy cows are often used for meat. It’s not much of a life …

People love dairy though. Cold milk on cereal, melted cheese on toast, clotted cream on scones, milk chocolate, whey protein, lattes … the list goes on and on. For a lot of people, dairy’s a difficult thing to kick because it’s everywhere. A couple of hours spent reading blog posts and watching videos that highlight the problems that surround the dairy industry in terms of ethics, health and the environment should show you that dairy isn’t all that cool.

Dairy alternatives have really improved over the past couple of years and, as they get more popular, which they will, the products available are only going to get even better, making the transition away from dairy much easier. See here for more on the plant-based alternatives that we enjoy regularly.

SO HOW EXACTLY DOES EATING VEGAN HELP?

All the energy we ingest through food has, originally, come from plants. This is the energy cycle we learned about in school. We are able to harvest and eat those plants to get all the energy, nutrients, minerals and vitamins we need from them (more on this later).

When we rear animals for eating, we take this efficient form of plant energy and use it to sustain animals, like cows and sheep, so we can eat them later. This is much less efficient! Also, since animals are living creatures, most of their food is actually used for energy for their own day-to-day activity. Only a tiny fraction of the nutrients and energy in the food they eat ends up in the meat we buy. Cows convert only 4% of the proteins and 3% of the calories of the plants we feed them into beef[45] – 97% of the calories they consume is completely lost to us. To produce 1kg of beef requires over 13,000 litres of water, a water footprint six times larger than for pulses.[46] Meat accounts for 22% of all water use.[47]

According to researcher Joseph Poore, from Oxford University, about 55% of the world’s land is farmed, and 80–85% of this is used to raise animals.[48] If as much of the land currently set aside for grazing animals regrows as trees, it will help remove carbon from the atmosphere – it is estimated there could be a reduction in greenhouse gases by as much as 30–50%. In addition, more than a billion extra tons of food crops could go to humans if we stopped feeding them to animals. [49]

So not only is a plant-based diet better for the planet in terms of the processes involved in rearing animals, but it can free up land for animals to live naturally again, and trees can grow in those spaces, which can then start to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. This is still the best approach for getting carbon out of the atmosphere – known as rewilding. It involves restoring natural forests, mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass beds. These natural habitats are the best way researchers have identified of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. And it would solve both climate breakdown and the extinction of species at the same time.[50]

Of course, we’re not suggesting it’s as simple as everyone, worldwide, stopping eating meat and redistributing the grain set aside to feed animals to hungry people while we all start planting trees. At the global level we need to consider the complexities of politics, the mechanisms of food distribution and the realities of farmers’ livelihoods. And at the local level we need to consider things like soil health, crop cycling and animal habitats.

We’re not claiming there’s some kind of magic solution, but the answer lies in this direction. These facts go to show how inefficient our current main choice of protein is, and why it’s literally chewing up the Earth’s resources.

WHAT ABOUT THE FARMER?

A note from Ian

I grew up in a reasonably big city. I love cities. I like their vibrancy, the people, the history, the architecture and the energy. Having said this, I also love the countryside. I was lucky enough to spend a good chunk of my childhood in a small (and I mean very small) village called Gunthorpe.

My grandparents, Charlie and Winnie, owned and ran a small arable farm there. I have many fond memories of that farm. The memories mostly revolve around my grandma’s wonderful cooking, but also exploring the old farm buildings and riding around in my grandad’s tractor as he ploughed fields, planted seeds and harvested crops.

I look back now, and realise that my grandfather worked bloody hard. All farmers do. When I say ‘worked bloody hard’ I don’t mean, ‘I got to the office at 9am, hammered out some emails then had lunch, had a meeting, smashed out a couple of spreadsheets and was home for 6.30pm.’ I mean, ‘I woke up at 4.30am, headed to one of my huge fields, smashed out some back-breaking labour until it got too dark to carry on, got home for 10pm, went to bed and hit repeat the next day. Every day.’

I understand how hard farmers work and I’ve got nothing but the utmost respect for their tremendous work ethic. However, having said that, I wholeheartedly believe that some of the practices used in farming need to be re-evaluated and reformed. As the UK edges ever closer towards a more vegan way of life, and demand for vegan products grows and demand for non-vegan products declines, it’s absolutely essential we give our farmers the tools, education and incentives they need to adapt and thrive. We need to work with farmers to harness their unquestionable and inspiring work ethic and experience, and include them as a big, important part of the inevitable switch to plant-based living.

We’ve been talking a lot about meat, but we shouldn’t ignore our sea-dwelling friends either.

Half of all marine life has been lost in the last 40 years[51] and 87% of fish populations are fully or over-exploited.[52]

We’ve already killed 90% of big ocean predatory fish,[53]and it’s been predicted that our world will run out of saltwater fish by 2048.[54]

Increasing sea temperatures have destroyed coral reefs and all coral reefs are projected to be lost by 2050.[55]

Fishing is also a grossly inefficient way of eating; for every 1lb of fish caught, up to 5lb of unintended marine species are caught and discarded as by-kill.[56]

FEEDING A GROWING POPULATION

There’s another thing to consider when thinking about the sustainability of our current diets. Our nutritional needs are going to evolve over the next few decades with the human population expected to reach more than 9 billion by 2050 – a third higher than it is today.[57]

So what’s the answer? Meat? No. Increasing annual meat production is a bad idea, however we do it. All approaches will use more land, create more deforestation, more climate change, more loss of biodiversity.[58] Feeding grain to livestock increases demand for grain and drives up prices, making it harder for the world’s poor to feed themselves. If all grain were fed to humans, we could feed an extra 3.5 billion people.[59]

As Oxford University’s Joseph Poore explains, fossil fuels represent about 61% of today’s emissions.

Some estimates say as much as 40% of historic global warming is caused by forest clearance that was undertaken to make way for animal agriculture.

Currently, 25,000 species are threatened with extinction because of agriculture. Freeing up the land given over to animal farming will take some of this pressure off the global biodiversity crisis.

It will also reduce our nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, and will reduce acid rain by about a third.

A plant-based diet will reduce the amount of water we need to produce our food by 25%.[60]

Yes, there are exciting developments in lab-grown meats and these could herald cheaper, less cruel forms of meat production. Many people are also big advocates of insect protein, although the morality of farming and killing gazillions of insects is still not in line with our moral standpoint. And both are still mildly processed, lab-made foodstuffs.

What about soy then? Soy is a great source of protein for those on a plant-based diet, although it is also the main cause of rainforest deforestation, which is being torn down to provide land to support it. This is an argument often used by anti-vegans, but let’s remember that while around 70% of the world’s soy is fed directly to livestock, only 6% is turned into human food.[61] (See over the page for more on soy.)

In short, moving to a more plant-based diet is better for the planet and will reduce emissions. It will free up more land, which can then be rewilded and start to draw down carbon and solve our biodiversity crisis. And all the grain and soy which is currently fed to animals can be used to help feed the poorest nations. And the water which is not used for rearing those animals can be used for irrigating crops.

Of course, we appreciate that it is all far more complicated than that. There are good farms and bad farms. And conditions and practices differ all across the world. We all know people who keep chickens as egg-laying pets, and we can’t really compare them with a 1,000-strong battery farm where chickens never see the light of day.

There are bad ways to farm vegetables too, and we’re not advocating a move to more monocrops.

However, ultimately, wherever your meat, fish or dairy is coming from, it is a less environmentally friendly choice than any plant-based food.
A plant-based meal is more sustainable than one containing animal products. And so, the more plants you eat, the better.
SOY
IS IT BAD FOR ME, AND IS IT BAD FOR THE PLANET?

Depending on who you are, you might see soy as either a wonderful health food or a risky ingredient to be avoided. And as far as the planet is concerned, there are differing opinions about how soy for humans is affecting the health of the planet. Some see it as the cure-all for our planet’s woes, and some see it as the cause of rainforest deforestation. Let’s delve into them both.

Soy is, on balance, a health food.

Some people, as part of some research from the 90s, formed the opinion that soy could be bad for your hormonal health. They drew inferences from the fact that soy contains oestrogen-like compounds and speculated that it could mess with the hormonal balance of both women and men in different ways. These studies have largely been disproven now, and recent research shows that moderate consumption of soy foods can actually have some benefits.[62] Even a correlational relationship is not maintained, so largely we know this is not the case.

On the other hand, soy is a very powerful and healthy plant-based protein. It’s a complete protein, containing all the nine essential amino acids we need in our diets (see here for more on these). And it’s a good source of omega-3 fats, iron, zinc and calcium.

Soy fields are a cause of rainforest deforestation, but this soy is grown for animal feed.

Significant amounts of the Amazonian rainforest are being destroyed every day, and these trees are crucial to our planet’s survival. They are the lungs of our planet, and their loss is a significant factor in contributing to climate change.

A large amount of the rainforest deforestation occurs to make way for large, monocrop soy fields. This has been used regularly to illustrate that vegans’ choice of soy milk is poor. But that’s not the full story!

Eighty per cent of the soy that is grown in the Amazon (the soy for which the rainforests are being destroyed) is fed to animals, [63] and indeed up to 90% of the rainforest’s total deforestation is for animal agriculture.[64] But as we’ve seen, only 6% of the soy produced globally is consumed by humans.[65] So, while it is true that the megafields of soy are causing mass destruction of the rainforest, it’s the animal agriculture industry that is causing it and utilising the soy.

Also, when comparing the environmental impact that soy has on the planet versus an animal-based protein like beef, you should take into consideration all the soy the animal has consumed as part of its lifecycle. When framed like this it seems silly to compare the two. Rearing an animal is a much less efficient way to get protein, with only a fraction of the energy that is fed to the animal as plants being available to humans as meat. (See here).

So, despite what many people would have you believe, you should feel free to consume soy with a clear conscience, from both a health and environmental perspective. It’s good for your body and is much more environmentally friendly, when you look at all the factors involved, than eating a comparable animal protein. Miso, soy sauce, soy milk, edamame, tofu and tempeh are all wonderful choices for you to include in your diet. We highly recommend getting on board with soy. It doesn’t deserve its bad reputation, and in fact is part of the solution to the planet’s ills, not part of the problem.

CAN I REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

When we told our friend Naushard we’d gone vegan, he exclaimed that he’d found a flaw in our plan. He discovered that the motivation was climate change. And so, with a devilish look in his eye, he told us jokingly (or not jokingly) that for every steak we didn’t eat, he was going to eat two steaks!

Great banter. Naushard is a funny guy. But let’s delve into his threat for a moment. Not only did he not buy into our logic about cutting out meat having a positive impact. He didn’t think that our not eating meat was going to make any difference at all. But he was also threatening to ensure that our change didn’t make any tangible difference anyway, by upping his meat intake to counter our meat decrease. Funny. And kind of evil.

The last time we saw Naushard, we were shocked to hear that he had given up meat. ‘I don’t eat steak anymore. I’m still eating fish, but no more steaks.’

To hear him backtrack was a genuine shock. He is the last person you would expect to go back on his word. He would prefer to keep the joke going at the expense of the truth if it made it funnier. And here he was admitting that he had not only broken his promise, but had done a total about-turn and joined us in the beef-free camp!

We see this all the time. We love it and it’s one of the best things about our job. Talk to any vegan, and they’ll have a story like this one. And it goes to show that you really do make a difference to those around you. We all affect everyone we come into contact with. What we are saying is that the system will never change if you don’t change first. Often, too, we’ve found it’s the ones who mock you the most who join you in the end – just like Henry used to laugh at Ian when he first went vegan!

Every big change in history has been started by a small collection of individuals, striving for a better world.

Whether it’s the creation of the United Nations as a peacekeeping organisation after World War 2,[66] the abolition of slavery or the global, ongoing move away from tobacco. These movements towards a better world were spearheaded by individuals changing their own views and actions, which in turn affected the views of others.

When people ask us why we’re vegan, one of our responses is: ‘To avoid awkward conversations with our unborn children.’ Our generation – and the generation before us – has presided over the biggest extinction event in recent history, and it is the next generation that will pay the price for our inaction.

You really can make a difference to the world just by virtue of the decisions you make.

There can be no greater way to care for the happiness of others than to preserve the planet and future for them. The predictions of where the planet may end up otherwise are too grave to consider. We owe it to our young people to do something about climate change before it’s too late. The effects of our actions will be felt by them. They will be clearing up our mess. Think about the conversations you’ll have with them in the future. ‘What did you do when we could have stopped climate change, Daddy?!’

It may feel easier to avoid responsibility by thinking that the problem is bigger than us, or has been around longer than us. But to put it into perspective, consider how long humans have existed, and how recently climate change has escalated.

Humans have been on the planet for 12,000 years, but it’s only in the past 140 years that we‘ve burned fossil fuels, which has caused a lot of our current problems. Just 30 years ago, we knew most of what we know now about climate change, and we nearly put the wheels in motion to stop it. But we didn’t. And since then we have done almost everything in our power to make it worse. We have a couple of decades to stop complete, irreversible disaster. It’s crunch time.[67]

We can’t sit back and do nothing. Let’s spend our time on Earth trying to fix what we’ve broken – and enjoy some amazing food along the way!
YOUR MONEY IS YOUR VOTE

The money you spend is a vote for how you believe the world should be. Every single thing you buy fuels the economy. Every plant-based product that you buy tells the global economy that you want more plant-based – and therefore more sustainable – products. And every animal product that you buy tells the global economy that you want to continue to consume animal products, which are, we know, significantly worse for the planet.

What the world needs, for us to survive, is for us to spend our money on delivering change. If enough of us change our buying habits, then we can take our planet off the pressure cooker. We can start to put measures in place to cool it again, while letting the animal kingdom recover.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

Right now, let’s take a moment to think about how we can all make a few simple changes to what we buy to help make a real difference.

 What do you spend your money on?

 What is the money that you spend demanding from our economy?

 Are there any changes that you could make to start persuading food producers to act more sustainably?

 If you do eat meat, how often?

 Do you think you could reduce it?

GRETA THUNBERG

In 2018, at the age of just 15, Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg protested outside government about the need to take action on climate change. She caught the attention of the media, and went on to inspire hundreds of thousands of students in countries all around the world to follow her action with ‘school strikes for climate’. In March 2019 an estimated 1.4 million students from 112 countries joined her in strikes and protests. And another global strike in May 2019 saw 125 countries getting involved. Greta’s passion for her cause led to a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. So powerful and far-reaching has her influence been that it is known by some as the ‘Greta Thunberg effect’.

Greta has since staged a TEDx Talk, spoken at the United Nations summit on climate change as well as many other international events with some of the world’s most powerful leaders. She is an amazing example of the impact one person can have. In front of global governments filled with those old enough to be her parents, her grandparents or even her great-grandparents, Greta stood up for something she believed in and is making a difference.

YOU WILL PERSONALLY BENEFIT

One of the best things about being vegan is that, in some poetic twist of fate, the very thing that can save our planet is also a better way to live. The chances are, you will feel better on a plant-based diet. It can help you live a longer, happier, healthier life, while still delivering all the deliciousness that you’re used to. It can be cheaper and easier, too.

This might just be the best decision that you ever made.

We met an Uber driver once after a supper club we hosted. He was one of the most smiley men you’ll ever meet. But he told us a story. Five years ago, his sinusitis was so bad it was making his life impossible. He had tried everything. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t sleep. His face was on fire and his eyes were constantly streaming. Nothing worked and quite simply he didn‘t know what to do. He was miserable and at his wits’ end. Someone suggested he try a vegan diet but he ignored the idea. His suffering was so bad that it was seriously affecting his life, as well as his friends and family. Life couldn’t go on like this. He even considered ending it. Then he decided he might as well try going vegan.

He cut out meat, dairy, fish and eggs and switched to a diet based on whole foods and colourful vegetables. Within weeks his sinusitis cleared up. He felt better than he had in years. Over the following years he lost weight and shared his story, and his transformation, with everyone. Most importantly, he discovered a new way of living and eating. Stories such as this are really common.

We are constantly messaged by people who have seen incredible health benefits and recoveries from poor health following a switch to a plant-based diet. Whether it’s recovery from asthma or obesity, we have been told dozens of stories like our Uber driver’s. Ask around and you won’t have any trouble finding loads of anecdotal evidence for how much better you feel when you switch to vegan eating.

We can also echo that view. We felt AMAZING almost as soon as we cut out meat and dairy. Within days, we both felt like we’d discovered a superpower, a new feeling of lightness, a new energy that we didn’t have before. We still feel that way today; we’ve never looked back.

The 3pm lull in energy? Not a thing any more. That feeling after you’ve eaten too much fatty food? That’s gone, too. Feeling slow and lethargic in the morning? That doesn’t happen now. Henry’s crippling hay fever pretty much disappeared as well. Before, he used to spend the summer months in misery – streaming eyes, sneezing, feeling tired all the time … popping antihistamines every day. Now, he has maybe four or five days a year where he might suffer due to a very high pollen count. Choosing vegan was the best decision of our lives.

So that’s the good news. And we think it’s pretty awesome news. The one thing that we can all do to reduce the damage to our planet and maybe even reverse climate change, is also an incredibly powerful change to make for ourselves. One that may make you feel better than ever before.

You can have your cake and eat it. As long as it’s vegan cake.
YOU’LL BE HEALTHIER TOO

It is ironic that some people criticise the vegan diet for being unhealthy, when the standard, western way of eating is much less healthy! Highly processed, high in fats, low in fruit and veg … In today’s world of high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure, a plant-based diet is the best way to lower cholesterol. Plants are completely free from cholesterol.[68]

On a vegan diet you’re eating an incredibly diverse range of plant foods on a regular basis. It’s one of the things that makes sticking to a vegan diet so easy – you get to explore and enjoy so many more amazing ingredients than you might if your diet was based around animal products. Plant-based cooking encourages us to be more adventurous and experimental with our food choices – and we love it!

Plant-based foods are rich in fibre, antioxidants, folate and various phytochemicals, all of which are all great for our general health. Often a whole foods, plant-based diet contains fewer calories too, so it’s easier to maintain a healthy body weight, and many people say that any excess weight just falls off (it did for us).

If you’re worried about your energy levels or maintaining your performance at the gym, know that many world-class athletes have made the switch to a plant-based diet, including premiership footballers, basketball players, boxers and tennis champs. They all claim better recovery from exercise and better digestion on a plant-based diet. But perhaps the most persuasive example of this is Patrik Baboumian, the German stongman competitor who has broken world records since becoming vegan. We applaud and admire these amazing, inspiring, ripped dudes and dudettes who are smashing it on a plant-based diet. We are so grateful to them!

There are countless studies to back up the fact that a balanced plant-based diet, or a mostly plant-based diet, is the best diet for your body – it can even reduce premature deaths from chronic diseases by more than 20%.[70] These are studies from objective bodies like the World Health Organization, United Nations,[71] Harvard University,[72], [73] Oxford University,[74] as well as progressive governments – for example, the Canadian government has removed dairy entirely from its list of recommended foods, which is now 90% plant-based.[75]

Processed meats and fish have now been linked to increased risk of breast cancer.[76] Eating red meat substantially raises your risk of death from cancer or heart disease.[77]

A plant-based diet is increasingly recognised as a healthier alternative. Atherosclerosis, or plaque in your arteries, associated with high intake of meat, fat and carbohydrates, is the leading cause of death in the USA.[78]

The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed red meat and processed meat as carcinogenic.[79]

The US FDA now advise that some fish and shellfish can contain unpredictable and potentially damaging levels of mercury, and is now deemed unadvisable for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers or children.[80]

By eating a plant-based diet you can save the planet, and be healthier too.

FEEL CLEAN

A plant-based diet is also really clean! The main foods that are likely to be contaminated if not handled, stored or cooked properly are raw meat and poultry, raw eggs, raw shellfish, unpasteurised milk and ready-to-eat foods like sliced meats, pâtés and soft cheeses.[81] Not plants. To put it bluntly, if you get food poisoning from animal products, it’s bad luck. If you get food poisoning from plant-based foods, then generally it’s because someone in the kitchen has not washed their hands properly.[82]

By contrast, coliform bacteria, which are used as a marker for faecal contamination, typically find their way into your kitchen via meat, which is often contaminated with faecal bacteria.[83] Plant-based foods are inherently cleaner, and a plant-based kitchen is a cleaner kitchen.

The other thing that will be cleaner is your conscience. By choosing more plant-based foods you will know that you are living in a more sustainable way. This peace and clarity of mind is invaluable – something we both experienced when going vegan. The way we were eating synced with our values. We suddenly felt like everything made a bit more sense, and it helped inform a lot of the other decisions we made in our lives.

There is a new kind of consumer appearing, one who is more conscious of their health and the environment, one perfectly happy to make dietary changes, such as becoming vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian to achieve those aims. Perhaps our friend Zanna Van Dijk, a fitness influencer who made the move to a plant-based diet, said it better than we can:

‘Eating plant-based completely transformed my mindset, as finally my actions were in line with my values. I found myself more compassionate towards animals and humans and connecting more deeply with those around me.

‘I found a new appreciation for the environment and a heightened sense of consciousness in all my actions and the impact they have on people and the natural world. I realised that I’m part of a bigger picture, my choices go far beyond myself and that power comes with responsibility to be a good human.’

IT’LL SAVE MONEY, TOO

Compared to a typical meat eater, vegetarians can save much more on food each year,[84] especially if you are comparing plant-based items with high-quality, higher-welfare meat. If you’re looking to keep costs down, then we suggest avoiding processed, packaged ‘vegan’ foods, and instead look to fill your plate with vegetables, grains and home-cooked foods – which is, of course, the best way to eat for your health, too.

When we’ve been short of cash, we’ve both relied on forward planning. And we try to do that now too because it makes good sense (see here for advice on how to meal plan). Ian remembers when he first moved to London. He was on a very low salary, thankful to be living and working in London, but after rent and bills were paid, he was left with very little money. He tracked his outgoings and worked out pretty quickly that he was spending too much on food. Ian started to approach lunch like a fun challenge and gamified the process of designing budget lunches. The budget he set himself was five quid for five days. One pound a day. That might seem ridiculous but, as he says himself, ‘I’m from Yorkshire and frugality runs through my veins.’ With a little creativity, confidence and the right attitude, eating on a budget is not only possible but actually, very satisfying. And it’s just as easy as a vegan!

When we first went vegan we ate tons of pasta because it’s cheap and filling. We practised making loads of different pasta sauces, one of which, Easy Peasy Pasta, ended up in our first book and has now been made by folks all over the world!

Also … thinking long-term, with all that healthy fibre and masses of coloured foods packed with health-giving nutrients, you’re likely to save money on healthcare (if you pay for it) and medication in later life too. Your body will be in much better shape. In fact, billions could be saved from the UK’s annual health bill if more people followed a plant-based diet.[85]

ARM YOUR BULLSHIT DETECTOR …

… and be prepared to take it everywhere you go.

A plant-based diet, and the vegan movement in general, has had so much negative press that, when you start telling people you’re vegan, you will encounter judgement-disguised-as-advice. Some of it may even seem like useful information.

We’ve all heard stories of people who avoid doctors. And we’ve all seen influencers on social media promoting the latest diet, health or fitness trend with no supervision. Never take health and nutrition advice from unqualified people! And don’t be afraid of doctors. Doctors are great. They are there to help you.

Now, of course, doctors don’t always get things right. In fact, historically there has not been enough nutritional training given during their studies, although people like our friends Dr. Rupy Aujla of The Doctor’s Kitchen or Hazel Wallace of The Food Medic are working to change that! But in the past, and still in many GP surgeries, doctors may be overly cautious when it comes to vegan diets. However, doctors are trained in the art of medicine. Real medicine. They have an excellent understanding of your body and your health and they literally swear an oath to help you.

So use them! If you have any questions about your health or your diet, then seek medical advice. You might even be able to find a plant-based or vegan doctor, who can give you even more targeted advice. Look after yourself. If you’re still in doubt, seek a second opinion. But a second medical opinion (not a mate’s).

You may also seek advice from other professionals, such as dieticians or nutritionists. However, be aware that all are not created equal and always check the credentials of the people you choose. It’s possible to get a nutritionist’s certificate from the internet with little to no experience. Look for accredited, credible professionals with clear evidence of clients, real testimonials and papers published. Speak to them before you engage them, suss them out, and ask to speak to reference clients.

Advice is just that, advice. Ask questions, listen to your gut, and keep learning.
Vegan may not be the only way, but it’s a good way.

There is no one optimum human diet. On the island of Okinawa in Japan, they eat a predominantly plant-based diet, but with a small amount of fish, and other meats.[86] The Okinawan diet is largely viewed as one of the healthiest ways to eat.

A balanced vegan diet is not the only diet that will give you the best chances of living the longest. But it’s certainly up there with the best. And it’s easy.

It’s easy because there’s a simple set of rules, which we’ll come to in the next part of the book. And by following them you will know that you are giving your body the best chance. It’s easier than calorie counting, meal tracking, macro crunching or meat restricting. Just one simple ‘no’ – the ‘no’ to consuming animal products – is all that’s required.

Science tells us that a vegan diet can help us prevent or even reverse diseases, living longer, happier, healthier lives. And, most importantly, it’s also the best way we know to tackle climate change. Putting plants on your plate means you are doing the best thing to protect your body and save the planet.

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