The vegan revolution

This article appears in the spring issue of MyGreenPod.com Magazine, distributed with the Guardian on 07 April 2017. Click here to read the full digital issue online.

There are now over half a million vegans in Great Britain – that’s three and a half times the number estimated in 2006, and more are almost guaranteed to follow.

Celebrities, models and f irst-class athletes serve as glowing testament to a fully vegan lifestyle, while countless others endorse ditching meat and dairy for one day a week (‘Meat-Free Monday’) or a month of the year (‘Veganuary’).

WHAT’S DRIVING THE SHIFT?

A whopping 59,500 people pledged to go vegan in January 2017 – well over double last year’s f igure. While animals were cited as the main reason for abstaining from meat and dairy, health was the next biggest reason given for taking part.

The bene its of plant-based diets are now hard to ignore: the British Dietetic Association has stated that ‘well-planned plant-based, vegan-friendly diets can be devised to support healthy living at every age and life-stage’, and researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital recently found exchanging just a small amount of processed red meat for plant protein reduces the risk of early death by 34%.

A UK FIRST

One person who has been on the inside track of the surge in veganism is Lynette Sinclair, MD of Devon-based Tideford Organics. The brand has a 20-year history of creating award-winning products tailored to specialist diets; its soups are free from gluten, have no added sugar and come bursting with organic superfoods – perfect for flexitarians, coeliacs, vegans and meat-lovers alike.

Last year, Lynette made a bold move: she cut all meat and dairy from Tideford’s products and launched the UK’s f irst organic range of vegan soups, broths and sauces.The exotic flavours and supercharged ingredients – from spirulina and seaweed to black onion seed and quinoa – have been a hit with conscious foodies and health buffs, and sales of Tideford’s vegan soup range are up 44%.

With two new flavours – Pea with Turmeric and Coconut Milk and Gazpacho Andaluz – lined up for summer, sales show no sign of slowing.