In the 1940s, Englishman Donald Watson subtracted five letters from ‘vegetarian’ and arrived at the word, ‘vegan’ subsequently forming the first ever Vegan Society that marked a revolutionary move in animals rights.
In the 1940s, Englishman Donald Watson subtracted five letters from ‘vegetarian’ and arrived at the word, ‘vegan’ subsequently forming the first ever Vegan Society that marked a revolutionary move in animals rights. Since then, veganism has grown from fringe diet to mainstream lifestyle choice adopted by the likes of Erykah Badu, Alicia Silverstone and Chelsea Clinton.
If you’re not already familiar with the finer details of this dietary regime, vegans stay clear of any foods containing animal products and by-products, with some choosing to omit the usage of merchandise that treat animals as commodities. This means aside from no meats vegans also avoid eggs, milk, honey or cheese – just to name a few. However, the common driving force behind this lifestyle choice is ethical eating.
For 30 days beginning on March 1, participants are welcome to be a part of the Vegan Easy Challenge by Animal Liberation Victoria. The purpose of the challenge is to aid individuals in their transition into vegan-hood, with prizes including yoga retreats, cash, and gift packs for the lucky winners.
"We are always trying to chat to people about veganism and we’re always looking for new ways to help people along with it as well," explains Jo Osborne, who is one of the founding members of the challenge and also a vegan of almost three years. "So we thought doing a 30-day challenge would help people because there’s the sense of community because everybody can come online and talk about their experiences. We give them the tools; we give them 30 days’ worth of recipes and we give them a website full of information and a welcome pack full of information, and just try and make their transition as easy as possible."
The Vegan Easy Challenge will be a community event, with cooking demonstrations, film screenings, online forums and other platforms to communicate with other participants.
Originally from the UK, Osborne was previously a vegetarian for 12 years before converting to veganism – a decision she made when she arrived in Australia. "When I came to Australia I attended a film screening of A Delicate Balance with a friend of mine, and we decided that night that we were going to go vegan. So over the next few days, we made the transition and every since then, I’ve kept up with it." For her, the film made a big impact on her understanding of what goes on in animal agriculture industries, and that was enough to keep her away from all animal products for good.
"I personally didn’t realise that by consuming dairy and eggs that I was actually contributing to any suffering – I just thought those industries were cruelty-free industries," says Osborne. "It wasn’t until I started becoming more aware of what happens… that I realised that the dairy industry is actually probably even crueller and contributes to a lot more suffering than the meat industry."
In all cases, cows need to give birth to calves in order to produce milk, however, a lot of the time mother and calf are separated almost immediately after birth, with the calf often going straight to slaughter either as a waste product or for veal meat.
"It was a completely ethical choice for me [to become vegan]," says Osborne. "I just feel that we don’t have the right to cause any harm and suffering to others." And for those who might find the task of going animal-free altogether daunting, Osborne has some comforting words of advice.
"To be honest, as you cut out those products, your taste begins to change a little," she explains. "There are also heaps of vegan products on the market and new ones are coming out all the time. If you miss something, there’s always a product to replace it, so you just need to find those products. I can’t say I miss anything at all – I’m really happy in myself now – I don’t feel like I’m causing any suffering to any creature with my lifestyle."
Writer Marieke Hardy and Triple J’s Lindsay McDougall – both animal activists – will be this year’s Vegan Easy Challenge’s ambassadors. And though the challenge only lasts 30 days, Osborne hopes people will continue with it long after the event is over.
"Hopefully people will stick with this after the 30 days because the environmental impacts from animal agricultural are really great," says Osborne. "The water usage, the land degradation, the greenhouse gases – just to name a few – they’re really bearing down on us now and we’re really seeing the effects of those. I’m really hoping that the more people are realising this, then hopefully things will stifle down a little bit. I’m just hoping with this challenge that people will at least have the resources to make the change throughout the 30 days without too much difficulty and they stick with it after.
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Animal Liberation Victoria’s Vegan Easy Challenge challenges you to go vegan for 30 days. They provide you with a sample 30-day menu full of tasty recipes. You can also win some fantastic prizes by entering, valued at $800, $450 and $300 respectively for first, second and third prizes. It begins on March 1 and you can get involved at veganeasy.org.
