Veganuary: January without animal protein completes ten years – 01/19/2023 – Equilíbrio

The first month of the year is seen as a good time to start something or put into practice those goals that are always postponed, especially those related to food. Taking a ride on this idea, the Veganuary project proposes to try veganism for 31 days starting in January.

Created ten years ago, the experiment estimates that it has reached around 2 million subscribers, with 629 thousand of them in 2022 —the project estimates that, for each registration, two to three people participate in the diet together and that, in total, up to ten people are affected, on average, by the initial participant.

“Brazil follows the international results, in which about 40% of the participants indicate that they will stick to veganism because they have learned more about this lifestyle, because they feel better in health and also because of the tasty food”, says Maurício Serrano, director of Veganuary in Latin America.

According to the Brazilians’ post-challenge questionnaires, the items most missed during the experiment were cheese, eggs and fish meat. “Going out to eat was the most challenging, something that is repeated internationally. For this reason, this year we have emphasized these needs in the campaign”, says the director.

Of those who did not remain vegan in the country after the last edition, 85% said they had had a significant reduction in the consumption of animal products.

And how it works? It all starts with a free subscription to a daily newsletter (via the website veganuary.com) that gathers tips, information, links to communities and social networks that support veganism. The material, with a Portuguese version, is sent for 31 days via email and includes a kit for beginners. The idea is to clarify doubts about how to make a vegan diet safe for health and also to break some taboos, such as that it is difficult to adopt veganism for children.

Participation entitles you to an ebook with celebrity favorite vegan recipes. This year, singer Anitta, for example, who is not vegan but consumes and invests in the production of vegan foods, sent the project how to make three of her favorite dishes without animal protein.

Audiovisual creator and former BBB, Hana Khalil is 26 years old, has been vegan since 2016 and was chosen to be the 2023 ambassador of Veganuary in Brazil.

She says her decision to change her diet came after watching a documentary about the dairy industry and that Veganuary helped her with her transition. “This month marks seven years since I’ve been vegan. There weren’t many vegan people at the time. So it helped me understand various spheres of veganism,” she said.

Khalil argues that veganism needs more information on the topic circulating. “The fact that people think that fish and sausage are not foods of animal origin is linked to speciesism, the human conception of what meat is, of what a living and sentient animal is”, says the ambassador.

English teacher Katia Carvalho, 55, did Veganuary last year and liked it so much that she decided to implement the philosophy for an entire community. She says that she has already managed to adopt veganism in 80% of the meals at Instituto A Casa do Jardim, which serves 80 children and adolescents in socially vulnerable situations in Santo André, in the ABC region of São Paulo.

The idea, however, still comes up against costs. “Unfortunately, we still can’t find a replacement for the egg. We saw that there is already a vegan one, but we still can’t afford to buy it. Everything is very expensive”, says the teacher.

The project receives donations from the companies Supermercado Sonda, Leite Purifica, Leite B+, Tofu da Ecobras, Pão de Beijo, Casa da Coxinha Vegana, Mr. Veggy and Vegabom.

According to Carvalho, in addition to eating at the institute, the children take, on Mondays and Fridays, vegetables and fruits to their homes and, every 15 days, basic food baskets”.

There are 400 children on the waiting list for a place in the project. The students are between 5 and 16 years old and approve of the menu, according to the teacher. “They love rice and beans, there’s always a type of farofa with vegetables and ora-pro-nobis and a complement: pie, dumplings, vegan feijoada, pumpkin pancake, jackfruit meat, eggplant lasagna, soups with lots of vegetables… . They eat without problem and repeat a lot.”

For dessert, fruits and sweets are served, such as chayote brigadeiro, cassava kiss and persimmon mousse. “We try to diversify the recipes. Thanks to our activities and veganism, we are helping to form young people who are much more loving and aware. We also have a doctor who monitors us fortnightly and everyone’s health has improved a lot”, celebrates the teacher.