Virtually Vegan, You Say?
Virtually Vegan is not a diet, it’s more of an attitude for normal folk. And at your core, it’s probably who you really are – or would be if you followed your beliefs, your Ethos, unmolested of outside influences. Do you enjoy the great outdoors; do you value nature and biodiversity; do you want future generations to access rivers, lakes and oceans as we once did; are you concerned about climate change; would you prefer to reduce world hunger; are you personally hesitant in badly mistreating animals? If you are responding in the affirmative to some or all of these questions then you should be Virtually Vegan. And you would be, if only you could become immune to the marketing, resent the industry-government collusion and ignore the cultural and societal pressures. Be yourself.
Virtually Vegan means acknowledging that the closer you can get to being vegan the better. But, in my experience, each step towards being fully vegan is tougher than the last. And if you aren’t against using animals for food per se, each percentage point closer is only worth the same as the last in real-world impact. So why stress in trying to make that final painful step or two? But it also doesn’t mean doing nothing.
Virtually Vegan is about bringing autonomy back into your food choices. I’ve listened to sailors talk of how devoid of life the ocean now seems, only to then cook fish at the end of the day; outdoors people complain about industrial farming’s encroachment into wild spaces then order lamb; and people profess concern for climate change while eating a steak. They believe they’re consuming autonomously, we all like to, but there’s a chasmic disconnect that screams into the face of science in what most of us consume, against what we love and would like to protect and nurture. With the right information, making better choices becomes easy. And that’s the good news; the choice is entirely in your hands. Unlike in buying power for your home, or industrial policy, you are in total control.
Free Yourself of Marketing and Sociocultural Influences
You’d think that to be vegan you probably need to be “spiritual” in some way, attend drum circles and spend half of your time tied to a tree – the other half doing yoga.
Most of us aren’t against using animals for food, rather we’re unhappy with the industrial nature of the machine. But veganism just seems too extreme (flexitarian just a dinner party statement camouflaging likely very little change). And it also seems inexorably linked with a hippy, eco-warrior, anti-capitalistic lifestyle – you’d think that to be vegan you probably need to be “spiritual” in some way, attend drum circles and spend half of your time tied to a tree – the other half doing yoga. So it’s easier just to go with the flow, relax in the status quo. However, that comes at quite a hefty price.
Responsible for 15% of greenhouse gases (1), polluting and depleting our rivers, lakes and oceans, hogging the majority of our farmland and devastating biodiversity, as well as increasing chronic disease mortality, meat and dairy are “perfect storm” mega-destructive products. It’s unique to find an industry that disseminates such a range of harms. With over 200 million animals (ex fish) consumed daily, perhaps it should hardly be surprising.
Once you accept these scientifically proven facts, you’ve got to wonder how much under-the-surface frantic skullduggery must be going on for your government not to be taking significant action. Well, plenty. From worthless food assurance schemes, nefarious government lobbying by industry groups, funding of biased research, misleading advertising, to coordinated strategies to block alternatives; it’s all done to make sure we carry on consuming and the business grows.
All Facts, Few Fluffy Calves
Virtually Vegan is an educational, science-driven channel laying bare the facts of the meat and dairy industry, so people can make informed choices on how much they want to consume. There’ll be no fluffy calves with sad eyes bemoaning their plight. Well, perhaps a couple. But largely we’ll be looking at emissions, land use, water issues, industry-government collusion, marketing, history, culture and psychology. We’ll identify low-hanging fruit for easy gains, analyse meat alternatives and what that future looks like, and advise on best choices if you are eating meat and dairy – just who are the best-kept, spa-pampered chickens in the UK and how much do they cost? We’ll look at antibiotic use and pandemic risk, nutrition, calorific inefficiency, food assurance labels, the fishing industry, and why some seemingly good things just aren’t – we see you grassfed beef! We also can’t totally ignore the animal welfare issue – so thickly papered over that billions of people a day are passive participants in processes they find repugnant. Almost 80% (2) of the UK population are against factory farming, yet around 85% of UK of farmed animals are reared in factory farms (3). You don’t need to be a statistician to realise something doesn’t add up there.
Virtually Vegan provides science-driven content to allow you to make consumption decisions that align with your beliefs and interests, who you are, your Ethos
In short, Virtually Vegan provides science-driven content to allow you to make consumption decisions that align with your beliefs and interests, who you are, your Ethos. I rarely quote philosophy, but Socrates believed that everyone, “had a duty to examine their beliefs and values to live a life that was true to their nature and in harmony with the world around them”. Einstein said, “The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it”. Three times a day, most people are not living according to their morals, beliefs and interests, only because they’re unaware, or programmed to ignore the facts. Once the veil is lifted, supressing your Ethos 3 times a day in one of the most basic human needs, eating, becomes much harder. Do you want to continue in ignorance, or confront the facts and live accordingly? Socrates also said, “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light”.
God forbid vegan alternatives might be amongst the meat and dairy, people might be more likely to buy them!
Your Chance to Lead the Change
And if not now, when? If not you, who?
If you’re a Trump-like individual who prefers to dismiss science in the pursuit of human greed and selfishness, perhaps this is not for you (but we welcome all types). But for the rest of us, the emissions, climate and biodiversity issues could not be any more in our faces. It couldn’t be any more urgent.
Time to come out of that cave.
We’re in dire need of grass roots leaders to get this snowball rolling so others can follow. Things are much better in the UK than they’ve ever been for a virtual vegan, but that’s only because of the limbo-championship winning low bar that was set. Choice in shops has improved, but is still hugely limited and usually to a small sad corner – God forbid vegan alternatives might be amongst the meat and dairy, people might be more likely to buy them! And eating out is still a challenge – most pubs limp-necked nod to anyone feeling like an animal free option (even occasionally) is a plant-based burger. I don’t always want a burger. How do those that are not supremely motivated to avoid meat and dairy, which is most of us, stand a chance? We need pioneers to drive the change, to flick the needle of consumption habits, so that true to supply and demand economics, more choices become available, it becomes more normal, making it easier for others to come aboard.
So, who are you?
Are you content to deny your true self, keep your head firmly planted in the sand and continue with industry-driven destructive eating habits?
Or are you open to exploring the facts, to considering an alternative, a way of life that more closely reflects your Ethos?
Time to nail your colours to the mast. Your path to Virtually Vegan awaits.
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Tackling Climate Change Through Livestock – A Global Assessment of Emissions and Mitigation Opportunities, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2013).
Who are we?
Peter
Born in the UK, Peter spent 30 years abroad, firstly in Hong Kong where he established an academic research editing company, then in Indonesia, returning “home” in 2022. He started to question his diet in around 2010, and played around with meat-free days for a while before growing awareness inspired the need to get more serious. Peter went vegan in 2017, but with the caveat that all bets were off regarding desserts, which along with identifying our diet as core to our Ethos, led to the Virtually Vegan concept.
Jake
Sports has always been an integral part of Jake’s life, from tennis and football in his early years before surfing in Bali. Now based in Melbourne, he has recently dived into MMA and regularly trains Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu. With plans to study sports science, fuelling his training has been of constant interest. Despite his initial scepticism about whether a Virtually Vegan diet would adequately provide, he has been happily surprised by the results of his diet change, not only on a physical level, but also on a more moral, psychological level.