Veganuary – The Run Up

The New Year is almost upon us – a good time to think back on the last twelve months, maybe setting goals for the next arbitrary spin around our local fusion furnace. I’m not usually one for the New Year’s Resolution – always figured you shouldn’t wait on a social convention to change something or get started on a goal – but this year I’m thinking of setting myself a wee challenge. I’ll be attempting Veganuary, and, in true vegan-form, I’m gonna tell you allllll about it!

I’ve been pescetarian now for about a decade, and found the transition quite easy. Off the top of my head, I can think of maybe twice in that period where I may have eaten meat, and both of those were by accident. Of course, eating fish along the way must have made reduced any real friction, so this should be interesting. But, that’s the point!

I’ve begun to feel that the usual, go-to recipes (especially being the main food-prepper in the relationship) have gotten me stuck in a rut, so I’m hoping that artificial restrictions on the diet force me out of the norm and make for a growth opportunity, culinarily. After some Herculean efforts, a dent has been put in the dairy and seafood floating about the house (or will be, following tonight’s fondue dinner…) and we’re in not too bad a jumping-off point for a fresh start. I’ve some too-long neglected cookbooks focussed primarily on vegan dishes that I’m eager to root about in, and I hope that I’ll come out the better for it.

Kir Royale – maybe vegan?

I should say that I don’t intend to go whole-hog with the lifestyle – I’m not about to throw about various leather articles, nor am I looking to scrape out the ink of my tattoo’d body – but I hope to see some changes nonetheless. I’ve got some weight I wouldn’t mind moving around, and I suspect this’ll help – obviously, cutting down on the alcohol would be the more efficient way of doing that, but, what with the amount of egg and fish that show up in wine and beer these days, there’ll be a fair amount of that that goes as well. Not everything, mind, as that would simply be antisocial, but more than enough to show up, given the current weekly volume.

I don’t know that my ethical position has evolved much from previous descriptions – my main concern in the diet I choose is one of its impact on the environment, rather than animals full-stop. I’ve definitely had moments where I was viscerally turned off by the thought, or the sight, of meat being prepared and eaten. In no way am I tempted by bacon or anything like that. And it would be a perverse person, or one with a stake in it, who didn’t admit that battery farming is a grossly inhumane system. But my ethical stance is still mainly informed by a desire to reduce one of the largest sources of CO₂ and methane, as well as free-up arable land for a more effective agricultural regime. Obviously, my opting-out is going to make no tangible difference, but all I can really control at the end of the day is my own behaviour, and even that is bit of a toss-up, depending on the day. If my, gentle, evangelising of the cause changes other people’s position, so much the better.

In the interest of that, then, I hope to write a piece every once in a while, detailing my progress – what’s working for me, interesting recipes I come upon, the moment I inevitably collapse into a gibbering, cheese-deprived mess, that sort of thing. Come with me on this journey of discovery – and who knows, I might even be able to fit into my purple velour trousers again come the end!