campaigns > vegan pledge 09

Vegan Pledge 2009

With a New Year, New You message, Vegan Campaigns supported 40 people to go vegan for one month from 18 January to 15 February 2009. About 60% of the pledgers ate either meat or fish; the rest were already vegetarian. The participants attended meetings at the start and end of the Vegan month in Conway Hall, in Holborn, Central London.

The first meeting included a cookery demonstration, a vegan quiz and a question and answer session with our panel members: Stephen Walsh, author of Plant Based Nutrition, Kelly Slade, Campaigns Officer from Animal Aid, and vegan GP Dr Mike Hooper.

Participants were asked to break into small groups to discuss how to deal with social situations, listened to a talk on vegan social groups and then watched the inspiring Vegan Society video “Truth or Dairy.” Of course there was a full vegan buffet at lunchtime including West African Groundnut stew, raw salads, sushi and a selection of vegan cakes.

The pledgers came back at the end of the month to discuss their experiences of being vegan. We gave feedback to the group on how they had improved their health, helped the environment and saved animals – we estimated the group saved 277 animals in just one month. There was a further cookery demonstration and a talk from author of Vegetarian London, Alex Bourke, on eating out in London and beyond.

We were lucky to have the involvement of vegan GP Dr Mike Hooper who used a detailed health questionnaire to assess the before and after health of the group. He also measured the body mass index, waist to hip ratio and blood pressure of participants on day one and at the end of the month. Twenty two people attended both meetings and had before and after health checks.

The group experienced some positive health benefits during the month. The women’s waist to hip ratio (an indicator of risk of heart disease) changed from borderline to within ideal range with an average drop in 2cm and 1cm off waist and hip measurements respectively. The participants also lost 1kg in weight each on average. The group’s average blood pressure was also very slightly lower at end of the month.

All the participants took a cholesterol test at meeting 1 and the 5 that had high cholesterol were offered another test at the end of the month. 3 of these 5 stayed vegan for the month, and took a test at the second meeting. The cholesterol level for all these 3 went from high to normal-in just one month following a vegan diet! Other health benefits recorded included more energy, improved overall health, better (less dry) skin and slightly better digestion and less congestion.

The great news is 23 of the participants (almost 60%) have decided to stay vegan, and most of the others will increase the amount of vegan food they eat.

We received some very positive feedback from the participants, including the comments below:

“An excellent way of introducing people to veganism and spreading awareness. I certainly would never have done it without this structure”. A pledge participant

“I found it very inspirational and now think that I could stay vegan after the pledge. I made a delicious chocolate cake using one of the recipes from the “Vegan Beginner” book (I will be making more to bring to work to share with my skeptical colleagues) as well as yummy brekkies (smoothies) and main meals. I now feel ready to face the inevitable questions (I have already had some) about malnutrition too (not so much questions as off-hand “funny” comments).
Please could you pass on my thanks to everyone involved, it was all very useful- the Q and A, the starter pack, the recipes, being vegan in a non-vegan world and all the food was AMAZING. This was definitely a much-needed boost I really think I will be vegan for life- I can’t see myself eating dairy or eggs again I really can’t.” Vicky Bateman

The Vegan Pledge is a great way of encouraging people to go vegan, and we will run it again in 2010. But anyone thinking of going vegan need not wait until then, the Vegan Society have an ongoing pledge where support is given by email. Thanks to all those who took part and the volunteers who helped on the day. Also, a big thank you to the Vegan Society for sponsoring the pledge, and to the following companies for donating food.

Booja-Booja www.boojabooja.com
Bute Island Foods www.buteisland.com
Clearspring www.clearspring.co.uk
Granovita www.granovita.co.uk
Plamil www.plamilfoods.co.uk
Redwoods www.redwoodsfoods.co.uk
Swedish Glace www.fayrefield.com
Provamel www.provamel.co.uk

Contact chrissyley@vegancampaigns.org.uk for a full 18 page report of the Pledge or if you are interested in a particular aspect i.e. health.