Vegan Life Issue 85, July 2022

WIN! £585 WORTH OF VEGAN PRIZES July 2022 | issue 85 | £5.99 ŏljŀ TlAikSeTSESummer! RECIPES Worldwide breakfasts High-fibre lunches BBQ party 11 ingredient meals and lots more... NBREEWASKING GET involved! Vegan dogs In Plastic are healthier Free July 5foods you need to boost Vegan in Amsterdam brain health What to see, do and eat PLUS Summer health in focus | The end of medicine? | 7 ways to help your community



Hello, PRIME IMPACT EVENTS & MEDIA A happy July to you all! As I write this from my current desk set-up in my garden, the sun 4 Nags Corner, Wiston Road, Nayland, CO6 4LT is shining, it’s 21°C and there are bees and butterflies everywhere. It is certainly a joyous time of year, when wildlife is buzzing and blooming and we are all looking to get outside T: 01787 224040 at every opportunity. This might be working in your garden, courtyard or balcony [email protected] | veganlifemag.com (I recommend!), going for a walk on your lunch break or preparing your dinner using the BBQ. We Brits certainly love to grill outside, with the number of BBQs held in the summer MANAGING EDITOR rising from two a year to more than 10 in the last decade (thefoodpeople.co.uk). With UK Emily Saunders BBQ season now in full swing, we think it’s the right time to share with you all our favourite grill party recipes and tips. Did you know that the average BBQ causes more greenhouse EDITOR gas emissions than a 90-mile car journey? In truth, they can be awful for the environment if Gemma Tadman done without consideration, from the food cooked to the single-use tableware purchased. [email protected] But don’t fret! As well as recipes and tips, we are here to help you to host the most sustainable and eco-friendly BBQ party you can. Make sure to read our special feature! DESIGNER Sarah Barnes Also this month, we bring you an interview with two of the most inspirational people we have ever met — the individuals behind must-watch documentary, The End of Medicine. MANAGING DIRECTOR We chat to director and BAFTA award-winning filmmaker, Alex Lockwood (the man who Julie Saunders created smash-hit 73 Cows), and former factory farm livestock vet and whistle-blower, Dr Alice Brough. The pair talk us through the informative and investigative doc, exploring the PUBLISHING DIRECTOR potentialities of antimicrobial resistance and future pandemics — what you read will make Keith Coomber you want to share the vegan message further and wider than ever before. ADVERTISING SALES But the future isn’t wrought with just doom and gloom, there is so much good going Claire Rogers | 44 (0)1787 220650 on in the world right now, with some amazing people doing incredible things. Be a part of [email protected] it, by getting involved with your local community. In our ‘seven ways’ feature this month, we share suggestions for helping out your neighbours, with ideas stemming from small SUBSCRIPTIONS AND BACK ISSUES acts of kindness, like checking on the elderly man living down your road or setting up a Hannah Biggs litter-picking club to clear away any rubbish that’s marring your local area. Sometimes, the [email protected] smallest gestures can go the furthest. MARKETING AND PRESS Enjoy the issue! Jane Lambert Gemma Tadman PROMOTIONS AND BLOGGER Editor COMMUNITY MANAGER Jane Lambert @veganlife_mag @veganlifemagazine LICENSING @veganlife_mag Bruce Sawford | 44 (0)1280 860185 [email protected] ACCOUNTS Yolande Arnold The publisher accepts no responsibility in respect of advertisements appearing in the magazine and the opinions expressed in editorial material or otherwise do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. The publisher cannot accept liability for any loss arising from the appearance or non-publication of any advertisement. Information about products and services featured within the editorial content does not imply endorsement by Vegan Life magazine. Every effort is made to ensure that all advertising is derived from reputable sources. Vegan Life magazine cannot, however, accept responsibility for transactions between readers and advertisers. The paper in this magazine originates from timber that is sourced from responsibly managed forests, according to strict environmental, social and economic standards. The manufacturing mill has both FSC and PEFC certification, and also ISO9001 and ISO14001 accreditation. Cover Image: Chipotle Jackfruit Bowls with Charred Peppers & Corn, p53. Recipe by Amy Lanza, creator of Nourishing Amy, with Tarantella Organic Tomato Purée, nourishingamy.com. 3

Contents On The Cover Vegan Eats 16 Vegan Life meets the makers 60 Best of British of eye-opening doc, Drinks that celebrate Britishness 30 The End of Medicine 24 Vegan in Amsterdam Vegan Special — 82 Plant-based dogs are healthier BBQ Party Summer health in focus 64 88 Five foods you need to boost 64 The ultimate guide to 90 brain health eco barbecuing Get involved with Plastic Free July Heat up the BBQ, not the planet, 104 Seven ways to help your community with these must-know tips 102 68 An alfresco fiesta Vegan News Vegan BBQ goodies for grilling up a storm 06 Why am I vegan? We invite you to tell us why 70 Three tips for attending a non- you became vegan vegan BBQ You can still enjoy an omni-barbie if 08 Vegan news you prepare ahead All the latest stories Vegan Health 14 Over to you Your letters, emails and musings 80 Vegan Lifestyle 84 Nutrition in focus 98 Guilda Akopians on inflammation 22 Vegan Life loves Our favourites this month 86 Iodine for vegans Yvonne O’Halloran explains why 30 Veganism is spreading we need iodine in our diets Karin Ridgers talks to Austrian brand RINGANA Vegan Planet 38 Vegan Camp Out Preview 80 Mother Nature, the healer What the event will entail and The mental health benefits of being how to attend in nature 40 Five statement summer bags 98 Veganic gardening tips Gorgeous handbags for eco fashionistas Piers Warren helps us choose what to grow 42 Pros and cons of non-vegan restaurants 100 It’s a vegan world How do our dining choices Stories from around the globe impact veganism? celebrating all things vegan 44 Is your bank vegan? 106 Vegan founded A look at how our finances affect We meet the founders of SAVI Snacks the Earth 108 Photography to protect 46 The beauty edit all creatures The vegan products you need on We chat to inspirational vegan artist your radar Beth Lily Redwood 48 Cars, diamonds and the 110 Besties, biers and snacks energy industry Laura Gaga has some plastic-free and Maria Slough chats to inspirational Dale vegan fun Vince, OBE 114 Plastic fantastic 62 Ask the experts Jake Yapp comes up with a solution The Veganuary team answer to plastic your questions 112 Vegan pages 4

Vegan Recipes 31 Breakfasts From 74 Tabbouleh Around The World 59 75 Lemon & Olive Oil Dressing 31 Vegan French Toast 74 75 Crispy Chickpeas 95 32 Tahini, Cinnamon & Carob Pancakes 75 Pull-Apart Garlic Bread 33 Croissants à l’Abricot 76 Barbecued Courgettes with Tomatoes & Herby Polenta 34 Gallo Pinto with Creamy Scrambled Tofu 78 Grilled Mushrooms with Garlicky Greens & Toasted Crumbs 35 Huevos con Chorizo 78 Watermelon Ice Lollies 35 Vegan Chorizo 79 Barbecue Banoffee Pie 36 Peruvian Sweet Potato Bread 11 Ingredients 36 Vegan Black Pudding Or Less High-Fibre 91 Hasselback Squash with Vegan Lunches Walnut Crumb 53 Chipotle Jackfruit Bowl with 92 Herby Polenta Chips Charred Peppers & Corn 94 Pan-Fried Cauliflower with 54 Cheesy Black Bean Pasties Ginger & Coriander 94 Crushed Coriander & 54 Maldon Salt Roasted Parsnips with Giant Couscous Salad Olive Potatoes 95 Crispy Teriyaki Tofu & Broccoli 55 Spicy Sweet Potato Quinoa 96 Peanut Meringues Power Bowl 96 Vegan Chocolate Brownie Skillet 56 Lentil Potato Rolls Competitions 56 Coriander Chutney 12 Win a stylish Votch mega bundle 14 Win two gorgeous bouquets 58 Roast Root Veg Pilaf from Eflorist 59 Carrot, Date & Puy Lentil Salad 59 Summer Mango & Chickpea Salad BBQ Party 12 71 Spiced Yoghurt Cauliflower & Mango 72 Harissa-Marinated Aubergine Burger with Baba Ghanoush & Dukkah 73 Grill-Side Katsu Burger with Wasabi Mayo 74 Fresh Minted Bean Salad 5

WhyVaemganI ? NAME: Oyinda B AGE: 59 NUMBER OF YEARS VEGAN: 10 LOCATION: Yorkshire, UK I WENT VEGAN BECAUSE… I walked past a dairy farm one day and heard the screams of a mother cow as her calf was being taken away from her — the rest is history. Her cries will stay with me forever. MY HOPE FOR THE FUTURE IS… that people will stop saying that they ‘don’t like vegan food’ and will just give it a try. A lot of the food that non-vegans eat is accidentally vegan anyway! MY ADVICE TO ASPIRING VEGANS IS… Get yourself some vegan recipe books that you can use to learn some easy-to-cook dishes. You will realise that cooking and eating plant-based really isn’t all that different or as hard as you think. Want to be on this page? Email your answers and a high-resolution photo of yourself to [email protected] 6

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Vegan News Pof trhoedmuocntth Vegnaenws Sweet Freedom All things vegan from the worlds of entertainment, politics, sports, animal advocacy and more. Got news VEGAN HONEEE for us? Email [email protected] Made with natural fruit extracts, brand- new VEGAN HONEEE naturally delivers Half of all the plastic all the flavour… but leaves the honey in the sea comes to the bees! It’s super versatile, thick from fishing enough to drizzle over pancakes, great for stirring into coffee and other drinks, Source: ecowatch.com plus, VEGAN HONEEE offers ‘better for you’ baking. It’s our new favourite thing! £3.50, ocado.com English Cheesecake Company announce brand-new vegan Salted Caramel Cheesecake Sundae pots For just £3.75 you can now enjoy a high-end restaurant-style dessert from the English Cheesecake Company — their new vegan Salted Caramel Cheesecake Sundae pot! The indulgent treat combines delicious vegan cheesecake, a layer of silky salted caramel and a chocolate biscuit crumb. They’re thick, they’re creamy, they’re decadent, and if you served them to a non-vegan friend, they would not believe they’re vegan! Each pack contains two single-serve pots, providing the perfect option for anyone looking for a spoonful of indulgence to satisfy their treat cravings. The divine texture is all thanks to Violife’s delicious cream cheese, which is a real treat paired with English Cheesecake Company’s iconic cheesecake recipe. The desserts come packaged in fully recyclable pots with a sealed lid and a recyclable cardboard sleeve outer. 3 of the best... Vegan cookies Rhythm 108 Gato Kookie Cat Organic, Soft Filled Chocolate Hazelnut Double Choc Minis Vanilla and Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Gluten-free cookie bites that are crispy on Organic Vegan Cashew and Oat Cookie A yummy vegan cookie filled with a gooey peanut the outside and soft on the inside, packed butter fondant centre, topped with roasted Delicate vanilla and indulgent chocolate meet in peanuts and chocolate chips. with tasty hazelnut butter, oats this delicious cookie, making it the perfect snack £1.59, thevegankind.com and chocolate. for any time of day. 8 10 packs for £15.99, gatoandco.com £1.49, thevegankind.com

New children’s book seeks to highlight the importance of caring for animals Written by registered dietitian and nutritionist Yvonne O’ Halloran, Plant-Powered Animal Protectors tells a beautiful story of boy- girl twins growing up on the coast of Australia. At a young age, they discover that they possess magical powers that can heal animals. The story continues to follow Luna and Zen’s vegan journey and their incredible connection to animals in need. This wonderful book incorporates emotions, a splash of magic and stunning illustrations that kids will love. A lovely story highlighting the importance of nutrition, family connection, compassion, love and kindness. Find it on Amazon from £11.99, amazon.co.uk. Bristol vegan football team secures exciting sponsorship All-vegan Bristolian football team, Kale Madrid, has attracted their first-ever corporate sponsorship from powerhouse activist brand, VFC. Like Kale Madrid, vegan fried chick*n brand VFC was also founded last year, and with both institutions seeing great success from the start and with complementing ethics, the partnership is well-matched. Kale Madrid was founded by Matt Mead who wanted to join a vegan football team and, when he couldn’t find one, started his own. “We won the first league we were put into,” says Mead, “and have since gone up through the leagues. We seem to have found our level now and are challenging good teams every week who have often been playing a lot longer than we have as a team.” The sponsorship with Kale Madrid is another good call for VFC co-founder Matthew Glover. Having co-founded global phenomenon Veganuary, and then launching VFC (which is already in three UK supermarkets and multiple other countries), it’s clear he knows how to back a winner. “I’m a passionate vegan who passionately loves football,” says Glover, “so sponsoring Kale Madrid makes perfect sense. VFC launched just last year too, so we know how important it is to get great support from the start. Obviously, I hope that those red VFC shirts come to strike fear into the hearts of Kale Madrid’s opponents, but mostly I just hope that the vegan fried chick*n we sent the team doesn’t slow them down too much.” VFC was recently approached for sponsorship by a premier league football club near to where the company is based, but as Glover is a lifelong supporter of their rivals, he immediately vetoed the deal. “I just couldn’t do it,” he says. “I could no more do business with that club than I could eat an actual chicken.” 9

Vegan News VEGAN ENTREPRENEUR ÌDWÃVhappening? Vegan events for your diary Juliette Bryant and Jonathan Saturday 2nd July Wollard Camberly Vegan Fiesta Park Street, Camberly, GU15 3PT All You Need Free entry sparkleveganevents.com All You Need was created by brother and sister Juliette Bryant and Jonathan Friday 15th July — Monday 18th July Woollard. It all came about when Jonathan had a health crisis and decided to change Vegan Camp Out his lifestyle and diet. He wanted to support Stanford Hall, Leicestershire, LE17 6DH his health in natural ways and consulted his Adults £75, Children 4-15 years £37.50 sister Juliette who has been working in the vegancampout.co.uk field of nutrition for 17 years. Jonathan was advised to transition to a plant-based diet Friday 22nd — Sunday 24th July and given a list of nutrients to take each day, as like many people, he was deficient Vegan Kids Festival in many essential nutrients such as vitamin Moonacre and Party Field, Wimborne, BH21 4EU D, magnesium and B12. Jonathan has a Tickets from £75, under-two’s free busy life, running four pubs in London and vegankidsfestival.co.uk working as a kettle bell trainer. He was frustrated by the number of supplements Saturday 30th — Sunday 31st July he had to take each day.  Goodheart Animal Sanctuary Summer Open Weekend “Couldn’t you just make one product Farm Animal Sanctuary, Kidderminster, DY14 0BE that tastes great with all you need in it that Tickets £5, under-five’s free I can just add to my daily smoothie?” he goodheartanimalsanctuaries.com asked Juliette one day.  (GLWRU's Choice This got her thinking. Using her Pawtato knowledge of nutrition and world-wide contacts she got to work. Jonathan got Mixed Small Knots, 1.6kg on board with the business and after 18 months of development, the siblings from New bulk-sized case of grain- London are thrilled to launch All You Need. free Pawtato dog chews! There are a lot of protein powders on Naturally plant-based and low the market, but Juliette and Jonathan in fat, these delicious treats are are yet to find one that packs such a perfect as a snack or reward. nutrient punch as All You Need. As well as The sweet potato-based knots bioavailable plant protein, it also includes are also ideal for dogs who may vitamins D, C and B12, magnesium, medicinal mushrooms, enzymes and suffer sensitivities. super-greens.   £19.99, pawtatochews.com Since its launch, people around the world are loving All You Need. It is now a mainstay in the smoothies served at health cafés from Byron Bay to Braintree and has found fans in the world of sport, with former World Champion boxer David Haye, loving the product.     All You Need is available in 10-day and one- month eco-bags from juliettebryant.com. 10



Vegan News Meatless Farm just launched their first vegan steak fillet New from Meatless Farm (meatlessfarm.com) is an innovative plant-based steak fillet (RRP £3.50). It’s juicy, flavoursome, and is said to perfectly replicate the taste and texture of steak — great for those who enjoy ‘meaty’ meals without the cruelty, as well as for people who often cater for non-vegans. The new ‘steak’ is free from soya, made from peas and has over 15g of protein, also making it ideal for consumers who like to keep a check on their protein intake. Meatless Farm recommend that consumers serve it whole with chips, peas and peppercorn sauce, although it can also be used to make kebabs to go on the BBQ. Simply chop it into pieces and skewer along with your favourite veggies. WIN: A stylish Votch mega bundle Five gorgeous fashion accessories to be won alongside a beautiful Give-Backpack, worth £535 in total We’ve teamed up with vegan watch and accessories brand Votch to offer one lucky winner a massive hamper of stunning goodies. The prize features Votch’s bestselling AppleSkin Give-Backpack, worth £175, along with all the accessories you’ll ever need, including an All Black Pouch, All Black Card Pouch, All Black Purse, Gold and Black Petite Set and, to complete the bundle, a chic Gold Bangle. For more information about Votch, visit votch.co.uk or follow them on Instagram @votchwatch. Normal T’s and C’s apply. Prize non- refundable, non- exchangeable and non- redeemable for cash. Enter online at veganlifemag.com/votch Closing date 21st July 2022 12

Easy Enough Even For The Beginner by Erasmia Kyriakou from the vegan cafe, Hungry Cat Cafe blma^g^po^`Zg\\hhd[hhdÛee^]pbma/) mouth-watering recipes to suit every occasion. Ma^[hhdblZoZbeZ[e^ghphg Amazon or in the cafe. See all the dishes on Instagram @dill_iciously_vegan Easy Recipe from the book, Enjoy Strawberry & Mint Mousse Makes 2-4 Ingredients Method • 110g Fresh strawberries, extra for • Mix all the ingredients in a • • • • • garnish 4-6 leaves fresh mint, plus • food processor or blender till well • more for garnish 349g silken tofu • combined and smooth. • 1/3 cup Caster sugar • Pour into ramekins and let them • • Pink food colouring & Maple • • • set overnight in the fridge. • Syrup optional • Pour maple syrup over the mousse • before serving and garnish.

Vegan News Over to you Your letters, emails and musings Stay Social Hello Vegan Life, @goblephotography @karenfiorito @viva.farming I just wanted to say that Vegan Life @veganlife_mag @veganlife_mag @veganlifemagazine Live was amazing! It was my first time going, and it really made me feel secure in my decision to be vegan. I made some new friends and discovered some wonderful brands that I will 100 per cent be supporting from now on. What an incredible community we vegans have. See you again next year! Love, Jade WORTH £50! Next Month’s Star Letter Prize Send your emails, letters and poems to [email protected] to be in with a chance of winning two stunning bouquets from eflorist.co.uk worth £50. The Summer Daze bouquet is bursting with colourful blooms — with purple alstroemeria and carnations, warming orange germini and gorgeous cerise and orange roses.  Eflorist has been delivering flowers since 1947 and offers a simply stunning collection of fresh flowers. They can help you to fill your home with the sights and smells of summer all year long. For more information, visit eflorist.co.uk. STAR LETTER PRIZE Hi Vegan Life, Thanks for the inspiration to add more nutrient-rich foods to my diet, helping me to feel great after having little Jacob (three weeks old). Especially the Super Green Smoothie (pg. 83, May issue). Thanks, Kelly wins a two- Kelly month supply of DR. VEGAN’S Gut Health Bundle, worth £50! 14



Vegan Lifestyle VeganLife meets... Alex Lockwood and Dr. Alice Brough If we don’t change our relationship with animals, medicine as we know it will end here — we talk to the people behind the new doc that explores this, The End of Medicine A s vegans, we are already politicians, top scientists and leading antimicrobial resistance, will be heavily aware that humankind’s doctors, The End Of Medicine sounds the exacerbated. Whistle-blower, Dr. Alice relationship with animals is alarm few have heard. Brough's story is such a powerful one as exploitative and cruel, but she is somebody who has spent years did you also know that it is dangerous Following the film’s release in the US working for and facilitating the very for us humans? New feature-length (UK release date soon to be announced), industry she now hopes to challenge. documentary The End of Medicine, we catch up with the activists behind She's not just someone who ‘jumped on seeks to expose the underreported link the film, director and BAFTA-winning the bandwagon’ as it were but is instead, between global pandemics, the failing filmmaker Alex Lockwood (73 Cows) and somebody who came to her realisation of antibiotics and our use of animals. the starring vet herself, Dr Alice Brough, about animal agriculture because of The film follows former factory farm to dive deeper into the doc’s alarming an intimate knowledge of agricultural livestock vet and whistle-blower Dr. themes and what the future holds. veterinary procedures and the terrible Alice Brough as she grapples with the experience of having to be involved in enormity of animal agriculture and the Hi Alex and Alice! To begin, why them. Alice's career was built around this key role it has played historically (and do people need to see The End of industry, and so for her to be able to step currently) in not only killer diseases and Medicine and hear Alice’s story? away from it to take a moral stance I think pandemics, but climate change and will give audiences the motivation that environmental destruction as well. Alex: The evidence very clearly shows they too can make positive changes when that if we don't change our food systems, it comes to what they eat. With expert interviews from industry we must accept that not only are future insiders, government advisors, disease outbreaks more likely to occur What made you want to create but also that the ever-growing issue of 16

Vegan Lifestyle this film, Alex? Alex: Currently, our governments and the mainstream media aren't taking these issues seriously enough. Given the severity of the threat posed by antimicrobial resistance and future disease outbreaks, I really wanted to create something that would help to get this information out there. I believe people have a right to know about how these emerging threats are linked with our choices at a consumer level. When were you first approached about the film, Alice? Did you jump at the chance to have your voice heard, or were you afraid of the consequences? Alice: I first heard from Alex in 2020 at the height of the pandemic! Although being in the spotlight doesn’t come naturally to me, the issues highlighted in the film are extremely serious, and if I can add weight to something so vital for the public to hear I will always say, yes. I guess the bigger picture is more important to me than my personal comfort… and as I was already facing difficulties for speaking out against my former industry, I thought I might as well carry on! Why don’t you think anyone (RCVS) for simply sharing her viewpoints is talking about the fact that on farming practices. The industry animal agriculture is causing is supported by our governments in diseases? The science is helping sustain the narrative that eating evidently there, so what is animals isn't harming us. Creating a stopping people from film that we know is likely to challenge believing it and understanding the bulk of viewers is daunting, but I've its importance? tried really hard to make sure that the film doesn't come across as preachy or Alex: This information is deliberately patronising, but more so, that just tells the truth. kept very secret. The animal ag industry For readers who don’t know, spends millions each year lobbying what are zoonotic diseases and how do they originate? governments and donating to various Alice: A zoonotic disease is an infection political parties. As a result of this, (viral, bacterial, fungal or parasitic) that can pass between non-human animals we live in a world that is, politically and humans. They can originate in many ways; via food, air, water, speaking, shaped by the animal ag insects (like ticks and mosquitoes) and from direct contact with the animals industry. This has a cascading effect themselves. What we’re now familiar with is how the COVID-19 virus ‘jumped that trickles down so much so, that accurate information about the industry is jeopardised. For example, in the USA it's a criminal offense in some states to film undercover within factory farms. Here in the UK, Dr Brough herself was threatened with disciplinary action from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons 17

Vegan Lifestyle species’ from animals to us, and also adapted to spread very easily from human-to-human. Alice, when you started doing your research on zoonotic diseases, as you say early on in the film, ‘going down a rabbit hole’, were there any studies or cases that particularly stood out to you? What emotions did you go through, as you learned more and more? Alice: My feelings regarding the human health risks were mostly disbelief at how little attention is paid to them — in fact, active distraction from the issues is at play, as with most damaging industries. I was particularly concerned looking into influenza. Having experienced swine flu very severely myself in 2009 and having watched farmers and pigs pass the illness to each other over the years, plus the unhygienic mixing of to arise and spread. The animals are mortality rate of COVID-19 has been relatively low, so in that sense we have birds, pigs and humans on farms in highly stressed, in close confinement got off lightly, though there are many other features (like ‘long COVID’) that awful air spaces, I was and am with many others (both dead and we don’t yet understand fully. However, zoonotic outbreaks are becoming shocked that it is not notifiable nor alive), there is opening of body cavities, more regular the more we intensify our exploitation of animals and the even under active surveillance. There opportunities for cannibalism, and environment and there is no predicting how deadly the next pandemic may be. are no acceptable plans in place animals that wouldn’t naturally be Could it get much worse? What to prevent an outbreak, but the anywhere near each other are brought is the potential for pathogens in the future? government has a document detailing in from different places. Add to that an Alice: The 1918 ‘Spanish flu’ (of plans for the 750,000 excess deaths unnatural interface between people avian origin) killed 50 million people, and predominantly affected young predicted for an influenza pandemic and animals where humans encounter people, so yes, it can easily get much worse. Without functional antibiotics, — it’s absolute insanity. respiratory secretions, faeces, etc. and secondary infections (e.g. bacterial pneumonia) in viral outbreaks like Why are wet markets a hotpot then take them home to consume. It’s a COVID or influenza will increase nightmare scenario. mortality rates of future pandemics exponentially, and right now, we for zoonotic diseases? are heading for a world without functional antibiotics. Alice: Pretty much everything about a Are Western factory farms and It must have been extremely wet market makes it perfect for disease slaughterhouses much different? difficult to witness the things you did whilst working in factory “Zoonotic Alice: Only one of those factors listed farms. How did you handle it? for wet markets doesn’t apply to our outbreaks are factory farms and slaughterhouses, and Alice: In short… as best I could. To do becoming more that is the bringing together of many well at my job I had to ‘parcel it up for regular the more different species of animal in one space. later’ — maintaining a good relationship we intensify our Everything else applies and is just with clients, able to laugh and joke with exploitation of as concerning. them and colleagues, and effectively respond to emergencies meant We have to also consider that factory I continued to behave as I always farming drives a demand for crops, had when around others. Usually when drives deforestation and habitat I got in the car at the end of the day was loss and therefore contributes to an unnatural interface between species in animals and the the wild and on farms. environment and Do you think that we have gotten off lightly so far, with having there is no 'only' had the emergence of COVID-19? predicting how Alice: Within our lifetimes we have also seen devastating effects of other deadly the next zoonoses — Ebola, SARS, MERS, swine flu, HIV/AIDS and of course, pandemic may be” foodborne disease which kills hundreds of thousands of people a year. The 18

Vegan Lifestyle “Right Alex: There were so many obstacles hard for some to hear. The data shows to overcome in the making of this that where we can (and most of us can), now, we are film. The first issue was that we set we must go vegan. There is simply no heading for a out to make a documentary about way to produce animal products in a world without pandemics around October 2019, and way that is safe when it comes to human functional then a pandemic actually happened. health, safe when it comes to planetary The film had to switch from being a health, and humane when it comes to ”antibiotics warning to also being a reaction to what the treatment of animals. However, was happening. Whilst this isn't a film you farm animals, be it grass-fed, free- when all the (appropriate!) emotions about COVID, we used the pandemic to range, whatever, you create risk. It's would surface, and the haunting images contextualise the issues set about in the tricky to make a film with that as its most often resurfaced in dreams or film. Another major issue was that we core message as most people would when faced with others eating meat or struggled to get people from within the prefer the message to be tempered. It arguing against veganism. I still suffer animal ag industry to speak on camera had been suggested to us by some that with the resulting complex PTSD now, with us. We believe that previous vegan it may be more palatable to present the three years out. agenda films may have spooked the idea that having fewer animal products larger companies/food producers and in our diet is the way forward rather What do you think is the most that they have now become even more than having zero animal products. As poignant moment from the secretive as a result.  much as we know that audiences at film, Alex? large would feel less confronted by Why do you think DEFRA declined that watered-down message, we felt Alex: For me, the most powerful an interview for the film? very strongly that the film needed to be moment is when Riverkeeper Rick truthful and scientific. Dove, reflects upon the kind of future Alex: After a long exchange with DEFRA, Alice: Any way in which we exploit he feels his Great Grandson may we were really disappointed that they animals or our environment we create experience. It was such an emotional ultimately decided that they wouldn't be massive problems for ourselves, I just response we hadn't anticipated him interviewed for the film. As a government hope that we learn this lesson sooner giving. When people allow themselves body, we felt it was their duty to answer rather than later or we won’t be able to be vulnerable on camera within some tough questions. Ultimately, I feel to counteract the consequences. Every documentaries, I feel that's when they didn't want to be challenged. alarm bell is ringing, and the only audiences really connect. solution is to act now — leave animals If our own patterns of alone, keep forests, soils and oceans Did the team face any major consumption are driving us intact, stop extracting and using fossil challenges during the making of down a no-return road, what fuels, and ban plastics and harmful the film? is the solution? Is there a way chemicals (as an urgent start!). back? What can we do to rectify the situation and safeguard How did you feel, Alice, when you the future? received the letter from RCVS about the possibility of your Alex: The answer to this question is license to practise veterinary medicine being revoked? Why do 19

Vegan Lifestyle you think the institution was so then, that they know that what What should viewers take threatened by your comments they are doing, that what is away from watching The End about the pig industry? happening on farms is wrong? of Medicine? Why don’t they want to make Alice: At first, I panicked — this is a big things right? Alex: What I hope viewers will take deal, and it was incredibly stressful. away from the film, is a feeling that However, I always knew in my heart Alice: I meant the industry as a whole, they themselves have enormous power that I was right, and it became a great really — and the simple answer is to bring about positive change to the opportunity to explain in full the issues that people likely wouldn’t buy their world. We often underestimate the within the pig industry to the regulators products if they understood the true power of the individual when it comes of the profession that is supposed to cost of their choices. to these wider issues, but each person protect animals. It’s easier to criticise who goes vegan sets in motion a chain one person’s opinion than tackle a What is the true danger of of events with profound outcomes. multi-billion-pound industry and all its antibiotic/antimicrobial constituent parts. resistance; how much time do How can we make governments we have? acknowledge that there is an What were your first thoughts issue with animal agriculture? when you found out that the Alice: Over the last five years, the How can we make them act? disciplinary case was dropped? number of deaths attributable to AMR has jumped sevenfold from 700,000 Alex: Sadly, our governments don't Alice: ‘Sensible choice.’ to 5,000,000 every year — this is a shift focus when the science becomes staggering increase given the prediction irrefutable, and they don't shift What are your future plans? five years ago was that there would focus because of any kind of moral Will you go back to practising be 10,000,000 deaths a year by 2050. framework. Governments seem to only veterinary medicine in The most senior figure in the UK on the shift focus when the voting population another setting? subject warns that this could kill us overwhelmingly demands it of them. before climate change, so it would seem So, the best way of bringing about Alice: I find it hard to look ahead with we don’t have very long if we continue political change is to ensure that we as so much uncertainty facing humanity to overuse and misuse these lifesaving a population don't support destructive from the climate and ecological medicines in animals that simply need industries and that we continue to make emergency, the end of medicine and the not exist. noise and spread the word about them. likelihood of increased pandemics and As Dr. Aysha Ahktar says in the film, \"If disease. I have considered practising Should we be afraid? we're going to wait for our governments as a companion animal vet — and from to do the right thing, we're going to be a financial perspective, I probably Alice: Well, yes… but also understand waiting for a long time.\" should — but this doesn’t seem urgent that many of the most frightening issues to me right now and I feel there is more facing humanity are interlinked, and The End of Medicine is currently impactful work to do as an activist. as consumers we actually have a great available in the US to pre-order, and deal of control over the key contributing will be available in the UK from later In the film, you state that the factors if we choose to see it and act, this year. For more from Alex and RCVS and farms ‘work hard whether that’s through making different Alice, and to watch the film trailer, to stop people from exposing choices or joining the fight for change. visit theendofmedicine.com and their secrets’, does that mean follow @theendofmedicine on Instagram. All images courtesy of The End of Medicine. 20

C O N TA C T D O N AT E T: 07921 829788 PAY PA L . M E / L O T U S H E A R T S A N C T U A R Y E: [email protected] PAT R E O N . C O M / L O T U S H E A R T S A N C T U A R Y @LotusHeartSanctuary A place for human & non-human animals to come together in peace & harmony L o t u s H e a r t S a n c t u a r y. c o m Lotus Camping Pods – Bookable on Airbnb Link for each pod at LotusHeartSanctuary.com

Vegan Lifestyle McKinna Plant Labs Noochy Poochy A complete dog food cleverly blended with nutritional yeast, thyme, marjoram and basil for a delicious cheese and herb flavour without any need for dairy! A winner dinner with select organic ingredients, no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives and suitable for even the fussiest sustainable pooch.  2kg £16.99, noochypoochy.com  LovesVeganLife Our favourites this month Ecozone SAVI Snacks Laundry Soap Nuts Savoury Snack Bar Looking for an eco-alternative to Coming in three delicious flavours — Pizza, conventional detergents? Ecozone’s BBQ and Sweet Chilli — SAVI Snacks’ Savoury Laundry Soap Nuts should be your Bars are high in protein and fibre but low go-to! They are vegan, cruelty- in sugar. They contain 100 per cent natural free, hypoallergenic, non-toxic, ingredients, with no palm oil, no nuts, no compostable, biodegradable and refined sugars, no artificial additives and lots Allergy UK approved. Brilliant results, of taste! conscience-free. Shop now. £1.95 each, savisnacks.com 1kg 330 washes £12.99, ecozone.com Anandas Fruity Marshmallow Gift Box Ananda’s new fruity Marshmallow gift box is perfect for gifting, picnicking and creating adventurous sharing boards. Pair with fruit to create scrumptious summer skewers with chocolate and dipping sauces. Divine! £13, anandafoods.co.uk 22

Vegan Lifestyle SunVit-D3 Vegan Multivitamin Mango Gummies These Vegan Multivitamin Soft Gums offer a daily support for everyday health and wellness and to support nutritional requirements. Vegan Soft Gums are specially formulated with an essential fruit bursting natural mango flavour and are packed with 11 essential vitamins and minerals.  £12.98, sunvitd3.co.uk HAPPi Free From Full House HAPPi Family Bundle, 6 x 80g HAPPi Free From makes delicious, creamy, vegan oat m!lk chocolate. Don’t believe us? Try all their bars and decide for yourself with their Family Bundle pack. £18, happifreefrom.com Erasmia Kyriakou Dill-iciously Vegan — Easy Enough Even For The Beginner To boost your vegan cooking skills, grab a copy of this vegan cookbook filled with mouth- watering recipes to suit every occasion and follow @dill_iciously_vegan on Instagram. Kindle £9.99, paperback £18.95, amazon.co.uk LaBante Alstonia Hobo Bag in Blush Pink LaBante London is a cruelty-free, sustainable brand that makes the most luxurious handbags and shoes with an ethos of 'Fashion With Respect.' Their products are zero-waste and they believe in a circular life-cycle, repurposing plastic bottles from landfills to create beautiful fashion. What’s more, LaBante plant 10 trees for every item, enabling you to offset about 20 per cent of your annual carbon footprint! Vegan Life readers can use Code Life15 for 15 per cent off regular retail prices. Featured here is the Alstonia Hobo Bag in Blush Pink — the ideal casual silhouette to wear on your everyday walks or on a night out, offering you style and functionality. You can also wear it as a shoulder bag using the faux snake designer chain. £129.99, labante.co.uk

Vegan Lifestyle Vegan in Vegan Junk Food Bar $PVWHUGDP Vegan Life’s editor Gemma Tadman visits the Netherland’s vibrant capital city W ith its wonky buildings, sure to pay a trip to the cultural Museum As the name suggests, the museum holds magnificent museums, Quarter (Museumkwartier), based near the world’s largest Van Gogh art collection. cosy micro-pubs (also Vondelpark in the south in the borough of Visiting is a truly poignant experience, known as ‘brown cafés’) Amsterdam-Zuid. All of the below places looking over the painter’s tragic yet and hedonistic nightlife, the colourful city are located around the area. remarkably talented and productive life. of Amsterdam welcomes history buffs Inside, you’ll find over 200 paintings and and partygoers alike. But it’s more than Rijksmuseum 500 drawings by Vincent Van Gogh and just a concrete city, the Dutch capital is his contemporaries, including Monet and also packed with gorgeous parks, flower The magnificent Rijksmuseum is an all- Gauguin. Must-see paintings include the markets and never-ending canals. It’s a encompassing repository of art and very perfect mix of old and modern, of urbanity valuable, very eccentric objects. You will Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh meets nature with oodles of sustainability, find several national and royal collections, making it a must-visit for anyone who which occupy a massive 1.5km of gallery wants to sightsee, but with the choice of space and 80 rooms spread across four escaping to nature, should they wish. Back floors. Don’t miss the works by Rembrandt in March, I was lucky enough to spend my on the second floor (1600-1700), especially birthday enthralled by this city, staying his famous, gigantic painting, The Night’s in the Museum Quarter for four days and Watch (1642). It’s truly something to behold. three nights. It was my first trip following the pandemic lockdowns, and boy, did Info: adults’ entrance €17.50, children it make me realise just how much I had free. Museumstraat 1, 1071 XX Amsterdam, missed travelling. rijksmuseum.nl Things to see and do Van Gogh Museum There is no end of ways to spend your time Just opposite Rijksmuseum is the in Amsterdam, whatever kind of traveller you acclaimed Van Gogh Museum. are. Here are my favourite places to visit and I recommend booking ahead of time, as things to do and see in the city, as well as the slots sell out weeks in advance. Myself eateries that most impressed me. and my partner almost missed out on visiting, having not done so! Luckily, there Museum Quarter was one time slot left during our stay — on our last day two hours before we were due If you are an art and history lover, make to depart! 24

Vegan Lifestyle celebrated Sunflowers (1889), the simple Potato Eaters (1885) and the harrowing Wheatfield with Crows (1890), which was finished shortly before the artist’s suicide. Info: adults’ entrance €17, children free. Museumplein 6, 1071 DJ Amsterdam, vangoghmuseum.nl. An Amsterdam canal Amsterdam Flower Market Anne Frank’s House rental service, so enquire with yours upon (Anne Frank Huis) checking in. Bike lanes are everywhere, Vondelpark as are cyclists themselves, so do be alert Ahead of your visit to Amsterdam, make when crossing roads and navigating the Not too far from Museum Square, you will sure to book tickets to the Anne Frank Huis, streets! Cyclists literally appear out of find the sprawling Vondelpark, spread where Anne Frank and her family hid from nowhere. It is amazing to see so many across 47 hectares of land with lawns, the Nazis for two years in a secret annexe. people taking to their bikes instead of ponds, trees, flowers and winding paths. The revered site of the most famous Dutch vehicles; a model which cities in the UK It’s no wonder the park receives 12 million girl always sells out, with tickets released in should really take note of. visitors a year! (lonelyplanet.co.uk) The phases, from two months in advance until gardens are well-maintained without the day itself. Aside from cycle lanes, Amsterdam is looking too ‘preened’, retaining a bit of bursting with canals — did you know that the wildness of nature that makes it so Located within the western canal ring of there are more here, than there are in the beautiful. During our stay, myself and the city, walking through the bookcase is a Italian city of Venice? One of best ways to my partner were lucky enough to have humbling and heart-breaking experience, view and understand the capital and its gorgeous sunshine, and so we spent most discovering the hidden annex and steep UNESCO Heritage Site listed waterways, mornings walking around the park coffees stairs into the Frank family’s living quarters. is to jump on a canal cruise. There are in-hand, and many early evenings lazing You’ll step back in time with each stair plenty of operators throughout the city, in the sun recovering from a busy day of into a past that seems both distant, and which was actually reclaimed from the sightseeing! The park acts as a base for a frighteningly real. sea; we chose Blue Boat Company, simply dynamic mix of people — roller-skaters, because our hotel recommended them studying students, yummy mummies, Info: adults’ entrance €9.50, children €4.50. and because they had a base a short walk nature-lovers, exercise enthusiasts, ‘coffee Westermarkt 20, 1016 DK, Amsterdam, from our hotel! Our cruise floated through shop’ visitors and break-dancers. It’s the annefrank.org. the southern canal ring at a wonderfully perfect place to people-watch, and an even lazy pace over two hours, allowing us to sit better place to forage! I couldn’t help but Bike and boat travel back, relax and take in the sites. We would spot the wild garlic growing frivolously love to return to Amsterdam and enjoy an under trees and near bodies of water. Cycling is a way of life in Amsterdam; it’s evening cruise, too, which I imagine would how the locals commute to work, fetch be even dreamier. Info: Van Baerlestraat and Vondelpark their groceries and meet with friends. Museum Quarter, Amsterdam, There are bike rental shops throughout Other places to visit: The Sex Museum, hetvondelpark.net. the city, though many hotels also offer a Albert Cuypmarkt and the funky De Pijp district. Other places to visit at Museum Quarter: Stedelijk Museum, Concertgebouw and the bare but spacious park that spreads across the middle of the Museum Square. Canal after dark 25

Vegan Lifestyle four pieces of each of the venue’s ‘inside out’ rolls, eight pieces of maki, two gunkan Food and two nigiri. My favourite component was the Blue Ocean inside out roll, which Now, we come to the important contained vegan tuna, spring onion, white part… food! Vegan food is abundant radish and lettuce. in Amsterdam, with plenty of vegan cafés, restaurants and fast-food joints. Info: Kostverlorenstraat 11, However, we found that vegan options 1052 GS, Amsterdam, within ‘normal’ restaurants were lacking. plantbasedsushiamsterdam.com. There didn’t seem to be anything suitable on offer at any non-vegan restaurants, except the old, tired option that is chips and salad… Yet, the wealth of vegan restaurants absolutely made up for that. Here are some of my favourites. Mr Stacks than just a plain burger and fries. We Factory Girl visited the VJFB Downtown located in For a hip and healthy breakfast, brunch The ideal brunch venue, Mr Stacks is Regliersdwarsstraat, an extremely trendy or lunch make sure to stop by Factory based not too far from Rijksmuseum street in Amsterdam that is known for Girl. The restaurant concept offers an and Vondelpark. The vegan pancake its incredible LGBTQIA+ nightlife. VJFB abundance of wholesome and delicious and bubble tea eatery makes pancakes have really innovated the vegan fast-food free-from meals, with ingredients that that are true works of art, complete with scene, with their colourful Signature seek to nourish mind, body and soul. It’s a edible flowers, sesame cotton candy and Burgers, loaded Freak Fries and Zeafood. super chilled environment, complete with wonderfully arranged toppings. Both sweet For starters, my boyfriend and I shared comfy cushions, lush green plants and soft and savoury options are on offer, from the Kapsalon, French fries topped with lighting. The vegetarian eatery offers an vegan English breakfast pancakes to a VJFB Shawarma (insanely good!), cheeze, abundance of vegan options, just make cinnamon rollercoaster stack! I enjoyed the jalapeños, chilli peppers, garlic and VJFB sure to request the vegan version of each banana breakfast stack, which came with sauce. For our mains, my partner had the dish you order, as most dishes can come three grilled banana pancakes (very thick Notorious Sumo — a ‘beef’ and crunchy Fly with eggs if wanted. My partner enjoyed American-style), caramel sauce, pecans, Wings burger, whilst I enjoyed the Daddy, the Turk’s Mom, Çilbir — sautéed spinach, spiced caramelised apple, homemade which contained Crunchy Fly Wings on a dairy-free yoghurt sauce and roti bread granola, coconut yoghurt, banana-ginger pinky bun, cheeze, lettuce, tomato, pickles with herb-infused vegan butter, whilst jam, banana coulis, vanilla cream cheese and Blue Daddy Sauce. If we’d have had I enjoyed the Healthy Shakshuka, with glaze and sesame cotton candy! Honestly, room for dessert, we’d have loved to have Mediterranean bell pepper tomato I don’t think I will ever enjoy pancakes that tried VJFB’s ‘desserts in jars’! sauce, houmous, fresh herbs and sprouts, good again. sautéed mushrooms and aubergine, and Info: Reguliersdwarsstraat 57, Amsterdam, toasted sourdough. Info: Govert Flinckstraat 122, 1072 EM veganjunkfoodbar.com. Amsterdam, mrstacks.nl. Info: Saenredamstraat 32, 1072 CH Plant-Based Sushi Amsterdam, factorygirl.net Vegan Junk Food Bar (VJFB) Quite possibly the most beautiful meal I With seven branches around Europe, have ever consumed, the food at Plant- Other delicious eateries to visit: Moaz including three in Amsterdam, Vegan Based Sushi is a marvel that I’m sure even Vegan, Mastino Vegan Pizza, The Avocado Junk Food Bar is an absolute must-visit Van Gogh would have appreciated! It’s Show, Meatless District, Betty’s. for comfort food lovers who want more tucked away in a quiet residential area of the city, and quite a walk or cycle away All in all, Amsterdam is a city that is a from the main sites, but it is a journey that real treat for all the senses. It’s ideal for is well worth taking. Plant-Based Sushi a weekend getaway, although you could work to the consensus that a lot of vegan absolutely spend a week or more roaming sushi can be ‘boring’, with options at most the cobbled streets. If you love sightseeing, restaurants offering only cucumber maki food, nightlife, parks and cycling, add and similar dishes. They aim to reimagine Amsterdam to your must-visit list and go sushi; they believe that by removing the there as soon as you can! fish component, you can unlock the real potential of the cuisine. The quaint venue has six different plant-powered sushi rolls on the menu, with various gyozas and other dishes. We tried the new Katsu Seitan and the Chef’s Sushi Special for two, which included 32 pieces of expertly made sushi, 26







Vegan Lifestyle Veganism is spreading around the world Meeting RINGANA proves that even in predominantly meat-eating Austria, the vegan movement is gaining traction By Karin Ridgers Ilove reading about positive vegan planet. All of their suitable roof tiles have Why did RINGANA decide to be a vegan news from around the world. Isn’t it solar panels, and they collect rainwater brand before it was ‘on trend’? inspirational to know that globally, to flush their toilets and they have an Sustainability was a big part of RINGANA's there are likeminded people spreading impressive recycling initiative in Europe. DNA from the beginning. The products a positive vegan message? And often this is However, let’s find out more about their were vegan when the word ‘vegan’ was happening through business, too. innovative staff canteen. Eco-conservation not even existing in the minds of most was also a key factor in designing the people. But RINGANA has always been a I have been running my vegan PR RINGANA eatery. It is one of the very few trendsetter and ahead of things. business for 17 years and my vegan purely vegetarian and vegan company website VeggieVision TV for forever, and I canteens in Austria. Were people surprised or intrigued when have never known a time like this. I receive you announced RINGANA was vegan? so much exciting vegan news daily and I “Meatless dishes are simply the Vegan was not a widely-known concept send out a lot of vegan news to the media most sustainable. We also see that the at that time, so yes, people were very as well. As I write this, the ‘breaking’ vegan RINGlunch is helping to raise awareness surprised, also by the freshness of the news today is that... Marks and Spencer’ among our employees,” says their products. The concept of RINGANA was Percy Pigs are now vegan! At the same sustainability expert, Patrick Sonnleitner. totally new. time, internationally exciting vegan stories are also popping up around me. Berlin’s It has been open since the summer What skincare ingredients are the most Universities cut meat from their canteens; of 2021, inspired by RINGANA founder special or do you feel people need to the Volkswagen eatery in Wolfsburg is Ulla Wannemacher, who hasn’t eaten meat know about? replacing currywurst with plant-based since childhood. Each product contains a lot of different sausages, and even Walt Disney World ingredients — that is what makes and Disneyland are developing delicious- “We are all about freshness and them so effective. RINGANA does not sounding vegan delights. So, I was rather sustainability here at RINGANA and this is focus on one or two ‘star products’, but excited to hear that my super new client, for all of our products, the business as well on the combination of the most the pioneering skin and supplement brand as at RINGlunch,” Patrick adds. effective ingredients. RINGANA (based in Austria, ringana.com), offer their staff a free, plant-based canteen “Staff have to order the food they would Why do you feel plants are better for us at their campus called ‘RINGlunch‘. like in advance as we prepare what is than animal products? Not only are all of their skincare and needed — we always avoid waste. The We respect nature and the animals supplement products vegan — and have ingredients are fresh and very good quality and the people. We think that there been since they launched in 2003 — but the and include regional, vegetable-based, is no alternative to vegan, because of company is also carbon neutral and they Styrian dishes. We have a big salad bar, sustainability and because of effectiveness. constantly strive to do even better for the fresh soup and two menus to choose from.” I have met so many inspiring people over Although the chefs are not vegan, they the years, making a differnce to veganism are enjoying the challenge of creating though business. plant-based options for everyone to enjoy including fresh burgers and lasagnes using Without them, life would be a lot tougher soya mince. However, with a 600-people- for us, wouldn‘t it? strong team of traditionally meat-eating Austrians, at first, some decided to take in For more from their own meat at lunch time. However, this Karin, visit didn’t last long and very rarely happens veggievisiondating. now, as the food is so filling and delicious. com, veggievision. tv and mad- This plant-based canteen sounds like a promotions.com. dream to me… No cross contamination and FREE! I chat more with Patrick and the team to find out more about the brand's vegan ethics as well. 30

Breakfasts around the world DUR%XQUHGDNWKIHDVZWVRUOG Do you love trying new things? Is exploring the world through flavour your kind of thing? These recipes will get your taste buds truly titillating, showcasing breakfast delights from across the globe. Top tip: Vegan French Toast Iyhf oyaIrufoveisyeussccloeioahodcucnmeenoohaqdnunmhrau’ssdattveieainstehennenadrpadao,dna,veytwystsleroihtogriksoucecaihiicahdnkoctbhnediavbbann,aentrrogjenrteeufsesdiadasotoprdd.tcataljI,aohubklfkwincisetk.ciothtteekcnwemfa.dtouhorboiretlinrknc5fme’uk’-tyat8lliobdylkue, Serves 2 The best-ever vegan French toast recipe, made with coconut milk and spices. It’s seriously delicious and ready in minutes! • 240ml (8fl oz) coconut milk (full fat, from a can) • 2 tbsp all-purpose (plain) flour • 1 tsp ground cinnamon • 1 tsp vanilla essence • 1 tbsp sugar • 4-5 slices thick bread 1 Mix together the coconut milk, flour, cinnamon, vanilla and sugar until smooth. 2 Heat a lightly oiled pan over medium heat and wait until it’s hot. 3 Dip bread in batter on both sides and gently shake off any excess, then place on the pan. Cook for 2-5 minutes per side, or until browned and crispy. If you find the bread is browning too fast, turn down the heat a bit to help all the batter cook throughout. 4 Repeat with remaining slices and serve with maple syrup and toppings of choice! Recipe by Caitlin Conner, beplantwell.com, @plant.well. 31

Tahini, Cinnamon & 1 Place the plain flour in a large mixing batter you need to cover your pan. Cook Carob Pancakes for a further minute or two, then serve or bowl and whisk in the caster sugar, the transfer to a plate. You can either serve the Serves 4 cinnamon and half the sea salt. Make a well pancakes as you go, drizzling them with the in the middle and whisk in the milk and oil sweetened tahini and then the carob syrup Carob is a historic staple of Cypriot until smooth. It should be the consistency on top, or cook all the batter and keep them agriculture; if you haven’t tried it, it’s often of double cream — if it is a little thick add a warm on a plate in a low oven. Repeat with compared to chocolate. Carob syrup is rich, splash more milk. Leave the batter to rest all the batter, rubbing a little oil on the base and a little goes a long way! in the fridge for half an hour if possible. Put of the pan every so often. If you’ve kept the a kettle on. In a small bowl, mix the tahini pancakes warm as you’ve cooked them, • 250g (8.8oz) plain flour with three or four tablespoons of just-boiled arrange them on a platter and, when ready, • 2 tbsp caster sugar water until smooth, then stir in the vegan drizzle the tahini and carob over the lot. Try • ½ tsp ground cinnamon honey and the rest of the salt. Set aside. them with sliced banana — it works well • ¼ tsp fine sea salt with the nutty sweet tahini and rich carob. • 500ml (17.5fl oz) plant milk of choice 2 When you are ready to make your Recipe from Nistisima by Georgina Hayden (oat and almond work well) pancakes, place a large non-stick frying (Bloomsbury, £26) Photography © Kristin Perers. pan on a medium heat. Drizzle in a touch of • 2 tsp olive or vegetable oil, plus extra oil, and use kitchen paper to spread it over the pan. You don’t want too much oil, just for greasing enough to cover the base. When the pan is hot, ladle in the batter and tilt the pan so • 5 tbsp tahini it covers the base. The first pancake often • 3 tbsp vegan honey goes a bit wrong — chef’s perks for snacking • 2 tbsp carob syrup — but it will help you figure out how much • 2 bananas, optional 32

Breakfasts around the world Croissants à l’Abricot 1 Combine the milk and water in a bowl. then repeat the operation. Then refrigerate (Apricot Croissants) the dough for 20 more minutes. Mix the flour, salt, sugar and yeast separately Makes 8 and add to the mixture. Finally, add the 5 Roll out the dough into a 30cm diameter melted margarine. Knead briefly with a Croissants are said to be named after the mixer fitted with a dough hook on low speed circle. Cut the circle into 8 wedges (like pizza crescent moon, which they resemble. for about 1 minute (add a little water or slices). Put 1 teaspoon of apricot jam in the Although they’re time-consuming to make, flour if necessary). Roll the dough into a ball, centre of a wedge and roll it up from the you’ll be rewarded by their incomparably transfer to a bowl greased with oil and rest bottom, turning the pointed sides slightly soft and flaky texture. for at least 6 hours in the refrigerator. inwards. Tuck the end under the croissant, pressing firmly, to prevent it from coming • 500g (1.1lb) vegan leavened laminated 2 Next, cut the cold margarine into small loose while baking. Rest the croissants 2-3 hours on a baking tray lined with (croissant or Danish) pastry dough pieces and knead with a teaspoon of flour. baking parchment. (see below) Work quickly to prevent the margarine becoming too soft. Put the margarine on 6 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas • 8 tbsp apricot jam a sheet of aluminium foil and shape into a • Vegan cream, for glazing 15cm square about 5mm in thickness. Wrap 4. Brush the croissants with a little vegan it in foil and rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour. cream to give them a nice golden colour For the dough: when baked. Bake for 20-25 minutes on the • 225g (7.9oz) flour 3 Roll out the dough on a floured work middle shelf, until golden. • 1 pinch salt • 20g (0.7oz) sugar surface into roughly 30 x 20cm rectangle. Lay Recipe from Vegan Recipes from France by • ½ sachet dry yeast the margarine square on the left side of the Kristina Arnold (published by Grub Street). • 75ml (2.5fl oz) soya milk dough and fold the right side over to encase • 80ml (2.7fl oz) cold water it. Seal the edges well. Use a rolling pin to • 10g (0.3oz) high-quality vegan carefully roll out the dough into a 40x20cm sheet. Fold the right and left edges over into margarine, melted the middle and rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. • 125g (4.4oz) high-quality vegan 4 Place the dough on a floured work margarine, cold surface. Carefully roll it out again to a • 1 tsp plain flour 40x20cm sheet then and fold it into thirds. Rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes and 33

Gallo Pinto with Creamy Scrambled Tofu Serves 4-6 This is a plant-based take on a flavourful Costa Rican classic that’s often served for breakfast. It’s made with rice, beans and veggies in a distinctly delicious sauce. Serve with scrambled tofu and sliced avocado. For the gallo pinto: • 2 tbsp oil of choice • 1 onion, diced • 1 red bell pepper, diced • ½ tsp cumin • ¼ tsp smoked paprika • ⅛ tsp cayenne • Salt, to taste • 350g (12.3oz) cooked rice • 540g (19oz) tinned black beans, rinsed • 80-120ml (2.7-4fl oz) salsa Lizano • 1 bunch coriander, chopped • Avocado, sliced For the tofu scramble: • 1 package medium-firm tofu • 2 tbsp vegan butter • 5 tbsp full fat coconut milk • ½ tsp garlic powder • ¼ tsp turmeric • ½ tsp pepper • ½ tbsp nutritional yeast • ½ tsp onion powder • ½ tsp salt, or to taste 1 To make the gallo pinto, in a frying pan over medium-high heat, cook onion and peppers. Season and add cumin, smoked paprika and cayenne. Stir to combine. 2 Stir in rice, beans and salsa Lizano. Cook for an additional few minutes, stirring to ensure everything is combined. 3 For the scrambled tofu, in a frying pan, heat vegan butter. Crumble tofu into pan and cook for a few minutes. 4 In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour over tofu and stir to combine. Cook for a few more minutes, until sauce is absorbed by tofu. 5 Taste, adjust seasoning to your preference. 6 Serve gallo pinto and scrambled tofu together, with coriander and sliced avocado. Recipe by Mori Cruikshanks, @realizing_fitness. 34

Breakfasts around the world Huevos con Chorizo evenly coated, then add to the skillet. boiled water, cover with a lid, and let them rehydrate for 10-15 minutes, or until soft Serves 4 5 When the tofu is heated (about 3-4 and pliable. Drain and add them to a blender. This Mexican ‘sausage and egg’ dish is easy minutes), season with black salt and to throw together and is filled with spicy, regular sea salt to taste. Lastly, mix in hot 2 In a dry skillet over low-medium heat, ‘meaty’ and savoury flavours. sauce (if using). toast the whole coriander seeds until • 400g (14.1oz) firm tofu 6 Serve immediately on its own or with fragrant. Once toasted, add them to the • 315g (11.1oz) vegan chorizo (see recipe) blender along with cayenne, oregano, • 1 tbsp olive oil corn tortillas, in a burrito with refried beans, cumin, cloves, salt, tamari, soy sauce, apple • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast coriander, avocado slices, queso fresco, etc. cider vinegar, and water. Mix on high until • ½ tsp turmeric powder Happy eating! smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings to • 1 tsp black salt your preference. • Sea salt to taste Vegan Chorizo • 1 tbsp hot sauce (optional) 3 Pour the chile mixture through a mesh Serves 6 To serve (optional): strainer into a bowl (make sure to work it Corn tortillas, refried beans, coriander, • 5 ancho chiles through with a spoon or spatula). Set aside. avocado slices, queso fresco • ½ tsp coriander seeds • 1 tsp cayenne 4 Heat 3 tablespoon of coconut oil over 1 First, drain and press the tofu between • ½ tbsp Mexican oregano • 1 tsp cumin low-medium in a small frying pan. Sauté the two hard surfaces with a heavy object on • 3 whole cloves minced garlic for 1-2 minutes, then add in top for about 15-20 minutes. • 3 tbsp tamari the dried TVP and stir to coat in the oil. • 4 tbsp apple cider vinegar 2 In the meantime, prepare a batch of • 355ml (12fl oz) water 5 Add in half of the marinade and cook until • 1 tsp salt homemade vegan chorizo (or use store- • 1 tsp cracked black pepper most of the liquid is absorbed. Then, pour in bought if you prefer). Transfer to a container • 3 tbsp refined coconut oil the rest of the marinade and finish cooking and set aside. • 6 cloves garlic until no liquid remains, about 15 minutes. • 290g (10.2oz) textured vegetable Taste and adjust the salt and pepper level to 3 Head olive oil in a large skillet over your liking. protein (TVP) medium. Add in the chorizo and warm it for 6 Serve your chorizo in recipes like papas 2-3 minutes (if it isn’t already hot). 1 De-stem and shake the seeds out of con chorizo, quesadillas, soups, stews, 4 In a mixing bowl, crumble the tofu, then all the dried chiles. Add them to a pot or sopes, empanadas, or tamales. add nutritional yeast and turmeric. Stir until Recipe by Mitch & Justine from Broke Bank Vegan, brokebankvegan.com, @brokebankvegan. 35

Peruvian Sweet Potato Bread Vegan Black Pudding Makes 8 Serves 8 A beautifully sweet bread with a soft and fluffy interior that pairs perfectly with smashed avocado and a dash of chilli sauce. Traditional black pudding is not vegan-friendly in the slightest, but if • 300g (10.5oz) sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes you want to include it in a plant-based fried up, try this recipe! • 75ml (2.5fl oz) warm water • 7g yeast • 65g (2.3oz) pearl barley, well-rinsed • 1 tsp coconut sugar • 240ml (8fl oz) water • 300g (10.5oz) strong white bread flour • 2 tsp brown miso paste • 1 tsp salt • 1 tsp bouillon powder • Coconut oil, for greasing • 1 tbsp olive oil 1 Boil your sweet potato cubes for 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly. • 100g (3.5oz) chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped 2 Mash your sweet potato and let it cool to room temperature. • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped 3 Mix your water, yeast and coconut sugar together. Your water • 1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped should be around body temperature (i.e. if you touch it, it doesn’t feel • 400g (14.1oz) tin black beans, drained and rinsed hot or cold). Leave the mixture to froth for 10 minutes. • 35g (1.2oz) gluten-free oats 4 Mix your yeast mixture with your cooled mashed potatoes in a • 1 tsp dried thyme large bowl. • 1 tsp onion salt 5 Add your flour and salt together to a separate bowl and stir • ½ tsp grated nutmeg until combined. • ½ tsp allspice 6 Add your flour mixture to your sweet potato mixture, a little at a • 1 tsp sea salt time and stir it in until fully combined into a dough. • 1 tsp (or to taste) black pepper 7 Knead your dough for 10 minutes. • 2 tbsp rice flour 8 Put your dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with cling film and • 2 tbsp activated charcoal powder (optional) leave it in a warm spot to prove for one hour. 9 Roll your dough out to around 2cm thick. Cut out or shape 8 rolls 1 Place the barley in a saucepan with the water and add the miso and place them on a lightly floured tray. 10 Cover the tray with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to prove and bouillon. Bring to a simmer and cook for around 45 minutes, or for 30 minutes. until just tender — but not mushy. A lot of the water should have been 11 Heat your oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 and bake your rolls for absorbed, with a little still remaining. Don’t drain. around 15 minutes until golden on top and giving a hollow sound when you tap them on a base. 2 Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the 12 Place on a cooling rack and enjoy warm or lightly toasted with avocado and chilli sauce. mushrooms, garlic and onions with a pinch of salt. Fry for 5 minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated. Recipe by Tara, aveganvisit.com, @aveganvisit. 3 Once the mushroom mixture is cooked, scrape into a food 36 processor. Add all the remaining ingredients and pulse until everything is combined, but still holds some texture. 4 Preheat the oven to 165°C/325°F/Gas 3. Scrape the mixture onto a large sheet of foil and carefully roll up to make a large sausage shape. Twist the ends to seal, before baking in the oven for 1 hour. 5 Once cooked, remove the package from the oven and set aside to cool, if time allows. The sausage will firm up as it cools, making it much easier to slice. 6 Fry the sliced black pudding in a splash of oil until piping hot and serve Recipe by Vegan Life in-house chefs.



Vegan Lifestyle Have you got your ticket to the UK’s biggest outdoor vegan event? Vegan Camp Out has returned for 2022 — here, we reveal what the event will entail and how you can attend If you haven’t yet heard of Vegan Camp Conscious Candy Co, Wholesome Junkies, money or other valuables in your tent Out (where have you been hiding?!), DÁPPA, Frost Burgers, Döner Summer, in the day. You can get portable phone it is the UK’s biggest outdoor vegan VFC and One Planet Pizza. Make sure you chargers that last you an entire weekend, event. Over three days and nights, attend with an empty stomach! charging your phone a good four times! there will be camping, talks, live music, When you sleep put your valuables at the afterparties, yoga and meditation classes Line-up bottom of your sleeping bag. Thefts are and the UK’s best vegan food. Take it from rare, but it’s best to be safe than sorry. us — it’s an event you do not want to miss The guest list of performers for 2022 is out on. bigger and better than ever. Special guests • Not every stall will take card payments will include Earthling Ed, actress Evanna When, where are how? Lynch (Luna Lovegood), comedian Simon and don’t rely on a close-by ATM machine • When: July 15th — 18th Amstell, Lucy Watson, Avant-Garde Vegan either. Plan those pennies in advance and • Where: Stanford Hall, Leicestershire, UK (Gaz Oakley), rapper JME, Bimini Bon- get enough to enjoy yourself. • How to buy tickets: Boulash, Matt Pritchard, Macka B, Preacher Lawson, Heather Mills, Nimai Delgado and • Other important camping must-haves vegancampout.co.uk. The ticket includes many more! your camping spot for the whole that are usually forgotten are the everyday weekend, and parking passes can be What should we bring? essentials that you don’t think about! bought from the Vegan Camp Out ticket • When it comes to a tent, it’s worth Toothpaste, hand soap, toothbrush, page along with caravan passes also. Sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, mirror, spending that little bit extra on the hairbrush, baby wipes (eco-friendly ones), What can we expect? one thing that comes between you toilet roll — just in case the loos happen and the unpredictable English weather to run out. This year, Vegan Camp Out added an extra when camping. Split the cost with your day to the festival, so that people can come friends and get a tent that’s comfy and • A raincoat is always a good one to bring and get set up on the Friday without having practical. An airbed is that little bit of to rush, with entertainment not starting until luxury after a long day of fun too, and in case the rain starts. Speaking of water the Saturday! The event is also being hosted remember it gets cold when the sun — a water carrier to keep by your tent is at a new venue, which has much more of a goes down, so take a few extra layers! always handy too! proper ‘festival feel’, including woodlands and a lake (which people can swim in!). • Bringing earplugs means you are more What are Vegan Camp Out’s environmental policies? Food likely to get a decent night’s sleep • All waste produced on-site is recycled. whenever you decide to call it a night. • All food vendors are 100 per cent Foodies, listen up! There will be 60 incredible food vendors including Purezza, • Bring a camping chair to have something plastic-free. Unity Diner, What The Pitta, Halo Burger, comfortable to sit on. • They have a car share page (GoCarShare), • If there are things that you can leave at so people can lift share from all around the country, enabling you to reduce your home, then do! Avoid leaving your phone, impact on the environment and save yourself some money on transport. 38



Vegan Lifestyle 5statement VXÏHUEDJV Gorgeous handbags for eco-fashionistas By Victoria Featherstone Pearce  For many fashion-lovers, a handbag is not just a vessel for carrying things, but an extension of who you are as a person, encapsulating your style, ethos and personality. Whilst many bags are made from leather and other harmful materials, there are so many emerging brands who put animals and planet at the forefront of their design. Here, I share five beautiful, ethical handbags for stylish vegans to make a statement with. It’s cool to be kind.  LaBante The Bella Bag £112, labante.com Say ‘hello’ to summer and bring sunshine to any outfit with the Bella Bag. This adorable accessory transforms from a handheld bag to a crossbody by simply using detachable and adjustable straps. Featuring a red recycled plastic bottle lining interior, it is a multi-functional bag that includes an inside zipper pocket, as well as key and phone compartments. Wear Bella to work or during your day-out — it’s the perfect sustainable accessory. Solong Marianne  Camargue Handbag  £495, solongmarianne.com Solong Marianne’s Camargue Handbag will add sophistication and timeless style to any wardrobe. The stunning little black number is made from eco-friendly and PETA-approved vegan leather and features chained shoulder straps, which allow the handle to be worn long or short, making this bag as versatile as it is beautiful. It is truly a must-have for any luxury eco fashion lover. I’m really excited to see where Solong Marianne goes, founded by two vegan model activists.  40

Vegan Lifestyle Vendula Posh Paws Spa Grace Bag £120, vendulalondon.com How spectacular is this bag?! I’m continuously blown away by Vendula, who bring uniqueness and fun to vegan fashion accessories in a very stylish way.  The Posh Paws Spa Grace Bag looks stunning in a blue faux croc textured vegan leather. It is easy to carry, thanks to the comfortable handle and detachable strap, and has plenty of room for your essentials.  Being a dog mum myself to seven rescue dogs, I fell in love with the Posh Paws range but honestly, all Vendula bags are unreal. If you like to stand out from the crowd with unique fashion pieces, then Vendula is a brand to check out.  STORY 81 Georgia Tote £125, storyeightyone.com Newly discovered ethical brand STORY 81 is contemporary, cruelty- free and vegan. The brand’s mindful objective is to offer kinder alternatives to leather bags, while remaining timeless. Kindness and style go hand in hand with this modern and sophisticated bag — it’s designed and made with the conscious consumer in mind. With a roomy interior to fit all your daily essentials and an interior zip pocket for securing smaller items, Georgia offers plenty of space for everything you want to carry. Fabrikk  Vela LED Cork Handbag  £385, fabrikk.co.uk You may recall, I’ve raved about this fabulous brand before. Fabrikk’s range of cork items is extensive and it’s only now I’ve discovered their cork handbags. The Vela LED Cork Handbag is not only beautiful but practical too. The Vela can be worn over the shoulder or cross-body, made from cork ‘leather’. This bag also features the latest technology in luxury LED illuminating materials inside to help you find things at night. Inspired by the emerging world of new tech materials, the Vela’s internal lining material automatically switches on when the bag is opened and gives off an attractive subtle glow for assisted vision at night. How cool is that? Do check out Fabrikk. I’m sure you’ll be as impressed as I am in this wonderful brand that offers eco chic.  For more from Victoria Featherstone Pearce, K-9 Angels co-founder, director and trustee visit IG @victoriapearcewriter and k-9angels.org. 41

Vegan Lifestyle Pros and cons QofRQeatYiHnJgDiQn UHVWDXUDQWV How do our dining-out choices impact the vegan movement and our local communities? By Sean O’Callahan If you are looking to dine out in a non- sandwiches for the trip! We can grab a that budget and moderately priced food vegan restaurant chain in 2022, you takeaway sandwich and snack at the train chains have vegan options, us plant eaters are absolutely swamped by choice. station. We no longer have to feel like don’t have to solely rely on independent Take your pick from pizza, fast food social outcasts and can fit in with other eateries where prices are often a little bit burgers, quick-grab savoury pastries, people’s plans. Remember the days of higher. This is good news if you are feeding ready-made sandwiches, sushi, soup, and not being able to eat anything at a family a family on not a lot of money. pretty much any other type of cuisine you dinner or friendly get-together because can imagine. It is becoming uncommon there was actually nothing on the menu But how about the cons of vegan food for a mainstream restaurant NOT to offer a for vegans? I used to meet up with friends being everywhere and more affordable? plant-based menu in addition to the non- for drinks after they had all eaten because Is there a downside? There is always a vegan food. the constant comments about me not risk of being served non-vegan food in eating were too much to handle. Now, error when you dine in an establishment Of course, this overwhelming choice for we have a mountain of places to suggest that isn’t completely plant-based. It has vegan consumers has been an incredible when we get asked where we should all probably happened to a lot of us and is development these past few years, but go for a meal. It can be more affordable understandably upsetting if it gets to the are we also acknowledging the downside to dine out as a vegan these days. Now point of eating the food before you realise of so much plant-based food being at our the mistake. The way restaurant workers fingertips? Let’s start this discussion by looking at the pros of the vegan revolution “Remember the days of not being of mainstream restaurant menus. able to eat anything at a family It has never been easier to eat vegan and this is definitely a good thing. When dinner or friendly get-together it is not an enormous struggle to find food, remaining committed to veganism because there was actually nothing and convincing other people to give it a go becomes simpler. We no longer have ”on the menu for vegans? to get up an extra half hour early before a long train journey in order to make 42

Vegan Lifestyle are forced to serve huge quantities of locally and hire local tradespeople. A food under stressful conditions means we meal-deal from a huge chain means your will often see cases of vegan/non-vegan money takes a trip out of town and never mix ups with orders. Another downside comes back, leaving your community of spending our hard-earned cash in that little bit poorer. So, while eating at non-vegan restaurants is the fact we are Burger King or Papa Johns because it is financially supporting businesses that still a much easier and often more affordable do contribute to animal suffering. The option, we can also ask ourselves if it is only sure-fire way to break that cycle is always the best choice we can make as to dine with independently owned compassionate consumers. vegan restaurants. We do have to think of the bigger picture Getting excited about cheap vegan and how our choices impact the world food in massive chain restaurants is around us. For the animals, the planet, understandable but we need to remember and the people in our communities. that large corporations often have bad track records when it comes to looking Follow Sean’s vegan after employees. If your vegan nuggets adventures on seem like a good price, you can be certain Instagram that someone somewhere is not making @fatgayvegan. a lot of money to be involved in their production. Fast food workers all over the “Another downside of spending planet have been struggling for decades to get wages raised to an acceptable money with multinational eateries level. Another downside of spending is the money you spend leaves your money with multinational eateries is the money you spend leaves your community ”community forever forever. When we dine with independent local businesses our money stays in the community and is spent by the owners to pay local wages, shop for ingredients 14, 15, 16 October, 2022 - Alexandra Palace, LONDON Come and join us at Mind Body Soul. Be kind, be active, be positive, be empowered, achieve your goal. To book tickets and for full details about the show visit MindBodySoul.show 43

Vegan Lifestyle How vegan is your bank? One area we perhaps don’t think about through the vegan lens is banking, saving and investment By Will Rankin We all need a bank account, projects but the nature of the projects For example, Charity Bank is the world’s right — but have you frequently means displacing animals, first not-for-profit bank. Its ethical purpose considered how vegan your devastating the natural environment and is to only invest its savers’ money in bank is? Have you ever displacing indigenous people. As one of charities and social purpose organisations, thought about what the big banks invest the climate chaos report’s authors, Alison and although it currently only offers in? What about sustainability? Your bank’s Kirsch, climate and energy lead researcher savings accounts and loans, it bodes well ethical stance? Yes, we should simply all be at the Rainforest Action Network, told The for the more ethical future of banking. vegan for the animals, but intrinsic to that Independent: “UK banks are a really big Meanwhile, Triodos Bank positions itself is a need to protect the environment — the part of the problem.” as a community with a mission to “make animals’ habitat. Taking your vegan beliefs money work for positive change.” It lends beyond food and shopping is important, They fund agriculture, aviation, road to projects that are of benefit to people and so who you bank with is worth transport, mining, plastics, forestry and the environment, and it is currently thinking about for a moment. and paper production, construction funding pan-European projects to the and shipping. Big bank boardrooms are value of £8.5 billion GBP. It’s a fully-fledged Today, there are more and more small, also full of people working directly for B Corp, and its debit cards are even made digital-only banks setting up. While the new some of the world’s most problematic of plant-based materials. banks provide more consumer choice, it’s companies, too. In fact, an investigation also easier than ever to switch banks, and by environmental blog DeSmog revealed Nationwide Building Society has always a great opportunity to help bring about that 50 out of the 64 current directors been answerable to its ‘members’, so positive change by voting with your wallet. of Barclays, HSBC, NatWest, Lloyds and operates to a higher ethical degree than Standard Chartered have a past or current other institutions, and could be described The villains connection with some sort of “highly as among the best of a bad bunch. Co-op Did you know UK-headquartered HSBC polluting” industry. Bank is one of the few long-established is among the largest global financiers High Street banks with a transparent, of fossil fuels in the world? An industry It’s clear that the big banks are comprehensive lending policy, but it was report, ‘Banking on Climate Chaos’ entrenched in funding a great deal of bought out by US hedge funds some years suggests HSBC has delivered $110.7 business which doesn’t sit well with ago, which muddies the waters in terms of billion USD in financing to fossil fuels vegans. So, why would you keep your its indirect investment dealings. since the Paris climate agreement was money with them? But wait — there is signed in late 2015. In fact, in the years hope. There are good players emerging in When considering your options, look since the Paris Agreement, the world’s 60 the new digital era of banking. for banks that display industry marks and biggest banks have financed fossil fuels accreditations, such as the Good Shopping to the tune of $3.8 trillion USD, according The good guys Guide, Responsible Finance Provider, B to the report. And Barclays is Europe’s First up, don’t be swayed by Corp, The Social Enterprise Mark, Social largest financier of fossil fuels. Barclays ‘greenwashing.’ Some banks might wax Enterprise UK and the Global Alliance for apparently supplied £105 billion GBP in lyrical about using solar power, switching Banking on Values. finance for fossil fuel projects from 2016 to to recycled paper and only delivering 2020, according to the report — including statements and letters by email; but these Just like voting with your wallet on £20 billion GBP in 2020 alone. Meanwhile, are tokens compared to the devastating the High Street, we can make a dramatic NatWest provided £10 billion GBP over effect of their long-term funding of impact on the way banks operate by the same time period, Standard Chartered environmentally-damaging projects. leaving those organisations which don’t provided £23 billion GBP and Lloyds Secondly, don’t be overwhelmed by have a transparent, ethical approach to provided £2.5 billion GBP. Santander is a choice. A great place to start is the website business. While they continue to fund huge major funder of the oil and gas industry, switchit.green which can help you discover global ‘Big Ag’, oil and gas, weaponry and and also a key financier to JBS, Brazil’s how bad (or good) your current bank is, other unethical sectors, we need to show biggest beef producer, which is the largest with its rating system. And if and when them we mean business by taking our emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the you decide to switch banks, hit up this UK business elsewhere. global meat and dairy sector. switching website (currentaccountswitch. co.uk), which makes it dead easy to do. Will Rankin is a writer and editor. He runs a This project funding by the big banks tiny vegan PR company, is not only often in support of fossil fuel The winds of change are knocking the londonveganpr.com. He keeps his money big High Street banks off their pedestals. in an empty nooch pot under the bed.  44



Vegan Lifestyle %HtDheXW\\edit The vegan products you need on your radar this month Friendly Soap The Cheeky Panda Travel Collection Bamboo Beauty Wipes Wherever summer may take you, don’t Eco-friendly and plastic-free leave home without this wonderful kit bamboo beauty wipes in three for washing, shaving and even cleaning varieties: unscented, coconut clothes. It’s plant-based, plastic-free and and rose. They are cruelty-free, kind to the environment too, so you’ll feel vegan certified, compostable and as good as you look. biodegradable.   £9.95, friendlysoap.co.uk Exclusive Vegan Life offer: Face Halo Original Face Halo Pads buy a bundle pack of one of each of the three The Cheeky Using only water, these reusable, Panda beauty wipes and save 33 per cent (until July 31st 2022), washable pads allow you to remove uk.cheekypanda.com/products/ make-up and cleanse skin in an instant. vegan-life £18, facehalo.com BENECOS Nailberry Westlab Green Tea BIO Shower Gel L'Oxygéné Lacquer Cleanse and Refresh Bath Salts A zingy shower gel made with in ‘Jazz Me Up’ With lemongrass and pink grapefruit protective organic green tea extract, nourishing organic apple juice and A vegan, cruelty-free and non-toxic essential oils and seaweed extracts, nail varnish in a punchy, playful and plant-based compounds. these salts will whisk you away to a £10.95, benecos.uk reddish-pink tone that’s perfect for summer. calmer place. Floral Street Wonderland Peonie Gift Set £15, nailberry.co.uk £7.99, westlabsalts.co.uk A gorgeous gift box featuring the dreamy Botanical Lab Wonderland Peony scent in two sizes, Indian Clay + Salicylic 50ml and 10ml (ideal for travel). Non-Foaming Cleanser £72, floralstreet.com Deeply cleanse and care for oily, 46 combination, or blemish-prone skin with this all-natural cleanser. £6.99, amazon.co.uk

Kelsey Raspberry Farms Full Bloom Lifting & Plumping Concentrate  Made from raspberries that would have otherwise been discarded, this concentrate will help skin to achieve a youthful complexion. £95, kelseyraspberryfarms.com Organically Epic Certified Organic Brightening Antioxidant Toothpaste Brighten teeth, freshen breath and fight cavities with this toothpaste that’s packed full of yummy ingredients like aloe vera, papaya, peppermint and cranberry. £14.95, organicallyepic.uk Mono Skincare We chat to Laurie Mias, the founder of refillable beauty brand, Mono Skincare Hi Laurie! Why did you Talk us through your latest start MONO? product, Makeup Meltaway. I wanted to stop single-use plastic in the It is the first make up remover that comes skincare industry and offer natural and in a tablet form, as do all our products; micro-plastic-free formulas that actually it’s forever refillable and completely work. To rewrite the ‘codes’, as with natural. It removes all traces of make-up, any widespread change, it requires an even waterproof mascara, and leaves the innovation, something that says, ‘We are skin moisturised and silky soft. The scent drastically different’, and a market to of freshly squeezed orange juice is also adopt this innovation, of course. I believe delicious and very enjoyable. the time is right for such a disruption — we must stop single-use plastic in the MONO Skincare beauty industry. Neroli Refillable Deodorant What makes you different Hit ‘refresh’ with this innovative herbal to other beauty companies deodorant that’s sustainably made, 100 out there? per cent natural and baking-soda free. We are unique in the industry because we £23, monoskincare.com are the first and only brand to offer skincare tablets. It has never been done before and we patented this innovation worldwide in 2020 for the next 20 years. We are also different in our formulation approach — we use 100 per cent natural ingredients (which is very rare in cosmetics), no micro-plastic (meaning no PAA, no carbomers… also, very rare in skincare, sadly) and we are cosmeceuticals: meaning our ingredients are pharmaceutical grade (pure) and in higher concentration to actually work.

Vegan Lifestyle All images Copyright Ecotricity Cars, diamonds and the darker side RIWKHHQHUJ\\LQGXVWU\\ Following on from last month’s issue, Maria Slough talks with Dale Vince about the energy sector's best kept secrets and his innovative new project, 'Sky Diamonds' 48

Vegan Lifestyle There are several ‘green’ energy green in that respect.” watershed. All video was handed over to companies out there touting The need for transparency in the energy the police for investigation. for our business, but like many things in life, the choices being industry, like most things in life, is vital for “At the time, the story got a lot of offered are not always what they seem. the public to make informed decisions and attention,” says Dale, “it even got the Following on from last month, I continue is the main reason I wanted to write this chairman of Centrica to call me to thank my conversation with Dale Vince and look two-part energy piece. Does green always me for opening his eyes, as Centrica was deeper into the workings of Ecotricity, a mean green? The answer is no. Back in one of the companies buying the power self-confessed unconventional company 2018, Ecotricity uncovered the fact that from one of the places where the dogs were that exist to change the way that energy animal ‘by-products’ from factory farms being burned. He went public saying that is made in Britain, and who are in the — the bodies of pigs, cows and fish — were he wouldn’t cancel the contract but when process of becoming the world’s only vegan being used to make electricity and gas. it ran out Centrica would not be renewing certified energy company. that contract. That was a small win.” “A crew approached us more recently “Ecotricity are the only people that with a new angle on the story from 2018,” There has been a big push in recent build,” says Dale. “Everyone else is trading explains Dale. “And in February of this year, months to ‘go electric’ when buying a bits of paper and they are all engaged in a ITV News at 10 broadcast the staggering new car, with government grants and degree of greenwashing. Ecotricity follow a findings of an undercover team that driven ad campaigns, but with the recent ‘bills into mills’ model, they take customers’ revealed that murdered hunt dogs, a escalation in electric prices where does energy bill money and use it to build stuff. sport that has been illegal for more than that leave the consumer? As a mission led, hybrid-of-an-organisation, 10 years are being burned and used to like an NGO, the company are using the power British homes (6,000 a year are “The thing is oil and gas are going up at tools of business to bring about change.” bred and killed). Ecotricity supported the least as much. Diesel is forecast to reach undercover investigation.” £3 a gallon before very long, so it isn’t just With so many companies forced into electric prices rising. The electric car gives liquidation, I wonder, what was Ecotricity Puppies and adult dogs of around five us access to power at home which is far doing before this crisis hit to give it such years old, who are deemed unsuitable for cheaper than the electricity that you can stability to navigate where we are now? hunting, are shot and thrown in bins that buy on the road, but even that electricity are taken to power stations. Captured is cheaper than the oil and gas you would “Good question! Ultimately, the thing covertly over a six-month period in 2021, buy on the road at a filling station. You are that saved Ecotricity was the fact that they footage showed foxes, badgers and talking about 1.5p a mile for electric cars are green. They make 20 per cent of their partridges from shoots also being dumped compared to 10/15p a mile, so an electric own electricity, and that was a big boost into bins. The resulting electricity is being car is about a tenth of the running costs for sure, but they got derogated from the supplied to homes and businesses by pre-crisis. That’s not going to change.” price cap by Ofgem. When Ofgem were several providers — including British Gas controlling the price of everybody else and and Eon. The footage also uncovered What about the cars themselves? making them sell energy for less evidence of animal cruelty and multiple “Like with most change, it starts at the than they were buying it for, which forced rule breaches. A kennel worker was filmed luxury end of the market as it did with 30 companies out of business, stranded bouncing on the stomach of a dead cow mobile phones and laptops, but electric four million customers and racked up while making a phone call, while another cars are getting cheaper now and the a rising bill to the public for five billion, drove a quad bike back and forth over a normal range is about 300 miles. The car Ecotricity were able to keep up, so they dead cow. The footage was so shocking industry itself has said that within about were able to save themselves by being that ITV had to show its report after the 12 months the cost of buying an electric car will be comparable and the overall running costs has been cheaper for years. In an electric car you have about six moving 49

Vegan Lifestyle parts whereas in a conventional car you talking burgers, cars and football and now the climate.” have over 300. You never have to replace we can add diamonds to that list, it is just So, in your opinion have we left it too a gear box or clutch with an electric car. about doing things differently.” Ford have got a Focus and VW have got late? “No, I never think that. We need a a E Golf but there are some 50 models to These amazing quality stones boast government that understands green issues choose from now and nearly every major such a special background as their only and does something. That is crucial. We car manufacturer in the world has said that ingredients are the wind, the sun and the have all got the tools we need and the they will stop manufacturing petrol and rain and carbon from the atmosphere. technology. Fighting the climate crisis diesel cars within about 10 years, so the just becomes the icing on the cake for all writing is on the wall.” “The process is carbon negative, which the great economic and human benefits is an industrial first. We didn’t do it to that we can get from the green industrial As individual consumers we can all start challenge industry, but it is a challenge to revolution. It is not too late, but we have making choices but surely industry needs industry now to say that we need to design got to get cracking.” to start making choices on a large scale industrial processes like this. The air that to really effect change? Did you launch we put back into the atmosphere is cleaner “The process is the ‘Sky Diamond’ to send a message to than the air we took out and our process industries like the diamond industries? is carbon negative by design, no bolt on carbon negative, “It came about through some random offset. We need to end diamond mining which is an thinking, as an environmentalist, about of the earth because we can mine them carbon capture and the different ways we from the sky. What we avoid is the release ”industrial first could take carbon from the atmosphere. of an amazing amount of carbon from the At some point we will get to zero emissions, destructive process of mining, which we Follow Maria’s but we will still have too much carbon don’t need to do. There is ‘another way’ for photography in the atmosphere. Taking it out of the that, as we like to say.” journey at atmosphere is only half the job and at mariaslough some point, you have to actually lock it Which industry is the biggest offender photography.com up and the obvious thought was the most contributing to the climate crisis? and Instagram permanent form of carbon that we know Food? Travel? @mariaslough_ of is a diamond. It took about seven years of research and development and we “International green air travel can be discovered that there is not a lot of carbon achieved within 10 years for short haul in a diamond but what there is, is actually a flights of 500 miles or so, but I think farming lot of avoided carbon in not mining for that and fossil fuels are probably neck and neck diamond. So, in a one carat stone, which in terms of their impact. Farming robs is a th of a gram in weight there is about wildlife of so much land and is robbing 4g of carbon dioxide that we extract from us of biodiversity. We are facing this sixth the atmosphere and turn into that stone. great extinction because of our eating The process uses a sky mining facility to habits. Fossil fuels are neck and neck for pull carbon out of the atmosphere, with climate emissions, but they don’t have that wind and sun providing the energy. That wildlife issue that farming animals does. It same stone dug conventionally will require is incredibly wasteful to grow crops to feed the digging of 1,100 tonnes of rock, the animals to feed humans. It is economic displacement of 30 tonnes of toxic metal madness with diminishing returns, and that sits around in the environment, the it pollutes our bodies not to mention creation of half a tonne of greenhouse gas and the consumption of about 5,000 litres of water and that is before you get to the social impacts. The process also reuses collected rainwater. We are in the habit of saying that this life that we need to live is not about giving things up, whether you are “We need a government that understands green issues and does something. That ”is crucial 50