Veganuary: all aboard?

Worthy? Nonsense? Helpful? Misleading? All of the above? Or none?

Here’s the Dopsu take.

January is, traditionally speaking, a time of change and resolution. People looking ahead rather than back. People trying, in one way or another, to be a little better.

Which is where Veganuary comes in – it fits neatly into that context in lots of ways.

That said, these days it’s easy just to be like: WOW VEGANUARY IS HUGE! And then forget how it actually relates to things.

But, as a flexitarian brand we think about these things. A lot!

Here’s our take on it, both good and bad.

We’re into Veganuary because…

… it can be a starting point for those who are interested in changing their diets (and eating less meat) and gives people the chance to try plant-based food (that they might not have otherwise).

… it can demonstrate that eating less meat is actually much easier than they might have thought. It’s not necessarily a lifestyle change unless you want it to be.

… it helps create a conversation, and even a sense of community, around how we eat. That seems healthy and positive, regardless of where you are on the meat/vegan spectrum.

We’re not into Veganuary because…

… the good things sometimes get lost behind the term – it sounds like a bigger change or challenge than it needs to be, and that might put people off, especially those who might want to make a smaller, more incremental change.

… sometimes it gives people a sense that a box has been ticked. Instead of making longer term and sustainable changes to diet, by ‘completing’ Veganuary they then get a free pass for the rest of the year. As we mentioned above, those months still help, but it’s kinda missing the point!

So, all in, a bit complicated. At Dopsu we’ll still be getting involved with the idea to try and be part of what we think are the good bits. But we suppose we just wish it wasn’t called Veganuary.

Maybe Flexanuary?

Or Small-But-Easy-And-Totally-Sustainable-Meat-Reducing-Changes-To-Your-Everyday-Diet-That-You-Can-Do-For-A-Lot-Longer-Than-A-Month-uary?

That could work as a hashtag, right?