Inspiring a Vegan Lifestyle: Matthew Glover | OYNB 048

One of the best reasons to change your relationship with alcohol is that it’s an effective method of improving your health. Another way to improve your health is to change your relationship with food. Many people have found that the health benefits of going vegan, or even simply reducing how much meat they eat, can dramatically improve overall health. Going vegan is also good for animals and the planet as a whole. Today’s guest is interested in encouraging more people to give veganism a try.

Matthew Glover is the co-founder of Veganuary, a campaign that’s similar to Dry January, but for veganism. People who sign up for Veganuary get 31 emails in 31 days that help them explore the vegan lifestyle. Veganuary provides practical advice like how to stock your cupboards, where to get food and how to read labels to determine if food is really vegan, how to order vegan food in different types of restaurants, and how to deal with social situations where you may find yourself needing to answer curious questions or explain your choices. 

“If you want to target vegans, you call it vegan mayo. If you want to target the rest of the population, and the flexitarians, those people who are looking to reduce their consumption of animal products, then very much plant-based is the way to go with it.” 

Veganuary 2018 was the 5th annual Veganuary, and 168,500 people signed up to participate. Matthew estimates that if participation continues to grow at the same rate, by 2028 the entire population of the planet will be vegan for January by 2028. Veganuary isn’t limited to January alone, though. Those who are interested in taking part but who don’t want to wait until next year can sign up and get the full Veganuary experience at any time. Veganuary also has a book out called How to Go Vegan. 

In addition to helping individuals discover veganism, Veganuary engages with various businesses and corporations, like chain restaurants, food service providers, and supermarkets to help them develop vegan options and address branding issues. In today’s interview, Matthew talks about the differences in labeling food “vegan” or “plant-based” and who those labels appeal to. 

Matthew also talks about the risky business of going undercover to film the conditions at various livestock farms, dairy farms, and egg farms. Matthew and his team go at night to farms to film the conditions that the animals are being raised in, and put those videos online so that people can see and judge for themselves whether they want to support standard industry conditions and practices. 

Matthew explains that they only go to farms that are open – they don’t break in or cause damage, and in most cases, the farmers never know that they’ve been there. They also refrain from naming and shaming specific farms. Their goal is to expose standard practices that are common throughout the industry, not individual farmers. 

The goal of Veganuary is to show that going vegan doesn’t have to be scary or overwhelmingly difficult. People who are interested in the idea but still unsure can check out the Veganuary campaign to get the information they need to help them give veganism a try.

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MATTHEW GLOVER’S LINKS:

Matthew Glover: https://veganuary.com/people/matthew/

Veganuary: https://veganuary.com/

How to Go Vegan: https://veganuary.com/how-to-go-vegan-book/

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