Vegetarian eating increases with campaigns, resolutions
January 2021 – In 2009 in the United Kingdom, Paul McCartney and his daughters Mary and Stella formed Meat Free Mondays, a not-for-profit campaign to slow down climate change, conserve natural resources and improve health by having at least one plant-based meal each week. Groups sprang up around the world, eating the meat-free meal together on Mondays – until COVID-19 forced governments to prevent them. However, vestiges of the groups remain: downtown vegetarian-friendly restaurant Bibibop still offers a Meatless Monday discount to its vegetarian customers.
In 2014 in the UK, Matthew Glover and Jane Land decided to push the envelope more when they formed the nonprofit Veganuary to encourage and support people worldwide to try vegan for the month of January. Today more than 500,000 members come from 192 countries and the goal has been expanded to try vegan January and beyond. The campaign provides a free e-cookbook and other tools to new members(no dues); vegan recipes from many parts of the world are available on www.veganuary.com.
The nonprofit also approaches businesses to provide more vegan food in shops and restaurants, and uses national and international media to make the vegetarian lifestyle more visible and accessible. Last year more than 600 brands, restaurants and supermarkets promoted the campaign and launched more than 1200 new vegan products and menus in the UK alone.
This month Veganuary has partnered with Yelp to encourage more people to try the vegan lifestyle during all of January. While the nonprofit lists the reasons for adopting a vegan diet, Yelp lists the vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants in our area at www.yelp.com/collection/xzhdSamskQdAuQC4q1ubZA?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Braze_1062021_LY_18_send_Chicago&utm_campaign=Jan-06-2021&utm_term=sng62SEgGMgGnqzP3qpsjw&ytl_=a8be46d95c36d32e5bd2e910867d38f9 . Despite the COVID-19 ban on indoor dining, the options are available via pickup and delivery.
To bridge the January pledge with the rest of 2021 vegan attempts, south Chicagoland offers online cooking or personal coaching. Claudia Gunter of Vegan and Plant Based Adventure Group is offering biweekly Zoom cooking classes by veganizing menus from January 4 through March 29. She provides a grocery list and smoothie recipe book. Although her meetup is based in Chicago, its face-to-face events cover the state and northwest Indiana. The classes are listed under Events Jan-June; the meetup, under Resources-Support on this blog.
Before COVID, Vegan Home Cook offered cooking classes and monthly potlucks at the Orland Park Health Center for the Plant Based Nutrition Movement. Now Janet Pearson provides personal coaching in vegan cooking. She can be contacted at janetspecialevents@gmail.com or under Resources-Educational/Classes on this blog. Www.pbnm.org is also listed under Resources-Educational/Classes.
Like Vegan Home Cook, Lelulo’s Vegan Eats and Treats offered cooking classes – for children and adults – at her Crown Point, IN cafe before COVID-19. To find out if she provides online classes or personal coaching now, call (219)226-4599 or contact her on her website, which is listed under Resources-Educational/Classes on this blog.
Resources outside south Chicagoland to strengthen one’s resolve include Nutritionist Deepa, which provides podcasts, speakers and recipes, and others listed under Resources on this blog. Since the pandemic The Vegan Museum and meetup ChicagoVeg have provided mixed events that combine limited audience with online Zoom participation. The museum also provides its monthly newsletter subscribers(free signup) with access to featured speakers. Of course, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine(www.pcrm.org) offers classes, articles, tools and speakers.
How has COVID-19 affected your dining options? How do you acquire vegan recipes? Have you had the courage to try new vegan recipes? Which resources will motivate you to continue eating vegetarian fare?