{"id":41014,"date":"2017-12-10T22:11:59","date_gmt":"2017-12-10T22:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?p=41014"},"modified":"2017-12-10T22:11:59","modified_gmt":"2017-12-10T22:11:59","slug":"depth-vegans-taking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2017\/12\/10\/depth-vegans-taking\/","title":{"rendered":"In depth: Are vegans taking over?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eating the vegan way seems to be increasingly popular but is veganism becoming the mainstream diet choice in Cardiff?<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Most of us have heard of <\/span>Stoptober<\/span><\/i> but now <\/span>Veganuary<\/span><\/i> is heading our way. While the national, 28-day stop smoking challenge aims to help people quit smoking, <\/span>Veganuary<\/span><\/i> encourages people to take up being vegan by trialling it during the first month of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Plus, there is not only an annual World Vegan Day<\/a> on 1 November but a whole World Vegan Month dedicated to celebrating and promoting veganism<\/a>. But is this getting out of hand? Are vegans taking over Cardiff? <\/span><\/p>\n

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Vegans are assembling<\/b><\/p>\n

The amount of people adopting a vegan diet is increasing. In 2016 The Vegan Society<\/a> found there are over half a million vegans in Great Britain while the Food Standards Agency<\/a> estimated currently 1% of the Welsh population follow a vegan diet. There are at least six \u2018vegan-only\u2019 stockists in Cardiff and more than nine establishments labelled \u2018vegan-friendly\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Owner of Cardiff\u2019s first and only 100% vegan cafe, Anna Loka<\/a>, Adam El Tagoury said: \u201cEvery January there seems to be another influx of vegans because people try <\/span>Veganuary<\/span><\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cEvery January there seems to be another influx of vegans because people try Veganuary<\/i>.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He found many people maintained being vegan after doing it for a month.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to vegan trials, specialist social media groups could be influencing the growth of the vegan scene. <\/span><\/p>\n

Cardiff Vegan Meet Ups<\/span><\/i><\/a>,<\/span> otherwise known as <\/span>VEGANS ASSEMBLE<\/span><\/i>, is a private Facebook group for herbivores who organise monthly meetings at vegan-friendly destinations in the city. There are 795 members including 45-year-old Nigel Bernard who has been vegan for five years.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Nigel said: \u201cGroups like this give you a chance to mingle with like-minded people and can act like a support network so you don\u2019t feel so alone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Responding to demand<\/b><\/p>\n

With veganism on the rise, vegan-friendly festivals<\/a> and eateries are popping up in Cardiff to cater for this. So, are vegan establishments increasing in response to this demand or are they influencing it?<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading vegan charity Viva!<\/a> hosts 10 vegan festivals per year and already has six lined up for 2018 with the next <\/span>Cardiff Viva! Vegan Festival <\/span><\/i><\/a>taking place on 24 February.<\/span><\/p>\n

Viva! campaigns for a vegan world to stop animal suffering, protect the environment and improve health.<\/span><\/p>\n

Festival and events manager for Viva!, Sophie Delarny, explained: \u201cThe boom in the vegan market means that vegan festivals have also exploded.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She claims 70% of attendees to Viva!\u2019s festivals are vegan or vegetarian. <\/span><\/p>\n

At Cardiff\u2019s 2017 festival 50% of people were vegan and 15% said they would change their diet following the event.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a great place for non-vegans to come and learn about veganism in a positive way,\u201d Sophie added, \u201cpeople love attending an event where they can be surrounded by people who share their beliefs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Adam is also responding to the larger vegan market<\/a>. He explained he could see a need for vegan food which is why he opened his cafe in Roath.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou only have to go to the supermarkets now to see how many vegan products are being stocked on the shelves,\u201d he said, \u201cI think the demand is there now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Adam said eating out was the most challenging part of being vegan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me there was nowhere decent for vegans in Cardiff,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since opening Anna Loka in August 2015, he revealed they have been progressively busier and are fully booked most weekends. More than half of his customers are also now vegan. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany people come back and say \u2018We have been vegan since coming to your restaurant,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Adam believes there is still a need for more vegan eateries and ethical establishments in the city.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three reasons for vegan<\/b><\/p>\n

A combination of increased awareness of the meat and dairy industries, the health benefits a vegan diet can provide and sustainability are further reasons more people are becoming vegan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Viva! aims to make people aware of the \u201cunnecessary brutality\u201d of the meat and dairy industries and how it is beneficial for ourselves and the environment to live without these products. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sophie explained: \u201cMore and more people are waking up to the reality of these issues and why it\u2019s so important. They are absolutely the reason people are going and will stay vegan.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Adam sustainability is also playing a major role in the rise of veganism.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said people are realising world starvation is due to people following a carnivorous or omnivorous diet. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJust to get a pound of meat takes up an obscene amount of water, resource and soya which could actually feed so many starving people in this world,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Nigel has noticed the health benefits of a vegan diet. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy health has improved dramatically,\u201d he said, \u201cI used to have no energy whatsoever and since then [becoming vegan] I have been able to take up a bit of running, not because I wanted to get fit but because I felt like I wanted to do something to burn off the extra energy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Find out what people in Cardiff think of the increase<\/strong><\/p>\n