5 Easy Steps to Eating More Plant Based

5 Easy Steps to Eating More Plant Based

Going Vegan and or Plant Based is a very personal decision for many, with the reasons spanning from ethical, moral, environmental and even one’s health; because there’s so many different reasons for someone to eat plant-based or to go vegan- there’s many different ways people say you should change.

Though for Operations Manager Logan, it was nearly an overnight transition from the traditional Standard North American Diet (aka SAD Diet) to a vegan lifestyle, he has learned many things along the way and has thought about how he could have done the transition easier as its not fair to expect others or even yourself to do it all in one go.

 

Step 1:

Identify meat products you can easily give up (beef, pork, seafood etc) and stop buying them; phase them out of your diet and lifestyle. This is the fun part! Experiment with new proteins and faux meat products like Happy Veggie World,  Alpha Foods, Mindful Füd etc., swap the protein for what you would normally make- just replace the meat!

 

 

Step 2:

Repeat the removal process of the remaining meat categories and continue swapping for the alternatives. You can do this as slowly or as fast as it takes for you, remember every meal that you don’t have an animal on your plate is not just helping the animals but also helping your body too! Once you’re comfortable with these changes, remove dairy and eggs from your diet- there’s so many non-dairy alternatives to milks and cheese without the pus! One thing to keep in mind is that different alternatives will be better suited for certain purposes. Like for me personally I love to cook with full-fat coconut cream, but prefer oat or almond coffee cream and macadamia or oat for my espresso drinks. Everyone’s different and its important to enjoy the process and experimentation. If you can find alternatives that you enjoy- you’re much more likely to keep at it.

Step 3:

Educate yourself on the animal agriculture industries and how eating plant-based is better for the environment.

There’s many documentaries out there but we’ll list a few here:

Step 4: 

Veganism isn’t just about the food we consume, but its a full way of life- abstaining from purchasing or supporting any aspect of animal agriculture, this includes skin and beauty products, ensuring there’s no animal ingredients within and it’s not been tested on animals (cruelty-free), household cleaning products, paper towels and so much more. With this big change and shift in purchasing it can take time to swap, we recommend continuing to use your current products that you’ve already purchased and replace them as needed with the vegan option. At the store we have all the cleaning products you’ll need including some zero-waste Canadian-made products to help with your transition.

During your transition into a plant-based/vegan/compassionate lifestyle you may feel alone at times as it feels like the whole world is against you, but know you are not alone. Join local vegan facebook groups (Fraser Valley Vegan , Vegans of the Fraser Valley , Ridge Meadows Vegans and Plant Based and Canadian Vegans/ Vegans Canadiens are all some amazing groups to join depending on your area to find local support and more local vegan finds!

Step 5:

Not a required step, but one that is very much encouraged- find a vegan sanctuary or cause to support. Depending on which one you chose, you can donate, volunteer or help fundraise for!

Some amazing Sanctuaries that we work with are PEACE, Little Oink Pig Bank Sanctuary, The Alice Sanctuary and Robin’s Refuge. There’s many others; these are just the ones we’ve connected with. There’s also Ban Fur Farms BC, Liberation BC, The Plant Based Treaty which we have recently endorsed (read here).

Whichever route you chose, #GoVegan or Plant Based, sanctuary and or cause, know that you are making a difference in the lives of countless animals and people across the globe. One day, in not such a distant future we as a society are going to look back on these times where we ate animals’ flesh and be disgusted.

The Future is Vegan

 

Recipes and Resources:

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