"Veganuary Helped Me Be True to Myself"

From veganuary.com

There is a little-talked-about phenomenon among Veganuary participants.

While they may have taken part for a health boost or to do their bit to protect the planet, the month-long vegan pledge can actually help them to discover something much more profound.

Here, six Veganuary alumni talk about their paths to inner peace, connecting with their intrinsic values and finding a beautiful sense of freedom. 

Kim Mogg, Sheffield

Kim and her boyfriend reached a compromise. He had wanted to bring a pet bird into their home, but Kim was worried about how their dog might react, and so instead they agreed to adopt some hens.

Kim contacted a charity that rescues “spent hens” from farms when they would otherwise go to slaughter. “We wanted to get two,” she says, “but we came home with four!”

Hens who have been used by the egg industry are often in very poor health, and Kim dedicated herself to giving them the very best life possible.

“I like to think my girls are enjoying their retirement,” she says. As she got to know them better, Kim fell “so in love with my feathered girls” and began to experience a deep sense of disquiet.

She realised that she was spending time with them in the garden and then going inside and “cooking their sister”. And that did not sit right with her at all.

“It just got too much for me,” Kim told us, “and I decided in January 2024 to go vegan.” She is proud to say that she hasn’t looked back!

Today, Kim loves to try out the huge variety of vegan cheeses and cooks with more flavours and colours than ever before. She says she feels less sluggish than before doing Veganuary, and no longer reaches for ultra-processed snacks when hungry.

Best of all, that awful sense of guilt has gone. And as for the eggs her rescued girls still lay, well, the postman is always happy to take six when he drops off a parcel.

Laura Taylor, Trowbridge

Like Kim, Laura is a true animal lover. She had brought home her first cat – an unwanted farm kitten – when she was just three years old, and as an adult would regularly hold up traffic so she could help an injured or abandoned animal on the roadside.

Unsurprisingly, Laura got a job at an RSPCA cats and dogs centre where she helped animals find a new home. While there, she saw reports of farmed animals being kept in poor conditions and was deeply saddened by them.

What may be surprising is that, although Laura switched to a vegetarian diet at times – including after watching the film Seaspiracy – her default food choices included meat.

“I have always struggled with the sense that I’m an animal lover that still ate meat,” she told us.

That struggle, combined with some digestive issues, led Laura to take part in Veganuary 2024. Laura completely embraced the experience, threw herself into label reading, tried out lots of recipes, and immersed herself in many different films, including Cowspiracy. “Okja had me in bits!” she says, but she now has all the motivation she could need to stay vegan.

“I love that I’m no longer a hypocrite and don’t have to wrestle with my beliefs,” she says. “And I love knowing that I’m not eating the animals that I love.”

Ejvor Berg, Lidköping, Sweden

Ejvor grew up an animal lover within a hunting family and within a friendship group where everyone ate – and still eats – meat. She says that she always felt odd, an outsider, and that feeling only amplified when she decided to take part in Veganuary back in 2015.

“I wanted to help animals,” she says. “They are like us, they feel, think, feel fear and pain, and they have wise brains. They’re smarter than humans. We destroy the world; animals take only what they need to survive and nothing more.”

Today, nine years on from her Veganuary experience, Ejvor has made peace with being thought odd. “I’m proud to be vegan,” she says. “l sign petitions for non-human individuals in my country and beyond. I support with money when l can. Two years ago, I found a vegan group which is really amazing.”

Some of her friends still try to argue with her which she says can be hurtful, but she knows she has done the right thing. “I’ll not change,” she says. “My eyes are open.”

Christopher Dallosso, Oxfordshire

Christopher had known about Veganuary for some time before taking part. He had become interested in the philosophy of veganism because of “a vague feeling of something being wrong” and the more he thought about it, the more hypocritical it felt to him to eat animals.

After all, he loved seeing animals out in the wild and would never think of harming them. But deep down, he did not really want to become vegan so he decided to do lots of research to find the reasons he should not take part!

“For every argument against veganism I could find, there seemed to be a stronger counter-argument defending it,” he says. “As soon as I realised there wasn’t some fatal flaw with the philosophy of veganism, I started understanding its benefits. Treating all animals as individuals rather than commodities felt like the most important aspect to me, but a heavily reduced impact on the environment and possible health benefits made the switch seem like a no-brainer!”

Christopher took part, and the daily emails he received helped him to navigate a vegan world. Today, he reports that he feels more positive since becoming vegan, which he says helped him complete his GCSEs. He even did a presentation on veganism for his English-speaking assessment, which went really well!

But it is the difference Christopher is making in the world that has brought him so much peace.

“We’re so shielded from the atrocities going on in factory farms, we don’t connect buying animal products in shops with animals being exploited and killed just for our pleasure,” he told us.

“Being vegan has taken away any feelings of guilt I had about eating certain foods. It feels like a much cleaner and healthier diet, especially if you eat plenty of naturally vegan products like vegetables and pulses. I’m glad that I can make a meaningful difference to the lives of so many animals and be part of a growing movement towards a more compassionate world.”

Annalisa Botham, Blaby

Annalisa experienced, and thankfully survived, deep and prolonged trauma as a child. In a chaotic, volatile, and violent world, she says it was animals who kept her sane.

The cats and dogs who found their way into her family home were her loyal, loving, dependable friends. “I knew how much the animals in my childhood did for me,” she says. “Without them, I honestly don’t think I would be here.”

The grief and pain Annalisa carried into adulthood translated into some self-destructive behaviours but through it all she remembered the animals and at times felt as though they were her looking out for her, acting as her guardian angels. “It was never a spoken thing, but it was a given that I would be forever indebted,” she says.

Annalisa had been vegetarian for a while but was pressed into eating meat again by a person she felt unable to oppose.

“It took me another 10 years, sadly, to go back to being a vegetarian, and then finally vegan,” she says. But by then, she knew what she had to do.

“It was THE only way if I wanted to be true to my promise and my love of animals. I’ve never looked back because it all ‘aligns’ now. It’s not even a chore or anything like that; it’s just love and respect. Now I show animals how thankful I am for their unconditional love.”

Kelly Dibbert, Brighton

Kelly was a nutritionist and had been taught to promote animal products to her clients. She believed that we need animal protein and fats to be healthy, and bone broth to heal and rebalance.

“I now know that not to be true, “she says. “I’ve read countless peer-reviewed studies and researched the science. I have a degree in chemistry so I love to know as much as I can, all the details, all the delicious facts.”

As many of us have experienced, Kelly found that the pro-meat messaging was coming at her from all quarters.

“My parents, the media, friends, restaurants, society, my education had drummed it into me that meat is good,” she says. “It was like being stuck in a cycle of suffering.”

She says she’d had qualms about it all, but she wanted to fit in and not stand out or “cause a fuss”. It took many more years before Kelly transitioned to a vegan diet, but she found that the benefits have been enormous.

“I now know that I haven’t given anything up. I’ve gained more self-respect, a richer, more varied and fulfilling diet, and a deep compassion for animals. I bloody love good food, and I’ve learned to really enjoy cooking again.”

Kelly says it feels wonderful not to eat animals and their milk. “I feel lighter emotionally, healthier, empowered and authentically me. I’m more connected with animals, nature and humanity now that I choose a plant-based diet. I had disconnected from a huge part of the real me by consuming rotting flesh. I am now free.”

“I want to thank Veganuary for giving me that extra little push that I needed,” she says, “and for making it easy. I only wish I’d followed my heart sooner. Better late than never.”

https://veganuary.com/veganuary-helped-me-be-true-to-myself/

Hana Hrstková: “A Biocyclic Vegan Approach Is Not Just an Option—It’s a Necessity”

From vegconomist.com

Hana Hrstková is a Prague-based vegan chef and gastronomy strategist, dedicated to reshaping the food system to support both human health and environmental sustainability. With over a decade of experience in plant-based nutrition, she integrates principles of organic farming, zero-waste management, and biocyclic vegan agriculture—an approach that eliminates all animal-derived inputs while regenerating soil health.

For Hrstková, the connection between soil, the environment, and human well-being is fundamental to the future of food. At the upcoming Biofach trade fair, she will once again take the stage to showcase how plant-based culinary innovation, paired with biocyclic vegan ingredients, can drive a more sustainable and ethical food system.

In this interview with vegconomist, Hrstková shares her insights on the future of sustainable gastronomy and why biocyclic vegan farming plays a critical role in transforming global food production.

Hana Hrstková © Biocyclic Vegan International

Biofach is just around the corner. Last year, you had a cooking show at the World of Vegan stage. This year’s motto is Planetary Health. You are a passionate vegan cook, what can we expect from you this time?

I am thrilled to be back for the 35th anniversary of Biofach! On the “Experience the World of Planetary Health” stage, I want to highlight how a diet rich in plants is not only better for individual health but essential for the health of our planet.

The focus will be on transforming traditional European cuisine—often centred around animal-based ingredients—into ethical, sustainable, and nutritious plant-based alternatives. We’ll take things a step further by incorporating ingredients from biocyclic vegan agriculture, a consistently circular system that operates without livestock and does not use any inputs of animal origin.

This year, we’ll be using ingredients from a certified biocyclic vegan farm in Saxony. The farm’s visionary owner, Daniel Hausmann, will join me on stage to share his insights into this revolutionary farming method, including why not every carrot might be vegan.

Daniel Hausmann © Biocyclic Vegan International

Why would a carrot not be vegan?

Yes, because in organic farming, the fertiliser used is mostly from animal husbandry, and so, strictly speaking, organic vegetables cannot really be described as ‘vegan from the field’. By contrast, biocyclic vegan cultivation develops soil fertility in a purely plant-based manner.

I’ve had the privilege of visiting Biocyclic Park, a pioneer in biocyclic-vegan cultivation in Greece, and it was an incredible experience. I saw the produce, tasted it, cooked with it, and can confirm the richness in taste. The quality of the ingredients speaks for itself—they’re not just good for the planet but elevate the entire culinary experience.

Why does a vegan diet fit so well with the concept of a planetary health diet?

The Planetary Health Diet focuses on balancing human nutritional needs with planetary boundaries. Vegan diets inherently tick all the boxes because they drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, deforestation, and biodiversity loss—all of which are linked to animal agriculture.

Traditional European cuisine, despite its emphasis on local ingredient sourcing, often overlooks the environmental costs of meat, fish, dairy, and eggs. By replacing these with plant-based alternatives, we can address ecological challenges while promoting better nutrition and minimising health risks. When chefs, both professional and home cooks, grasp this idea, we move the whole system towards sustainability.

Why does biocyclic-vegan farming play a central role in your cooking show?

Biocyclic vegan farming represents the future of truly regenerative agriculture. It’s a farming system that excludes animal inputs, focusing instead on soil health through plant-based composting, crop rotation, and other regenerative practices. These farms prioritise biodiversity and carbon sequestration, making them a vital tool for combating climate change and restoring ecosystems.

Healthy soils are a natural byproduct of biocyclic vegan farming, which ensures nutrient-rich crops and supports long-term ecological balance. By featuring ingredients from Daniel Hausmann’s farm, we’ll showcase how this approach truly closes the loop—from soil to table and back to soil.

You have been working with pioneers in vegan gastronomy, such as Italy’s first vegan hotel, La Vimea. Also, under the EIT’s entrepreneurship program—Empowering Women in Agrifood (EWA)—you were developing a strategy to bring vegan food to conventional restaurants. What was your focus, and who is this initiative for?

This concept is ideal for any restaurant striving to offer clients a genuine choice—something traditional menus often lack. Also, it’s a must for establishments committed to sustainability, if they want to align their goals with actionable steps.

Throughout Europe, vegan food on conventional menus is often limited, unattractive, and leans toward fast-food options. At the same time, restaurants tackling sustainability tend to focus on local sourcing of animal ingredients without considering the bigger picture of what’s on the plate.

We can’t have meaningful conversations about sustainability in gastronomy without incorporating plant-centric dishes. And by that, I mean fully vegan options because vegetarian options that still rely on dairy or eggs not only perpetuate the same unsustainable cycles but also fail to meet the needs of a broader customer base, including those shifting toward plant-based eating due to growing dairy and egg intolerances. Let’s be clear: today, providing a substantial vegan offering is no longer optional; it’s a fundamental requirement for any restaurant serious about sustainability, equity, and yes, profit.

© Biocyclic Vegan International

By embracing creative and well-executed vegan offerings, restaurants can align with their sustainability mission while expanding their appeal to a diverse audience. How does your concept work?

This gastronomy concept is designed to seamlessly integrate vegan dishes into restaurant menus to expand the traditional offering. It equips chefs and food service staff with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to create delicious, fully plant-based meals and market them effectively. This is no small task for businesses lacking expertise in vegan gastronomy, but with the proper guidance, it’s both achievable and profitable.

What do you hope attendees will take away from your show?

I want people to leave inspired, equipped with practical knowledge about plant-based cooking, and aware of the critical role sustainable agriculture plays in our future. Whether they’re home cooks or restaurant chefs, food entrepreneurs, or consumers, I hope they see how their choices can drive positive change—from the ingredients they use to the farming systems they support.

Ultimately, this is more than food; it’s about redefining our relationship with the planet. A plant-based, biocyclic vegan approach is not just an option—it’s a necessity if we’re serious about planetary health, ethics, and even world peace.

Thank you, Hana. We can’t wait to see you on the Planetary Health Diet stage at Biofach!

Thank you! I’m excited to share this journey with everyone. We are currently redesigning our platform cookingtochangetheworld.com, to better support both home and professional chefs in steering their culinary art toward a more sustainable future. So stay tuned and see you at Biofach!

https://vegconomist.com/interviews/hana-hrstkova-a-biocyclic-vegan-approach-is-not-just-an-option-its-a-necessity/ 

How the Shortfalls of the Planetary Health Diet Could Be Addressed From a Plant-Forward Perspective

From vegconomist.com

In 2019, the landmark EAT-Lancet report outlined a new Planetary Health Diet designed to improve human health and sustainability. The guidelines recommend eating more whole plant foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, and nuts, while decreasing the consumption of less healthy foods such as red meat, sugar, and refined grains.

While the recommendations have gained significant traction, they have also attracted criticism from some quarters, including claims that the diet could lead to micronutrient shortages. A new study published in The Lancet aims to address these concerns, recommending seven thematic areas for the development of the Planetary Health Diet.

Bioavailability

The bioavailability of certain nutrients in plant-based foods, such as iron, zinc, and calcium, can be lower than in animal-source foods. However, the study finds that there are several methods of improving bioavailability, including techniques such as milling, soaking, cooking, fermenting, and germinating.

© Amber Wave

The authors note that while some plant-based foods have low calcium absorption rates, others have even higher absorption rates than dairy. Regarding iron, bioavailability can be significantly improved by consuming vitamin C.

Indigenous foods

The study recommends that indigenous foods should be acknowledged as part of the Planetary Health Diet, in recognition of their role in resilient and diverse food systems and their environmental, nutritional, cultural, and socioeconomic benefits. Countries could promote the consumption of these foods by incorporating them into their national dietary guidelines.

Diverse and inclusive food-based approaches

The Planetary Health Diet encompasses a range of dietary choices, from plant-forward diets containing some animal products to fully vegan diets. However, the study has identified a need for concrete guidelines regarding what constitutes well-planned vegan or vegetarian diets.

© Pixel-Shot -stock.adobe.com

In particular, the researchers acknowledge the need for information on substituting cow’s milk and meeting calcium requirements with plant-based food. This could involve adding fortified plant-based milk to the dairy group in the Planetary Health Diet’s nutritional guidelines, or recommending foods such as leafy greens as a calcium source.

Gender perspectives

People who identify as female typically consume less meat and more plant-based foods than those who identify as male. Some critics have claimed that the Planetary Health Diet may not provide enough iron for people who menstruate; however, the researchers dispute this, claiming that plant-based diets may have benefits for this group.

For example, meat consumption has been associated with endometriosis, while healthy plant-rich diets have been found to reduce breast cancer risk. Consequently, the authors argue that those who menstruate should not be advised to consume more meat to increase their iron intake.

© Jacob Lund – stock.adobe.com

Processed foods

The EAT–Lancet Commission discourages the consumption of highly processed foods. However, some plant-based foods that fall within this category are not detrimental to health, such as soy milk and wholegrain bread. Consequently, the study recommends clearer guidance on how to select healthier plant-based foods.

One Health approach

Finally, the study recommends the integration of the One Health approach, which aims to balance and optimize the health of people, the environment, and animals. While the Planetary Health Diet’s recommendations are already in line with One Health, more could be done to acknowledge topics such as wildlife conservation, the transmission of foodborne illnesses, zoonotic spillover, and antimicrobial resistance.

CollinsPhotography-stock.adobe.com

Slowing down climate change

Despite claims that the Planetary Health Diet is not nutritionally adequate, a separate study published last year found that those who follow the diet may substantially decrease their risk of premature death.

“Climate change has our planet on track for ecological disaster, and our food system plays a major role,” said study author Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition. “Shifting how we eat can help slow the process of climate change. And what’s healthiest for the planet is also healthiest for humans.”

https://vegconomist.com/health/shortfalls-planetary-health-diet-addressed-plant-forward-perspective/ 

In meat- and fish-loving Japan, veganism is making a comeback

 From japantimes.co.jp

Tourism, climate goals and animal rights concerns are sparking a plant-based renaissance in a country famous for sushi and pork ramen

All is quiet at 10:30 a.m. on a Thursday in Shibuya, Tokyo’s famous commercial district. In an alleyway just steps from one of the busiest train stations in the world, a short line of tourists huddles outside of a bar. Finally, half an hour later, the door cracks open and, greeted with a soft “irasshaimase,” or “welcome,” the parties shuffle in to sample one of the rarest dishes in Japan: faux-fish sushi.

“Nowadays, there are many vegan ‘meat’ products,” said Kazue Maeda, one of the four founding employees of the restaurant, Vegan Sushi Tokyo. “But I’m Japanese. What I really used to love is sushi and salmon.”

Her restaurant attempts to fill a relatively unclaimed niche in the local food scene. Even in Tokyo, where much of the country’s vegan population lives, plant-based versions of traditional Japanese food remain challenging to find — most vegan options are Western-inspired dishes like curry rice or vegan hamburg steak.

Vegan Sushi Tokyo is open only for lunch: Although rave reviews keep pouring in from customers, the small business still doesn’t have a storefront of its own and rents out the interior of a bar by day. It serves 10-piece nigiri lunch sets, which include a plant-based Japanese-style “egg,” “shrimp” tempura and beads made out of seaweed that look nearly indistinguishable from salmon roe.

Japan’s culinary culture may be rich and diverse, but it remains reliant on animal products, especially when dashi, a savoury broth made of dried tuna flakes and kelp, is present in so many dishes.

Maeda became a vegan six years ago, due to her growing concern over environmental and animal rights issues. It’s a familiar origin story for those who have come to defy the typical Japanese diet by giving up meat, fish and dairy.

“In terms of the vegan movement, I think we’re maybe behind other countries. The number of vegans is very small,” Maeda said. “But there are more and more vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Tokyo, I think because of tourists — especially from countries with many vegetarian people.”

Nigiri served at Vegan Sushi Tokyo. Although rave reviews keep pouring in from customers, the small business still doesn’t have a storefront of its own, and rents out the interior of a bar by day. | Sachi Kitajima Mulkey / Grist

Outside large cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, vegan options quickly vanish. In a culture that prizes convention and scrupulous attention to detail, individual accommodations — like vegan menu substitutions — are often frowned upon. And as in many other countries, vegan options are sometimes stigmatized as less nutritious.

But recently, things have been changing. The anticipation of a tourism boom for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo pushed the Japanese government to encourage new vegan businesses and menu options in major cities. And in the years since, restaurants like Maeda’s have sprung up, offering novel adaptations of traditional dishes. Under pressure from Japan’s pledge to nearly halve its carbon emissions by 2030, the government has also begun collaborating with vegan activists and advocates and awarding grants to alternative protein start-ups.

Though challenges remain, it’s gotten easier and easier to go vegan in Japan over the last decade.

“Climate issues and animal issues are growing,” Maeda said. “For me, I can’t imagine going back to eating meat again.”

Only for tourists?

Convincing people to eat less meat is key to reaching international climate goals. Up to 20% of planet-warming greenhouse gases emitted annually come from animal agriculture alone — all the cows, pigs, lambs, chickens and other animals (not including fish) that people raise for meat, milk, eggs and the like. According to one study from the University of Oxford that looked at the diets of over 55,000 people, vegans — defined as those who eschew all animal products — create 75% less climate pollution through their food choices than those who eat a meat-heavy diet.

For most of the last two millennia, the Japanese diet was a model of climate-friendly eating due to Buddhist and Shinto objections to meat and dairy consumption — although fish has long been a staple. Beginning in 675, meat-eating was banned by official imperial decree.

Kazue Maeda, co-founder of Vegan Sushi Tokyo, serves customers at the restaurant, where the recommended lunch set includes a tray of faux-fish sushi. | Sachi Kitajima Mulkey / Grist

The ban set the stage for the flourishing of shōjin ryōri, a traditional cuisine that arrived in the sixth century along with Buddhism and aligns with the religion’s prohibition against killing animals. In the 13th century, the cuisine developed into a spiritual movement focused on simplicity and balance between one’s mind and body.

A typical shōjin ryōri set meal is vegan, highlights seasonal produce and is designed around sets of five — five colours, five flavours and five cooking methods. While it can still commonly be found in the dining halls of Buddhist temples, modern chefs have taken shōjin ryōri into the mainstream, including in Michelin-starred restaurants, where they emphasize the concept’s focus on harmony with nature by using local ingredients and minimizing waste.

It wasn’t until 1872 that Emperor Meiji lifted the meat-eating ban, seeking to usher in an era of westernization. Meat consumption grew quickly as domestic beef production boomed and animal products became a symbol of power and status. As reports spread that Emperor Meiji drank milk twice a day, dairy consumption became more popular, too.

Today, Japan ranks 11th in beef consumption globally, and its per capita milk consumption is 68% higher than that of the average East Asian country. Japanese people buy eight times more meat than they did in the 1960s, and in 2007, families began eating it more than fish.

But interest in plant-based foods appears to be growing. Japan’s market for plant-based foods tripled between 2015 and 2020, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries expects it to double again by 2030. These shifts have taken place as the Japanese population at large has expressed a readiness to shift toward plant-based products for health, animal welfare and climate-related reasons, according to a 2022 analysis in the Journal of Agricultural Management.

Although no official government statistic exists, a 2021 survey found that 2.2% of Japanese people identify as vegan — a potentially higher percentage than in the United States, where estimates range from 1% to 4%.

Vegan activist Azumi Yamanaka eats a vegan lunch at Brown Rice in Omotesando, Tokyo. | Sachi Kitajima Mulkey / Grist

Though vegan restaurants have been on the upswing since 2017, Japanese vegans still lack a wide variety of options. According to HappyCow, a popular directory of vegan and vegetarian restaurant options, Japan has fewer than six vegetarian restaurants per 1 million people in Japan, more than a fifth of them in Tokyo. By comparison, there are nine vegetarian restaurants per 1 million people in the U.S.

“Even many chefs still don’t know what vegan is, they don’t know the concept,” said Azumi Yamanaka, a vegan activist in Tokyo, during a recent lunch at Brown Rice, a sleek vegan restaurant with an organic, health-focused menu in the capital’s Omotesando district.

“They don't realize that adding a small piece of bacon or fish is still meat. I still have to explain it,” she said, while picking at a slice of roasted lotus root with her chopsticks.

When Yamanaka became vegan 16 years ago, most people in Japan hadn’t even heard of the term “vegan,” she said. But in recent years, she said, being vegan has become a somewhat fashionable subculture — judging from social media trends and an upswing in photogenic vegan cafes, which she said get more young people interested in becoming vegan, too.

Even if trendiness is an effective way to draw people toward plant-based lifestyles, Yamanaka said Japanese who commit to veganism are motivated by a variety of issues, including sustainability and animal rights. The country imports between 40% and 60% of its meat but depends on domestic factory farming to produce much of its dairy supply. Its animal protection laws have been given low grades by international animal welfare organizations.

Other factors include the country’s relatively high rate of lactose intolerance, which some estimate affects the majority of the population. Food allergies are also a factor for many of the country’s vegan converts. Between 2010 and 2019, the prevalence of allergies to eggs and milk, along with peanuts and wheat, nearly doubled among Japanese children. And eggs are the country's most common food allergy.

Still, Yamanaka said city governments and companies don’t care about expanding vegan options until they want to market to tourists. “They believe vegan products won’t sell, aren’t understood or have failed in the past,” she said. “Many consider them only for foreign visitors.”

Mumokuteki, a natural lifestyle store with a cafe, serves up soy milk-based ramen on its all-vegan menu at its location on busy Teramachi shopping street in the city of Kyoto. | Sachi Kitajima Mulkey / Grist

Tourism is certainly a huge economic factor in Japan. In 2024, 37 million foreign tourists entered the country, outstripping the previous full-year record by almost 5 million. Over a quarter of these tourists hail from neighbouring parts of Asia with large vegan and vegetarian populations, like Taiwan, China and Singapore, due to the widespread practice of Buddhism.

“Before 2019, the vegan environment was not so good,” said Mayumi Muroya, chair of the Japan Vegan Society, the largest vegan and plant-based industry organization in Japan. “The reality is that many of the foreigners visiting Japan are vegans and vegetarians. And with the Olympics coming up in 2020, the government knew the number of visitors was going to increase hugely.”

In the run-up to the Games, which ultimately took place a year late because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government created food guidelines to help restaurants offer more vegan options and distributed subsidies to help them pay for those options.

In December 2023, Muroya’s organization became the first-ever permitted by the government’s Japanese Agricultural Standards to officially certify vegan products. Adoption requires in-person inspections, and fewer than 10 businesses have been certified. A different non-profit, VegeProject Japan, started unofficially certifying products as vegan in 2016, and its marker has become the most widely used vegan label in Japan — showing up on instant curry pouches, protein bars and some cosmetics.

Recently, in an effort to make dining easier for tourists, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government began offering subsidies to vegan businesses with foreign language menus available that want to be certified with one of these labels — the Japan Vegan Society’s certification costs an estimated ¥165,000 ($1,060).

Inclusive eating

The beloved and beleaguered tourism hub of Kyoto has also begun investing money into making the city’s vegan options more visible — both to accommodate foreign visitors and due to the city’s pledge to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Japan has used SDGs as the basis for a public awareness campaign on climate change, conservation and sustainability.

Despite its small size compared with Tokyo and neighbouring Osaka, Kyoto has long been considered an easier place to be vegan than the rest of the country. As both the former capital and a youthful university town, the city is awash with historic businesses maintaining the traditions of a preindustrial Japan and a distinctly crunchy-granola youth culture. Although the population is a sixth of the size of Tokyo’s, it has half as many vegan options. And recently, the local government partnered with Kyoto Vegan, an environmental organization that was founded in 2020 to expand and increase awareness of vegan options in the city.

“After 2020, the city asked if they could collaborate with me,” said Chisayo Tamaki, who founded the group.

Kyoto Vegan founder Chisayo Tamaki says the city of Kyoto can't achieve its net zero carbon emissions goal without the support of vegans. | Sachi Kitajima Mulkey / Grist

Kyoto Vegan receives most of its funding from a subsidy from the country’s national tourism agency, but it is also supported by the city as one of its “Do You Kyoto 2050” projects. The initiative aims to cut carbon emissions down to zero by 2050.

“They can’t achieve that goal without the support of vegan lifestyles,” said Tamaki.

In its plan to reduce its carbon footprint, Kyoto considers veganism to be the 11th most effective way to cut down its emissions, below expanding electric vehicle usage and above teleworking. The private sector is helping to advance those goals. For instance, Plant Based Lifestyle Lab — an initiative backed by a group of companies — began in 2021 to promote and research plant-based food technologies.

For Tamaki, it’s a welcome change from just a few years ago when she was told vegans were “demanding” or “picky.”

In many ways, people in Japan face the same barriers to veganism as anywhere else. There are the logistical limitations — the lack of options on restaurant menus and at grocery stores. But there are also the psychological ones, like the stigma of being considered picky, exclusion from social activities and misinformation about health and nutrition.

In 2021, Muroya — the chair of the Japan Vegan Society — tried introducing monthly vegan lunches at an elementary school near Tokyo, the first attempt of its kind in Japan. Despite working with the school’s nutritionist to design the menu, Muroya’s effort ran into barriers like the national school-lunch calcium requirements, which promote milk, and pushback from parents worried their children wouldn’t get adequate nourishment. (Research shows that well-balanced vegan diets are healthy for most people, as long as they take supplements to provide some vitamins and minerals.)

Muroya’s program lasted for only a year, but she said the school still regularly does “meat-free Mondays.”

Two friends catch up over lunch at Choice Kyoto, a long-standing vegan cafe serving Western-style dishes in Gion, the city’s ancient entertainment district. | Sachi Kitajima Mulkey / Grist

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges to being vegan in Japan is the country’s culture of conformity — which considers standing out to be troublesome.

“Having a different opinion from everybody else is very controversial. Everybody wants to move together as a community,” Yamanaka said. “Some people fear coming out as vegan at school or work due to potential bullying.” Although she said she hasn’t faced much adversity in recent years, former co-workers pressured her to eat meat.

For Yamanaka, the best way to make a more sustainable, less meat-intensive Japan is to bridge the gap between vegans and nonvegans. She said that when people discuss various issues that can motivate veganism — like sustainability, factory farming and allergies — as well as the popularity of veganism among tourists, more local governments and businesses can be convinced to make more options available.

Local plant-based businesses are already making an effort to appeal to as many customers as possible. At Universal Bakes, a cult-favourite plant-based bakery in Tokyo’s trendy Shimokitazawa neighbourhood known for its vegan croissants and savoury tarts, the ethos is to provide allergen-free food, not necessarily animal-free.

“I want people to understand that vegan food isn’t just for a select few. It’s an inclusive eating style,” Yamanaka said. “Reaching beyond the vegan community is essential for creating a vegan-friendly world.”

The first guests of the day line up outside the door of Vegan Sushi Tokyo in the Shibuya district. | Sachi Kitajima Mulkey / Grist

Correction: This story originally mischaracterized the relationship between the city of Kyoto and the Plant Based Lifestyle Lab.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2025/01/29/sustainability/veganism-rise-japan-climate/