🌱 The Grumpy Optimists #47
How do we make Veganuary stick?
Happy Monday 👋
Welcome back to another Monday. With the days getting longer (in the UK at least) we’re heading into the week with a heck of a lot of optimism. This week we discuss the importance of measuring scope 3 emissions, Mari recaps her experience of an Oddbox night out and Will reflects on his month of being a vegan, whether he’ll keep going and some thoughts on the bigger picture of veganism and what it means for climate change.
Let us know what you think below and have a great week 👇
👀 Articles to read
🏏 Australia cricket captain on why sport can be part of the climate solution. From matches being cancelled by bushfire smoke to players being hospitalised from playing in 47C temperatures, cricket is not immune to the impacts of climate change. So instead of sitting back and doing nothing, Paul Cummins is helping thousands of Aussie cricket clubs become net zero, starting with solar power.
🌍 Earth looks as if it ‘breathes’ in mesmerising animation. The animation shows plants taking up and releasing carbon as the seasons change. Pretty bloody cool.
🏭 California requires large companies to report scope 3 emissions. Corporates with more than $1bn in revenue will be required to disclose their entire carbon footprint.
💭 Why it matters: Up to 99% of a company’s emissions are from their supply chain, categorised as scope 3 (you can read more about the different scopes here). Currently, companies are not legally required to report their scope 3 emissions, often creating misleading climate pledges and allowing corporate polluters to be let off the hook. Let’s look at it another way, it’s like companies reporting profitable financials but purposely ignoring all their costs. This Bill, and the many others that will be introduced over the next few years will bring more transparency to carbon accounting, making it easier to regulate and tackle emissions. Companies like Zevero will be there to help lead the way.
🌍 Bringing clarity to carbon markets. The folks over at ClimateTech VC provide a fantastic breakdown of the carbon offset market, the difference between carbon removal and carbon avoidance, and how the market for offsets is changing, for the better. A brilliant breakdown.
🥕 Odd Five Ways: A vegetation preservation sensation / Mari
Many of you will have heard of, or use, Oddbox: the company combatting food waste by rescuing wonky and surplus fruit and veg which would otherwise be chucked. In the UK alone, over three TRILLION TONNES of fruit and veg are wasted before they even leave the farm. This is due to all sorts of reasons, including supermarket aesthetic standards and weather variations causing a glut in yields that outstrips demand. All this waste is perfectly edible produce that used water, land, and carbon emissions to grow. Farmers are also having to deplete the health of their soils to grow enough food to make up for the stuff the supermarkets reject.
Imagine my excitement, then, when I heard that for one week only (2nd-8th Feb), Oddbox are doing a 5-course vegan tasting menu at The Spread Eagle in Hackney! All of the courses are made with rescued seasonal fruit and veg and £5 per menu sold was donated to the Felix Project (who redistribute unwanted food to combat hunger). What’s not to love?!
Highlights
Things started off strong with a lip-smacking cocktail made with carrot, apple and lemon juice and a quince and cinnamon liqueur, finished with an adorable carrot-top garnish.
My favourite of the courses was these fried brussels sprouts with 3 delicious sauces of beetroot, celeriac and carrot. Most of us had brussels ruined for us at school where they were served as those sad, overcooked little grey balls so I love finding new innovative ways to convert the brussels-haters out there. You can tell it was good because I was 3 mouthfuls in before it occurred to me to take a photo - whoops!
Areas for improvement
The coriander chutney that came with these roasted spiced potatoes was zingy, fresh and yummy, however, the spuds themselves weren’t quite as exciting. They could’ve benefited from the old par-boil-shake-em-all-about-treatment before being put in the oven to make sure they came out nice n’ crispy.
Overall Verdict: £30 per person excluding service charge does make this a pricey meal. However, when you know every tasty morsel is helping to fight food waste, environmental pressures and hunger, it does make the cost feel worthwhile. I’m excited to see what new ventures Oddbox come up with next!
🍆 Reflections on Veganuary / Will
Over the last month, I’ve talked to a lot of people - friends, family, and shop assistants (who doesn’t love a bit of awkward small-talk?) about why I decided to do Veganuary. One reason is that I’m not very good at saying no, so once my friend Erin asked if I wanted to do it with her, it was already a done deal. I also love a challenge, but mostly it came back to the roots of my vegetarianism: climate action and my desire to push myself to minimise the impact my lifestyle has on the environment.
Aside from the occasional laugh about being a tree-hugger or the ‘oh, so you only eat vegetables’ dig (a classic - one of my personal favourites), as a veggie, I usually find I’m met with praise when I tell people why I decide not to eat meat. ‘Fair play’ or ‘good for you!’ - that sort of thing. But this is almost always followed by a variation of the same sentence: ‘I think I could probably go veggie, but vegan…absolutely not.’ But why?
Even in the three years since I’ve been a veggie, I think as a society we’ve made great progress on nurturing a positive culture around people choosing vegetarianism for environmental reasons. More and more people are becoming aware of the impact which eating meat (and in particular, red meat) has on the environment. But veganism still seems a stretch too far for most of us. So all of this got me thinking, what would the world be like if we all suddenly shifted to plant-based diets? Rather conveniently, we’ve got a video that explores this exact question.
Of course, I’m under no illusions that this will happen overnight. Transitioning towards plant-based diets is undoubtedly something which we must aspire to, but it’s a process that will take time. So that leads me to the ultimate question which I’m sure you’re all itching to hear the answer to: am I going to stay vegan? The answer is a bit of both. I’m going to try and eat vegan during the weekdays and allow myself to eat veggie on the weekends. For my parting gift, I’ll leave you with some reflections on why I’ve decided to adopt this approach, along with a couple of top tips which are worth noting for anyone who’s looking to shift towards a plant-based diet:
Start small. Like anything when it comes to climate action, don’t try to go from 0 to 100. Rushing straight into it and trying to make wholesale, drastic changes to your routine is unattainable. The most likely outcome is that you’ll run out of steam and be so put off by the whole experience that you’ll recommend people be wary of it - which is arguably more detrimental to the cause than trying it in the first place. I know if I try to go vegan full-time at this relatively early stage, I may snap back. By going vegan most of the time, I’m much more likely to reach the end destination of being a fully-pledged vegan.
Be kind to yourself and listen to your body. If you do slip up, don’t be too hard on yourself. The climate movement needs people who are energised and resilient. If I’m out for dinner and I don’t like the look of the vegan options, or even if I just feel like I want some cheese as a treat, I’ll be sure to order myself a margarita (drink and or/pizza, or both?!). Veganism - and our dietary choices in general - should not be a punishment. There are ways to make sacrifices which benefit our bodies and the environment without making ourselves feel bad.
Talk to people and show them how fun it can be! Often being a vegan is perceived to be a chore, or a sacrifice that results in constantly eating less tasty food in the name of a greater good. If there is one thing Veganuary has taught me, it’s that this couldn’t be further from the truth. Cooking a tasty vegan feast for your friends or family could be just the trick to prove them wrong and encourage others to shift towards plant-based diets too.
The Grumpy Optimists 💚