When you tell someone you’re vegan, they imagine a diet full of fruits, vegetables, cous cous, wheatgrass shots and homemade granola bars.
And whilst that’s true to some extent, I’d like to take a minute to tell you about the lesser known vegan – the junk food vegan.
I’ve been vegan for 4 years now and if I’m honest, my diet overall hasn’t really changed all that much.
It’s just that the options I now chose are either vegan or accidentally vegan in nature. In fact, my diet probably isn’t all that different from yours really.
The one thing I have given up, which might surprise you, is fruit! I honestly don’t know why, but it just seems to have gone completely off my menu, it just doesn’t appeal to me in the same way anymore!
I really have to put in the effort to even get a piece of fruit in front of me if it isn’t already pre-prepared!
And I hate the fact I have to pay extra for the privilege when in fact I could buy the fruit whole and cut it myself, but I truly cannot be bothered to do this.
As to me, it's an extra step I have to go through to actually eat the fruit! A stupid reason I know, but it show I feel.
I know vegan alternates are usually quite expensive and therefore it would make sense to be a ‘whole-food vegan’ and someone who DOES eat quite healthily and cook good, healthy meals from scratch, but still?
I very rarely cook myself anything from scratch and I find the pre-made, ready-to-cook from frozen alternatives a much easier prospect!
I don’t really know what the point of this post is, perhaps to justify to myself that it’s OK to eat how I do and to NOT be the stereotypical vegan that most people think of.
My diet in the main hasn’t really changed at all, I still eat burgers, pizzas, bacon sandwiches, sausage rolls, pies, shepherd’s pie, chocolate, biscuits, yogurts etc etc….it’s just that they’re all vegan!
So to look at it, you wouldn’t see much difference which is just how I like it.
Plus, I think it makes the whole transition easier because on the whole, you’re not having anything that’s too dissimilar to what you had previously. Unless of course, you’re talking about vegan cheese, which is something different entirely!
It did take me a while to adjust to eating dairy-free cheese but now I’ve found the ones I like, it makes it easier. It’s more getting your head around it to be honest which takes time, as well as everyone’s judgy opinions of course!
I’d say there’s no problem with you choosing to be a junk food vegan if you want to be one. So long as you ensure you’re getting all the right nutrients, vitamins and minerals too of course.
But then I’d argue you’d have to do this no matter what diet you follow. It’s just that vegans get a harder time of it because we choose not to eat the flesh of dead animals!
I’ve written plenty of posts about making the transition to veganism and how it has impacted my daily life.
I’ve also written a post about my top 5 favourite junk food vegan picks, just to try and normalise this way of eating and also to put it in front of more people who can see that there’s nothing ‘weird’ or ‘different’ about this way of life – this is proven by the fact that almost every restaurant/cafe has at least one or even two vegan/vegetarian options on their menus.
I always say that it was the Greggs vegan sausage roll that started it all because it was this infamous beige pastry delight which started me down the route to veganism in 2019.
And it’s not just me who thinks so!
According to sales records, the chain made an exceptionally strong start to 2019 with sales climbing nearly 10% in the seven weeks to 16 February (Guardian news article, Feb. 2019).
Greggs launched the now infamous vegan sausage roll during Veganuary in 2019 – a month-long slice of activism dedicated to helping people change their attitudes towards veganism by eating purely vegan for the month.
This has been incredibly successful over the years, with over 706,965 people taking part in 2023 alone!
This was the biggest participation ever recorded in the history of Veganuary, which can only mean good things that there are some of those over 700 thousand people who are at least intrigued enough to begin following a vegan lifestyle.
I like to believe that by sharing the foods I eat, demystifying veganism one dish at a time, that eating vegan isn’t that ‘weird’ and is actually quite normal in fact.
I certainly don’t think it’s any different from my previous carnivorous diet, apart from the obvious of course! Perhaps that’s why l love junk food so much!!
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a so-called ‘junk food’ vegan. So long as you’re happy and healthy then that’s all that really matters at the end of the day.
No one person has the right to judge another person’s dietary choices. We all make so many decisions everyday it seems so silly that this is the one which people pick apart!
Anyway, I hope this ramble has made sense to you, if you too are a junk food vegan who seems to have given up fruit along the way!
Love, Sarah
xoxoxo
