Today we wanted to pop by with a little inspiration, and celebration. It’s world vegan day, and whether you are vegan or not, here are a few cool things you could do today:
Pick up the latest issue of Innsikt magazine
Afternposten’s latest issue of Innsikt magazine has a huge feature on veganism (which includes an interview with us - woohoo!) It’s a great read, covering all different aspects of a vegan lifestyle including diet, ethics, health and the environment. There are interviews with many different types of vegans, and they have collected lots of stats which illustrate how much veganism has grown in the past few years. It would be lovely to spend world vegan day sitting with a nice cup of coffee, reading this, and eating a little treat.
Nachos with black beans, kale and red cabbage recipe on NRK Mat
Cook a vegan meal for someone you care about
Today is a good day to try out a vegan recipe, and you are in luck because there are so many great food bloggers and chefs out there that love to share their vegan creations. We like to explore recipes from all over the place and are always checking out BBC Good Food, Jamie Oliver, Vegan Richa, Isa Chandra, Munchies, and One Green Planet for delicious stuff. There are some great food blogs in Norwegian such as Green Bonanza, Veganmisjonen, and Vegetarbloggen.
Get comfortable with the v word.
Are you already toying with the idea of going vegan? Have you been trying out meat free Mondays or cutting out animal products gradually? That is a smart approach, and it’s what we did to become vegan too. Don’t rush into calling yourself vegan until you are comfortable with it, and it fits into your lifestyle. For me one day it just clicked, I remember being in a cafe and I was trying to order something vegan without saying I was vegan. ‘I’ll have the veggie wrap, but hummus instead of cheese’ and my friend said ‘it’s ok you know, you can just say you are vegan, I mean it would make it easier when we go out for lunch,’ after that I just said I was vegan. I let go of my fears of if i was ‘vegan enough’ or if people would judge me. I decided that I didn’t want to eat animals anymore and I wasn’t going to be ashamed of it.
Donate to a shelter
A really nice thing you could do today is donate to a shelter or sanctuary. I would suggest donating to Dale Store Gård, a fantastic farm in Fredrikstad in which you will find so many animals rescued from slaughterhouses and abandonment. At this farm they are able to live out the rest of their days in peace. Donate what you can via VIPPS to 510399.
Go out for dinner
If you are reading this, chances are you know all about our app. The Vegan Norway app is your ultimate guide to the best vegan food you will find in Norway’s biggest cities. We now have almost 1000 places listed in the app, and have just released a new design making it easier to use. Check out our city guides for Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger to get inspired!
Watch a movie
I don’t really watch many movies about vegan stuff as I find them too upsetting and I’m already vegan! But if you are wondering about the ethics, health benefits or environmental issues around veganism, there are quite a few documentaries out there on Netflix and NRK. Forks over Knives (Netflix) is good for learning about health benefits of veganism, Carnage (BBC) is a really funny film about veganism, Earthlings is quite a difficult but eye opening film about ethics and the treatment of animals. Pels (Nrk) is all about the fur industry in Norway. For a lighter movie night, you could watch some old classics like Babe, or Chicken Run?
Make a small change in your routine
Being vegan is not just about the food. We know that we need to pay even more attention to our impact on the environment as consumers. For me, this wasn’t as simple as stopping eating animals but I gradually made changes here and there over time to be a little greener. For example, I stopped using plastic bags and started carrying shopping nets in my backpack, I began to recycle more stuff, and now I shop for most things second hand. I’m not a perfect zero waste vegan by any means, but I’m trying my best here and there. Maybe the way you celebrate world vegan day is by deciding to make a small eco change in your routine?
Three moody cows, just hanging out.
Remember why you went vegan
Recently I have found myself thinking a lot about how different the ‘vegan scene’ is from how it looked a few years ago. There are many different and new people involved, doing totally different things, and they have quite different opinions and approaches which are sometimes at odds with each other. That is ok, it is a natural part of any social group becoming bigger and more diverse. I think that it’s important today to remember what binds us together: the respect and compassion we have for animals. I could talk more about this, but Mia Frogner from Green Bonanza discusses it in a much better way in her latest blog post. So you can read that. Oh, and have a great world vegan day!
