Today is World Vegan Day. A diet, the vegan one, which – science shows – is attentive to our health but also to that of the Planet. A vegan diet can consume around half of fresh water, in fact, produce a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution, exploit a quarter of the land and have a third of impact on biodiversity compared to an omnivorous diet.
Not only All Saints Day, theNovember 1st is also World Vegan Daywhich celebrates the lifestyle which, from food to clothing, definitely does without any type of resource coming from the kingdom animal.
World Vegan Day originated in England in 1994, when vegan animal rights activist, Louise Wallis, aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Vegan Society. He therefore set the date at November 1st, since it falls exactly between October 31st, Halloween, and the Mexican Day of the Dead, which falls on November 2nd. Since November 1, 1994, World Vegan Day has thus offered vegans around the world a “welcome” opportunity to further celebrate veganism with its positive aspects.
Today the vegan diet is the subject of great attention, as evidenced by the boom in plant-based products and alternatives in every commercial sector, going beyond just nutrition. A recent study shows that 51% of meat consumers say they are actively reducing their consumption. In this research, Italy came in first place in the EU, together with Germany, for percentage of people (59%) who say they eat less meat.
Again according to the study, the main reasons that push people to make this reduction are:
Today, almost 10% of the Italian population defines itself as vegwith 7% vegetarians and 2% choosing a completely vegan diet. Numbers that are also reflected in the data of the Italian plant-based food market, which is constantly growing, despite the increase in prices: retail sales of plant-based foods reached 641 million euros in 2023, with an increase of 16 % from 2021.
From the Living Planet Report 2024 we can see a dramatic analysis of the effects of the global food system on the planet – says Eva Alessi, Sustainability Manager at WWF Italy. The environmental impact of foods of animal origin is generally higher than that of foods of plant origin, due both to processes directly related to animal management, such as the production of methane by ruminants, but also ammonia and fine dust, and indirect processes, due to the use of as many as 2/3 of agricultural land for the sole production of animal feed, such as soya, one of the main causes of deforestation in the most precious areas of the world, and the abuse of resources such as fresh water, an increasingly scarce resource in many areas of the world.
All good for the planet, therefore, but also for us: it is now clear that a balanced vegan diet – therefore more fibre, more antioxidants and phytonutrients and less saturated fat – is able to offer us various benefits, including a reduction in the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.
A series of positive aspects, therefore, for health and the environment, which make the choice towards a veg diet almost essential, don’t you think?
