Will Kent try Veganuary as a plant-based New Year's resolution?

KentOnline / KMTV

New Year's resolutions come in all shapes and sizes, from fitness goals to spending less.  However, some Rochester residents are aiming to become vegan for the month of January.   Finn Macdiarmid reports.

Transcript

00:00Aside from some poor weather, January brings plenty of New Year's resolutions, whether

00:05it's quitting smoking, picking up some weights or even reducing your screen time.

00:08But here in Kent and across the country are people taking on a new challenge for this

00:13month.

00:14Veganuary is where you become vegan for the full month of January.

00:17You're not allowed to eat any meat or meat products for the whole month.

00:21But in Kent, are there enough places for vegan people to actually eat?

00:24The Quills restaurant in Rochester started adding meat product free options to their

00:28menus around 2020.

00:30To be fair, some people ask, basically demand.

00:33So people was coming and asking, do you do something vegan?

00:35And I was saying, OK, we can make you vegan if you take this, this, this off from the dish.

00:42But the people was asking more and more.

00:45So we said, you know what, we're going to put that in a menu which comes vegan and then we

00:49label it as a vegan.

00:51So it would be just easier for us and for a chef and for a customer.

00:55And then whoever wants vegan, they know where to go.

00:57Now, I love meat as much as the next person.

01:01I don't think I'd be able to go vegan for a full month.

01:04But restaurants are making it a little bit easier.

01:06They've started adding more vegan friendly meals to their menu.

01:09And I'm not just talking about salads like the one I have here.

01:12Burgers, full breakfasts even.

01:15But going into a restaurant and ordering something vegan friendly is wholly different from being

01:18one.

01:19You need special kinds of milk, special kinds of cream, special kinds of butter.

01:23Some Prosecco's aren't vegan friendly.

01:25This one is, but not all of them are.

01:27So how easy is it to actually commit to not eating meat or meat based products for a whole

01:32month or longer?

01:33I would say that actually it's probably one of the more challenging diets really to make

01:39sure that you're getting all of the nutrition, the vitamins and minerals that you need to get

01:43to be as healthy as you can possibly be.

01:45So it's definitely possible in terms of a, you know, like a quick sort of fad way of eating.

01:54It wouldn't necessarily be my first choice.

01:57And I would always recommend that there is research and planning and forethought gone into

02:03it beforehand.

02:03And if it's done in that way, then absolutely you can get everything you need from a vegan

02:09diet.

02:09It just requires some planning 6.3% of UK adults are planning to follow a vegan diet

02:14in 2026.

02:15That's about 3.6 million people, according to some new data, just less than half for

02:20already vegan by the new year, while 3.2% weren't, but have decided to make the transition.

02:27At the end of the day, while restaurants and shops are becoming more accommodating, it's

02:30up to us to see, can we stick with Veganuary as well as we stick with our other New Year's

02:35resolutions?

02:36Finn McDermott for KMTV in Rochester.

02:38in Rochester.

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