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Ask any vegan what is the most irritating thing they experience on a day-to-day basis, and other than ‘bacon’ and ‘protein’ comments, the chances are that reading food labels whilst shopping tops the list.
Now, after around a decade of being vegan, I am very familiar with which products are suitable for vegans and which products aren’t.
But with an ever-growing vegan product range in supermarkets, and label changes, I am still sometimes stumped and forced to read through ingredients lists.
Easier
And, what about new vegans or those simply wanting to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diets?
After a few weeks of being vegan, the majority of people soon learn which products are suitable for vegans. But wouldn’t life be so much easier if products were clearly labelled as ‘suitable for vegans’ in some way?
This is why Animal Aid launched its #MarkItVegan campaign in 2016, to call on all major British supermarkets to commit to labelling all of their own-brand vegan products.
Since the campaign was launched, both Tesco and Asda have committed to doing so.
Growth
The number of vegans worldwide has grown massively in recent times.
A poll commissioned by The Vegan Society in 2016 showed that the number of vegans in Britain has grown by more than 350 percent in the last ten years.
Not only this, the number of people reducing the number of animal products that they consume – known as Reducetarians or Flexitarians – has skyrocketed, with a quarter of 18 – 24 year olds saying that their diets will be mostly meat-free by 2025.
Add this to the decreasing demand for dairy, and increasing demand for plant-based milk alternatives, and it is clear that the future is indeed vegan.
With all of this considered, there is never been a more crucial or sensible time for supermarkets to #MarkItVegan.
Sign the petition: www.animalaid.org.uk/go/markitvegan
