November is World Vegan Month and represents a great opportunity for people to go vegan. Veganism is on the rise and there has never been a better time to be vegan with supermarkets and health food shops offering plenty of vegan choices and restaurants more commonly providing vegan options.

And there are positive reasons to go vegan – reducing and ending the suffering of animals who are slaughtered in their billions for food and kept in very cruel conditions all their lives. A vegan diet is also one of healthiest diets there is for anyone as meat and dairy products lead to diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

A recent report by the world’s leading climate scientists has warned there are only a dozen years to stop the worst effects of climate change and switching to a vegan diet is one of the most effective individual actions that can be taken to help as the meat and dairy industry is a major contributor to climate change – as well leading to environmental destruction like deforestation, pollution and poisoning of the water supply.

The Vegan Society offers a great resource - https://www.vegansociety.com/go-vegan - to help people make this positive step.

Mark Dawes

Campaigns Officer

Waltham Forest & Redbridge Green Party