India has been chosen to be 2022’s campaign hub for Veganuary—an annual global challenge that promotes a plant-based diet. Last year, around 60,000 of the 580,000 participants that joined it were from India, which is why the country will be at its center this year.
The challenge lasting throughout January is meant to motivate and inspire more people to follow a vegan diet. In 2021, over half a million individuals from 209 countries participated.
Following a vegan diet plan is linked to multiple benefits, primarily health-related ones, like preventing heart disease and other CVDs. However, fighting climate change and animal exploitation are the two core goals of Veganuary.
Approximately 1 in 5 participants last year (21%) said they decided to be a part of Veganuary in order to aid environmental causes, and 22% did so for health reasons. However, the biggest share—46%—said that their motivation was protecting animals.
Whatever the reasons, the trend seems to grow continually. Surveys show that 98% of supporters would recommend this challenge to others. Also, the number of participants has been rising ever since the first campaign in 2014.
A higher awareness of the role diet plays in our overall health made 2021’s numbers double those of 2019. This justifies the hopes that Veganuary will inspire a record number of participants this year.
What is even more interesting is that a lot of the people who have participated so far have actually switched permanently to a vegan diet.
However, despite numerous cookbooks, available videos, and tons of advice, becoming vegan still means facing hardship. For example, though some meal delivery services do offer specialized vegan menus, a purely vegan food delivery is still not so easy to find.
Fortunately, options for vegans continue growing. Only last year, the Veganuary campaign launched 825 new vegan products and menus in its key countries.
