More South Africans are said to be adopting a vegan lifestyle. With November being World Vegan Month, the spotlight will be on plant-based diets. Picture: Bongani Shilubane/African News Agency (ANA) More South Africans are said to be adopting a vegan lifestyle. With November being World Vegan Month, the spotlight will be on plant-based diets. Picture: Bongani Shilubane/African News Agency (ANA)
Cape Town - More South Africans are said to be adopting a vegan lifestyle.
With November being World Vegan Month, the spotlight will be on plant-based diets. While there’s no accurate data on how many South Africans are vegan is, those in the industry believe it’s a fast-growing trend.
Next year, Africa’s first large-scale vegan and plant-based exposition - the Vegan & Plant Powered Show - will bring the vegan and plant-based trend to local shores.
Founder Heidi Warricker said an exposition of this kind would be beneficial to the
country.
“Johannesburg came in at number 10 in a list of cities with the best range of vegan options,” said Warricker.
“We are targeting the veggie-curious so we’re not looking to force people into diet changes, just to get people to think differently about what they eat.”
With South Africa being a meat-loving nation, the move to veganism might be a tall order for most.
Warricker said while they’re aware of the difficulty in making such a lifestyle change, more and more people were gradually making the switch.
International food awareness organisation ProVeg said veganism was already popular in SA.
Director Donovan Will said: ”A Google trends report at the beginning of the year showed South Africa was 23rd in Google searches for veganism.”
He said two main reasons people make the switch are health concerns - probably the number one factor - and then the environmental impacts.
The expo will take place in Cape Town at the CTICC in May 2020.