By definition, veganism (in food) is the avoidance of meat and its by products in ones nutritional diet. It was coined by Donald Watson back in 1944. A piece of trivia: did you know that aside from November 1 being commemorated as All Saints Day, it is also celebrated as World Vegan Day? This day gathers vegans all over the world to celebrate this day through various festivities and activities.

The scope of veganism is far and wide, and can be political, however it is not the intention of this article to cover that. Rather, the objective is to create the awareness for such practice, and to emphasize how living in a tropical country like the Philippines could enable any vegan-curious individual to start exploring our available resources in order to sustain a vegan lifestyle.

Globally, approximately two percent of the population is vegan. Vegans, or plant-based eaters, as the name implies, consume non-animal products. The diet is mostly centered on fruit and vegetables, and other plant-based protein sources such as lentils, beans, soy, to name a few. To the uninitiated, this could be quite shocking considering how Filipinos are used to consuming meat and dairy. However, in the recent years, veganism has somehow gotten mainstream, so much so that you would now see vegan products available in the grocery stores. You now have vegan choices available for milk and cheese, as an example.

My journey to being vegan started as early as 2015 when, while being pescatarian for 2 years back then I decided to transition to vegan but unfortunately, I only lasted 2 weeks. In 2019, I decided to switch cold turkey and have not looked back since. In fact, it will be my first year this month.

The journey has not exactly been easy. I remember the first day I decided to switch to vegan and I was in Cebu that particular day. I checked the menu in the hotel and the breakfast they have available is not vegan-friendly and so I had to request if they can make something for me, which they happily obliged. Nonetheless, the concept of vegan food was limited to salad, vegetables and other similar ingredients that the kitchen either sauted, boiled or roasted with minimal thinking on nutrition and creativity. It is not the case nowadays. In fact, there are too many options available now that one just has to look closely.

The interest in sustaining a vegan lifestyle in the Philippines even got more exciting when I discovered Maria Orosa, our greatest food technologist, that even during the war in the 40s we already had a thriving vegan lifestyle, just that it wasnt discovered yet or we did not know how to call it. Her recipes on corn, cassava and coconut are all vegan-friendly more or less, and at most a little bit of tweaking is only needed. The good thing is that with our country being rich in natural (and vegan) resources it should not be as difficult to look into this dietary preference.

The benefits of having a vegan dietary preference are enormous, and one would find a lot of information and literature on this online. For now, heres a vegan recipe that is easy and can be done very quickly if pressed for time.

Easy Broccoli Spaghettini

Broccoli Spaghettini

Ingredients:

2 heads broccoli, florets sliced3 cloves garlic, minced1 white onion, sliced1 teaspoon chilli flakesDash of salt and pepper1 teaspoon onion powder1/4 cup almond sliversOlive oil2 to 3 tablespoons of water450g spaghettini noodles

Procedure:

1. Cook noodles according to package instructions.

2. In a pan, heat olive oil. Saut garlic and onion. Once the onions are translucent, add the broccoli florets, a bit of water and the rest of the spices.

3. Test for seasoning and finally add noodles to the sauce and garnish with almond slivers.

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

Notes:

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Go here to see the original:
Veganism as a dietary preference The Manila Times - The Manila Times