Why Vegetarian, Plant-Based, and Vegan Diets Are on the Up

By Ariane Bilodeau, Copywriter/editor, and health & food blogger 

When I began my transition to a plant-based diet and a vegan lifestyle, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by many people who already avoided meat or animal products altogether. I was also mentored by Marie-Noël Gingras, blogger and author of a guide focused on cruelty-free cosmetics. There are now so many cookbooks and blogs that offer a wide range of tasty recipes. It’s hard to feel complement lost with all these resources available to us!

Unfortunately, Statistics Canada does not collect data on the number of vegetarians or vegans in Canada. However, the proportion of people who buy (or boycott) a product for ethical reasons is deemed to be on the rise, and there has been a decrease in commercial sales of dairy products and meat (especially red meat) for the last couple of years. Pure coincidence?

A considerable number of celebrities around the world are open about being vegetarian. There are also those&mdashlike Pamela Anderson, Nathalie Portman, Alicia Silverstone, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Jason Mraz, to name just a few&mdashwho are acknowledged vegans or who advocate against practices such as fur farming or animal testing.

And Quebec is no exception! Our province has a significant number of confirmed vegans, including:

• Meagan Duhamel, Olympic athlete, vegan since 2008

• George Laraque, former NHL player, vegan since 2009

• Jessie Nadeau and PH Cantin (OD Bali), who just released a vegan cookbook

• Karl Hardy, TV host and author

• David Desrosiers, member of Simple Plan (music band)

• Julien Corriveau, member ofLes Appendices (comedy group)

And so you see, you are not alone in this! Join a vegan community or recipe sharing group on Facebook, and don’t hesitate to attend events organized by your local vegetarian or vegan association. Because birds of a feather flock together, right?