40 days of vegan

Today I embark on a 40 day challenge I set for myself, something which I've been convicted of doing for awhile but never got to it due to lack of organisation and a general fondness towards eggs, cheese and protein. I am particularly fond of a good steak:

Before...

After...

I watched a programme awhile back documenting how our food is produced. Whilst I have nothing against eating meat, eggs and dairy, something wasn't right. Over the next few weeks, I felt a stirring in my heart to actively try to trace the origin of my foods. It was harder than I thought it would be! I couldn't be assured by the labelling on my food that the chickens of my eggs were free to roam or that my steak was a cow that was regularly let out to peacefully graze. I'm by no means a PETA champion but do feel that as stewards of God's creation, there is something to be said about making choices that encourage ethical farming. Farming issues are not just about animal rights, but include environmental issues, workers and farmers' rights, economic justice and health and safety.

Every time we buy something, we are casting a vote as to what we want: baby corn flown in from Thailand or potatoes delivered from a field 30 miles away? Affordable barn hens or slightly more expensive free range organic chickens?

The reasons I'm challenging myself to go vegan for 40 days are two-fold:

1. The labels in the supermarkets are, in my opinion still not clear enough and can be misleading. I don't have very much time at all and certainly cannot spend the additional minutes deciphering labels. The problem of Freedom Food vs Free Range vs Organic vs Red Tractor vs Country of Origin etc etc etc is completely eliminated if I just cut out everything that came from an animal.

2. Free range meats are expensive! I can't afford them anyway.

As there are almost zero pure vegan options in my office cafe, I've decided to pack my own lunches to work. To make things a little bit more fun, I'll be documenting my work vegan bentos every now and then to let you have look at what a noob-vegan is learning to make/ pull together! Watch this space :)