We were asked to give a talk to colleagues as part of a "COP26 fortnight" at Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP on the benefits of a lifestyle eating less meat.

1. COP26: EATING FOR
THE PLANET
8 November 2021
Francis Ho | Charlotte Benson-Goring

2. Part I (Francis Ho):
▪ The difference between
veganism and a plant-
based diet
▪ Reasons why people
become vegan
▪ It’s not just about the
environment …
▪ Life as a vegan
Part II (Charlotte
Benson-Goring):
▪ Plant-based diet FAQs
▪ Plant-based diets and
the environment
▪ Recipe ideas
▪ Meat Free Mondays
and Veganuary
Our talks today

3. PART I

4. Vegetarianism Plant-based diet Ethical veganism
Sugar❓ Sugar✔ Sugar (if no bone char)
✔
🍯✔ 🍯❓ 🍯❌
Carmine food
colouring❌
Carmine food
colouring❓
Carmine food
colouring❌
Leather❓ Leather✔ Leather❌
Silk❓ Silk✔ Silk❌
Wool❓ Wool✔ Wool❌
Duck down❓ Duck down✔ Duck down❌
Natural sponge❓ Natural sponge✔ Natural sponge❌
Pearls❓ Pearls✔ Pearls❌
Gelatin❌ Gelatin❓ Gelatin❌
Vegetarianism v plant-based diet v
veganism

5. Why do people become vegan?

6. Why I became vegan
▪ Pescatarian aged 22
❌🐖🐔🐄🐑
▪ Lacto-ovo-vegetarian aged 27
❌🐖🐔🐄🐑🐟🦀🦐
▪ Ethical vegan in 2020
❌🐖🐔🐄🐑🐟🦀🦐🥚🥛🧀🍯

7. Animal welfare:
▪ What happens to hens
that slow down in egg-
laying as they age?
▪ How are cows made to
produce milk?
▪ And what happens
when they get too old?
Health:
▪ Can a plant-based diet:
– Reduce heart
inflammation?
– Alleviate arthritis?
– Help with “leaky gut”?
– Prevent cancer?
– Manage obesity?
It’s not only about the environment …

8. Athlete Sporting achievements
Lewis Hamilton 🏎 7-time Formula 1 world champion
Alex Morgan ⚽ World Cup winner & Olympic gold
Sergio Agüero ⚽ Copa América winner & winner of the
English “treble”
Meagan Duhamel ⛸ World champion
Novak Djokovic 🎾 Multiple grand slam winner
Serena & Venus Williams 🎾 Multiple grand slam winners
Tom Brady 🏈 7-time Superbowl champion
Kyrie Irving 🏀 NBA champion
Scott Jurek 🏃 Multiple ultramarathon champion
Hannah Teter 🏂 Olympic gold
Nick & Nate Diaz 🤼 UFC champions
Some current athletes who are vegan …

9. Life as a vegan

10. The supermarket

11. Virtually identical Different but good No decent equivalent
(at least not yet)
Meat substitute Beyond Burger Eggs
Vegan meatballs “Cheeze”
Vegan ice cream Artisan “cheeze”
Vegan chocolate Oat milk
“Vegannaise” Soya milk
Chick’n nuggets Margarine
Vegan yoghurt “Facon”
Mince Ham
Sausages
Pizza Express pizza
Hoisin duck
Easy meat alternatives

12. Super-quick chick’n katsu curry

13. Vegan cakes are ubiquitous

14. My daily supplements

15. Restaurants near Wood Street

16. Places delivering to Wood Street

17. Books:
▪ How to Go Vegan by
Veganuary
▪ How Not to Die by Michael
Greger
▪ The Mind-Gut Connection
by Emeran Mayer
▪ The Plant-Based Athlete by
Matt Frazier
▪ In Defense of Food by
Michael Pollan
▪ Eat Yourself Healthy by
Megan Rossi
Documentaries:
▪ The Game Changers
(health)
▪ Seaspiracy (planet)
▪ Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead
(health)
▪ Kiss the Ground (planet)
▪ What the Health (health)
▪ Running for Good
(health)
▪ Cowspiracy (planet)
▪ Meat Me Halfway (planet)
Further information

18. Smartphone apps for vegans

19. Eating
for
the
Planet:
Part II

20. My plant-based diet FAQs
❖ Should I jump straight in? I would suggest a gradual approach. Research shows it is
more likely to be successful long-term.
❖ How best to deal with criticism?
❖ Arm yourself with knowledge.
❖ Remember it’s often fear of the unknown that causes people to criticise. Help open
people’s eyes by introducing them to delicious vegan food!
❖ Don’t be judgmental or argue/become moralistic - it doesn’t work. Instead,
sympathise e.g. ‘I used to think that too but I’ve discovered that [ ]’.
❖ One of the biggest reasons for not ditching meat and dairy is that people love the
taste! Serving them delicious vegan food will encourage them to be more receptive
to veganism
❖ Is it expensive?
❖ It can be really cheap. Steer clear of the meat substitutes if you want to keep costs
down. Avoid food marked ‘vegan’, which are likely to (at the moment) be a little
more expensive (until demand grows and hopefully pushes prices down!)
“Lab-grown meats are a red herring, we don’t need them. We can get most of the protein we
need from plant-based foods. Wealthy countries are already massively overconsuming
protein. We don’t need to move to alternate protein sources – if we cut in half the amount of
protein we are already eating, we would be at healthier levels.” – Professor Pete Smith,
University of Aberdeen, Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences

21. Plant-based diets and the
environment
❖ A 2016 study by Oxford University found that a global switch to plant-
based diets could:
❖ Cut food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2050
(vegetarian diets would cut emissions by 63%);
❖ Avoid 8.1 million deaths per year by 2050 (half of deaths avoided
by reduced consumption of red meat, half by increased
consumption of fruit and veg, leading to reduced obesity and
improved general health)
❖ A February 2021 report by Chatham House and the UN environment
program found that agriculture is the biggest driver of natural habitat
destruction: threatening 85% of the 28,000 species most at risk of
extinction.

22. Plant-based diets and the environment
❖ Not all (vegan) foods are made equal. Consider how it’s grown, where it comes from. Locally
produced and seasonal is best.
❖ One kilo of avos: 2,000 litres of water. Also massive deforestation and some violence
(people wanting to control the trade). If needed, look for Fairtrade or Equal Exchange.
❖ Soy? Second largest agricultural driver of deforestation in the world. BUT only 6% eaten
directly by humans: 2017 paper by WWF.
❖ Palm Oil?
❖ Not problematic in and of itself, but often grown unsustainably.
❖ Look for RSPO-certified. E.g. M&S own-brand food is all RSPO.
❖ https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/palm-oil/palm-oil-free-list
❖ Insects?
❖ Two billion people already eat regularly (source: UN).
❖ livestock accounts for up to 70% of the planet’s agricultural land use. Insects would
use much, much less land.
❖ ‘Nutritionally comparable to meat’ – Dr Duncan Sivell, Curator of Diptera, Natural
History Museum
❖ https://horizoninsects.co.uk/cooking-events
❖ Food cultural changes. E.g. used to feed lobster to prisoners as it was considered
revolting!

23. Recipes
❖ Chickpeas – rich source of fibre, iron, calcium, protein (1 cup (164 grams) = 14.5 grams of
protein (1 egg only has 13 grams))
❖ Marmite – B vitamins
❖ Beans, lentils, peas – 10-20 grams of protein per cup
❖ Algae – omega 3
❖ Spinach – calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium
❖ Hemp, flax and chia seeds – protein, omega 3…..flax and chia seeds are a substitute for
eggs in recipes!

24. Meat Free Monday and
Veganuary
❖ Meat Free Monday: a good start (see
easing in gradually).
❖ Veganuary:
❖ Prepare yourself…find the vegan
aisle…tweak your core meals
❖ Keep it simple.
❖ Find a buddy… WhatsApp or
Yammer.
❖ Forming a habit:
❖ UCL study found missing a day
does not make any
difference.in fact, being too
harsh on yourself may
actually be unhelpful as it
may make it more difficult to
restart if you have a wobble.
❖ Takes on average 2 months
before a new habit becomes
automatic.