World Vegan Month:
Your Complete Guide to the Vegan Lifestyle

Embracing a plant-based lifestyle during World Vegan Month in November brings a wonderful opportunity for individuals, families, and communities to focus on health, compassion, and sustainable living throughout the autumn season.

This month-long international observance allows everyone to explore the rich history of the plant-based movement while highlighting how accessible whole-food cooking has become in modern times.

Whether you are a longtime vegan looking to share your favorite scratch-cooked dishes or a curious newcomer wanting to try a few meatless meals, this dedicated celebration shines a vibrant spotlight on the incredible variety of grains, fruits, vegetables, and natural ingredients that can be used to fuel a vibrant, healthy lifestyle.

Who Founded World Vegan Month?

The formal designation of November as a global celebration of plant-based living traces back to the historic roots of the movement in the United Kingdom. Understanding the timeline of how this observance evolved shows how a small, dedicated meeting of minds quickly grew into a massive international movement.

• The 1944 Roots: In November 1944, a visionary advocate named Donald Watson called a meeting with five fellow non-dairy vegetarians, including Elsie Shrigley, in London to form a new group called The Vegan Society. Watson officially coined the word "vegan" by taking the first three and last two letters of the word "vegetarian" to mark a distinct philosophy that completely excludes all animal-derived ingredients like meat, dairy, eggs, and honey.

• The 1994 Proclamation: Fifty years later, in November 1994, an animal rights activist and UK celebrity named Louise Wallis was serving as the President and Chair of The Vegan Society. Looking for a powerful way to commemorate the organization's golden 50th anniversary and highlight the growth of the movement, she officially established World Vegan Day.

• Choosing the Date: Because the exact calendar date of the society's original November 1944 founding meeting was never officially recorded in the ledger books, Wallis chose November 1 as the designated celebration day, noting that she loved how it naturally aligned with traditional autumn feasting times like Halloween and the Day of the Dead.

• Expanding to a Month: The initial massive success of the single-day global celebration quickly inspired organizers to expand the event into World Vegan Week, which ultimately grew into the official, month-long international observance celebrated worldwide today throughout the entire month of November.

Other Vegan Observances:

The journey of exploring a plant-based lifestyle connects beautifully to several other high-traffic daily and monthly calendar milestones throughout the year.

• January: Veganuary – A popular global campaign that encourages people to pledge to consume a 100% plant-based diet for the entire month of January to kickstart healthy new year habits.

• February: International Vegan Cuisine Month – A dedicated month that celebrates the diverse, delicious flavors of global plant-based culinary traditions and restaurant innovations.

• March 20: MeatOut Day – One of the world's oldest grassroots diet education campaigns, encouraging individuals to drop meat from their plates in favor of wholesome grains, fruits, and vegetables.

• May: No Meat May – A major international campaign challenging consumers to eliminate meat products for the 31 days of May to improve personal health and reduce environmental impact.

• October 1: World Vegetarian Day – Established by the North American Vegetarian Society to kick off a month of awareness regarding the benefits of meat-free living, serving as the perfect calendar lead-in to November.

• October 1: Vegan Baking Day – An organic, grassroots campaign founded by early online baking communities to promote the goodness of plant-based treats. Home cooks celebrate by baking delicious scratch-made goods from scratch and sharing them with friends, neighbors, and coworkers to showcase how amazing dairy-free baking can be.

• November 1: World Vegan Day – The official international milestone day that leads off the entire month-long focus on plant-based living, animal welfare, and eco-friendly choices.

Does the Bible Mention a Plant-Based Diet?

I have always personally believed that we were all intended to live on a plant-based diet based on the Garden of Eden in the Bible.

In the biblical account in Genesis 1:29–30, God gives humans and animals every plant and tree for food, which many readers understand as describing a plant-based diet in the original creation order.

After the Flood, Genesis 9:3 records an expansion of what was permitted. Different traditions interpret the relationship between these passages in different ways.

What is a Vegan?

Note: The rest of this page was written by my sister Kerry of Healthy Diet Habits on her Vegan Diet page, as we transition her website content into our Holiday site.

To be vegan is to be a strict vegetarian; they eat no meat or meat products! Nothing that has an ingredient from an animal will touch their lips! No products with eggs, no products with fish, no products with dairy, or any ingredient made with anything meat related, including clothing like leather, fur, wool, or any product that has been tested on an animal!

It is all about a total plant-based diet!

Why Follow a Vegan Diet?

There are many reasons for following a Vegan diet, but the main ones are: healthy eating, prevention of cruelty to animals, and protection of the environment, all great causes!

Many people think this is a salad diet and poke fun, but that idea is far from true, and this diet can be a healthy choice and a good lifestyle solution, if you know what you are doing first!

A Vegan Diet Includes: 

• All grains, beans and legumes, vegetables, and fruits, nuts and seeds, and dishes combining these foods! Many of the dishes look familiar with a meat or bean substitution added. You can use regular recipes, but just sub in your protein of choice.

• Meat-free protein products like hot dogs, soy crumbles, textured vegetable protein, seitan, Portobello mushrooms, Tempeh, Tofu, or Burger patties, Chicken patties/nuggets/strips, Bacon, Buffalo wings, Beef, Ham, or Turkey or protein powders! There is a meat free substitute for everything! Many of these products are so similar in dishes that you will not know the difference! My family has yet to notice when I use Boca burgers in chili recipes!

• Dairy substitutes like soy cheese, non-dairy margarines like Earth Balance, dairy-free sour creams, soy, and rice, coconut or almond milks.

• Learning new ways of cooking or recipes to make up for lost products. Ener-G Egg Replacement for baked goods works great, but replacing eggs with smashed bananas or applesauce works too, on certain recipes. Recipes might not be as light and fluffy using these products. There is some trial and error involved in learning to remake your favorite recipes! When you get it right, write it up! I keep a separate recipe file for egg free baked goods and recipes that work great using Ener-G!

• All processed foods that do not include meat products! It's possible to fill up on processed foods that are not healthy choices, just like regular eaters! You know that chip habit you might deal with could still be practiced on this diet!

• Premade products: Stores have caught on to the Diet and are producing products that cater to it. Whole Foods even produces fresh vegan donuts? Not sure that is a great choice! Veganaisse on the other hand is a great product.

I love meatless meals, especially when they are made with products I love like beans and legumes! Some of the other substitutes are a personal choice! I would encourage you to always read food labels and avoid foods that contain chemicals.

I love eating real foods and many of the vegan substitutes are highly processed. I personally don't like Tofu! It's all about what you love, and it is not difficult to find substitutes for most of the products that contain animal products!

Leigh's Note

I personally LOVE Tofu! Miso Soup is one of my favorite types of soups, and my favorite dish at a Thai Food restaurant is Pad se Ew with Tofu.

Difficulties in the Vegan Diet

• Nutrients: Care needs to be used when eating this diet, especially a raw diet! Vitamins B12, Vitamin D, Calcium, and Iron are the nutrients that can become problematic in this diet! Make sure you are taking a great vitamin supplement or eating a fortified breakfast cereal for Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, and Calcium. Iron can be found in leafy green veggies and beans, but it is a different type of iron than found in meat. It is not absorbed by the body as well, but eating fruits with Vitamin C greatly helps. Care must be used with supplements too, because some need to be taken with a meal, and some on an empty stomach for optimum absorption!

• Protein: Protein can be limited in this diet. Care needs to be given to meal planning and making sure you include protein in your meals and snacks! It is not that difficult; you just need to be on top of it!

• Eating Out: Eating out is difficult, unless you go to a restaurant specializing in this diet. Some choices are usually safe though and most restaurants are accommodating. Ask for recommendations from friends in your local area.

• Eating at Friends and Families homes: Accept the fact that most people are not meat free. They will not necessarily think of including you in their meal plan. They are not intentionally being hurtful; they just do not understand your diet. Be flexible and bring your protein choice to be included in the meal or an awesome bean/veggie dish to share with everyone. I would recommend bringing a dish similar to a familiar dish rather than a tofu laden dish that others might consider weird, if you plan to share that is! If you want to take home leftovers, weird is great!

Vegan Resources

The Vegan diet is one that should be researched and understood before you just dive in! It can be a healthy diet habit, if you do it right, but I would recommend educating yourself first. Great resources to use are:

• https://www.vegan.com/ This site is a simple site and covers all things Vegan!

• https://vegan.com/ultimate-vegan-guide/ Vegan.com offers a free Ultimate Vegan Guide that is available for free online reading!

• The Vegan Society | Founders of World Vegan Day on November 1st, which kicks off World Vegan Month