January goes vegan! #veganuary

The non-profit campaign #veganuary has been encouraging people around the world to go vegan in January (or longer) since 2014. The organization advertises that the Veganuary is more than just a nutritional program.
A vegan diet helps to protect our environment, counteract climate change, avoid existing animal suffering and improve the health of many people and is now considered one of the most effective methods.1

 

So why is a vegan diet so important for our environment?

According to the agricultural organization of the UN, livestock farming causes more greenhouse gases than global traffic – meaning all cars, trucks, ships and airplanes together!2 The greenhouse gases emitted from livestock farming are composed on the one hand of the considerable amount of feed that the livestock consume and on the other hand of the amount of methane that the animals produce in their stomachs and later release into our air. Methane is 23 times more effective on the climate than CO2; Accordingly, dairy products such as eggs, meat and milk products have a bad climate footprint.6  

In Germany alone, eleven tons of greenhouse gases are released per capita and year.3

However, if you live vegan, you can counteract this and thereby reduce your personal balance by about two tons per year. Figuratively speaking, this corresponds to around eight economy class flights between Berlin and London.3

 

What are the pros and cons of a vegan diet?

In general, not only the advantages, but also possible disadvantages of a vegan diet should be examined and included.

A vegan diet supports animal welfare and protects the climate; however, the risk of nutrient deficiency – especially for vitamin B12 – should not be ignored. A purely vegan diet is therefore not suitable for everyone. This applies in particular to people in extraordinary phases of life, such as pregnancy, breastfeeding or childhood.4 Therefore, the decision to go vegan should be an individual decision and, if necessary, coordinated with a doctor. 

Furthermore, health risks arising from meat consumption, such as cardiovascular diseases, can be minimized with a vegan diet. Similar results could be achieved with a vegetarian diet. After all, it is not just a healthy and balanced diet that plays a role in health but also additional health-promoting lifestyle factors, such as not smoking, physical activities and lower alcohol consumption.5

On the one hand, there is now an extensive range of vegan (alternative) products on the market plus their development is increasing at an ever faster pace. On the other hand, these products have a high proportion of added fat, sugar and salt and should therefore be viewed critically.4, 5

In the end it’s up to you!

Whether omnivore, vegetarian or vegan diet – how you eat is ultimately up to you. The points listed above serve only as information and as a thought-provoking impulse.

 

Product labelling & eaternity

The qnips system already offers the option of obtaining product labels such as “vegan”, “vegetarian” or e.g. “with chicken”. This operates manually in the dashboard or fully automatically via the enterprise resource planning (ERP). Among other things, this feature gives guests the option of using a filter in the (web) app to easily see which dishes correspond to their own dietary preferences. Even on site in the company restaurant, such labeling can make the purchase decision easier for guests as part of a digital advertisement via screen or stele.

In addition, an interface between eaternity and the ERP can provide further relevant data on the sustainability of a dish. In this way, the company restaurant can communicate the climate, water and/or vita score of a dish and much more.

 

Veganism at qnips

There are also some vegetarians or vegans hiding among the qnips employees.

Julia tells us that she has recently become a huge fan of homemade vegan Bolognese. Julia describes herself as a vegetarian, but still likes to use vegan alternative products, such as in the following recipe:

 

This image is reproducing a vegan recipe for Spaghetti Bolognese with all ingredients required

Her insider tip: A good shot of wine is a must!

So that the vegan alternative is in no way inferior to the “real Bolognese”, she uses vegan minced meat. – “You don’t notice any difference to the real minced meat.”


Quellen

1 Veganuary
2 Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change
Working Group III Contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, pp. 599 – 670
3 Spiegel Wissenschaft
4 AOK Gesundheitsmagazin
5 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung e.V.
6 Eidgenössisches Departement für Umwelt, Verkehr, Energie und Kommunikation UVEK 


We can also support you with the digitization of your contract catering or you have questions about the features from qnips? Then get in contact with us today. We take questions and appointments via info@qnips.io or via +49 511 165 899 0. 

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