When advocating veganism, is your goal to win a debate? If so, then it’s also to make the other person lose. When you focus on the “how” rather than the “what” of your communication, you reduce the risk of creating a win-lose scenario and increase the chances that your message will be heard as you intend it to be.

Accidentally vegan food is food that was not produced specifically for the vegan market, but happen to be vegan. It’s vegan because it does not contain any meat, dairy or eggs.

Lots of foods you eat every day are accidentally vegan, including bread, pasta, some sweets, crisps, biscuits and cereals.

There are dozens of accidentally vegan products for sale in the UK and across the world. Once you know what to look for, it’s incredibly easy to spot them.

Please note, for the purposes of this article, we'll be including items that contain palm oil as an ingredient. If you avoid palm oil because you are concerned about the ethics involved in it’s production, you may want to check the ingredients of the items listed here to make sure it is not used.

For more information about palm oil and why some vegans avoid it, you can read our dedicated article.

Accidentally vegan foods

Foods are accidentally vegan when they contain only plant-based ingredients. There...

What stands in the way of effective vegan advocacy? Vegan advocates today face four key obstacles, and this video will help you to overcome them to achieve a more effective communication style.

Watch the next video in the Effective Advocacy series here.

Produced by Beyond Carnism & Vexquisit Studio. Presented by Dr Melanie Joy & Tobias Leenaert.

Please take this short survey about this vegan series

Find out more about Beyond Carnism or CEVA

Vegans do not eat eggs, because their production requires the exploitation of female chickens and the murder of male chicks within 15 minutes of hatching.

Veganism by definition is a way of living that seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose. For this reason, consuming eggs can never be vegan.

Why don't vegans eat eggs?

Vegans do not eat eggs because their production involves the exploitation of the reproductive systems of hens.

Female chickens are bought and kept so that farmers can profit from the eggs they lay.

This is against the definition of veganism, which seeks to exclude all forms of exploitation and cruelty to all sentient beings, including hens.

Why can't vegans eat eggs?

Vegans can't eat eggs because in order to be vegan a person must avoid all forms of animal exploitation, and the egg industry exploits the reproductive system of hens.

Most eggs come from...

If you want to influence people, you need to be aware of how others perceive what you’re saying, keeping in mind the YANYA principle: You Are Not Your Audience.

Produced by Beyond Carnism & Vexquisit Studio. Presented by Dr Melanie Joy & Tobias Leenaert.

Please take this short survey about this vegan series

Find out more about Beyond Carnism or CEVA

Watch the next video in the Effective Advocacy here.

The one who gets the last word. The winner of the argument. The person who gets blocked for calling the other person an 'animal murderer' one too many times.

For many vegans in their early days of plant-based living - a.k.a. the 'Angry Vegan' stage - these are achievements to be proud of. It's only after one carefully starts to weigh the pros and cons of their behavior do they realize that maybe they cut that stranger on the internet a little too deep. Or perhaps comparing a Facebook friend's eating habits to mass murder was a comparison best left unsaid.

For new vegans, it's going to take time before you realize that it’s best to bite your tongue at times, and to approach situations with an open heart, not an accusatory pointed finger. I know that it took me months of bickering with my friends (and alienating myself in the process) before I realized that the more effective way to communicate the vegan message is to do it subtly, and to do it peacefully.

Becoming an...

This exclusive video series discusses how to become an effective vegan advocate.

The videos - created by vegan influencers Dr. Melanie Joy and Tobias Leenaert, and illustrated by Roxy Vélez from Vexquisit Studio - present one key concept per episode about how to advocate veganism effectively in an engaging, clear, and easily understandable manner.

Video 1:Remember Your Own Carnism

Remembering what it was like when you used to be non-vegan, and speaking about that experience in a personal way, makes it easier to stay empathically connected with non-vegans.

Watch the next video in the Effective Vegan Advocacy series here.

Produced by Beyond Carnism & Vexquisit Studio. Presented by Dr Melanie Joy & Tobias Leenaert.

Please take this short survey about this vegan series

Find out more about Beyond Carnism or CEVA

There are approximately 600,000 vegans in the UK in 2018, according to The Vegan Society.

The number of vegans in the UK continues to increase. As a result, vegan food, clothing and cosmetics are becoming increasingly easy to source, and can be found in most supermarkets and on most high streets.

The UK vegan population

The UK vegan population is growing. From 2006 to 2018, the number of vegans in the UK increased by more than 360 percent. This year, food giant JustEat listed veganism as its top consumer trend for 2018, after the demand for vegan and vegetarian food ordered through its platform increased by 987 percent.

Large brands like Nestle, McDonald's, Starbucks, Pret A Manger, Pizza Hut and Pizza Express have all increased their vegan offerings in the UK to meet the demand for food that's free from animal produce.

Best vegan cities in the UK

If you're a vegan UK resident, there are lots of places you can find great vegan food and vegan non-food products. Some cities are known...

Vegans avoid animal exploitation across their entire lifestyle, whereas those on a plant-based diet do not consume animals or animal products, but might still exploit them through other activities.

A vegan individual is likely to eat the same diet as a plant-based individual, but a vegan will avoid other forms of animal exploitation. Vegans won't wear leather, for example, but someone on a plant-based diet might wear leather, wool and silk.

The definition of veganism, as defined by The Vegan Society, is: "A way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose."

The definition of a plant-based according to Wikipedia is: "A plant-based diet is a diet based on foods derived from plants, including vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes and fruits, but with few or no animal products."

What's the difference between a vegan and a plant-based diet

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A vegan fast food chain is expanding globally. Beyond Meat is going public. Massive demand for vegan food is revolutionizing supermarkets. Who do you have to thank for this massive shift in public sentiment and behavior? Yourself.

Social media has shifted the landscape in this new technological era of constant connection. On Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, in a blink-of-an-eye you're exposed to content from an array of sources posted anywhere around the globe. This incredible connection to the rapidly changing world has never been so streamlined. The results? Ideas about plant-based food, knowledge about factory farming, and encouraging messages from individuals and organizations about how to change the world are being exchanged at a rate like we've never seen before.

Each week, literally hundreds of millions of people around the globe are exposed to content that they never otherwise would see if not for social media. Because people like you are...