The campaign to encourage people to try vegan in January is now in its seventh year and is all set to be bigger than ever. Already, half a million people in 178 countries have taken the month-long vegan pledge and one of them was Oxford’s Jenny Cox.
“I’d been veggie since I was a child,” she says. “I decided to try Veganuary in 2017, right after my husband went vegan. Originally, I planned to take part as a diet, just to see if I could do it, but by the end of the first month, I felt so much healthier and the moral implications of veganism were like a lightbulb going on. I knew then that I would never go back.”
That month was life-changing for Jenny. “It was the best decision I’ve made in a long time,” she says, and she has found that she doesn’t miss out on any of life’s culinary pleasures. “I now have a motto that if a recipe exists, I can veganise it! I used to bake a lot as a veggie and had a huge part of my identity wrapped up in that, but the vegan recipes I use now are so much better – eggs just dry cake out!”
Nor does Jenny miss out when it comes to eating out, and she hopes that her top five eateries will help others who are following in her footsteps and taking part in Veganuary. They are:
1. The Bell Inn, Adderbury – they do Plant Based Tuesdays, and offer the most wonderful, diverse and just plain delicious menu all day. The rest of the week they offer pizzas, with many vegan choices.
2. Happy Friday Kitchen, East Oxford – all vegan, great atmosphere, and great choice of burgers, pizzas, hot dogs, cake, pick-and-mix and desserts.
3. The Gardeners Arms, Jericho – vegan and veggie, serving fabulous pub food. It’s a wonderful kooky pub that’s always got something a little bit different going on, from poetry nights to sword dancing!
4.Ribizli, Wallingford – 99 per cent vegan café, offering a lot of gluten-free options too. Lovely cakes coffee, bread and salads.
5. The Crown and Thistle, Abingdon – loads of great vegan and gluten-free options, all clearly labelled, and the food is great. Very handy when my family visit.
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Veganuary’s Head of Communications Toni Vernelli says: “Jenny’s top tips for eating out in and around Oxford look amazing and indicate the extraordinary range of delicious plant-based options that are becoming available all over the country.
Many people, like Jenny, take part in Veganuary to improve their health, but many more take part to help reduce animal suffering and to reduce their impact on our planet. These are all great reasons, and everyone is welcome. And perhaps, this will be the best decision they make, too!”
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Jenny enjoyed Veganuary so much, she has decided to stay vegan. Encouraging others to take the plunge, she said: “Go for it, if nothing else you’ll eat amazing things, and learn a lot about food and about yourself. If you’re open-minded there’s a whole world of wonder for you to discover!’
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