Veganism in the workplace: How businesses are embracing eco-conscious workers
As societal tone shifts further and the vegan industry keeps growing, traditional companies will be under more and more pressure to offer a vegan-friendly workplace.
SUZANNE BEARNE: Two years ago, Manick Bhan decided to introduce a vegan food policy at his SEO and digital agency LinkGraph. Company-catered events became fully vegan while employees could only expense plant-based food when traveling with work.
Bhan said he introduced the policy shortly after watching Dominion, a movie about animal food production, which pushed him from a pescatarian lifestyle to veganism. “I felt the importance of removing support for factory farming from all aspects of my life, including the business I was building,” he said.
LinkGraph also provides free vegan snacks across its offices in New York, Las Vegas, and Bogotá, which, according to Bhan is “just one more way we can gently encourage people to choose plant-based.” Next year, to celebrate Veganuary, a U.K.-based mission to encourage veganism, employees who commit for at least a month to the lifestyle will be reimbursed $200 for their groceries…
LinkGraph is one of a growing number of companies implementing plant-based initiatives as veganism continues to grow amid grave environmental concerns. Eating a plant-based diet could be the “single biggest way” to reduce an individual’s environmental impact, according to a study by the University of Oxford which suggested that cutting out meat and dairy products could reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73%…
Education marketplace CoursesOnline plans to increase its vegan food and drink options within the office and has also set a challenge of at least one meat-free day per week for the entire team. Meanwhile, the non-profit behind Veganuary said 50 businesses were involved in its initiative this year, including first-timers like Bloomberg, and Aveda, which saw 1,500 staff take part.
Sabine Zetteler, founder and director of communications agency Zetteler, is in the midst of designing an office around veganism, with all furniture and interiors in its east London space set to be animal-free — which will epitomize the businesses’ goals, ideals and ambitions.
Zetteler, a vegetarian of 15 years and a recent vegan, has worked with the interior designer Rhonda Drakeford of Studio Rhonda to help build the space. But she admits it’s been more time-consuming to plan since many goods include animal products, including paint and glue. While “there’s no authoritarian vegan dogma,” Zetteler is committed to only provide vegan food in the office and when catering for events…
Last year The Vegan Society published an employer handbook providing guidance on how to make an office space and canteen more vegan-friendly — including offering vegans their own shelf in the fridge.
“For the first time ever it feels like employees are turning to their employers and asking them ‘what are you doing about it?’” says Francine Jordan, spokesperson at The Vegan Society… Vegans are demanding that their employers listen and roll out vegan-inspired initiatives. One resource they’re turning to is Vegan Leaders in Corporate Management, which connects corporate vegans and provides resources to initiate plant-based projects in the office…
“Five to 10 years ago vegan ideas would be a non-starter in most places,” says Darina Bockman, founder of VLCM, which has 5,200 members in 77 countries across companies including Coca-Cola, Amazon and Nike. “Now, we’re seeing very encouraging trends. As societal tone shifts further and the vegan industry keeps growing and attracting corporate talent, traditional companies will be under more and more pressure to offer a vegan-friendly workplace.” SOURCE…
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