Butcher’s daughter from the Sault leads veganism charge

January often sees people change their diet to honour new year’s resolutions and this year, a U.K.-based campaign to convince people to try veganism has an interesting tie to northern Ontario.

Toni Vernelli was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. and with a local butcher for a father, she enjoyed eating meat.Toni Vernelli in an animalEQUALITY t-shirt with a farm chicken. (Taken from Facebook)“I’ve gone from being a butcher’s daughter to the face of one of the biggest vegan campaigns in the world.”

Growing up on a farm, Vernelli soon realized that the food she was eating was coming from the animals she loved.

The former meat eater made the decision to turn vegan at age 19 and became an animal rights activist.

More than 30 years of animal activism later, Vernelli is now the head of communications for Veganuary, a 31-day pledge that challenges participants to go vegan for the month of January.

The challenge gives people a chance to “dip their toes” in the lifestyle, Vernelli said.

Vegans abstain from consuming any animal products. That means eating no meat, dairy or eggs and for some, extends to not wearing leather or fur or using products tested on animals.

Previously, promoting a plant-based diet was awareness-based, promoting cold-turkey vegetarianism or veganism.

"That's not the way humans operate," Vernelli said.

Historically people love a challenge, she said, pointing to Dry January, a campaign dedicated to giving up alcohol, or Stoptober, when people quit smoking for the month of October.

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The challenge started in 2014 in the U.K. and when Veganuary co-founders Jane Land and Matthew Glover decide to create the pledge to go vegan.

“Could we create something that’s good for animals and the planet and human health that’s got that same sort of vibe,” said Glover.

“So we decided to start a campaign where people go vegan for a month.”

Veganuary is now a worldwide movement. Canada is in the top 20 countries by number of participants, ranking 18th.

Now in its tenth year, more than 2 million people have signed up for Veganuary.

Last January alone saw more than 600,000 worldwide join the campaign, which comes with recipes and healthy tips.

Upon signing up, Veganuary pledges will also gain access to a private Facebook group for support from other participants and will receive daily emailed recipes and nutritional tips.Toni Vernelli is the head of comms at Veganuary and holds a PhD in Animal Behaviour. (Taken from Twitter)“Most of our participants change their diet to a degree,” Vernelli said.

“They don’t necessarily all stay vegan, but a quarter say they’re going to stay vegan. But the rest say ‘I’m definitely going to reduce the amount of meat I’m eating and I’m going to incorporate more of these new recipes and foods in my diet.’”

For Vernelli, making the switch to a more plant-focused lifestyle starts with making manageable substitutions.

"Then you can start experimenting with wacky things like quinoa and things you might never have had before."

Nutrition experts told CTV News that that going vegan can be beneficial to some, but not all.

Holistic nutritionist Jaime Brideau said as a general rule, people should avoid what she calls “fad diets.”

If participating, the experts recommend being mindful of not missing out on proteins and to get it from sources such as soy milk, tofu, beans and chickpeas.

“Generally speaking, I don’t recommend it,” said Brideau.

“If you’re used to eating a certain diet for so long and then you’re all of a sudden introducing an entirely different thing, it’s usually your gut that’s going to say ‘hey, this isn’t cool’ and have some issues in there. People generally do get bloated and gassy and have those kinds of complications.”

More information on Veganuary, visit their website.