Life On The Veg

KERB on the Inside

This KERB Life podcast lifts the biodegradable lid on the London vegan movement in the midst of a plant-powered revolution - on the streets with KERB, across the capital and now in the shopping basket.

Whether it’s the record 160,000 who pledged to stay away from the animal foods for a month during ‘Veganuary’, Tesco reporting a 40% increase in demand for vegan products, or that joke about vegans - we’ve all heard about veganism this year. And ever more are changing their eating habits as a result, citing animal welfare, environmental fears and their own waistlines as motivation.

In this episode, reporter Robin Leeburn joins the leading lights of the London vegan scene, from KERB’s leading food traders to Vevolution’s thought leadership events and markets run by social media influencer Fat Gay Vegan and Vegan Nights, drawing young Londoners to the most switched-on of joints: a meat-free one.

We talk trends with Meriel Armitage of Club Mexicana, whose new spot at the Spread Eagle in Homerton is bringing conscious crowds flocking; innovation with Biff Burrows of Biff’s Jack Shack, where the ‘chick’n’ wings and jackfruit burgers have helped open vegan menus to fast food junkies; plus business and investment with Grace Regan of Spicebox, who secured £450,000 to grow her plant-based catering co.

So with investors looking to cash in, is the vegan movement an unstoppable force?. Cast a glance across the pond, and the tens of millions of venture capital dollars poured into the likes of vegan burger startup Impossible Burger and it might seem so.

Yet it’ll take a lot to wean many of us humans off our taste for flesh. Taking the debate form the other side, we talk food culture, sustainability and consumer choices with committed omnivore Cristiano Meneghin, founder of KERB mainstay Tongue ‘n Cheek and its famous Heartbreaker burger. Plus we go right to the source, venturing to Suffolk pig farmers Dingley Dell Pork to hear about animal welfare and environmental sustainability and ask if the meat industry is worried about the coming vegan force.

So what do you choose? Whether you join the vegan revolution or indulge your carnivorous desires, it’s time to start considering our values when it comes to what we eat...