Vegan UOTC cadets say lack of food options could see them abandon military career
Vegan University Officers' Training Corps cadets have warned that a lack of plant-based food offerings could force some people to abandon any idea of joining the military.
Members of the UOTC told Forces News they felt at risk of being "forgotten" and there needed to be a wider variety of culinary options.
The news comes as Humane Society International UK said plant-based diets, both vegan and vegetarian, were particularly popular among young people and women.
These are two demographic groups that the Armed Forces are targeting amid challenges with recruitment numbers
The charity said the Armed Forces needed a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to dietary provision for its personnel.
One Officer Cadet called Tara said she would "just feel forgotten" without more events like World Vegan Day, which is celebrated on 1 November each year, and discussions about how to improve the offering for vegans and vegetarians.
"If you didn’t feel heard or seen, not even just for your dietary requirements, you wouldn't continue, because it’s a belief and something that you live by that must be respected as you respect everybody else's," she told Forces News.
According to British Army research, 88% of young people say they believe a career that reflects their values is important.
In September, the Army launched its latest recruitment campaign, You Belong Here, targeting the six in 10 young people who do not think the Army is for them.
The series of adverts hopes to challenge the misconceptions of the 59% of young people, which the Army's research found, believe they would not fit in if they joined up.
In March, new data showed the number of people joining the Armed Forces had fallen by nearly a quarter over the past year compared to the previous 12-month period.
The data, from the Quarterly Service Personnel Statistics, showed a decrease of 3,570 (23.6%) from 1 January to 31 December 2022.
Cadet Sarah McCrann told Forces News: "I'm vegetarian but would like to be more vegan within the Army, though I find it difficult because they told me when I first started in UOTC that they don't cater for vegans so that's a conscious decision for me to be like 'okay I have to be vegetarian when I’m in the Army'.
"However, of course if they gave the option then I definitely would be, always choose the vegan option, but currently it's just not something that they allow us to do."
Katie, a fellow vegetarian member of the UOTC, said she feels being vegetarian is "doable" but you have to "fight your own corner" in telling caterers "No, I need a veggie option".
When they have run out of such options, she said she had been told: "Just take the ham out and you’ll be fine."
Katie said progress had been made in military acceptance of vegetarianism, but did not believe the same could be said for veganism.
But Humane Society International UK said plant-based food options can be "seamlessly incorporated into military menus", and military chefs have been getting cooking lessons to help them serve up more plant-based dishes.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) Vegan and Vegetarian Network has organised workshops at Worthy Down to give tri-service chefs an opportunity to widen their skill set and put their own spin on vegan meals.
The network hopes workshops like this one will improve and increase the availability of plant-based food.
Chef Sergeant Pardeep Kaur, who has been out of the Field Army for nearly a year, runs workshops for cooks in the UK Defence Food Services Training Wing.
Sgt Kaur believes they are producing more vegetarian meals but are not currently "big on vegan"
However, she says they are working on it and that members of the military community are becoming more receptive to vegan food – in relation to benefits for personal health and wellbeing and for more sustainable approaches to using the environment, such as a reduction in methane emissions from farming beef cattle for meat consumption.
Sgt Kaur pointed out that it is important to promote plant-based living in a gentle manner, saying: "Of course, from a chef perspective, I'm not telling people not to eat meat. However, those who like eating meat, they can carry on.
"But also, I think they should be introducing some sort of vegan or a vegetarian diet into their food. It’s about healthy eating, healthy lifestyle and it keeps you going a bit longer than you would normally live."
UOTC chef Lance Corporal Joe Gibbons is neither vegetarian nor vegan, but is a "strong advocate" for plant-based food options.
Despite feeling "there is a way to go", he said there are more and more vegetarians and vegans than when he joined the reserves 13 years ago.
He said he was hopeful of progress in the near future, explaining: "When I first joined, vegetarian was still quite unheard of. But nowadays probably at least 25% of our unit's vegetarian and we're slowly getting more and more vegans.
"There’s still a lot of misconceptions of what it is and misunderstandings of what do they require in a diet. But there's definitely education slowly coming in. I think in a few years it'll be completely different."
Army environmental health practitioner and rower Staff Sergeant Adelle Tudor became vegan in January 2020 to improve her sports performance and health.
She told Forces News that she feels military attitudes towards plant-based living have got better. "I think there's definitely still a little bit of a stigma, but I feel like that is improving," she explained.
SSgt Tudor said she was aware the benefits extend further than personal wellbeing, adding: "I'm really interested in environmental issues, and everything I do I try to limit the impacts that I'm having on the climate.
"I've got a six-year-old and I think of the future that he's got ahead of him, you know, maybe another 100 years. And so everything that I do today is going to impact him."
Humane Society International UK is urging the Ministry of Defence to seize the "unique opportunity" to lead by example as the world transitions to "more sustainable, humane and health-focused dietary choices".
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