素食有益健康，還能促進經濟增長？
Last year, nearly 170,000 people signed an online pledge with Veganuary to avoid animal products including meat, milk, eggs, and butter for the month on January.
去年1月，有差不多17萬人與Veganuary一起簽署了一份請願，要在一個月內拒絕食用肉類、牛奶、雞蛋以及黃油等動物製品。
Going vegan for the entire month might sound difficult, but results prove otherwise.
要一個月只吃素聽起來似乎有點難，不過這個事的結果卻不是這麼回事。
In 2018, the majority of folks who signed up for the challenge not only completed it but continued on, adopting veganism as a lifestyle change.
在2018年，大多數簽名參與這場挑戰的人不光完成了挑戰，而且還繼續了下去，把素食主義變成了自己的生活方式。
More than 80% of participants later reported that they’d eaten animal-free the entire month. And more than 60% of participants continue to maintain that diet shift.
參與者中有超過80%的人後來表示自己堅持了整整一個月不吃動物食品，有超過60%的人表示自己之後保持了這種飲食方式。
Part of their success stems from Veganuary’s support network. Veganuary participants receive regular emails to stay motivated.
這些人的成功一部分是源於Veganuary的支持網絡。Veganuary的參與者會定期收到激勵他們的郵件。
There’s also a home page full of recipes, shopping guides, and other helpful resources. Since starting in 2014, the U.K.-based nonprofit has seen participation roughly double year-over-year.
該組織的首頁上有非常多的食譜、購物指南以及其他有用的資源。自從2014年創始以來，這家英國的非營利機構的參與者幾乎每年都翻倍。
About 35% of those participants come from the Unites States, half are from the U.K., and the rest are scattered among more than 190 participating countries.
參與者中有35%的人都來自美國，有一半來自英國，剩下的分佈於190多個參與國。
The other factor bolstering their success is that going vegan today may just be tastier and more convenient than it was a few years ago.
另一個幫助他們成功的因素是，如今吃素已經比幾年前要可口、方便許多了。
Retail sales for a new wave of plant-based products jumped 20% in the U.S. last year, totaling $3.3 billion in annual sales, according to Nielsen research.
在美國，去年植物產品的零售銷量漲了20%。根據尼爾森的調查，去年的年銷售額達到了33億美元。
A majority of Americans are also reportedly cutting back on meat consumption because of health and cost concerns. Toss in the fact that livestock accounts for a massive share of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, and you’ve got three pretty compelling selling points.
據報道，大部分美國人出於健康和成本方面的考慮，也減少了肉類的消費量。此外，牲畜是溫室氣體的一大重要來源，這樣一來素食食品就有了3個強有力的賣點。
“Vegan trends are really hitting the mainstream now, and people are actively choosing these products because they think that they’re better for their health, they’re cognizant of the environmental benefits, or they want to help alleviate animal suffering,” says Veganuary’s CEO Simon Winch.
Veganuary的首席執行官Simon Winch說：“素食現在真的成了一種主流，人們開始積極地選擇這樣的產品，因爲他們認爲這樣更健康，也因爲他們開始意識到這樣做對環境有好處，又或者是因爲他們希望幫助減輕動物們的痛苦。”
In addition to offering the animal-free pledge, the campaign also accepts donations, which it spends on more awareness efforts.
除了提供素食請願的服務以外，這個項目也接受捐款，他們會把這些捐款用於推廣這種概念。
Some of those come from different faux-meat companies; more than a dozen support the charity in different ways, including helping to raise awareness, with an obvious interest in seeing the trend take off.
這些捐款中的一部分是來自一些人造肉公司；有十多個這樣的公司都在以不同的方式支持這樣的慈善項目，其中就包括喚醒大衆的意識，顯然他們很希望看到這種潮流熱起來。
Last year, Veganuary operated on a budget of about $750,000. Using some back-of-the-envelope math, Winch calculates (based on traditional eating habits) how much meat isn’t being consumed per convert.
去年，Veganuary的預算是75萬美元。通過一些簡單的計算，Winch計算了每改變一個人能降低多少的食肉量。
He estimates that the 2018 pledge takers alone saved about 2.1 million animals from slaughter. For Veganuary, that works out to spending about 35¢ per life saved, although it may be even cheaper:
他估算2018年的請願活動總共讓210萬頭動物免於被屠殺。對於Veganuary來說，這意味着拯救一條生命的成本是35英鎊，而這還能變得更便宜：
The group estimates that about 10 times more people participate in Veganuary informally than formally each year.
該組織估算，每年以非正式方式參與Veganuary的人是正式參與者的10倍。
“In terms of effective advocacy and really helping to make this planet a more compassionate place, we’re doing something quite incredible on a shoestring,” he adds.
Winch說：“在引發社會責任心這件事上，以及在讓地球變得更加充滿愛這件事上，我們的花費不多，但成果卻很顯著。”
Seth Tibbott, the founder and chairman of Tofurkey, the tofu-based faux turkey brand, says his company made an undisclosed donation to the charity, which he recently joined as a trustee.
Seth Tibbott是Tofurkey公司的創始人和董事長，這是一家以豆腐爲原料的人造火雞肉品牌。Seth說自己的公司爲這家慈善機構提供了一筆數額未公開的捐款，而他本人最近也成爲了這個組織的一名董事。
Informal participation aside, at least 250,000 people have taken Veganuary’s pledge in recent years. As Winch puts it, “We want them to go vegan and have an amazing experience, and then stay vegan at the end of it.”
撇開非正式的參與者不談，這些年已經有25萬人參與了Veganuary的請願。Winch對此表示：“我們希望這些人嘗試素食並獲得一次非凡的體驗，並且在活動結束之後也保持素食的習慣。”
翻譯：能貓
