Go vegan / Zum Veganer werden

My student summer job in the Black Forest involved fridge-cleaning in the day, and takeaways most evenings. The cleaning was soul and skin-destroying, but the food was surprisingly good. Even thirty years ago, the greasiest of joints offered vegan burgers, thanks to environmentalism’s long and broad acceptance here (Merkel’s replacement will be a Green, don’t you know?).

Going veggie as a teenager in 1980s Oldham was quite another kettle of tofu. But the UK now widely embraces meat-free living - I think even more than Germany - with the environmental message joined with animal welfare and human health to make it an obvious choice for many.

Our neighbour’s chalked message urges us to go a step further. I’ll never touch meat or fish again, but I still eat eggs, milk or cheese most days. I recently moved towards an even more plant-based diet, replacing a milky breakfast with a Germanic (well, Swiss) alternative: Bircher muesli. Grated apple, raisins, and oats soaked in orange juice overnight in the fridge. By morning it’s light, sweet, delicious - and three of my five a day quicker than a savory snack rolling off a Greggs shelf…