In the heart of the beautiful historic city of Canterbury, amid the daily hustle and bustle of workers, students, and shoppers, sits a food truck unlike any other. From ‘beaf baguettes’ and ‘bacun burgers’ to ‘chick’n nuggets and drumsticks’, the unusual twist this menu offers, caters to the vegan diet. While Canterbury is known for its quirky shops and many restaurants, Veg’n Out, a family owned catering business, provides us with homemade unique offerings that portray how easy it is to go vegan in 2018.

Seven months ago, Michelle Griffin, 39, and her family opened Veg’n Out, a vegan fast-food trailer in the centre of Canterbury, a small city that attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. Before the vegan food trailer had opened, Michelle worked as an independent hairdresser and had been a vegan for 10 years. “I was a vegetarian for most of my life, but then I started looking into the dairy industry and the fashion industry and decided I wanted to go vegan.” Michelle’s family are all vegan and they absolutely love the diet, they wanted to be able to share their love for the diet with other vegans, but also meat eaters. “We wanted to open a food place for vegans to go and get fast food. It is to show people that we don’t just eat the stereotypical healthy foods, we do not base our diet on only healthy eating.”

Bursting with colour, variety and taste, vegan food takes over Instagram as the trendiest way to dine in 2018, with the vibrant burst of fruits and vegetables, smoothie bowls and avocado toast, it questions whether veganism has solely become a trend just for Instagram. With what was a diet widely associated with animal rights, health, and the environment, Veg’n Out prove the diet is still about the beliefs rather than the image.

The food trailer provides delicious homemade hot foods including vegan sausages and burgers, and ‘chick’n nuggets and drumsticks’, all made from a meat alternative called seitan. “Our bestseller is definitely the sausages and burgers because the seitan creates a close look and texture to meat.” Tofu is another popular meat substitute used by vegans, and Michelle says how they use it to make their ‘fish ‘n’ chips’ dish, and also for the eggs in the breakfast baps. “Tofu creates a similar texture to eggs, and we cook it with black salt as this creates the egg taste.” Customers also have the option of buying freshly made baguettes with vegan meats and cheese with a selection of vegan sauces such as mayonnaise and coleslaw.

Not only do Veg’n Out provide vegans with homemade fast-food, they also bake delicious goods too. An array of soft, fluffy, golden sponges topped with a sweet, creamy layer of frosting in your favourite flavours such as vanilla, coconut and chocolate, are neatly displayed behind a glass window, among little delights of chocolate fudge squares and Bounty bites. This vegan catering business completely steps up the game from other restaurants that only offer the usual vegan waffles and crepes. “We have a rotating menu for the sweet treats, sometimes we have carrot cake or a Snickers cake, Victoria sponge, plus many more. A favourite is the vegan chocolate cheesecake.”

Despite having been open for less than a year, the food trailer has received a lot of attention. “We were very busy in the summer season, we had a lot of customers that were German and American because the diet is very popular out there. We also attracted a lot of meat eaters who were keen to try our food and have even been back for a second or third time,” Michelle tells me excitedly. The vegan fast-food trailer holds an exciting future for vegans as the diet has evolved greatly in the past few years, we can only expect to see more. “When I first became vegan 10 years ago, there was literally nothing to choose from in the restaurants. But today a lot of mainstream restaurants such as Nando’s now have a set menu for vegans, so it makes eating out a lot easier.”

Michelle tells me that she thinks the term veganism is being used too ‘flippantly’ in 2018, and although a lot of people are saying they are vegan, they are ultimately just eating a plant-based diet because the beliefs behind the vegan diet are not there. “Veganism has definitely become trendier over the past few years, especially with celebrities. I guess the good thing is that more awareness is being raised about it, and hopefully people will put in further research about why people go vegan.”

There are many vegans who also feel against veganism becoming a trend over Instagram and not learning about the beliefs and morals behind the vegan diet. 16-year-old Harriet has been a vegan for 13 months, as someone who has changed diet amongst the evolution of veganism, she explains how at first, she was a victim of following the trend on social media that unfortunately affected her mental health. “Becoming vegan was driven by my eating disorders. To begin with, it wasn’t to do with animals and the beliefs, but now I have learnt about it in school and that is more the reason why I am vegan now.”

Due to the ‘trendy’ look of veganism on social media, Harriet has suffered with Pica, Anorexia, and body dysmorphic disorder which she explains were all fuelled with the healthy stereotype people portray veganism to be. “I think now, people believe it’s just ‘cool’ and looks good, however, they don’t realise the extent of what you have to do to fully become vegan.”  Harriet talks about what extra you must do that makes you a vegan, such as buying hair products and makeup where animals have not been used as testers for certain brand products.

Harriet’s experience with veganism in this modern day proves that more awareness, particularly with younger people, needs to take place. With vegan food services such as Veg’n Out raising the statement that vegans do not just live on the stereotypical healthy diet, portrays a start in educating people about the diet more. “Secondary schools need to start educating children about it in classes such as food technology. We learn how to have a balanced diet as an omnivore, but not as a vegan.”

Another way veganism is portrayed on Instagram as something that it is not is the cost. Instagram users continually post pictures with their flamboyant assortment of berries, nuts and salad dishes, and a firm favourite; avocados. On average, just one avocado costs £1.90 from the local supermarkets, and for students, this can add up to an expensive way of living daily. Yasmine Wilde, 19, acting student at Kingston College, tells me how she manages the cost of vegan food on such a tight living budget. “A lot of the time it depends on what you are buying, you can be an omnivore and have to spend just as much on some high-quality meat.” Yasmin tells me that you can easily buy vegan food for a decent price in the shops “I genuinely buy a lot of carb-based foods like pasta and rice as those are fairly cheap, I also love tofu, you can do so much with it.” Tofu from your local supermarket costs as much as £2.50 and as little as £1.40, very similar, if not better than the price of a packet of meat. “You don’t have to follow the meals you see on Instagram, as you can see they all look the same and I think people need to be better educated with the diet, so they know the right things to eat.”

38-year-old Adrian Jones also shares the same view on the cost of a vegan diet. For someone who provides vegan meals for the whole family, you would expect a high cost. “When you go shopping, processed foods are expensive and wholefoods are a lot cheaper.” Adrian’s family changed to the vegan diet 18 months ago and they have adapted very well. “It is not as bad as everyone thinks it is, we spend a lot less money now than we did before.” As a more traditional type of vegan, Adrian does not bother to follow veganism as a trend. He explains the three underlying reasons as to why anyone would turn vegan, these being against animal cruelty, the environment, and lastly the health benefits. “I normally follow the people I like, they are genuine. I’ve heard about this new vegan trend, but it doesn’t interest me. It doesn’t last, you must believe in it for it to last. I think becoming vegan just for the trend though is nonsense and there is no reason for it.”

As of 2018 veganism has evolved greatly, “It’s all about the consumer, as more people are becoming vegan they will widen their menu choices to attract everyone,” Adrian tells me. The use of Instagram portrays a lavish yet artificial lifestyle for vegans. The cost, food choices, and beliefs behind veganism on Instagram are displayed misleadingly to allow people to make a new image of themselves, and not to promote the diet correctly. People are uneducated on how to eat properly, as Adrian tells me “we are living in a world full of eating disorders”. However, with the rise of new vegan products and services such as Veg’n Out, hopefully, people will become better educated on the diet.