Beyoncé and Jay-Z are encouraging their fans to go vegan, after praising the diet as a “spiritual and physical cleanse.”
The couple first spoke of going vegan in 2013, after embarking on the 22Days Challenge – an initiative promoted by Jay Z’s exercise physiologist friend Marco Borges, which aims to change people’s dietary and exercise habits by encouraging them to go vegan for 22 days.
Beyoncé later revealed that she embarked on a vegan diet to prepare for last summer’s Coachella performance. “44 Days Until Coachella!! Vegan Time!!” she wrote on an Instagram post.
Now the husband and wife want their fans to switch to veganism as a matter of global importance. “We used to think of health as a diet – some worked for us, some didn’t,” they write in an introduction for new book The Greenprint: Plant-Based Diet, Best Body, Better World, by Marco Borges.
“Having children has changed our lives more than anything else,” they continue. “We used to think of health as a diet – some worked for us, some didn’t. Once we looked at health as the truth, instead of a diet, it became a mission for us to share that truth and lifestyle with as many people as possible.”
However, they write that they don’t expect everyone to be vegan 24/7 – they are simply encouraging fans to eat a more plant-based diet, adding that it has a “profound impact on our health and the environment.”
“We all have a responsibility to stand up for our health and the health of the planet. Let’s take this stand together. Let’s spread the truth. Let’s make this mission a movement. Let’s become “the Greenprint,” they write.
Record numbers of people signed up to Veganuary this year. The Guardian reports that a total of more than 250,000 people in 193 countries have signed up to cut animal products from their diet for the month of January.
Rich Hardy, head of campaigns at Veganuary, said Sunday (December 30) saw 14,000 people pledge to go vegan for January’s 31 days – a rate of one every six seconds.