Everyone has an energy story – this is a 2021 Islington Faces project which will see locals asked what puzzles them about trying to change our carbon hungry habits & find and share solutions from people who live locally.
Everyone has an #energystory #10
Q: What is a vegan butcher and how does that make a difference to cutting my carbon footprint?
Each Energy Story interview is inspired by the questions local people ask Islington Faces about cutting carbon/tackling climate change. For this interview our question is all about making plant based food choices. In the past being vegan was often linked to stopping animal cruelty. It’s now just as closely associated with great tastes, healthy eating and by opting for plant-based choices reducing your personal carbon footprint. If you want to have a go measuring the amount of carbon you use – including from your choice of diet – visit WWF https://footprint.wwf.org.uk
Everyone has an energy story. Have you ventured into the world’s first plant-based butcher – just on the corner of Upper Street – or popped into their diner restaurant next door for a Dirty Dog or Mac’N’Cheeze? Hopefully this Q&A with Danai Davatzis from Rudy’s Vegan will tempt you to visit and also discover how a plant based diet stops animal cruelty and is also heaps better for the planet. Edits by Nicola Baird
When Rudy’s Vegan Butchers on the corner of Upper Street and Islington Park Street, N1 first opened there were queues around the block. (c) Islington Faces
Meet Danai from Rudy’s Vegan
I’m Danai Davatzis, the Community Manager at Rudy’s Vegan. I create content for Rudy’s for all of our social media platforms and spend a lot of my time at the restaurant and butcher in Islington, often interacting with our lovely customers and locals. You’ll also find me in Camden in our original diner.
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BayCON and choritzo (both made from plants) on sale at Rudy’s Vegan Butchers on the corner of Upper Street and Islington Park Street, N1 (c) Islington Faces
Q: Why did you choose Islington to open a vegan butchers?
When we decided to start expanding, we were looking for an area where we could grow our community and Islington just felt like the right place. In Islington, there’s a family feel yet also a very young population that would be interested in trying vegan products and being part of the change. As the first of its kind, we knew that the vegan butcher had potential to be big, but when we opened the results exceeded our expectations. We were so thrilled! The queue formed all the way around the building and down Upper Street. Launching on World Vegan Day on 1st November helped to create such a buzz around the butcher, and I think the brand new concept that we have made accessible to Londoners helped to build our customer base.
Plant-based products on sale at the traditional butcher-lookalike Rudy’s Vegan Butchers on the corner of Upper Street and Islington Park Street, N1. This isn’t Danai! (c) Islington Faces
Q: What do you recommend?
My favourite item is the Honey Mustard Turk’y Slices and Merguez sausage.
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Rudy’s Vegan Butchers on the corner of Upper Street and Islington Park Street, N1 (c) Islington Faces
Places Danai loves in Islington
For my morning coffee I love our neighbours Euphorium, 202 Upper Street (nearer Highbury) and also at 79 Upper Street (nearer Angel) and Kobo Café, 346 Upper Street.
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Rudy’s Vegan Butchers on the corner of Upper Street and Islington Park Street, N1. Danai says “Our customer base is very varied.” (c) Islington Faces
Q: What is an Islington shopper typically like?
Our customer base is very varied, which is great to see. We have people that have been vegan for a long time as well as those who are curious to try our products to see if this could be part of their daily shop. We have a lot of customers who are interested in the concept and trying a vegan alternative for the first time and of course, we have locals and regulars who visit us on a weekly basis.
Q: How do people react to a vegan butcher?
We have had lots of funny comments from people who don’t expect the shop to be 100% plant-based, but once they are introduced to our products, they’re usually very pleasantly surprised!
Q: Are there good low carbon energy reasons for eating vegan?
Absolutely! By eating vegan we are helping to reduce the dairy and meat production that is so detrimental to our planet. Of course, we are aware that it takes a lot of different elements to help preserve the environment and so we are constantly making improvements to reduce our carbon print as much as possible such as fully compostable packaging.
Q: Do you think a vegan butcher can tackle the climate crisis?
Our aim is to spread the word that Veganism can be accessible as well as exciting, and if this helps to tackle climate change then that is fantastic. A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, using fewer greenhouse gases, land use and water use. Even if we just change a few people’s opinions on meat consumption and vegan products, that would be a step in the right direction.
- Find the world’s first vegan butcher – Rudy’s Vegan Butcher at 56 Park Street, London, N1 https://rudysvegan.com/collections/all-butcher-products
- Walk in to Rudy’s Vegan Restaurant (next door) at 206 Upper St, London N1 1RQ which is open Monday-Sunday and bills itself as 100% vegan as f**k https://rudysvegan.com/
- Instagram @rudysdvd
Join the #energystory interviews
Do you have any questions about how to decarbonise your life or tackle climate change, eg, about travel, food, energy use? If so, please send us a message on email to: islingtonfaces@gmail.com
Over to you
Also if you’d like to nominate someone to be interviewed who grew up, lives or works in Islington, or suggest yourself, please let me know, via islingtonfaces@gmail.com If you enjoyed this post you might like to look at the A-Z index, or search by interviewee’s roles or Meet Islingtonians to find friends, neighbours and inspiration. Thanks for stopping by. Nicola
