Vegetarian for Life

A vegetarian retirement home

Posted by Guest on 28/03/17 in Articles, Life After Retirement

By Paul Appleby

According to a 2016 survey commissioned by The Vegan Society, 3.25% of Britain’s population, of whom around one-third are aged 50 years and over, are vegetarian or vegan. The same survey found that 542,000 Britons follow a vegan diet, and that 14% of these are aged 65 and over, equivalent to about 75,000 vegans of retirement age, with perhaps twice as many elderly vegetarians in the same age group.

So, there are plenty of us about, but is there the demand for an exclusively vegetarian/vegan retirement home? The Vegetarian Housing Association (VHA), established in the 1960s, provided sheltered accommodation for elderly veggies at premises in Sussex and North Wales. However, a lack of demand meant that the accommodation became decreasingly viable, the last of the homes closed in 2007, and VHA morphed into Vegetarian for Life (VfL), the advocacy charity for older vegetarians and vegans.

VfL has pursued a different strategy, aiming to raise the standards of catering for the estimated 6,500 vegetarians and vegans living in care homes, and encouraging independent living through grants and the provision of suitable ready meals by third parties (listed in the Dinners to your Door booklet). This is admirable, of course, but VfL have no plans (or the resources) to open a care home of their own, much less a vegetarian retirement home. (There are in fact two vegetarian care homes in Harrow, Middlesex, both aimed at the Hindu community, and tentative plans for another in East Sussex.)

 

So, where does that leave us? I’d like to see something akin to a vegetarian retirement village or community with additional care home facilities available, similar to those provided by Richmond Villages. This would almost certainly need the financial backing of a wealthy vegetarian or vegan entrepreneur, so it’s probably just a pipe dream of mine. In any case, would older vegetarians and vegans be prepared to leave friends and family behind and relocate to another part of the country? Maybe not, but if it worked (for a while at least) in the late twentieth century, when there were many fewer vegetarians and vegans than there are now, we should at least explore the possibility. What do other VfL supporters think?


 

Comment from Diane Moreton, Chair of Vegetarian for Life:

“The question of a vegetarian or vegan care home or any other kind of specific retirement accommodation is one that has long occupied our thoughts. I am sure that being in a place where being able to be vegetarian or vegan is 100% guaranteed is a very important consideration, but the other issues involved in choosing a care home include being close to friends and family and getting the right care for mental and physical conditions – such as dementia, diabetes, strokes (including re-ablement). Some people need to be resident in nursing homes, with a qualified nursing staff. Some extra care housing is provided for those with low level or no care needs. All these variable factors make it very difficult to have any certainty as to how viable a designated resource would be because the needs of potential residents are so wide-ranging.

The one area we have continued to keep under observation is supporting in some way a vegetarian and/or vegan co-housing development if such a project was ever to come to fruition, but there is no way that we could finance such a development and to commit a high level of funding would bring about the end of our work in the general population.

 

If anyone has a lead to a source of finance such a project we’d be delighted to be notified.


Comments

Adrienne Cullen-Morgan
06 October, 2019

I am a life long vegetarian now in retirement.  I would be interested in hearing about any type of independent housing for vegetarians particularly in the rental sector

Jasmine
10 October, 2019

Hi Adrienne

Many thanks for commenting on our post, A Vegetarian Retirement Home.

If you let me know a bit more about what type of accommodation you are looking for, and what area you live in, I can take a look and see if we can find something suitable.

I have sent you an email, so you can reply to that.

Very best

Jasmine

Jane Smith
22 December, 2019

Hi…  I am not yet retired but thinking to the future.  Vegan for many many years I would really like to retire among like minded people and not to feel alone… my idea was always to have a group of vegans (child free preferably) and buy a large house to sub divide with each party investing, thereby avoiding needing to find a source of funding…  I wonder if there would be any support for such an idea?

White Oak Care Limited
19 October, 2022

Hi we are a supported living provider and are seriously looking at providing supported living to vegetarians. Our carers will support individuals to lead a well being and holistic lifestyle through vegetarianism.

We do not know the demand for individuals who would be willing to live this way or whether the local authorities will pay for a service like ours. Would love to hear thoughts on this. We are located in East London.

mal
23 December, 2022

I have been vegetarian and now mostly vegan most of my life. I am 76 and living alone independantly. I love my life and situation but do worry about the future and needing to have company and like minded people around when I am not so active. I just came across your link and would be grateful for any information probably similar to Jane Smith’s idea above. If I could be kept in the loop that would be ace 😊......

V lakshmidevamma
11 January, 2023

As i am a pure vegetarian
Let me know the fee structure

aged care catering companies Australia
13 April, 2023

The body and life of a person change as they age. Because of this, your health requirements also vary. A smaller diet may be required, or more dietary proteins might be required.

Lisa P
21 January, 2024

I am 65 and a life long wholefood veganish vegetarian.  From time to time I cut out dairy (primary cheese) and take a break from dairy.

I am really interested in Aged Care Nutrition for Vegans and Vegetarians.  However, there is an added complication coming into focus these days.  Wholefood based vegan or vegetarians are starting to come through and insist on consuming wholefoods rather than nasty packs of fake vegan subs found in most supermarkets.

If a new resident enters care and requests a wholefood vegan diet (no fake foods) how do care facilities manage this request. 

Yawl know that Boomers are very strong self advocates and first gen internet users .. so have an awareness of such matters.

I am not asking for a friend.  I am asking for me.  A strong preventative health advocate and a wholefood based vegetarian who has researched this stuff over 40 years and note that with the exception of B12 .. all nutritional requirements can be met by following a plant based diet.

Ha Ha…I hope these matters are sorted out before I need to go into a care home.  I am a former social worker who worked in health policy .. no hx of dementia in my large and very extended family tree.  Soooooooooooo…I am going to be ummmmm…. one of those residents.  Ha Ha.

Lisa P
21 January, 2024

I am 65 and a life long wholefood veganish vegetarian.  From time to time I cut out dairy (primarily cheese) and take a break.

I am really interested in Aged Care Nutrition for Vegans and Vegetarians.  However, there is an added complication coming into focus these days.  Wholefood based vegans or vegetarians are starting to come through and insist on consuming wholefoods rather than those nasty packs of fake vegan subs found in most supermarkets.  Tofu and Tempah are always a welcome addition to my diet.

My question:

If a new resident enters care and requests a wholefood vegan diet (no fake foods) how do care facilities manage this request?

Yawl know that Boomers are very strong self advocates and first gen internet users .. so have an awareness of such matters.

I am not asking for a friend.  I am asking for me.  I have always been a srong preventative health advocate as well as a wholefood based vegetarian who has researched this stuff over 40 years.  I note that with the exception of B12 .. all nutritional requirements can be met by following a plant based diet. 

I am hoping that all these matters are sorted out before I need to go into a care home. 

I am a former social worker who worked in health policy .. no hx of dementia in my large and very extended family tree.  Soooooooooooo…I am going to be ummmmm…. one of those residents.  Ha Ha.

Tom
22 January, 2024

Hi Lisa,
Thanks for your comments, we at VfL are aware that many vegans and vegetarians prefer a wholefood diet.

As you may know, Vegetarian for Life delivers training to care caterers on our UK List. As part of this, we encourage them to always chat to residents about their food choices, including whether they like to be served processed meat and dairy replacements.

Perhaps some catering staff from one of our UK List homes could offer insight on this topic!

Tom
VfL Senior Administrator

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