How to survive Christmas as a vegan

Being vegan at Christmas is the least of your worries. A year of unpredictable weather means potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower could be missing from festive feasts this year. Hannah Twiggs speaks to BOSH! co-founder Ian Theasby about how to get around the shortage, the joy of plant-based roast dinners and his favourite festive recipes

A delicious Christmas dinner, all made with plants (Lizzie Mayson)

Whether you’re tucking into turkey or making a mushroom wellington this year, there’s at least one thing both meat-eaters and vegans can agree on: Christmas dinner isn’t complete without roast potatoes.

So we should all be alarmed at the news of a shortage of spuds after a particularly difficult year for farmers. Heavy rainfall and flooding caused by Storms Agnes, Babet and Ciaran (not a punk band, but definitely should be) have produced a record low of 4.1 million tonnes of potatoes. Well, at least we can avoid arguing over whether to serve them mashed or roasted. Supplies of broccoli and cauliflower have also been badly affected.

But perhaps the news isn’t just another opportunity to moan about the weather, but to address an even more insidious issue with the way we eat in Britain.