Jasmijn de Boo
Food Advocate & Vice President at ProVeg International
UK
“I’ve seen huge changes in the past ten years thanks to collective efforts by organisations, companies, food services providers, influencers, chefs, and other role models.” Proud of how far the plant-based space had gone in a matter of just years, really, Jasmijn de Boo turned vegetarian at age 12 after witnessing terrified pigs transported to a slaughterhouse. “The 1980s were not very veg-friendly, and I remember being challenged, particularly on whether I thought I was trying to save the world.” At 18, she knew she wanted to become an advocate and voice for animals. “After obtaining a Masters in animal behaviour and welfare I gained broad experience in a range of organisations. Following the success of the Dutch political Party for the Animals, in 2006, I then launched and led the UK Animals Count party, later rebranded the Animal Welfare Party, which I led for four years.” In 2011, Jamijn joined The Vegan Society as CEO, an executive journey that led her to another chapter as SAFE CEO in New Zealand and eventually joining ProVeg International’s Executive Team in 2018.
Her greatest challenge (as well as opportunity) was the industry itself: “When I joined The Vegan Society in 2011, veganism was still very much at the fringes of society. Mainstream media attention started to happen around 2013, after the European horsemeat scandal. Then it took another two to three years until veganism became more accepted. Since 2016, we’ve seen an explosion in vegan food, drinks, clothes, accessories, services, investments, etc. And increased awareness about the environmental impacts of the livestock sector and health are resulting in growing numbers of flexitarians, who now make up about 30-40% of the population in many countries.”
“I’ve seen huge changes in the past ten years thanks to collective efforts by organisations, companies, food services providers, influencers, chefs, and other role models.” Proud of how far the plant-based space had gone in a matter of just years, really, Jasmijn de Boo turned vegetarian at age 12 after witnessing terrified pigs transported to a slaughterhouse. “The 1980s were not very veg-friendly, and I remember being challenged, particularly on whether I thought I was trying to save the world.” At 18, she knew she wanted to become an advocate and voice for animals. “After obtaining a Masters in animal behaviour and welfare I gained broad experience in a range of organisations. Following the success of the Dutch political Party for the Animals, in 2006, I then launched and led the UK Animals Count party, later rebranded the Animal Welfare Party, which I led for four years.” In 2011, Jamijn joined The Vegan Society as CEO, an executive journey that led her to another chapter as SAFE CEO in New Zealand and eventually joining ProVeg International’s Executive Team in 2018.
Her greatest challenge (as well as opportunity) was the industry itself: “When I joined The Vegan Society in 2011, veganism was still very much at the fringes of society. Mainstream media attention started to happen around 2013, after the European horsemeat scandal. Then it took another two to three years until veganism became more accepted. Since 2016, we’ve seen an explosion in vegan food, drinks, clothes, accessories, services, investments, etc. And increased awareness about the environmental impacts of the livestock sector and health are resulting in growing numbers of flexitarians, who now make up about 30-40% of the population in many countries.”
“ProVeg’s approach is very much to support people on their journey, wherever they are.”
Personally, Jasmijn went deeper too. “I’ve been motivated to protect animals for a long time, but meeting my now husband, Andrew Knight, at a conference helped me become vegan and take my career in that direction. We used to have some strong philosophical arguments about tactics or certain topics in the early days, but we’ve supported each other in good and bad times.” Going vegan was also pivotal in cracking the code of competitive running, a hobby she took on more than a decade ago. “I’ve run many races and enjoyed doing a few personal bests, and two triathlons, mostly without proper training. The fact I managed to do them at all was mainly because of my vegan lifestyle.” Apart from becoming an endurance athlete, she and her husband enjoy nature walks and dancing to stay fit and to get away from their desks.
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“We need cultured meat to be affordable ASAP to help cut the most meat consumption.”
In the world of work, it’s important for Jasmijn that people know they can count on her: “I enjoy developing people and organisations. I value evidence-based work as well as strong external communications to share what we’ve achieved and show what we can offer.” Her mission is clearer than ever: “For the sake of the 70+ billion land animals and the more than one trillion sea animals killed for food, as well as for environmental and health reasons, we seriously need to reduce animal consumption as much as possible. Ideally by 100%, but this is unlikely given people’s habits and traditions of eating animals.” She’s betting on cultured animal products becoming available and affordable as soon as possible to provide options. “We need to make the policy, trade, and socio-cultural environment appealing for plant-based, cultured animal products and fermented foods and achieve systemic change at all levels. We’re making progress!”
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Jasmijn is one of the Food Heroes for 2022. See more inspiring and world-changing stories from Food Heroes here.