20 pledges for 2020: How coronavirus has completely changed the way I shop for my vegan diet

Adam Hamdani: This year, I'm giving up meat and dairy. That's right, I am going to be that annoying vegan who can't stop talking about being vegan. I hope you enjoy the ride

It easy to enjoy the rich umami flavours of Japanese cuisine (All images Nassima Rothacker)

I’ve built up quite the collection of recipe books since I turned vegan at the beginning of the year, and having so much time at home now because of the coronavirus lockdown, there’s no better time to start using them. From BOSH to Violife, I’ve got plenty of options.

While planning my weekly shop, I took a different approach: pick five different meals for lunch, and five for dinner. (I usually bulk-cook for more than one person, so whatever I have for dinner I have for lunch the next day.)

Off I popped to Tesco on my one allotted trip of the day. It was midweek and the middle of the day, so I thought this was the ideal time to go. How wrong I was. My local Tesco is a Tesco Extra, and it’s a huge one – they have everything in there. As soon as I approached the shop, before I even got to the large car park, I could see a queue to get in stretching around the corner! A one in, one out system. It took 20 minutes just to get inside.

This has become the norm across the country, but to see it in my own neighbourhood was a bit of a shock.

When I made it inside, the aisles were bare: vegetables, fresh meat, dairy and pasta all taken, nothing left behind. But we’ve all seen the pictures of vegan food left on the shelves, haven’t we? I thought I’d be fine. But I was wrong again. Those images had been debunked as being from a number of years ago.

Basics that I was looking for were unavailable, and any fresh food was nowhere to be seen. No matter your diet – vegan or not – you’re going to struggle to buy food in these strange times. I walked out with just one of the five meals I planned to make that week.

I love to buy fresh food: I am not a fan of processed. But I had to succumb. Frozen sausages, burgers and ready meals will have to be the norm for the time being.

There are alternatives, like Balance and Key to Food, which deliver healthy and filling ready meals straight to your door.

But you simply can’t replace the joy of cooking.