Green Shoots: Harrogate Town’s vegan footballer who is passionate about environment

Harrogate Town midfielder George Thomson is part of a growing cohort of professional footballers who are vegan and passionate about the environment.

Fan favourite Thomson joined Town in 2017. He’s played more than 160 matches and been a key cog in Simon Weaver’s history-making side that was promoted to the English Football League for the first time in the club’s 100-year existence. Town are at home to Oldham this afternoon.

Players including Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero and England player Jesse Lingard have gone vegan for health reasons but Thomson told the Stray Ferret his conscience couldn’t allow him to continue eating meat. He made the switch five years ago.

He said:

“Agriculture is one of the main contributors to global warming, it gives off a high percentage of greenhouse gases. It’s known to contribute more than even cars.” 

Thompson was shocked after watching the Netflix documentary Cowspiracy, which exposed the impact of meat on climate change, water use, deforestation and ocean dead zones.

He also said that ethically he could no longer eat meat due to the suffering caused to animals.

He added:

“I saw what happens and I didn’t want to be a part of it. I didn’t want that on my conscience.

“There’s so much information now so I did lots of research.” 

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Thomson, who is known as one of the fittest players in Town’s squad, said it’s a misconception that becoming vegan will result in a lack of protein.

“I wasn’t going to be deficient in something that would affect my job. What stuck with me, no vegan player has been to a doctor with a protein deficiency. There’s protein in every single food. We eat a lot of beans and lentils that are high in protein. It’s like anything, you get used to it and it becomes easy.”

He’s not the only vegan at the club: midfielder Alex Pattison also recently made the switch, although Thomson said they face some friendly banter from the meat-eaters in the dressing room.

‘Something I believe in’

Forest Green Rovers, who play in League Two alongside Harrogate, have been described by FIFA as the “greenest club in the world” and they’ve even been recognised by the UN for their eco-credentials.

Only vegan meals are served at their ground, which is powered by 100% renewable energy and includes electric vehicle charging points.

Thomson, who cycles to training, said he supported the club’s model:

“It’s a great concept what they’ve done at Forest Green, even the kit is made of recycled plastic.

“The environment is a massive topic at the minute, everyone is beginning to be more conscious about their carbon footprint. For me, being vegan helps massively and you have the health benefits on top. I’d support what they’ve done there massively, it’s something I believe in”.

And with vegans options now much more mainstream, he said he doesn’t have to miss out on a celebratory pizza with teammates after a match thanks to Dominos’ vegan option.

Stray Kitchen: Embracing Veganuary, Steph’s recipe to cook for a vegan

Stray Kitchen is our column all about food written by renowned local produce expert, food writer and chef, Stephanie Moon. Stephanie is a champion of food produced in the UK and particularly in Yorkshire and the Harrogate district. 

Over a super Christmas and New Year spent surrounded by family, I did lots and lots of cooking. After a super turkey lunch, big breakfasts and far too much chocolate, like many people I am now trying to be good.

January is the Veganuary month, where more and more people cut meat and animal products from their diets. Whilst January is the worst time of year for ‘in season’ fruits and vegetables, what is around is superb, and there are some simple ways to pimp up your January vegetables to be a truly astounding experience.

I recently had a vegan cake and oat milk latte at Hustle & Co after a big walking session on the Stray. It’s one of the newest cafés in Harrogate, but these guys do vegan very well. My crumbly fruity slice was lip smacking stuff, and the young lady who served us was brilliant too.

In Harrogate we have many places that cater for vegans (and those of us want to bring plant-based food into their diet more often) and our local chefs do it so well.

So when a vegan friend popped round for tea during Veganuary, it was time to try out a new quick, easy meal… and hopefully impress!

Here’s what I cooked.

Buckwheat pancakes

Makes four large pancakes to serve two.

Method

Mix all together in a bowl to form a smooth batter (which it does straight away).

In a non-stick pan, heat some vegetable oil (rapeseed or olive oils are great too,) then tip out any excess oil.

Pour the batter into the pan with a ladle (so you have some control over how much goes in), and use a spatula to spread it around. Unlike normal batter, the spatula is needed to spread the pancake thinly as it doesn’t simply roll around.

Cook for about 30 seconds to one minute, until golden.

Using a flipper, turn the pancake over so that both sides cook.

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Topping

You could place anything on top but here I have opted for a mix of roasted veg.

Method

Slice the aubergine, rub with a little olive oil and place on a roasting tray.

Rip the stalks off the curly kale and discard, then rub the leaves in the olive oil and add a splash of balsamic vinegar. Place on the same roasting tray.

Rub the cherry tomatoes with the olive oil and place on the same roasting tray.

Bake at 170°C for 10 minutes, until the kale is crisp and the cherry tomatoes are cooked.

Remove the aubergine slices from the roasting tray and finish them in the same frying pan you used for the pancakes to get some golden-brown colour on them (they should take 1-2 minutes on each side).

Place the pancakes in the oven for a few seconds to warm in the residual heat from the roasting of the vegetables – there’s no need to turn the oven back on again.

Serve all items on the top of the Buckwheat Pancakes and add a dollop of Oatly crème fraiche.

The whole thing took about 15 minutes to prepare and cook, and was surprisingly delicious and fun to prepare.

Steph x