By Jon Burrough

1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself—where you're from, your career background, and how you spend your time these days?

I had a wonderful Queensland childhood and a good family upbringing in Hughenden, Dalby, Thangool and later, the Sunshine Coast. My early career was as a bush pilot, flying artists on tours to remote locations in Queensland and NSW. In 1986 I moved to Europe and began a new career as an aid worker. Over the next 30 years I worked with the United Nations, Australian NGOs and then AusAID. During the first decade I did humanitarian relief work in places like Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, Rwanda and Iraq.

After having children and getting a degree in Resource and Environmental Science from the ANU, I settled down to work on overseas development programs. That included a lot of travel and multi-year postings in Cambodia, Afghanistan and Indonesia. I have been based in Canberra for 40 years now and retired from DFAT four years ago. I am happily married to the lovely Julie, who has been my inspiration to go vegan. I have two wonderful adult daughters, and my post-retirement job is driving federal politicians around Canberra as a COMCAR driver.

2. At what age did you go vegan, and how long have you been vegan now?

I became fully vegan just after my 60th birthday. That was eight years ago.

3. What inspired you to go vegan? Was there a particular turning point or moment of realisation?

In late 2017 Julie and I had a fantastic three week drive up the middle of Australia and I undertook to be vegan for the entire trip. Apart from the fun of finding vegan offerings, even on the very remote Oodnadatta track, I found that when home again, I had no desire to ever eat meat and dairy again.

4. What are the benefits you have found from eating a plant-powered diet?

The benefits of eating vegan are many. The impact on my health was rapid and astonishing. My chronically high cholesterol count reverted to normal within six months. While always physically active, playing competitive sports into my late fifties, I carried probably 10 extra kilos, due largely to enthusiastically eating meat and dairy and drinking alcohol, mostly in moderation. Without consciously dieting, the “thermal blanket” was gone within a couple of years of going strictly vegan. Now after several years of boot camp and getting deeper into nutrition and a wholefood plant-based diet I feel terrific, and my lovely wife says I have never looked better.

5. How has going vegan impacted your outlook on life or how you relate to the world around you?

For the first 60 years of my life, I admit to being pretty unenlightened about animal agriculture – staying in the mainstream and consuming everything without a thought. With just a cursory look into veganism, it became clear to me that animal agriculture is no longer fit for purpose. It is insufferably cruel, dirty, unsustainably expensive, environmentally damaging, too big an emitter of climate gases and unnecessary as a food source for the world’s population. Vegans do not want for protein nor need to compromise on variety and taste. Governments acknowledge that animal agriculture cannot meet future food demands and are looking at how to scale up alternative food systems. Investment in plant-based foods and cellular agriculture is surging. By consciously avoiding all the cruelty and damage done by animal agriculture, I feel like a kinder person, with higher levels of well-being and more open to the new ideas required to end animal cruelty, to win the climate battles and to feed the world’s expanding populations.

Julie and Jon at the Nutrition in Healthcare Conference 2023

6. What advice would you give men who are contemplating the switch to vegan living?

I still play a lot of social sport. My golf and tennis games have benefited from my better health and energy levels. I also feel less prone to sporting injuries (touch wood) despite my 68 years. My sporting buddies probably thought I would not last long as a vegan, given their knowledge of my past excesses. Yet, they are all supportive, and many have quietly reduced their own meat and dairy intake.

No-one anywhere, in Australia or abroad over the last eight years, has been anything other than supportive of my vegan lifestyle. My advice to men would be to think hard about what they are doing. Habits of a lifetime are undeniably hard to change, but absolutely worth the effort and it’s so much easier these days. For men my age, meat, eggs and dairy can be hugely detrimental to health and life expectancy. Reducing or eliminating animal products from your life would yield improvements in mental health, physical health and a more benevolent outlook on life. So I would say “Go for it! It will be the best decision you will ever make!”

7. Anything else you would like to add?

Yes, there are small and large, but tangible benefits to being vegan. At big dinner events with set menus, and on aircraft, you get served first - and you get better food! People tend to view you kindly when ordering food or talking about veganism. It feels like veganism is now a label that commands respect rather than criticism. Travel as a vegan is fun. We spent four days in Paris recently and had easy access to so many great vegan restaurants, cafes and patisseries. Organisations like VeggieHotels provide beautiful, hassle-free vegan bed and breakfast destinations all over the world.

So, in summary, veganism is a journey worth taking for the sheer enjoyment and excitement, as well as for the many health and planetary benefits. And it has never been easier - even for middle-aged Australian men like me!

Going vegan at 60

Coming soon!