And especially after coming back from Bali a couple of weeks ago, where many of the tourist areas are dominated by Australians, and there's a vegan symbol next to every second menu item, and the cafe signs say "100% plant based", and one of the wi-fi codes I entered actually was "plantbased", and one of the people I ran into said he was now "plant based", and he told me that "so is everyone over here". ("Everyone" presumably being the young hip Aussies working in fashion or e-commerce, and not everyone else eating suckling pig or chicken fried rice.)

The point is, veganism has finally become mainstream. The movement still faces prejudice and institutional resistance – that much is clear from the recent Yarra Trams debacle where a major vegan anti-speciesism campaign was canned at the last minute. But the reality is it's not just hippies around Byron Bay, or #fitspo girls on Instagram, who are vegans any more. It's corporates going on a health kick. Or people working at start-ups. Or pretty much anyone under 40, who probably has or will try a "plant-based diet" at some point.

Domino's has just introduced permanent vegan cheese on their menu. Domino's! Not front of mind when you think of companies that are leading the charge on socially or ethically on-trend issues.

There's a new vegan burger that's been developed that "bleeds". It's debuting at Laneway music festival. Before you know it, Bunnings will be serving vegan sausages.

For someone like myself, who hasn't eaten meat for 14 years (but gobbles cheese and sashimi like there's no tomorrow), this is all fantastic news. After all, how can it be a bad thing? Mainstream veganism means more menu options, more awareness of the treatment of animals before they turn into nuggets or steaks, less animals actually being turned into nuggets or steaks, environmental benefits – so many great things!