I've been a consistent vegan since 2015. My initial interest, in all honesty, was to find a healthy diet that made it easy for me to maintain a slim figure. The animals and the planet were unfortunately not a priority at that time. A show called "Secret Lives of Women" featured a raw foodist who boasted the health and beauty-related benefits of a raw diet. I was fifteen when the episode aired and didn't know much about veganism prior to watching this show. The episode convinced me that raw veganism was the key to good health, but my diet did not change until 2012 because I was a minor and had no say in what I did or did not eat.
I followed Megan Elizabeth from "Easy to Be Raw", Fully Raw Christina of "Fully Raw", Dan the Life Regenorator, and Swayze from "Fit on Raw" and tried my best to be a raw foodist. I felt great, at first (didn't we all?), but eventually, I became bored with the food, I was unable to keep up with the costs of a varied raw foods diet (not just centered around bananas, lettuce, and oranges), and I felt both hungry and stuffed all of the time. It also didn't help that my family was very vocal in their disapproval of veganism. I would soon throw in the towel and go back to eating what my family ate. Southern soul and SAD junk food.
A few years later, I attempted to go vegan again, via the cooked food route. My favorite YouTubers at the time were Lauren Toyota of "Hot For Food", Caitlyn Shoemaker of "From My Bowl", Fully Raw Christina (despite no longer wanting to be raw [because of her beauty and positive energy]), That Vegan Couple, Ellen Fisher, and Hannah McNeely. My focus wasn't on evidence-based nutrition in the beginning, I just wanted to be skinny
. Eventually, I realized that I needed to focus on properly fueling my body. In switching over from the fun, carefree, "this is just my journey" side of veganism to the evidence-based, pragmatic, and ecologically responsible side of veganism, I found my ethics and that is why after all the years I can still call myself a vegan.
Funny enough, my partner, who was vegan but went back to eating animals before I met him, ran in the HCLF "cycling 20 miles per day" crowd. It's odd considering that we are from the same ag-based ultra-conservative small town. "Eat Beef" bumper stickers are commonplace out here and full-sized Trump/Vance flags trail off the backs of lifted pickup trucks.
I look young for my age so people tend to find it hard to believe that my veganism isn't "just a phase" or that I was interested in veganism "before it was cool". I run a small plant-based fiber arts shop and I once came across a fellow vegan shop owner who assumed that I didn't know what veganism meant because I was willing to sell recycled silk yarn. Yarns spun from silk sarees that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill. Yarns produced by a company that employs local impoverished women, pays them fair wages, and offers safe working conditions. Mind-blowing, but so many still refuse to see the nuance.
I'd love to know your thoughts on the issue: Is it better to sell silk that would otherwise become litter, or stick to the dictionary definition of veganism and choose brand new plant-based over used animal-based to prevent angering militant vegans and confusing non-vegans?
For context, the listing clearly stated that the product was post-consumer and that no additional harm was caused to silkworms in its production.
Anyway, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. I look forward to getting to know you all!
Take care.
