Vegan newbie who needs your help!

[Manon]

My name is Manon and I am a student at the HU in Utrecht. I have been studying veganism for the last six weeks, and I have been finding this vegan forum very helpful. I have a few questions that I would like to ask and I am hoping that I can get in contact with some of you. Thanks in advance! Manon

Here are my questions:

- What motivated you to go vegan?
- What are the positive and negative effects on your health?
- Did social media play a role in your decision to go vegan?
- How do you see the future of veganism?

 

[Robin McPhillips]

Hi Manon,

I'm always happy to help a newbie out .
My motivation to go vegan was the thruth behind animal food products. I found out the truth about how they used these animals for food and dairy products and it disgusted me. I did some research on the internet and first went vegetarian. After a while i transferred to a vegan lifestyle. The health effects are GREAT!! I feel so much healthier and better since i stopped eating animal products and replaced them with actual healthy products. Also Social media played a big part in the decision because I first saw the animal cruelty on facebook.

I think every year more and more people will become vegetarians and vegans. (I hope)

Good luck and message me when you need help!!

xo,
Robin

 

[Justin Owen]

Hi Manon,

Good to hear that you are studying this amazing topic. I will answer your question with joy!

- What motivated you to go vegan?
The biggest motivation for me to go vegan was my health. Veganism does a lot for your health and is the best diet. I also got inspired on the beneficial effect it has on the environment.

- What are the positive and negative effects on your health?
The positive effects are that you feel very good and light all the time. A negative effect is the fact that you have to eat a lot more because you are not full very easily.

- Did social media play a role in your decision to go vegan?
Social media definitely played a big role in my decision to go vegan. I could find a lot of information on social media and got motivated by fun how-to's and recipes.

- How do you see the future of veganism?
I think a lot more people will go vegan, people become much more conscious about the benefits of veganism. I definitely think much more people will become vegan in the future.

I hope this helps,

Justin

 

[winter.frost]

1. Malpractice in the dairy industry.
2. Blood clarity, more energy, mood stability, better digestion, better sleep. Vs dental problems, intermittent anaemia, initial hair loss.
3. No. However I do think the vegan YouTube community is important in particular.
4. Honestly I don't think much about veganism's future - I'm too caught in the present.

I would say that your poll is quite flawed because I consider veganism to be neither a movement nor trend - even movements have an end, a quantifiable post-date, and I am sceptical that will happen.

 

[Sally]

Hi Manon.

You say you are studying veganism, are you a vegan?

1. I became vegan because of the dreadful treatment to animals, it is not only food, but cosmetics, clothing, smoking, sport, anything that exploits animals.
2. I have not had any really negative effects on my health, I feel so much happier in myself.
3. Social media didn't play a great role, I went to a Viva roadshow and listened to the talks and that was enough for me to give up the dairy (I was already vegetarian) from that moment on.
4. I think it is fashionable now and hopefully when the popularity of it dies down many people will continue to be vegan.

I too do not personally regard veganism as a movement or a trend as for me it is how I shall live the rest of my life.

 

[fzjohnson]

Hi Manon,
Always happy to help out. Please could you let us know what you will do with your results? Thanks. Providing answers does not mean consent to use (I hope you don't mind my mentioning this).
1. I became vegan by accident via a self-selected 7 day vegan challenge to help empathise with my friends' dietary issues.
2. By day 6 I felt more energy and as if (this sounds irrational, but I'm pragmatic by nature so it isn't an airy-fairy descriptor) my blood were pumping with less resistance ... perhaps it was less sticky ... overall it felt "cleaner". I also noticed I'd mellowed a little in my moods. I was less judgemental/cut&dry and more kind.
3. Social Media sent a seemingly anti-veg newsfeed that got my back up & as a result my stubborn streak committed me to proving it wrong before I realised the implications & effort this would take. So by being negative social media actually pushed me into going in to bat for the vegans, ... despite my not considering myself fully on their team at that stage.
4. Veganism in the future - a necessity for so many reasons. Health of humans, health of planet, resource restrictions, revolt against printed (3D) food and In vitro meat or insect equivalents... so many reasons.

 

[Kazie]

- Becoming a vegan was a process for me:
I have been interested in the question of vegetarianism in children's literature since it is the topic of my MA-thesis since last october. In the process, I attended a lecture by the French author Martin Gibert (cf. his website) who is now a vegan philosophy professor in Québec. It gave me input on which books to read and which movies to watch to dig deeper in the question of becoming vegan. Then, because I was looking for an internship in a publishing house, I had been in contact with the publishing director of L'Âge d'Homme, in Switzerland, as I wanted to ask her some questions for my thesis. They have the first dedicated series about veganism in the french-speaking world. I mentioned that I was looking for an internship and there you go, I met her in December and had my answer straight away. She is a dedicated person and raises her 4-year-old child as a vegan. I have grown up as a vegetarian, but it showed me that I could also make the difference. And the real decision hit me when I helped out on the farm of my boyfriend's parents shortly after New Year's Eve. They have a small dairy-farm in Switzerland. As my boyfriend's dad was milking the cows and I was feeding the calves, I got out of the barn, back to the house having the feeling that I had been just milked. This was all very confusing, so I got vegan right after that.

- Positive and negative effects on health ?
I had already reduced my intake of dairy before becoming vegan because of health issues (severe hormonal acne). I noticed that I feel much more energized in the mornings, have a better digestion and tend to eat less heavy food. I noticed no negative effects so far.

- Social media didn't really play a role in my decision to go vegan, but it does now that I am vegan.

- Veganism is an ethical movement that came forth during WW2 in England. Vegan raised out of the vegetarian movement. You might notice, that vegan is the beginning and the end of the word (and the movement) vegetarian. NB. I'm not inventing this, I read quite a few books for my thesis so far. For its future development, I am no person to say what will be or not be, as in our very globalized society, lifestyles tend to grow farther and farther apart from each other. In that way veganism somehow balances consumerism, but I wouldn't know and dare to say in how far.

 

[fzjohnson]

Hi Kazie,
Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised in this digital age when completely different paths cross, but fyi I write children's books under the nom de plume of Liz Yardley. It is a middle grade girl's adventure series and one of my young characters is - you guessed it - vegetarian. As part of the series "extras" I added a recipe list at the end of the books, including both vegetarian and (unintentionally) vegan dishes, for readers to make at home. I was an omnivore when I began this particular book series and more focused on the fun side of secret missions, club houses and special club meeting food.

I have a PhD in the biosciences and know the painful process of writing up all too well. I have also taught grad students and assisted friends with their theses in other disciplines ... so, if you need anyone to help copy edit I would be happy to assist, time permitting. It would need to be in English though, as my fluency in French has sadly dissipated.

Your topic is really, really interesting to me. I'd never thought of taking my own veganism that far into my books before, but if your research shows a scant smattering of vegan role models in literature, maybe I just might.

Thank you for sharing this ... it has made me stop and think some more ... and after 1.5 years (on Thursday) as a vegan perhaps I ought to begin to acknowledge this more in my work? I mean to say, it's obviously here to stay. Thank you!
All the best with your MA, too.

 

[Kazie]

Hey FZJohnson, thanks for the really surprising reply , surprising because I didn't expect a vegan author for children books to be around.
The series sounds really interesting, it's a real shame I won't be able to include it in my thesis, since I'm only focusing on French children's literature. But it is awesome that you have grown around this writing experience as a vegan and I am sure your main character has too!

Thank you a lot for your suggestion of copy editing, but as I am graduating in France, I will write my thesis in French too. It's all very France-centered come to think of it, but it suits the university better. Thank you a lot in any case!!! My master's degree is in publishing but with a specialization on children's literature and since this is my last thesis I will ever write, I thought it would be very positive for me to write on a topic that would have interested me as a kid. Having grown as a vegetarian, I felt quite alone a long time. Yet, I am sure you have heard about some books I have included in my corpus, since the two picture books of Ruby Roth were translated into French.

In any case, I would be happy to give you some input around the questions that my post might have raised. Always happy to help!

 

[Manon]

Thank you guys for helping me out. Much love to all off you

 

[Manon]

Hi Manon,
Always happy to help out. Please could you let us know what you will do with your results? Thanks. Providing answers does not mean consent to use (I hope you don't mind my mentioning this).
1. I became vegan by accident via a self-selected 7 day vegan challenge to help empathise with my friends' dietary issues.
2. By day 6 I felt more energy and as if (this sounds irrational, but I'm pragmatic by nature so it isn't an airy-fairy descriptor) my blood were pumping with less resistance ... perhaps it was less sticky ... overall it felt "cleaner". I also noticed I'd mellowed a little in my moods. I was less judgemental/cut&dry and more kind.
3. Social Media sent a seemingly anti-veg newsfeed that got my back up & as a result my stubborn streak committed me to proving it wrong before I realised the implications & effort this would take. So by being negative social media actually pushed me into going in to bat for the vegans, ... despite my not considering myself fully on their team at that stage.
4. Veganism in the future - a necessity for so many reasons. Health of humans, health of planet, resource restrictions, revolt against printed (3D) food and In vitro meat or insect equivalents... so many reasons.

Thank you very much.
I am creating an data analysis of it.

 

[fzjohnson]

Thank you very much.
I am creating an data analysis of it.

Thanks, Manon but what will you do with the data once analysed & will names be present? May I also ask who is funding this research? I applaud you for doing it, by the way. I'd just like more information. Thanks so much for understanding. Please don't take my questions as discouragement - not at all. In fact if you need help with the stats I'd be happy to advise.

 

[Manon]

Thanks, Manon but what will you do with the data once analysed & will names be present? May I also ask who is funding this research? I applaud you for doing it, by the way. I'd just like more information. Thanks so much for understanding. Please don't take my questions as discouragement - not at all. In fact if you need help with the stats I'd be happy to advise.

It is for a school assignment. So only my teacher will read it. We will only put the username in it and the date. If you want to be anonymous I can remove your name. Thank you very much for helping

 

[winter.frost]

Veganism is an ethical movement that came forth during WW2 in England. Vegan raised out of the vegetarian movement.

Veganism is far, far older than that. It just might not have been called being 'vegan'.