Why did I go vegan?
One of the most common questions I get asked is “Why did you go vegan?.” I feel like this is a pretty common experience for a vegan. Or pretty much anyone who has adopted a lifestyle that is different from the “norm”. People are curious beings and I totally understand why they’d want to know the story behind my wild, crazy, and shocking decision to switch to eating plants over the souls of the dead. I’m kidding, but also not really. So for those wondering, here is my journey from beef to beets, pork to peas or, put straight forward, animals to plants.
For a little backstory, I wasn’t raised eating a ton of meat. Growing up, it was just Mum and I. We aligned (and still do) on almost every value and interest. I am pretty much a copy-and-paste version of her, other than that we are born 38 years apart. Mum isn’t the most creative cook but she is great at the basics. My typical breakfast as a child was googy eggs on toast and dinner was steamed veg, some sort of carb like rice, and salmon. Red meat made its way onto my plate once a week, usually in the form of Mum’s go-to bolognese recipe and dairy was consumed even less, maybe once a fortnight in strawberry yogurt or a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Never EVER milk or butter. Both gave me the heeby geebys. During my year 11 school holidays, I turned on Netflix and saw the documentary “What The Health” pop up. I had already heard about the documentary on the radio, social media, from friends and even via eavesdropping (guilty) on the conversation of two ladies next to me at a cafe. The premise of the doco was to show the link between diet and disease, with a focus on how animal-based products and pharmaceuticals negatively impact our health. Without knowing it was going to change my life forever, I hit play, sat back and let my jaw drop to the floor. I have always loved animals and have been very health conscious, so watching a documentary that had so much emphasis on both those values struck a cord. So much so, that I made Mum rewatch the documentary with me that night and the following day we went vegan. I’m talking cold turkey, carnivore to herbivore in under 24 hours. The next week before I went back to school consisted of me binge-watching vegan documentaries, reading books and studies online until I had well and truly fallen deep onto the plant-based bandwagon. The treatment of animals in agricultural farming internationally is well and truly horrific, and the amount of scientific research on the benefits of a predominantly plant-based diet is outstanding. So, that was pretty much it. I haven’t eaten an animal-based product since. Excluding the time I was accidentally served butter on toast and spat it out as soon as I felt that slippery substance hit the roof of my mouth (ew).
In saying all of this, I am aware of my privilege and the ease at which I was able to make this transition. I am a white woman who has always had financial and geographical access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and education and have no religious or cultural ties to diet. Adopting a plant-based lifestyle can present more challenges for others, and I do believe that we are on our own health and spiritual paths and need to do whatever it is that aligns with our core values, whether that be ditching animal products or not. I truly believe that introducing more plants into anyone’s diet will have a positive impact and the less we rely on animal-based products the better it will be for our health and the animal’s and Earth’s well-being. My biggest tip if this is a path you are drawn to explore would be to start slow. I know I went cold turkey and it worked. It could work for you too. But 9 times out of 10 it doesn’t because the pressure of switching from one diet to another can begin to override the passion you decided to make the switch for in the first place. Causing burnout and giving up entirely.
To start slow, I suggest introducing one plant-based day each week. For example, no-meat Mondays. Stick to easy recipes (cough, cough, from my cookbook HERE) and experiment with a variety of whole-food ingredients. I have seen vegans do high-fat low carb, low carb high fat, fruitarian, raw and even a potato diet. As in only potatoes. I mean I love roasted potatoes, but can’t imagine eating them for dessert. The point is, stick to a variety of whole foods and don’t feed into vegan fads. The only ingredients I recommend avoiding are refined sugars, heavy seed or vegetable oils and any numbers. Also, beware of the 1% milk powder. It’ll get ya.
In my debut cookbook, Chloe’s Vegan Kitchen, I provide a list of my go-to ingredients as well as a sample grocery list to make the transition easier. I’ll leave the link HERE if you are interested in getting your hands on a copy.
As always, I love and appreciate you. Thank you for reading! Until next time,
Chloe xx
