Ask a Vegan: How to be Vegan in a Meat-Eating Family?

Dear Christine,

I am a vegetarian in a meat-eating family. I would like to be a vegan but its difficult to even be a vegetarian. I am the primary cook in the family and while my husband and kids are supportive, they still want me to cook meat. How can I make my family happy and start to be a vegan? I have 4 kids at ages 12, 6, 5, and 2 — all picky eaters. I would love some advice. Thank you for you time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Sara

Hi Sara,

Thanks for writing. I understand that change is hard, especially when it involves other people. I find it hard enough to make changes for my sake. Add family to the mix and it can be downright overwhelming. However, it can be done. First, I’m wondering if you have explained to your family why you want to be vegan? It’s helpful to keep an open mind with these types of conversations, so that others don’t feel defensive. Everyone has a right to their own feelings and forcing change on others is a disaster in the making. You may want to watch Vegucated together? It’s a wonderful documentary infused with humor and facts — building bridges for veganism. This film may help open up your family to the idea of eating less meat.

Now to your real question: How can I make my family happy (at meal time) and start being vegan?

Begin by empowering your family in the kitchen. Teach them how to cook. Even supervised youngsters can learn to cook and help with simple tasks. Knowing how to cook will give them choices. If they don’t want to eat what you’re making for dinner, they can cook for themselves. I started cooking at a very early age because I was a picky eater. Cooking is a skill I wish more people had. It will serve your kids well for their entire lives. When people eat at home, they typically eat healthier — less salt, sugar, fat and calories — then if they eat out.  You may find your family enjoys planning meals and cooking together.

Mark Bittman wrote this wonderful essay in the form of a short e-book a couple of years ago called Cooking Solves Everything. If all families cooked together, the world would be a very different place.

An optimal vegan diet includes a variety of plant-based foods. I believe that everyone can find some vegan options they would enjoy, especially meat alternatives since meat is what your family wants. Seitan is an easy meat alternative you can make at home. The kids could help make this. (Soon I will be posting the best seitan recipe I have ever made.) You may need to experiment with different foods. You can also make a game of it by letting your children pick out a new vegetable to try each week. They are bound to find a few they like. Just make it fun for them.

Or, you could simply draw the line. I never had the chance to meet my husband’s mom. I have heard a lot about her over the years including her approach to mealtime. She had six kids and it’s easy to imagine there was at least one picky child in the bunch. When one of her children would say, “I don’t like this”, she would reply, “You must not be hungry then.” There was no special food offered to the complainer. There is truth in her words. She was teaching them to be grateful for the food in front of them. A truly hungry person would eat just about anything. But, we’re spoiled in our culture. We’re used to having our wants met at every turn. It’s estimated that we waste 40% of the food in the U.S., so there’s good reason to encourage a grateful attitude towards the food on our plates.

Or, you could continue “trying” to keep everyone happy with multiple entrees at one meal and drive yourself mad. I believe a happy mom makes for a happy family. An unhappy mom, not so much. Change isn’t always easy but if it’s important to you, then you deserve the opportunity to be successful at making the change.

Keep me posted,
Christine

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Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret

Last night I went to a screening of the documentary, Cowspiracy. I recommend it for everyone, not just animal rights folks. Everyone. It’s loaded with relevant facts, humor and jaw dropping interviews. You will wonder how they pulled some of them off. Check it out when it comes to your city. Below is a blog post about the film provided by the Cowspiracy PR team. Read on…

If there was one single industry causing more destruction to the planet than any other, if one single industry was the leading cause of global warming, water depletion, deforestation, ocean “dead zones,” species extinction—wouldn’t you want to know about it? Wouldn’t you expect to hear about it? With countless environmental groups and NGOs out there, surely combating an industry that harmful to the earth would be their biggest cause, right?

What if the reason the world’s top environmental organizations weren’t talking about it was fear?

Would you still want to know?

None of this is hypothetical. That’s the situation worldwide right this instant, and that’s the story filmmakers Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn set out to uncover in their feature length documentary, Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, now showing in select cities.

They say getting to this point hasn’t been easy: “Unlike a lot of documentaries, we haven’t been able to speak openly about this film,” Andersen said. “Until now. Most films have websites, social media campaigns, and fundraising campaigns, before production even begins—but due to the controversy of this subject, we’ve had to stay silent every step of the way, in fear of being shut down.”

“Journalists and activists trying to expose this industry in the past have been sued, placed on domestic terrorist watch lists, followed by the FBI, arrested, and imprisoned, simply for speaking out, or trying to expose this industry’s atrocities.”

But they kept going. And now, after more than a year of secrecy and hard work, Cowspiracy is out. Their Indiegogo campaign was a huge success, hitting their first funding goal in just six days, and now they’re aiming for the money to create an even larger impact: adding subtitles to Cowspiracy in more than ten languages, German and Spanish dubs, international screenings and better global distribution and promotion. Plus a 50 minute educational edit of the film.

“We’ve been getting tons of support and requests from all walks of life,” Andersen said. “A lot of educational institutes, a lot of teachers, professors, everyone from elementary school teachers to high school to universities, they all want to show this to their students, which is so, so awesome because this information has to get out there.”

So what about you? Want to learn “the sustainability secret”? Check out the Cowspiracy website, Indiegogo campaign, Facebook and Twitter to learn more and stay up to date with this incredibly important project.

Take Action
Host a screening in your city.

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Lessons Learned from Being Vegan

In 2012, I wrote 365 daily vegan tips on Facebook to make it easier for those interested in becoming a vegan. Some of my favorite tips were published in the first week including:

Tip #5: Do not miss meat, eggs, dairy, leather, wool, etc.The book, Voices from the Garden, presents the stories of 45 vegans. The story, Because I Care, by Erin Moore stuck with me. One sentence helped me immensely: “There is no point to missing it, because I will never have it again, and that would be torture.” This concept allowed me to let it all go—the desire to consume or wear animal products. Think about it. Why miss something you have decided to give up?

This concept can apply to almost any type of chosen change, such as packing up your belongings and moving across the country from Chicago to Berkeley, CA. For the past six weeks I have lived in one of the most beautiful places—the Bay area, specifically Berkeley Hills. The house we are renting has a view of the Bay. There are hiking paths just minutes from my front door that lead me to views of amazing vistas. This unique neighborhood combines homes of varying sizes and architecture mixed with a variety of flora all situated on a mountain with winding roads and hidden paths. I could walk along the winding streets for hours continually finding something new or unexpected. I have also been lucky to encounter wildlife, such as deer, hummingbirds and geckos. I’m in love with my new neighborhood.

When I left Chicago after 18 years as a resident, I was excited to leave the urban grime behind. I don’t miss stepping around the trash on my daily walks, but I was also well aware that I would miss my friends, job, yoga class, routine and Lake Michigan. So for the past six weeks, my mind has been on the Midwest—so much in fact that I keep wondering when I am going home and then I realize I am not. I am home and I am also homesick.

But as I was riding the BART into San Francisco this morning, I remembered tip #5. Do not miss what you gave up. When it comes to being vegan, I don’t miss any of the foods I willingly eschew. I never looked back, but lately I have been in a constant state of looking back, yearning for what was. But remembering this lesson brightened my day and I knew what I needed to do—be here, be home. (It also helped that I made a new friend too.)

What have you learned from being vegan that applies to other areas of your life?

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A Day in the Life of a Vegan: Meet Sandy

Name: Sandy De Lisle

Age: I like to keep people guessing. They always guess me to be younger than I am — which I attribute to my vegan diet!

Where do you live? Deerfield, IL

How long have you been vegan? 25 years (with three healthy pregnancies!)

Wake up: 4:30 a.m.

Breakfast: Cheerios with vanilla soymilk and blueberries, oatmeal or chocolate chip pancakes (Sometimes I eat all three things in one sitting!).

Morning activities/work: Walk or run with my two dogs, pack lunches for the kids and write.

Lunch: Most likely something containing avocados or broccoli.

Afternoon activities/work:  More dog walking and more writing.

Dinner:  Most likely something with avocado and broccoli.

After dinner activities (more work?): Helping my kids with homework, watching HGTV and more writing.

Lights out: 10 p.m.

Current Project(s): I have several books that were recently released: The Teenage Boy’s Playbook on Sex and Relationships: From Rookie to MVP with 20 Simple Rules and Dibs Chicago: The Winter Phenomenon of Parking Spot Saving. It is my goal to combine my passion for writing with my passion for animals and write a book on the topic of veganism or animal welfare in 2013.

Favorite animal or vegan book? By far, my favorite animal book is Behind the Dolphin Smile by Ric O’Barry.

Favorite animal or vegan movie?  Forks Over Knives

What’s the best part of being vegan? Knowing I’m doing the most I can to prevent animal cruelty (and being fit without a lot of effort).

What do you want people to know about living vegan? For those who aren’t vegan: It is incredibly easy to be vegan (right, Christine!). For those who are vegan: Eat healthfully and donate your vegan blood. Nothing quiets dissenters quicker than when I tell them I donate blood every 8 weeks. Proof that vegans aren’t automatically anemic.

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Who Thinks It’s Easy Being Vegan?

A few weeks ago on Facebook, I asked “Who thinks it’s easy being vegan?” Here are some of the responses. Turns out  a lot of people agree that it’s easy being vegan!

I was pescatarian and went vegan by accident. So, yeah, it’s very easy.

Easy as can be! I used to be a total meat and potatoes person. After viewing Forks over Knives, I changed my diet the next day. I just veganize all the dishes I used to eat. I don’t miss a thing.

Being vegan easy? Well, easier. Easier than worrying about who is on my plate; easier than worrying about higher risks of obesity, heart disease, stroke, numerous cancers; easier than violating my Buddhist precepts of not killing and to not taking what is not given; easier than feeling guilt about the animals I eat being the source of the 51% of humanities GHCs from carniculture; easier than feeling guilty about feeding crops into ‘my’ cow, which could have been fed to people; easier than knowing how ‘my’ turkey, cow, chicken, pig, fish lived and died; easier knowing that what I do wrecks the environment less that what an omnivore does. The hard parts: reading every label, being a ‘pain’ to friends, family, employers and restaurants, having to learn to cook (buts it’s cheaper and better and more fun than another frozen vegan lump from the store, or a third day of the same ethnic leftovers from a restaurant), wanting a steak or pizza and I know there are pretty decent fakes. Remembering why I’m vegan makes the hard parts easier.

This guy! It was hard for like the first month because I didn’t realize how much I actually COULD eat, but the next three years have been simple.

So much easier than it was 20 years ago, but it was always easy enough compared to the guilt I felt about spending my first 18 years non-veg and then a couple more just vegetarian.

Way easier than I thought it would be — mainly because it feels natural and coherent.

Not particularly to be honest. But it’s easier on the animals and easier on the conscience so that’s why I continue.

For me it’s not hard to not eat animals. What I found hard in the beginning was knowing what to eat and having to learn to cook different meals. I don’t really like to cook and find cooking for one takes time. As time went by I did research and found amazing sites on line, like yours, and found great recipe ideas and tips on how to be vegan. Now I am finding it easier. Still learning how to plan meals for the week and shop properly for the stuff I need that week and not over spending on stuff I think I might use, then end up throwing it out! I make a lot of soup and freeze some so I will always have something on hand. So the answer is yes and no! Very easy to not eat meat, not so easy at first figuring out the rest!

Vegan is so easy! It’s being gluten free that is a challenge.

So what do you think? Is it easy? What are your challenges? Use the comment section below and give us the details.

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Homemade Kombucha

This is a guest post from Mania Labs. Bill (aka my fiance) is somewhat of a scientist in the kitchen. I mean, who else stocks pH test paper in their kitchen? He likes to make things and after buying too many $3.39 bottles of kombucha decided it was high time to brew his own. I’m lucky because now I have an endless supply of kombucha in my fridge. Bill attended two workshops and read several articles before he attempted to make kombucha. We have learned it’s a fairly simple process. You don’t need to be a scientist to make your own either. Give it a try. It’s rewarding to make things!

Kombucha is a fermented tea which has many purported health benefits. I make and drink it because: it may be a probiotic; it may contain beneficial vitamins; I want to drink green tea regularly; and I enjoy the taste, including the mild “bite” it provides. I usually mix it with something else, either fruit juice or plain green tea. For a more detailed description of kombucha and its history, see this article.

The process of making kombucha involves simply allowing a combination of yeast and bacteria to convert sugar into carbon dioxide and vinegar. The yeast/bacteria combination is called a SCOBY, which is an acronym for “symbiotic combination of bacteria and yeast”. The sugar used must be an actual sugar, not just a sweetener. Table sugar (sucrose) works best. Other sugars, such as honey, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, molasses or agave syrup will work, however, they have additional considerations. First, the timing will be different for each sugar. Also, the sugar must be sterile, in order to not interfere with the SCOBY. Lastly, the flavor of the kombucha will be different.

For the simplest kombucha, here’s the list of tools and ingredients.

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A Day in the Life of a Vegan: Meet Angela

Name: Angela Gunn

Age: 33

Where do you live? I live in Savannah, GA

How long have you been vegan? I have been a vegan for 6 months, since January 2012.

Wake up: I try to get up at seven, but lately I’ve been getting up between 10 and noon because of the crazy hours I was working as a Production Assistant on a fashion shoot.

Breakfast: What I eat for breakfast depends on when I get up. I have made Alicia Silverstone’s scrambled tofu from The Kind Life the last two mornings and I adore it. Other times, like this morning, I make a toasted sandwich with whole grain bread, lots of Veganaise, romaine lettuce and Tofurky. Yum.

Morning activities/work: I try to spend my mornings writing fiction, but this morning I found myself procrastinating by surfing the web.

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Happy World Animal Day! (October 4th)

Wow! What a busy week celebrating animals. In honor of World Animal Day, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate three of my very best animal friends…Max, Grace, and Chelsea–my beloved cats. I invite you to honor the special animals in your life. What will you do for them today!? Maybe just spend a few extra moments rubbing their chins or scratching behind their ears. You know they will be forever grateful. So before you rush out the door this morning, don’t forget to do something special for the animals in your life.

   

Mr. Max. My shadow. My love bug. Greets me at the door like a puppy. He’s only missed three days of greeting me after a day at work…when he was: 1) at the vet, 2) stuck in a closet all day (Oops!), and 3) stuck inside the duvet cover on my bed…silly boy found his way in but couldn’t get out.

   

Gracie May. The boss. A fetcher. To know her is to love her. A contradiction-in-terms…at once both independent and tough yet needy and insecure. Would love to be an only cat…wants my complete attention and normally gets it. How does she always get her way?! 

   

Chelsea Blue. Oh so sensitive and sweet. My snuggle bug. Loves to sleep under blankets…”If I hide under a blanket, Grace will not know I’m here.”

But I digress (I promise to do this only once per year! I should be allowed one self-indulgent post per year, right!?), beyond honoring your pets on World Animal Day, how about supporting a local animal shelter or animal welfare group? Walk a homeless dog, explain to someone (kindly) why circuses and zoos aren’t cool, or support a local or online vegan retailer. The list is endless. It’s just important to do something. Of course, you could continue with some of my suggestions from earlier this week because today is about all animals. Have fun! 😉

Next week back to why “It’s easy being vegan!”

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