Alice shares her delicious & nourishing plant-based recipes on her IG @alicepipr. She thinks Berlin is a VEGAN FOOD HEAVEN. Meatless Movement recently had the opportunity to chat with her.

Tell us more about yourself please

Hi, I am Alice. Currently 27 years old and living in Germany. I was born and raised here but my mom is from China and my dad is from Poland. I just finished my master’s degree in business economics. I am also a freelancer doing photography jobs for vegan brands! I speak 4 languages: German, English, Chinese and Polish. My next goal is to learn Japanese!

The animals are way more important to me than my taste.
@alicepipr

It happened when I first moved out. Good meat was quite expensive, and I just started studying so my budget was kinda small. I also never really liked to prepare it. It became natural to buy less meat and I also did not miss it. I started looking into vegetarianism, read a lot of books and watched all the documentaries (Cowspiracy, forks over knives, earthlings etc.). I was a vegetarian for a month before switching to a complete vegan diet. I always liked the taste of meat/meat dishes, but I never once missed it since going vegan. The animals are way more important to me than my taste.

I went vegan at the end of 2013, so it has been 8 years. A lot happened since then and I also changed as a person. When I started being vegan, I was super strict with everything and tried out all the different vegan diets like hclf (high carb low fat), Rawtill4 and so on. Whenever I fell out of my diet plan, I felt super devastated and would cry whenever I accidentally ate something non-vegan (like milk in a pastry). I am over that now! Life is more than food and mistake happen. I am enjoying my life more and I think that if you are trying your best, that is all that matters!

Nowadays I think it is the best time to eat a vegan diet! Not only because there are literally all the options and everything non-vegan you can get vegan, but also because of the environment, the planet, and the animals. When I think about the time, I started becoming vegan, there was not much on the vegan market (like fancy meat, egg, cheese substitutes etc.). But I sticked to the Chinese cuisine, which I grew up with. There is lots of tofu and already vegetarian/vegan dishes included so I did not miss much and had it pretty easy.

Now I live in Berlin, and it is just VEGAN FOOD HEAVEN. Not joking. If you ever miss something, come to Berlin. You will get it there. This is also why I do not have any challenges with finding vegan food. Every restaurant has at least one vegan option. But if I ever find myself in a completely not vegan friendly restaurant, I will stick to side dishes and/or will ask the staff if they can prepare something vegan. Don’t be afraid to ask!

All I can do is live by example
@alicepipr

I have never felt better ever since I have switched. Of course, there are times when I eat a bit more “junk”, don’t move as much, and don’t feel my best but that’s life. Knowing that I don’t have any dead animals in my body makes it 1000% better.

And your favorite vegan meals …

I am totally into breakfast/brunch, preferably sweet. I am a big sweet tooth. My go-to breakfast dishes are smoothie/acai bowls or nicecream, pancakes, oatmeal, and crumble bakes. I have a few of them on my Instagram feed + recipe.

The vegan market has grown so much in the past years
@alicepipr

Some places I love to eat at in Berlin are:

Calm Coffee (The best vegan cinnamon rolls & buns & coffee)
Brammibal’s donuts (Famous for their all-vegan donuts)
Mana Food (Really good brunch)

Here are some of my advice I already gave to friends who want to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diet:

Find a reason, why you want to change. Having a good reason (e.g. for the animals) let’s you stick to your new lifestyle.
Do not cut out all the foods you love overnight. If you are not an extreme person, do it step by step.
Find the foods you love that are already vegan (I doubt that a diet of just milk, eggs and meat is realistic) and stick to them.
Try out new products! The vegan market has grown so much in the past years, and I bet you will find lots of alternatives that you will love.
Go out and eat in restaurants! Good ones of course. A vegan diet is not just veggies and water.

I would never force someone to eat something they don’t want. It is super important for me to let everyone live the way they want. All I can do is live by example and if they get interested in the vegan diet or want to try it, I would be glad to help!