I certainly never thought I would become a vegan

Emily is a Londoner who made the decision to become vegan two years ago. Emily’s journey began while working for a sustainable company where several of her colleagues and co-founders were already vegan.

Although she was a pescatarian at the time, Emily felt that adopting a vegan lifestyle was necessary to fully align with her beliefs in sustainability. After moving to New Zealand with her partner and educating themselves on animal agriculture and exploitation, Emily and her partner made the decision to go vegan during Veganuary over two years ago.

Meatless Movement recently had a chat with her.

Please tell us more about yourself

My name is Emily and I’m from London, U.K. I work for FoodCycle, a food waste charity in London. And I’m 27.

4 years ago I was working for a sustainable company where the two co-founders were vegan as well as a few of my colleagues. At this point I ate pretty much everything although not a huge amount of meat. Working there I felt that if I really believed in sustainability, I needed to make a change to my diet.

I became pescatarian however with the constant thought in the back of my mind that I wasn’t quite doing enough. Fast forward a year and I’m living in New Zealand with my partner. We both started to learn more about animal agriculture and exploitation (including watching Dominion) and just couldn’t find any good reason to not go vegan anymore.

At this point we mostly ate vegetarian to save money and then as Veganuary was coming up we decided to take the plunge – that was over 2 years ago now.

What are some common misconceptions about veganism in New Zealand and how do they impact finding vegan options when eating out?

It was interesting becoming a vegan in New Zealand as there were definitely some misconceptions about veganism. I remember asking for a vegan option in a cafe and they responded saying no, nothing vegan, but we do have gluten free-options. I don’t think people necessarily understood what it stood for and just saw it as a lifestyle choice or food intolerance.

When I first became vegan I was living in a small town in New Zealand that didn’t have a lot of vegan options. However this turned out to be quite an advantage as it meant that I cooked a lot at home. Nowadays I feel like pretty much everywhere has at least one vegan option and I’m lucky that even though most of my friends aren’t vegan, they are open to eating out in fully vegan restaurants from time to time.

How do you persuade someone to adopt a vegan lifestyle?

My way to convince someone to be vegan is to show them how delicious vegan food can be
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There are a lot of misconceptions, such as vegans being very militant with their views, but I feel as more and more people become vegan, it’s becoming a lot more socially acceptable. I think I try not to force my opinion on others, instead just cooking and baking delicious vegan food for them to try.

Obviously there’s the ethical, sustainable and heath benefits of going vegan, but if someone doesn’t enjoy what they’re eating it’s never going to last.

A great way to start is just by cooking your favourite dishes but with vegan ingredients. That’s an easy gateway into veganism and then as you become more confident with the different ingredients you can start to experiment with different recipes and flavours. A lot of products are also accidentally vegan, so it’s not like you have to completely change what you buy at the supermarket overnight. I think you have to make delicious food if you’re going to be able to stick at it!

Because I love cooking and baking, I never feel like I’m missing out. If I crave something, I will always try and replicate it at home – sometimes it’s a success, sometimes it isn’t but it’s always worthwhile and enjoyable. I love discovering new recipes and ingredients, so I find it exciting how vegan food is constantly evolving and changing.

Vegan gyoza shaping – recipe by Bianca Zaptka. This is a really fun recipe to make for a special occasion.

I’m spoiled for choice living in East London
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I’m lucky that where I live now in East London there’s loads of vegan places, I’m spoilt for choice! Just around the corner a new branch of Club Mexicana has opened which is 100% vegan, Mexican-inspired food. They have dishes like fish and chips tacos and it’s all so fresh and full of flavour. Another place I love is Mukbap, a fully vegan Korean place that hasn’t been open for long. They make all of their own fake meats, as well as kimchi, and the owner is so welcoming and friendly, it’s a really special experience.

Gatherer – This was an amazing vegetarian restaurant in Hokitika, South Island New Zealand. For a very small town in New Zealand we couldn’t believe what great vegan and vegetarian options they had (sadly it has now closed).

Grater Goods – This is a fully vegan, French-inspired cafe/restaurant in Christchurch, New Zealand. One of the owners is French and their pastries and platters were amazing!

Vegan cake – I worked at a fully vegan cafe in Wellington, New Zealand. When it came to my birthday I got to bake and decorate a cake to get home.

I strive to create dishes that everyone can enjoy
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Being vegan has made me a lot more inclusive with cooking for friends. Whereas before if a friend was gluten-free for example I would’ve perhaps cooked them something separate, but now I want to make dishes that everyone can enjoy. When I was living in New Zealand my partner and I would cook for our friends – we were vegan, another was gluten-free and another couldn’t eat nuts or soy. It was an interesting challenge finding something that everyone could eat but when we did it was really rewarding making dishes that everyone could enjoy together and nobody feel left out or like their food was just an afterthought.

I think everyone should be open-minded when it comes to food, I certainly never thought I would become a vegan. However, now there’s so many exciting options which grow day by day, and I really never look back. I really hope that even the most militant anti-vegans will one day be convinced!