Meatless Movement recently had an opportunity to chat with Emily, who told us that being vegan justifies our treatment of the animals we share this planet with and it is the only way our planet stands a chance.
Tell us more about yourself, please
My name is Emily, I have recently finished a law conversion, I hope to one day have a career in animal rights and environmental law.
I have always adored every kind of animal
Emily Treneman
I am definitely a vegan for the animals. I think once you have decided to learn what happens to these animals, it becomes the most important reason. The benefits to our health and of course to the planet are just massive bonuses.
I am vegan as I don’t want to contribute towards an industry that is so massively unnatural in its scale and practises and so I don’t. I feel very happy in my choices as a vegan. Every single day we are reminded of the dire situation our planet is in, or I see a horrible reminder of what occurs in the agriculture system, and it makes me feel happy to know that my diet is not a contributing factor.
I became a vegetarian when I was six years old. I have always adored every kind of animal, so when I discovered that the chicken drumstick I was happily eating was made from the pet chickens we had, I was in disbelief.
Much to my parents’ unhappiness at the time, I have refused to touch meat ever since. However, both my parents and my sister quickly also turned vegetarian and today we are all plant based- so it worked out very well! I remember being completely ignorant to the cruelty within the egg and dairy industry- I assumed that seeing as I wasn’t eating their flesh, my diet was humane and nothing had died for it. It was a video by earthling ad I think that made me first think about it and over the next few years I educated myself more and eventually moved to a plant based diet.
Me and my sister made the Instagram account when I first went to university as a way of showing each other our vegan meals and providing inspiration for meals.
It’s something I feel very strongly about
Emily Treneman
I have, as I am sure every vegan, people I love who still eat meat. It can at times be quite a morally conflicting situation, as it’s something you feel very strongly about and seems such a simple decision to you, yet they don’t feel the same way. The best stance to take is to not judge a person for their decision, as you hope they won’t for yours, but just open the discussion.
I have encouraged people to watch some of the educational and hard hitting documentaries such as cowspiracy, seaspiracy and earthling. After which nearly everyone makes the decision to try more meatless foods and experiment more with a vegan diet.
Particularly when I went from vegetarian to vegan diet, the best thing that made me stick with it was for the first few months I avoided meals that normally I would add cheese to. I was addicted to cheese and whenever I had failed at going vegan before it was because of cheese. So, foods I would recommend especially if you are trying to become a vegan, is Asian foods which are already incredible and very easily vegan. Stir fry’s, ramen, sushi, fried rice, and tonnes and tonnes of curries.
Once I was over missing cheese, I began experimenting with vegan cheeses and nutritional yeast and found I actually quite liked them, where before I couldn’t stand them as I was comparing them to real cheese.
My favourite place to eat out as a vegan is Wagamama, their Kare Buroso Ramen is my favourite meal in the world. They have recently made 50% of their menu vegan so it is very accessible and delicious.
No one ever became a vegan because they didn’t like the taste of meat and cheese. They do it because there is nothing to justify our treatment of the animals we share this planet with and it is the only way our planet stands a chance. I am yet to meet a vegan that regretted their decision to be vegan.