I love popping to see animals at sanctuaries when I can – good to get my animal fix

Kelly is a big animal lover, 38 from Surrey who likes to encourage others to be open minded to trying vegan food options to help smash the stigma that sadly does exist about what vegans are like, and what vegan food is like. Veganism is a big passion for her and influences all parts of her life in a hugely positive way.

Meatless Movement recently had the opportunity to chat with her.

Please tell us more about yourself

My name is Kelly, I live near Farnham in Surrey & am 38! I will be celebrating being vegan for 6 years on 1st September 2024 after being a vegetarian since I was around 7 years old.

I have always been a huge animal lover, and at school my friend Emma & all her family were vegetarian & that must have influenced my decision & educated me about animal welfare and meatless meals.. not that I really remember! I was lucky, with open minded parents & mum was happy to support me & cook separate meals for me (I’m pretty sure they thought it would be a phase but I never ate meat or gelatine again, one mishap in France aside where I had to spit pizza out after finding ham under the cheese!,after making that choice).

Admittedly as a vegetarian & real foodie I used to judge vegans/veganism & vegan food… In fact, I would actively avoid it for dairy options, assuming it wouldn’t be as tasty. However after being more open minded to trying & accepting that the egg & dairy trade really is as cruel as the meat trade, plus hearing from others in passing about how they were choosing to eat vegan meals regularly for health purposes, I started to think about it more & made the realisation that I wanted to try it for 1 month.

Once I put my mind to it, I found I started to go off even wanting foods with eggs or dairy in, i remember ordering a mozzarella salad and I couldn’t eat the mozzarella! I researched meals & ate a lot of vegan faux meat & junk food at first, it was the way I needed to do it. I found cheese was my only craving & so I watched The Game Changers twice in that month to help me educate myself & stay on track. I quickly realised I would always remain vegan & started to research alternative non food products such as makeup & toiletries too – over a few months I was fully vegan!

I really love being vegan, I still get excited now when I find a new product or a little independent place selling vegan options. I realised vegans are not all in your face, hardcore activists, which is the impression that I had.

After a few years I stopped eating the faux meat often & really experimented with cooking chickpeas, beans, tofu, lentils… all ingredients I had never ever eaten as a vegetarian and now love & use often.

I get such a kick when someone is open minded to trying a vegan meal because they have seen or tasted something I’ve cooked!

I will often make side dishes or food for family which is “accidentally” vegan and delicious (say a pasta salad!) – this helps break the stigma for them that vegans only eat bland vegetables & then, they have all started to enjoy & want me to continue vegan options for them! They are also very good with joining me in vegan cafe’s & restaurants – one big hit was The Greenhouse in Fleet with their sweet potato katsu curry!!

That’s my main motivation for my instagram page as-well as using it as my own recipe book. I really believe every vegan meal or item will help in the long run, non vegans can enjoy vegan meals too!! It really is super easy & gives me such peace to be vegan. For the first 6 months or so, when eating out I would say I was dairy free when ordering from the vegetarian section as I didn’t want to say I was a vegan in public…. I was worried about judgement and stereotypes but now I am so comfortable & aware of why I am that’s not an issue ~ although I do try not to drop it into irrelevant conversations as I don’t think that’s necessary. Quite often those around me (who aren’t vegan!) will bring it up before I do.

Food and products aside I’ve also changed my approach to seeing animals and travel around visiting sanctuaries instead of zoos or farms to get my animal fix. I can highly recommend The Retreat Animal Rescue in Kent, Hopefield in Brentwood & Hugletts Wood Animal Sanctuary!

If I were to offer advice to someone wanting to stop eating meat or become vegan I would advise them to educate themselves on why the meat trade/eggs & dairy are cruel & start to cut things out… although I went all in, I think it would be easier for most to transition one product at a time, or days of the week at a time, over a month or so, so it doesn’t feel too difficult- especially if going from meat eater to vegan. It really isn’t difficult- I went on holiday to Kefalonia last year and had a different, delicious, vegan meal out every evening!!

I really can’t recommend it enough- vegan food is genuinely amazing which just makes it all whole lot easier!