I might be biased, but Tel Aviv is one of the best cities for vegans

Shany is a vegan food enthusiast and artificial intelligence researcher based in Israel. Alongside her husband and furry companion, Tubi, Shany enjoys cooking and filming delicious vegan meals.

Her vegan journey began 10 years ago when she wanted to improve her diet and health. After researching and watching a lecture by Gary Yourofsky, she made the switch to veganism overnight and never looked back.

Despite initial resistance from her parents, Shany’s commitment to a vegan lifestyle ultimately won them over, and they now enjoy vegan meals together. Shany believes that going vegan was one of the best decisions she ever made, leading to improved health and greater satisfaction with her food choices.

Meatless Movement recently had a chance to chat with her.

Tell us more about yourself, please

My name is Shany, which means Scarlet in Hebrew, I live in Israel, in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.

I’m 31 years old, married to Rafael, and a dog mom of Tubi. Besides cooking and filming vegan food, I’m also an artificial intelligence researcher.

I went vegan 10 years ago (in 2013). At that time I hadn’t felt at my best and wanted to change my diet. After researching and watching Gary Yourofsky’s lecture, I went vegan overnight and never looked back.

I do believe it was one of the best decisions I made in my life as I started feeling much better as time went by. I also dropped 10 kg in the first year without even trying that much. Apparently, I was more satisfied with eating vegan food, especially more carbs (that I was restricting before), so I ate less and had fewer cravings for sweets.

When I started my veganism journey, my parents really didn’t like it, they believed that eating vegan would make me weak and deficient in essential nutrients. They also thought that vegan food can’t be as good as non-vegan food.

But as time went by, they saw that it wasn’t the case and they started incorporating more and more vegan recipes into our meals. Today we sometimes eat together completely vegan meals that they cooked all by themselves. The fact that I was able to change their attitude toward veganism makes me very happy and proud.

How to Overcome Challenges of Finding Vegan/Vegetarian Food and Eating Out with Friends

Fortunately, Middle Eastern cuisine is based on vegetables and legumes, so you can easily find dishes like hummus, falafel, tahini, and salads almost anywhere. It was very convenient for me, especially at the beginning of my veganism journey. Nowadays it’s even more accessible, in most restaurants and pubs (especially in Tel Aviv) you can find at least one or more vegan options, like burgers, and pizzas.
But I do have some challenges, mostly when family or friends invite us for dinner. In most cases, the host will make sure that there is something for me to eat, but sometimes I will bring a dish with me and it’s totally ok.

The biggest challenge I face is when I travel abroad. As I mentioned, Israel is a very vegan-friendly country by nature due to its Middle Eastern cuisine, but also because many Israelis do keep Kosher, which means they do not mix dairy with meat, don’t eat bacon, etc. the food is also labeled accordingly so it’s easier to know whether something is vegan or not.

When I travel outside of Israel it becomes a little bit more challenging, but I learned to read labels more carefully, to look online for restaurants that serve vegan food, to ask the waiter to guide me on what can be made vegan or just to cook a meal if we stay in a place that has a kitchen.

How do you feel about being a vegan?

Definitely one of the best decisions I made in my life. The fact that I can eat all of this colorful and delicious food while no animal is getting hurt, is very satisfying.

My husband and I also have a tradition of making homemade vegan pizza every Saturday night. I might be biased, but I think that this pizza is the best I have had.

My favorite food to eat out is the vegan roast beef sandwich that is served at 416. This sandwich is such a crowd-pleaser. I know many non-vegans that love it so much that they will go especially to 416, although it’s a completely vegan restaurant, to eat that sandwich.

What are some common misunderstandings about being vegan?

The biggest misconception that I hear about is that there are not enough nutrients in vegan food i.e. you need meat/dairy otherwise you will get weak and sick. I usually try to educate by citing formal resources like the Ministry of Health, and well-known doctors that recommend a plant-based diet, and explain how to do that properly.

What advice would you give to someone who is transitioning to a meatless diet?

To start slowly, find vegan/meatless replacements and easy recipes that you may like and start experimenting. For example, if you didn’t like soy milk, try oat milk and see if you like it better. Make a list of all the dishes that you love and are vegan/meatless by nature, and start incorporating them more into your meal routine. If you know someone who is vegan or vegetarian, ask for their advice and recipes. And don’t forget to take a B12 supplement 😉