It was because of me that they felt pain in an untimely untimely end. I’m so pleased I went vegan

Sylvie has a passion for living a plant-based lifestyle. She embarked on her journey towards veganism at the tender age of 15, after two years of dedicated vegetarianism.

Embracing the compassionate and sustainable aspects of veganism, Sylvie found joy and fulfillment in her dietary choices. Now, she enthusiastically shares her experience, encouraging teenagers everywhere to consider the benefits of a vegan lifestyle.

Tell us more about yourself, please

celebrating 6 years of being vegan today and it has always been down to my love of animals- best decision i ever made <3
Sylvie Cox

Hi my name is Sylvie and I am 21 years old.

I went vegan in February 2018 when I was 15 years old and before that I was a committed vegetarian since I was 13. I loved going vegan at such a young age and I would recommend it to any teenager.

I was and am the only non-meat eater in my family so this was not easy but I started cooking at 13 and realised that it’s great- I can cook exactly what I want!!

So I started cooking vegan! I have become such a foodie since then and I don’t plan a holiday or outing without checking the restaurant options and menus before! I also love recipe experimenting and veganising my childhood favourites. Especially all of the desserts that we were served in primary school- cornflake tart, marble cake and chocolate custard to name a few!

I was born and raised in the beautiful countryside on the border between Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. This however is farming country. My father built a small holding farm when I was very young and I had a truly idyllic childhood. I look back of this time with extremely fond memories and I am eternally grateful to have grown up in such a peaceful and enriching environment.

To be surrounded by animals throughout my early years is the reason I am now vegan and also the reason that I think I am a very empathetic person. I adore animals, especially ‘farm’ animals. I grew up with animals as friends- pigs, sheep, chickens, quail, ducks, geese, guinea pigs, rabbits, mice and even a Ferret. I named them all and they all had personalities!

Over time some of my animals would disappear. It confused me but I wasn’t stupid, I soon realised where they were going and why the meat freezers in our garage were filling up.

To be clear- I support self sufficient and sustainable living
Sylvie Cox

My family was a zero waste household before the phrase was so widely used. The dogs ate plate scraps, the pigs and guinea pigs ate veg scraps, my father cooked intuitively and nothing was wasted. We even spent as limited money as possible on food for the animals as we kept them very well fed with my father engaging in a mutually beneficial deal to take the cheese waste from a local dairy farm and the vegetable waste from a local greengrocer.

Most of the vegetables here were in perfectly consumable condition so my pigs were eating like queens and many of the fruit and veg here we picked through and ate for ourselves! Fruit is expensive!!

My family also evidently raised their own food and we lived off of the meat and sold some on for extra income. Again, a very sustainable lifestyle and I believe if you don’t want to go vegan or veggie this way of life is absolutely the next best thing as opposed to supporting the animal agriculture heartless giants.

I want to continue with this zero waste lifestyle, I want to keep the farm running but with crops, a vegetable garden and an animal sanctuary. At the end of the day I come from a family of animal lovers, I just want to express that love differently. I am a farmer’s daughter so I have nothing against farmers, only the industry.

Currently I am living in France for my year abroad during my third year of studies at The University of Exeter. Here in Nice, France I am veganising French food and have recently spent an entire day making chocolate twists.

However I will never be making puff pastry from scratch again!! I’m wayyy too impatient. My favourite things to cook in general are mash topped pies, casseroles, pasta bakes, Swedish and British classics and recently a lot of West African dishes. When eating out my dream menu includes vegan fish and chips, mac and cheese and fruit crumble with custard. I love comfort food and one cuisine I am hoping to try more of is soul food!

If you are just beginning to go meatless firstly- congratulations! It’s a big and wonderful step the second of which being commitment. Stick with it. It will be worth it, you are opening yourself up to a world of new and exciting foods and flavours and most importantly you will have a clear conscience.

That has been my favourite aspect of being vegan. I look at animals and feel their pain but I know that I am not contributing to it in any way and that makes me feel good. I am very stubborn about being vegan. I know that I am going to be vegan for life, nobody’s opinion or comments or eye rolls will change this and I think this is one of my most desirable personality traits.

Not many people have such strong core beliefs and morals. I don’t mean to sound self-righteous, it is just something I am proud of myself for. Being a vegan in secondary school definitely subjected me to lots of bullying but that was 2018 and I am hoping we have progressed a little since then. If you are a vegan teen though- I can empathise but you are going to be so glad that you went vegan as early as you have!

I wish I had gone vegan sooner but at 15 it was the perfect time for me as I really could hone my cooking skills and understand my moral compass. It has definitely shaped who I am now as a young adult and for the better of course!

My social media accounts are @vegan.sylvie on Instagram and my TikTok is @sylviecoxx Feel free to follow me and see some of the vegan food I cook and where I am eating out. Recently it has been a lot of vegan hot dogs!!