El has always had a natural inclination towards plant-based foods. For years, El would choose the vegetarian or cheese option over meat as it never quite appealed to them. However, it wasn’t until a year ago that El made the switch to a strictly vegan diet, and it has since become a lifestyle change.
In El’s opinion, the quality and accessibility of vegan food have greatly improved, making it an easy and cruelty-free choice. Choosing to eat animals and contribute to their suffering and torture when there are perfectly good alternatives available just doesn’t make sense to El.
Meatless Movement recently had a chance to chat with her.
El told us that, her main passion, aside from food, is helping small businesses. Times are rough for everyone at the moment, and small businesses are taking a huge hit. We are financially stable enough to not need to take any freebies from any small businesses, and that’s part of why we love what we do. I love food photography, plating beautiful food, and creating food that makes you say “that can’t be vegan, surely?”.
Please tell us more about yourself
Just because I’m vegan doesn’t mean I have to sacrifice the taste of things I had pre-veganism
El James
My name is El and I live in the North West of England. I grew up in a poverty stricken town to a single parent and veganism wasn’t something that was ever discussed, let alone practised. I love to innovate with food and mix up different fusions; and I love to push the boat out and create ideas that haven’t necessarily been discussed before.
I don’t like following the crowd and much prefer to do things my own way! I have an undergraduate degree in Forensic Science and a Masters Degree in Law. I am very politically driven and I always advocate for people who are unable to advocate for themselves.
I have always naturally veered away from meat products and mostly would choose the cheese or veggie option. The idea of eating meat never really appealed to me and for years I would switch between veganism and vegetarianism, more so vegetarianism.
It was only approximately a year ago that I completely cut out all animal products and switched my diet to a strictly vegan diet. In all my years of changing my diet, this is the only switch that has ever become a lifestyle change.
I think that vegan food is now so incredibly easy to find, and of such an amazing quality that to eat animals just isn’t needed. I can eat the way I’ve always eaten just without the cruelty to animals. To actively choose to eat animals and contribute to a lifetime of suffering and torture when there is a perfectly good alternative available just baffles me.
Climate change is real
berrygoodberrynice
The world is dying and animals are being slaughtered in thee billions to feed an aging, increasingly medically-complex population. We have the power to stand up and make a difference and I’m a strong believer in us being stronger together than we are apart. If one person stops eating meat – great but is it going to make a huge difference? PROBABLY not but if a thousand people all cut down their meat intake for just one day a week, that would have a huge impact! But then you get people saying things like “oh I hate vegan food” to which I usually reply with “do you hate fruit? Vegetables? McDonald’s fries? Bread? Rice? Pasta? Tomatoes? Garlic? Onions? That’s quite the food group to hate!” I don’t think people realise how many naturally vegan foods are already in their diets.
Going vegan has made life more adventurous
El James
In all honesty, being vegan makes life more adventurous; I can’t rely on convenience anymore. Whilst it’s becoming more accessible, you can’t guarantee that every supermarket you visit will have a vegan option. I tend to find that Companies cater to vegetarians as the gold star standard and only really think about vegans as a last resort; everything vegans eat is vegetarian yet barely any vegetarian food is vegan.
Discovering new things, like no egg dippy yolks, vegan omelette, vegan shrimp, and vegan steaks to name but a few, has made life more interesting. I love being at the forefront of new releases, and I love working with small businesses.
What difficulties can arise when searching for vegan/vegetarian options or dining out with friends who have different dietary preferences?
I much prefer to eat in an establishment that serves exclusively vegan food, or at a push, vegetarian/vegan food. I find that a lot of waiting staff (and even Chefs on occasion!) don’t quite understand the difference between vegan and vegetarian – and in actual fact, quite a lot of people don’t understand the differences between vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free! There’s definitely a knowledge gap in the food industry, despite all of the recent allergy laws that have been introduced.
I find that eating in an establishment with friends that are eating animal carcasses makes my stomach turn. I hate this idea that “vegans are preachy” – if we are “preachy” it’s because there is something to preach about. If you have an issue with the things I talk about because they make you uncomfortable, maybe you should consider why you feel uncomfortable – I refuse to allow anyone to make me feel
guilty for their discomfort. Animals are being tortured and killed on a daily basis so people can keep eating them, yet they wouldn’t eat a cat or dog; perception is definitely key.
What are your thoughts or emotions regarding following a vegan lifestyle?
As vegans, we get a lot of empathic burnout – it’s really hard to see some of the animal abuse videos that are posted by accounts on Instagram who are trying to raise awareness of what these animals go through, but it’s like a gut punch every time, I hate seeing animals in pain, especially when it could so easily be prevented. I think a better term for this is probably compassion fatigue – we get so tired because we are constantly trying to help as many animals as we can, whilst educating people about veganism.
There’s such a skewed perception of the word ‘vegan’ and it’s unsurprising given the notoriety of that vegan teacher. I’ve seen some restaurants refuse to use theterm ‘vegan’ because it puts patrons off, and instead refer to the food as ‘clean eating’ or ‘plant powered’. I think it’s sad.
There’s also another thing I want to mention which is probably my biggest pet peeve with veganism. There’s so much misinformation and confusion about ‘plant-based’ v ‘vegan’ and to demonstrate my point; Burger King introduced the new Vegan Bacun Royale which is fully vegan and registered with the Vegan Society. They’ve also introduced the Plant-Based Whopper with Bacun – it’s plant based because it’s cooked on the same grill/broiler as the meat products. Now this is fine, we know where we stand and we know that Plant-Based at Burger King is NOT vegan.
However, you go into Asda, or Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons, and even Lidl and you’ll find the vegan meals listed as Plant Based. Already we have two different definitions of the term plant-based.
You go to Subway and they refer to their vegan options as ‘plant-based’ – KFC refer to their one vegan option as vegan so that doesn’t matter too much. McDonalds refer to their vegan burger as a ‘McPlant’ but market it as a vegan burger. It all gets really confusing and to further demonstrate just how insidious it is, I found a tofu lasagne in Lidl last week and it was marketed as ‘plant-based’ and because of how used to buying things listed as ‘plant-based’ I am, I picked it up and immediately put it in the trolley. I found a tofu pesto lasagne as well and went to put that in the trolley but for some reason, I double-checked it and they both contained milk!
So Lidl market ‘plant-based’ for both vegan and vegetarian food! Everything that vegans eat is suitable for vegetarians, yet most of the vegetarian food contains dairy products. If you are truly cutting meat out of your diet to help save animals and you think that is enough, you also need to look at the dairy industry which is just as barbaric and torturous.
What approach would you use to encourage someone who is not yet following a vegan or vegetarian diet to give meatless food a try?
I think that convincing people to try vegan/vegetarian food is incredibly difficult. I advocate strongly that this is a lifestyle that takes time and commitment; you should start by looking at your current diet and replace one or two things and adapt the diet slowly. It’s far more sustainable to do it this way than it is to immediately change to a vegan/veggie lifestyle overnight.
I have found that people can be very reluctant to try vegan and veggie food because they “don’t know what is in it” – as opposed to the hormones, chemicals, and carcinogens in meat? It’s a very narrowminded view to take. When I have managed to convince people to try meatless food, they’ve loved it – it just goes to show that the stigma is so deeply rooted that people are unwilling to deviate away from eating animal carcasses.
Food, it’s what we love
BERRYGOODBERRYNICE
One of my favourite things to make is my butter chicken curry. It is creamy, silky smooth, and so incredibly easy to make! I love cooking and especially love making things that are out of the ordinary – vegan omelette, vegan poached eggs, and ramen are some of my favourite things to make!
One of my favourite restaurants is Church: Temple of Fun in Sheffield. It is a whole experience; from exquisite food through to a gaming area, photobooths, and aesthetics that match the season you are in. I’d highly recommend everyone takes a trip to Church!
What are some false beliefs people have about vegans or vegetarians? How do you clarify or provide education on the matter?
It can be very difficult to educate people about veganism without them thinking you’re preaching – and I know I’ve mentioned this a few times already but that is because people are so full of wilful ignorance that they refuse to believe, or acknowledge, the disgusting torturous nature of the cattle and dairy industries. If they enjoy what they are eating, they’re fine to turn a blind eye to what is happening behind closed doors.
You only have to watch Hogwood to see exactly the kind of practices that go on, and it’s stomach churning, it’s barbaric, and it’s a practice that needs to be stamped out. People are more concerned about “farmers losing their jobs” than they are about the precious animals that are murdered, tortured and worse daily.
If someone walked into a primary school and put a child into shackles and tortured them to death, would that be acceptable? Absolutely not – there would be uproar yet people are willing to accept that this happens to the animals that they consume needlessly? It’s bizarre and I don’t understand why so many people still choose to consume animals.
We live in a society where people will get offended or upset by something on behalf of someone who should be offended or upset, and thereby they cause this uproar of hysteria for something that doesn’t even affect them. This society tells us to be quiet, to sit in the corner and not cause a fuss but the tide is turning and more people are realising what is happening behind the scenes.
As vegans, we are stigmatised and that’s been hard to deal with. Having been politically driven, and a campaigner earlier in life, I was used to people seeing me a young person who didn’t know what they were talking about or referring to me as an ‘hysterical woman’ – moving away from that environment for a few years really helped. I don’t think I knew back then that I had a choice to accept the way these people made me feel and that’s the difference between then and now; I can now choose to accept people stigmatising me, or I can choose to let it affect me. Some days, I don’t have a choice in the matter and we have a sad brain day, but most days, we move forward knowing we are doing good.
What advice would you give to someone who is new to adopting a meatless diet?
You are not going to nail being vegan overnight and you are no less vegan for making mistakes. Accidentally eating something that contains animal product is not the same as intentionally doing so, don’t beat yourself up about it. I’ve slipped up in the past and so has everyone else.
Don’t dive straight into thinking that every meal must revolve around crushed dates, nuts, tofu, flax seed eggs, etc. It doesn’t have to be complicated and we have evolved into an economy where vegan meat alternatives are so freely available that all you need to do is look at your current diet and adapt it to suit a vegan diet.
For example, switch out milk for Alpro’s Not Milk, switch out your butter for Flora’s Plant Butter, switch your mince for a supermarket vegan alternative, switch out your brioche rolls for vegan version, switch out your fried chicken for VFC chicken. Swap sausages and bacon for This sausages and Bacon. It’s honestly not hard and once you’ve figured out which replacements you enjoy, stick to it. The hardest part is making the decision to commit to a vegan diet.
Inform your GP that you’ve commenced a vegan diet so they can monitor your bloods throughout the year and ensure you don’t become malnourished but ignore any reservations that any medics have about you leading a vegan lifestyle; oftentimes this is shrouded in ignorance and stigmatisation. Don’t ignore medical advice, not in my opinion, but be aware that you’ll face some resistance when it comes to medics (not always, but sometimes)
There is an amazing vegan community out there and most of us are non-judgemental, welcoming people. There are some people who are vegan solely for the clout and the followers, who don’t care about the lifestyle but for the most part, we are super approachable people who are more than happy to help you if you get stuck!
El “James” 🌱
Digital creator
Vegan 🌱
Neurospicy 🌶️
PR/Collabs/Invites: DM or Email 📧
all images courtesy of El “James” 🌱