When you know better you can do better. All you need is a little bit of knowledge. Being vegan is super easy

This is Malin, an animal rights activist from Sweden. After realising what is done to the animals in animal agricilture she decides to go vegan for the animals, but she couldnt bare knowing the truth without also trying to help the animals. This led her to activism.

Now she is doing activism online and doing street activism with Direct action everywhere, Peta, Anonymous for the voiceless and other groups. Her motto in life is that if you want to make the world a better place you must start with yourself.

Meatless Movement recently had a chat with her.

Tell us more about yourself, please

I dont want to be an animal abuser.
If you are not vegan you are an animal abuser

Malin

My name is Malin, I’m a animal rights activist from Sweden. I grew up in an small village in south of sweden but I currently live in Stockholm and I do street activism and online activism.  I live with my partner who is also vegan. He is into fitness and recently won a competition in mens physique. We live with our 2 adopted ex feral cats. I work as a software developer.

A plantbased diet is the most efficient way to reduce climate & environmental impact.

Malin

I became aware of the horrors of animal agriculture by seeing footage online or in tv documentaries when I was around 20 years old. Thats the first time I thought about where animal products come from and I decided I wanted to try to be a vegetarian ( I didn’t know vegans existed). I tried to eliminate one animal product at the time starting with pigs and dairy. I have a strong memory of seeing male chicks being macerated in the egg industry and I was chocked and disgusted with the lack of compassion for other living beings. If it was human babies or puppies being macerated no one would accept.

I told my boyfriend at the time (now ex) about my thoughts and it turned into a huge fight and he called me a psychopath for comparing human babies with baby chickens. But I knew that even though we are different species we are all the same in every way that matters and we all value our own lives.   When I was in my late 20s I found vegan pages on Instagram and being reminded of the horrors of animal agriculture every day helped me become 100% vegan.

If you want to be beautiful – start with your heart

Malin

Embarrasing story: When I was around 25 years old I wanted to try to go vegan but still didn’t understand what a vegan was so I still ate cows butter and eggs at home and other animal products every time I went to restaurants.

At the time I  didn’t eat properly, at home it was mostly toast with butter and definitely not enough calories. I felt tired and went to the doctors to take a bloodtest and they discovered I was low on b12. The doctor told me to eat more meat (wierd considering meat cause cancer etc) , and unfortunately I used this experience as an excuse infront of other people to why I couldn’t be vegan.

Luckily I managed to educate myself about what vegan means, about plantbased diets and about the existence of b12 suppelements, so now I have been vegan for 3 years and mostly plantbased for years before that and I am not low on b12 anymore. Im sad and embarrassed to have been a part of spreading the myth about that vegan diet doesn’t work, but I feel like its important to tell this story to help others.

To all animal eaters:
Your taste pleasure is not worth more than someone else’s life.
Be kind to animals and go vegan 🌱

Malin

I live in Stockholm and travel sometimes but finding vegan food has never been an issue. I usually check for vegan options at restaurants before we go, and in worst case the restaurant can usually make a pizza without cheese. It is annoying if my friends choose a restaurant with no/few vegan options though because these restaurants dont know how to make vegan food.

Also its difficult for me to have a good time when watching my friends eat the dead bodies/secretions of murder victims. I dont just see the “end product”, I see a life full of suffering and brutal death and I dont want to be reminded of it when I eat or try to have a good time. Its very disappointing to see otherwise compassionate people participate in animal abuse and the industrial massmurder of sentient beings.

I will NEVER stop speaking up for the animals and spreading info about the horrors of animal agriculture.

Malin

I feel great! My moral values are aligned with my actions. I believe the purpose of life is to help animals and the environment. Having purpose makes life worth living. No animals are intentionally harmed or killed because of me and my conscience is clear of guilt.

How might you encourage someone who hasn’t explored vegan options to give meatless dishes a try?

The future is plantbased 🌱✌️

I would tell them the truth. Its not about food, its about the suffering of the victims. I believe it is important to tell people why they shouldn’t eat animal products and tell them about how it causes suffering and death and destroys our environment and climate. Plantbased food is the solution to these problems. I dont believe people will change unless they know why they should change.

Stockholm has many good vegan restaurants, but my favourites are Chouchou (traditional Swedish food) and Full Soul Vegan.  Vegan restaurants always have the best vegan food comparing to non-vegan restaurants.

For homecooking I really recommend to start making different tofu and seitan recipies. You can make so much with these 2 food items and they are nutritious and delishious.

Empathy is free and it’s the best gift ✨️

Malin

I hear negative assumptions about vegans and veganism every day. None of them are true. People dont seem to know that Veganism = being against exploitation and cruelty to animals. I get annoyed but try to stay calm and reply to their uneducated statements with scientific facts. Some people listen but some people are just hell-bent on trying to poke hole in a philosophy that focuses on reducing unnecessary suffering and death. I think its because our existence remind them that they are cruel to animals and that hurts their ego (look up The meat paradox).

I try to see myself as a teacher and Im trying to accept that I will face the same stupid questions and assumptions for the rest of my life. Even if the person you talk to wont listen then perhaps someone hearing/reading the conversation will listen and understand that veganism is very logical and reasonable. People also dont seem to understand that most vegans decided to go vegan because we educated ourselves and realised that there is no excuse for animal abuse. Thats why its so easy for us to debunk every argument against veganism.

To someone who’s just beginning to go meatless, what is your advice?

Nothing is more extreme than the enslavement, exploitation, rape, abuse and murder of 92.2+ BILLION land animals per year

Malin

Veganise the meals you normally cook and go from there. There are vegan alternatives for everything nowadays! Even vegan steak, check out Juicy Marbles and Redefine Meat. Follow pages on social media that share vegan recipes and you will get endless inspiration and learn a lot. Tofu, tempeh and Seitan are amazing protein sources. Dont forget to take a b12 supplement, and algae omega3 is also good to supplement. Also follow pages what share information on plantbased nutrition such as Dr Matthew Nagra, Dr Alan Desmond and Simon Hill.  I also recommend to follow Dr Melanie Joy to understand the psychology of carnists.

Also, follow pages that show reality in animal agriculture and pages that educate you about the harm animal agriculture does to our planet, like Plant based treaty.  

My last advice is to always check for vegan logo or google if the products you buy are vegan and cruelty free (this goes for makeup, schampoo, clothing etc). Watch the documentary “The failed experiment” on youtube to learn more about animal testing.

Other good documentaries are Dominion 2018, Eating our way to extinction, Cowspiracy, Seaspiracy, The land of hope and glory, Earthlings, What the health and Gamechangers. Google and you will find them (on Netflix or Youtube),

A balanced wholefoods plantbased diet is healthy through all stages of life and has health benefits according to The Academy of Nutrition and dietetics.

Malin

I didn’t know many vegans before, but then I joined an animal rights activist group and now I know a lot of vegans and it is absolutely amazing! We have a shared life purpose and I am so inspired by them. We share knowledge and its beautiful to know so many people with kind hearts. Now I do animal rights activism irl and online and Im hoping to inspire others to start doing activism. The more people who speak up for the animals the sooner change will happen, so please use your voice and speak up!

If anyone reading this has questions about going vegan I will be very happy to help you or support your vegan transition in every way that I can. Remember: If you want to make the world a better place you must start with yourself.

Malin

If you want to make the world a better place you must start with yourself
🌱Vegan 🐣Activist 🦄 Dev-girl 🐱 Adoptive mum

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all images courtesy of Malin