That being said, I will and do use my voice and I refuse to be a quiet vegan. My boyfriend Craig is a big meat eater but I will not cook it for him, I inform him of the consequences of his actions, and he is very aware of the reasons for my lifestyle choice. I actively oppose companies that use animal testing or animal products by not buying their products, I blog and post videos on my myspace page and share the knowledge I gain from books.

I do have to say that many simply have no idea what a vegan eats. I made chile for Craig and he had no idea it was vegan until I told him. He ate 2 bowls of it and the next day ate the leftovers. He ate my tempeh bacon and couldn’t tell the difference. People think we eat salad all day and that’s why I find cooking vegan meals for non-vegans is a powerful way to show them that we are not deprived. They can experience it instead of just hearing you rant on about it, and then it seems real and doable. Even if they don’t adopt a 100% vegan lifestyle, every vegan meal they eat saves lives. My friends and roommates are perfectly ok with the fact that i will never cook with animal products because they know whatever I make will be delicious. One of my roommates even became vegetarian once he saw how many delicious things you can cook and my other roommate is making the transition from vegetarian to vegan and I’ve never preached at them! It works. Cook, people, cook!

Secondly, educating our children, I believe, can result in a generational gestalt shift if done properly. Imagine it, a generation of children who ask “Why did this animal have to die?”

~ Recent blog post: "They exist for our use" and so forth…. at http://www.not-quiteright.net/tvg ~