Tags
angry, animal rights, breaking the mold, Charleston Veggies & Vegans, hippie, judging, preachy, punk rock, stereotype, thin, vegan
Huh. You look normal.
This is what a journalist told me a couple of years ago when I met with her to do an interview about the group “Charleston Veggies & Vegans.”
She had apparently been expecting one of the many vegan stereotypes that are out there to show up.
You know what I mean…
- The granola-hippie-with-dreads-and-no-shoes vegan
- The punk-rock-pierced-tattooed-type vegan
- The angry-animal-rights-activist vegan
- The thin-pale-weak-only-eats-celery vegan
- The preachy-judging-nose-in-everyone’s-lunch vegan
I have to admit before I learned more about the vegan lifestyle (and ultimately decided to live it!), I kind of thought all vegans were like the one in my college cafeteria: wild hair, piercings, tattoos, edgy outfits, message buttons.
But, just like all stereotypes – positive or negative – even though there might be a tiny kernel of truth in there somewhere, they just don’t apply to everyone in a group.
I know many vegans here in Charleston and around the country, and they’re really a very diverse group of people. And they’re vegan for a diverse group of reasons.
The stereotypes that are out there are being broken every day – by people like you. And me. And people in your life, like your neighbor or colleague, who you might not even know are vegan.
The point is you can be who you are right now and be vegan too.
You don’t have to make any big changes to your appearance or your demeanor or your friends.
You just have to be willing to make a huge difference in the world, be it for the animals, our environment, or your own health.
And that difference is easier and more fun to make than you might think.
To breaking the mold!
Sarah
P.S. Let me know in the comments below if you have met a vegan who has broken a stereotype for you!
PlantBasedDietAdventures said:
My 2 dear friends Jack & Sandy read The China Study. When he started reading it he said ‘there’s no way I’m giving up my meat hun…’ Then he couldn’t put it down, being a forensic chemist the book made a lot of sense to him.
Almost 4 yrs later neither of them have eaten an animal product since. Recently their doctor personally called them and asked if he could use them as an example, highlighted case, of what taking animal products out of your diet does to your insides, because their bodies are off the charts clean & in amazing shape. Not bad for someone in their 40’s and coming from having tests done just before going animal product free and they had the typical problems people entering their 40s have…cholesterol, blood pressure etc
Now they’re both in amazing shape inside & out, they’re both incredible runners now too.
I read The China Study last December, thanks to them, and things haven’t been the same since lol 🙂
sarahswingle said:
That’s fantastic! Thanks for sharing that story. It’s a great example of breaking the mold and of how healthy a plant based diet can be!
PlantBasedDietAdventures said:
It’s true! And it’s so fun treating friends, who are not vegan or plant based, to a meal that was so amazing they don’t think about ‘wait, where’s my meat?..’
Stacy said:
Oh no! You went to bama! Geaux Tigers! Heehee!
sarahswingle said:
Yep! You can be vegan AND an SEC football fan! 23 days ’til kickoff!
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Adam said:
Hi Sarah, As a co-founder of http://CrunchyHippie.com I have to say I love the title of this blog post 🙂
CrunchyHippie.com is a green social network and after poking around your blog, I think you would really appreciate our community.
Live, love and lead by example 🙂
Adam
sarahswingle said:
Hi Adam!
Thanks for checking out What I Vegan and for introducing me to your community. I’m going to check it out!
Sarah
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