Being Vegan, Vegan Being: Keyang Yanki – Always Speak Your Truth
What lead you to veganism? How long ago?
I’d always been sensitive to conflict and violence growing up but never put deep thought into how the food on my table had come into being. The first time I’d ever witnessed a slaughter was when I was twelve-is. Perhaps I hadn’t matured enough to make the connection then because the only animal I stopped consuming after that was the one, I’d witnessed suffer before my eyes.
I fully went vegan on June 19, 2018. It was a chain of events that lead to it. My family dog had given birth to puppies a few months prior and I ended up taking care of them because no one else wanted them. The mixed-breed wasn’t desired where I live and I was suggested to abandon them into the streets. This is somewhat the norm where I live. I do not blame them. Societal conditioning. I spent the next few months moving them from one place to another because we did not have space for more dogs, getting into heated discussions with family and friends for them because I was exhausting myself mentally and physically, running back to their temporary space to feed them twice a day, playing with them, staying up late at night googling ‘what to do if puppy eats soap’ and soon enough my explore on Instagram was filled with dog-related posts. That leads to more animal-related news and eventually, posts of animal cruelty. That did it for me. Continue here.
Being Vegan, Vegan Being: Robert (Bobby) Sud – I Base Every Choice and Action on One Question; “Is it kind?”
Is it every vegan’s duty to become an activist?
We live in a world that promotes destruction as a way of life. Where children are taught and raised to ruin, not only themselves and their health but also the well-being of everything around them. Compassion is a wonderful thing, but things will never change if we choose not to act on our compassion. So I would ask everyone to do more than care – take action. I want others to recognize how important vegan activists are. More than 99% of the entire human population disagrees with them, that is what they are up against. They are faced with the task of bringing awareness and changing the hearts and minds of +99% of the planet. No other social movement has faced greater odds. Still, all over the world, members of groups like LA Animal Save come face to face with the suffering of beautiful, innocent, and sentient animals. They put themselves and their emotional well-being second so they can be strong enough to put the suffering of animals first. I’m reminded every week just how incredible these activists all are and what a privilege it is to count myself among them. I am a member of LA Animal Save, a chapter of the save movement. Every week we hold vigils at slaughterhouses in LA where we bear witness and shine a light, not on ourselves, but on all the beautiful and innocent lives we failed to save. For the 50-60 billion lives lost every year. That is who our light is for. Continue here.
Vegan Artists You Need to Know: Chef Ito of Au Lac – The Silent Chef & Photographer
Being Vegan, Vegan Being: Melissa Raimondi – Lissa’s Raw Food Romance
Why is being Vegan important to you?
For the animals, the planet and my health. I feel it’s the number one thing we can do to help the planet. We can recycle all we want, take quick showers, turn off the lights, ride a bike to work, etc. and all of that is GOOD – but nothing even comes close to the power that your diet has on the earth. I feel that I have so much power in choosing where I put my money and what I believe in. It’s important to me to put my ethics into action, and not just say I love animals, but to actually care for them, and help to protect them by being a good example of a healthy vegan. Continue here.
Being Vegan, Vegan Being: Fiona Oakes – 47 Years Vegan and Guinness World Record Endurance Runner.
What advice can you give to new vegan runners?
Join Vegan Runners – the Club I co-founded 15 years ago. When you put on the Green and Black vest it’s the biggest statement you can make for the animals and you feel you are a real like walking – or running – advert for all you believe in. For me, it’s what gives me the edge in races as I so desperately want to be the best I can in order to encourage others to take heed and follows suit! Other advice would be the same as I would give to anyone new to running. Take it sensibly, safely and steadily and remember the key to achievement is consistency. No good going out and hitting the sessions too hard and finding you are constantly getting injured. Building up gradually in both mileage and pace is the key to achieving the results and being able to sustain your performance over many years. After all, the results you achieve on the day of any race are just a testament to the amount, and level, of training your body can maintain on a regular basis. Continue here.
Vegan Parents Spotlight: Ashley Makridakis – Never Stop Being a Role Model for Your Kids!
Do you believe we should show children the process of how animals are turned into products?
I think that the way a parent effectively instills vegan morals in their children depends entirely on the child. For some children, showing them graphic factory farm footage will make them never want to eat animals, for some it may desensitize them into simply not caring and for others I think it can actually be very traumatizing and manifest into resentment towards the parent. I personally don’t think showing children footage of how animals are slaughtered is necessary. The only thing I ever did show one of my kids was some dairy farm footage to my oldest daughter (she asked to see it) of a baby calf being ripped away from its mother and how awful it was because she wasn’t understanding why dairy was cruel since it’s not killing the cow. I am very open with my kids about the process of animal agriculture and we talk a lot about why it’s not ok. We do things like walk down the meat aisle of the grocery store and say a little prayer for all the dead animals in packages, volunteer at sanctuary farms, remain active in our vegan community and attend as many events as we can. I’ve also brought my oldest along to a dairy protest once and I was so proud of her take on it! Continue here.
10 Vegan Athletes Getting Pumped on Plant
Vegan Artist You Need to Know: Dina Appel – Saving Animals One Painting at a Time!
ina was raised in a little California beach town. Her early days growing up near the water had a big influence on her art…she loves to paint sea life and the ocean. The animal kingdom in all its splendor is her true love. Dina started her art career young; she sold her first commercial illustration at 15! She went on to receive a BFA in Drawing and Painting at CSULB and a Master’s in Art Therapy at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Dina is a master of the watercolor medium, having taught watercolor painting at the college level, but her real love is Acrylic. Using collaged papers (often symbolic and meaningful vintage papers and ephemera) she creates a textured first layer, upon which she builds up successive layers of bright color and texture. Dina’s passion is painting animals of all types, including wildlife, farm, and domestic animals, insects, and marine life. She is an outspoken advocate for animal rights and conservation.
Being Vegan, Vegan Being: Emma Hurst – I Am dedicating My Life to End Animal Suffering
What lead you to veganism?
I’ve been vegan for 19 years. I went vegetarian when I was young once I made the connection between a hen purring from happiness and my cat purring in a similar way while hugging him. I thought, “If I can’t eat my cat, I can’t eat this hen.” Years later I read online about the horrors in the dairy and egg industry and went vegan overnight educating myself on everything I needed to know as I knew then I wanted to dedicate my life to ending animal suffering from the hands of humans. Read more here.
Being Vegan, Vegan Being: Ana and Brian – Those Annoying Vegans
Those Annoying Vegans was born in April of 2020. One of the most common reasons we’d hear from people as to why they wouldn’t want to go vegan was that they didn’t know what to eat, or they were under the impressions that if you’re vegan, “you can’t eat anything”—so we decided to do something about that. Our channel started out as a recipe channel, and then it evolved to include field trips to vegan festivals, sanctuaries, trying vegan food around town, debunking bogus animal agriculture industry claims, responding to non-vegan YouTubers, comedic sketches, and now we use it primarily for vlogging. The more we’ve learned, the more we want to share! Our Instagram is probably our second largest platform. There, we share just about everything we do, including pictures of delicious food, facts regarding health, the environment, and animal ethics, recent news, animals being awesome, and our recent Vegan Nugget videos, which are quick, one-minute segments where we cover a particular topic that interests us. Learn more about these amazing activists here.
Honorable Mention
Vegan Athletes: Korin Sutton – Helping Others Live Their Best Lives
What lead you to veganism? How long ago?
l became vegan was about 6 years ago. And I was in school at the time. I was in class and I was able to listen to Gary Yourofsky which is an animal activist. When I heard his speech I felt that all the medals that I earned in the military didn’t serve any justice in what my heart was desiring. I realize there was a silent war that was going on with innocent animals. For once in my life, I didn’t see animals as food anymore. I saw them as living beings that can love, nurture, communicate, can feel pain, that can fear. That is when I decided to leave the military and actually help people without force but with love and compassion. I realize that helping other people’s lives through health and nutrition can be one of the most rewarding things to do. When I have people to this day tell me that I have personally changed their lives for the better. That speaks louder than any medal or ribbon that was put on my chest. Read more here.
Inspirational Animal Rights Activists: Rob Lopez – I Always Try to Plant the Seed of Veganism.
Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Rob. I was born in Michoacán, Mexico. I currently live in Richmond, CA. I love creating music, art, photography, and graphic designing. I’ve lived a crazy, but happy, life. I made it out of a state of mind I use to have. Growing up I witnessed a lot of domestic and gun violence. My father brutally abused my mother until he was deported and when I was 20, my childhood friend was shot to death and died in my arms as I tried to save him. Because I have suffered these traumas, I am now an activist and work every day to end violence and oppression. If you have trauma and you need help, therapy is a great source of guidance. There are a lot of resources out there like BetterHelp. Click here to check them out.
Leave a Reply