Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

Just did this survey for Ashleigh Danielle; if you're a vegan, feel free to send her a copy as well.

1. What is your definition of vegan?

A vegan is a person who doesn't consume animals or animal byproducts.

2. What impacted you to become vegan? Was it an easy transition?

I became vegan for environmental and health reasons. It was a very easy transition. I think people have trouble with the transition because they just try and cut the meat and dairy and egg out of their diet, instead of just trying to build a complete new diet from scratch using different ingredients. I chose an additive path rather than a subtractive path.

3. How long have you been vegan, at what age did you start?

I have been eating a vegan diet for about two years.

4. Were you Vegetarian before? If so, how long?

The only contact I had with vegetarians was my maternal grandfather. I grew up on a beef, goat, and dairy farm and have eaten meat, cheese, and so on for most of my life. I have at times eaten largely vegan diets in the past due to circumstances (living across the road from a vegan supermarket in Philadelphia for example), but it was never a conscious or complete choice until more recently.

5. Do you feel you get your daily nutrition requirements?

Easily. I eat a complete diet — as I said, it's not as if I just "cut out meat".

6. What type of foods do you eat?

Everything; I eat a wide range of food. Other than the obvious, there's not much that I can't enjoy.

7. Do you cook your own food?

Yes, but I always have.

8. Is animal rights/liberation a big deal to you?

Personally, yes, but in terms of activism, I'm more concerned with larger functional environmental issues than ethical fine details. We can debate endlessly what our moral duties are in terms of treating animals, but the cause-and-effect issues of things like global warming, pollution, microbial extinctions, and so on, are much more clear and less open to personal interpretation.

That said, I think it's clear that whether you attribute this to God or luck of the draw, we humans are the stewards of the planet and its inhabitants. I believe that we are dishonoring those duties by the way we treat animals and the planet in general, and in more grounded terms, I believe we are acting suicidally — in a way that will eventually leave us with a planet that can no longer sustain us.

9. What do your family/friends think of your choices?

They support them but very few personally take the same stance, although many have taken a "first step" in the same general direction. Personally I find running easier than walking, but I understand that most people prefer to learn to walk before learning to run. However, my friends are all extremely supportive and have gone out of their way to accommodate me when they've had to and I should say here how much I appreciate that and thank them for it.

10. How many other vegans do you know personally?

Less than five that I see on any sort of regular basis, and I don't think I have any vegan friends that are as "absolute" about it as I am.

11. Do you find anything negative about being a vegan?

Sometimes if you're at a restaurant it can be hard to find something to order. It's really amazing how many places put cheese or butter in recipes that really don't need it... unless of course they're not very well prepared and they're looking for a cheap way to punch up the flavor (but really, that's just a MSG-style crutch).

12. Do you feel that is a healthier choice?

I think that's fairly obvious — so yes, of course!

13. Do you drink and/or do drugs?

Yes, but I drink much less than I did in the past.

14. Rumor has it kissing a vegan is better than kissing a meat eater, True or False?

I can't see why that would be, except in some silly "hippies are more loving" way?

15. Are your shoes made of leather?

I hope not, but I didn't actually buy them so I don't know!

16. Are you pleased with your commitment to veganism? Or do you feel like therere things you could still be doing better?

I don't know if "pleased with myself" is the right way of putting it. I know it's the right decision. But I'm not more "pleased" with my veganism than I am pleased with the fact that I don't throw garbage out my car window... It's the right way to live, nothing more, nothing less.

In terms of doing better, I don't think I could be any more "hardcore" or anything. Personally I don't think it's a sliding scale — you're either eating a vegan diet or you're not. And I'm eating a vegan diet. There are certainly other things in the same vein that I could improve upon (such as my cars!), but my diet is quite good.

17. How do you feel about fast food chains? Do you ever eat at any?

On my own I don't eat fast food or order food or go out to eat, other than the occasional sushi (yes, I can make it myself as well, I know). I go out with friends regularly enough though, and when I do I order vegan items. I don't have a problem with the restaurants — they're responding to market demands. By ordering vegan items, their menu slowly becomes more responsible.

18. Do people ever get offended and/or defensive about your veganism?

Sure, but that's their problem, not mine. When I was in school, occasionally people got offended by my high grades. Again: their problem for having bad grades, not my problem for having high grades. I can't think of any reasonable person having a problem with someone else eating a vegan diet — it's about the most harmless thing a person can do!

19. Do you take a multi-vitamin?

Not regularly, but yes, as well as a number of enriched products and things like nutritional yeasts. I also eat dulse and sea vegetables and other sources of vitamins and nutrients. I have a more healthy and more "complete" diet than the average meat eater.

20. Do you feel that meat-eaters are obnoxious towards veganism?

Yes, but when you step back and look at how they treat themselves, I think it's pretty clear that they're not thinking rationally about either their own survival and health or the planet's — so really, I don't take their ignorance that seriously, and just do my best to give them resources to inform themselves so maybe they eventually realize their errors. Given that it took me 28 years to figure it out, I don't see how I can fault anyone else for being equally lethargic in their reasoning.