Hello everyone! Recently I had the awesome opportunity to interview Alex, also known as @VeganTweeter on Twitter. Alex runs an awesome vegan outlet filled with facts, humor, and yummy food. I was able to pick his brain about all things vegan! You can check out the interview below:
 |
| Alex |
Alex: To start out - my name is Alex - I'm an actor in New York City, and I tweet about veganism and animal rights as @VeganTweeter. I started the account way back in August of 2010, when I had only been vegan about a year or so. I was living in Pittsburgh while earning my BFA in Acting at the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University. I started @VeganTweeter to connect with other vegans (Southwestern PA is not exactly the first and foremost bastion of veganism!), but I've been surprised and happy to find that it's since become something much bigger than that! I now live in the vegan promised land that is New York City, and I couldn't be happier!
Alex: I made the wonderful decision to go vegan back in December of 2008, after 3 or 4 years of vegetarianism. My only regret is that I hadn't done it sooner. (Pardon the cliché!)
Maddy: What made you go vegan?
Alex: When I was in high school, my younger sister showed me the well-known PETA-produced video, "Meat Your Meat". I was literally eating meat at that moment. When I watched the horror unfold on the screen, I experienced the (now obvious) realization that I was undeniably complicit in their suffering. I credit my parents with raising me with a very strong belief in compassion toward animals, and I could therefore no longer justify my place as a cog in the torturous machine that is the animal agriculture industry. At that point, growing up in Southwestern Pennsylvania, I was the only vegetarian I knew; I don't believe I even KNEW the word "vegan". It was during my sophomore year in college after a close friend went vegan that I did my research and learned that milk/eggs and other animal products are simply different parts of the same mechanism from which I had vowed to remove myself. I made the decision to be a consistent conscientious objector and became vegan.
Maddy: Have you experienced any physical, spiritual, and or mental changes from being vegan?
Alex: My health is fantastic - I definitely feel the best I've ever felt. I get sick rarely, perhaps once or twice a year, and it's almost always gone very quickly. I've noticed that the migraines I used to experience when I was younger are no longer an issue, and I sleep better than before. As far as the spiritual and mental changes, here's what I notice. I'm constantly discovering new ways to extend the philosophies of non-violence and kindness that are the tenants of veganism to other parts of my life. Furthermore, I truly believe that you consume violence when you eat the flesh of animals. I don't mean this only in the 'spiritual' way, but literally: when animals are brutally slaughtered in a facility full of screaming, struggling animals fighting for their lives, and the air is thick with their blood and terror-produced adrenaline, those hormones are left in the meat and absorbed by those who consume it. I truly believe that being vegan is the best way to live for yourself, for animals, and for the planet.
Maddy: What are some of your favorite vegan companies? (food and product)
Alex: Wow, that's a tough one. Favorite vegan food companies: Well, I'm very interested in what the Beyond Meat and Hampton Creek Foods folks are doing as far as innovation with new production techniques, and making moves into replacing animal products for non-vegans as well as vegans. As far as other awesome vegan food companies, I love Field Roast, Upton's Naturals, Follow Your Heart, Chicago Vegan Foods, Tofurky, Vega, and I have to say, Gardein and Daiya are great examples of growing companies that are staying true to their vegan roots.
My favorite vegan "product" companies? I'm a big fan of Dr. Bronner's products, despite the fact that the bottle is covered in religious slogans that sound like they were transcribed from the rants of a street-corner preacher. I love Joshua Katcher, AKA the Discerning Brute's new brand - Brave Gentleman. Truly inspired design, while being ethically-produced with care for the environment. There's also a vegan-owned cologne/perfume shop in SoHo called Le Labo that I'm a big fan of. Go ahead - smell me - that'll be their Vetiver 46 or Santal 33.
Maddy: Is it hard eating vegan while living in New York?
Alex: You kidding? NYC is a vegan's paradise! We have anything you could ever imagine! I mean, the vegan donut shop, Dunwell Doughnuts, won BEST DONUT IN NYC. [Note: not Best VEGAN Donut. Just BEST DONUT IN NYC. PERIOD.] We've got a vegan food truck called Cinnamon Snail, that is so f'ing good, it's rated as one of the top ten RESTAURANTS in the United States on Yelp. Beyond Sushi is a new, all-vegetable, all-vegan sushi spot that's truly fantastic, but it's not even the only vegan sushi we've got - Soy & Sake is delicious too. We even have a vegan and raw fine dining restaurant - Pure Food & Wine - a seriously transformative experience if you doubt raw cuisine. Within 15 blocks of my apartment in the Upper West Side, I've got all-vegan restaurants from the top 2 NYC vegan restaurant 'chains', Cafe Blossom and Candle Cafe, along with the phenomenal Peacefood Cafe, and even a vegan fast food joint, Blossom Du Jour! And I'm not even going to count the all-vegan juice bars! Okay, so I hear that Portland's got a vegan stripclub...I say, pack a lunch when you go to the stripclub. (I'm kidding, I assume that stripclubs frown upon bagged lunches.) We do, however, have an all-vegan bar called Pine Box Rock Shop that serves some killer vegan empanadas until the wee hours. So suck it, Portland! (I'm kidding Portland, please invite me out to sample your vegan goodies...)
Maddy: Do you have advice for new vegans?
Alex: DO YOUR RESEARCH! Seriously, read some books, and get your understanding of proper nutrition down solid. Not just so you can know exactly what you should and shouldn't be putting in your body, but so you can defend intelligently against the barrage of "Where do you get your ____?" and "BUT! What about your ____", or even "If [insert life-threatening situation] happened, would you eat meat THEN?!?" If you've done your research, you'll always be better informed than those who question you; more importantly, you'll be able to turn it into an opportunity to educate rather than argue. My next bit of advice to new vegans is to TRY MORE NEW THINGS. If you take your old range of foods and simply cut out the ones that weren't vegan without replacing them with new ones, you're working from a very small array of choices, and you'll find yourself bored quickly. There are delicious foods that it seems only vegans know about - have you ever heard a non-vegan cooking with "nooch"? (AKA: cheesy, nutty, tasty nutritional yeast). Cashews and other nuts make INCREDIBLE cream sauces that will make you forget entirely about heavy cream. In fact, there are now so many vegan substitutes out there, that you can make all of your old favorites. Recreating an old favorite dish can seriously reduce any latent cravings for animal products. When I was very young, my late Grandpa Chip used to make a delicious concoction he called "Magooselum". It was a combo of peanut butter, honey, and butter, and was delicious spread on toast. Recently I decided to create a veganized version using organic peanut butter, Earth Balance, and a phenomenal vegan honey called "Bee-Free Honee". One taste of my vegan Magooselum instantly brought back memories of my Grandpa. Recreating veganized old standby's while simultaneously discovering new favorites is the key to thriving, not just surviving.
Maddy: What do you have to say to meat eaters?
Alex: STOP! MEAT IS MURDER! (Kidding: this is NOT what I'd say.) Something I recommend to all vegans is to always do your best to be the vegan you wish you had met before you were vegan yourself. If you're ranting at a meat eater, particularly while they're eating meat, you are more likely to reinforce their perceptions that vegans are crazy. Most of the time, when you berate someone, you're only making yourself feel like you're helping your cause. However, if you can bring logic and compassion (and maybe some humor) to your discussions with non-vegans, you can truly inspire change. Furthermore, be a walking example of a happy and healthy vegan - you'll be a billboard for a compassionate lifestyle.
For meat eaters, I'd like to ask them to simply research the consequences of their choices. I'd remind them that each time they spend money, they are effectively voting. If they choose animal products, by sending money to those companies, they cast a "vote" FOR suffering, cruelty, and the continued obfuscation of such by companies that treat sentient beings as products. Ignoring the issue or pretending that you're not a part of it simply doesn't work.
Maddy: Where can we find you?
Alex: Online? I'm here on Twitter as @VeganTweeter and on Instagram at @alex_nyc. I will be starting a blog at www.gimmevegan.com very soon, and I'm considering doing a YouTube channel as well. Finally, if you have a pressing or complex vegan-related question, I have a vegan-specific phone number that you can call - it's (3BE) VEG-AN98! Give me a call or shoot me a text!
In the non-digital world, you'll find me living my life all over New York City! If you see me, feel free to say HI!
- Thanks so much for visiting Hello Vegan! -
You can follow me on
Twitter: @hello_vegan
Instagram: @hello_vegan