Hey Amelia, where are you from?
I'm originally from Bethesda, Maryland and though I don't look it, I'm half Brazilian. My dad is from Rio de Janeiro and so my family is lucky enough to spend time with his relatives there almost every summer. My family consists of me, my younger brother, Rapha, mom, dad, stepdad, and dog, Daisy. And basically family: my boyfriend, Ian. The four best friends:
What brought you to USC?
I came to California for the first time for college visits. I did a trip with my mom where we flew into San Francisco, rented a car and drove down the coast, stopping at a few schools along the way. It was an awesome trip, so much fun, and it only helped that our rental car was a red Mustang convertible. Only in California, huh. I applied to USC by the priority deadline and managed to get a scholarship and it was a done deal! I've loved every minute of it, and I LOVE being in LA, there's so much to do. I'm the kind of person that needs new activities and needs to explore new places all the time, and this is a great, diverse city for it.
What do you do for fun?
^^ LA is great! I've been to the beaches here, I've been to comedy shows (Groundlings is awesome), I've been to flea markets, to Rodeo Drive, but my favorite things are volleyball, hiking, and scuba diving. I'm lucky to have a roommate and a couple friends with cars to drive to trail heads (or Zipcar) and I'm luckier to be a volunteer diver at the California Science Center across the street :)
Now for the interesting stuff - what made you vegan?
I'm vegan for ethical reasons. To back up a step, I only went vegan in the summer of 2013, less than a year ago. How it happened: I was driving to Bethany Beach, DE to visit Ian and his family for the weekend, and a truck full of caged chickens passed me. I guess my subconscious had been considering vegetarianism for a while, because for the rest of that drive, I couldn't stop thinking about how awful and guilty I felt. I didn't make any changes that weekend because I don't think any vegan could survive at the beach without packing themselves 3 meals a day. I had the usual chicken strips and boardwalk fries, but I was thinking about it all weekend. I actually never even brought it up to Ian, so my going vegan was as much a shock to him as it was to everyone (sorry Ian).
I can't say I saw it coming, or that I knew I would someday go vegan, because I had no idea. I mean, up until probably junior year of high school, I didn't know what vegan meant, and up until getting to USC, I didn't know a single vegan person. So, I was never really exposed to it from the start. I had a couple vegetarian friends here and there, but none that I was particularly close to until USC. After watching one of my friends transform from an omnivore to gluten free to vegan, I had a very different perspective. I'd ask my vegan friends why they did it, and was it hard, and all the usual questions a vegan gets, but I didn't think I was truly considering it until the chicken truck.
It was nothing out of the ordinary for a drive to Delaware either, since Purdue Farms is actually based out of Maryland. And it's not like it was nothing I'd ever seen before on drives to Bethany with my friends. Why was this different?
I may not have realized it, but it's clear that moving to California and being exposed to veganism and an emphasis on organic groceries, and grass-fed/cage-free products had a huge impact on me. I never had the opportunity or the desire to get involved in anything particularly green at home because suburbia isn't the place for that. But out here, it's normal and it's popular. Also, being an environmental studies student and learning about the environmental impacts of being a meat eater had to have had an impact. But I can only say that I'm happy with my decision; knowing nothing I eat has harmed an animal is a great feeling. People ask me all the time how I can resist things like ice cream or cake because "they're just so good." But that's not the way I see it. Keeping in mind that a label that says "contains: milk" means that somewhere in the US, a cow was kept in a small pen, abused, left without medical attention, and simply used for it's milk until it can be profitably disposed of, it's never worth it. That's something that's hard to explain to someone who doesn't view the current animal product industry as flawed - but I would argue that anyone who doesn't see a flaw doesn't really know what's going on.
Will you ever be un-vegan?
To be honest, I don't think so. Scary to think that I've made such a huge life decision in college, but I can't ever see myself eating meat or dairy or eggs again. Knowing what I know now, I can't imagine taking part in an activity that harms so many animals. I don't disagree with drinking milk or eating eggs, I simply disagree with the practices used to obtain them. I just don't trust "cage-free" or other "ethical" labels enough to want those products.
What made you start this blog?
I wanted to start a blog the day I went vegan. Of course, since it's me, I didn't. I didn't know how, I was still embarrassed to be vegan, I didn't know if it was a phase. But I stuck with it, liked it, started getting excited about it, and still wanted to start a blog. At this moment, I could have almost a year of veganism documented! Oops. I never got around to it by myself, but with a little nudge from one of my class projects, it finally clicked that I should finally get around to starting a blog. I've collected numerous pictures and memories of the vegan places I've visited thus far and decided that the best way to share them all with the public would be to create my ideal blog. It all made sense: I've been looking for vegan restaurants this whole year with anyone who's willing to go with me, I've been collecting a couple of my own vegan cookbooks, I've started numerous Word documents full of blog recipes I've found online, and I'm excited to share it all with anyone who will listen. My roommates can verify that..
With renewed courage and excitement, I started this blog. I want it to be a resource for any other vegans at USC and eventually, in the greater LA area. As a new vegan, I find myself spending hours searching for vegan restaurants or vegan-friendly restaurants that I can eat at with my friends and I want to share that knowledge with others. I want it to be a valuable resource for any vegan at USC so that he or she does not have to spend the same amount of time searching for food around campus as I did at the beginning of this year. It's meant to be a leg-up for anyone new to veganism at USC. I hope it works!
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