Page 9 - Black Velvet Magazine Issue 107

BV107 pg09 Shari's Vegan Anniversary.qxp_BV107 pg 29/11/2022 17:33 Page 1

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Animals Are My Friends...

s an only child growing up, my dog was my best friend. I had
Aan instant love for animals and remember finding an injured
bird on the road outside my house and bringing it into the back garden
to try and nurse it back to life. At that young age, I had no clue what to
really do, and neither did my parents. Sadly, the bird passed away, but
that memory stays with me to this day. I wanted to help that animal,
and to save his/her life.
It wasn’t until I was 18 that I became vegetarian. Before then, I
thought I could love animals and eat them too. That said, you don’t
think about it, do you? When you’re growing up, you’re given meals to
eat by your parents and don’t think about where the products actually
come from. I didn’t realise that what was on my plate was a dead an-
imal – an animal that didn’t want to die, and deserved to live his or her
life. I never put 2 and 2 together.
It was only when I was 18 and we were having our windows dou-
ble glazed, my dog was getting old – he was about 18… One of the
guys who was doing the double glazing spoke to me and asked me if
I ate meat. I was confused by what he meant. I’d never been asked
that before. Shortly after that, a light bulb went off. My dog sadly
passed away of old age and I decided to go vegetarian in memory of
him. new to me. I had given up tea and coffee and drank energy drinks in-
33 years later, I still haven’t eaten any meat – and never will again. stead. Years later, I gave up energy drinks and started drinking coffee
again. Now, there are so many dairy-free milks that taste great in cof-
was into athletics as a mid-teen. I started running at my local fee, we don’t have to miss out.
Iathletics club three times a week. I became friends with a girl in In my early vegan years, you had to really seek out vegan prod-
the next town. She was vegetarian and loved Morrissey and The ucts. I discovered the first ever online UK vegan store – http://www.ve-
Smiths. We became so friendly that I went to hang out with her at her ganstore.co.uk – now and again I’d place an order and try new vegan
house one afternoon. I was vegetarian at that point and she must’ve items that I hadn’t tried before. I discovered a vegan store in the USA,
played me ‘Meat Is Murder’ by The Smiths. Realising the importance http://www.veganessentials.com – they had even more products. I or-
of the lyrics, I asked her to write them out for me. I came back home dered from them a few times, although shipping to the UK was a little
and stuck them to a cupboard. expensive. Sweet & Sara’s coconut-covered vegan marshmallows
Who knew that in years to come I would be writing a rock mag and were worth it though!
asking questions about poignant lyrics?
discovered that my town had a few animal rights activists living
soon learned about animal testing and signed up for mail outs Ihere – one of them, Kevin, was a hardcore vegan activist who
Iby the BUAV (British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection) – they organised demos and protests. I went on my first protest at a local cir-
have since become Cruelty Free International (http://www.cruel- cus that used animals. We stood near the entrance with placards and
tyfreeinternational.org). I remember buying my first cruelty-free lipstick tried to explain to any members of the public how cruel it was to force
from Holland & Barrett (no beeswax in that and not tested on animals, animals to perform as entertainment. Kevin also put on some animal
unlike a lot of mainstream cosmetics brands). I received a sticker that rights coaches to bigger national events such as the World Day for An-
listed some of the brands that tested on animals and stuck it next to imals In Laboratories marches in Cambridge and Oxford (university
my door at work. I boycotted brands such as Pot Noodle, Ribena, Lem- towns that had, or wanted to have, laboratories that tested on animals).
sip and more as they were manufactured by companies that tested on I started going to those yearly events, taking my camera and taking a
animals. few photos of the march.
Over the years, I became more and more passionate about animal Over the last few years, veganism has taken off thanks to social
rights and would speak up for animals on internet forums. I remember media and the internet (as well as vegan fairs that Kevin put on).
posting in a thread on the Pitchshifter forum about being vegetarian Vegan activists such as Earthling Ed and Joey Carbstrong are power-
or animal rights. ful influencers that are inspiring and educational. More and more mu-
sicians are also vegan (read our interview with Arch Enemy’s Alissa
round 2002, I discovered the pop-punk band Midtown. I re- White-Gluz in this issue). And, with Veganuary becoming a thing (a
Aceived their CD ‘Living Well Is The Best Revenge’ for review challenge to go vegan for the month of January), more and more peo-
and, reading the liner notes, realised they supported PETA (People for ple are trying veganism. Supermarkets are stocking more and more
the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Two of the members were vegetar- vegan products, and more and more companies are producing vegan
ian and the other two vegan. At that point, I’d been vegetarian for 13 items. Even meat and dairy companies are announcing plant-based
years. I decided I wanted to do an animal rights-based interview. The options. Well-known restaurants offer vegan menus. It’s no longer hard
press officer arranged for me to interview one of the vegans, Tyler to be vegan. It’s pretty easy, actually. Sure, you have to still read the
Rann. What I’ll never forget is how inspiring Tyler was. He talked about ingredients if you’re serious about being 100% vegan, but more and
sponsoring a cow at a local sanctuary and when I told him I was only more items say ‘vegan’ on the front of the packaging, and there are
vegetarian and ‘could never give up cheese’ he didn’t look down on vegan alternatives for pretty much everything. You soon know what
me. He told me that I was doing something – that was better than noth- ingredients to look out for. No gelatine, no whey, no honey… You can
ing. buy vegan steak, vegan lamb koftas, a multitude of vegan burgers,
pizzas and sausages, vegan cakes, vegan pork pies, vegan turkey,
wo days later, with his words stuck firmly in my head, I decided and even some decent vegan cheese.
TI had to go vegan. I had to do more than just being vegetarian.
It wasn’t that I just had to; I wanted to, I needed to. I told my mom I ctober 5th saw me reaching my 20-year anniversary of being
was going vegan. I gave up cheese. I gave up all animal products. Ovegan, and besides going vegetarian initially, being vegan is
Back then, there weren’t many good vegan cheeses around. I re- the best thing I’ve ever done. Being even more passionate about
member the first ‘vegan cheese’ I tried was a vegan cheese sauce. I speaking up for animals and doing what I can to help them, not harm
think you added water to the mix. It didn’t really taste like cheese. I them, I know I’ll be vegan forever.
was a little disappointed. That said, I was doing this for the animals. I ‘Animals are my friends – and I don’t eat my friends’.
continued, unphased.
I hadn’t drank milk for the 13 years I was vegetarian, so that wasn’t Words By Shari Black Velvet

VEGAN FOR LIFE