Have You Ever Turned Anyone Vegan?

[Glen]

I had my first little bit of Vegan success today! My friend, who I haven't managed to speak to for a few weeks, informed me that he had decided to go veggie! I was over the moon. His decision was partly due to me, and partly due to his aunt, who is a vegitarian. He said that after seeing the videos I sent him the links to and reading PETA info, he decided he could no longer eat meat. He also said that at the Download Festival, my food looked so much better than his!!!

He is also ridding of his big leather jacket and shoes. He said he wants to give up milk in good time, but he can't have soya as it messes his liver up. I'm sure I can get him the whole way soon! Woohoo!

[Tombstone]

That's awesome man. How did you get him to watch the vids to start with? Most non-vegans I talk to are reluctant to watch things.

[Cal]

Good onya, Glen.

[adam antichrist]

Up you go Glenn!

He said he wants to give up milk in good time, but he can't have soya as it messes his liver up.

Get him onto rice milk or another alternative to soy to see if he likes that.

[Glen]

Yeah I will see if I can get him to try rice milk sometime. Nobody can resist that stuff, its gorgeous!

Actually, I first showed all my mates a video and he refused to watch. But then he went on to my MySpace profile and found them himself off the links I have on there. I guess morbid curiosity just set in!

[Roxy]

Wow - that's great Glen! Congrats

[ccgyrl]

that's so awesome! think of all the lives saved! and who knows, maybe i'll convert a few people who will convert a few people!!

[screamingcarrot]

Good stuff glen!

[Mozbee]

[SIZE=3]Now that fantastic news deserves a celebratary 1000th post.
Brilliant work Glen, you're helping to save extra lives, whoopee![/SIZE]

[my3labs]

I'm so excited. A few weeks ago I had a very brief conversation with my neighbor about why I became vegan. We talked mostly about the animals and why it's not our right to eat them. We talked about the health benefits and what type of foods I eat.
My neighbors are out of town and I always feed their cat, get their mail, etc. So today i bring in the mail and there is a "how to" book on becoming vegetarian!!!!

I'm elated!!!!!!!!!

[mophoto]

good job, mail snooper. i have transformed people to vegetarianism- vegan is a lot harder

[my3labs]

Let me reword that: Today I brought in the mail and on the kitchen table, where I leave the mail, is the book.
I wasn't snooping through their mail.

[mophoto]

didn't mean it in a bad way!

[my3labs]

I know, I just felt stupid and didn't want everyone thinking I snoop through my neighbors mail.

[sugarmouse]

aww good job my3labs!!

[tipsy]

well, we know you do 3labs!!!

every rebel has got to start somewhere!

(j/k)

[tipsy]

strong work on the vegan recrutment front!

[scorpy]

good job, mail snooper. i have transformed people to vegetarianism- vegan is a lot harder

Becoming vegan is definitely difficult.

[sugarmouse]

Becoming vegan is definitely difficult.

#
it comes naturaly to some ppl-but i can see how it is an overwhelming change for others

[my3labs]

#
it comes naturaly to some ppl-but i can see how it is an overwhelming change for others

It came easily for me. One day I was omni and the next day I wasn't. I hope my neighbor follows through with it.

[DianeVegan]

What a coincidence! I had friends visiting from England yesterday (originally from the US) and the 9 year old daughter asked me about what I eat when she first arrived. She then stated that she "couldn't live without beef. I love ribeye." She also asked if I had any books with meat recipes. I took her down to the basement and gave her an old cookbook from my "Shelf of Death." (She got a big laugh out of that one.)

Throughout the course of the night we talked about veganism, vegetarianism, milk, etc. Her mother worked with me as a nurse years ago and is in support of all this. They left with my book "Becoming Vegan" and a pamphlet on cooking different grains/rice/legumes. By the time they left, the girl was saying, "Mom, what will Dad say when he finds out that I'm a vegan?"

I know she will probably not become a vegan overnight but at least she was exposed to it at an early age!

[twinkle]

That's excellent - well done my3labs and Dianecrna

Dianecrna - what did you say to the little girl when she said she loved beef - I wouldn't know how to reply to that.

[DianeVegan]

I didn't reply at all - I think that keeping a blank face speaks volumes. It always works for me with adults and this was a sofisticated little girl, very perceptive. By the way, her mother called me last night and said she had been giving it to the whole family about how she was going to have to keep track of her B12 intake now and really worry about nutrition because now she knows how bad all the "other" food is. We'll be seeing them again next week and I'll be cooking for them again so this should be fun!

[moochbabe]

Today I was at my college, where a lot of people know that I am vegan. Two people approached me about wanting to become vegetarians and told me they really wanted to, and that I inspired them! I was so excited, I talked to them about it for a long time, and gave them some tips, and promised to bring them some good info sources tomorrow. I was just so ecsatic, I HAD to post! It makes me feel so great that I helped convert two people to vegetarianism, and possibly veganism. The best part is one lady is a mom, and if she goes, she's gonna make her whole family go, including her kids, and that'll be awesome cuz a whole family'll really make a difference. And then the other girl wants to go vegetarian or vegan and then teach her family about it and its benefits and maybe conver them too! Sorry to talk so much, I am just so excited! The only downer was today my dad was acting very anti-veggie, etc. Oh well though, two people there are hope for for sure!!

[my3labs]

Glen & moochbabe!!!!!
That is the best news I've heard all day. Good job!

[moochbabe]

Thank u so much! It's the first time I've ever converted anybody, but it feels great. I really learned too, that the best way is to lead by example! And thanx for ur encouragement as well!

[Roxy]

Congratulations moochbabe! What a great feeling!!

[moochbabe]

Thanx so much, I just hope I can continue this! With as good of results, at least!

[Yoggy]

Congratulations Glen! And you too Moochbabe! You're absolutely right that the best way to convince anybody of anything is to lead by example. We may think that pointing out someone's flaws might incline them to change, but it usually does just the opposite.

[DianeVegan]

Good point Yoggy. Putting people on the defensive never works, in my experience. Leading by example and not preaching works best. Every time my family visits I tell them to bring whatever food they want but they always eat what I make and then ask for the recipes. I never fail to get a phone call from one of my sisters saying "Hey, I think you turned _________ vegan." None of them has yet, but at least they have more veg days than meat days after spending time with me.

[ChocolatBlanc]

That's really cool, Glen! Oh, and all you other people who have helped open people up to veg*nism. That must make you feel really good inside. It should! I hope I can aid in "converting" someone to veg*nism. I've got two friends that I might have a good chance with. One of them has a mom who is vegan, but maybe for health not ethical reasons. Another is obsessed with cats and cute fuzzy animals in general. Don't they seem like good candidates? I'm not sure how I might suggest becoming veggie to them, though. Hopefully they might just follow my example and become veg*n with ease.

Yeah I will see if I can get him to try rice milk sometime. Nobody can resist that stuff, its gorgeous!

NUH-UH! ALMOND milk is SO much BETTER!!!

[DianeVegan]

Even if everyone went vegan one day a week it would make a huge difference. I consider the "partial" converts to at least be a partial success (not a partial failure)

[moochbabe]

I like that looking on the bright side! Besides, every little switch in diet is a help. I mean, even if they just go veggie and not vegan, it's still such a great help to the enviro. I believe even if we could get people to cut back it would at least be STEP in the right direction, though maybe not quite a stride...

[DianeVegan]

Hey, we all started out in steps even if we didn't realize it. So many animal products are hidden in the things we consume that no one can really be certain that what is given to them is truly %100 vegan. We can only do the best we can do. We (my family) started out having no meat 2 days out of the week and were vegan within 6 months. I would settle for one day in the general population - it's an easy leap from there.

[moochbabe]

I agree whole-heartedly, it seems like whenever someone starts to make a change for the better, they want to continue the change all the way. When I was little, I didn't even understand vegetarianism, let alone veganism. Then I started eating less meat, and then made the transition to no meat/flesh. From there it just seemed like the next logical step to go vegan. Little changes always add up! I think that's starting to happen with my mom, at least I really hope so. Last night my parents ate their first real vegan meal that wasn't just like a salad with vinagrette and they liked it. And even that meal is a step toward helping the enviro, cuz they usually have meat-laden dinners, YUCK!

[DianeVegan]

And so it begins.......

[the_marmite_kid]

kidnapping teenagers off of the streets and keeping them tied up in a darkened basement, feeding them LSD while reading them vegan literature over and over again for around 2 weeks is quite an effective method.... so ive been told you have to move address after each batch of converts but its worth it in the long run.

[Mr Flibble]

I've never set out to convert anyone. Having been approached for more information about the reasoning behind it, I have helped people find out more and see things from my perspective. Some have then, totally by choice, decided to become vegan and done so (logistics wise) with my help.

There's many people with strong views in the world, and I don't want to be preached to by them, hence I don't to others. I do like being able to find out about other people's beliefs though, and perhaps change my viewpoints accordingly if what they say makes sense/more sense than my current thinking. I like to offer the same chance to people who voluntarily and genuinely want to find out more about mine (as opposed to just wanting an argument or try and wind me up) - assuming it's the right time and place of course.

I have great respect for anyone who shares this phylosophy. For example, I didn't attend the WBO (Western Buddhist Order) meditation centre in town for the first couple of years I lived somewhere, as no one who I knew that visited there asked me to go. Eventually I just went on my own, and found them extremely welcoming once I'd been the one to make the initial request. This compares to religious organisations who go out and try to extract people from society to join them (often with slightly dodgy tactics - such as offering conditional friendship to vulnerable people - aka christian youth groups), which i don't agree with.

[thecatspajamas1]

I turned my mom vegetarian. She understood the ethics behind my veganism, and she only ate meat once in awhile, so I said "Mom, just go all the way, be a vegetarian!" and was like "Ok, I will!"


I've handed out many "Why Vegan?" pamphlets and other veg pamphlets during leafletting and tabling, so there is a possibility that someone went veg*n because of that and I don't know about it... I hope so.

[Kevster]

I thought you were going to say your professor went vegan.

[catalina]

kidnapping teenagers off of the streets and keeping them tied up in a darkened basement, feeding them LSD while reading them vegan literature over and over again for around 2 weeks is quite an effective method.... so ive been told you have to move address after each batch of converts but its worth it in the long run.

What a waste of good LSD!

BTW, you need to empty your pm box.

[Mr Flibble]

What a waste of good LSD!

Yes, marmite is much cheaper and just as torturous

[Hemlock]

My hubbie has gone vegan now thanks to my incessant brainwashing
My son has been a vegetarian his whole life (he is 22) and now says he wants to give veganism a go as I have made him feel guilty about dairy farming. All in all bonza!

[Pilaf]

I've managed to turn people "angry" with my veganism and straight edge.

That's about it.

[Glen]

Yesterday in college a girl from my old school came over with a mutual friend. I had never really spoken to her before but she asked if I was a Vegan, why I was, what I ate etc. Turns out she is a lifelong Vegitarian. She said she wanted to go Vegan but 'couldn't' because she had always relied on Quorn. The conversation went on between the three of us for a while.

Anyway, today I was walking to lesson and this girl called me, I said hello and went to carry on but she caught up with me to tell me that she had gone Vegan! She said she realised that if I could go from complete meat-eater to Vegan in a week, then she could go from Vegitarian! Success!

Thats two people I have turned Vegitarian and one Vegan so far. Its amazing what just being yourself and having a little conviction can do!

[sugarmouse]

thats great glen.i realy want to do that to more folk....i will ..i will..

[scruffyhead]

No i havent, but it was made easier knowing a vegan! i think that is the key, i thought i would be bored with the foods i would be able to eat...but sugarmouse made me meals that i wouldnt of dreamed of, each time i am amazed at how wonderful the food is and what you can do with a little bit of imagination..I eat at a friends house a couple of times aweek, obviously i take my own food he has tried and likes what i take round so who knows!!!

[tabitha]

I havent turned anyone vegan, but I have persuaded my best friend to buy cruelty free cleaning products and makeup. She no longer eats chicken and buys her eggs from a little man down the road who names all his chickens, so I suppose thats a little bit of good done.

[sugarmouse]

only bobilydylan! (see above) i thinkhe is more influentiall than me
my lodger went vegetarian for a while.
i think i may go on a converting mission......

[Bodybuilder]

I've been vegan for 10 years now and I think I've turned a couple hundred people vegan over that time. Many of the in person directly and most of them indirectly via my website and from media exposure.

Every bit helps so keep at it!

Rob

[puffin]

I've been vegan for 10 years now and I think I've turned a couple hundred people vegan over that time. Many of the in person directly and most of them indirectly via my website and from media exposure.

Good work in my 11 years i have only converted one, kind of, and that didnt last long

[Skajen]

i was veggie for 6 years before becoming vegan and in that time i converted my brother and my boyfriend, my brother then converted his girlfriend! HOWEVER, despite some gentle prompting i CANNOT get my brother or boyfriend to become vegan- not that i nag them or owt, because its there choice and being veggie is good enough! however prob is i want to raise any children i have as vegan, but my bf refuses (ouch!). They say "how can you live without cheese?" its easy! ugh...

[Thur]

So far this year (since January 1st) I have turned 2 people Vegan and one person Vegetarian. Yay I saved lives! .
I think it is something to be proud of. I am very proud of them.

[tabitha]

Puffin - I think you need Bodybuilders muscles to convert 200 people. I am pumping iron as we speak and I suggest you do the same. We will then become SuperPuffin and SuperTab and will conquer the world

[puffin]

Puffin - I think you need Bodybuilders muscles to convert 200 people. I am pumping iron as we speak and I suggest you do the same. We will then become SuperPuffin and SuperTab and will conquer the world

LOL, i was pumping those weight on Friday at circuit training. My t shirts are getting a little tight around the arms now Maybe i should put my pic on the bodybuilding website to see if it works

[tabitha]

Ive just done 75 pressups - real ones, not tarts ones and have just made family eat vegetarian spag bol., so it definitely works. You go girl.

[puffin]

Ive just done 75 pressups - real ones, not tarts ones and have just made family eat vegetarian spag bol., so it definitely works. You go girl.

He he, yeh i hate girly pressups, if your going to do something do it properly

[Sheila]

This was really amazing to me.

The lady who inspired me to become a vegetarian called me in tears this morning. She had been watching "Meet Your Meat" and some other PETA videos and just lost it. She had thought that since an animal didn't have to die it was OK to eat eggs and sour cream. She did not realize the lives of the animals were so horrible.

I had been talking to her for the last few months and I knew she was close to converting. She would ask me all kinds of questions. She has told me how much she admires me for my stance and choices and wished she could do the same.

I think the reality of what really is required for her to enjoy dairy products has hit her.

So I hope by my actions and some PETA videos have helped convert her.

Sheila

[tabitha]

Sheila thats absolutely brilliant. People just hear what they want to sometimes, and I dont mean that nastily. I did it for years.

[Bodybuilder]

Good work in my 11 years i have only converted one, kind of, and that didnt last long

I'm sure you have converted more. All the time, I hear from people who tell me they know someone who became vegan after meeting me, even if I don't remember meeting that person.

So often times we do influence others without even knowing it.

Yes, I will admit, having the muscles helps, but it's not like they were always there. I was 120 pounds when I ate meat and then got up to 190 pounds over the next 10 years on a vegan diet...and most of that was gained in the first 5 years training as a bodybuilder. That helps convince people it is a healthy lifestyle because we all know the #1 THING PEOPLE ARE AFRAID OF IS NOT GETTING ENOUGH PROTEIN OR THEY WORRY ABOUT BEING SCRAWNY. When I show them that is not the case, they decide to give veganism a try, and many of them stick with it.

Conversations can be great, we all take different approaches. I just try to present veganism using my physique. If it ends in the same result, saving lives, use whatever method works.

Just remember, you are influencing more people than you think, even if you don't know it, you could be inspiring people everyday.