Getting Vegucated – a Vegucation in Real Life

Earlier this month, the award-winning documentary Vegucated premiered in DC at the vegan-friendly Landmark E Street Theater. Not only was COK on hand to introduce the film, give out free food samples, and hand out pro-veg “diplomas” to film-goers, we were lucky enough to score two free tickets, which we decided to give away!

The winners? Stephanie and Rob. Stephanie is a long-time vegetarian and recent vegan. Rob is her husband who eats vegan at home but that’s where it ends. She’s hoping that by watching this film, which documents the real life ups and downs of three meat and cheese-loving omnivores who go vegan for six weeks, it might make a difference. So we decided to follow up with them to see if it worked. Here’s what Stephanie had to say:

How did Vegucated impact you and did it change Rob’s dietary choices?

I’ve been a vegetarian for almost 27 years and tried going vegan when I was younger. It wasn’t until last year when I really started to delve into some research that I realized I couldn’t NOT be vegan knowing the truth. So while I was already vegan, Vegucated motivated me to encourage others to change their dietary habits.

Rob, since we met, has been an occasional vegetarian. He doesn’t eat meat at home, or when we are together. This fall, we attended the DC VegFest, and he started thinking more and more about where his food comes from. And he was mostly vegan for about 4 weeks after that, but recently he’s become a little more lax. After watching this film his motivation has returned, and he once again is mostly vegan!

What’s the primary reason you’re vegan – or mostly vegan?

My first hint at going veg was at age 5. I read the Little House series and was aghast when I read the chapter about making cheese. They killed a calf to get the stomach so that they could make cheese in it. I stopped eating cheese until my parents convinced me that no calves were killed in cheese production today (little did they know!).  Nowadays, when people ask me about being veg, I quote Anna Thomas, and tell them that I love to eat — and I believe that eating is a celebration of life. Therefore, I don’t believe I should take life in order to celebrate it.

Rob likes to tell people that he doesn’t eat meat because he likes kissing me. 

What’s your favorite vegan food or favorite vegan meal at a local restaurant? 

That’s hard to narrow down.  I love Indian food, curries, falafels, hummus, etc. Mexican is a great standby in our house, as are pasta dishes. I don’t really MISS any meat dishes, so I don’t feel pressured to re-create them vegan-style. I like to try new vegan recipes- and love those by Sarah Kramer, and my new favorite: John from The Vegan Zombie. And I like to cook, but I’m not much of a baker, so I get really excited when I see things like vegan baked goods: cupcakes, etc.

Rob also loves to cook. He likes everything hot and spicy! He made a spicy kale soup the other day with a great spicy flavor.

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