Famous Vegans & Normal Freaks

Bill Clinton announced this week that he has gone vegan for his heart health … and dropped 24 pounds on the way! Ellen DeGeneres has made the switch to a vegan diet too, as has Actress Alicia Silverstone, Olympian Carl Lewis and World Champion Ultra-marathoner, Scott Jurek, among many others. Even Oprah has done a 21 day vegan diet.

I get so excited when I hear that “normal” people have decided to vegan. For so many years, when I would tell people that I was vegan, they would look me up and down and say, rather skeptically, “But you don’t look vegan!” I think there is (or hopefully, was) a belief that to be vegan you must have dreadlocks, wear Birkenstocks, and grow your armpit hair out. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things…

But I always felt that I was fighting an uphill battle. I felt that, as a vegan, people assumed I was a bit of a freak. (In fact, I may be, but that happened long before I ever went vegan! LOL!) I always wanted to let everyone know that all kinds of people eat a vegan diet – mothers, fathers, children, accountants, actors, politicians, athletes … and even the girl next door, which is exactly why my company is named “The Vegan Next Door.” My goal is to reach out to all of the "normal" people and let them know that other normal people have gone vegan too - and it's not so freaky after all.

So, today I devote my blog to all those people who are open-minded enough to actually read the arguments for veganism objectively ... how healthy it is, how compassionate it is for the animals, and how thoughtful for the environment. Cheers to you!