Veganism extends beyond diet to lifestyle

When third-year law student Vicki Steiner came face-to-face with
a cow at a zoo in Chicago, she vowed never to consume animal
products again.

“I couldn’t help but make a connection with this
beautiful creature and what we call “˜meat,'”
Steiner said.

Steiner became a vegan, eliminating meat, dairy, eggs and
refined sugar from her diet. Her subsequent involvement in the
animal rights movement reflects a larger fact of life for many
vegans ““ that the vegan lifestyle extends far beyond the
dinner table.

“I think most vegans are vegans because of an association
with animal welfare or animal rights issues,” Steiner
said.

Third-year sociology and policy studies student Erica
Sutherland, co-founder of the on-campus Students for Animal
Liberation, became vegan when she was 14 after attending an animal
rights club meeting at her boarding school. After the meeting
Sutherland wasn’t initially convinced, so she wrote letters
to 50 different animal rights organizations, including People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals and In Defense of Animals.

“Over the next three months I received tons of information
in the mail,” Sutherland said. “I became convinced that
it wasn’t just one group’s opinion, but that there was
no other ethical lifestyle.”

After eliminating animal products from their diets and
wardrobes, both Steiner and Sutherland became more involved in
animal rights issues.

“My personal interest is in using the media to educate the
public about the cruelties faced by animals used for food,”
Steiner said.

Steiner currently serves as the treasurer and director of animal
legislation for the UCLA School of Law Student Animal Legal Defense
Fund.

“I am particularly interested in approaching (animal)
issues through the legislature,” she said.

Sutherland began her involvement by volunteering at animal
shelters. Her interests eventually expanded to include issues of
animal welfare and liberation, and she soon started attending
demonstrations against the factory farm and fur industries, and
against laboratory testing on animals.

“I don’t hesitate now to support more radical animal
rights organizations,” Sutherland said.

Active participation in animal rights helps vegans live in a
meat-centered world, where they face stereotypes and jokes every
day.

“At demos, people will shout stuff like, “˜Get a
life!’ or “˜Why don’t you do something for
humans?'” she said. “I’m not interested in
wasting my breath on those kinds of people.”

Steiner makes an active effort to educate non-vegans by
example.

“When I do eat with non-vegans, I always try not to
preach, but rather offer explanations for why I eat the way I
do,” she said.

Dwelling among animal consumers poses fewer problems for vegans
at UCLA and in Los Angeles than elsewhere.

“L.A. is probably the easiest place I’ve ever lived
to be vegan,” Sutherland said. “People always say,
“˜It’s too hard to be vegan at UCLA.’ That’s
the biggest cop-out, though, because there’s always an
option.”

As a law student, Steiner finds on-campus vegan eating more
difficult, since she spends more time on campus each day and
doesn’t always “have time to pack a lunch or buy
groceries.”

“I think it’s getting easier to be vegan in our
society as more and more people become enlightened, and more
cruelty-free food choices become available,” Steiner
said.

She produced a vegan and vegetarian dining guide that she
distributes at the law school.

While the majority of vegans excise animal products from their
life as part of a larger interest in animal rights issues, others
become vegan for health or environmental reasons.

Doctors often prescribe a vegan diet, which is low in
cholesterol and lacks the accumulation of pesticides and hormones
that are more concentrated in animal products than in plants.

“A lot of older people are vegan for health
reasons,” Sutherland said. “But those are usually the
people who will still wear leather. They are definitely not animal
rights activists.”

According to Sutherland, many environmental activists also adopt
a vegan lifestyle since the factory farm industry takes a major
toll on the environment.

Overall, though, vegans continue to live in a predominantly
meat-centered world.