Los Angeles is the home of sunshine, celebrities and quinoa. Healthy living is a top priority and students on campus are no exception. With so many options to choose, Veg Bruins President Kienna Qin sat down with Her Campus to help dispell the myths about non-meat lifestyles.
Her Campus: Please introduce yourself!
Kienna Qin: My name is Kienna, and I’m a 2nd-year statistics major at UCLA. I am extremely passionate about community service, so I loved getting involved on campus. Aside from Veg Bruins, I am also the Advocacy Committee director for a community service organization called Hunger Project, which focuses on volunteering for the homeless. Currently, I serve as the President of Veg Bruins for the 2018-2019 school year!
HC: What is Veg Bruins and what cool things are you offering on campus?
KQ: Veg Bruins is a student-run organization that focuses on vegan, vegetarian, and plant-based eating. The goal of Veg Bruins is to foster a community where students can come together and bond over a shared love of food, while educating others about the ethical and environmental impact of a plant-based lifestyle. We do this through social events, educational campaigns and working with community partners.
We often host laidback potlucks at students’ apartments, where everyone brings their own vegan snack/dish and comes together for a night of eating amazing vegan food and meeting new people who aren’t necessarily vegan, but are interested in a plant-based lifestyle. In addition, we like to host campus-wide events at least once a quarter. Last quarter, our main event was Vegan Fair, which was held on Bruin Plaza and involved multiple campus organizations, vegan food brands and even a vegan bake-off, where students competed for their best homemade vegan bakes.
HC: Tomato, Toh-mato…Toma-to? What exactly is the difference between vegan, vegetarian and plant-based lifestyles?
KQ: I’d like to say that there isn’t a strict textbook definition for “vegan,” “vegetarian,” or “plant-based.” Nowadays, I think people are moving away from black-and-white diets and are more into the large amount of overlap that exists among the three diets. However, there is a general structure to each lifestyle that can help with differentiating between the three:
Vegans do not consume animal products of any form. This includes meat, eggs, dairy and other animal-derived products. In addition, some vegans (called “ethical vegans” by some) also apply this way of thinking to other aspects of their lives – such as clothing, makeup, skincare and more.
Generally, vegetarians do not consume meat, fish or poultry. There are also ovo-vegetarians who do not consume dairy products as well. On the contrary, lacto-vegetarians do consume dairy but refrain from eating eggs. Pescatrians are those who do not consume meat or poultry but do eat fish.
As for plant-based eaters, there is a lot of leeway in how this lifestyle is defined. In general, “plant-based” means consuming a diet focusing on foods derived from plants, such as fruits and vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, oils and more. However, this does not mean you are vegan or vegetarian – it means the main source of your diet comes from plants, and only a small portion (or maybe even none) is composed of animal products. Currently, plant-based lifestyles are all the rave in modern media, with plant-based restaurants and food options popping up all over the world.
HC: On campus dining can be rough. How can vegan, vegetarian and plant-based eaters find meals on campus?
KQ: UCLA is AMAZING for plant-based meal options! There are countless plant-based food options all over campus, whether it be in the dining halls or chain restaurants in our student union. Veg Bruins has actually been working on a plant-based food guide to UCLA as a collaboration with the company aBillionVeg to serve as a complete guide to eating plant-based at or around UCLA. The guide has food reviews to a plethora of both on-campus dining options and restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area. The guide should be published within the next two weeks, so make sure to keep an eye out for it!
HC: What are some of the challenges and unique difficulties about this lifestyle?
KQ: Honestly, there are many misconceptions about how challenging a plant-based lifestyle is. Many people consider it to be expensive or difficult to find food options when eating out. However, I don’t consider these the main challenges to the lifestyle, or even challenges at all. In my personal experience, the main difficulty for me as a vegan is the amount of cultural backlash I experience. Growing up Chinese-American, animal products were a large part of my diet. According to my parents, if there wasn’t meat in a dish, it basically wasn’t a complete meal. Thus, when I went cold turkey vegan (irony not intended), it was a complete shock to my parents. I remember the main concern from my mom was what I was going to eat on Chinese New Year, when our dining table was usually full of egg rolls, Szechuan beef and steamed fish. But, as time went on, my parents have been accepting of this new and wonderful lifestyle I chose for myself, and it’s actually been really fun helping my mom recreate some of my favorite childhood Chinese dishes, except this time veganized.
HC: If we’re going to dip our toes into the water, we’ll need a bit of help. What are some tips for people curious about the lifestyle?
KQ: Come to Veg Bruins events! You’ll meet so many amazing people who are all passionate about plant-based eating and will be more than happy to show you the ropes and give you advice on all aspects of a plant-based lifestyle.
One of my personal tips is to take it slow! I think what really helped me step foot into the door of plant-based eating was sticking mainly to veganized versions of my favorite meals, like vegan quesadillas, pizza, chicken tenders – all those guilty pleasures. I know many people are very strict about eating processed foods, but personally, it really helped me realize that I could eat all the same things that I could before I was vegan.
HC: Ok, we’re convinced! How can girls get involved?
KQ: Like us on Facebook and join our mailing list, which is where we release information about all of our club events! In addition, if you really want to get more involved, we’re actually opening up board applications this quarter, which you can apply to here.