I grew up in a family that consumed a lot of animal products on a regular basis including meat, eggs, and dairy products. I never questioned the environmental or humane implications of the food I ate until I came to Dickinson and became involved in sustainability. After learning about the carbon footprint that animal products have on the environment – agriculture is one of the largest contributors to climate change – in addition to the abuse that animals endure in the farming industry, I realized that it was more harmful to continue eating the way I was; I switched to being Vegan, which meant adopting a plant-based lifestyle.
This drastic change in diet gave me newfound excitement about cooking as it forced me to think more creatively about how to pair and create dishes with plant-based ingredients that made people say, “wait, that’s vegan?!” I will be attempting exactly that with my recipe project, as I will be turning a simple brownie recipe on its head by substituting the animal products, such as butter, eggs, and milk, with plant-based alternatives. Will anyone be able to tell the difference?
