Meet Sam The Vegetarian Football Player! February 2, 2009

Posted by Pulin Modi at February 2, 2009 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 10 ) | TrackBack

So the Super Bowl is over and all across the US, people are talking about the big game.

What better time to introduce you to Sam? He's a sixteen year old football player from Massachusetts. And he's been a vegetarian for his entire life! Sam was cool enough to answer some questions about his experience as a vegetarian for you all, so take a read...

Why are you vegetarian?
I was initially a vegetarian because I was raised that way by my mom, but once I could choose whether I wanted to eat meat or not, I remained a vegetarian out of compassion for animals.

What are your favorite sports?
Football, basketball, and track are my favorite sports although I enjoy almost all sports. I am co-captain of the school football team for next year and I also run outdoor track for the school.

How do your teammates react when they find out you're vegetarian?
Usually, the immediate response I get is a series of questions: "Wait, you're a vegetarian? What do you eat? Have you ever even tried meat? But it tastes so good!" If I don't know the kid that well, he'll usually leave me alone after that, but if it's someone I'm familiar with, they'll usually say "I'm taking you to McDonalds" or something like that. Some kids are really nice about it. They'll say "Man, that's cool. I wish I could be a vegetarian, but meat just tastes too good." I get a lot of crap for it, and I'm the only vegetarian on the team, so there's no one to back me up, but I don't mind it that much because I known my teammates are just joking around.

What do you generally eat for lunch at school?
I bring my own lunch so I don't have to deal with the school food. It's usually a sandwich (with some sort of fake meat on it)... I mean, I mix it up a little bit, but that's what my lunch usually consists of.

Are your parents supportive of your vegetarianism?
Absolutely. I live with my mom, step dad, and brother, and we're all vegetarians. My mom has been a vegetarian since she was 12 and raised me and my brother as vegetarians. My biological dad eats meat, but he's 100% in support of me and my brother.

Any tips for people interested in trying out vegetarianism?
Yeah. You can substitute a lot of the meat that you eat with fake meat. I eat fake meat with most of my meals, and I particularly like the Morningstar brand as do many of my meat eating friends. They say that it doesn't really taste like the real stuff, but that it tastes really good. In fact, I have a couple of friends that have completely given up real bacon and sausage for the Morningstar meatless versions.

Thanks to Sam for taking the time to answer these questions. If you eat animals why not take the pledge to be veg and see how you feel? Sam gave you some quick food tips, and there are lots more suggestions at http://www.peta2.com/STUFF/s-recipe.asp. You should tell your school to make the lunches healthier and more humane, too!

Enjoy your week!

Meet Sam The Vegetarian Football Player! February 2, 2009

Posted by Pulin Modi at February 2, 2009 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 10 ) | TrackBack

So the Super Bowl is over and all across the US, people are talking about the big game.

What better time to introduce you to Sam? He's a sixteen year old football player from Massachusetts. And he's been a vegetarian for his entire life! Sam was cool enough to answer some questions about his experience as a vegetarian for you all, so take a read...

Why are you vegetarian?
I was initially a vegetarian because I was raised that way by my mom, but once I could choose whether I wanted to eat meat or not, I remained a vegetarian out of compassion for animals.

What are your favorite sports?
Football, basketball, and track are my favorite sports although I enjoy almost all sports. I am co-captain of the school football team for next year and I also run outdoor track for the school.

How do your teammates react when they find out you're vegetarian?
Usually, the immediate response I get is a series of questions: "Wait, you're a vegetarian? What do you eat? Have you ever even tried meat? But it tastes so good!" If I don't know the kid that well, he'll usually leave me alone after that, but if it's someone I'm familiar with, they'll usually say "I'm taking you to McDonalds" or something like that. Some kids are really nice about it. They'll say "Man, that's cool. I wish I could be a vegetarian, but meat just tastes too good." I get a lot of crap for it, and I'm the only vegetarian on the team, so there's no one to back me up, but I don't mind it that much because I known my teammates are just joking around.

What do you generally eat for lunch at school?
I bring my own lunch so I don't have to deal with the school food. It's usually a sandwich (with some sort of fake meat on it)... I mean, I mix it up a little bit, but that's what my lunch usually consists of.

Are your parents supportive of your vegetarianism?
Absolutely. I live with my mom, step dad, and brother, and we're all vegetarians. My mom has been a vegetarian since she was 12 and raised me and my brother as vegetarians. My biological dad eats meat, but he's 100% in support of me and my brother.

Any tips for people interested in trying out vegetarianism?
Yeah. You can substitute a lot of the meat that you eat with fake meat. I eat fake meat with most of my meals, and I particularly like the Morningstar brand as do many of my meat eating friends. They say that it doesn't really taste like the real stuff, but that it tastes really good. In fact, I have a couple of friends that have completely given up real bacon and sausage for the Morningstar meatless versions.

Thanks to Sam for taking the time to answer these questions. If you eat animals why not take the pledge to be veg and see how you feel? Sam gave you some quick food tips, and there are lots more suggestions at http://www.peta2.com/STUFF/s-recipe.asp. You should tell your school to make the lunches healthier and more humane, too!

Enjoy your week!

Olympic Judo Medalist Declares She's Going Vegan! August 14, 2008

Posted by Patricia at August 14, 2008 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 7 ) | TrackBack
usjudo/CreativeCommons.org
Typically when athletes are asked what they're doing next after winning a big game or a medal they reply, "I'm going to Disney World!" This wasn't the case when Ronda Rousey became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic medal in Judo. Nope, her response went like this...

"What am I gonna do?" she replied, "As of right now I am a vegan." Nice.

The 21 year-old bronze medal winner has also sworn off of leather and credits Earthlings for opening her eyes to the hideous ways animals are treated. (If only she had known about Mac Danzig then, she could have ditched meat and dairy much earlier!)

Training for the Olympics must be so intense, but luckily Ronda has a lot of support from her mom AnnMaria, who's a former U.S. world champion judoka. When asked about how a vegan lifestyle would mesh with the world of mixed martial arts her mother replied, "I mean, we're tough but we don't kill our opponents and eat them." I love this family.

Ronda actually has a list of things she wants to do next which include driving a "clean car," trying her hand at college, and teaching herself to surf. "I made up this long list of stuff that I couldn't do while I was training that normal people do. It's kind of too late to go to prom, but you know. I'll find something to make up for it."

I think an Olympic medal trumps prom.

Read her blog, she's awesome.

Congratulations, Ronda!

xox
Patricia