But the most important thing I'd like to write here today is about simplicity of being vegan. I always think that is easier to be vegan in a country like Ireland, with many british influences which include vegetarianism and veganism. Here we can buy vegan cheese, cream cheese, ham, ice cream, chocolate and a lot of other stuff. But these are not things you need to eat everyday, these are things we like. Day by day we eat the simple food: pasta, rice and beans with vegetables, lot of potatoes recipes, risotto, gnocchi, salads, etc. And this kind of food is easy to find and it's cheap.
Sometimes I think people like to complicate things. To make them seem more difficult that they really are. I'm not saying that it is easy to be vegan. It is a big change. But it's not impossible and everybody can be healthy, eat well and be happy being vegan. You just need to find the best way.
There are so many options of food that are naturally vegetarian (or even vegan)... First, concentrate yourself on the kind of food you like. Start eating a vegan version of them. And think about try new things. There is a lot of food that I didn't eat before and now I love. I'm not saying that you have to like everything that is vegan, this does not exist, but you can discover a new universe with new flavours.
Simplicity is a great choice of life, always! Just try it some times ;o)
Sometimes I feel like I don't belong to anywhere. This happens since I was a teenager. I make too many questions, I have too many doubts about life and people. And being like that makes you different in most of the places you go. But when I started to go to punk/hardcore shows I found a place to feel better. After more than ten years living this life, living hardcore every single day, I can say it's not perfect and it's far from being a perfect “world”. I could write a lot of things (good and bad) but that's not the point here.
I'd like to write about one awesome thing I learnt going to hardcore shows: it was where I received all the first informations about veganism and animal rights and because of that I became vegan.
I started to go to hardcore shows not that young. I wasn't a teenager anymore. But I realized that there were (still) some things that I should change in my life. It was really easy to find bands and people talking about straight edge, veganism and also about social and politic issues. And I loved it. I stopped drinking and smoking and became vegan. After some time I started to write a fanzine (that I still write nowadays, a paper zine called Outspoken) and after some years I started a band (Out of Step) and then another one (Overstate).
In the late 80s, bands like Youth of Today started to associate straight edge with vegetarianism, also in their lyrics: "Meat-eating, flesh-eating, think about it. So callous this crime we commit". In the early 90s, most of the straight edge kids became vegan, with bands like Earth Crisis and Path of Resistance promoting the vegan edge.
Youth of Today
Earth Crisis
Now it is not that usual to find hardcore bands that also talk about or spread the vegetarianism/veganism in the hardcore scene, but there are some good examples around the world.
Even seeing a lot of people in hardcore giving up on veganism/vegetarianism, I can see new kids getting into it. And this is awesome. It means that, in some way, hardcore can still spread the word and make people think about their choices. I still believe in my choice. You can always see me at a hardcore show, there is where I belong.
“Just because you're not 21, that's not supposed to mean you can't have any fun. So, come out and raise your fists high, stage dive, and forget about what they say. Dance the night away.” (Kid Dynamite)
