Written by Kerri Newcomer

“What if you were stranded on an island and you had to eat animals to survive?”

“What if a chicken just ran up to you, laid an egg, then ran off? Would you be okay with eating the egg?”

“What if there was a cow that really needed to be milked? It would hurt the cow to not milk it. Would you drink milk then?”

If you’re a vegan, you’re likely to have been asked a question like this at some point in your life. When I first adopted a vegan lifestyle, I seemed to get several questions like these per day. Usually, they were fairly easy to answer: I would eat whatever the animals eat. I wouldn’t eat the egg. I would do what I could to help the cow, but still not drink the milk.

Over time, though, it can become annoying and tiresome to answer. Maybe it’s because of the absurdity of the scenarios these questions are constructed around, or maybe it’s because they are desperate to find a situation where the consumption of animal products is unquestionably okay. Either way, it’s always a good idea to avoid being outwardly frustrated when faced with these questions.

While it’s possible that the person asking you this may be trying to mess with you, it is also very possible that they are genuinely curious about the specifics of being vegan.

I’ve found that the best way to handle these questions is to recognize that all of these implausible situations ultimately have the same underlying question: “Is there any situation where you would eat meat or animal products?” or in other words, “How far does this ‘vegan’ thing really go?”

Depending on the context, this can sometimes seem mean spirited. These questions are designed to find a loophole or gap in ethical and moral beliefs. Essentially, they’re trying to ‘break the vegan.’

Instead of getting defensive, annoyed, or entertaining the ridiculous situation specific to the question, try to calmly answer that underlying question. The response I typically give is:

“No. I would not eat or drink animal products under any feasible situation because I am morally against the exploitation of animals and I do not want to consume animal products.”

Connecting to your ethical or other “why” helps reinforce your own personal answer to questions about how far your veganism goes. Find what your personal answer to that question might be and practice being confident in speaking it. This should hopefully provide an answer to any question in the “What if…” style.

And if you find yourself in the position of being asked a question like this by someone, consider whether or not it’s a situation where you might feel comfortable inviting the person to join you for a plant-based meal or activity. A little bit of conversation and community can go a long way in creating more understanding in friends and family about why living your lifestyle is important to you.

If you are someone, currently plant-based or not, who has asked this type of question in the past, don’t worry. It may have been a frustrating ask but it’s in the past. In the future, though, if you’re really wondering about the limits of someone’s lifestyle choices, just cut to the chase and ask, “Is there a situation where you would eat meat or animal products?” and they’ll tell you. No further questions needed.

Dulceria Bakery is a new immigrant, woman of color-owned bakery creating high-quality artisanal pastries, cakes, and desserts with a Mexican twist. Dulce Monterrubio opened her storefront in 2018 after selling her pastries at the Linden Hills Farmers Market and other pop-up events. Today, she uses her space to focus on building a community of intersectionality and inclusivity for her customers, employees, and partners all while serving up incredibly delicious Mexican pastries.

Sanchez Brown and Yunuén Ávila, program coordinators of our new Explore Veg Mentor Program have frequented the bakery since its open.

“My wife was born in Mexico and is a proud Mexican woman and she loved every bit of everything they had,” Sanchez wrote of his experience visiting with Yunuén, noting, “They have Conchas, Empanadas, Pan De Muerto, and sooooo much more! They have a bunch of vegan and gluten-free options and everything is AMAZING.”

As her bakery has grown into its new space, Dulce took a trip to Mexico last winter to complete a five-week intensive course at Escuela de Gastronomía Mexicana, a culinary school that focuses on traditional Mexican cuisine, as well as explore the vegan bakery scene in Mexico City.

She’s taken her expertise and run with it, creating innovative twists on classic pastries. Everything in their bakery is clearly labeled as vegan, gluten-free, or otherwise and a large selection of delicious pastries are available daily.

Dulce’s work goes far beyond creating delicious food. “The staff was patient, knowledgeable and insanely kind. They treat every single customer in the same way and I left in a better mood than when I came in,” exclaimed Sanchez. “I recommend this place, not just for the treats, but to experience every facet of the business because it’s all fantastic.”

Every Saturday, Dulceria hosts a pop-up from local businesses that don’t yet have a space of their own. Dulce plans to add lunch items to their regular menu. If you’re looking for a filling sweet or savory treat, try one of their warmed empanadas in store!

Another plus? They take online orders! “Use their website to order anything ahead and they’ll have it all ready for you at the date you choose!” Sanchez added, “Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better!”

Dulceria Bakery is located at 1839 E 42nd Street in Minneapolis. In the winter, they are open 8:00 am – 2:00 pm Wednesday through Sunday and closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Shannon Kimball has been the Program Coordinator of Bridges of Respect since 2005. He became involved with CAA around the time he met Freeman Wicklund, former Program Coordinator of Bridges of Respect, when Freeman came into his store to print and laminate some posters for the program in 1998. Shannon became involved with CAA’s outreach and the Bridges Program gradually, before becoming a Humane Educator in 2003.

“Once I took over as coordinator [in 2005], I could see that I needed to learn all of the presentations and I started to develop a few that we didn’t have,” said Shannon of the transition, which included a focus on growing the program further and reworking some existing presentations. Their focus was on narrowing the presentations down to a strong core of topics that would be sustained by a growing team of volunteers.

Bridges of Respect provides free humane education presentations to schools and community groups of all ages in the Twin Cities metro area. The current Humane Education Team includes Christine Coughlin, Kathy Coughlin, Freeman Wicklund, and Shannon Kimball. The team brought 38 presentations to over 1100 students in 2018, presenting six out of their seven presentation topics. Circle of Compassion, Our Food Our World, Beyond Violence, and Animals in Entertainment were the most popular presentations in 2018.

Thinking Critically

The presentations encourage students to critically think about the use of animals in our society and honoring humanity’s values of compassion, responsibility, mercy, and empathy. Shannon has presented to students from middle school to college and tailors each presentation to the group’s age, curriculum, and amount of time available for the presentation.

“I want to leave people with a sense of urgency without destroying their outlook on the whole world,” said Shannon with a little laugh. “I get kinda tired sometimes of being the bearer of bad news. I can see the looks in some kids faces––no matter what age group I’m with––when they start to get a grasp on the realities of how bad it is out there and that we really do need their help.”

Each presentation Shannon gives ends with a brief overview of plant-based nutrition along with ways to eat more plant-based if the students are interested in giving it a try. This information is typically something students will not receive in class, and if they do, it’s usually a very brief overview. After each presentation, Shannon shares additional resources with students. “We want to be accessible for students who may have further questions and we want to be approachable.”

Shannon makes sure that each presentation ends on a positive note, reminding students that their decisions can make a difference. “I want to make sure that students are empowered and leave happy.”

“We always come back to ethics and compassion as our main message, but we also include health and environmental issues.” Shannon has presented for several health classes and shifts the message to more of a dietary focus. While he’s comfortable answering many of the standard vegan questions like, “Where do you get your protein?” he looks at being asked new questions as an opportunity to learn more and makes sure to have a number of additional resources discussing topics like maintaining a plant-based diet while gluten-free, soy-free, or diabetic. “The best resource I can recommend for these questions is veganhealth.org––there are a number of physicians that are in a better position to answer these questions than I am.”

A Tasty Message

The end of each presentation also includes another favorite: samples of vegan meats, cheeses, and milk. In 2018, Bridges gave shared over one thousand food samples, reaching 570 students. Food samples really help show how easy (and how delicious!) plant-based eating can be.

One of the questions he frequently gets in classes is ‘What about conscientious omnivorey? If we’re nice to animals, isn’t that good enough?’ To which Shannon answers, “Any action is commendable if we’re trying to reduce suffering for animals but it’s more of a milestone than an endpoint. The vegan community has built more infrastructure than conscientious omnivores. What I mean is that if I hop on a plane and ask for a vegetarian or vegan meal, chances are they’ll know what I mean whereas if I said I was a conscientious omnivore they wouldn’t know what I was talking about and that’s because groups like Compassionate Action for Animals have been there building structure and community that makes it easier for people to move in the plant-based direction.”

You can also support CAA’s outreach and longevity by making a donation to our year-end campaign.