For Tufts students whose lives are heavily impacted by their decision to follow a vegan diet, the expression "You are what you eat" could not hold more true.
In a nation whose traditional diet is largely based around meat, Tufts vegans choose to sacrifice nutritional and even social options in the name of environmental and social causes.
Like vegetarians, vegans do not eat meat, but they also refrain from eating foods made from animal products such as milk and eggs. According to Sara Folta, who is a project manager for Tufts' John Hancock Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition, a vegan diet can have both risks and benefits.
"[A vegan diet] has the potential to be a very healthy diet. It is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. It can lower cancer risk, improve heart health or even help weight control, and it has the potential to be extremely beneficial," Folta said.
There are some potential difficulties that come with a vegan diet, however.
"Some of the drawbacks are that it can be hard to follow and that you have to be careful to get good nutrition, particularly vitamin B-12," Folta said.
B-12 is found only in animal foods, Folta explained, so vegans must take a supplement in order to get the vitamin.
But these limitations did not deter sophomore Marie Benkley, who became a vegan for animal rights and environmental reasons in college.
"I don't think it's difficult to be vegan," Benkley said. "I think people have this misconception that it's really hard to be vegan, but the misconception comes from the fact that our society is very meat-based."
Graduate student Jason Ketola became a vegan at age 16 when he visited a biomedical research lab and witnessed a rat let out a scream as it was being sedated.
"I had a very visceral response to that," he said.
He explained that a vegan diet does take more work to follow, but the lack of convenience can have a positive side.
"I think it's easy, but it's certainly not as easy as eating an omnivore's diet in modern society," Ketola said.
Ketola explained that being a vegan means sacrificing convenience. "You can't walk into just any restaurant and expect a huge variety of options," he said. "But in Boston most places are going to have at least one vegan option and there are some exclusively vegan restaurants as well. It causes you to be more intentional about your food choices, and most of the vegans I know practice careful nutrition, whereas most people that aren't choose convenience."
Sophomore Emily Rockwell became a vegan for environmental reasons. Though the diet took some getting used to, she said it is important that what she eats reflect her beliefs more than her cravings.
"It was hard for maybe the first couple months, but after that it just becomes a habit. I don't even look at other foods that I don't eat. I'm eating a diet that follows my values about the environment and consuming less, and I feel very healthy eating it," she said.
While the dining halls offer options to make following a vegan diet easier, Benkley feels she is not getting the most from her meal plan. Though Dining Services requires all sophomores to have a meal plan, not all of the Tufts dining facilities offer vegan options.
"I give credit to Tufts for labeling and having the [vegetarian and vegan] section," she said. "It's really helpful, and it could be great if they expanded it and had more variety. [But] none of the restaurants on MOPS have vegan options, and at Hotung, nothing is vegan, and everything is pre-made, so I have all these dining dollars and nothing to spend them on."
With the difficulties of finding food that fits the vegan diet, meat-lovers and dairy devotees are often surprised at the trouble vegans will go to in order to maintain the diet.
"I feel like people think of it as being really extreme, and usually when I talk to people, they say 'Oh, I respect you for doing that but I could never do it myself; I like meat or dairy too much,'" Benkley said.
Benkley believes, however, the sacrifices are not as hard if there is passion behind them. "If they really cared about the issues they'd realize that it's worth it and really not that hard," she said.
Ketola said he usually gets two types of responses when someone discovers he is vegan: awe or defensiveness. He sees these reactions, however, as a way to explain his motivations for becoming a vegan.
"I've been involved in a lot of animal protection activism for a number of years, and a central piece of that is educating others about veganism. Some of my friends and even relatives have become vegan," he said. "I do feel morally committed to spreading the idea, but I don't see it as an issue of wanting to promote veganism. I want to reduce harm and suffering in the world, and there are a lot of other ways to do that. I promote veganism within the greater context of helping people and animals," he said.
Rockwell said that she has faced some negative reactions, even from other vegans, for not espousing this same activist approach to her veganism.
"I feel like I'm not the typical vegan because I'm not really doing it for animal rights reasons. I don't think of it as a strong part of who I am. It's just one of the things I do," Rockwell said.
Many vegans do see the activism as a necessary part to the vegan lifestyle. Both Benkley and Ketola are both members of the Boston Vegan Association, and both feel that activism is an important aspect of their diet and lifestyle.
"I personally associate [veganism] with people who really do care about environmental welfare and animal welfare," Benkley said. "If you're vegan, you need to be informed and passionate and be an activist."
Because their diet is a reflection of a greater value system, some vegans search for friends and dating partners who are also vegan. A recent article in the New York Times described the phenomenon of "vegansexuals" and couples who are divided by their choice of diet.
Ketola, who has dated both vegans and non-vegans, said that he feels the so-called "vegansexual phenomenon" is really a misnomer.
"Like anybody else, I like having things in common with people I'm dating," he said. "I think it makes perfect sense that someone who is vegan would feel comfortable with someone else who is vegan, just as someone of one religion would want to be with someone of the same religion."
Benkley became a vegan at the same time as her last boyfriend, and she said that she now considers whether someone is vegan when looking for a relationship.
"It was nice because [my boyfriend and I] both discovered veganism, and learned about it and got into it together," Benkley said. "At this point it's something that I believe in so strongly that I think it wouldn't necessarily be a deal-breaker, but it would be difficult for me to be in relationship with someone who wasn't a vegan. It's just another big ideological issue, and it would be hard for me to connect with someone who didn't share those values."
