Ben & Emily Lyman

Ben and Emily are brother and sister from Skowhegan. Ben is studying secondary education at UMF. Ben is very involved and concerned about climate change. Emily is a junior in high school and she wants to be a human and animal rights activist.

1. How long have you been vegan? Ben-August 23, 2017. Emily-2018 was vegetarian and January 1, 2019 became vegan.

2. What made you decide to go vegan? Ben-It was a process and doing a bunch of research. There was a vegan character in a movie I liked and that prompted my curiosity. Scott Pilgrim vs the world. Emily-Ben is my best friend and I copy everything he does. I thought I could do this because I was vegetarian. Ben showed me Cowspiracy and I had to give up dairy.

3. What are the benefits eating vegan have done for you? Ben-Happier and more educated. Emily-Mentally making a change in the world and feel better about myself. Physically not so much because I was already vegetarian.

4. What did you find to be the biggest challenge of eating vegan? Ben- Dealing with family members who didn’t understand why I was doing this. I started a club at UMF Animal Justice League to raise awareness. Movie screening Dominion. Emily-Family, peers, and friends at school. I am singled out as the vegan and hard to deal with their comments. I cry after school. They will say things like extremist, your not going to make a difference with your options, don’t eat hotdogs more for me, and sad about dogs than eat a hamburger.

5. What are your go to foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Ben-Breakfast-Peanut butter toast and chia seeds. Lunch-Noodles and veggies with sauces. Dinner-Pasta, chop suey, chicken alfredo. Emily-Dairy free yogurt, fruit, and granola. Lunch-Frozen berries, soy milk, and granola bar. Dinner-Pizza with veggies no cheese. I buy it.

6. Do you have a favorite cookbook, tip or recipe to share? Popcorn-Orville simply salted and most cliff bars. We both live at home and cook our own meals. Mom likes vegan Thai and always wants to go for it. Dad has dairy farm. Ben go listen to James Aspey speak the best speech you will ever hear. Emily makes vegan cakes for the people at school. Skowhegan is changing offering more vegetarian food. Ed Winters on you tube. August 1st protest and September 27th Earth Strike

WEBSITE: Ben’s- earthstrike.com Emily’s instagram- leafeatingemily

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