Welcome to Certified Vegan

Hi! I’m Melissa, nice to meet you. Thanks for taking the time to read my newly launched vegan/sustainable blog here on Patch. Some of you may already know me, as I have contributed to various Patch sites since October 2010. I am excited to venture into the ‘blogosphere’ and let loose of all these highly subjective opinions into their appropriate space. And where best to do so than in a blog?

Personally, I’m not a big fan of blogs. I’m a skeptic by nature, but I’m willing to professionally give it a shot. So, here it goes!

This blog has two intentions: to bring more awareness to a sustainable lifestyle and to explore the trials and tribulations of eating vegan in a agriculturally driven region, rich with meat and dairy farms, and of course, to add my anecdotal tokens of vegan knowledge. 

I have actively been a vegetarian since high school, pledging away meat products after I woke up one morning and simply said ‘no more.’

When I lived in Cape Town, South Africa, for seven months in 2009, I found myself becoming more adherent to a plant-based diet, to living off of the land and to learning the healthier ways to enhance my life with what Earth has provided. I returned to New York with a passion that I never knew I had. I moved to Maryland in July 2010, where I have been scouting for vegan-friendly restaurants, experimenting with different cooking techniques and slowly but surely, turning my boyfriend against bacon. 

 Many are skeptical of this diet, or lifestyle, or mania, or whatever you would like to label it. Since I’m not a fan of labels, I like to think of veganism as a choice, as a dimension in your life no different than deciding how you take your coffee.

The arguments against veganism are grand, citing malnutrition, anorexia, bulimia, or other related food/psychological disorders. I hope that through this blog, I will provide well-researched information in order to dispel most of those myths, and maybe a few of you will reconsider what you put into your bodies and the consequences of such.

 I will be discussing books I am currently reading and articles I stumble upon, conversing with other vegans and providing the occasional recipe. After all, cooking is a passion of mine, and let’s face it, you cannot be a healthy vegan without knowledgably preparing your own meals.

While you, my dear reader, may not want to say 'adios' to dairy and meat all together, you can tread a bit lighter on our Earth by learning easy ways from yours truly on how to preserve our planet. So let’s venture into this blog together. Let’s disagree. Let’s discuss and banter about the social, cultural, and even political “lifestyle choice” that is veganism.