We are launching a new section of Animal Classroom, in this case with an interview with Cathy and her daughter Annie Cass, a young English woman who was raised to respect animals from birth.
Currently, the two are working together to create an animal sanctuary, which will also be an educational project to promote respect among the most disadvantaged people in society.
ANIMAL CLASS:¿Por qué decidisteis criar a vuestra hija de forma vegana?
CATHY:Tanto Paul como yo éramos veganos y activistas por los derechos de los animales. Para nosotros era importante desarrollar la compasión en Annie y que nuestra familia fuese vegana. Pero también creemos que no se pueden forzar los valores propios en otra persona, y por eso Annie siempre tuvo la oportunidad de tomar otro camino.
AA: How did you explain to him the reasons for not using animal products? Did he understand?
C: Dado que Annie creció siendo vegana, estas ideas estuvieron siempre presentes. Una vez, cuando tenía tres años, adelantamos un camión cargado con ovejas y nos preguntó a dónde las llevaban. Le respondí que las llevaban al mercado y cuando me preguntó por qué le respondí con cuidado que hay personas que comen ovejas. Me miró extrañada como si fuese la idea más absurda que hubiese oído nunca, como si le hubiese sugerido comernos a sus perros.
At school, we made sure she had a vegan option when the other students brought cakes, but it was always her choice, and we never made her feel guilty. When she was little, before she understood where ingredients came from, she tried ice cream made from milk, a sponge cake, and a chocolate bar, but she has never tasted meat. When she was five, she was offered a cake at a friend's birthday party, and on the way home, she opened it and asked me what it was made of. I told her it was margarine and eggs. She said she was going to eat it, but then she said, "I don't want it, I'm vegan," and gave it to a dog. Annie has been vegan by choice ever since.
AA: Have you had any problems with other parents, relatives, or teachers who thought you were imposing your ideas on your daughter?
C: No, mi familia sintió en ocasiones que Annie podía ser excluida, pero nosotros siempre les explicamos que les habíamos expuesto a sus profesores nuestro punto de vista. En la escuela primaria Annie tuvo una cocinera llamada Mrs Wheeler que se tomó el veganismo de Annie muy en serio. La comida de Annie siempre era mucho mejor que la del resto de compañeros y tuvo cuidado de proporcionar a Annie una alternativa vegana lo más cercana posible a la restante, como pudding de arroz, hamburguesas veganas, etc. Annie celebraba su cumpleaños todos los años y todos sus compañeros venían. Siempre se acababa la comida. Dejamos claro que éramos una familia normal -especialmente cuando entrábamos en contacto con la escuela- para asegurarnos ser tomados en serio.
AA: You allowed your daughter to be part of a television program that showed the difference between the education Annie received and that of a child raised in a hunting family. Why do you think it's better to teach your children to respect animals, rather than teaching them to hunt?
C: Todos educamos a nuestros hijos de acuerdo con nuestros valores pero, ¿quiénes somos nosotros para decidir qué valores son mejores que otros? Creo que la fuerza de nuestro enfoque era que a pesar de tener una visión muy apasionada nosotros no tratamos de forzar nuestras ideas en Annie o hacerle un lavado de cerebro. Simplemente la guiamos con el amor y la compasión que extendemos a todos los seres vivos.
We were frequently asked if it would bother us if she rejected these ideas, but we felt she wasn't going to rebel against something that hadn't been imposed on her. For her, all vegans were part of her family, and that gave her a lot of strength.
AA: Any advice for future parents who want to raise their children vegan?
C: No hagáis que vuestros hijos se sientan culpables. Deben recibir vuestro amor independientemente de las decisiones que toman. Si les mostráis cuidadosamente por qué lleváis una forma de vida compasiva, encontrarán su sitio en ella. Dialoga con las escuelas y los profesores. No tiene sentido enfrentarse a ellos. Si los profesores te respetan, respetarán tu forma de pensar.
ANIMAL CLASS: When you were little, did you ever feel excluded by other children for being vegan?
ANNIE: Me hacen esta pregunta con bastante frecuencia, ya que a veces los niños rechazan a quienes son diferentes. Pero yo nunca me sentí marginada o aislada por ser vegana. Lógicamente he escuchado comentarios despectivos, pero siempre he tenido claro por qué era vegana y me he sentido orgullosa de serlo. Esto hacía que los comentarios no me afectaran y generalmente era capaz de cambiar la forma de pensar de la otra persona. Su opinión sobre mí no me afectaba. Mi punto de vista era lo que me afectaba.
Because of my beliefs in respecting all forms of life, whenever I saw bullying or exclusion of other students, I always stood up for the victim. This made me seem like a strong person who wasn't afraid to fight for what I believed in, and I was respected for it.
Regarding food, I was very lucky because the menu provided by the primary school was fantastic. I think the cook enjoyed trying new things, and thanks to that, my meals were always much more interesting and tastier than those of my classmates. This helped other students understand that vegans can eat very well, but it also meant that I didn't feel envious of the others or isolated, because food is very important to vegans!
I was never affected by peer pressure or encouragement from my friends to eat meat. My friends at school were very important to me and I loved them dearly; veganism was never a barrier, but for me, veganism was and will always be fundamental in my life.
Besides my "normal" friends from school, I also had friends outside of school who were vegan and older than me. This meant I never felt alone, as I've always had a larger group of friends outside of school who thought like me.
AA: How did your teachers and classmates react when you told them you were vegan?
A: La reacción más habitual era la de confusión, porque no entendían qué era ser vegano o porque tenían prejuicios contra el veganismo. La respuesta más habitual era: “¿de dónde obtienes las proteínas?”, “¿no comes chocolate?”, “nunca podría ser vegano, el chocolate me gusta demasiado” Y en la escuela primaria, “soy casi vegana excepto porque como pollo y peces”.
AA: Besides being raised vegan, you were taken to demonstrations and rallies against animal exploitation. What memories do you have of those protests?
A: Eran algo muy habitual desde que era muy pequeña. Como he dicho antes, algunas experiencias que para otras personas serían estresantes, para mi no suponían un esfuerzo porque tenía unas ideas muy claras al respecto. Esta forma de pensar era la fuerza que me hacía tratar de promover una forma de vida ética y elevar mi voz frente a lo que consideraba injusto.
AA: Did you ever tell your parents that you didn't want to be vegan?
A: Nunca les dije a mis padres que quisiese dejar de ser vegana. Nunca se me ha pasado por la cabeza. Algunas personas me preguntan que por qué sigo siendo vegana, siendo que otros niños criados como veganos han empezado a comer carne al ser adultos. Creo que la única relación madura que siempre he tenido con mis padres ha sido la razón. Mis padres siempre han fomentado una relación basada en la comunicación y la mente abierta. Mientras que otros niños veganos se han “rebelado” y han comenzado a comer carne, yo nunca lo he considerado.
Growing up, veganism never hurt me; it was something I was proud of. People always assume that if a child is vegan, it's because their parents made that decision. In my case, that was never true. Until I was five, I was vegan, obviously because of my parents' decision, but when I was five, I remember my mother telling me, "Annie, from now on, being vegan will be your decision. I won't cook or buy you meat, but if you ever want to stop being vegan, it will be your decision, and I'll love you just the same." At five, unable to evaluate my own decisions, I remember trusting my mother and deciding to remain vegan until she changed her mind.
This continued throughout my childhood. When I saw something in a store that wasn't vegan and asked for it, my mother would reply, "If you want it, you can have it, but it has milk or meat in it." She wasn't trying to make me feel guilty, and she never gave me a full lecture about what consuming that product entailed. She was simply being honest, while also allowing me to make the sensible decision based on reality, not ignorance. Knowing that some of the ingredients came from animals, which I considered my equals, I always chose not to eat that product.
This way of thinking was part of my adolescence and is still part of me now that I'm an adult. Thanks to the ethical responsibility instilled in me by my parents from a young age, I have the tools to feel comfortable and proud to be vegan.
My parents also always strived to be as normal a family as possible; to not be something "different" or "strange." This way, I always felt included.
People often ask me if I've ever rebelled against veganism or "cheated" to sneak in an animal product. My answer is the same as when they ask why I've always been vegan: "I have nothing to rebel against." My parents weren't the typical boring parents many of my friends had. They were people I admired. Metaphorically speaking, my parents were never a wall I had to run up against because they never told me what to do. They simply informed me and allowed me to make my own mistakes. Instead of telling me what to do, I was responsible for my right and wrong decisions. So, if I had rebelled against anything, it would have been against my own way of thinking, which obviously wouldn't have worked.
Veganism is my choice, my decision, my ethics, my beliefs. If I were to "cheat," aside from betraying the animals, I would only have disappointed myself. Being true to myself and my opinion of myself is more important to me than what others think of me. My beliefs run deep within me, so if I had "cheated," I would have lost all respect for myself.
AA: What memories do you have about that television program you participated in as a child?
A: Creo que siempre es bueno proporcionarle al mundo una cara y una personalidad a la palabra “vegana” para que puedan comprender que todas las personas pueden ser veganas y seguir siendo “normales”. Otro aspecto bueno fue que me grabaron en el colegio. Al ver que la televisión estaba interesada en el veganismo, todo el colegio vio el veganismo como algo positivo y popular. El hecho de ver en la tele a una niña hablando de veganismo también ayudó a que otros niños comprendiesen qué es eso.
AA: Now that you're an adult, what would you say to your parents about raising you as a vegan?
A: Les diría que he tenido una infancia perfecta y que no podría haber sido mejor. El veganismo ha traído mucha fuerza, orgullo y energía a mi vida y mi persona. Creo que para ser completamente feliz tienes que estar a gusto y orgullosa de quién eres y yo siento eso de mí misma.
Important ideas and qualities like respect, which veganism promotes, have permeated every aspect of my life. Therefore, I treat people with respect and fight for what is right and moral for everyone, not just animals.
AA: What advice would you give to a teacher who has a vegan student?
A: Si el colegio tiene que proporcionar alimento a un vegano siempre le diría que es muy importante que se aseguren de que su comida sea tan buena como la del resto. No sólo para que los demás compañeros no lo desprecien, sino también porque se merece algo mejor que simplemente ensaladas.
They also need to understand that veganism is an important part of who they are as people and something very valuable and important to them. Talk to him about it. It will help to hear what he has to say, and you'll learn new things.
A CATHY Y A ANNIE
ANIMAL CLASSROOM: You are working together on a project called “Beacon Life And Learning Centre”. What is it about? Does it have an educational purpose?
ANNIE: Además de ser un santuario de animales, el Centro Beacon tiene como objetivo la educación y el fomento de una vida ética y sana. Este santuario será el hogar de cientos de animales rescatados que necesitan un lugar seguro para vivir el resto de sus vidas sin miedo a la violencia.
It will also provide schoolchildren and vulnerable individuals, such as juvenile delinquents or children with learning difficulties, with the opportunity to learn about the animals they encounter, as well as their origins and past. This will not only be therapeutic for both humans and animals through interaction, but will also offer us the opportunity to explain the realities behind industries like meat and dairy. We believe that through education and understanding the realities of the lives of millions of animals, people can make informed decisions about the lives they want to lead.
CATHY: Es un centro educativo basado en el respeto hacia todos los seres vivos sin importar su estatus, inteligencia, capacidades, pasado o especie. Tratamos de ofrecer oportunidades de aprender a personas procedentes de los sectores más marginales de nuestra sociedad, basándonos en la compasión y en los principios del vegetarianismo y el veganismo. Vamos a tratar de adquirir las instalaciones a lo largo del 2012. Puedes encontrar más información en la página web (http://www.beaconlifeandlearning.org/).