#uglyveganfood cooked in North Borneo

[anajonessy]

Heya! I am a longtime vegan who cooks pretty ugly vegan foods. It's never intentional but it seems likely, after 10 years of veganism, that I have little talent in making my dishes look aesthetically pleasing lol. It doesn't stop me from cooking for others though. My non-vegan partner and friends agree my dishes sometimes look questionable but always delicious haha. I also host various vegan social activities for vegan and non-vegans alike in my hometown, eg. film screenings, picnics, hiking trips, gardening get-togethers, meetups, mentoring, etc.

I have a pretty good amount of time on my hand and (finally!) a steady internet connection, so I am quite pleased to be able to do some vegan online activism and be part of constructive discussions on veganism.

[Red]

Hey ana! I'm sure your cooking is fine; After all, the look doesn't matter if it still tastes good!
Maybe you can study culinary arts?

You seem to be very celebratory of veganism! How long have you been vegan? What is it like living with a nonvegan partner?

[anajonessy]

Hey ana! I'm sure your cooking is fine; After all, the look doesn't matter if it still tastes good!
Maybe you can study culinary arts?

You seem to be very celebratory of veganism! How long have you been vegan? What is it like living with a nonvegan partner?

I am not so sure I will excel in culinary arts but I'm really enjoying watching vegan cooking shows on YouTube, and my all-time favorite is Vegan Black Metal Chef | https://www.youtube.com/user/VeganBlackMetalChef

How long have you been vegan?
I went vegan in 2009, I can't remember the date exactly but I consider January 1 and November 1 as my veganniversaries haha.

What is it like living with a nonvegan partner?
It's alright, he eats mostly lacto-ovo vegetarian but occasionally eats fish or chicken when he is away from home and veg-alternatives are not easily accessible. It breaks my heart a little bit, of course, but he's definitely learning a lot. He attends and participates in various vegan events, he's also our photographer for Anonymous for the Voiceless (local chapter). I consider myself as an abolitionist vegan but I like to take a pragmatic approach when communicating my vegan message.

What about you, Red? (:

[Red]

I am not so sure I will excel in culinary arts but I'm really enjoying watching vegan cooking shows on YouTube, and my all-time favorite is Vegan Black Metal Chef | https://www.youtube.com/user/VeganBlackMetalChef

I'm not familiar with him. Do you often cook what he cooks, using his methods? What type of food does he make?

Also, never doubt your abilities.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right."

What is it like living with a nonvegan partner?
It's alright, he eats mostly lacto-ovo vegetarian but occasionally eats fish or chicken when he is away from home and veg-alternatives are not easily accessible. It breaks my heart a little bit, of course, but he's definitely learning a lot. He attends and participates in various vegan events, he's also our photographer for Anonymous for the Voiceless (local chapter). I consider myself as an abolitionist vegan but I like to take a pragmatic approach when communicating my vegan message.

Oh, well he seems to be a super reducetarian! Much better than eating meat everyday. Did you have a part in him severely cutting down on meat consumption?

And it's good to see you're pragmatic about it; Even getting a few people to cut back on eating meat is better (and often much easier) than getting one person to go vegan. As militant as many of us are, we have to be sane as well.

What about you, Red? (:

Been Vegan for around 4 years now? I completely sucked at it as first (I often went days without eating ) and have had a few slip ups of accidentally eating meat or something with milk or eggs. It just takes a little discipline.

My family eats meat, and it is a pain in the ass to cook my own food, but I've made my parents reduce meat consumption a bit. I don't really feel comfortable discussing veganism with the family.

[Jebus]

Welcome anajonessy, it's always so great seeing vegans from places like Borneo. It shows how veganism is spreading to places many of us would not expect.

Do people around you know that you are an atheist? If so, do you face any difficulty?

What kind of reactions do you get during your Anonymous cubes?

[anajonessy]

@Red

I'm not familiar with him. Do you often cook what he cooks, using his methods? What type of food does he make?

Also, never doubt your abilities.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right."

He cooks a variety of dishes, but I would say a lot of his stuff fall under 'foods everyone should know how to cook category'. I really enjoy watching his cooking videos, I definitely appreciate his Black Metal theatrics lol.

Oh, well he seems to be a super reducetarian! Much better than eating meat everyday. Did you have a part in him severely cutting down on meat consumption?

And it's good to see you're pragmatic about it; Even getting a few people to cut back on eating meat is better (and often much easier) than getting one person to go vegan. As militant as many of us are, we have to be sane as well.

I can't take all the credit haha, he's got his own favorite ethical, environmental and health documentaries. Though I must say, when he requested that we watch Dominion, I was shook! It was so painful to watch. He's definitely making great efforts to reduce and eventually go vegan, hopefully, sooner than later.

Haha yes. I can be quite dogmatic/idealistic depending on which organization I'm representing, eg. Anonymous for the Voiceless or Vegan Outreach. Have you read Tobias Leenaert's How to Create a Vegan World: A Pragmatic Approach? It's such a good read.

Been Vegan for around 4 years now? I completely sucked at it as first (I often went days without eating ) and have had a few slip ups of accidentally eating meat or something with milk or eggs. It just takes a little discipline.

My family eats meat, and it is a pain in the ass to cook my own food, but I've made my parents reduce meat consumption a bit. I don't really feel comfortable discussing veganism with the family.

Haha I can relate! I was an ovo-vegetarian for 2 weeks at uni and ate a lot of instant noodles because I sucked at meal planning. I agree that it takes a bit of discipline to get through stuff, and after a while, it becomes second nature. And the same discipline could be applied to other aspects of our life too.

My late mom and brother ate mostly plant-based, but my other siblings and extended family members are big meat eaters. We're not close so yah, it can get a little bit uncomfortable discussing veganism with them. It's so cool that your parents are reducing their meat consumption too! What was your strategy when you first started getting them to reduce?

[anajonessy]

Welcome anajonessy, it's always so great seeing vegans from places like Borneo. It shows how veganism is spreading to places many of us would not expect.

Do people around you know that you are an atheist? If so, do you face any difficulty?

What kind of reactions do you get during your Anonymous cubes?

At the moment, not enough research is being done on our traditional food culture. But some of the indigenous elders I've met claimed that long before the arrival of Christian missionaries, our tribes ate a plant-based diet. I don't know a lot of vegans in Borneo but we do have many vegetarians. So I get pretty dang excited when I meet fellow vegans from this side of the world. It's a small community, but it's definitely growing!

I identify as either an Atheist or Pantheist, but either way I get a lot of flake and risk getting arrested if it reaches the ears of our religious authorities. Animism, Paganism, Atheism, Pantheism–anything other than mainstream theistic religions are generally accepted and tolerated in Borneo, but less so in Malaysia.

We haven't been able to host a proper Cube of Truth due to legal restrictions, but have successfully hosted a number of public discussions, VR experiences, film screenings, etc. The reception varies from people either go plant-based on the spot or transition to veganism, to people leaving early feeling resentful after expression their opinions and yelling at us. We welcome both feedbacks and use it to improve our outreach approach. How's the reaction like at where you are?

[brimstoneSalad]

Welcome!

I identify as either an Atheist or Pantheist, but either way I get a lot of flake and risk getting arrested if it reaches the ears of our religious authorities.

That's scary. Is it illegal to not believe there? Or an apostasy thing?

I am not so sure I will excel in culinary arts but I'm really enjoying watching vegan cooking shows on YouTube, and my all-time favorite is Vegan Black Metal Chef | https://www.youtube.com/user/VeganBlackMetalChef

I'm not familiar with him. Do you often cook what he cooks, using his methods? What type of food does he make?

His recipes are pretty comfort food. I was disappointed that he dissed ostrovegans, though. On the basis of ganglia.
http://www.bitesizevegan.org/bite-size- ... etal-chef/

[anajonessy]

That's scary. Is it illegal to not believe there? Or an apostasy thing?

A little bit of both. Converting out of a religion is not 'permitted' in a couple of states, but illegal in most in part due to the ever-growing Muslim-Malay sovereignty. I'm based in North Borneo of Malaysia where freedom of religion is celebrated, but we are noticing in the past 5-10 years that the lack of tolerance is slowly creeping in.

His recipes are pretty comfort food. I was disappointed that he dissed ostrovegans, though. On the basis of ganglia.
http://www.bitesizevegan.org/bite-size- ... etal-chef/

Haha yes, I mostly enjoy his theatrics more so than his recipes. My activism has always been a little subtler than others–I encourage non-vegans to do the best they can to reduce suffering and their environmental impact. I feel that Manowitz's is equally passionate in encouraging and critiquing non-vegs, which may be helpful to some and undesirable to others.