What It’s Like to Go Vegan in Iran
Going against a meat-loving culture as a teenager wasn’t always easy, but I made it…
In the south of Iran, people eat chicken, beef, and lamb every day of the week except for Fridays. Friday is the weekend and weekends are reserved for seafood. In my community, animal sacrifice is an essential part of religious ritual and meat is seen as essential element of any meal. Dairy is also an essential part of the Persian cuisine I grew up with.
It can be difficult to be vegan here.
In early 2006, when I was 14, I watched the documentary Earthlings and fully realized for the first time what meat really was and where it came from. I immediately stopped eating it, and I also quit dairy products within days.
Coming out as vegan in Iran
I had made a commitment and wanted to make sure it would be lasting, so I took my new lifestyle seriously. In a region where meat stews and kebabs are ubiquitous and part of everyday life, it’s hard enough to give up meat, let alone dairy too. But it was not impossible.
First, I researched some recipes and nutrition facts backed up by science. It helped a lot to have a few statistics and ideas memorized so I could confidently answer questions like “Where do you get…
