Being mostly raised in and around the greater Boston area, Iv’e had a lot of time to explore my surroundings, 25 years to be exact!
I went vegan officially in October of 2016. Everywhere I go, I always TAKE PICTURES! One day I realized that my experienced in this city could have an impact in some shape/form so I started uploading my photos of food to Google Maps. Not only do they help others because we eat with our eyes , but it also normalizes the fact that it’s okay to be vegan. It’s okay to go to a restaurant and order something different than what everyone else is having. It’s okay to deviate from the rest of the crowd.
It’s also a big help to others who are vegan to Google places where they can eat-out and see photos and reviews of a fellow environmentalist sharing their experience. How do I know? Because I also use Google for everything. Especially when I travel to a new place.
The more people see that their neighbor, father, sister, uncle, co-worker, teacher, etc are vegan (or just trying new things), the more and more veganism will be normalized in society until it doesn’t scare them anymore. Because veganism has such a big stigma around it, the more unattainable it seems for individuals, or so I hypothesize. I feel like a small steeping stone in the grand scheme of the vegan movement when I share my local Go-To’s in the Boston area because it puts the vegan options (which are already so limited) on the map, and hopefully increases the demand for more options as time goes on. Veganism isn’t a scary thing, it’s just eating fruits and veggies and grains and legumes, and greens, without the innocent commodities which most of us already do, so why not take it a step further and cut out unnecessary death and suffering while making the world a better place?!
I feel like a part of something bigger when I know that I can make an impact, even when it is a small decision of an individual making a choice for their next meal, because our lives consist of many meals in our lifetimes.
So with this post, I encourage others out there who are like me to share your yummy photos and great reviews of vegan places and vegan options around our city of Boston (and anywhere!) in hopes of making a positive influence of the world. It’s the least we can do!
For the environment, for the animals, and for our health!
