Most people do not have to think twice about what they want to eat and what ingredients their food may contain. It is easy to go to a restaurant and order anything off the menu. 

For vegans and vegetarians, it’s a whole different story. 

More teens are becoming vegans and vegetarians as this new lifestyle has become very popular with many celebrities.

 For others, they chose to make this decision for the rights of animals by choosing to exclude meat from their diet. 

Junior Caroline Pack has been vegan now for two years. 

Animal rights have always been a passion of hers, which led her to make the decision to not only put aside meat, but also any products made from animals. 

“I became vegan because I really care about animals and animal rights, and I think it is important that they have some sense of a voice, even though they are voiceless,” Pack said. 

“Veganism isn’t just a diet, it’s more of a lifestyle of consciously excluding all animal products from your diet in addition to choosing not to wear any wool, leather, or fur and not using any makeup products that have been tested on animals.” 

Pack’s love for cooking came from her decision to be a vegan. 

Because of this, she has to be careful of all the ingredients she uses. She has discovered multiple recipes and has even created a few of her own. 

“At first it was difficult to transition [to become vegan] because when people are first learning to cook, making meat is a staple and adding dairy to things is an easy way to make food taste good,” Pack said. 

“But once you start practicing, vegan cooking it is really fun and has become a part of my life,” said Pack. 

One staff member in particular, math teacher Leanne Nemeth, made the choice to become a vegetarian. 

As the advisor of the vegetarian club on campus, she is also passionate about animals and has never enjoyed the taste of meat. 

“When I was an adult I found barbecue trash, and what I mean by that is that we had neighbors from the South Pacific. I was watering my plants in the front yard and saw some trash, so I grabbed a bag and realized it was a pig head with empty eye sockets,” Nemeth said. 

“That was very traumatizing. I went into my house and I felt like I was going to throw up. I laid down on my bed and made the decision to never eat meat again.” 

Becoming vegetarian had a positive effect on Nemeth’s life. 

This recognition allowed Nemeth to discover the type of cuisine that appealed to her most. 

“I spend most of the time I can cooking and coming up with recipes. But there can even be vegetarian recipes that you have to be aware of because they might have a certain sauce that contains ingredients not vegetarian,” said Nemeth. 

Junior Alexa Lampe has been vegan for three years and started when her eighth grade science teacher inspired her. 

“As I did research on why so many people were becoming vegan, I asked my science teacher in eighth grade because she had openly told us she was vegan. I asked her if I could meet with her at lunch and ask questions about it, and she was so helpful and sweet,” Lampe said. 

“I remember she made me an example of her diet plan she usually eats in a day, and it counted up all the nutrition she gets in a day,” said Lampe. 

At first, Lampe did not become vegan right away. 

She still continued with her own research and watched a documentary that inspired her to become vegetarian, and later transition to veganism. 

“I watched a documentary, and immediately after I became a vegetarian because just the thought of eating meat again after knowing what happens to animals and where you get your food is just crazy to me,” said Lampe. 

“Gradually over time, I became vegan because I didn’t want to wait to help the animals.”

Lampe encourages anyone with questions for concerns about becoming vegetarian to come ask her. 

She loves to educate people about the topic but does not pressure her peers to do the same as her, because it is a personal choice.