Jacqui and Ryan Robins, of Probus, Cornwall, and their three children say friendships have broken down because of their decision to go vegan
A family say they’ve lost friends and been blanked on the street since they turned vegan .
Jacqui Robins’ decision to go from vegetarian to vegan recently encouraged the rest of her family; dad John, husband Ryan and their three children, to follow suit.
“I saw a video that went into the reality of the dairy industry. I was horrified and straightaway I didn’t want anything to do with the dairy products, because I thought, if I couldn’t cope with watching it happen, but I was buying the product, I was inadvertently funding it,” Jacqui, 44, told Cornwall Live .
“All of the kids have made their own decisions and have recognised why they are vegan. Some parents say ‘you’re not having that and that’, but we wanted the kids to understand why we do it, take on the information and decide for themselves.”
Jacqui and Ryan Robins, and kids Skipp, Skye and Cadan have all turned vegan (
Image:
Cornwall Live WS)
But Jacqui, from Probus, Cornwall, conceded people still remain uneducated about veganism and, as a result, she’s “lost friendships”.
The mum-to-three added: “When I started posting about it and raising awareness, I lost all of my friendships – because they were telling me to be quiet about it.”
Ryan, who is a teaching assistant, said: “There is nothing in schools now to teach kids where their food comes from, how it is slaughtered and the process and all of that kind of stuff.
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“So for me, posting was the most powerful thing I could do, I could get things out on social media for people to see and read.
“I got grief from friends back in the Midlands, where I grew up, saying this is not what Facebook is about, stop with the dead images of animals and share family photos instead.”
A vegan diet contains only plants and foods made from plants, such as vegetables in this mango and quinoa salad (
Image:
Getty Images/Westend61)
Trolls even went as far to tell Ryan he was disrespecting the memory of his father, who was a butcher, and the couple haven’t spoken to Jacqui’s sister in over a year, who she used to be really close to.
Jacqui, who is a nutritionist, said: “There seems to be some kind of divide where people meet vegans with aggression and resistance when you are just trying to raise awareness about practices that people should know about.”
The kids have even been bullied at school.
Skipp, 14, decided to become vegan after watching The Land of Hope and Glory, a documentary about the UK’s farming practices.
The teenager, who claims he regularly has meat waved in his face at school, said: “A dairy farmer’s child argued with me that a calf doesn’t need to be born for milk to be made, and I was made to look stupid because obviously everyone will believe the farmer’s son over me.”
The family, of Cornwall, shared their experiences (
Image:
Cornwall Live WS)
“My friends are supportive but people do view vegans as wanting to take down farmers, and I understand it because farmers are their families.”
Ryan, 37, admitted it was more difficult for him to make the change.
The father, who grew up surrounded by the farming industry and was a frequent visitor to slaughterhouses, said: “Dad was a highly respected farmer and neighbours would bring animals around to be skinned and plucked.
“So it wasn’t abnormal for me to be around dead animals for much of my life. I would help put animals on trailers and get the animals into the slaughterhouses and it was all normal to me.
“I witnessed chickens being killed on the farm, I worked on the turkey line just before Christmas and I always just thought ‘we need animals to be healthy and strong’.”
But after Jacqui’s mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer and Ryan’s father passed away, the teaching assistant decided to change his diet.
A slaughterhouse or abattoir is a facility where animals are killed to provide food for humans (
Image:
X00380)
“I went vegan for health reasons initially, I wanted us and our family to live a life as healthy and as nutritiously as possible, so that we could live as long as possible,” he said.
“Once we had all watched that documentary, it was far easier for us as a family.
“We have united as a family and made that decision”.
“I saw a video that went into the reality of the dairy industry. I was horrified and straightaway I didn’t want anything to do with the dairy products, because I thought, if I couldn’t cope with watching it happen, but I was buying the product, I was inadvertently funding it,” Jacqui, 44, told Cornwall Live .
“All of the kids have made their own decisions and have recognised why they are vegan. Some parents say ‘you’re not having that and that’, but we wanted the kids to understand why we do it, take on the information and decide for themselves.”
Jacqui and Ryan Robins, and kids Skipp, Skye and Cadan have all turned vegan (
Image:
Cornwall Live WS)
Waiter ‘bullied by colleagues for being vegetarian’ loses discrimination case
But Jacqui, from Probus, Cornwall, conceded people still remain uneducated about veganism and, as a result, she’s “lost friendships”.
The mum-to-three added: “When I started posting about it and raising awareness, I lost all of my friendships – because they were telling me to be quiet about it.”
Ryan, who is a teaching assistant, said: “There is nothing in schools now to teach kids where their food comes from, how it is slaughtered and the process and all of that kind of stuff.
If You Own A Mouse, You Will Never Turn Off Your Computer Again.PANZERRUSH
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Sponsored Links
“So for me, posting was the most powerful thing I could do, I could get things out on social media for people to see and read.
“I got grief from friends back in the Midlands, where I grew up, saying this is not what Facebook is about, stop with the dead images of animals and share family photos instead.”
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A vegan diet contains only plants and foods made from plants, such as vegetables in this mango and quinoa salad (
Image:
Getty Images/Westend61)
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Trolls even went as far to tell Ryan he was disrespecting the memory of his father, who was a butcher, and the couple haven’t spoken to Jacqui’s sister in over a year, who she used to be really close to.
Jacqui, who is a nutritionist, said: “There seems to be some kind of divide where people meet vegans with aggression and resistance when you are just trying to raise awareness about practices that people should know about.”
The kids have even been bullied at school.
Skipp, 14, decided to become vegan after watching The Land of Hope and Glory, a documentary about the UK’s farming practices.
The teenager, who claims he regularly has meat waved in his face at school, said: “A dairy farmer’s child argued with me that a calf doesn’t need to be born for milk to be made, and I was made to look stupid because obviously everyone will believe the farmer’s son over me.”
The family, of Cornwall, shared their experiences (
Image:
Cornwall Live WS)
