The San Diego Puppet Insurgency

Though people may come together around a common cause, their backgrounds can vary as widely as their lifestyles — everywhere from Italy to Vietnam. One website is displaying the beautiful faces of veggie people to reflect that diversity among people who share a passion. The People Project is part of The Vegan Voice, which encourages activism through small, simple changes.

The site is run by Amanda and Ed Smith, both vegan for about five years. Amanda read The China Study and some other books and found once they stopped eating dairy, their son’s life-threatening asthma disappeared. Ed went from a meat-eater to vegan overnight after reading The China Study.

The People Project nicely displays photos of vegan individuals, along with where they live — which is not only in liberal places like Berkeley — and typically lists their career, political party, reasons for being vegan, and how long they have been vegan. Hopefully some more folks living outside the U.S. will create a profile soon to better reflect our global vegan community.

“I never knew any other vegans when I became one. Some people don’t know who we are, and many preconceived notions exist. Those considering veganism can see who we are, and isolated vegans out there can see that they are not alone,” said Amanda.

Stephanie Redcross (left) and myself

Veggies do not come from one racial or cultural background. Stephanie Redcross (pictured) is one of many active African-American vegetarians. Redcross runs Vegan Mainstream, a marketing company for vegan businesses.

While I cannot claim the people in the The San Diego Puppet Insurgency are vegetarians or vegans, in my book anyone who dresses as a vegetable and educates others on the merits of eating organic, avoiding GMOS, etc., reflects the wonderfully creative potential of activism today. I look forward to seeing what comes next as we pave our way toward a healthier world filled with more veggie people.