A Talk With One of the Leaders in the Serbian Vegan Community
Veganism in Serbia:
Today the Serbian vegan community is growing by the day. The passion local Serbian vegans have shown to helping us improve the Serbian guide is truly admirable. We are very grateful!
One of the great things about working with the international vegan community, is that you get to contact and meet people from so many countries and cultures.
We had the pleasure get in touch with Ivana, one of the vegan pioneers in Serbia. She is a well known vegan activist in the Serbian vegan community and founder of the vegan portal: Veganizmija. Her website shares the latest vegan news in the country. As well as many useful tips and information for locals making a transition to veganism.
We asked Ivana to answer a few interesting questions and we are happy to share her answers with you here.
Why Did You Decide to Become Vegan?
I went vegan in 2016. after having a heart to heart talk with an older man that had recently gone vegan. We were talking about dogs and how we both adore animals, when he asked me if I eat meat. I said yes and at that moment a bunch of red flags started going off in my head. It was the first time I ever connected meat and animals. I mean, it’s not that I didn’t know where meat came from, but the way he asked that question and the look he gave me after I said yes made me ACTUALLY connect the two.
He then went on to tell me about his journey. How he cured diabetes type one within 2 months after going vegan, and how we humans don’t actually need animal products to survive and thrive. After that talk, I went home, did some research, and that was it… I was vegan!
Actually, now that I think about it, I was vegan all along, it just took 25 years and that talk in order for me to align my values and my actions.
How did you find the transition to Veganism?
Now, to be honest, the first months of veganism were a struggle. I had no idea what to eat and was practically living on bananas and hummus. I even slipped up a few times and had cheese and non-vegan sweets, but as time went by, being vegan became easy.
I educated myself about vegan foods, as well as the horrors of the meat, dairy and egg industries. After learning those truths, I started doing activism. (Today I’m a proud member of the Anonymous for The Voiceless branch in Novi Sad) and realized how easy it is to convey a vegan message to people who already have compassion in their hearts.
So, in order to reach even more people and make transitioning to veganism easier for them, I decided to launch Veganizmija, a website devoted to all things Vegan in Serbia and the Balkans. There I share the latest vegan news, talk about the best vegan brands and products, and will soon start posting recipes too! At this moment, the site is only in Serbian, but we plan on having an English version too by the end of this year.
I would like to invite all the Veganary visitors to subscribe to our mailing list, as we’re preparing a huge surprise for vegans worldwide… and you REALLY don’t want to miss it! 🙂
