Untamed Vegan: An Interview with Doug McNish

How long have you been a vegan?

I’ve been vegan for one year and four months. I was vegetarian for seven months before than.

What led you to become first a vegetarian, and then a vegan? Was there a particular moment that made you change your outlook?

I actually made the transition while working the grill at the Air Canada Centre. My co-workers thought I was crazy, cooking hundreds of steaks a day while becoming a vegetarian. But I was really unhappy at the time – overweight, and unhealthy, and just depressed. And one day, I visited a friend of mine, a beautiful girl, and she showed me this video that had just the most horrible cruelties you could ever see – things like workers punching cows in the face, and other really terrible things. It convinced me that I needed to do something to make a change in my life. And when I did make that change, I just became a much happier person, so I continued with it. I lost a lot of weight – I also started working out at the time – and my mood changed, as well.

How did the tattooing start?

I walk around a lot, leafletting, giving out literature and trying to talk to people about a healthy vegan lifestyle; and I thought this would be a great way to talk about veganism with other people. There’s no better way to start a conversation with someone than by having a big, colourful tattoo of vegetables on your arm, or a big, beautiful cow on your shoulder saying, “How about if I eat you?!”

Do you feel a part of a community of vegans and vegetarians?

Yes, definitely, like attracts like – the same as with musical tastes – and I do spend time with friends who have the same ideas as me. At the same time, it is sometimes nice to break away, and not focus on the horrors of meat consumption.

Do you feel that that community is evolving and growing?

Yes, it is growing, especially over the past two years, along with the green movement. Also, people are realizing that veganism is not such an extreme position, that it is actually much healthier than a meat-eating diet. You can still obtain every single necessary nutrient. There’s a huge industry with billions of dollars being made on the production of meat, and it’s all unnecessary. With veganism, all you’re really doing is cutting out the middleman in the equation, which is the animal. The movement is going to get stronger and bigger, both for reasons of animal rights and the environment.

If you were to make one meal to convince someone to give up meat and become vegetarian or vegan, what would it be?

Right now, it would be crispy southern-fried tofu with tahini creamed kale and maple quinoa. But honestly, you don’t need to become vegan immediately; in fact, it’ll take a while for your body to adjust to living without meat, so I’d recommend making the transition slowly.

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