As The Official Animal Rights March is this Saturday, I wanted to show you why activism is so important and why coming to the march is one of the least things you can do. Please read my interview with Ricardo Viana and get inspired to make history! Do I see you there?!
When I was visiting the Vegan Festival in Southampton, I met Ricardo Viana. Or actually, we didn’t really meet, I looked him up when I was back home. I did this, because I saw him speaking about veganism. Even though I missed almost all of the speech, I wanted to know more about him and his reason to become a vegan activist. He happily agreed on doing a little interview and so I found myself driving back to Southampton the following Friday. It was so easy to interview him, because he instantly knew his answer to every question. I wanted to share this with you, to make you understand the importance of speaking up.
Ricardo was born in Santo Tirso, Portugal, in 1994, but he came to the UK in 2017. He now is a vegan activist, mostly in Southampton. He does a lot for the Anonymous for the Voiceless. Here is why and how he became vegan and decided to fight for animal rights:
How did you come into contact with veganism?
After 6 months of being a vegetarian, I came across a video on Facebook. The video was called ‘Why Vegetarians Should Go Vegan‘, by ‘The Vegan Activist’. Within minutes I realised that vegan values were the same as my personal values. Being vegan made so much sense, because it meant that I’d be true to myself. So I instantly became vegan.
What is your main reason to be vegan?
I went vegan, first of all, for the animals. Later I learned that it is also better for the environment, for my health, that you save water and that it’s better for wildlife etc. There are so many pros and no cons at all. I said to myself that being vegan is the best thing I could do.
What means veganism to you?
To be the best version of ourselves, in the best way possible! For ourselves, the animals and the planet. To not inflict any harm, because if we can choose not to harm, why would we? Veganism is showing compassion and kindness to every living thing that exist.
What is the hardest part about being vegan?
The negative comments I receive. Especially from family and friends. It’s hard to hear it from them, because it always makes me question ‘Why is this even a question?’ and ‘Why is being vegan weird in their eyes?’. You want the people you love most to be vegan too or to at least understand veganism.
Do you miss anything that isn’t vegan?
Back in Portugal, there is a sandwich called Francesinha (Little French). It originally comes from Porto and it’s the best sandwich in the world. It’s made with different layers of bread and fillings; bread, different kinds of meat, bread, eggs, bread again and then melted cheese. It’s surrounded by fries and there is also a special Francesinha sauce. As you can see, it’s not vegan at all, but luckily, a lot of restaurants offer a vegan version now. It’s made with mock meat mostly or with mushrooms or anything really. There are different versions nowadays. It really tastes so similar to the original one and I always eat it whenever I’m back in Portugal.
When did you decide to become an activist?
The idea came in November 2017, after watching videos from Earthling Ed. Then one day I was walking on the street and there was an ‘Anonymous of the Voiceless’ demonstration going on. A girl came to talk to me, trying to talk to me about veganism. I told her I was vegan already, but that I would like to become a part of activism as well. She directed me and in January I got the chance to do my first thing.
What was your first thing as an activist?
I did a ‘Cube of Truth’ with Earthling Ed, in Portsmouth. It was amazing! I talked to Ed and I told him he inspired me to become a vegan activist. It was a really nice experience. At first I started in the cube, but later on I swapped with somebody, so I could talk to the people too. Before actually talking to people by myself, I shadowed with Ed. Then the very first time I talked to someone by myself it was quite hard, because the man I talked to was very defensive. Of course I didn’t give up and luckily the conversations I had later on, went really well.
How important is activism?
In my opinion activism is very important! Not only vegan activism, but every kind of activism. When you believe in something, you should fight for it. So it doesn’t matter if it’s for animal rights, woman rights.. anything really. If you think something needs more attention, then you should make an effort.
If we share the vegan word, if we plant more seeds and change people’s mind, we have supply and demand. Supermarkets and restaurants will have to change, because there is a demand. If we can change the supply and demand, we can change everything and that is how the world becomes a vegan world. It’s the least that we can do for the animals, the planet and ourselves!
How do you deal with negative people?
What we have to remember in activism (and not only in activism), is that if we transmit a negative energy back to the people who are rude or negative, we are not only giving them something that they will use against you, but we are also not showing the whole point of veganism. Veganism stands for compassion and kindness to everyone. I always suggest that you cut evil when you receive some. I take the negative comment and then answer it in the most positive way that I can, so the public can see that I’m not against them. I don’t see them as the enemy, I just want to help. A lot of the people have a very good response to that.
Do you have specific goals?
The ultimate goal is obviously to make the world vegan. Something I would like to see short-term, is more vegan restaurants in Southampton. At the moment there is only one in the centre.
What is an easy, but effective way to spread the message, that everybody can do?
Every little thing you share about veganism, is already doing activism. Like simply sharing vegan videos, pictures and mentioning veganism in conversations. Talk about veganism with other people. This all is more like passive activism, but it is always helpful. Always do whatever you can!
Who and or what is your biggest inspiration?
My biggest inspiration for sure, is Earthling Ed! I look at him with so much similarity. If I have to recommend videos to someone, I recommend his videos. He is really on the right track. I look at him as a mentor. He does what I want to do.
Is there anything you want to add to this?
To those who are not vegan (yet), I would like to say: please look into veganism. If you have doubts about veganism for health, then watch ‘What The Health’. If you have doubts regarding the environment, watch ‘Cowspiracy’. If you never thought about veganism at all, then do some research for yourself and make your own conclusion.
To those who are vegan already I would like to say: If you want to see a vegan world, see more vegan options and if you want a less pain inflicted world (it doesn’t matter for what reason you’re vegan), then fight for your lifestyle. Think about vegan activism, do it, because it’s the least we can do!
I hope that this inspired you to look into veganism more and/or to speak up about veganism! If you can and want to do more into the world of activism, please look into it as well. Maybe there is already something being organised close to where you live or maybe you can set up something yourself. Make your voice heard for the ones that can’t speak for themselves!
I want to thank Ricardo for doing this interview with me and for being so inspiring and brave. You are somebody I admire a lot. You are making a change. Also, you are one of the nicest persons I ever met. Thank you so much for answering the questions with so much love, compassion and enthusiasm. Your heart is definitely in the right place! You are changing the world and I hope you’ll witness the day that the world is a vegan world.
Did this interview inspire you and would you like more information on how to get involved? Do you have questions about going vegan or anything else.. please contact me! I would also love to see your activism pictures and read your stories about how you are making this world a better place. You can show me by tagging me on Instargam or by using #planetmanel. Thank you for reading, X.
So normally I’d write a different blog post about each hotspot I find. I did this since I started my blog. I did this as I lived in London and I had the opportunity to visit 1-2 places every week. When I’m on holiday, I write a whole big article and give you hotspot list in the end. Most of you know that I moved out of London and at my new place there aren’t many vegan places (to be precise.. there are none!). This is why I visit London once in a while and try to visit as many places as I can. It really takes some planning, becuase I only have one stomach and even though I’d love to visit 10 places a day, I simply can’t eat it all, haha! Before I plan a weekend, I make a list and I plan my days ahead. So a place for breakfast, lunch and dinner and sometimes a little thing in between. In these days I’m always super full and the sugar levels are up up up! Haha! But I love to show you new places and I really hope that I can pursue you to go and visit. I went to London last weekend and here are all the places I’ve been to. I will write a little bit about each place and I will give you the whole list in the end of the post. Here we go..
MOTHER
THE SPREAD EAGLE
LEON
BUBBLEWRAP
HEMA
KALIFORNIA KITCHEN
VEGAN CROSSTOWN
PARADISE PLANTBASED
DUTCH POFFERTJES
HEMP & WILLIAMS
UNITY DINER
What if we could understand animals (better)? For example, what if we knew how they think, what they are capable of and how they survive and evolved in this world? There are many studies when it comes to understanding animals and ‘their language’. Peter Wohlleben was kind enough to translate this into a book: ‘The Inner Life Of Animals – Surprising Observations of a Hidden World’. He runs an environmentally friendly woodland in Germany after working for the forest commission for 20 years. Peter has a lot of animals himself, like dogs, horses and goats. Because he is out in the open a lot, mainly forest land, he is also surrounded by a lot of wild animals. He speaks a lot from his own experience, but then reflects on the behaviour found in the studies he mentions. This way it’s easy to understand and imagine.
Though Peter isn’t vegan himself, he almost writes like he is one. For example, he writes: “When people reject acknowledging too much in the way of emotions in animals, I have the vague feeling that there’s a bit of fear that human beings could lose their special status. Even worse, it would become much more difficult to exploit animals. Every meal eaten or leather jacket worn would trigger moral considerations that would spoil their enjoyment.”. Personally I find it a little strange that he understands animals so well and he can see it this clear, but then he can still exploit them himself. This is actually the only thing I think is such a shame, but other than that, I think this is an amazing book. Especially for people who are vegan for the animals or want to understand animals better. It’s fascinating how the animal world works. Some things will sound familiar to you, but others are so surprising and you can’t help but feeling compassionate and understanding even towards things you wouldn’t think you would.
Something I really like is that the chapters in the book are very short (mostly only a few pages long). This makes it very easy to read. All the subjects (different emotions, feelings etc.) are divided in different chapters. This makes it an easy read and a nice book to just pick up once in a while, instead of reading it from cover to cover at once.
LINERS/PADS 
MENSTRUAL CUPS
FACIAL CLEANSING 
NAIL FILE
BODY BRUSH
TOOTHBRUSH 
WOODEN COMB
COTTON BUDS 
SAFETY RAZOR 
Happy New Year to youuu!! I’m still getting used to the idea, but it really is 2019 now. Before telling you about my new resolutions, I thought it will be nice to reflect on last years. If you read the article ‘
This is about a book a month. Although some books (the Harry Potter ones) I read very fast and some I read over a few months. This year I want to finish the last 2 books from this list and after that I would like to read more books of Don Miguel Ruiz, but also ‘How Not To Die’ by Michael Greger (I already own this book for 2 years I think, shame on me) and I want to read the Harry Potter books again (yes, sorry.. haha!). I’m sure I will have time for more books and in the end of the year my list will be longer than just the ones I mentioned just now. If you have any good recommendations, please comment below. It can be of all genres, I’m just not a big fan of horrors. I love books with a meaning, where you can learn something about any subject, but life and nutrition is favourite. I also like books that make me laugh.
Taking Better Care of Myself
Live (more) Waste Free
Become a Nutritionist and Life Coach 
A bit before the summer, my work registered with the British Hen Welfare Trust to get some ex battery hens. We had this idea already for a while, but now the chicken run was ready. They let us know that there would be a pick up day on the 10th of June (2018). So that day I drove towards Reading, where I was going to pick up some hens. I was so excited! Giving these beautiful animals a second chance in life, after living in such unfair circumstances, was giving me goosebumps! It’s aways a surprise in what condition they are. Some hens still have quite some feathers, but some are all bold. The pick up place was at a beautiful university and it was nice to see that too actually. As the place was quite big, there were a lot of signs telling me where to go. Eventually that lead to some stables in the back. I parked my car and got out, armed with a big, straw filled box.
Before getting the hens, you have to register and tell them how many hens you’d like to take home. I was going to take 4. Then I made a donation. They suggest £5 per hen, but it’s totally up to you. I think it’s nice to give them some extra, because they’re doing such good work and it’s all going towards another rescue. Once that is all done, you can go to one of the stables. I was second in the queue, so I didn’t have to wait very long. The stable was full of chickens. The stables weren’t very big, but I’m sure that they never had so much space in their life ever before. They were all in the corner, being scared obviously. Being in the light, with so much people around them. It was all new to them. The people in the stables caught 4 chickens and put them in the box and that’s that. Time to go home!
At home I put the box in the chicken run and opened it slowly, not to scare them too much. They were all a bit stressed, on their tummy, with their beaks open. Poor babies! I didn’t force them, but let them get used to their surroundings. They stood up and looked around and after a while I picked them up carefully and.. there was the moment.. for the first time in their life they felt dirt and grass. They walked very funny, stretching their paws and lifting them up very high. They were looking at the ground, walking around and it was just so lovely to see. It was a beautiful day and the sun came out. When they felt sunshine for the first time it was like they couldn’t believe it. They dropped on the ground, spreading their wings, putting all their feathers up, closing their eyes. My heart was smiling so much!
The next day they started to lay eggs (that I’m obviously not going to eat). Most of them looked alright, but one of the chickens has really big eggs. You can see on the picture how huge! Her eggs are still not very normal nowadays. A lot of times they’re still very big, the shell is very thick and chalky and yesterday she laid a wind egg. I really hope that her eggs will get better though, because it can be a bit dangerous. They became friends with the 4 chickens we already had too. In the beginning they didn’t hang out together at all. Now they still like to hang out in 2 groups sometimes, but they definitely became friends.
Because they are used to living in a small cage, they do not get into the chicken coop or on the perch by themselves. So the first few days I had to put them into the coop, onto the perch. They instead just randomly chose a place to sit when it was getting darker. After 3 days of doing this they got it though. So clever! Now 1-2 sometimes still sit on the bottom of the coop though, but at least they’re safe in there. They’re doing so much better now and they look so much better too. Their feathers look better (not perfect yet though) and their faces and comb are all red now. It makes a huge difference. If you look at the picture, you can see them on their first day and the way they look now. Their faces and comb were as good as white and now they have such a nice colour. They roam free every day now and they love it! It makes me so happy to see them so happy every day!
I got some more questions asked I would like to answer here. This way everybody can read it in case more people have these questions about veganism. I answer everything form my own perspective. I’m sure there are people with a different opinion. Last time I wrote a Vegan Advice I answered the questions: ‘Why is horse riding wrong?’, ‘Do you respect that some people are not vegan?’ and ‘Why is honey not vegan?’. Today I will answer these questions: ‘Why are you not going to the zoo?’, ‘Why do you not wear fur, wool, leather and silk?’ and ‘Do you take any supplements?. Here we go..
Why are you not going to the zoo?
Why do you not wear fur, wool, leather and silk?
Do you take any supplements?
There is a lot of power in being happy. That is why a lot of people these days try to find their happiness. But what is it what makes us happy? There are so many different ways to feel happy and some are very personal. I wrote about happiness before and I’m sure this will also not be the last time I write about it. It’s always a hot topic, because everyone wants to experience happiness. Some people spend a lifetime looking for it and for some it clicks within a few days. Happiness is not something you can buy or wait for. It’s the opposite of waiting actually, you need to do something to become happy. It’s something you experience in living your every day life, because happiness is now. No matter in what circumstances you are. I agree that there will be times you’re less happy, gong through something traumatic for example. You can’t be euphorically happy all the time. That is also not what I’m talking about. I’m more into a feeling of an overall happy feeling. Whatever you might go through sometimes, as soon as you master the trick of happiness, I’m sure you will be back on top soon. So what are those daily things that makes us feel happy?
From the way you wake up until you close your eyes going to sleep.. there are things you can actively do to make yourself feel good. Try to make room for several healthy habits throughout your day. This may include: waking up early, drinking enough water, exercise and practice meditation. Not long ago I wrote about my personal 
having a routine and there are people who get overly happy from routine (I’m definitely on that side). Though I do advice to always have some sort of routine. You can make it as detailed as you want it to be. You can keep it simple to at least try to wake up and go to bed at the same time and to try having regular healthy meals. Or you can create a morning routine a daytime routine and an evening routine. Like I said, this might make some people feel paranoid, but it can also function as something you can hold onto, so it will give you some calm and peace. You have to experiment with this yourself.
Something else I wrote about before, is about 
I think we all heard about the powder of endorphins. Our bodies own drug which is released by a number of things. We all know our body releases it when doing physical exercise, the well known ‘runner’s high’. And I definitely recommend exercise as one of the things you can do to treat yourself to some daily endorphins. But did you know that there are other ways too? Like laughing, listening to your favourite music, meditation, have sex (ok, this might fall under physical exercise too), eat dark chocolate and smell lavender? So let those endorphins go free and discover which of these give you peaks of happiness!
We all know the feeling (some more than others) of not really want to go out. It’s just so much easier and relaxing to stay at home and watch your favourite show with a steamy cup of tea in your hand. Isn’t it? Does it sounds familiar, telling yourself you’re feeling too tired to go out after a long day (or week) at work? We’re very good at making excuses. Though going out actually isn’t such a bad idea. Especially when you are feeling a little down. Breathing in the fresh air, the exercise of a little walk (exercise for body and mind) or going out with a friend, can all actually give you loads of energy. So even though you already switched on your kettle, you can always change your mind and put on your shoes to go out! It doesn’t have to be long, even a 10 min walk will make you feel refreshed. Or go out for dinner with a friend one evening, you will see that chatting and laughing with somebody you care about, will do you good.
It’s important to feel happy. Because being happy makes everything else work. Feeling good makes you an attractive person, you will be better at your job, it will make you study go easier and it will make your life more enjoyable. If you’re not happy, you don’t have the right energy around you to attract success. You want to go into the circle of happiness. So push yourself to do things that will make you happy. Don’t sit and wait for it, because it’s not going to be dropped on your doorstep any time soon (read: never). Life is now. So even when you’re very busy with whatever you’re doing at the moment, thinking you do not have time for all these things, make time to live in the now, because your life is now. In the end it will make things go better and faster anyway. Experience life to the fullest!
I was gifted these great looking tops with beautiful designs from ‘The Bon Vie’. This is the company of a lovely girl who started to make tops with vegan designs. She always loved animals, but it wasn’t until about 2 years ago she came to realise how many animals suffered on a daily basis. This made her go vegan. She also started to volunteer at animal sanctuaries and shelters, trying to make a difference. But about 6 months ago she felt like she wanted to do more and make a bigger impact. She already knew a lot about T-shirts and graphic, so she 
decided to combine those 2 and I’m happy she did. Her designs are so nice. Quite different from other ones. The Bon Vie is all about spreading awareness and bringing people together. In the future she hopes to switch to recycled shirts to help the environment. 
cuts and that is the best thing about these tops. Out of all the design and shapes, I chose the avocado T-shirt, but I said I also liked the elephant and the ‘I just want to yoga all day, eat yum vegan food and save animal’. It was hard to choose! When I received my parcel it turned out she also include the other 2 designs. So sweet en generous of her! And it turns out I like the elephant the best. Even though it has a round neck, I absolutely love it. It has such a nice fit and I really like the colour, a very nice, not so common, blue. A few weeks ago I bought new elephant trousers and they are a perfect combination together. Very nice for the summer. Make me so happy!
The shirts are a very nice shape and fit nicely. The T-shirts are quite a small fit, so if you like a lose fit, I recommend choosing a size bigger than you normally get. Though the tank top was perfect fit. You can go to The Bon Vie 
I was raised as a Christian. I went to church (almost) every Sunday, went to church-group and I went to a christian primary school. As a child you believe in God, because your parents do. When I grew older I started to think and I started to ask questions. I didn’t go to church anymore from when I was about 18 years old. That was not becuase I didn’t believe in God anymore, but because I don’t like churches. In my opinion it’s a lot about the people and not so much about God. Also, I’m not a big fan of ‘living in a community’ and to be part of ‘a group’. It makes me feel obligated. Then (personal) things happened in my life and I started to lose my faith. I started to have questions nobody was able to answer. Nowadays I do not call myself a christian anymore, but I do still have difficulties to say that I don’t believe in God. I do believe in a God. Just, what and who is God?! The way he is described in the bible? I always loved the bible as a child and I still do in many ways. I think it’s a beautiful book full of life lessons. I think a lot of things in the bible really happened, but I also think that a lot of stories are made up and used as an example for us to learn from. Either way, I’m happy I was raised with this knowledge, about the christian God and the bible.
Now I’m vegan, I get told a lot ‘but God gave us animals so we can eat them’. I do not believe that and that inspired me to write this article and tell you what I think about this subject. There are a lot of things that don’t make sense to me, looking at christianity and veganism. Christianity teaches us that God created the world and Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, where everything was perfect. Then Adam and Eve fell into sin and from that moment things changed. A lot of bad and painful things came into the world. Some things that humans couldn’t control, but a lot of things happened because of humans. Humans started to give in to hate and choosing the wrong path. They started to curse, hurt and kill each other. This is not what God intended and this is what humans did to themselves and each other. You can choose love and compassion and you can choose hate and selfishness. People have own responsibility. If I ask you which one you prefer I’m quite sure you will choose love over hate. Christianity teaches us that one day the people who truly believed in God, will go to heaven. Now this is the part where a lot of questions come to my mind. If you truly believe in God, but you still do bad things you could control, will you go to heaven? And when you are not sure if there is a God, but you are a good person and always try to do the right thing, will you go to heaven? According to the people I talked to from church, you have to believe in God and be a good person. So what makes you a good person? Coming from christianity, I believe, next to honouring God, we should look after the world, look after each other, in peace, the way God intended. God designed the world perfectly. Everything is working in the perfect way. Just take a look at your own body, the growth of plants and the animals we share the world with.
Nowadays there are a lot of problems in the world. We are destroying it.The opposite from what God asked humans to do. The biggest, direct threat to planet earth is CO2. A lot comes from cars, aeroplanes, factories etc. Everybody knows this, because we get encouraged by the government to not use the car if not necessary, for example. It’s a worldwide problem. Not all CO2 comes from this though. So then what is responsible for the other percentage? It’s agriculture. In simple words ‘it’s the animals we breed for consumption’. The world that God created is destroyed by your food choice. This is not everything. What about our bodies? We are a threat to our own bodies. People are dying from welfare. We now know diseases like cancer, diabetes and about 40% of people (worldwide) has hypertension, what causes heart disease (45%) and strokes (51%). We are killing ourselves. What is causing these diseases? Consumption of meat, dairy and eggs. So again, the human body God created, is destroyed with the choice of food. How does this work? Meat, dairy and eggs are full of bad fats for humans. Apart form that, the human body has a long digestive system. Perfect for plant based foods, but animals products will rot as they digest a lot slower. What makes your body sour, toxins spread and guess what cells feel very comfortable in that environment? Cancer cells! So this is what happens to humans directly.
And what about the animals? Humans think that they have the right to own them, use them and kill them. God created animals and humans are using them like they are not important. Or actually, some are not important. We love our pets, but if it comes to a cow or a pig you didn’t know and never met before, what does it matter, right?! I think we should be loving and compassionate towards animals. They give us so much in return. We can learn so much of them. Christianity teaches us that they are also God’s creation. So why be cruel to them if you can love them too? Isn’t this choosing hate and selfishness over love and compassion? All animals have their own ability of understanding, that we don’t always understand them, doesn’t mean we can rule over their life’s. All animals have the will to live. If God created animals for us to eat, why are they trying to safe their life’s if they are about to be murdered? He didn’t give them to us to eat, in the Garden of Eden he said, in Genesis 1:29 – ‘Behold, I have given you every plantyielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you’. After the fall of man into sin, the bible doesn’t say: Because you ruined it, you can now also kill animals for food. It definitely doesn’t say ‘build mega farms and make as much profit as you can, despite of suffering’. This all came into the world by humans! Because humans can be selfish. They want money, power and rule over others. Animals don’t have a voice, they can’t literally tell us that they don’t want to turn into food. But if you look into their eyes, if you look at their fear when they smell and hear death all around them, how can you support this? I know I can’t speak for God, but for me it’s logic that this is not ok! Even though I’m not a christian, if there is a loving God (and I truly hope there is, in any form), than how can we humans justify this?
Planet Manel 