A Journey to Veganism with Selene Nelson, Part 2 of 2

We spoke to Selene in early February, 2020, at the Plant Powered Expo in London, where we were so excited to learn about her new book Yes Ve-Gan! Let’s hear what she had to tell us about this exciting time in her life. “So my new book Yes Ve-Gan! was published a month ago and it’s a blueprint for vegan living, so it’s letting people know how they can make the change and also explaining why you would want to; so it does cover the three main points: health, the environment and animals. But the reason why I really wanted to write it was because I wanted to communicate the joy of veganism; how happy it makes you, just something I never anticipated.” “The biggest shock I had when I went vegan was how much I loved it and that’s something that I see reflected all the time in other vegans. Every vegan I know says their only regret is not doing it sooner and I think there is a reason for that.” In 2018, Selene found herself in the middle of a public media storm when William Sitwell, the editor of a highly respected publication, Waitrose Food magazine, ridiculed her pitch to publish a series of vegan recipes. The email mocking vegans made headlines prompting lots of conversations on mainstream news media. In the midst of the storm, Selene had the opportunity to meet with the editor and talk about veganism, which reached over 650 million views online. Looking back at this episode in her career, Selene said, “I definitely didn’t expect that reaction from the editor. But I also never could have anticipated how big the story became and how angry it made some people. And I did already know that veganism was a highly divisive subject, but what that issue really brought home was the fact that eating animals, or not eating animals, is an extremely contentious issue.” In fact, one year later, William and Selene ended up on the cover of ‘The Telegraph Magazine’ talking about veganism. The beloved Supreme Master Ching Hai applauds all the vegan media in the world, and had this to say at a climate change conference in Washington DC. “The media has a very important role in our society, everybody knows that. The printed words are very powerful. People are too busy with their daily activities, so they look to the media for informing and reporting relevant events, important matters, and all necessary information for their lives. So, the media is a useful tool to awaken one another at this crucial time: a time when our planet and the lives on it are in danger.” Supreme Master Ching Hai: “Joyfully presents the Shining World Courage & Compassion Award to Selene Nelson, with all love and high salute for your noble work. May you enjoy continued success and constant protection by Heaven.”