Nine months ago, James Persson was working as a butcher in a Melbourne supermarket; now, as a passionate vegan, he intends to help others view the lifestyle as an accessible, healthy, and ethical choice by leading vegan bus tours.
Along with Ginger Scott, a chef and vegan of eight years, Persson now leads the vegan city tours with the bus tour company “Vegan For a Day Tours.” Intended to help parents of newly vegan children or people with friends on a plant-based health kick, the new tours will show customers the best places to eat a plant-based meal in Melbourne, as well as where to drink or purchase cruelty-free gifts.
The tour – which lasts six hours – will begin at the Matcha Mylkbar cafe in St Hilda, which is renowned for serving vegan “eggs” created from linseed protein, sweet potato, and coconut milk. According to Scott, there are around 400 vegan-friendly restaurants in Melbourne, but Vegan For a Day will cherrypick the best cafes, bakeries, and other eateries to show its clients.
“It’s about opening your mind up to not eating five animals when you’ve got these 10,000 plants you can eat as well,” Persson told the Sydney Morning Herald. He initially decided to ditch meat when he realized that calves – slaughtered for veal – were the same age as his infant daughter. He was also motivated by health reasons after his father – a meat-lover – died from bowel cancer aged 52.
“People are afraid of veggie burgers,” said Persson. “Veggie burgers can be made of lentils, mushrooms, sweet potato. It’s not like we’re playing crazy scientist. These are just veggies put together.”
The co-founder is now not only a vegan but also a passionate animal rights activist. He is even standing as an Animal Justice Party candidate in Frankton for the next state election. Scott is also an animal liberationist, although she initially started her vegan journey for health reasons, following the discovery that she was genetically at risk from developing ovarian cancer.
But Scott and Persson don’t want the tours to be too intense. “It’s six hours of education, but in a nice friendly way,” said Scott. “It’s not like we’ll be militant.”
To find out more about the Vegan for a Day tour – which costs $150 per person – visit the website here.
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Image Source: Matcha Mylkbar
This post was last modified on December 15, 2020 7:16 am