Composition Multimedia Project - Anllí

Below is Anllí's project that relates to Headlee's talk through the connections between food and identity. Here is her explanation:

I have decided to cook two different vegan dishes for my Multimedia project: Vegan Chicken Ranch Tacos and Spinach Artichoke and Sweet Potato Hummus. In my first few years of being vegan, I was truthfully shocked by everything I discovered about animal agriculture. How detrimental it is to our health and environment, as well as how inhumane it is. I could not help but think, "Why isn't anyone doing anything? How is this allowed? Why does no one care?" I did not know how to deal with the burden of the knowledge I now had, causing me to angrily confront those around me who contributed to the system. The reason there are so many angry vegan protestors is because a lot of vegans becoming hopeless and want the world to care. A few years later, I learned for myself that some of the time, the problem isn't that people don't care; it's that my angry activism was not working for them. I still struggled not to become overly vigorous when talking about veganism and the effects of animal agriculture. It was not until I watched Celeste Headlee's TedTalk "10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation" that I genuinely saw the significance of having productive conversations, even with those I may disagree with. Therefore, I decided to cook vegan dishes for my non-vegan friends to positively communicate the importance of veganism and how unintimidating it is. I decided to create a PowerPoint to show how to cook my dishes step by step. 

When speaking to non-vegans before understanding how to communicate my emotions for veganism effectively, I would not consider their point of view. I felt that everything they said was an excuse. It only angered me more, making me more confrontational in defense of them justifying the animal agriculture system. In Headlee's TEDTalk, she states, "At this moment, we are more polarized, we are more divided, than we ever have been in history. We're less likely to compromise, which means we're not listening to each other" (Headlee 01:00). Headlee believes that no one listens to each other anymore, our opinions are so strong, we have tunnel vision and cannot see others' perspectives. I also consider this to be true, and it made me reflect on how I was before going vegan. I was not vegan my whole life, and I used to eat animal products every day. I never saw a problem with eating meat until I learned why it was wrong, so I understand the perspective and logic of both vegans and non-vegans. I'm not in a position to judge, and overall, I believe that veganism isn't about perfection but about reducing harm as much as possible. I learned over the years that shaming people for unknowingly contributing to the system is only going to make them have resentment toward veganism. Instead of being confrontational, I can rather inspire people with my cooking to positively share about veganism. Even if I disagree with a person's actions, that does not mean I cannot connect with them, or I think they are a bad person. Headlee expresses that even if there are not many similarities between people, they can still have a great conversation, "I talk to some people that I disagree with deeply on a personal level. But I still have a great conversation with them" (Headlee 02:45). Headlee opened my eyes to acknowledge that if I had chosen to let my differences with people stop me from engaging with them, I would have missed out on meeting many people and changing their lives, as well as my own.