Some tofu a day keeps the meat away!

While viewed as odd by many people, sophomore Alina Krusinski lives by the rhyme above. As a vegan, she must avoid all animal products and their by-products.

Most teenagers would get their frappuccino and go, but Alina’s typical visit to Starbucks looks a little like this:

“Welcome to Starbucks, how can I help you?”

“Hi, can I have a mocha frapp with no whip, no Java chips and with soy?”

“Um, alright. You sure?”

“Yeah thanks, I’m sure.”

After finding out about the mistreatment of animals at the big name meat-processing factories, Alina decided to transition to vegetarianism, and a year later, veganism.

“I’m kind of one of those people who cares way too much about things,” Alina said. “I feel like a lot more people would be like vegan and vegetarian if they understood what was going on [at processing factories], but it’s not society’s main concern because like meat and all that is a big source of income for a lot of industries.”

As a mother and a nurse, Alina’s mother, Cindy Krusinski was apprehensive about her daughter’s transition to veganism.

“Initially, I was concerned about Alina getting good nutrition, but she was very convincing,” Cindy said. “She looked up a lot of recipes and then I looked up a lot of recipes, and now we’re all healthier because of it.”

With the support of her parents, all she needed to do was win the support of her friends. Nervous about their reactions, Alina remained adamant to subside their worries. Luckily though, they accepted it with open arms.

“I think that it’s great that she’d decided to take up a new diet,” sophomore Ankita Padarthy said. “It’s definitely a difficult change to make, but so far she’s done a great job. I’m very proud of her.”

While there is plenty of judgement that comes with transitioning to veganism, Alina doesn’t let the “haters” keep her down.

“I feel like there’s a lot of negative stereotypes towards [veganism],” Alina said. “Like we’re all hippies or something like that, I mean a little bit, but not really. I just like ignore it and go on, you know?”

Alina’s new diet hasn’t really affected her or her household much at all because of all the veganized foods and technology made available to her.

• Oatmeal with berries

• Pita with hummus
• Carrots and strawberries

• Vegan Shepard’s pie
• Vegan potato and leek soup with a bagel

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• Vegan ice cream
• Half of a banana

“I mean there’s substitutes for everything, so I don’t miss much,” Alina said. “Like I don’t miss ice cream because there is vegan ice cream, which debatably tastes better actually. I miss Pop-Tarts, I didn’t like them before but the fact I can’t have them makes me want them really bad.”

Regardless of the funny looks she may or may not get at Starbucks, Alina plans to stand up for her beliefs.

“I’d like to think I’m healthier and doing the right thing,” Alina said. “I feel like I have more energy throughout the day and I just feel better, there’s so many options nowadays it’s definitely attainable.”

“I mean there’s substitutes for everything, so I don’t miss much,” Alina said. “Like I don’t miss ice cream because there is vegan ice cream, which debatably tastes better actually.

Regardless of the funny looks she may or may not get at places like Starbucks, Alina plans to stand up for her beliefs.

“I’d like to think I’m healthier and doing the right thing,” Alina said. “I feel like I have more energy throughout the day and I just feel better, there’s so many options nowadays it’s definitely attainable.”