
Ruth Styleman
is an entrepreneur.
Photographed by Jennifer Kesteleyn.
Q:
How many days a week do you cook vegan?
A:
I cook and eat vegan about 3 to 4 days a week. Living in the countryside, it’s not always easy to find the right ingredients for a varied vegan diet, but I manage. Especially since there’s a biological food market in my village now. So if I want cheese or other dairy products, I buy them there. Also, every two weeks I order from Smartmat, an Antwerp-based company that delivers vegan/vegetarian foodboxes at my doorstep.
I decided to stop eating meat 19 years ago. Not only because of my love of animals, but also because my grandfather was a cattle trader at the Oude Beestenmarkt, the former meat district of Ghent. The meat industry started taking a turn for the worse at the end of his career and I witnessed it first-hand, since I spent a lot of time with my grandparents.
It’s not always easy being a vegan, but it’s the most fulfilling lifestyle I can imagine for myself. Everyone should try it!