I was very intrigued today when I saw a post from Julienna Hever, the Plant Based Dietitian on her facebook page referring to a report about vegans and vegetarians in the US. The statistics are based on a sample of 11,000 people and according to the Humane Research Council, only 2% of people in the US aged 17 and over are vegan or vegetarian.

I find it sad that 63% of people who went back to eating meat disliked that their diet made them stick out from the crowd. I find it fun and exciting that we stick out from the crowd and are different! That is one of the things that actually attracted my husband to this lifestyle. When did anyone ever say that going along with the crowd was the right or wise thing to do?

I also was intrigued to see that 49% of former vegans and vegetarians said they had insufficient interactions with others who follow this path and 84% were not actively involved in a veg group such as a potluck group or online community. That just solidified the importance of all that we do on engine2extra.com, in our local Engine 2 group in NEPA, and in my friend Virginia’s Plant based eating group, P-BEG. Anytime we lend an ear to someone trying to begin this lifestyle or trying to maintain it,or break bread with them it makes a difference. I’m totally convinced that the more we reach out, the more success stories we will hear and the more long term successes we will see. If you would like to share what keeps you motivated to maintain your diet along with the 2%, please share it here in the comments or on my facebook page! I love stories!

Here is Robert Frost’s poem about choosing the road less traveled. This is one of my favorites. Remember, you are on a wonderful journey and keep sticking out from the crowd! It WILL make all the difference!

BY ROBERT FROST