Emily went strictly vegan when she moved to Austin in August 2009. A native Chicagoan, she enjoys exploring the multitude of options found in cities to experience different food cultures and find new ways to eat sustainably. Aside from food, she also likes thinking about the following: music, language, culture, travel, bike trips, bodies, projects, ideas, and the way humans organize the world around us. She is currently training for her first half marathon.

Katherine has been vegan ever since she promised a rat in an undergraduate biology lab that she would try it for a year. That was back in 2003, and she’s still kept her promise. While she still eats honey, she is going to try to cut it out this year. Besides her love of vegan food, Katherine likes animals, Stacey, bicycle touring, movies of the “psychological thriller” genre, and complaining about losing her Midwestern roots. She is currently living in New York City.

Marcy has been officially vegan since January 1, 2009. She grew up in Sugar Land, Texas and currently resides in Chicago. She was first introduced to veganism during her undergrad at Oberlin (surprisingly, Sugar Land is not known as a nexus of vegetarianism). Aside from food, Marcy enjoys ice-free biking experiences, trying not to say “like” too much, musicology, squash, and backgammon. Currently, she is pursuing a degree in Music Theory at the University of Chicago; in fact, that’s what she’ll be doing for quite some time.

Stacey went vegan in 2000 as the result of a junior year (high school) research project about vegetarianism.  Her teacher was less than thrilled with the outcome of her research.  Prior to this, cheese was her favorite food- she would eat it by the pound.  She does not eat honey and is mindful about avoiding medications with animal-derived ingredients. She lives in Washington, DC, where she works on prisoners’ rights. She likes gardening, salt, the woods, searching for a bicycle of the correct size, and checking out movies from the library.