Today we’d like to introduce you to Allison Van Tilborgh.
Hi Allison, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Veganism, for me, began with an exploration for ultimate truth. I was an unlikely candidate for the animal rights cause. Conservative, dogmatic, and proud to be a citizen of two countries: the United States and the Netherlands. Food had always been a gateway to my Dutch heritage far off in Florida: stroopwafels, pannekoeken, brood met kaas, and saucijzenbroodjes. One day, after ridiculing vegans after seeing a new line of “pea-powered milks” in the store, a question plagued my mind. What motivated people to create these alternatives? Where was my milk coming from anyway? Sure–I was lactose intolerant–but did that mean milk wasn’t FOR me? The questions raced in my mind until the ultimate question stuck: what were humans designed to eat? This was an intrinsically spiritual question, not just relating to our human origin stories but also who I saw when I looked in the mirror. Was I who I was meant to be, or rather, was I led into a delusion–believing factory farming to be something more natural and normal than drinking “pea-powered milk”? I read books on the topic, notably “The Genesis Diet” by Gordon Tessler, who claimed that the original diet intended for humans was, essentially, a vegan one. My first step was to cut out dairy since I was lactose intolerant, and then some of the more ‘obscene’ animal products I was ingesting such as pork and shellfish. A few years later, in college, I began to commit myself to a strict flexitarian regiment: meat at three meals a week. Then, after a course in Buddhist Ethics, I moved from flexitarianism to vegetarianism. I began to feel healthier and stronger–like I was making a real difference. I saw animals as a way of connecting with the divine in a way I could never. After all, according to the Abrahamic tradition, they have known God longer than we have. Maybe they knew something we didn’t? This thought of honoring God’s creation of animals naturally expanded toward an environmental concern. The earth has been here even longer than animals. What can we learn from earth’s unchanging, steady nature that is both beaming with light and full of darkness all at once? It all became about the same thing. Then, when studying abroad in Rome, I began to cook for myself using fresh Roman vegetables and fruits. I had a vegan roommate that noticed that I only ever cooked vegan and that I may as well take the plunge. In Spring of 2020, I did exactly that. Veganism became part of my identity, a passion, and source of purpose. Veganism was not just about choosing life over death but also about uplifting female animals and rejecting systems that oppress the female reproductive system by deeming that “meat” was a more important issue than “dairy”–which comes from female organs. My area of study was highly influenced by Carol Adam’s “The Sexual Politics of Meat“. In May 2021, my now-husband encouraged me to begin a media platform to highlight veganism in North Orlando. We landed on @thesanfordvegan. The account is part food blog, part news outlet, and part home-cooking showcase. We also eventually expanded into a line of vegan, zero-waste cleaning products based out of our home in Sanford, FL.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Going vegan and investing in a vegan brand has NOT been smooth. Going vegan means saying no to so many systems you grew up with–perhaps those you were extremely fond of. I equated my “Dutch-ness” with my connection with butter, cheese, and liverwurst. I think I needed veganism to show me that my heritage is so much stronger than just the food I eat.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I run an account called @thesanfordvegan. It’s a woman-owned and operated vegan media outlet highlighting vegan offerings at North Orlando restaurants, breaking vegan news, and homemade vegan recipes. We work with local restaurants to get word out about their vegan options through posts, reels, and blogs which are posted on our website. We also produce vegan, zero-waste cleaning products that are stocked at four Orlando-wide locations.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’m not naturally a risk taker but my life has required me to take lots of risk. When I was six years old, I moved from South Africa (where I had been living for three years since immigrating from the Netherlands) to the United States on three days’ notice. I had to begin again–dreadfully behind in school and having no friends. I knew that if I was ever going to ‘catch up’, I would have to be bold. I joined every club my school offered, began several small businesses (complete with menu cards and Facebook pages), and begged my dad to let me begin working for his brand-new website-building company. I chose to not care about frivolous things like being popular and instead put all my focus into side projects and ways to make money. Those funds allowed me to travel back to the Netherlands, visit my family and reconnect to my roots, that in some ways, I felt I had been severed from for far too long. This same spunk pushed me through High School as a top performer at a mostly male IT school and ultimately led me to graduate from Rollins College as Valedictorian in 2021 (with 17 awards to my name). Risk allowed me to push forward not without doubts or fears, but in spite of them.
Contact Info:
- Website: thesanfordvegan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesanfordvegan/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesanfordvegan
