Evanna Lynch Opens Up About Her Veganism Journey and Advocacy Career

While many Harry Potter alumni are icons in their respective fields of activism, Evanna Lynch’s advocacy stands out among the rest: Veganism is hardly a common issue to fight for. In a recent interview with the Times, however, Lynch opened up about her veganism journey and why the cause has a special significance in her heart.

Although Lynch was already a vegetarian while she was growing up, she only made the full commitment not to consume dairy products five years ago. Veganism helped her resolve her “weird relationship” with food, and now she has made it a core part of her career. She currently runs the podcast The ChickPeeps, which is in its third season. The fun and informative show covers a broad range of vegan-related topics and features interviews with celebrity vegans.

We started the podcast so people would feel supported and not alienated. We’re not trying to convince people to go vegan. We’re there for people who understand veganism but who need encouragement and support.

In the current season of The ChickPeeps, Lynch hopes to shine a spotlight on hard-hitting questions regarding plant-based diets.

A lot of people have accused veganism of being too white or too privileged and only aimed at middle-class white people. I was genuinely wondering if that was true. Is it leaving people of colour out? That’s a question I’ve been exploring this season.

While Lynch may be the host of the podcast, she shared that she has an entire team helping her behind the scenes. She admitted that she tried to single-handedly present, produce, edit, and conduct research in its first year until she realized that it was “stressful” and “unsustainable.”

Beyond The ChickPeeps, Lynch cofounded the vegan makeup subscription box service Kinder Beauty and partnered with Million Dollar Vegan in June to encourage more people to adopt healthy vegan diets. Shortly afterward, she made an appearance on the podcast Talking Tastebuds to discuss the protection of animal rights. These initiatives reflect her view on the ethos of veganism:

Humans and animals have equal value. Beyond ethical arguments, the lifestyle also makes environmental sense.

The 29-year-old’s efforts to raise awareness of the benefits of veganism are paying off: She’s making an impact not only among her fans but also, surprisingly, within her own family. She expressed her delight at finding her mother cooking vegetarian sausages when she last visited:

Meat sausages had been a staple of their diet. It never occurred to me they could let go of them.

Her family initially found veganism to be strange but has been making small changes in their own lives. Even the Christmas cake this year is vegan.

In spite of all the work that she’s done, Lynch isn’t stopping her passionate championing of plant-based lifestyles anytime soon. She hopes to inspire deeper conversations on The ChickPeeps, is writing her very first book, and plans to engage in “stealth activism” this Christmas – sneakily giving someone a box of vegan chocolates. With incremental changes, Evanna Lynch believes, we can make our treatment of animals more ethical and sustainable.