FARAH SHAMMAS

1. What can you tell us about yourself?

My name is Farah Shammas, I am the Managing Director of the five star, award winning St Raphael Resort and Marina here in Limassol, Cyprus. I’m married to a lawyer and the mother of three lovely children, aged 7 and 5 years old, and 10 months.

2. What does veganism mean to you?

Veganism is very important to me. It’s not just about what we eat, but it’s about feeling at peace with oneself, going to sleep at night knowing that we have caused the least amount of harm possible and not taken anything extra from the world that we did not need. It’s about a healthy mind and a healthy body, being in in balance and in tune. It’s a lifestyle that not only is very importantly about what we choose to eat, but also how we can live in the most sustainable way possible.

3. What led you to follow the vegan way of life?

I was a pescatarian for over a decade and if I’m honest, I have never eaten cheese in my life. From a young child, I rejected all types of cheese and could not stomach most forms of dairy – I could never drink plain cows’ milk or eat eggs, but if there was a little in a cake for example I could manage.

I started to become more health conscious during my thirties, especially after having children and wanting a healthier life for them. I started to want to educate myself on the best ways to prevent sicknesses and this quest was propelled by my own auto-immune disease (psoriasis) worsening after my first pregnancy. I also suffered from IBS a long time before that, so had already been trying to lead a healthier life for a while, but it was definitely after children that this desire for a better way forward grew. I read books, articles and developed my cooking. One day I heard about some of the many documentaries about animal agriculture and the devasting effects the meat industry has on our environment and our health. I suddenly started to see animals all as one, even though I hadn’t eaten a land animal for over ten years, my mindset changed to want to help them more. How we use, rear, kill animal livestock for food utterly shocked and depressed me. Then I started to educate myself on fishing practices and sea life in general. I read about how much plastic and waste there is in the ocean, and that when we eat fish, we eat hundreds of tiny plastic particles. I also learnt that for every fish we eat, four more have died as a biproduct, a wasted and unintentional catch. This is what made me finally give up eating seafood. At first, I didn’t tell anyone about the switch. I wanted to see how my body would find the change, how I could cope at dinner invitations and parties, how life would be, and after realizing that I felt great, then I was happy to call myself a vegan.

4. How easy or difficult it is to be vegan today?

When you set your mind to something, anything is easy, and just like most things, it’s very achievable but you may need a bit of planning and definitely a mind set change. As far as cooking at home goes, it’s so easy, maybe even easier and definitely more fun and better for you than cooking with animal products. You can be so creative.

When it comes to going out, if you are going to a restaurant, you may need to plan ahead and choose a restaurant that can cater for you. You can check out the menu online and call ahead. It’s doable and worst case you end up with some potatoes, a salad and tahini ha ha. Many times, if I’m going to someone’s house, I often eat before and I used to be more shy about asking for something specially made. However I actually find that many people will check with me, or if they ask us to take a dish then it’s easy to contribute with a delicious vegan number which will not only impress others but also I can dig into myself!

Luckily, the vegans of the last few decades who have had to endure endlessly boring and bland meals of dry food  and have paved the way for our delicious vegan options of 2020 including lots of convenience food and snacks too. So ultimately, it’s quite easy to be vegan nowadays.

5. What is your favourite recipe?

Impossible to choose just one, there are so many I really enjoy and it depends on the time of year and my mood. I love recipes that are easy to make, quick and ultimately good for me, so definitely one of my all time favourites is my chocolate date brownie cake. For savoury options I also really enjoyed my new Immune Boosting Soup and Bean Curry that I posted recently on my YouTube Channel Cook Vegan.

6. Do you have a favourite product to suggest?

No. I love anything that doesn’t have a label … so fresh fruit and vegetables all the way! I do love some convenience snack bars like The Protein Ball Co. and Bounce Balls just to have in my bag along with my Tupperware of nuts and dates. The best convenience snack though is bar far an apple or banana!

7. Are you inspired by any animal? If yes, which one?

I have always loved Elephants and been mesmerized by their powerful beauty and charm, however I do equally love pigs. I find them one of the cutest animals and am always so impressed to see how intelligent and loving they are. I would love one day to have my own pig, but just like a dog, I know having any pet is a huge responsibility and since we have three children, two cats and two tortoises, I feel that right now we are already loaded with responsibility.

8. Any more comments?

During my search for knowledge and the best way to follow a plant based life, I found a course I could do online from the Colin T. Campbell Institute and eCornell. I decided that if this was a way of life I wanted to follow then I should do it right, especially if I was going to make this food for my family. I completed the course and wrote an initial list of 30 recipes that we normally make at home but that I could easily ‘veganise’. This was the start. Then I began researching all the nutrients we should aim to eat in one day and began planning balanced meals for everyone.

I often hear of many people who try out veganism but don’t feel as well as they thought they would, the same way many omnivores also don’t feel their best. You can be a very unhealthy vegan and only eat junk food or limit your diet to pastas or just one type of food. It is important, like any diet, to make sure you have a varied and balanced diet. You should try to incorporate as many whole foods in your diet, fruit, vegetables and legumes as well as whole grains such as brown rice, wholegrain pasta, quinoa, oats and buckwheat. The switches are much easier to do than anyone could imagine, but you must do it properly. Its so enjoyable to never stop learning and exploring new food.

So that would be my parting words of wisdom to all … enjoy your food, really have fun with it, feel good about what you eat and why, be proud of being you and living a balanced lifestyle and be kind to everyone, people and animals. Don’t judge others but if asked, impart why you do what you do and keep being positive.

9. How may we contact you?

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAnMNTbpWELBh1mV0Mfn1ow

https://www.facebook.com/groups/cookvegan

https://www.instagram.com/cookveganinsta/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/farahshammas/?hl=en

www.cook-vegan.com