I met Ifigenia in 2017, and from the very first moment, I was impressed by her uniqueness. Back then, she was still in school and, after finishing her classes, she would rush to the refugee camp in Oinofyta to offer her help. Both her mother and grandfather were vegan, in a country where not eating meat makes you stand out as unusual. Yet, this girl never faced any issues socializing because of this. She was always extremely popular and, even now, she is surrounded by many people, most of whom are not vegan.
Today, after completing her legal studies in England, specializing in human rights, she is the mother of a sweet 3-year-old boy and runs a non-profit organization she co-founded with her wonderful grandfather, mother, and uncle. The organization, Genesis Hellas, strives to make the world a better place, focusing on helping others while also emphasizing ecology and respect for all animals—principles that most humanitarian organizations tend to overlook.
Her story deserves to be read and shared, especially to encourage vegan parents who worry that their children might become victims of bullying at school for being different. Her story is also worth sharing because, unfortunately, most of us vegans consumed many animals before we made the connection and changed. I know some vegan parents who think that, at least during childhood, children should eat meat to avoid nutritional deficiencies. However, this is not true at all—on the contrary, the exact opposite is the case. This fact is now supported by dozens of health scientists, some of whom speak in documentaries or have published related books and studies (like this book). Additionally, many parents today have children who, on their own initiative, ask to stop eating meat or even all animal products. These parents should support their children instead of pressuring them out of ignorance.
Ifigenia’s grandfather has been one of the most shining persons I’ve ever met in my life, and Ifigenia and her mother carry some of that light with them as well. Please read her story, and if it inspires you, share it on social media.
Please tell us a bit about what it was like growing up as a vegetarian in a country where the words “vegan” and “vegetarian” didn’t even exist. How was it at school to be the only child who didn’t eat meat? Did you ever feel like you wanted to try meat but felt pressured not to because it was how your family raised you?
When I was a child, I don’t remember ever using the word “vegetarian,” nor do I think my mother used it often. What I remember most vividly is having to explain to friends, parents, and teachers that I didn’t eat meat. Even so, I never felt different or uncomfortable about it. Perhaps this was because my mother took on all the pressure herself. She later confided in me that whenever we were invited to meals, she had to explain why we didn’t eat meat, what we could and couldn’t eat, and sometimes even dealt with criticism from people who didn’t know us and weren’t familiar with our dietary choices. So maybe she absorbed all the pressure instead of me.
At school, there certainly weren’t many meat-free options, which could have made me stand out from the other kids. Over time, though, there were two or three classmates who also said they didn’t eat meat. While we didn’t hang out together, it still made me feel like I wasn’t entirely alone.
I never felt pressured by my family. My mother, even when I was in elementary school, gave me the freedom to try whatever I wanted, and I did. However, I didn’t find it particularly appealing, and maybe because I wasn’t used to it, it didn’t interest me enough to start eating meat.
When did the ethical aspect of your choices become part of your awareness?
At that age, I didn’t have a full understanding of issues surrounding animal exploitation. However, as I grew older, the ethical dimension of my choice became much clearer.
After all, I grew up in a household where we always had rescued stray dogs and cats. We never agreed with “buying an animal”, and I vividly remember my family constantly rescuing stray dogs, finding homes for them, and taking care of them. So, from a young age, I was taught to love animals, and I believe that it played a role in learning to respect them. As I grew up, I came to understand why we don’t eat meat.
I can confidently say that I’ve experienced more criticism and teasing for my dietary choices in my adult life than in my childhood, particularly during my school years. This might be an important message for parents raising vegan or vegetarian children. Criticism is something we’ll all face at some point in life, and we can’t shield children from every negative opinion or comment they’ll hear. The most important thing is for them to feel fully supported by their family. Like this, they’ll grow up with confidence, and minor comments or teasing at school will have much less of an impact on them.
Over time, this “differentiality” became a part of my identity and my perception of the world.
Apart from vegetarianism, you were also a child who didn’t follow many of the traditions followed by the average Greek child. While you are a Christian, you belong to the Protestant Seventh-day Adventist Church, which doesn’t follow customs like baptizing children as babies or celebrating Easter with candles, among others. Did you get an exemption from religious studies at school? The combination of these two differences could have isolated you or made you a target for malicious children to bully you. Did that ever happen?
I grew up in a Protestant church, and all my friends, teachers, and classmates were aware of that, as well as the fact that I attended church every Saturday. Despite having two or three characteristics that could have strongly set me apart from the other kids in my class, I never really experienced that. There were a few occasions in middle school and high school when classmates—mostly boys—made jokes about me not eating meat. However, it was in the context of typical teenage teasing, which didn’t really affect me. I would laugh along with them and not take it to heart at the time.
Maybe I was lucky to be in a supportive environment, but in any case, I believe that the more we exaggerate our differences, the more we invite others to tease us about them. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been confident about my family’s habits and, later, my conscious choices. I never felt ashamed to talk about them, nor did I believe they could make me a target.
On the contrary, over the years, my friends grew more and more respectful of my choices. They would make sure there was something meat-free for me when I visited their homes and generally made an effort to make me feel comfortable rather than out of place. Of course, I’m not claiming that no vegan child will ever face bullying or that being different doesn’t often lead to isolation. Unfortunately, it does. However, I think my case is a good example to encourage parents who are currently anxious about raising a vegan child in our country. They need to see that there are positive stories too.
As for the exemption, yes, I did get one at some point in middle school, but at the time, it was considered “cool” because you got to skip the class—and none of my classmates liked that class anyway.
I will never forget Easter at your house in 2017, with your grandfather and grandmother being vegan as well. I couldn’t believe what I was experiencing. It was the most beautiful Easter of my life in Greece. How did your grandfather feel about the reactions of those around him when he told them, back then, that he would no longer eat animal products after returning from his travels?
My grandfather was ahead of his time and a truly blessed individual. He was calm and didn’t engage in arguments or conflicts, so it was hard for anyone—especially his own family—to fight with him. After leaving our village in Nafpaktos, he moved to Athens and later traveled abroad, where he met renowned doctors who, even back in the 1970s, were already spreading the message and explaining to people why they needed to stop consuming meat and animal products. That’s when he first encountered vegetarianism, and after seeing the scientific evidence, he believed in it and decided to gradually change his diet.
At the same time, he started organizing seminars to help people quit smoking through vegetarian nutrition, touring all over Greece for many years with great success. Back then, entire halls and hotels would fill up with people wanting to participate in the program.
Of course, him being vegan was always a shock for his family and something that differentiated him. However, it never caused family tension. During family meals, he would simply choose the meat-free options. He was the kind of person who wouldn’t create an issue or say too much to provoke reactions. He simply served as a good example, honoring his values through his choices, while being surrounded by others.
Something worth mentioning here is that your father wasn’t vegetarian or an Adventist while you were growing up. I remember he became vegetarian only recently, in the past few years. Did that confuse you?
Yes, my father ate meat and animal products regularly at home. However, over time, my mother decided to stop cooking it for him because it went against her values. Gradually, by the time I was in middle and high school, he no longer consumed it at home—only when we went out to restaurants. Nowadays, he has chosen not to eat it at all because he doesn’t want to harm animals, who he loves deeply, nor to compromise his health by eating meat.
Even though I saw him eating meat in front of me, I never felt the urge to try it or “copy” him. Perhaps this is related to the fact that it was my father consuming meat, not my mother, and the maternal role model might have influenced my behavior, especially since I was a girl.
I believe that for parents who don’t fully agree on dietary choices, patience and avoiding pressure is the best approach. In our case, we never pressured my father, and he eventually decided to change on his own. Pressure often has the opposite effect, especially within a family environment.
Currently, my husband does consume animal products in front of our son, but he fully respects my choices and the fact that I want to raise our child on a vegan diet. This, however, is a conversation that needs to happen early on (between the couple) in order to avoid potential conflicts.
How and when did you decide to give up animal products entirely, and most importantly, why?
Quitting dairy consumption came sometime after high school, and it was naturally more challenging. I wasn’t consuming eggs, yogurt, or milk directly, as my mother never gave me those from a young age, believing that they were extremely unhealthy. However, I did consume these products indirectly in sweets, pies, and similar foods. So, it required a gradual effort to phase them out.
The main reason was that my mother, after extensive research, became fully convinced of how harmful these products are to our health. Additionally, I came into contact with people who were already vegan, like you, Elisa, who explained certain things to me about the dairy industry and its practices.
I could never bring myself to watch any of those harsh videos or documentaries that exist, but the descriptions of the processes alone were enough to convince me of how unfair and violent it all is for the animals just for a moment of our enjoyment.
Tell us about Genesis Hellas. What exactly is its mission, and what are your immediate and long-term goals?
Genesis Hellas is a non-profit organization that focuses on supporting vulnerable social groups while upholding the values of veganism and ecology. It was founded by my family with the primary goal of promoting healthy eating, respect for animals, and environmental protection.
We started our first vegan community kitchen in 2018, where we cook for the homeless and people living at or below the poverty line, distributing food in cardboard containers to minimize our environmental footprint. In addition to this project, we also engage in various psychosocial activities to support the homeless community, which is often neglected and needs real assistance and visibility.
In our goals, we also aim to spread the spirit of volunteering and promote veganism, initially through leading by example and, consequently, through our actions. Currently, we focus on promoting volunteering through children’s workshops in schools and through the volunteer community we’ve built. However, we aim to soon begin actions related to promoting human health and the respect to all animals. Additionally, we participate in beach clean-ups and organize relief efforts for people affected by extreme weather events, such as floods and wildfires, by collecting food and other necessities in Athens and transporting them to the affected areas.
We hope that through our efforts, we can contribute to creating a more compassionate society that will embrace diversity and promote the idea of ending the exploitation of all sentient beings.
How do you manage to combine motherhood, activism, and livelihood?
The combination of motherhood, activism, and livelihood is a challenge, but proper time management (which I don’t always manage) and support from my environment are crucial. If I didn’t have such a supportive husband, family, and friends, I don’t think it would be possible to do all of this.
Apart from that, I think we need to be realistic and accept that some days we won’t get everything done, and that’s normal. Regarding motherhood, I try to involve my son in activism actions so he develops an early sensitivity to animals and the environment. I’m sure that this process not only strengthens our bond, but also provides him with valuable knowledge and experiences, as well as develops his empathy and emotional intelligence from an early age. One of the reasons we created a separate space at Genesis for babies aged 1-3 is precisely for this: to allow parents to combine volunteerism and parenthood in such actions.
I remember back when you were still a student, going to the refugee camp in Oinofyta, and an Afghan family was looking for soy kebabs to cook for you so you could eat with them. Very heartwarming. I wonder if people accept you more easily because the source of your different diet is primarily religion, and this is something that others accept with more respect without many questions… When people asked you why you don’t eat meat, what exactly did you answer? And even now…
The truth is, at the refugee camp, I received a lot of love and acceptance from the refugees who stayed there. For this particular target group, and because they didn’t speak good English, nor knew what the word vegan meant, we simply said religious reasons without much explanation, as communication was difficult, and they especially appreciated it due to their own religion.
However, I have never told any of my other acquaintances that I am vegan because of religious beliefs. Many members of our church may follow this diet, but it is not mandatory, it’s just recommended as the best option, and there are of course texts in which the ethical aspect is explained, including references to animals.
My family has decided to follow this lifestyle not only for health reasons but also out of respect for animals and because of the distancing we take from such violent practices since we do not believe they represent or align with Christianity.
When people ask me why I don’t eat meat, although lately almost no one asks me, perhaps due to the spread of veganism, I simply reply “for ethical reasons and for our health!”
Thank you very much for your time, Ifigenia!
Keep up the good work!
You can find & follow Ifigenia and her organizaiton Genesis Hellas on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Extra tip: Adventists are one of the five groups of people who belong to the Blue Zones, which are five places on Earth where people live longer. You can watch the related documentary on Netflix “Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones.”