A family who went vegan say they've lost friends after switching to a plant-based lifestyle, claiming people they know will even 'blank' them in the street.
Jacqui Robins of Probus, Cornwall, decided to go vegan just over two years ago after watching 'horrifying' documentaries and researching dairy farming processes.
She said: "I saw a video that went into the reality of the dairy industry. I was horrified and straight away I didn't want anything to do with the dairy products, because I thought if I couldn't cope with watching it happen, but I was buying the product, I was inadvertently funding it."
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Gradually, many members of her family began to follow suit - first, her father John (along with his wife Sarah), then her 14-year-old son Skipp.
Jacquie continued: "All of the kids have made their own decisions and have recognised why they are vegan. Some parents say 'you're not having that and that', but we wanted the kids to understand why we do it, take on the information and decide for themselves."
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Skipp was inspired to make the change after watching The Land of Hope and Glory, a 2017 documentary about the UK's farming practices.
It took a little longer for Jacqui's husband Ryan and 15-year-old daughter Skye, to do the same, but eventually they also went vegan.
Jacqui says even five-year-old Cadan 'understands exactly' what animals go through.
She explained: "He knows that the baby animals suffer and are taken from their mummies and he doesn't believe in that."
When Cadan was younger, he was fed dairy milk, but Jacqui said he started suffering from digestive issues so they transitioned him to vegan alternatives.
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She said: "I received pressure from doctors and midwives that were saying he needed dairy and calcium, but we were trying to give it to him and it was making him poorly. We have learnt a lot since then.
"I studied nutrition because I wanted to better understand what was going into my food. If somebody tells you your kid needs something, you will buy it and give it to them, even if it's not right."
The family has said many people think of vegans as 'militant' and 'crazy', but Jacqui is adamant that their issue isn't that people choose to eat meat, merely their refusal to understand the processes behind the meat and dairy industries.
She just wants to inform people about how things work, which is something the family regularly does through social media - even though this has caused relationships with friends and family to break down.
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Jacqui continued: "A lot of people don't realise and I think we are manipulated by the industry to think everything is happy and everything is great and I think that's corrupt to sell a product without transparency.
"So when I started posting about it and raising awareness, I lost a lot of my friendships - because they were telling me to be quiet about it."
Ryan, who is a teaching assistant, added: "There is nothing in schools now to teach kids where their food comes from, how it is slaughtered and the process and all of that kind of stuff.
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"So for me, posting was the most powerful thing I could do - I could get things out on social media for people to see and read.
"I got grief from friends back in the Midlands, where I grew up, saying this is not what Facebook is about, stop with the dead images of animals and share family photos instead."
Some people even told Ryan he was disrespecting the memory of his father, a butcher, and the couple haven't spoken to Jacqui's sister in over a year.
Jacqui said: "There seems to be some kind of divide where people meet vegans with aggression and resistance when you are just trying to raise awareness about practices that people should know about."
Featured Image Credit: SWNS
Topics: Food, UK News, News, Vegan