With the holiday season approaching, many families are preparing to cook large Thanksgiving meals. As if cooking Thanksgiving dinner wasn’t challenging enough, some families, such as the Lynch family, go about the task of cooking an entirely vegan meal.

According to Shannon Lynch ’21, she and all six of her sisters have decided to follow a vegan diet. 

“At first, I was a vegetarian, but because of my sisters’ influence I eventually became a vegan,” Shannon said. “It’s just a healthier and better lifestyle overall.”

Shannon’s mother, Kathleen Lynch, has been vegan since she was 16 years old. She has helped support her daughters’ veganism through cooking and finding recipes that suits them all.

“On holidays such as Thanksgiving, we work really hard to find delicious recipes that are vegan and everyone can enjoy,” Kathleen Lynch said. 

One of their family’s favorite recipes, according to Kathleen, is a tofu-based turkey that they have nicknamed ‘tofurkey’.

“We usually take a couple of days to marinate the tofu, and we pair it with homemade stuffing,” Shannon Lynch said. “We also add gravy and mashed potatoes with vegan butter.”

According to Shannon’s older sister, Hannah Lynch, even the members of the family who aren’t vegan always enjoy the food they bring.

“A lot of people expect the food to be bad just because it’s vegan,”  Hannah said. “But once they give it a shot, they usually end up loving it and eating more,”

According to Shannon, finding vegan food for holidays such as Thanksgiving can be easier than people think.

“A lot more food than people expect is vegan, such as green beans, cranberries and mashed potatoes,”  Kathleen said. “Although a slight challenge, cooking an entirely vegan Thanksgiving meal allows for a lot of creativity and hopefully a great end result,”