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May 1, 2013

Rise of the Vegan Zombie. ~ Chris Cooney

What happens when the worlds of veganism and horror collide?

While driving around for work on the back roads of Upstate New York a few years ago, I began thinking—I wanted something new, creative, fun and relevant that I could do in my spare time.

One of the things I’ve always loved was making videos and movies with my friends. When I was a kid, my dad was always filming home movies with his super 8 camera and I kinda just followed in his footsteps—most of my projects were poor attempts at horror as I’ve always been a big fan of the genre.

Veganism has also been a significant part of my life since I was a teenager.

I started to brainstorm a few ideas and eventually I came up with the basis for The Vegan Zombie: in my mind, zombies are associated with anyone that eats non-vegan foods. If someone were to eat something that had meat, milk or eggs in it, they’d become a zombie.

Based on this concept, I wrote a script for a movie—a full on zombie movie like any other—but those that were resistant were the vegans. Because of time constraints as well as resources, I put the film on hold; instead, I decided to start an online cooking show using the same concept—a cooking show set in a zombie apocalypse. In this apocalypse, the “outbreak” is transmitted through animal products that people consume.

I pitched the idea to one of my best friends and longtime vegan, Jon. He was more than happy to be the host of the show—the survivor of our cooking show and the lone vegan in the area.

Growing up in a small town in Upstate NY as a vegetarian and later a vegan, I’ve pretty much heard it all. I’ve been told that vegans are pasty, preachy, weak and don’t know what good food tastes like, but in creating The Vegan Zombie, I wanted to show another side of that argument and debunk some of those myths.

I never considered myself preachy or weak and I don’t eat food that doesn’t taste good. Pasty? Maybe a little, but I blame that on my Irish heritage. So, we geared The Vegan Zombie toward anyone that wants to watch a fun, yet informative vegan cooking show with a twist of horror.

Jon makes humorous cracks at being in the apocalypse and fending off zombies all while creating delicious vegan foods. His sidekick is Indy, a German Shepherd that alerts him of danger and loves carrots and potatoes. No preachy vibe. No weaklings.

Just apocalypse adventure with an open invitation for anyone to join in the crusade, vegans and non-vegans alike.

We make food that’s quick, easy and zombie-free.

 

Chris Cooney—Creator/Producer of The Vegan Zombie. Born in Upstate NY Graduated from John Jay College with B.S. Resides in Upstate NY with his dog Indy.

Jon Tedd—Host/Vegan Chef/Z-Day Survivor. Born in Upstate NY Graduated from Ithaca College with B.S. Certified at Natural Gourmet of Health and Culinary Arts. Resides in Upstate NY.

Like elephant vegetarian & vegan on Facebook.

 

Assistant Ed: Sara Crolick/Ed: Bryonie Wise

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