An actress and singer, Zendaya is one of Hollywood’s bright young stars. She is also a known vegetarian but when and why did she stop eating meat?
Zendaya has been a vegetarian for most of her life. She decided to stop eating meat after her father explained a slaughterhouse to her when she was 11 years old. She then watched the PETA documentary “Glass Walls” and eaten a meat-free diet ever since. Her “Shake It Up” character, Rocky Blue, was also made vegetarian after Zendaya informed the crew that she couldn’t eat a meatball.
For more on Zendaya’s vegetarianism and her motivation for eating a meat-free diet, read on.
Vegetarianism
Zendaya has been a vegetarian since childhood and explained her motivations on her app in 2016.
She was keen to stress that her decision to become a vegetarian was not motivated by a love of vegetables but because she loves animals.
She has said that she first became aware of meat production when she was 11 after driving past a slaughterhouse on a road trip with her father.
Zendaya’s father explained what happened in the facility to produce meat and the conversation had a permanent effect on the young actress.
The thought of animals awaiting slaughter was too much for Zendaya and started her journey towards becoming vegetarian. She then watched “Glass Walls”, a PETA documentary, which convinced her to officially start eating a meat-free diet.
Zendaya has also shared that she had a vivid dream a couple of days after becoming vegetarian, where she saw hamburgers raining from the sky.
It took a while for the dreams to stop occurring but Zendaya says that she no longer feels the urge to eat meat and doesn’t like the taste.
She confessed that the only meat she occasionally misses is her mother’s turkey burgers.
Despite not eating meat, Zendays does like an occasional fast food order, particularly to In-N-Out Burger, where she gets a vegetarian grilled cheese with onions and extra spread.
Sharing Her Diet
Zendaya offered some advice for her vegetarian fans and those who might be considering making the switch by posting a fast-food guide to her official website.
She believes it’s important that enjoying fast-food shouldn’t be seen as a barrier to eating a vegetarian diet.
Her site includes possible vegetarian orders from Chick-fil-A, In-N-Out Burger, Panda Express, Subway, Veggie Grill, and Chipotle.
Zendaya also mentions that she orders fast food almost every day, unsurprising given her busy lifestyle as one of Hollywood’s hot young stars.
Zendaya, as far as we’re aware, is not vegan and still enjoys ice cream and some other dairy products as a treat. In 2017, however, it seems she might have found the perfect solution to her love of ice cream.
On October 24, 2017, Zendaya tweeted “Can’t believe imma tweet this but… I found some bomb ass vegan ice cream”.
Finding tasty alternatives to animal-based products has always been one of the big challenges facing vegetarians and vegans but it seems people are constantly innovating new recipes to satisfy their taste buds.
Her vegetarianism has actually been reflected onscreen, with her “Shake It Up” character, Rocky Blue, also eating a meat-free diet.
This happened because of “Meatball It Up”, the show’s second-ever episode that was broadcast in 2010.
The episode features Rocky and CeCe, played by Bella Thorne, visiting their favorite restaurant to eat meatballs.
Zendaya informed the crew that she was vegetarian and Rocky was instead given a vegetarian meatball, with this trait being incorporated into the character for the rest of the show’s run.
Zendaya has been recognized by PETA for her contributions to promoting a meat-free diet. In August 2013, visitors to peta2.com also voted her as the female winner of their Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity contest.
Zendaya overcame stiff competition including Anne Hathaway, Alicia Silverstone, Daniella Monet, and many more.