My ride with Prince has always been mostly about his work, music and shows and I have never digged too deep into his personnal life until more recently. I know he was a vegetarian, but I don't know when he became one and what prompt him to become one in the first place... Does anyone out there know a little bit more about this and how that move fitted into his life timeline...

I would also love to find out if Prince had influenced any of you in your decision to become vegetarian.

That's a good question. I'm sure someone on the org can dish the details on that..In the 1996 Ebony magazine interview, it stated he was a veggie for 6 or 7 years. That was the first time anywhere I read that..I've never read any details from him on why he went veggie, except that he didn't eat "anything with eyes"..(he said that at a few concerts I went to)..If you look at pics of him around 90-91, you can see he's a bit thinner. That could be around the time he started.......I've been a vegetarian since 1991, so it's ironic I started around the same time he did.

http://prince.org/msg/7/357011

purplethunder3121 said:

http://prince.org/msg/7/357011

Not the same question.

CherryMoon57 said:

morningsong said:

I stayed an omnivore. Rumor has it that Mayte influenced him. But I only know that as a rumor.

Prince was a vegetarian in the late 80s. He talked about that, so it wasn't a recent thing. He talked about he felt his face was sometimes a bit puffy or whatever, but when he cut out milk and other animal products, that fell right off. Of course, one also grows into their face over time, and the span of that can vary.

I think he was more hardcore with veganism in part of the 90s, and especially by the time Rave came out, with the liner notes on wool. He was totally vegan there for a bit, but it played against him and his love of wine.

I wonder how much his veganism extended to other parts of his life. Were his shoes made with leather soles? He wore a leather jacket for "Kiss" for quite a while. Eh, in those sorts of things, you sometimes have to pick & choose your battles, or you get wrapped up in the details, and miss the bigger picture.

TrivialPursuit said:

morningsong said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Prince was a vegetarian in the late 80s. He talked about that, so it wasn't a recent thing. He talked about he felt his face was sometimes a bit puffy or whatever, but when he cut out milk and other animal products, that fell right off. Of course, one also grows into their face over time, and the span of that can vary.

I think he was more hardcore with veganism in part of the 90s, and especially by the time Rave came out, with the liner notes on wool. He was totally vegan there for a bit, but it played against him and his love of wine.

I wonder how much his veganism extended to other parts of his life. Were his shoes made with leather soles? He wore a leather jacket for "Kiss" for quite a while. Eh, in those sorts of things, you sometimes have to pick & choose your battles, or you get wrapped up in the details, and miss the bigger picture.

I don't get what that means. Isn't wine vegan?

In the production of wine, various animal-related products are used (filtering, etc).

PETA has lists of vegan wine producers here:
http://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/is-wine-vegan/

morningsong said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Prince was a vegetarian in the late 80s. He talked about that, so it wasn't a recent thing. He talked about he felt his face was sometimes a bit puffy or whatever, but when he cut out milk and other animal products, that fell right off. Of course, one also grows into their face over time, and the span of that can vary.

I think he was more hardcore with veganism in part of the 90s, and especially by the time Rave came out, with the liner notes on wool. He was totally vegan there for a bit, but it played against him and his love of wine.

I wonder how much his veganism extended to other parts of his life. Were his shoes made with leather soles? He wore a leather jacket for "Kiss" for quite a while. Eh, in those sorts of things, you sometimes have to pick & choose your battles, or you get wrapped up in the details, and miss the bigger picture.

I don't get what that means. Isn't wine vegan?

What I meant was that someone so petite like Prince, who is also a vegan and probably didn't eat much anyway, drinking wine puts him in an almost near-instant altered state. We all know the more public story of his heart palpitations from wine and veganism and work in 199something (April 21, as it turned out). A lot of folks around him talked about how much he loved wine. So...yeah.

laytonian said:

morningsong said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I don't get what that means. Isn't wine vegan?

In the production of wine, various animal-related products are used (filtering, etc).

PETA has lists of vegan wine producers here:
http://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/is-wine-vegan/

Not where I was going, at all.

Bunsterdk said:

I'm wanting to know about them pancakes and veganism.. Without milk and eggs? Hmmmmm...

I was vegan for a while. It's quite possible to make almost anything without using animal product. There are egg substitutes, etc. that work fine. I can make a pan of baked mac n' cheese that you'd never know was vegan.

maseratigirl said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I have been vegan for 7 years now, and before that was vegetarian for 2 years.

There were many factors in my decision but Prince being vegetarian was definitely one of them.

He was vegan at one point for at least a few years, and I can tell you that "Animal Kingdom" placed him in very high regard in the vegan community.

I would say Prince influenced my decision a little to go pescatarian- yes!

I know he was Vegetarian, then he went Vegan and then he became Vegetarian again. To be fair though- with the eggs situation I'd say it is possible to be humane and eat eggs. If you keep chickens or a friend keeps them for example, and you know they're good happy and healthy birds then why not? My boyfriends family know someone who has their own chickens and the eggs from those chickens are AMAZING compared to supermarket eggs. If I wasn't slightly Ornithophobic I would defo keep chickens!

Maybe he knew someone who had chickens and they were happy so thats why he went back to eating eggs? Who knows.

Militant said:

I have been vegan for 7 years now, and before that was vegetarian for 2 years.

There were many factors in my decision but Prince being vegetarian was definitely one of them.

He was vegan at one point for at least a few years, and I can tell you that "Animal Kingdom" placed him in very high regard in the vegan community.

I have tried becoming vegetarian many times before, but everytime it just makes me very hungry, especially at night (I have a very fast metabolism) and I don't seem to find something that keeps me going as long as meat/fish does. I have been seriously considering giving it another go in the near future though, hence my thread, main reason being about the animal welfare and health...

Oh wow- just to add to my previous post, I'm just reading an interview right now and Ian Boxhill who worked for P mentioned that he ate fish here. He must have been Pescatarian.

'Ian Boxill:
The typical day at Paisley would start with a phone call from Prince asking me to come in, usually between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. He would ask me to bring in some blended coffee drink from Caribou Coffee. Then he would ask me to either get some song ready to work on or say we were going to record some musicians he had coming in. Sometimes they came in later at night so I would work on something else before they came in. Many times he had a chef working at Paisley and we would eat around 8 p.m. and usually with wine. Lot’s of wine. It was mainly veggies too with the occasional fish. No Shrimp or shell fish. He didn’t eat that. We would then work ‘til between 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.

CherryMoon57 said:

Militant said:

I have been vegan for 7 years now, and before that was vegetarian for 2 years.

There were many factors in my decision but Prince being vegetarian was definitely one of them.

He was vegan at one point for at least a few years, and I can tell you that "Animal Kingdom" placed him in very high regard in the vegan community.

I have tried becoming vegetarian many times before, but everytime it just makes me very hungry, especially at night (I have a very fast metabolism) and I don't seem to find something that keeps me going as long as meat/fish does. I have been seriously considering giving it another go in the near future though, hence my thread, main reason being about the animal welfare and health...

Soups and stews with a side of bread! That'll keep you going.

If getting hungry quickly is your issue, you need to be eating more slow-release foods that keep you full over a longer period of time. Potatoes, pasta, bread, polenta, gnocchi, nuts and legumes.

Angelsoncrack said:

I would say Prince influenced my decision a little to go pescatarian- yes!

I know he was Vegetarian, then he went Vegan and then he became Vegetarian again. To be fair though- with the eggs situation I'd say it is possible to be humane and eat eggs. If you keep chickens or a friend keeps them for example, and you know they're good happy and healthy birds then why not? My boyfriends family know someone who has their own chickens and the eggs from those chickens are AMAZING compared to supermarket eggs. If I wasn't slightly Ornithophobic I would defo keep chickens!

Maybe he knew someone who had chickens and they were happy so thats why he went back to eating eggs? Who knows.

I would be very hard for me to go without eggs (love omelettes, scrambled eggs and crepes) and I agree about the eggs from home reared chickens, much tastier and at least you know what they've been eating and that they haven't been injected with hormones or antibiotics! Yes, for me also Prince plays a role, even if minimal, in my questions around nutrition. He seemed rather level headed on some life issues and often displayed a lot of common sense. I wonder if his eating habits had changed towards the end of his life though, like if he had become a less strict vegetarian. I know he had mentioned not eating red meat in interviews... So maybe he ate other meats and fish.

[Edited 6/19/16 0:29am]

I attempt to eat meat only once or twice a week, but that only works when I'm at my home in my university town. When I'm with my parents, i have to accommodate. I have much respect for vegetarians and vegans.

Militant said:

CherryMoon57 said:

I have tried becoming vegetarian many times before, but everytime it just makes me very hungry, especially at night (I have a very fast metabolism) and I don't seem to find something that keeps me going as long as meat/fish does. I have been seriously considering giving it another go in the near future though, hence my thread, main reason being about the animal welfare and health...

Soups and stews with a side of bread! That'll keep you going.

If getting hungry quickly is your issue, you need to be eating more slow-release foods that keep you full over a longer period of time. Potatoes, pasta, bread, polenta, gnocchi, nuts and legumes.

Thanks for your advice. Just reading "soup and stews with a side of bread" is making me hungry! Though seriously yes, I will try to do what you said. My problem from previous attempts was was that I probably didn't keep enough carbs in my diet to maintain my energy levels. I wonder if Prince had enough to eat for all the work he did... I remember that video when he couldn't help but eat that rice cake in the middle of an interview... I'm exactely the same, I often get the sudden hunger pangs and when they come, I need that cake now!

[Edited 6/18/16 14:11pm]

He was vegan only for a couple of years. We have reports from two chefs who say that he wasn't vegan anymore. While the 3121 era he was a pescetarian, which means that he ate seafood.

http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/i-was-princes-private-chef

And here is an interview with his last chef:
http://www.citypages.com/restaurants/what-prince-ate-an-interview-with-princes-personal-chefs-8238997

"And sorry, vegans, he wasn't a member of your tribe after all. But he was a vegetarian. Meat was among the "long list" of items they were not to use, along with onions, Feta cheese, and mushrooms."

TrivialPursuit said:

morningsong said:

I stayed an omnivore. Rumor has it that Mayte influenced him. But I only know that as a rumor.

Prince was a vegetarian in the late 80s. He talked about that, so it wasn't a recent thing. He talked about he felt his face was sometimes a bit puffy or whatever, but when he cut out milk and other animal products, that fell right off. Of course, one also grows into their face over time, and the span of that can vary.

I think he was more hardcore with veganism in part of the 90s, and especially by the time Rave came out, with the liner notes on wool. He was totally vegan there for a bit, but it played against him and his love of wine.

I wonder how much his veganism extended to other parts of his life. Were his shoes made with leather soles? He wore a leather jacket for "Kiss" for quite a while. Eh, in those sorts of things, you sometimes have to pick & choose your battles, or you get wrapped up in the details, and miss the bigger picture.

Yes I did notice that he looked a lot thinner and his skin looked clearer and healthier, starting from the 90's. And like you I did wonder about the shoes with regards to leather, I actually checked on purpose during the 21 nights aftershows, I couldn't tell 100% about the sole, though the top part of the boot was always either satin or velvet type material, but that could have been just been for fashion reasons.

ludwig said:

He was vegan only for a couple of years. We have reports from two chefs who say that he wasn't vegan anymore. While the 3121 era he was a pescetarian, which means that he ate seafood.

http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/i-was-princes-private-chef

And here is an interview with his last chef:
http://www.citypages.com/restaurants/what-prince-ate-an-interview-with-princes-personal-chefs-8238997

"And sorry, vegans, he wasn't a member of your tribe after all. But he was a vegetarian. Meat was among the "long list" of items they were not to use, along with onions, Feta cheese, and mushrooms."

Thanks for your answer and those links ludwig. It was nice to read about Prince from different persons' stories. I really liked the first article, it's somehow funny to imagine Prince making those scrambled eggs and then putting the pan back in the sink!

Angelsoncrack said:

Oh wow- just to add to my previous post, I'm just reading an interview right now and Ian Boxhill who worked for P mentioned that he ate fish here. He must have been Pescatarian.

'Ian Boxill:
The typical day at Paisley would start with a phone call from Prince asking me to come in, usually between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. He would ask me to bring in some blended coffee drink from Caribou Coffee. Then he would ask me to either get some song ready to work on or say we were going to record some musicians he had coming in. Sometimes they came in later at night so I would work on something else before they came in. Many times he had a chef working at Paisley and we would eat around 8 p.m. and usually with wine. Lot’s of wine. It was mainly veggies too with the occasional fish. No Shrimp or shell fish. He didn’t eat that. We would then work ‘til between 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.

Apparently, those are very bad for you, they filter the sea water and contain a lot of contaminants as well as mercury, probably why he didn't eat them, unless he was allergic to them, a lot of people are.

CherryMoon57 said:

maplenpg said:

CherryMoon57 said:

Thanks for your advice. Just reading "soup and stews with a side of bread" is making me hungry! Though seriously yes, I will try to do what you said. My problem from previous attempts was was that I probably didn't keep enough carbs in my diet to maintain my energy levels. I wonder if Prince had enough to eat for all the work he did... I remember that video when he couldn't help but eat that rice cake in the middle of an interview... I'm exactely the same, I often get the sudden hunger pangs and when they come, I need that cake now!

[Edited 6/18/16 14:11pm]

My advice would be to try and go without meat or fish for one day a week then up it to two and so on rather than completely giving up all at once. I've been veggie for nearly twenty years and have been dabbling with veganism by going one or two days a week vegan (I never wear leather) and trying to be more ethical (I'm lucky, my neighbour has pet chickens), but with a young family veganism is hard. That's why we only do it part time. If you find giving up meat hard, start off part-time too. You'll be making a huge difference to the planet even if you give up meat one day a week. Good luck.

Thank you. I remember my mum trying veganism when I was little, it was hard and she ended up adding a lot of cheese on our rice to try and make things more interesting for us! As for now, I have actually already started to not eat meat 2-3 times a week, and I think I am ready to step it up a little. I do occasionnally get hungry at night but will try and increase my slow-release carbs intake like militant said. I was a little worried about how my daughter would cope on those days, but as long as she has pasta she's happy! Thanks again for your advice