From Butcher To Vegan: ‘It Was A Very Toxic Experience’

Personal trainer, activist and athlete Fraser Bayley has opened up about his journey from being butcher to becoming a vegan in this exclusive podcast with Plant Based News.

In this interview with PBN Co-founder Robbie Lockie, Bayley also discusses mental health, having a baby and the environment, as well as social constructs around masculinity and ‘the evolving Alpha Male’.

Working as a butcher

Speaking about his experience as a butcher, Bayley spoke about working part-time in a supermarket. He said: “I just happened to be put into the butchery as a student.

“It was funny because a lot of the boys got put into butchery and a lot of girls got put into checkout, so they were in a customer service role and a lot of the guys got put into butchery, or deli, or seafood. The paradigm of male and female.”

Speaking about being diagnosed with ADHD at school, Bayley reveals he thought he was ‘stupid’ and decided to ditch his formal education and take a full-time job to make some money. “I went to the butchery manager and said, ‘look, I’ve been on part-time for a while, can I come on full-time?’ so I fell into it.”

PBN interviews Fraser Bayley

Slaughter

Bayley went through a two-year butcher’s apprenticeship, visiting slaughterhouses as well as taking college courses. “You’re deep into it once you see [animals being slaughtered],” he said.

Speaking about his mental health, Bayley added: “What I found is I often asked myself whether my mental health spiralled out of control because I was in a butcher’s or whether it was the other way around.

“The people working in this environment all seemed to have similar problems, and it wasn’t just in that one butchery…I would see a lot of alcoholism, drug abuse, and hypermasculinity…it was a very heavy, toxic, experience.”

You canlisten to the full interview on the Plant Based News podcast here