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Penticton  

Vegan van stops in valley

Residents of the Okanagan Valley may have spotted a distinctive white-and-green camper van with the words "The Vigorous Vegan Vagabond" displayed on it this past week. 

It belongs to Frank Metivier, a 47-year-old man who has recently decided to drop everything and take his vision of a vegan world on tour throughout North America. 

"Basically, I bought this van maybe four months ago in Canmore, Alta.," said Metivier, who is originally from Quebec.

He encourages anyone who spots his van to come up and chat. The van features a box on its outside which holds free information cards about how to adopt a vegan lifestyle. 

"Sometimes people take a card and they leave," he said. "I think it attracts people that are maybe shy and just want to take information without talking to anyone. Others, they want to talk, and I can give them information. It seems to be working!"

Metivier said he was inspired to pursue this trip after he decided the vegetarian lifestyle he had been leading didn't do enough to address what he felt was animal cruelty in the dairy industry. He wants to share his opinions with as many people as possible. 

"I started doing activism in the street, and I still do it," he said. "I've been travelling for pretty much all my life, but I said, maybe I should add something to my travelling since I'm very concerned about this topic."

Metivier is in Penticton and the surrounding area for another few days, parking his van around town.

"My goal is to get to the west coast in the next few weeks, to Vancouver Island, and then head south to Mexico for this winter," Metivier said. 

To find out more about Metivier's cross-continent journey, click here



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