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Humans of Oxford: Monnett Hamilton: The American meat-eating Australian vegan

By Elizabeth Hansen, Assistant Culture Editor

Monnett Hamilton likes to try new things -- she does it all the time. For one month straight, she tried a new thing every day. Some days were as simple as switching up her coffee order. Other days she explored the world outside the so-called "Oxford Bubble."

Although that month has ended, her spontaneity is far from over.

Her new goal? Become an Instagram-famous, Australian vegan blogger.

"My friend Ali and I always joke about her excessive vegetable consumption," said Monnett. "So we started joking around and ranting about how all vegan Australian bloggers are Instagram-famous."

The two sat there conspiring. Could Monnett become Instagram-famous too? There was only one way to find out.

It sounds ridiculous, especially considering she is neither Australian, nor vegan. But she is already making it happen.

She began by changing her Instagram biography to convince the famous Australian vegans that she was, in fact, one of them.

Next, she populated her feed with posts that declared her veganism. The first included a picture of a coconut -- a vegan staple. The caption read:

"Here's a picture of a coconut because I was vegan ALL DAY today for @nataliewink's birthday #vegan #itsahardBROClife #1800plants #checkoutmyshrubs #plantsRlyfe #justveganlife #weeatplants #australia #getitbecausenatalieisavegan"

Within two days, Monnett had gained 32 new Instagram followers -- all vegans, and mostly Australian.

"I found that if you #vegan on food pictures it gets more likes -- especially from vegan accounts."

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Friends around campus who didn't know of Monnett's quest to become an Instagram-famous, Australian vegan thought she was changing her meat-eating ways.

"Are you a vegan now?" people would ask her.

And she would share her experiment.

Her faux-veganism even scored her an invite to a vegan and vegetarian dinner.

"Safe to say, it was tasty," said Monnett.