‘Grand Hotel’ actress Adorno talks veganism and why she did it

Transitioning from an animal- to a plant-based diet doesn’t happen overnight. As with anything, the body needs time to adjust and cravings occur. Also, there are social situations, restaurants, family gatherings and holidays to contend with, all tempting you to go back to old ways. A lot of people do. But Justina Adorno, who plays socially awkward daughter Yoli in the ABC Monday drama “Grand Hotel,” found an unusual but effective way of staying on her straight and narrow path toward veganism. “It was my love for animals, honestly,” she explains. “I love them so much and then I would learn another thing about what happens in the food industry and just go, ‘Ugh! What am I doing?’ ... Like I watch sometimes those horrible videos of ... what goes on in those factories and I feel like that’s the biggest motivation for me, is just seeing the raw, nasty truth of things to make me go, ‘This is reality.’ So then it makes my ‘poor’ transition into veganism like I’m not giving anything up, actually. I’m actually saving lives instead of giving up a life, sacrificing a life.” Talk to the 28-year-old Bronx, N.Y. native and it’s clear she’s made the transition successfully. She’s downright evangelical when extolling the virtues of a plant-based diet, saying she feels better physically and mentally, especially knowing that her diet doesn’t require that animals die. As for the food itself, she says she doesn’t feel deprived, citing vegan versions of burgers, pizza, ice cream, doughnuts and cookies that she says are readily available and satisfying. “There are cheeses,” she says, “like my favorite cheese is a cashew-based cheese. It’s so delicious and it’s a smoked gouda and sun-dried tomato, like I’m not missing out on anything. You just have to make an extra effort to learn where you can get those things. It’s all out there.” And she’s a big fan of one plant-based meat. “The Beyond Meat sausages are like ridiculously amazing,” she says. “They’re so good. I have never been a sausage person. And that’s another thing with vegan, a lot of the foods that I wasn’t crazy about, when I became vegan I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing!’ Like sausages, doughnuts, breakfast foods – I never was into it but now I can’t stop thinking about it.”