CBJ: Pet pig inspires rare vegan bed and breakfast

SCHUYLER - It all began with a white pig named Norman, a gift to Dina Brigish from her mother.

“He sort of changed my life,” says Brigish, who owns the White Pig Bed & Breakfast, an entirely vegan inn located in Schuyler.

An almost lifelong vegetarian, a then 22-year-old Brigish went vegan shortly after Norman’s arrival and began volunteering with animal rescue organizations in her native New York. (Veganism is more than just a diet; it’s a lifestyle that excludes the use of animals for food, clothing or any other purpose).

Around the same time, she and her husband, Hal, a graphic designer, were pondering a move to Brooklyn. But, knowing that a certain white pig couldn’t live happily in an apartment, they bought a small Victorian house on Long Island, where Norman had about a quarter of an acre to call his own.

Their brood soon grew to include two more pigs, Miss Olive and Jacob, and several stray dogs, and it wasn’t long before they outgrew the land.

Brigish, who was working in the fashion industry in addition to her volunteer work, also became burned out from a grueling schedule.

“I spent very little time at home with my animals,” she says.

Knowing a career change was in order, she decided that a B&B would give her more quality time with her brood. It would also allow her to open an animal sanctuary, something she’d been itching to do for a while.

Brigish studied at the Natural Gourmet Cookery School in Manhattan, where she was schooled in vegan, vegetarian and health-supportive cooking. When she graduated in 1997, there were only two other vegan bed and breakfasts in the country, and Brigish wanted to zero in on an untapped market.

Even some of her fellow students and teachers had their doubts.

“They said, ‘You’re not going to make it,’” Brigish recalls.

“I just said, ‘You know what, there’s gotta be other people out there like me who want the vegan experience. I can’t be the only one.’”

After graduation, the search was on.

She and Hal looked up and down the East Coast, with a wish list of sorts.

They wanted a nice spot in the country, somewhere away from major roads so the animals they rescued would be safe from speeding traffic. They also wanted to be near a progressive town with a rich cultural scene (Charlottesville, which is 25 miles from their Schuyler location, fit the bill).

They finally found their home, located on Irish Road, in 1999.

With 172 acres and two houses already on the property, “it just happened that it had everything we wanted.”

The house that is now the bed and breakfast was built in 1906, but hadn’t been lived in for about 40 years.

“Locals were saying to me, ‘Wow, I really thought they were going to knock that house down,’” says Brigish. “It was bare bones.

“We were able to bring it back.”

They opened in 2001 and use proceeds from the inn to support the animal sanctuary, which 18 animals now call home. Most are pigs (sadly, Norman passed away in 2006), but the couple has also taken in stray dogs and cats and a white pony named Mr. Bingley.

Brigish provides guests with cruelty-free soap and shampoo, as well as other products, and she uses vegan and environmentally friendly supplies throughout the house, which has four bedrooms, all named after her beloved pigs.

She grows a small patch of fruits and vegetables near the house where she and Hal live and also buys locally at the Farmer’s Market.

“Here in Central Virginia, it’s very easy [to find fresh produce],” she says. “The season is really long. I’m psyched that I live in Virginia.”

Breakfast - items like blueberry pancakes, waffles, burritos and a breakfast casserole that’s similar to a frittata but uses tofu, soy cheese and egg replacer - is served at 9 a.m., usually after Brigish and Hal have spent a couple early-morning hours completing chores around the farm.

She hopes the White Pig is a sanctuary for not just the animals, but also for her fellow vegans - a place where they “don’t have to explain their diet all the time or ask about ingredients,” she says. “They can let their guard down. They can just be vegans and not the oddball out.”

But Brigish’s guest list isn’t limited to vegans and vegetarians. Over the years, she’s also hosted plenty of meat eaters who have enjoyed her vegan fare.

“I don’t preach. I don’t judge. That’s not what it’s about.”

It’s more leading by example, she says. “If people don’t eat as much meat, there will be less animals suffering. Just going vegan two or three days a week [will help].

“[Guests] go home, and they make definite changes in their lives.”

- Media General News Service