A Real Vegan

As of tomorrow, it will be one month since I've eaten any animal product of any kind. When we were in Washington last month, I ate a grilled cheese for dinner and had some pastries at the B&B the next morning for breakfast. Since then, nada. I have to give credit for this to reconnecting with an old friend, Megan, who has been vegan for five years. She made me realize it really wasn't a big deal to take The Final Step, and she was right. It's been easy-peasy and the longer I go without, the more committed I am.

In case anyone is curious, I'm not doing this for my health. Never in my life have I stuck to a diet long-term "for my health" - see my ongoing issues with Diet Coke and dessert, signing back up for Weight Watchers every couple of years, etc. I like to be healthy, but I can't permanently give up entire food groups just to be healthier. I'm doing this because of animals.

My cats have distinct personalities - they are individuals with their own quirks and preferences and moods and even emotions. It doesn't follow logically that cats (and dogs, I GUESS) are the only animals with these traits. Pigs have personalities. Chickens do. Cows do. And on and on. And, put bluntly, the way meat, eggs, and dairy are produced in our modern society results in tortured animals, animals who are individuals with personalities. I don't want to be a part of that, and I've come to realize that I don't have to be a part of it.

I've gone back and forth with various levels of vegetarianism since I was 23, but I thought giving up cheese was always inconceivable. "How can people survive without cheese???" Well, you can. Anyone can, if I can. I don't even think about it now. It has become non-food to me; I just walk past that section of the supermarket without noticing it, the same way I've been with the meat case for quite a while. And when I do have occasional feelings of.... not cravings, exactly, but wishing for the convenience of being able to eat it - I just remind myself where it comes from. I remind myself that dairy cows, who have a natural lifespan of 25 years, rarely live past 7. And those 7 years are not much fun.

So I'm doing this because I can't bear to be a part of a system that abuses living creatures. But! The health effects were immediately noticeable. My skin is the best it's ever been in my life. I only wash and moisturize now - no harsh chemicals. I feel light and energetic, even right after meals. Never lethargic or bloated - and this is without exercising as much as I should. I just feel good. I feel like I'm doing the right thing for my body, as well as my mind.

I think one of the issues people have with veganism is that it seems like such an extremist thing; people view it as taking the fun out of food. This is completely ridiculous. As much as I care about protecting animals, I wouldn't be eating this food if it didn't taste good. I've made a variety of unbelievably good cookies and desserts since the beginning of this vegan experiment, things that nobody would ever suspect don't contain eggs or butter. And, as you know if you pay attention to my blog, the meals I eat day and and day out are better, as a whole, than I've ever eaten before. I'm not just saying that in an effort to brainwash people. Ben is still not completely vegan, but he tells people all the time that he's glad I am, because he's eating better than he ever has in his life as a result.

To make good vegan food, you actually have to work at it a little bit, to learn how to season things properly, to learn how to cook a wide variety of vegetables, grains, and proteins in order to keep things interesting. Making a meat-based meal can be as mindless as throwing a chicken breast on the grill and whipping up some Rice-A-Roni (which I did for a lot of years!). Making a vegan dinner isn't hard, per se, but it does take some mental work, especially at the beginning when you're getting used to exploring all the options. I'm lucky in that I really enjoy the experimentation aspect in addition to the basic process of cooking. The only thing I don't like is peeling and mincing garlic. I need a garlic minion.

I do strongly feel that veganism is a privilege; I have the means and the time and the energy to feed myself a plant-based diet, and I'm grateful for that. I'm not sure what will happen when I'm in situations, particularly when traveling, that make it really difficult. I'm headed to New Orleans next week, which probably has the most meat-focused cuisine of any city in the United States. I've made a reservation at Bayona, which is widely known for catering to vegans, so I've got at least one meal covered, and I've done some research about other options. My general policy is just going to be to do the best I can, at least for now. We'll see how it goes.

I think it is so important to understand where our food comes from, even if you make the decision to be an omnivore. And I do feel that what we put in our bodies does need to be a decision, not just something we do by default, without consideration. It never fails to amaze me when people are shocked by the calories and nutrition (or lack thereof) in commonly eaten meals, whether at fast food restaurants or cooked at home. I'm also continually horrified by the new "food" products available in our grocery stores - what are wyngz?? How did this kind of thing become okay?

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer is an excellent, entertaining overview of the corporate farms and the corporations, period, that dominate our food supply. He wasn't a vegetarian when he started writing the book, so he didn't set out with an agenda. He went into it with an open mind, and came out of it committed to a plant-based diet. I personally have a hard time understanding how anyone who looks into it with an open mind can continue to buy Tyson chicken or cheapo ground beef at the grocery store, but I know that I'm coming at it with a lot of bias at this point.

Oh, and I've also committed to stop buying leather and wool. Over the weekend I read this sentence: "Calf skin is made from animals killed at 2 weeks old." Uh, reality check. I don't need to be wearing infant cows on my feet if I'm not even willing to eat some freaking butter.

A lot of vegans get really into activism and trying to convert others. I kind of feel like that's the same as trying to get someone to switch their views on abortion or religion; it's a very personal thing, what we decide to eat, and in general I try to talk about it as little as possible. Maybe that will change at some point, I don't know. But right now, I feel like I'm doing what I have to do to be okay with my own moral beliefs, and my moral beliefs may not be the same as everyone else's.

So! I'm sure that is everything you ever wanted to know about the reasons for my veganism. Back to our regularly scheduled programming - pizza's coming up tonight for dinner.