Believe it or not, vegan life was (and has been) incredible. I wasdaunted by a month long vegan commitment but it was easier than I expected. Ilearned that my food choices are totally mind over matter. And exerting alittle willpower every now and then. I also refuse to eat something that isn'tcompletely delicious, so I've been eating well, to say the least. I canhonestly say…I’ve had the most delicious month of my life.
Instead of harping on all the foods I wouldn’t be eating throughout themonth, I reframed my thoughts to focus on all the awesome food that I would be…somany new recipes and ingredients that I finally had the chance to experimentwith! You would think I’d be working with a more limited base of ingredients, butit ended up increasing! To accompany all the nuts, seeds, dried fruits, grains,oats, my vegan pantry staples have expanded to include coconut oil, unfilteredapple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, chia seeds, dates, and shredded coconut.I barely cooked half of what I had planned to this month. So many new dishes toshow off that posting my vegan highlights on Facebook every few days becamequite overwhelming!
It wasn’t an entirelyperfect vegan month, but it was pretty damn close. I’ll be honest, there were acouple moments that I knew I was consuming something wasn’t completely vegan. Thisincluded ordering a soy latte and at the last second changing my order to asweet-and-salty soy hot chocolate, not realizing soon enough that ordinary hotchocolate is probably not vegan. It also included eating the politest sliver ofchocolate cake for my students who threw me a legitimate surprise birthdayparty.
Therewere also many powerful moments that I turned down tasty foods in the name ofstaying true to my commitment. Even though the month was easier than I built itup to be, I’m incredibly proud of myself for following through. I proved tomyself that I actually do have willpower and self-control (sometimes) which I usedto feel I seldom exercised. It kills me to miss out on a good free meal but Ilearned the world doesn’t end if I do.
Fringebenefit: my skin cleared up a lot! I had a sneaking suspicion I’d been breakingout due to dairy. Many vegans have reported similar experiences. Whether it wassomething inherent to dairy or the added hormones and antibiotics, it doesn’tmatter to me. I don’t plan on introducing dairy or eggs back into my lifeunless I can ensure that they are ethically raised. Dairy just doesn’t seem cleanto me anymore and putting something in your body is the most intimate ofexperiences you can have. I love almond milk and find it an awesome substitutefor most of my milk needs: porridge, cereal, and coffee. Even if I can buyorganic and ‘free-range’ animal products, I’m not sure I’m willing to supportthat level of suffering in food I choose to eat for enjoyment. (I can getcomplete nutrition from an entirely plant-based diet!)
That annoying protein question. I personally believe I am asked aboutprotein because the asker needs to justify their personal dietary choices andunwillingness to change them. There are tons of thriving herbivores in ourworld, both human and animal. I also believe many people over-consume theirshare of the world’s protein. It’s a bit peculiar how some people become quitethe nutrition expert at the first mention of being vegan…uhh nobody cared aboutyour protein intake until you mentioned you were vegan! It is exhausting feelinglike I have to constantly defend my choices. Anyways, for the proteinobsessed...here’s how I can get all the protein I need: all types of beans,lentils, chickpeas, whole grains, quinoa, nuts and nut butters, seeds (chiawoop woop) tempeh, tofu, soymilk, even fruits and veggies!
To coincide with my vegan journey, I began reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer this month. Obsessed. It’snot heavy and surprisingly funny. He doesn’t proselytize like I do. The bookhas reinforced how being vegan embodies so many things I believe in; the more Ilearn, the more I realize how veganism falls completely in line with my values.Over 99% of animal products people consume are from factory farms: the workersare treated like shit, the animals are handled in ways that are morallyunconscionable, the environment of which we depend upon our food is beingdestroyed, our health is being put at risk...and after all that, the resultingfood we eat is hardly nourishing to us anymore!
Eating good food is a personal and financial priority of mine. Oursociety spends a smaller percentage of income on food than any previoussociety. It sounds great…if the cost of food wasn’t being externalized on animalwelfare, our environment, and our health. It seems too obvious that we wouldn’tprioritize the way we spend money to include higher quality food.
The idea of beingvegan forever is very daunting. I know I haven't had my last taste of cheese inmy life, but I will try to be vegan when possible. A few days into February Iindulged in a gastronomic ice cream cone by the name of ‘Pecan Party.’ Ittasted great, but about half way through I was coursed with regret, in stomachand in mind. If I must label my diet, I suppose I hope to be a 'selectiveomnivore.’ This means that if I do eat animal products they are sourced from humanely-raisedfamily farms. I understand how this can sound (pretentious!) but as Jonathan sopointedly says:
“Thechoice-obsessed modern West is probably more accommodating to individuals whochoose to eat differently than any culture has ever been, but ironically theutterly unselective omnivore— “I’m easy; I’ll eat anything” – can appear moresocially sensitive than the individual who tries to eat in a way that is goodfor society.”
When I feel like caving in, I just have to remind myself how muchsuffering I’ll tolerate in my food. “Cruelty:not only the willful causing of unnecessary suffering, but the indifference toit.”
No comments:
Post a Comment