10 Tips for the Newly-Veg(etari)an

7th July 2009

10 Tips for the Newly-Veg(etari)an

posted in Arts and Music, Feminist Topics, Food Culture, Personal, Recipes, Vegetarianism |

In the open post for summer recipes, reader D commented:

I just went vegetarian! Mostly to be eco and animal friendly but also for health and taste preference. …do you have an tips for a new vegetarian such as myself? My sister and her husband own beef cows and they have no idea why I would choose to not eat meat. What do you tell the negative people about your vegetarian lifestyle? I welcome [any] advice from other veggie bloggers!

I try to keep my vegetarian evangelism in check here on this site as many readers here have enough difficulty eating food, period. But, since asked, I first offer my congratulations on adopting what I believe to be the most humane, feminist, environmentally-friendly and healthiest diet out there. The average vegetarian spares the lives of between 50 – 100 animals each year, helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the destruction of natural resources, promotes feminist activism by the forkful, lives longer and has lower rates of disease, including the Big Three (heart disease, cancer and strokes).

Before I get to the tips and advice, I first want to clarify for those new to vegetarianism that vegetarians eat no meat, poultry or fish but some do eat eggs and dairy products; and vegans eat no animal products at all, including honey. Some people who eat a mostly plant-based diet but occasionally eat fish or meat may call themselves pescetarians or flexitarians, but I and many other vegetarians and vegans take issue with those who call themselves vegetarians and yet still eat meat of any kind (and yes, chicken and fish are meat). While I applaud anyone who has taken steps to reduce their meat consumption, many of us who are vegetarian/vegan are so out of ethical concerns for animal welfare and so for someone to call themselves vegetarian while yet still consuming meat is kind of like someone identifying as a Christian atheist. As well, it’s quite frustrating to go to a dinner party and be served salmon by well-meaning and enthusiastic hosts who thought they had prepared you a special vegetarian dish. You can read about the different types of vegetarian diets here, but I wouldn’t otherwise get too hung up on the labels; many vegetarians alternate between them or make up their own dietary categories. For example, I’m probably about 75 percent vegan, 15 percent lacto-vegetarian and 10 percent lacto-ovo vegetarian, but the average omnivore usually has absolutely no idea what any of this means, so I just say that I’m vegetarian.

So, you want to eat lower on the food chain, but aren’t sure how to begin? Here’s a few of my tips for the newly-veg:

Start slowly. I went vegetarian cold turkey (or should that be Tofurkey), but the best way is to start gradually. Begin by eating a veggie meal a couple times a week and then advance to eliminating meat altogether a few days a week. If you fall off the veggie wagon, give yourself a break. Even if you never become 100 percent vegetarian or vegan, simply reducing your meat intake isn’t all that difficult to do and would greatly benefit both you and the planet. The first few weeks of going veg can be hard, but with time, it becomes much easier and even natural.
Fake it until you make it. The thought of eating a dead animal carcass is about as as appealing to me now as munching on nails, but it wasn’t the taste of meat that made me go vegetarian. Luckily, there are some great-tasting meat alternatives that actually do taste like the real deal. Morningstar Farms makes a line of veggie and sausage crumbles that are great in pasta sauces, soups and chili,and burrito and taco fillings and their chicken strips are tasty in stir-frys, soups and casseroles. The texture of their Grillers Prime veggie burgers is close to that of steak and their barbecue riblets actually mimic the stringy texture of pork ribs. Craving bacon? They got it, as well as sausage links and patties. If it’s chicken you’re hankering after, I’d recommend the Quorn line of products. Their chicken cutlets resemble chicken breast and I eat them with butter or drenched beneath barbecue sauce. Trader Joe, Boca, Loma Linda, and Whole Foods (we’re in love with Whole Foods’ vegan General Tso’s chicken) all offer their own lines of meat alternatives, or find a brand offered near you at MeatAlternatives.org.
Expand your dietary repertoire. Newly-veg enthusiasm and sheer culinary boredom led me to discover lots of new-to-me fruits and vegetables after going vegetarian: greens (kale, mustard, dandelion), sweet potatoes, plantains, parsnips, okra, bok choy, leeks, portobello mushrooms, etc… There are a few I didn’t like (eggplant), but many, many more that I did like and have since incorporated in my diet. I now make it a point to try new produce I find, even if I’m not entirely sure what it is or why it has orange spikes. Don’t let weird ingredients scare you off from discovering what may be your new favorite food. If you’re feeling especially adventurous, you can experiment with vegetarian staples like barley, tofu, seitan, tempeh, quinoa and bulgar wheat.
Learn to cook. I don’t cook. I don’t even really like to cook. I generally can’t follow recipes that have more than five ingredients and/or directions. Before I went vegetarian, it was all too easy to eat my dinner out of a fast food bag or from the microwave. I still wouldn’t call what I serve up today “cooking,” but going vegetarian did compel me to expand my culinary prowess and I’m glad for it. Fortunately there are now lots of easy-schmeezy vegetarian cookbooks that seem especially geared for ADD-addled brains like mine. I like Nava Atlas’s Vegetarian Express and Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet (she also offers a Vegan Express), Sara Fritschner’s Vegetarian Express Lane Cookbook, and recipes found in Vegetarian Times and Eating Well magazines. Invest in a few good vegetarian cookbooks or look up free veggie recipes online. Aim for a variety so that you don’t get bored.
Read up on nutrition. I try to follow a low-glycemic diet for health reasons, but I’m a bad vegetarian in that I don’t really consider if I’m getting enough protein or calcium or other nutrients. Surprisingly, meat alternatives are a great source of protein (one soy-based veggie burger has, on average, about 15-17 grams of protein; in contrast, a Whopper Jr. from Burger King has 16 grams of protein). A balanced vegetarian diet can meet all of your nutritional needs and it doesn’t require you to scour food labels to do so. Grains, beans, vegetables and nuts all provide protein and other vitamins and dark green leafy vegetables are a great source of calcium and minerals. Because I don’t eat much dairy, I did find recently that I was low in vitamins D and B12, but this is easily remedied by taking a supplement (many people, including meat-eaters, are low in vitamin D). Be aware of nutritional tips for veggie adults and vegetarian and vegan kids.
Become part of a community. Joining a vegetarian society is a great way to discover new recipes and meet like-minded people who are usually gaga for taking new veggies under their wings. I joined my local chapter of Earthsave after I went vegetarian and even though I haven’t been active with the group for a few years, I’m still in contact with a few friends I made through it. Our group offered a monthly potluck and guest speaker on issues relevant to vegetarians and held various social events. Check out this list to get an idea of groups near you.
Check it out before dining out. Perhaps the only drawback to adopting a vegetarian diet is the difficulty that can sometimes come in dining out, especially if you’re dining out with omnivores. Most restaurants offer a standard salad or steamed vegetables and many even offer a charred veggie burger, but most chain restaurants have very few vegetarian options available. Sometimes you can ask to have a meat dish made vegetarian and the kitchen will oblige, but don’t expect any discount on your bill. We find that Italian, Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern and Indian restaurants are all very veg-friendly (Chipotle and Subway are also great spots for healthy, vegetarian fast food). Before dining out, check out the restaurant’s menu online or find a restaurant through a vegetarian guide like Happy Cow, Vegan Eating Out, VegEats (Calif.), VegSource (great for travelers), or Chowhound. Lots of international travelers have also left tips for voyaging veggies at Rick Steves’ site.
No one loves a holier-than-thou vegetarian. Avoid the compulsion to enlighten your meat-eating friends about the brutal slaughter of the animal they’re devouring or the myriad of benefits to adopting a vegetarian diet. A quote attributed to Paul McCartney holds that “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian,” but they don’t and most meat-eaters prefer not to think about where their food comes from or how it ended up on their plate. Vegetarians, especially vegans, are often caricatured as shrill, preachy fanatical misanthropes as a way of undermining the premise of vegetarianism, and while I’ve rarely come across such a person, the stereotype has some basis in reality. It’s very easy to become very angry when you read about the animal abuses that go on in factory farms and slaughterhouses and angrier yet when others don’t seem to care. But as they say, you catch more flies with (vegan) honey than with vinegar and I find that the best way to advocate for vegetarianism is to inspire by example. I don’t inform omnivores in gory detail on how exactly that factory-farmed bovine they’re biting into lost its life or if it might contain Mad Cow Disease, but in return I expect them not to make jokes on how I can go pick my dinner from the flower bed or lecture me on how we’ve naturally evolved to dine on flesh.
Ignore the haters. Vegetarians are in the minority in the U.S. (3.2 percent of Americans are vegetarian and less than one percent vegan) and like other minority groups, they encounter curiosity, resistance and even hostility by the dominant group (meat-eaters). This is why veg(etari)ans are often put on the spot with interrogations on their dietary preferences and yet the question is rarely reciprocated of omnivores. When asked why I don’t eat meat, I usually give the standard; “Religious reasons” (I’m Buddhist) or “I don’t consider a cow very much different than my cat and I wouldn’t eat him, either,” or “It’s for my health.” If they still push the issue, I just smile and say, “Do you really want to know? Because I can tell you a lot of really gross and gory details, but I wouldn’t want to ruin your appetite or mine.” The standard replies I get when I tell people I am vegetarian are either of the indignant “I could NEVER give up bacon!” or the apologetic “Oh, I’m trying to eat less red meat” variety. I try to be polite and to forgive the social awkwardness because I understand that they’re just trying to make conversation, but occasionally you encounter the kind of person who, for some reason, becomes personally offended by or even hostile to your abstinence from meat. I’ve even had people (I’m looking at you, Mom) try to trick me into eating meat by sneaking it into my food (my mom is much more respectful now). I find that it is of very little use to engage in debates with people like this and usually try to change the subject or walk away.
Go shopping! The average American eats some 85 pounds of chicken, 63 pounds of beef, 48 pounds of pork, and 18 pounds of turkey each year. Meat is usually the most expensive item in your grocery cart — the cheapest cuts of beef, such as ground round, average $3 per pound in U.S. cities; boneless chicken breasts cost $3.40 a pound; and canned tuna is about $2 per pound. Contrast that with dried beans and lentils at less than $1 a pound, rice well below $1 per pound, and tofu at usually under $2 a pound. And that doesn’t even take into consideration the health care savings gained from eating a healthier diet! I take the money I used to spend on meat and instead apply it towards pricier organic fruits and vegetables.

Does anyone else have tips to offer on going veg(etari)an? Have you encountered rude reactions when people discover that you don’t eat meat? Have any fabulous recipes or cookbook recommendations to share? Discuss anything and everything veg(etari)an in the comments below.

Click to Bookmark

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 at 11:45 am and is filed under Arts and Music, Feminist Topics, Food Culture, Personal, Recipes, Vegetarianism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On July 7th, 2009, Tari said:

Awesome intro to veggie living! I’m a committed flexitarian (heh), and can say from experience that these are pretty much the high points for rocking a less-meaty lifestyle.

I am lucky in that I live with a vegetarian in a major metro area with (comparatively) lots of veggie-friendly dining-out options, so the only time I really get much pushback is when I visit the rural family; my dad would sooner eat his boots than no meat with dinner! (And in fact, last time I went home, we got into a bit of a tussle over CAFOs and factory farming….grrrr.)

My roomie, who’s way more of a cook than I am, really likes the Post Punk kitchen (http://www.theppk.com/) for good veggie & vegan recipes.

One thing to note – though I am myself fond of the tasty Morningstar Farms faux mini corndogs…they’re a Kellogg’s company. In case anyone (like me) boycotts them on feminist/FA grounds, be warned that it’s over to Boca or Q’uorn or store brand or tofu for the meat substitutes.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 12:05 pm

2 On July 7th, 2009, Rachel said:

Why do you boycott Kellogg’s? Is it because of Special K? I don’t like the whole “eat Special K twice and day and you’ll become skinny!” promotion either, but Morningstar Farms is just a division of Kellogg’s. It’s like boycotting Lipton ice tea or Hellman’s mayonaise because Unilever also owns AXE body spray. Plus, I’m all for encouraging Big Food to embrace healthy and vegetarian food and patronizing them is my way of supporting this goal. When you campaign for a variety of causes, there’s always bound to be some conflict, but in this case, I think that promoting vegetarianism is also promoting feminism, so for me, it’s a double-win.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 12:38 pm

3 On July 7th, 2009, Filmi Girl said:

First, I just want to say thanks for this blog! I’ve been checking back every day and really enjoying your take on things.

Re: Vegetarianism – I’ve been veggie for about 15-20 years now and it’s much easier these days than it was when I first started with most restaurants offering at least ONE veggie option.

The one thing that really bothers me, though, is when people feel the need to comment on my dietary habits/give me advice on food. I’ve gotten really nasty with people trying to tell me what to eat…

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 1:00 pm

4 On July 7th, 2009, Jenny said:

I’m really interested in the idea of vegetarianism as promoting feminism. I’d like to hear more of your thoughts on that.

When I became a vegetarian, I also started trying lots of new foods and sort of forcing myself to eat vegetables I had never eaten before. At first, I loaded everything with cheese. For some reason that made broccoli and cauliflower much more appetizing. Eventually, after I had relearned to cook, I became a vegan.

I like trolling the web for recipes. There are so many vegan cooks out there blogging their recipes! For example Vegan Dad (http://vegandad.blogspot.com/), Fat free vegan (http://www.fatfreevegan.com/), Eat Me Delicious (http://www.eatmedelicious.com/), and Veggie Terrain (http://veggie-terrain.blogspot.com/). And that is just a small number of websites out there (most of those sites have link after link of other good vegetarian food websites).

The worst shout down I’ve ever gotten because of my vegetarianism was from my grandfather-in-law. He actually stood up at the kitchen table and shouted at me “God gave us dominion over animals!” Otherwise, most people are quietly accepting. My family got better after I started bringing awesome food to family gatherings. I just think for so many people meat is so integral to how they eat, they can’t even imagine what food is like without it. My only exposure to non-meat foods as a child was canned vegetables, an apple a month or so, and salads slathered with ranch dressing.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 1:07 pm

5 On July 7th, 2009, Tari said:

Why do you boycott Kellogg’s?

I boycott pretty much all Kellogg’s brands for their long history of body-hatred-filled advertising, across many of their product lines, among other whack-job anarchist reasons. It’s one of the few major companies I try to avoid across the board (I also try to avoid all Unilever and P&G products, for similar and other reasons). I can’t even tell you how bummed I was when Kellogg’s acquired Morningstar way back in the day.

Of course, I don’t expect anyone else to do that – just like I’m not a full vegetarian for complex reasons, I totally get complex reasons for picking and choosing brands and companies to support or not (I totally wouldn’t expect that everyone is going to have my particular anti-corporate, anti-capitalist bent). I just thought I’d toss the info out there in this particular case, because it was a big one for me.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 1:52 pm

6 On July 7th, 2009, Rachel said:

The worst shout down I’ve ever gotten because of my vegetarianism was from my grandfather-in-law. He actually stood up at the kitchen table and shouted at me “God gave us dominion over animals!”

Haha, I’ve heard that argument made before and I always find it kind of funny considering that Adam and Eve were vegetarian before the Fall and became meat-eaters as a result of original sin and human depravity. Plus, meat-eating isn’t even mentioned in the first seven books or so of the Bible and only then it’s mentioned for all the strict rules and regulations it gives that we now know today as kosher. If Christians were truly striving to be more “godly-like,” it only stands to reason that they’d eat vegetarian. And just because we’re at the top of the food chain doesn’t mean we have the right to eat everything below us. More on vegetarianism and feminism later.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 1:57 pm

7 On July 7th, 2009, Rachel said:

@Tari: I’m glad you did. I hadn’t heard of any kind of organized boycott against Kellogg’s products in FA before outside of Special K and thought perhaps there was something besides the cereal behind it. It’s a trade-off, for sure.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 1:59 pm

8 On July 7th, 2009, D said:

Wow, great tips Rachel and thank you so much for getting back to me with this post! I’ve also enjoyed reading the advice from other readers.

My family is warming up to my vegetarian lifestyle. Yesterday my sister (who raises beef cows and chickens) had us over for dinner and she was excited to offer me a vegetarian option.

Just as a funny side note, the kids that I am working with this summer know that I am now a vegetarian. One little girl the other day said to me “I don’t mean to be rude, but don’t “veterinarians” die earlier than people who eat meat?” Cute, but annoying!

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 3:15 pm

9 On July 7th, 2009, JennyRose said:

I think people are rude toward veggies because they are threatened by people who are different. You know, veggies are radical tree-hugging, bicycle riding, latte sipping liberal types. They take it as criticism of them as well as the beginning of the end of capitalist life as we know it. This is just another example of how everything they hold dear is being taken away from them.

I was lacto-ovo for many years and found most people accommodating. I always felt touched when people went out of their way for me. I ate a lot of dairy during that period and I kind of felt like a fraud because dairy cows face almost the same cruelty as slaughter animals. I also read that old dairy cows are used for a certain golden arched company’s burgers.

Now I am more of a flexitarian. I eat mostly veggie and I am trying to lighten up on the dairy. I don’t really like meat so it is mot much of a sacrifice. Even reducing meat and dairy consumption would go a long way toward helping the environment. I guess I still feel bad about eating dairy but it is definitely a compromise and how I can do the best for all things including myself.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 3:26 pm

10 On July 7th, 2009, Rachel said:

@JennyRose: I also feel complicit by eating dairy products. I tried to go vegan once but found it extremely difficult to do and very triggering to past disordered behaviors — it requires a diligent scrutiny of food labels and ingredients. I would like to be vegan ethically, but right now my mental health prevents me from doing so.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 3:44 pm

11 On July 7th, 2009, pennylane said:

I’m a vegan who comes from a farm family (my grandparents on both sides, not my parents) in the Midwest so they were not entirely supportive. The best thing my mom ever did was tell me that she was not making two dinners so I would need to learn to cook. I did and I love it. I began slowly–I cut out red meat and pork, then poultry, and eventually fish. About six years later I became vegan, again slowly cutting out dairy products. I like the Post-Punk Kitchen mentioned above and I like her cookbooks, especially the Veganomicon. I also recommend How It All Vegan and the Garden of Vegan. (I know this post was about vegetarianism but I think most of the recipes are pretty flexible.) The great thing is that I feel like there are so many great resources out there, substitute products and so on, that weren’t there when I started as a vegetarian. I love the meat substitutes–Tofurkey products are great (the sandwich “meat” and sausages are good, if expensive). And, frankly, I wish I’d learned to fix tofu well a long time ago. Drain it. And baked tofu is awesome! I think Rachel has some great advice about doing what you can, whether it be using meat substitutes one night a week or whatever.
I got a lot of jokes from my family and I was the only vegetarian I new in high school but by college I knew quite a few. In general I just don’t engage people about my diet. I they ask I say I do it for health and ethical reasons and don’t elaborate. I get made fun of by my conservative family members (though we’re a teasing family) but I get the most indignant responses, frankly, from some of my left-leaning friends (often devoted feminists, etc.) I think some of it comes from guilt, recognizing that there is some moral value to vegetarianism but not wanting to do it themselves. So I don’t push it–I just say, I don’t need animal products so I don’t use them.

Rachel, you probably already saw this but when I saw it posted at Feministing I thought of your research: http://www.feministing.com/archives/016462.html

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 3:46 pm

12 On July 7th, 2009, limesarah said:

I’m not a vegetarian anymore, but I was for several years and still only eat meat once a month or less. One of the things I’ve found most useful is to make foods where the protein-object is more of a flavoring than a centerpiece. Baked beans, grilled veggies, and rice might be a perfectly balanced meal, but feel “unfinished” if you’re used to that same meal containing a burger. But chicken stir-fry can easily become tofu stir-fry without seeming odd, or even just veggie stir-fry if you’re not feeling particularly hungry for protein.

There are also so many “normal” foods that you can feed to leery friends who wonder what vegetarians eat — macaroni and cheese, lentil or bean soups, lasagna, eggplant parmesan, grilled mushroom caps, cheese ravioli… it’s harder to find non-scary protein-rich vegan food, but there’s still plenty of beany things out there.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 3:52 pm

13 On July 7th, 2009, Alice said:

THANK YOU for the impassioned defining of pescetarian vs vegetarian! The salmon thing has thankfully happened seldom in my life, but I feel so badly for my well-intentioned hosts when it does! (I’ll admit to then feeling some keen frustration towards people who misuse ‘vegetarian’ and create the confusion in the first place …)

D, you sound like you’re well on your way! Thankfully, after a while most comments from friends and family evaporate, and you’re left with only the random ones from grocery clerks and the like. I used to be *very* polite, but after a slew of ‘but you kill the vegetables!’ comments over the last 2 weeks, I’m collecting snarky comebacks in my head. Even if I don’t use them, knowing that I could say something cutting brings me some peace of mind.

The only add’l practical advice I’ll add is about restaurants:
1. If finances are an issue, try and figure out how you’ll deal with friends wanting to split the check evenly, despite your cheaper veggie option. One friend always orders a drink or dessert, figuring that it’ll even out. Others just eat the cost for the sake of camraderie, while other still have won friends over to the idea of paying proportionally.

2. Plan for ‘back-up’ on vacation in a group. Having just come from a family vacation where I’m the only veggie, I can say that it makes a WORLD of difference to bring along snacks that you can eat and plan on finding a grocery store or something similar. While almost all restaurants have something veggie, it can be challenging to piece together your nutrition from that limited selection of offerings.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

14 On July 7th, 2009, Alyssa (The 39 year-old) said:

I’m a new flexitarian, and I have a question: because of their Autism, my kids are on a gluten-free/casein-free diet. Can you recommend any cookbooks/blogs that provide meat-free recipes for GF/CF diets? Thanks!

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 4:34 pm

15 On July 7th, 2009, Rachel said:

@Pennyland: Thanks for that link. Carl’s Jr. really doesn’t get the meaning of “more than a piece of meat,” do they?

@Alice: Good point about vacations. We went to Kelley’s Island for the weekend last year. It’s a small island in Lake Erie, so it only has about 10 restaurants or so, all locally-owned. I checked the menus beforehand, and sure enough… the only things we could eat there were a salad and maybe a pickle. I rented a cabin with a kitchen so that we could fix our own meals (bonus: it was cheaper than eating out). Our vacations are usually to places scenic where we can bike or hike, so I often have to reserve rooms with at least a small kitchenette because the areas are usually generally lacking in vegetarian offerings.

@Alyssa: I can’t personally recommend any such books, but I found a few on Amazon:
The Gluten-Free Guide to Vegetarian Recipes
The Gluten-Free Vegan
The Aia Gluten and Dairy Free Cook Book

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 4:47 pm

16 On July 7th, 2009, Rachel_in_WY said:

I would add to numbers 3 and 4, explore Indian cuisine. There are a lot of great vegetarian options, and most Indian food is healthy, delicious, and relatively easy to cook. For example, my family is addicted to dahl (spiced lentils served with flatbread), and it only takes about 30 minutes (most of which is simmer time) to make a big pot of it on the weekend that can be snacked on/lunched on all week. So yummy, and a great source of protein and other nutrients.

Also, I highly recommend getting your hands on a George Foreman style grill (can be found dirt cheap at garage sales), because many veggies are much more flavorful when brushed with olive oil and grilled, and these can be tossed with pasta and pesto, or used to top pizzas, or to stuff tacos, or layered in lasagna or sandwiches, or whatever. In other words, you don’t have to give up the flavor of grilled food just because we generally associate grilling with meat.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 5:45 pm

17 On July 7th, 2009, Minnies said:

I’m not a vegetarian anymore, but reading this I feel guilty about eating meat again. Becoming a vegetarian was how my eating disorder started: first I cut meat from my diet, then all dairy, then honey, then just about everything. I’ve been in recovery for quite a few years now, but my last attempt at becoming vegetarian again sent me spiraling down the same path as before. I wish I knew how to get to the place where I can make alternations in my diet without losing my mind.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 6:50 pm

18 On July 7th, 2009, joojooluv said:

Here is a tip: i always i whip out my awesome cholesterol and blood pressure stats. I am a big fat healthy vegan.
plus I give them vegan cupcakes.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 8:36 pm

19 On July 7th, 2009, Miriam Heddy said:

“I try to follow a low-glycemic diet for health reasons, but I’m a bad vegetarian in that I don’t really consider if I’m getting enough protein or calcium or other nutrients. ”

I became an ethical vegetarian when I was 16. I’m 39 now. And as a FA and as a vegetarian, I want to draw a great, big red line through “bad vegetarian.”

I mean, let’s use the same critical lens we apply to the constant barrage of “You’ll die if you’re FAT!!!!” to “Vegetarians need to be careful they get enough protein, etc.!!!!”

There’s no compelling evidence for that assumption, and lots of evidence that the “vegetarians are nutritionally vulnerable” message supports the meat and dairy industry–and is propagated by the meat and dairy industry. (Sidenote: If you’re old enough, you’ll remember the “vegetarians must balance their grains and beans” b.s. that was all the rage around the time Diet for a Small Planet came out, which led many of us to spend decades having to rebut the need for a grain of rice for every bean).

Also, the notion of “bad” in the context of nutrition seems awfully close to the kind of “good fattie” or “bad fattie” divide, which is why I kind of flinched to see it. As an ethical vegetarian, I like to look critically at the notion of nutrition and “good/bad” foods with the same grain of (ahem) salt as I separate out fat from the “it’s about health” arguments.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 8:59 pm

20 On July 7th, 2009, JennyRose said:

@Miriam Heddy – And as a FA and as a vegetarian, I want to draw a great, big red line through “bad vegetarian.”

Thanks. I find your words so comforting. Discussions like this outside the FA realm quickly devolve into good food/bad food. Let’s not let it happen here. I mean this sincerely. I took your comment as a gentle and helpful reminder.

The new rule for beans and rice should be that beans and rice should be eaten together when they taste good together. At least that’s my rule.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 9:54 pm

21 On July 7th, 2009, Rachel said:

@Miriam: It was meant tongue-in-cheek I was actually thinking of the “good fattie/bad fattie” paradigm when I wrote that.

posted on July 7th, 2009 at 10:34 pm

22 On July 8th, 2009, Alyssa (The 39 year-old) said:

Thank you for the links!!!!!!!

posted on July 8th, 2009 at 12:11 am

23 On July 8th, 2009, Meowser said:

One thing the “ground beef crumbles” Quorn is great for is taco filling. I just heat it up in some enchilada sauce from Trader Joe’s (you could use any kind), and from there, you can build any kind of taco you want.

I also went to Fubonn, a local Asian market, and they have an entire freezer case full of “fake” meat! I got veggie spare ribs, veggie duck, and veggie ginger chicken. (Also, I’m one of those weird people who actually likes the canned chop suey they have in Asian markets — that and some rice noodles and I’m set!)

While I’m not completely veg and don’t know if I’ll ever be, I am making an effort to be less of a hypocrite and not eat things I couldn’t bring myself to kill. (Fish doesn’t bother me as much because I figure that if I don’t eat it, some shark or other bigger fish will.) What I feed the cats is another matter, alas, since they need meat more than I do.

posted on July 8th, 2009 at 5:31 am

24 On July 8th, 2009, Rachel said:

@Meowser: The cats are the only carnivores in our house. I found a great new canned food for them, btw (they get canned food once a week mixed in with dry Eukanuba). It’s made by Beyond Grain and its 100 percent turkey, or quail, or beef, or turkey, etc… Seriously. The only ingredients are water and whatever meat variety you buy. And it’s only 99-cents a can!

posted on July 8th, 2009 at 8:48 am

25 On July 8th, 2009, meerkat said:

Ha ha, I’m a “bad vegan” myself, because I can barely cook. I have a few recipes I rely on (must be easy, a meal in itself, and use only one pot or pan), but for actual variety in my diet I have to go out to vegetarian/macrobiotic restaurants, usually multiple times a week. That and I prefer semi-polished rice to brown rice! The horror! Obviously this is also why I am fat.

Thanks to everyone sharing their vegetarian stories. I had it easy because my parents were vegetarian–second generation!

posted on July 8th, 2009 at 10:27 am

26 On July 8th, 2009, Tiana said:

lives longer and has lower rates of disease

Really? I just read a book that said vegetarians basically live about as long as everyone else, they just die of other causes. That is, some diseases are more common among meat-eaters and some are more common among vegetarians. Is that wrong?

I’ve tried to go vegetarian a few times and I hope I’ll manage it one day. Right now I have too much trouble getting any food inside of me to even consider making choices.

posted on July 8th, 2009 at 12:42 pm

27 On July 8th, 2009, newlyveg said:

I have found that many restaurants will kindly accomodate you. If I check the menu and nothing is really available other than a side salad, and I’d like to be able to oder an entree (meaning, I want hot food), I’ll call ahead and ask if that is possible. We recently did it when the family outing was to Flemming’s Steakhouse for Father’s Day. The hostess asked the chef who said he’d gladly make me a pasta primavera. When we got there, our waiter already knew that I would be ordering off the menu. I thought it was quite nice of them to do that for me. Then again, I’m sure they would have rather had our business than send us away bc I didn’t want a salad.

posted on July 8th, 2009 at 1:42 pm

28 On July 8th, 2009, Rachel said:

I just read a book that said vegetarians basically live about as long as everyone else, they just die of other causes. That is, some diseases are more common among meat-eaters and some are more common among vegetarians. Is that wrong?

I don’t know what book you read, but everything I’ve seen affirms what I wrote. In the past few months alone, there’s been at least one study that has come out linking red meat with some forms of cancer.

posted on July 8th, 2009 at 1:54 pm

29 On July 9th, 2009, merri said:

I live in san francisco, and it seems like half of the city is vegetarian. I never see any instances of people discriminating against vegetarians, although I’ve seen a few instances of the opposite (even to people not wanting to rent to omnivores), but maybe that’s just because I’m an omnivore that I notice it. My sister is a vegetarian but she doesn’t like vegetables. She’s lasted a few years now, and the challenge my mother has when we all eat together is mostly the same challenge she had before she became a vegetarian – finding some veggies she’ll eat lol. The rest of us, besides my father, pretty much love all fruits and veggies. I do think its great that especially in big cities there is an option to eat any way you want to.

posted on July 9th, 2009 at 6:14 pm

30 On July 10th, 2009, Crimson Wife said:

I’m a flexitarian. My favorite cookbook is “Almost Vegetarian” by Diana Shaw. I like that the recipes are shown both in veggie and with poultry/seafood versions.

One that’s also got great recipes but does have a weightloss focus is “The Flexitarian Diet” by Dawn Jackson Blatner.

posted on July 10th, 2009 at 4:31 pm

31 On July 15th, 2009, Liza said:

I and many other vegetarians and vegans take issue with those who call themselves vegetarians and yet still eat meat of any kind (and yes, chicken and fish are meat).

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

When I was 15 or 16 I went vegetarian (totally) and shortly thereafter my mom went pescatarian. It was really annoying whenever she’d tell people “oh yeah, we both stopped eating meat…well, I eat fish” and then I’d yell at her and we’d argue about it.

I was a veg for 7 or so years…I’ve considered going back many times but I now realize what an addiction meat eating is. Maybe once I’m back out on my own it will be easier, since I won’t have to deal with my family and choosing restaurants. Though having moved to NYC it would be tons easier no matter when I did it.

posted on July 15th, 2009 at 4:26 pm

32 On July 23rd, 2010, Jeri Lynn said:

I’ve been a vegetarian for about 3 months now, and really the change has been much easier than I thought (eating a plate full of veggies is what I thought it would be, but have discovered it is not!). I do not plan on being “vegetarian,” but rather a flexitarian because I know there will be instances when I’ll eat meat, and I do want that option. I’ve just decided for health and environmental reasons to not make meat my daily choice.

I’m commenting because I have encountered such resistance from family and friends…it’s shocking. My husband, almost on a daily basis, asks me if I’ll be eating meat tonite. “Is there meat in this meal you’ve cooked?” “I just grilled this chicken, and it’s very good. You’re not having any?!” I’m not asking him to make this change; I’m continuing to buy meat (organic, grass fed) and include w/HIS meals.

We spent several days w/his family last weekend, and my lack of meat eating was all I heard for days. I am SO FRUSTRATED! Where does this come from?! (And BTW, my husband is an environmental scientist, works out daily, and is committed to good health…I’m saying this so you understand he is not a beer swilling, beef jerky eating, couch potato.)

posted on July 23rd, 2010 at 11:25 pm