Food Philosophy

Breakfast this morning was extra specially delicious! I had some leftover veggies that I needed to get rid of so I made up this concoction:

A whole wheat breakfast burrito. My burrito contained:

• broccoli
• onions
• mushrooms
• zucchini
• 1 egg & 1/4 cup Egg Beaters
• Cheddar cheese

First I sauteed the veggies in a little olive oil.

Then I poured the Egg Beaters and Egg on top and topped with cheese.

I scrambled it all up a bit and wrapped it in a whole wheat tortilla. I had salsa on the side for dipping, but I actually liked it better without the salsa.

Since today is the last day of the Pledge to Be Veg challenge, I have spent alot of time today thinking about my food philosophy. I’ve considered the pros and cons of being vegetarian over the past 30 days, and debated to what extent I’ll continue this lifestyle.

Some of the things I have enjoyed about my vegetarian diet over the past 30 days are:

1. Knowing that no animals were killed to provide my food.
2. Experimenting with new recipes.
3. Exploring new vegetarian friendly restaurants and dishes.
4. Maintained my weight without counting calories/points or additional exercise.
5. Learning about nutrition and finding alternate sources of protein, B12, and iron.

There were very few things that I found as negative aspects in the past 30 days, but here they are:

1. Went to a pizza party with no vegetarian options (cheese wasn’t provided).
2. Made my family uncomfortable during family dinner at my grandmother’s house (she cooked 2 of each dish, one with meat and one without).
3. Constantly being asked, “why did you decide to become vegetarian?” and “where do you get your protein?”.

The cons that I faced were easily remedied. In the first instance, I simply did not eat pizza and when I left I stopped by Salsaritas and picked up a veggie burrito. In the second case, I felt bad that my grandmother went out of her way to make two different versions of each dish. I let her know that I appreciated it, but that I could have found plenty of food otherwise. And thirdly, I think its normal for people to be curious about something they consider different, especially when they have always known me as a meat-eater.

Where do I go from here?

Tim and I have both decided to continue our vegetarian diets to varying degrees. We agree that we have not missed meat, and that we can’t imagine ever eating chicken, beef, or pork again. Tim has decided to continue eating fish. I don’t plan on eating fish, although I’ve previously stated that I can’t imagine giving up sushi. I feel that fish are living creatures just like other animals that feel pain and suffer just as much as cows, chicken or pigs. I have also realized that there are excellent sushi rolls out there that don’t include fish.

I have not completely decided whether or not to eat mollusks. I feel like they are more like advanced plants than animals. They have nerve bundles instead of brains and don’t think or feel like other animals. Therefore I don’t feel a moral or ethical urge to not eat them. Some say that because these creatures have “eyes” that they are animals, and that you can’t be a vegetarian and eat them. I care less about being labeled as vegetarian than I do about making my own decisions and understanding why I made that decision. Basically, I don’t want to refuse to eat something simply because “I’m a vegetarian”. One day perhaps I’ll be proven wrong, or I’ll learn something I didn’t know and I’ll change my mind on this point, but for now I don’t have any problem eating mollusks.

The Vegetarian vs. Vegan Debate

I have no intention of becoming vegan at this point. I understand the reasons why people do, but at this point I don’t have the time or the energy to devote to planning vegan meals. I also feel like being Vegan would severely limit other aspects of my life. I feel that its reasonable to expect that I can find vegetarian friendly meals to eat in almost any scenario no matter where I am, but I don’t feel the same about veganism. I think it would be extremely difficult to consistently find vegan meals to eat while out in public, at friend’s houses, at family dinners, etc. But I do want to take some steps to reduce my milk, egg and cheese consumption at home.

My dad raises a few chickens on his land and my family eats their eggs. The chickens on my family’s farm are fed healthy diets, have room to move freely and aren’t caged. They do live in a large pen, but they have PLENTY of room. I will try to use only eggs from my family’s farm whenever possible. I usually get a few dozen eggs whenever I see my family, but that isn’t always possible.

I will use dairy-free milk at home whenever possible. I’ve really enjoyed trying almond milk and I recently bought some rice milk to try. This would be one easy way to reduce the amount of animal products we use at home. However, I have a one year old son and I will keep giving him cow’s milk until he’s older.

I started off becoming interested in vegetarianism because of the movie Food Inc., but after I did some research I learned that there were so many good reasons to be a vegetarian. I could list them out, but I really like this video.

So that’s that.

Lunch today was a yummy hummus, sprout and cucumber sandwhich with a bowl of V8 Butternut Squash soup.

I’m looking forward to a good run today. Hopefully I’ll be meeting up with my friend, Bailey, for a run in the park later. Having runner friends rocks! I wish I had more of them.