Eat Green - Literally and Figuratively

As I've mentioned in previous posts, once you tell someone you're doing something a little out of ordinary they tend to challenge you. Yesterday we were chatting with our cousins who think we are insane for restricting our diet so severely. Tom wanted to know why, exactly, we were doing this, but somehow the conversation transitioned to something else before I finished my answer. So this post's for you Tom!

1) Health: Vegetarian, and more specifically, vegan diets are credited with reducing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and a whole host of other chronic conditions.

2) Environment: Eating lower on the food chain is much better for our environment; it takes fewer resources to grow vegetables than it does to grow cattle! The production of animal based foodstuff is a major source of environmental pollution and consumes vast quantities of resources from water to pesticides to petroleum, not to mention the fact that the grain used to feed cattle could be used to feed humans.

3) Humanity: Factory farming is inhumane. Hens are kept in overcrowded conditions and debeaked to prevent them from pecking each other to death. Pigs are kept in wire cages that are large enough so they are not pressed up against the bars, but not so large as to allow them to turn around. The cows, well they aren't so happy (reference to the "happy cows" dairy campaign here in California). Ducks and geese are force fed to the point of bursting to make liver pate. I could go on, but I find it particularly bothersome to think about any of this.

For more detailed facts and information try the following sites:

• Vegan Outreach for information on all three topics above;
• Peta, for information on cruelty to animals in farming;
• EarthSave, for information on environmental issues and concerns.
• And finally, here's the link to the United Nation's comprehensive report entitled Livestock's Long Shadow, which details the environmental impact of farming on the planet.

Bottom line: We're cutting back our consumption of animal products significantly, and hopefully reducing our chances of heart attack and other so-called lifestyle diseases. We're also reducing our carbon footprint (our impact on global warming).

If any of these arguments have swayed you and you're interested in trying a vegetarian or vegan diet, sign up to take the Veg Pledge here.

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving to all those turkeys who have been spared thanks to the Tofurky.

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Thanksgiving Preview

Well, it's finally here. The holiday season is upon us. Aside from the constant bombardment by advertisers, I know this because when I walked into the kitchen tonight I saw this lovely bowl of autumnal produce perched on the counter. (Some of these items have since made it into the refrigerator.) And wait 'til you see what I found in the fridge (photo below).

I have to admit, when Jane said we were going vegan back in July, one of the first things I thought about was Thanksgiving. Traditionally, Jane got the largest turkey she could find and we spent days making all our favorites... mashed cauliflower (cream), onion pie (butter, milk, cheddar cheese), sweet and sour red cabbage (butter). Our stuffing was killer - a southwestern pepper and cornbread concoction that calls for two cups of heavy cream and 2+ sticks of butter; it's amazingly good. We'd eat leftovers until we couldn't stand the sight of them anymore!

However, only two of our traditional dishes are vegan - the braised brussels sprouts (olive oil, lemon, salt and cumin) and cranberry relish (cranberries, sugar, oranges, wine). And last I checked, roasted turkey isn't vegan. So, when I agreed to this vegan diet I suggested that we revisit the idea of Thanksgiving as it got closer. Confession: I was hoping we'd make an exception for the week. It's not that I'm unhappy with our vegan lifestyle, but I really LOVE Thanksgiving.

As time has gone by the thought of eating animal flesh has become repugnant. Funny how that happened. And now that I've done some reading on the horrors of the dairy industry, dairy products seem far less palatable than before. If we had a local farm with free range milk cows and a farmer who went out and did his milking by hand we would definitely include dairy in our diet. But we live in Los Angeles, and that's about as likely as, well, a vegan turkey dinner!

So for the first time in 10 years, we're completely revising our Thanksgiving menu. Jane's been culling recipes from her vegan cookbooks and a few vegan recipe sites. She'll also "vegan-ize" one or two of our recipes. I think she's nervous... which would explain the tofurky thing. But the picture looks good. I'm hopeful.

Because...

Any time Jane and I mention that we are now vegan, the invariable question we get is "why?" I stumbled upon this segment from a book I have yet to read. But really, this says it all.


John Robbins, author of "Diet for a New America"

"It is increasingly obvious that environmentally sustainable solutions to world hunger can only emerge as people eat more plant foods and fewer animal products. To me it is deeply moving that the same food choices that give us the best chance to eliminate world hunger are also those that take the least toll on the environment, contribute the most to our long-term health, are the safest, and are also, far and away, the most compassionate towards our fellow creatures."

Comment

I received an email comment on the blog yesterday : " I HATE to break it to you but I have been vegan for a while now and I am still 100 pounds overweight. Oh well, at least I don’t eat innocent animals. J"

The only reply I can make is that this blog is a chronicle of my vegan experiences (and Jane's too). We've lost weight over the past three months. Admittedly I've lost more weight than Jane has, which frustrates her a bit. But we're losing weight because we're eating more fruits and vegetables instead of processed food, just like most nutritionists would advise. Another big contributor to our weight loss is that we're generally having cut up fruit for dessert instead of some high calorie dessert Jane woild have baked; Jane used to love to bake. Our diet has changed to be more healthful and clearly less calorie-intensive, as we are actually consuming more food than before. And I'm sure a grilled portobello mushroom has far fewer calories than Chicken Parmesan!

So J, I'm sorry your experience hasn't been as rewarding mine and Jane's has been so far. But I'm not trying to sell anyone anything, I'm just excited about my experiences and I want to share how easy it has been for me.

And maybe this will inspire others to make choices that will be less harmful to our environment and more compassionate to our fellow creatures on this planet. (Proselytizing over.)

Harshing My Mellow

Jane and I are newly middle-aged, with no children. So please excuse me if today's title is woefully out of date. I heard this phrase in the recent past and have been waiting for an excuse to use it!

We were at a party Sunday afternoon. It was a gathering where we only knew the hosts, so we were thrilled to meet a group of vegans. Hey, we're new at this, maybe we could learn something, eh?

It always amazes me how judgmental people can be. We were discussing our new vegan "diet." As I've mentioned several times in the past, we've opted to change our diet primarily for health reasons, although Jane is all for reducing our "eating" footprint. (Vegan eating is much less stressful to the environment, uses far fewer resources to feed an individual, and is certainly more compassionate to our companion residents on this earth.) We also practice "catch and release" with all our uninvited guests (spiders).

But, we wear leather shoes, sometimes. And we believe that it's your choice whether you follow a vegan diet or something else. We also believe it's your choice what you wear and whom you associate with.

The people we met at this party, who shall remain nameless, were appalled that we were not members of PETA; that our primary objective in being vegan wasn't the betterment of the planet; that we don't feed our pets a vegetarian diet; and that we generally follow a live and let live philosophy, we don't proselytize . Jane was wearing her new Birkenstocks, leather upper, and was basically told she didn't know how to be a vegan. So, I guess we didn't make any new friends today.

Really folks, lighten up. Every little bit helps the planet. We're all doing the best that we can. And stop harshing my mellow!