How did I become a radical vegan at age 38? Okay, maybe not so radical – I have simply cut out all animal products from my diet – maybe not earth shattering – but doesn’t veganism usually have more to do with college kids rebelling against society, or the “man”, or something like that? But here I am – after stumbling across some heavy duty reading – that has led me to this path.
The first book I read was The China Study, by Dr. Colin Campbell – who is a very well regarded guru in the vegan world – yet I must be completley out of touch because I had never heard of him, or the China study before. It is really not all that surprising that his book is not more known as he completely eschews animal products and he has the data from years of research to prove it. Of course I realize that you can always find numbers and statistics to back up whatever point of view you are trying to convey – but the fact that he does not have a line of diet food, and a best selling “China Study Diet Book” out lend a great deal to legitimacy – plus all his studies have been printed in peer reviewed journals.
The second book I read was The Ethics of What We Eat – by Peter Singer, which completley changed my entire view point on food. He follows three different families and the way they eat – the standard american diet, the organic family, and a vegan family. I already knew all the stuff about factory farming – and haven’t eaten meat for years – but somehow the egg thing passed me by, as well as the fish stuff – and I honestly find myself not being able to consume these in any form.
It has been 2 1/2 months now, and I made it through Thanksgiving. So far, it has not been that difficult to get rid of these things from my life. I have avoided red meat for years, I don’t like chicken, and have never been a big dairy eater. Eggs and fish are relatively new to me, but I never consumed great amounts of these (my apartment is just too small to cook fish). I think the most difficult thing for me is how the avoidance of these foods have changed my relationships with those around me. I find myself wanting to be a quiet vegan – somewhat in the closet – at least for now. I have strong opinions about the foods that people eat, but at the same time I don’t want to rock the boat too much. I find that I am often the one under attack for my eating habits, and not the other way around, which is absurd because I really don’t care too much about what other people eat, but for some reason I feel like I am on the defensive when my food choices come under discussion.
Luckily, my family is supportive and I guess in the end that is all that counts. My husband is game to try anything and enjoys tofu and has no problem eating all veggie meals (although given the chance he is a huge carnivore!). My kids are too young at the moment to really know anything different – at the moment they have the odd piece of dairy and my daughter loves shrimp – but I figure I will take that one day at a time. My parents are also pretty laid back with things. I tend to do a lot of cooking when I go for a visit, which I love. I love to cook great vegan meals, that taste delicious and then surprise everyone when I tell them what is the recipe. I think it also helps that there are numerous funky vegan chefs out there now. I actually considered veganism about four years ago while I was pregnant with my daughter – but there really weren’t too many places to look. The recipes looked heavy, and stuffy, and had about a million ingredients in them. The chefs I have been drawn to (Sarah Kramer, Isa Chandra, Moskowitz), are much more about real life and real food, and I thank them for helping to make this transition easier.
Anyway, I feel good about this change on so many levels – ethically, morally, physically, mentally.
Let the journey continue….
