1 post tagged “veggie-ism”

Last week, I decided to become pescatarian. It's been a long time coming, and I have come up with a number of reasons to try it:

1. I have the worst eating habits of EVER, and the worst of the foods that I can't live without yet will give me a heart attack by the age of thirty-five with all of their artery-clogging goodness have meat in them. Not eating most meat will force me to eat healthier.

2. Apart from fish and things of greasy fantasticness, I really don't much care for the taste of meat. It either tastes like nothing (chicken in most dishes) or vaguely greasy (beef or pork). It's not a bad taste, per se, but it's nothing so remarkable or delightful that I have to keep eating it. Fish, on the other hand, I could rave about for days.

3. I do not find meat substitutes objectionable. I know it's trendy to hate on tofu and crack the obvious seitan jokes, but I've never thought that they were particularly gross (okay, raw tofu is. But who eats that?), nor was using them instead of meat a horrifying thought for me. In the case of veggie/mushroom burgers, I actually prefer them to the meat alternatives.

4. The vegans who demonstrated on campus at the beginning of the year who were polite, respectful, and didn't suck. I think it's because they were not affiliated with PETA, whose tactics, cute t-shirts notwithstanding, make me cringe.

5. Various exposes on the environmental unsustainability and impact of meat-farming, the unhealthiness of the animals that we eat (mainly, how they're pumped full of hormones, antibiotics, and lord knows what else), and the cruel and unethical practices of the meat-packing industry. Even though I do not have a problem with eating meat in and of itself, I can't support the way that the meat industry operates. Since I do not live on a farm, it seems that becoming vegetarian is my best option.

I'm on the fence about the fish thing, mostly because I love it, but also because I have little familiarity with they ways in which fish are produced for consumption (and the environmental impact thereof). I'm also concerned about my protein intake, especially given the quality of Vanderbilt's vegetarian options. I think that once I'm living on my own and preparing my own food, I'll get more into this thing.

I am also in love with this site: Vegan LunchBox.