I thought that Part Two in this series would be the last part, but my sisters reminded me that I have left out a particularly important component: the personal touch. How far am I in this journey from being an Omnivore to becoming a Vegan? One of my friends described themselves as “flexitarian” saying that they prefer going vegan or vegetarian but at the moment it is still difficult. I think this accurately describe my feet-in-two-worlds situation – I tip my hat at anyone who wakes up one day and decide their done with meat and animal products (or any other addiction for that matter).
So, my personal
experience is that it is not easy, but looking back I can see that there was
progress. Back when I were still staying in my hometown, I became convinced that
vegetarian would be the way to go and I regularly discussed it with some
friends. I was made fun of, which is fine by me, but unfortunately that meant
no support at all. I knew no vegetarians or vegans personally so I could not
ask for advice (I acknowledge that I did not think of Google).
As I read
more about famous vegetarians – the likes of Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy – I
realized that I had to work in that direction, but I found myself failing time and
again. I did, however, succeeded in becoming more of an environmentalist by refusing
to kill insects unless it was necessary. I remember writing a small piece about
how easy it is to love cats and dogs, but to feel nothing when it came to spiders
and crickets (or feeling fear for these little creatures in some cases). My mom
once joked, saying to one of her friends, “this one is so green…”.
Surprisingly,
getting married helped a lot. I am enormously proud to brag that I have a
supportive and understanding wife even though she finds some of my ideas a
little over the top. When I told her that it has been a goal of mine to become
at least vegetarian, if not full vegan, she immediately started to encourage me;
and sometimes even admonished me if my actions contradicts my words. Two things
she greatly helped me with was introducing the meatless Mondays and encouraging
me to push the October Vegetarian month as far as possible (by the way –
January is called Veganuary by vegans). Although my reasons are mostly
spiritual in nature, my wife focus’ more on the health reasons and thus we try
to combine my meatless times with more healthy eating in general. All this even
though my wife is not a vegetarian and are not planning on becoming one.
In the meantime,
I have made a list of different meats that I want to give up totally as time go
by. This came about when I realized that my efforts to give up meat and other animal
products all at once did not pay off and that perhaps a more gradual approach
would work better. My list focus on meat specifically and are by no means
scientific. In fact, I am still a long way from understanding the codes on the
back of packages which are supposed to tell you if animal products were used
(did you know, for instance, that animal products are used in soap and many
cosmetics or in those delicious Jelly Babies?). To give myself time to get used
to not eating a particular meat that I crossed of the list, I give up another
form of meat every six months (perhaps I should shorten this time frame, but
for now this is it). Thus, so far, I have given up eating fat, lamb, biltong
(including droëwors, salami and so on) and patties
(which means I gave up burgers).
Another
surprising source of encouragement is my colleagues. Like any other group of
South Africans, we are always on the lookout for a reason to have a small party
where we all bring something to eat together before we begin with the day’s
work. I must mention here that I am allergic for dairy products (for those who
do not know – this is also an animal product) and you should think that this
fact makes it easier for me to give it up, but alas I crave cheese a lot (and
did I mention pizza?). Now, my colleagues know of my struggles to give up meat
and diary products and one of them is a wonderful cook (he really should have
been a chef and we are always full of praise for the dish he surprises us
with). Before any event we planned he and my other colleagues always come to me
to make sure which meat it is I do not eat and when they cook or bake something
requiring dairy products, they make sure to use goat cheese for which I am not allergic (but which I will also eventually have to
give up as I go full vegan). After this they always make sure not to bring
those items – it is a joy to work with such colleagues.
By now I
have also read more on what exactly goes into the production of meat and I am horrified.
I am now appalled when I hear seemingly normal people (most of us in other words) talking with some
enthusiasm about how animals are slaughtered for their meat, when the same
person would not talk so casually if the same thing were done to a human. One
person acknowledges that if she sees a chicken walk over the lawn and the host
inform her that this will be the food for dinner, she become vegetarian for
that night. Somehow, unfortunately, this does not translate to the packages we
buy in the supermarket and I acknowledge I am as guilty. My choices are thus
still very much influenced by this fallacy in my mind; when I must choose
between an apple and a Vienna sausage then I will most probably find myself
with a pack of viennas on the couch in front of the television.
Nowadays
there is a lot of alternative products on the market. For instance, if you do
not want to eat meat there is the option to buy tofu or soya. There are also
processed foods which are made to look and taste like the real counterpart.
Thus, you get vegan cheese, vegan patties, vegan sausages and even vegan
biltong. These products can help a prospective vegan to ease the journey a bit
as they look and taste more or less like the real deal (for those who grew up
vegan or vegetarian – I would suggest you stay away from it). With this last
warning in mind there are two unfortunate facts about these products. Firstly,
they are quite expensive and thus where giving up meat may help your finances,
going over to meat-like products does not. Secondly, it is highly processed
foods which means it is also highly unhealthy (a real vegan or vegetarian diet
is generally good healthy food).
This is
then my difficulties and honest struggles as well as my proud little progress
in the journey to become a more conscious consumer of food. It really is all
about being aware of what we do to animals, the planet, other humans and
ourselves. At the same time, it is an acknowledgement that human nature is frail,
and that small steps and little seed may accumulate to bigger things with time.
Thus, I hope that what I wrote here will serve as a planted seed that will bear
fruit with time or serve as encouragement to not give up. Even if this was just
an interesting read (or you vehemently disagree with everything I said or the
way I go about my journey), I still hope that it will serve as food for
thought.
May the One
God with many Names and many Manifestations bless you
No comments:
Post a Comment