|
| |
Vegan Quest: A Carnivore in Vegan's Clothing
Posted by extramsg on Thursday, July 16, 2009 @ 11:31:34 PDT
Contributed by extramsg
If you've been following me on Twitter or at PortlandFood.org, you probably already know that, yes, it's true, I really am going vegan for a month. Why? Because?!?
I'm not doing it for health reasons. If I wanted to diet, I would go low-carb as I have in the past. It's worked quite well for me and since I enjoy vegetables and proteins much more than starches and sweets, fits my palate.
I'm not doing it for political/ideological reasons. If I thought it was wrong to kill animals for food, I'd be living off some pretty filthy lucre, given that Kenny & Zuke's goes through well over a ton of beef alone in a week.
No, it's more just because, like Mt. Everest, it's there. It's a challenge -- to my will, mostly. Can a devout carnivore like myself give up not just flesh, but products such as milk and eggs? I think so. I'll find out.
Further, I'm interested to see what it's like to live as a vegan. Call it a form of cultural anthropology, like living with a tribe in the Amazon or something. That's not intended to be demeaning. I just mean to highlight the truly incommensurable differences between my world and the vegan world. I aim to walk in their shoes.
I think there will be some side benefits, too. I will be blogging it, posting my experiences at various restaurants around town, both vegetarian restaurants and non-vegetarian restaurants. I hope to visit serveral of Portland's better eateries, too, and see what they do. I think it will be a good challenge for them. In this regard, I get some inspiration from my friend Scott, at DallasFood.org, who, as always, set the bar higher than I will certainly reach.
I'll aim to discuss the difficulties I find in being a vegan here, while posting more of the results from eating out on PortlandFood.org. I will be eating out nearly every day and taking pictures everywhere I eat.
I've already encountered a dilemma: honey or no honey. I hadn't decided and then I was at Karam last night and the owner offered me and my wife baklava on the house. I tried to decline it, but she insisted. I hadn't even thought about the butter. So on day one I already failed, not in will but in diligence. Obviously, I will need to pay better attention and be more thoughtful.
However, I am not going to let my mistakes stop me. As someone who has battled obesity and lost over 100 lbs, I know that the worst thing you can do is think that just because you made a mistake, you should just give up. I will continue on this challenge I set for myself, learn from my mistakes, and make every effort to do better going forward.
Day two starts now. Time for some soyriso.
|
|
| |
|
|
