The beginning of February marks six years since I became a vegetarian. When I gave up meat for Lent in 2008, I didn't realize I was making a long-term change. I never put a stake (or a steak) in the ground to declare that I was giving up meat forever. I still don't say that. Because who knows. But at the end of my seven-week trial separation from meat, I felt terrific and energetic, vegetables were tasting better than ever, and letting go of meat had been a fairly easy sacrifice. So I went another day without it. And then another month. Which turned into a year. Which has now turned into six years.
I don't talk a lot about being a vegetarian. It's easy to be perceived as preachy or self-righteous, and I don't want to alienate anyone by having that kind of conversation. But a half dozen years makes me kinda happy, so let's talk about it. It's not always easy being a vegetarian in beef-and-pork country, but it's definitely doable. I've learned some things along the way. I still get looked at with suspicion, or amusement, from time to time, which is okay. I get asked questions, which I don't mind either.
I get asked why I became a vegetarian. Every vegetarian has their own reason, or combination of reasons. It was layered for me. I was concerned about factory farming and its environmental impact. I wanted my food choices to be more responsible, more ethical. I wanted to eat cleaner, and enjoy the health benefits of a plant-based diet. But again, it wasn't one momentous decision. It was just a trial thing that seems to have taken root, pardon the pun.
Do I have opinions? Certainly. But that's what they are. My opinions. We make the best decisions we can, based on the information we have, and filtered through our own experiences and perspectives. I've eaten too many cheeseburgers in my lifetime to sit in judgment of anyone who enjoys a Big Mac, so don't worry about that. It's enough for me to focus on what I'm eating, without also trying to tell you what should be on your plate.
Sometimes I get asked what I'm "allowed" to eat. Maybe it's not obvious that there isn't a set code, or an oath we take to join the club. There are a lot of variations of vegetarianism, based on personal motivations. I wish I had the discipline to go vegan. I'm just not in that place right now. I do eat eggs and dairy. I don't eat meat--no beef, chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, etc. I'll eat fish about once a year, if we're vacationing in the Caribbean, and the breezes are blowing just right through the palm trees. That might get me ostracized from the hard-core circles, but I'm okay with that. Because the swordfish at Neptune's Treasure in the BVIs is the best thing I've ever put in my mouth. (A close second is the s'mores flatbread from that restaurant in Vegas, if you're reading this, Lisa & Katie.)
Guess what, marshmallows aren't technically vegetarian either. Surprise. And I've also read that beers such as Guinness aren't vegetarian, because they use fish bladders (?) for part of the brewing process. So, if there's a veg society membership card, go ahead and just take it away from me now. It's hard to take a principled stance on anything without running into some contradictions along the way. Let's be kinder to ourselves and to others.
I do love fruits and vegetables, even more than I did at the beginning. I like assortments of veggies, grilled or steamed or raw. Unfortunately I still pick olives out of things. (I haven't given up yet on trying to like them.) I enjoy a good salad. And black bean soup. And veggie chili made with tempeh. Because I eat dairy and eggs, that opens my diet to a pretty wide variety of other dishes as well. Do I cook meat for my family? On occasion. I assure you, nobody's suffering here.
I wish it were true that a vegetarian diet is automatically a healthy one. But I bet you can think of a lot of meatless junk-food choices. Yeah. It's still a daily effort to make good decisions, to limit processed foods, to choose healthy whole grains over the refined stuff. No automatic elixir here. It's still work.
It's also fun at times. Ordering vegetarian at restaurants can bring surprising results. Several years ago on vacation with Dennis, Reggie and Amy in Florida, I ordered a quesadilla, no meat please, but could they put some veggies in it? "Um, sure." Much to the table's amusement, I received a tortilla full of Green-Giant-style mixed veggies. Peas, carrots, and corn... well huh. I wasn't expecting that.
Still, I try not to be one of those vegetarians who expect everyone else to accommodate them. I can almost always find something to eat, so no worries. I'd love to try your delicious green bean dish if you can hold off from throwing bacon bits into it, but I understand if that's the way you like it. It's okay. I do, however, expect to be taken seriously by food-service professionals. If I ask at your lunch cafe whether the vegetable soup is vegetarian, I can tell right away if you know what you're talking about. If the response (and accompanying facial expression) is, duh. it's VEGETABLE soup, you can bet I won't be ordering it, because chances are it's made with chicken or beef stock. Will it kill me? No. Will it upset my stomach for the rest of the afternoon? Yes, and that's a price I don't want to pay because you can't be bothered to go to the kitchen and ask the chef.
Some nods to my favorite vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Des Moines: Gateway Market, The Continental, Ritual Cafe. The veggie burger at HoQ recently put them on my good list as well. But if you want to catch a meal out with me, you pick wherever you want. I've never been to a restaurant where I couldn't find something to eat. Ok, just once. In six years of much eating out. I'm looking at you, Ox Yoke Inn, Amana, Iowa. Seriously? Not even a side salad??
Sometimes people are concerned about whether I'm getting enough protein and nutrients. My diet actually contains quite a bit of protein from non-meat sources, so no worries there. I've become more aware of making sure I eat foods rich in iron and vitamin B12, which isn't too hard to do. I include flaxseed oil in smoothies to get omega-3s into the mix as well. So, I'm not too concerned. You can make yourself crazy with overthinking these things anyway. Did you know that too much protein inhibits calcium absorption? But too much calcium inhibits iron absorption. So does tea. Well crap, what about all the tea I've been drinking for its cancer-fighting antioxidants?! See what I mean?
I've appreciated finding some vegetarian friends along the way, to share ideas and restaurant suggestions and camaraderie. Unfortunately I have yet to find a veg friend at church, and this puzzles me. Have all the vegetarians been drawn to more progressive denominations by their tofu-friendly church potlucks? That's what I thought. Our church's annual chili cook-off is this weekend, and I'll have an entry. Sans meat. I'm not trying to win (which I most assuredly won't); I'd just like to stay and eat. I'm still trying to find the connection between church folk and meat-centered meals. Let me know if you have any thoughts on that. Anyway.
I tend to think that the best health choices are the ones we make deliberately, whether we choose meat-free, or gluten-free, or raw, or low carb, or organic, or none of the above. I try not to forget that even having dietary preferences is a luxury not everyone enjoys. Should I ever find myself surviving minimalistically in a remote corner of the world, or in a soup line in Des Moines, I'll certainly be less picky.
But for now, I'll probably keep doing what I'm doing. I'm thinking about responsible ways of bringing fish into the rotation more than once a year. It's hard to ignore its benefits and its prominence in uber-healthy Mediterranean and Asian diets. It's also hard to ignore that Iowa is quite a distance from palm trees and fresh, local fish. Maybe I'll just take more vacations.
