Sweet mysteries of vegetarianism revealed
It’s not complicated, and it’s better for you and can save our environment
A couple of years ago, I was teaching a class on critical thinking and the subject of vegetarianism came up. A middle-aged white British man studying nursing, said that vegetarians had to be careful about combining the right carbohydrates and proteins, and taking B vitamin supplements. I paused for a moment: “Yeah, only I’m a vegetarian and I never do any of that, and I gave birth to five large babies in seven-and-a-half years, which is hard to do if you’re not … you know … healthy.”
About 20 of the people in this particular class were international students from India, and they were looking at each other quizzically; one put up his hand, “Miss, we are all vegetarian and we do not do this … combining. Or vitamins.” The entire Indian contingent nodded in agreement. I joined them.
Where does it come from, this idea that vegetarianism is complicated and difficult? Occasionally, a mother on the local Facebook moms’ group will post about her child wanting to be a vegetarian or vegan. “How do I know she’s getting enough protein and iron?” Inevitably, someone will post a response about combining, vitamins, supplements, etc. that leaves me shaking my head.
I’ve been a vegetarian for 24 years, and I can tell you that I’m in fine shape. I lift weights. I do yoga. Last winter I did not get a single cough, cold or the flu. My children are also vegetarian, and they’re active, healthy kids. When my eldest daughter turned 12, she was five-foot-eight and wearing a size 10 shoe, she’s not exactly malnourished.
I repeat: no combining! No vitamins! No counting grams of protein!
The latest news from the world’s top scientists is that we have 12 years to get a handle on our idiot species’ reckless race to oblivion, i.e. our own extinction due to global warming. These same scientists will tell you that the single biggest, most effective thing we can do is to cut way down on our consumption of meat and animal products. (Fish too, because the ransacking of our oceans for meat puts global oxygen production severely at risk. I’m not kidding — look it up.)
From water consumption to farts and burps full of methane, livestock farming is disastrously bad for us and the place we call home; according to the World Bank, livestock farming is responsible for 50 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. So why is it that, even when faced with this reality, people have such trouble imagining their lives sans meat? Or even sans as much meat? When people learn that our family is vegetarian, their most common response by far is to stare blankly and say, “What do you eat?” I know what they’re thinking: salad.
Well! Let me pull back the curtain on our strange and exotic lives! Let me mystify you with stories of fantastical and bizarre foodstuffs!
Breakfast is usually cereal with soy milk or toast. Soy milk is delicious on cereal — dairy milk tastes sour and thin by comparison. I also like dried apricots and almonds with my morning tea. We eat a lot of fruit and yogurt, increasingly a mix of dairy and soy yogurt. There is also the occasional banana to be had, mayhap a bagel or two. We have fruit smoothies with some silken tofu thrown in, which makes them thick and creamy. (Are you intrigued? Feeling a bit peckish? I’m happy to share recipes, but this isn’t the Go section so you’ll have to email me.)
Lunch is peanut butter and jam, or maybe lentil soup or hummus with bread. Instead of butter, we use a plant-based spread called Earth Balance, which is positively delightful.
Dinner might be lasagna without cheese or pizzas made with tortilla crusts and a very light sprinkling of sharp cheddar. Or I make some rice and dump a jar of curry sauce in a giant pot with a bag of frozen vegetables, some cubed tofu and chickpeas. Or we do quesadillas with black beans, salsa and guacamole. We have potatoes at every possible opportunity. We have pasta with pesto sauce made with walnuts. Is this weird? I just don’t see it. I think it’s more likely that if we were raised to eat meat, then that’s what we’re used to and it’s convenient to think that eating a lot less meat would be complex, difficult, or unappetizing, because it gives us an excuse to let ourselves off the hook. It helps us to avoid change.
The unvarnished, unavoidable, scientifically-proven truth is this: if you don’t want to get over your discomfort with trying new things or learning new recipes, of if you think that having the taste of meat in your mouth is worth more than our kids’ future, then you are making a decision to contribute to the end of our civilization. Is that weird? No — it’s much worse.