People say the darnedest things!
For a few years now, a game has been circulating on the internet for vegetarians to tick off comments as they hear them…
I got a quinella this week!
1/ Q: ‘But where do you get your protein from?’
A: From vegetables, the same place the animals you eat get theirs from.
I have noticed that all the ‘nutritionally curious’ questions I get relate come from ‘ad-wareness’, revolving just around the big ticket items in meat/dairy advertising…protein, iron and calcium…just like advertising has led people to equate bananas with potassium and oranges with vitamin C (even though neither of them is the best source of them), people think that animal products have the exclusive claim to the above three.
If roles were reversed I think people might find it weird if I randomly started asking them whether they think their diet contains enough fibre (no animal products contain any…unless you eat wool!) and magnesium (which is mostly sourced from vegetables and is one of the most commonly deficient nutrients in the west).
We don’t need much protein- taking in more than is needed is like throwing bricks at a house that is already built, it is both wasteful and pointless, maybe even damaging. Human breast milk, at a time when a baby is only eating this and growing FAST only averages 1.3g of protein per 100ml.
(http://www.infantnutritioncouncil.com/resources/breastmilk-information/)
2/ Shrugs shoulders and looks helpless:
‘But I just love the taste of meat’
So did I! As a child I couldn’t decide whether my favourite food was pork spare ribs or Mint Slice biscuits. Most vegetarians probably enjoyed meat and never thought they would be able to live without it… until something reached deep inside and they grew from living for their base senses, to living by their higher sensitivities.
For me, personally, the change started as I was crying and behaving like a pork chop over something my boyfriend had said, then I looked at the real pork chop on my plate and thought ‘Hang on; I am all upset by something stupid, but there is a slice of dead animal in front of me…get some perspective!’ So,the next day I went to Animal Liberation (no www back then) and read all the pamphlets they had and decided there and then to stop just saying that I loved animals, and to actually live like I did.
Most people think that being vego is about ‘missing out’. I can assure you it isn’t all Dickension thin gruel, pinched guts and banishment to the social fringes.
There is heaps to be gained.
You get to try other amazing dishes that you previously would have overlooked-skip the boring butter chicken and try gobi manchurian, or dhal tadka next time you eat Indian.
You will start ripples of kindness around you. And it has been proven that doing good often leads to feeling good, both mentally and physically.
You get to meet heaps of really cool people – it is like being in the Mickey Mouse Vlub, but even better! Some people try to dismiss vegetarians as whingers, who ‘go on’ – well if you see a gross injustice going on that other people are studiously ignoring, wouldn’t you want to say something too? Would you just stand by silently and allow an old lady to get mugged right in front of you? Or even would you be comfortable to stand by and allow people to hurt an animal in front of you? Of course not.
Anyway trust me, vegos aren’t the only ones that go on – did someone pass a law insisting steaks must always be described to vegetarians as ‘big and juicy’?!
Watermelons are much bigger and juicier btw, so we win.
If you are a straight man, there are a lot of vegetarian girls who would love to meet you. There is nothing ‘unmanly’ about not eating meat. I wonder if anyone can explain just exactly what they think IS manly about eating prepackaged select animal bits from a distant factory farm. Even hunters using a gun are not exactly heroic when you think about it, are they?!
Is being a man about ‘not caring’…unless it’s about your own kids, own mates, own car, own pets etc…? Do real men also choose fossil fuels over renewables and throw litter out of the car window instead of using a bin? Come on!!
You get to play defensive omnivore bingo.
and
You get use Happy Cow – actually everyone does! Even if you aren’t vego, see what’s in your local area – you may just find a new adventure in a place that can satisfy both the tongue and the heart!
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Our purpose is to make healthy food easy to find and more accessible. Today, our online community has grown to include members from around the world who are passionate about the vegetarian and vegan lifestyle as a healthy, compassionate, and environmentally sustainable way of living. More than simply a restaurant and health food store guide, HappyCow is an ever-evolving online hub that serves millions worldwide as a one-stop resource for everything VEG. |
from The Pitted Date,a vegan bakery in Mexico
from Bon Taito-ku, vegan Japanese, Tokyo
Veg*n eating places in Melbourne:
52 charities - 52 weeks 