Why Veg Forward? Only predominately vegan? Why bother? Why breathe? Why exist?
I don't want to bitch.
I don't want to be a blog of negativity.
I want you to understand something. I am not a person who labels herself. There are so many areas where people want to box you into something. Both good and bad. Liberal and Conservative. People want you to be SOMETHING. I am THAT. I am THIS. You are THAT. Because I am THIS it means that I am okay and not THAT. Even if that thing is gay, christian, queer, vegetarian, atheist, pro-life, pro-choice, or whatever.
So I am already starting at a place at being irritated by a world that wants me to be something specific. To IDENTIFY as specific because then I am THAT and THAT can be managed.
But I don't identify as much out of a sense of not wanting to be managed. I don't care. I just don't relate to a lot of labels. My life is pretty much the opposite of extremes of anything.
Therefore, after trial and error, I decided that I was more veg forward than vegan, vegetarian, or omnivorous. I eat mostly vegan, some vegetarian (meaning I'll add milk or eggs), and a bit of meat from time to time. This allows me to accommodate almost any situation and I've found it to be the perfect way for me to navigate my life. Percentages? I'd say 80% vegan, 95% vegetarian, and 5% meat eating.
In order to decide that this was the right way for me to eat for now, I had to ask myself a few big questions. The first:
Do I think it's wrong that humans eat meat, generally?
This is key. And my answer is no, I do not think it's wrong for humans to eat meat. I very strongly believe it's wrong for humans to destroy the planet and torture animals for people to eat meat in the quantities that we do. But overall, I believe that while it is not immoral to eat meat, it's immoral to do so in the way that we do when countless other options exist.
Do I believe it has to be all or nothing?
I may have mentioned above that I am not big on the all or nothing approach to life. I thought it did. And vegans and non-vegans alike constantly condescend to me about being veg forward. Ultimately though, to heck with that crap. I've just stopped caring about that garbage. You think it's dumb eat the way I do because you can't? You. Think I shouldn't eat vegan at all if I don't commit 100%? You. I'm just going to sit right on over thing and do my thing.
Is there something I don't want to give up?
I read about lots of vegans who have taken family favourites and veganized them. And to some degree, I have been successful with that with things like veggie burgers or pimento cheese. But when it's something that is really personal, I am going to have it. What's my example meal? Chicken fried steak. It's something that reminds me of home and I have it once a year on my deceased mother's birthday. It reminds me of her and, well, it's delicious. So I don't want to veganize it. I don't want to change it. I just want this one meal that feels like a hug from home. And so I have it.
The danger with that is that every day can become that type of "one meal". It's a birthday, a wedding, a whatever. But I have found in the year and half or so of eating this way, I've been able to bounce my eating back to a good vegan level pretty quickly after a not-so-vegan stretch. And I still feel good about myself and the choices I am making.
In the end, it's all about choices. But I tell you, I am tired AF of people and their asinine comments about how I eat. Especially when those choices aren't just cute or trendy, but are actually well thought out decisions based on my own health, the health of the environment, and my own sense of humanity as it extends to animals raised for food. Ask me to discuss, but I will shut down condescension and jokes about bacon and cheese (unless of course they are funny jokes).
And the bottom line is, I don't know you to be into what I am doing. Because I am in to it, and that's what matters.
I don't want to be a blog of negativity.
I want you to understand something. I am not a person who labels herself. There are so many areas where people want to box you into something. Both good and bad. Liberal and Conservative. People want you to be SOMETHING. I am THAT. I am THIS. You are THAT. Because I am THIS it means that I am okay and not THAT. Even if that thing is gay, christian, queer, vegetarian, atheist, pro-life, pro-choice, or whatever.
So I am already starting at a place at being irritated by a world that wants me to be something specific. To IDENTIFY as specific because then I am THAT and THAT can be managed.
But I don't identify as much out of a sense of not wanting to be managed. I don't care. I just don't relate to a lot of labels. My life is pretty much the opposite of extremes of anything.
Therefore, after trial and error, I decided that I was more veg forward than vegan, vegetarian, or omnivorous. I eat mostly vegan, some vegetarian (meaning I'll add milk or eggs), and a bit of meat from time to time. This allows me to accommodate almost any situation and I've found it to be the perfect way for me to navigate my life. Percentages? I'd say 80% vegan, 95% vegetarian, and 5% meat eating.
In order to decide that this was the right way for me to eat for now, I had to ask myself a few big questions. The first:
Do I think it's wrong that humans eat meat, generally?
This is key. And my answer is no, I do not think it's wrong for humans to eat meat. I very strongly believe it's wrong for humans to destroy the planet and torture animals for people to eat meat in the quantities that we do. But overall, I believe that while it is not immoral to eat meat, it's immoral to do so in the way that we do when countless other options exist.
Do I believe it has to be all or nothing?
I may have mentioned above that I am not big on the all or nothing approach to life. I thought it did. And vegans and non-vegans alike constantly condescend to me about being veg forward. Ultimately though, to heck with that crap. I've just stopped caring about that garbage. You think it's dumb eat the way I do because you can't? You. Think I shouldn't eat vegan at all if I don't commit 100%? You. I'm just going to sit right on over thing and do my thing.
Is there something I don't want to give up?
I read about lots of vegans who have taken family favourites and veganized them. And to some degree, I have been successful with that with things like veggie burgers or pimento cheese. But when it's something that is really personal, I am going to have it. What's my example meal? Chicken fried steak. It's something that reminds me of home and I have it once a year on my deceased mother's birthday. It reminds me of her and, well, it's delicious. So I don't want to veganize it. I don't want to change it. I just want this one meal that feels like a hug from home. And so I have it.
The danger with that is that every day can become that type of "one meal". It's a birthday, a wedding, a whatever. But I have found in the year and half or so of eating this way, I've been able to bounce my eating back to a good vegan level pretty quickly after a not-so-vegan stretch. And I still feel good about myself and the choices I am making.
In the end, it's all about choices. But I tell you, I am tired AF of people and their asinine comments about how I eat. Especially when those choices aren't just cute or trendy, but are actually well thought out decisions based on my own health, the health of the environment, and my own sense of humanity as it extends to animals raised for food. Ask me to discuss, but I will shut down condescension and jokes about bacon and cheese (unless of course they are funny jokes).
And the bottom line is, I don't know you to be into what I am doing. Because I am in to it, and that's what matters.
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