Becoming a vegan was the easiest change I’ve ever made in my life.
A vegan (pronounced vee-gan) is one who does not consume mammals or their milk, birds or their eggs, and fish or their derivatives. Vegans also (try to) avoid using products that require taking the life of another — these products include leather and fur (try to — not so easy as you think. Car and bike tires contain, you guessed it, animal byproducts).
Why did I become a vegan? Sloth. No, I didn’t meet a sloth. I’m just plain lazy. I couldn’t decide which other-than-human-animal was OK to eat and which one wasn’t, so it was and is simpler not to eat any of them.
There are modern countries where people happily eat cats, dogs, horses and guinea pigs. And there are countries where it would be seen to be a horror to eat cows or pigs.
I’m rather partial to bunnies and turtles in a pet sort of way, but could not bear to see them waiting for death at my local supermarket.
There are many reasons why folks become vegans and these include personal health, global warming and compassion. According to the Vegan Society, a plant-based diet decreases the chances of suffering from diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers.
The livestock industry is responsible for 18 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than the entire transport sector (which produces 13.5 per cent), including aviation. The vast majority of animals we eat spend their entire lives in factory farms where they are kept in deplorable conditions. And even if they are raised in happy valley, they meet the same end at the slaughter house.
But enough of this — the best reason to eat plants is because they are TASTY, cheap, easy to prepare, and healthy. Here is a typical day for me:
Breakfast
-half a cup of orange juice (enriched with calcium and vitamin D if possible)
-one large bowl of oatmeal — either made as a porridge or as granola
-a tablespoon or so of ground flax seed
-soya milk
Mid-morning snack
-A piece of fruit like a banana or apple
Lunch
-A big fat sandwich or two made with a nut butter like peanut, almond or cashew.
-Veggie soup in winter; raw veggies in warm weather
Mid afternoon snack
-Granola bar, muffin or cookie. (vegans love their comfort food, too!)
Supper
-Whole grain pasta or rice
-Spaghetti sauce with mushrooms or cooked vegetables of your choice
-Big fat salad
-Dairy-free pesto (recipe below) or legumes done in a tasty manner (recipe below)
Evening snack
-Soya milk and frozen fruit smoothie
-or popcorn
-or pretzels
-or nuts
YUM!
Are their things you have to be careful about? Certainly. Not as many things as meat eaters of course – they have to worry about getting too much animal fat and not enough fibre.
But vegans needs to ensure they have a good source of vitamin B12, calcium, iron, and omega three fatty acids. The Vegetarian Resource Group has as easy guide to this. See http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/vegan_nutshell.pdf
Part of the reason I have so much fun being a vegan is that I don’t sweat (what I consider to be) the small stuff. I love my Tim Hortons and since they currently don’t have soya milk, I’ll have a splash of cow’s milk.
Yeah, the salad I just had at the potluck may have a bit of mayo (egg) in it. The kimchi pancakes my one-day-daughter-in-law makes, there may be a little fish sauce in the kimchi. (Shrugs!)
I like what vegan dietician Virginia Messina has to say:
There is truly nothing to be gained by (hyper) careful attention to this kind of detail in your diet. Avoiding these minute animal ingredients won't make your diet any healthier, nor will it lessen animal suffering or help protect the environment — at least not in any meaningful way.
The only thing it will do is make your vegetarian diet more restrictive, time consuming, and difficult to follow. It's possible to get so bogged down in these details that you will simply find a vegetarian diet too laborious to follow. To say nothing of making people run away from you in search of a perfect steak.
Another quote I love is from John Robbins, who opted out of the ice cream industry for a vegan lifestyle:
The person who eats beer and franks with cheer and thanks will probably be healthier than the person who eats sprouts and bread with doubts and dread.
But make it a veggie dog, OK!?
Jan Carrie Steven is a volunteer with Cat Adoption Trust Sudbury (CATS) and the co-ordinator of Small Things: Cats & Books. For more information, go to www.smallthings.ca.
Vegan Pesto - http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.ca/2008/02/winter-pesto.html
Spicy Legumes - http://thaifood.about.com/od/vegetarianthairecipes/r/curriedchickpea.htm
