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Random Fri Mar 13 2009
Carnivores, Don't Be Afraid of the Veg!
There's been a lot of posting about vegetarian and vegan foods on the blog this week, so I thought the one I've been wanting to share might be a little overkill. Yet, after Lori's post about MRSA being tied to antibiotic use in meat, I realized it was time to post.
I'm a fairly dedicated carnivore; in fact, there are days where my body absolutely craves meat. At the same time, I realize that a ton of meat may not exactly be the healthiest option, so maybe a few more vegetarian and vegan meals might be a good addition to my diet.
However, straight vegetables and beans only go so far. I wanted to try other vegetarian and vegan options, but I also didn't really want to buy a bunch of food I might end up hating. Then I got the opportunity to go to a fundraiser for Mercy for Animals, an organization that fights against animal cruelty--especially in terms of food production--by promoting vegetarian and vegan diets.
At the party, they had a bunch of vegan treats from local vegan outposts such as Veggie Bite, Mana Food Bar, Strawberry Fields Bakery, and the Chicago Diner. The spread included hot dogs, pizza, egg rolls, "meat" balls, "chicken" nuggets, cookies, doughnuts, and cupcakes.
Overall, the food wasn't that bad. The hot dogs served on some sort of vegan wheat roll were decent in comparison to a meat-based dog. The egg rolls were perfectly tasty. My sliver of pizza was all right, though a vegan I talked to admitted, "Soy cheese is disgusting." A dark chocolate bar by Enjoy Life (dairy, nut, and soy free) was pretty damn good--definitely something I'll try to find in the store.
On the other hand, sometimes vegan food seemed to taste as highly processed as some non-vegan food. The nuggets tasted a lot like a regular kid's chicken nugget that tastes a little unnatural. The "meat" ball didn't have much flavor, but it had a texture that reminded me of cat food. And although the vegan baked goods were edible, I could really tell they didn't have eggs.
The sampling made me realize that there are a lot of vegan and vegetarian options that I can easily incorporate into my diet. Even though I personally don't think my body could stand not having meat-free diet, scaling back a little here and there might be a better way to live.
R / March 13, 2009 12:43 PM
Nice post. I agree that for a meat-eater, converting to vegetarianism/veganism sounds utterly impossible, but the products (fake meat) that are out there now for vegs are so comparable to the real thing that it would be far easier. Were I to ever switch.