The Vegetarian Gazette

Cabbages seen on the Vegetarian Gazette

Plant-Based Food For Carbon-Based Units

What Lit Your Fire?

Commentary

 

What brought you to the vegetarian diet? Ethical feelings about the treatment of animals? The embrace of a healthy lifestyle? An environmental awareness? I happen to be a romantic vegetarian.  Let me explain. [

 

A longtime friend, with whom I had manyWhat lit your vegetarian fire? lunches, was (and is) a vegetarian. I took this in stride. (Everybody’s got to have some kind of eccentricity.) She was (and is) an ethical vegetarian. One day, I accidentally got it. This plate of stuff, so casually placed in front of me, displayed contents that were upsetting for her to think about, generally speaking. I took a vow, then and there, to never eat meat in her presence.

 

She very kindly told me that this was not necessary. Which made it all the more necessary to me. Perhaps I should’ve listened to her. Though we came from dietary worlds apart, our friendship evolved and we became (and still are) an item. Aside from making me very happy, this dramatically changed the number of meals I had in her presence.

Confessions of a Sneak

I may not be resourceful, but I am opportunistic. I’ve had a few moments here and there to scarf down some meat. Most of the time it was not worth it. The anticipatory drool was much more exciting than the actual experience.

 

Then I got some stents put in my heart. There was some talk of clogged arteries and such. As a result, dairy was pretty much taken away from me. Boo-hoo.

A Door Closes

They say that when one door slams in your face, another door smacks you in the ass. I’m living proof. Do I miss meat? You bet I do — but only the fantasy of it. The reality is greasy, often ill-prepared, sickening and gross. And then there are those socially conscious arguments against the stuff. But I find a new wonder in the many ways vegetables, fruits, nuts, herbs and all that other crap can be combined to yield an amazing variety of wonderful, satisfying and downright thrilling opportunities.