I've noticed over the years since becoming a vegetarian that I'm not as strong as I used to be.
I'm not talking physical prowess here, but stomach strength. You know, the ability to sit through blood, guts, and gore and not flinch or feel acidity creeping up the back of your throat. That kind of strength.
I used to be able to sit through the grossest of TV shows and movies. I would watch marathons of Emergency Vets on Animal Planet, my eyes wide open during the surgery clips, dreaming of the day I'd be standing there saving the lives of animals. Needless to say, I never went that route with my life. I even went to see Saving Private Ryan at the movie theater, no the least bit sickened by the splaying of intestines, flying of limbs, and whatnot in the first scene. Then I went home and had a hamburger for dinner. I was strong.
Now I can't even read a graphic description without feeling at least a little bit queasy. I just finished a book that described dissected bodies, bloodied and smashed up bodies post-fight, 1800s surgery patients, and I knew the grumbling in my stomach was not hunger.
This weakness has been a developing thing in my life and yet it still feels so alien, very unlike me. I can stand the sight of blood and road kill simply makes me sad unless it's especially messy in which case I try not to look. But these movies and TV shows and books. What is wrong with me?
I can't help but wonder if it's the diet. Does eating flesh harden a person to the ugliness?
Just some food for thought.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
The Holy Cow
Alright, so I don't think the cow is holy, but at the rate I talk about my dairy dilemma, you'd think there was something super-extra-special about the heifer. I suppose how hard our culture has made it to take dairy out of one's diet does make a cow a little bit special.
Remember how I used to use the Kosher labels on packaged foods so much? If it is labeled Kosher and parve, I have to look at the ingredients list to make sure eggs are not a component. If it is labeled Kosher and dairy, it is off limits.
I believe once I mentioned the mystery of this dairy label. Let me recap:
Not all kosher products labeled as dairy actually have dairy ingredients. My parents and I did not understand this at all and it 1. frustrated my mother because I wouldn't eat these products anyhow not knowing why they were labeled as such and 2. frustrated me because I didn't understand the labeling and it limited my potential food pantry even further.
Recently my dad used his food industry ties to unravel the mystery which is actually not so mysterious at all.
Folks, it is simply the strict rules of kosher eating. If a product is manufactured in the same facility as a dairy product, even if it has not even come close to touching that dairy product, this product must be labeled as dairy. According to kosher law, it is dairy. I'm not going to go into the laws of what makes something kosher, but it all started to make sense to me.
But then my mom, according to her logic, figured I should be eating all those labeled-but-not dairy products. My logic told me she was right, but my gut told me it was still all wrong. There was something about those products that was wrong. After an awkward confrontation about brownies for a get-together, I was guilted into eating labeled-but-not brownies and chocolate chips. They were delicious but I felt horrible.
I spilled my guts to Zach. Even if Zach is not a vegan, or even a vegetarian, I can spill my guts to him about my food crises and he'll listen with almost as much understanding as a vegan, sometimes more than some vegetarians. He'll also play devils advocate and deal me a good dose of his own meat-eating opinion. It works out in the end.
So, what did Zach say? He wanted to know why I was so worried about being like other vegans. (It's not like I'm striving to be a strict, perfect vegan anyhow). These products have not touched dairy. Eating them does not promote the dairy industry (I thought about it a few days later and you could argue that it does in a semi-long-winded fashion, but you could also argue that the oil spill somehow promotes the dairy industry. Everything is a chain reaction, no?) By eating these products I am not saying "This product may contain milk, nom nom nom yummy!"
That one talk completely changed my perspective on the issue. A strict vegan probably wouldn't buy one of those products for the fear that it might have TOUCHED dairy. It's still not a dairy product itself in the common sense of what dairy is. If you are allergic to dairy, it's probably not a good idea to buy these foods because dairy particles may have been floating in the air. But for somebody who is not eating dairy for ethical reasons, this isn't eating a piece of cheese or drinking a glass of milk. No cow was harmed in the packaging of this cereal.
Thank you, Zach.
Remember how I used to use the Kosher labels on packaged foods so much? If it is labeled Kosher and parve, I have to look at the ingredients list to make sure eggs are not a component. If it is labeled Kosher and dairy, it is off limits.
I believe once I mentioned the mystery of this dairy label. Let me recap:
Not all kosher products labeled as dairy actually have dairy ingredients. My parents and I did not understand this at all and it 1. frustrated my mother because I wouldn't eat these products anyhow not knowing why they were labeled as such and 2. frustrated me because I didn't understand the labeling and it limited my potential food pantry even further.
Recently my dad used his food industry ties to unravel the mystery which is actually not so mysterious at all.
Folks, it is simply the strict rules of kosher eating. If a product is manufactured in the same facility as a dairy product, even if it has not even come close to touching that dairy product, this product must be labeled as dairy. According to kosher law, it is dairy. I'm not going to go into the laws of what makes something kosher, but it all started to make sense to me.
But then my mom, according to her logic, figured I should be eating all those labeled-but-not dairy products. My logic told me she was right, but my gut told me it was still all wrong. There was something about those products that was wrong. After an awkward confrontation about brownies for a get-together, I was guilted into eating labeled-but-not brownies and chocolate chips. They were delicious but I felt horrible.
I spilled my guts to Zach. Even if Zach is not a vegan, or even a vegetarian, I can spill my guts to him about my food crises and he'll listen with almost as much understanding as a vegan, sometimes more than some vegetarians. He'll also play devils advocate and deal me a good dose of his own meat-eating opinion. It works out in the end.
So, what did Zach say? He wanted to know why I was so worried about being like other vegans. (It's not like I'm striving to be a strict, perfect vegan anyhow). These products have not touched dairy. Eating them does not promote the dairy industry (I thought about it a few days later and you could argue that it does in a semi-long-winded fashion, but you could also argue that the oil spill somehow promotes the dairy industry. Everything is a chain reaction, no?) By eating these products I am not saying "This product may contain milk, nom nom nom yummy!"
That one talk completely changed my perspective on the issue. A strict vegan probably wouldn't buy one of those products for the fear that it might have TOUCHED dairy. It's still not a dairy product itself in the common sense of what dairy is. If you are allergic to dairy, it's probably not a good idea to buy these foods because dairy particles may have been floating in the air. But for somebody who is not eating dairy for ethical reasons, this isn't eating a piece of cheese or drinking a glass of milk. No cow was harmed in the packaging of this cereal.
Thank you, Zach.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)