DAY Two!
yay! it’s actually not as hard as i thought :)
today i had:
a peach, a pear, two glasses of oj, 2 carrots, half a cucumber (chopped up with sesame oil, salt, and 3 cloves of minced raw garlic), a fried egg on wheat toast with ketchup, winter melon soup, a plate of chinese green veg, an apple, vanilla yogurt with museli granola, a green tea vitamin water, garden veg pizza on whole wheat dough, a glass of milk
i think the hardest thing about today was trying to explain my choice not to eat meat to my parents.
these kinds of political subjects are always hard to explain and seldomly met with optimism, especially when there are cultural and generational gaps. my parents grew up during war and famine, getting to choose what to eat now is an ultimate luxury. my parents have always brought me up to spend my money on food, instead of fancy things, that quantity is always better, and that life is all about survival.
slightly hypochondriac, my mother’s maternal instincts came out in an outrage
“but you’re not going to get enough nutrients! it’s not healthy! you need a variety of foods!”
“yes, i need a variety, and no, many people in the world thrive, let alone survive off of meat as a luxury item, plus i’m not going vegan (yet , i’m still eating dairy, eggs, and fish. and i always have tofu and beans as protein! i’m good ma!”
“eat whatever you want! i’m just telling you, an all vegetarian kind of diet is not for everyone!”
“yes, and i will try my best. it’s only a week! i did this for a month last year, per YOUR advice to detox my body from eating all that game meat during my whole first month of culinary school remember?”
and then i attempted to go food shopping with my father – who frequents the organic aisles as per my mom’s request, no matter how expensive – 7.99 for a jug of OJ?! 10.49 for 3 bags of organic milk?! holyyyy! — ooh look they have ontario local tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell peppers!
“but they’re not organic -”
yes but these are local – support local farming dad! and most of the organic veg is all from california or mexico! 3000 miles! look those apples are from new zealand, and those from chile! – do u think they were picked ripe if they had to travel so far? they don’t look so fresh to me at this crazy premium price!
“but the pesticides!”
yes – i chose freshness today over pesticide use. and price. because for the first half of my life i’ve had conventionally grown veg… and i’m ok,
so that was my choice today.
Tags: Meatless week
