Wednesday, 01 July 2009
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The Vegan Survival Guide
(ve-gan. n.) - a person who abstains from eating any animal product. this includes meat, dairy, seafood, eggs, honey, and gelatin.
1. Read ingredient labels. After 3 years of being a vegan, I have a good idea of what I can and cannot eat. But when I encounter a new food, I check out the ingredients in order. First, I read the end of the list - the bold print where it warns about allergens - and I do the once-over to make sure that the food doesn't contain dairy or fish (if it does, it goes back on the shelf). Then I do the second check, checking for honey, gelatin, meat, and other suspicious ingredients. Pareve is your best friend. There are lots of "accidental" vegan foods - SEE? Not scary at all.
2. Ask questions. If you're not sure if the restaurant you're at cooks the meatballs with the pasta sauce or if you're not sure where the french fries are fried, ask. They will always answer your questions because they value your business.
3. Be polite. Don't make a scene at the restaurant. Don't tell your friends at that party that that pepperoni pizza is evil. Or worse, remind them that it's made of cow. It's not polite.
4. Don't preach. NEVER preach. Especially not while your friends are eating. They won't be your friends for much longer. Respect everyone's diet, even if they have a hard time respecting yours yours.
5. Grill the waitress. Well, not in that sense. And not in the other sense either. At every restaurant, there is something you can eat. I guarantee it. And it's not always a leafy bed of greens (Actually, I hate salads. Let that be known. I'm a violent salad-hating vegan and when my family suggests I have a salad, I get slightly offended.) But the truth is, every restaurant wants business so every restaurant will cater to your requests. "I want this hoagie without ham." "I want an order of the spaghetti without meatballs." "I want a personal pan of pizza without the cheese." "One Happy Meal, please, hold the meat." Okay, the last one was sarcasm, but you got me.
6. Bring your own food, if necessary. If you're going to a party or cookout, make a dish to bring but be prepared if it's ridiculously vegan, your friends might not eat it. If you're having an extended stay at someone's house, don't expect them to provide for you but don't make them feel like they aren't good hosts, either. Share, if they're so inclined to try.
7. Answer questions. Don't brush them off, but don't turn preachy either. People are generally very curious about your undertaking. Sometimes "curious" isn't the right time - sometimes they're straight up callous and rude because they're intimidated. (I can't tell you how many times I've heard "oh, but milking the cow doesn't hurt it." I don't care. It's repulsive and I can go into great detail about why one shouldn't indulge in dairy products, but I always hold my tongue.)
8. Substitute, substitute, substitute. Use oil or vegan margarine to replace butter; banana or applesauce or even soda to replace eggs in pancakes, brownies, and cake respectively; onion or vegetable broth instead of chicken or beef; and soy milk and soy cheese instead of cow's milk and dairy cheese.I've even gone so far as to make tacos with chick peas or other beans instead of ground beef. I've read that you can make a cool marinated portabello on the grill like a burger, though I've never tried it. (I have made "gravy" out of portabello 'shrooms, salad dressing, and assorted spices, however, and it was delicious.)
9. Take your vitamins and supplements. This is important.
10. Get your protein. This is important too.
11. Don't love soy too much - it can cause health problems. Like they tell carnivores: meat's good in moderation. It's the same way with soy.
12. Don't use veganism as a diet. And I use "diet" lightly because I've known of people using veganism as a path toward an eating disorder because they think that it's easier to be anorexic if they're a vegan. This is really not the way to go about it. If you decide to try cutting meat, dairy, fish and eggs from your diet, do it for a good reason. Do it because you want to be healthier. Do it because you want to save the planet. Do it because you care about animals. Do it because you want to better yourself or better your life. Do it for every tree-hugging hippie reason you want, but don't go vegan to loose weight.
Are these tips helpful? Can you think of other tips that may help vegans?
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Comments (31)
sorry, this post totally reminded me of this:
http://failblog.org/2009/06/29/bulletin-board-win/
^ i thought it was hilarious, but no offense.
@MissPixieGlitter@xanga - lmao That's too good.
@MissPixieGlitter@xanga - Haha, none taken! I've seen that. I lol'd.
I've been wondering... in an actual survival situation, would most vegetarians/vegans eat animal products/meat in order to live? Are these ethics of theirs of convenience, or are they convictions? Hmmm....
As a vegetarian myself, I'd eat meat if it was a matter of life or death. I'm a vegetarian for health reasons, and eating in order to prevent starving to death would be a pretty good health reason.
@methodElevated@xanga - I like to be blissfully ignorant toward a situation like that. But, in the event of a zombie apocalypse (which I frequently entertain myself by imagining), it is highly reccomended to have peanut butter on hand since it has a high fat and protein content and won't go bad like meat or dairy would. ;D It depends on what kind of situation - post nuclear war? Plane crash? Stranded in the woods? Eating fish, deer, or humans?
I think if it were a century ago where my family would most likely buy live chickens from the market to kill and have a cow to milk from my backyard, I would surely not be vegan. It's way too easy to be a vegan/vegetarian in modern times, though, which is why I am.
I suppose I would have to surrender my values in a situation like that.
@tofu_scramble@xanga - I appreciate your honesty. :)
i want to plow you
I like your post !
This is really good. I liked the part about the "do it for x reasons, not for dieting". (: Too true! I get the same thing. I like my animals too much.
It's a shame I've only been vegan for about 3 months, so you being it for 3+ years is pretty damn awesome.
@methodElevated@xanga -
I think that a lot of vegetariens/vegans would eat meat if they had to in order to survive. I know that I would. I'm personally more curious as to if PETA members and other vegan animal activists like them would do it.
@storiesandsinker@xanga - i would not. i would starve to death before i compromised my morals.
@methodElevated@xanga - I'm a vegetarian too and, yeah, if it's "eat the animale or die" then I'd eat it. But in that situation it's probably a fish I caught in the lake that I'd eat and not some poor factory farmed animal.
@tofu_scramble@xanga - You can also use Flax seeds mixed with a little water as an egg sub in baked goods. Works well for binding and gives you the Omega 3 fatty acid you're missing from not eating fish.
Here, you might like this site http://www.theppk.com/ if you don't go here all the time already.
@iwillf_ckingkillyou@xanga - I said "a lot", not all... so I hope you didn't take what I said as me speaking for you. I have no doubt that a lot of people would stick to their morals. I just think that a lot wouldn't.
I think your answer is pretty admirable. Sticking to your morals is a pretty important thing to do. Personally, I could eat meat and still stick to my morals so it's not the same for me than you... but eh, I like your answer. :)
@storiesandsinker@xanga - oh no, i agree with you. a lot of vegetarians do it for health reasons.
you asked what them crazy peta peoples and weird-o animal activists would do.
and you be talkin' to one.
@iwillf_ckingkillyou@xanga - Eh, I did not say the word crazy (or weird-o). I strongly doubt that you're crazy or anything near that.
What I meant by PETA and activists like them was people who have hinted that they would actually sacrifice their lives to save cows (or any other animal). I'm just curious as to if they would actually stick to their convictions or not.
I'm glad to know that in your case, the answer is yes.
I could possibly give up eating red meat and pork, but I love seafood and honey to much to go without it.
I still took the time to read all of this because I was somewhat curious.
I thought about going vegetarian once, but my dad laughed at me.
Besides, I wouldn't be a very good vegetarian because I love eating seafood way too much.
I do also appreciate that you're telling people not to preach about their vegan diet. I hate it when people do this. And not just vegans either. I hate it when someone preaches to a vegan about what they're missing out on.
@MissPixieGlitter@xanga - +10
//If you decide to try cutting meat, dairy, fish and eggs from your diet,
do it for a good reason. Do it because you want to be healthier. Do it
because you want to save the planet. Do it because you care about
animals. Do it because you want to better yourself or better your life.
Do it for every tree-hugging hippie reason you want, but don't go vegan
to loose weight.//
To be honest, I think losing weight and/or bettering oneself are better-justified reasons than the others.
I gained 40lbs in 40 days being a vegetarian. :( Probably because all my friend and I ate were cheese pizza and caramel sundaes. :(
Don't have to listen to P.E.T.A and still be your own vegan
@storiesandsinker@xanga - Oh yes. The crazies' convictions interest me, too. :)
@QuantumStorm@xanga - True, but this statement was mostly directed toward the Xangans plagued with eating disorders. I'm all in favor of loosing weight healthily, but sadly I've seen many a journal where they think that cutting out animal products will help them reach their goal weight of 88 lbs faster.
@tofu_scramble@xanga - Yeah, THAT is indeed ridiculous.
@sierrraa@xanga - carb-loading can be common in vegetarian diets.
being vegan for a good reason? I hate the taste and texture of meat and seafood
and don't care about eggs or dairy, does that count as a good reason or I am just
a super picky eater?