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| We went on all the scary rides |
The first thing he said when I said I was feeling a little bit over blogging everyday was, 'Can I help?'
Here's a post he wrote.
Analogy 1.
Veganism is a bit like missionary work - you spend a lot of time alone with it, you have to explain it, justify it and reconfirm it constantly; and people look away after awhile, even when they were the ones who brought it up in the first place.
Analogy 2.
Vegan life in a non-vegan world isn't that hard. It's kind of like being in an Eastern Bloc country, or New Zealand in the 70s: there aren't many choices, but what there is isn't so bad. We eat out at a few favourite places in Wellington, just like we used to buy either Bata Bullets or Nomads when we needed new shoes. Our grocery shopping is focused on finding the few things we choose to eat, like a scavenger hunt.
Choice
Sometimes people ask me about the things I can't eat. It always sounds pedantic when I explain that I can eat meat , eggs, milk, but I choose not to. That choice is important to me, because it makes my veganism more meaningful. In California it seemed so easy to be vegan; it became just another thing you did. Most of the time it's like that here, too, but there's always a bit of a struggle, like I'm being forced to exercise my choice, to make it again and again and remember it.
Here's a recipe - we used to use Griffins' Gingernuts, but they're not vegan anymore. The Leda ones would work just as well. Warning: requires a microwave
Nyumchocs
1 gingernut
1 piece of dark chocolate (like a square or two of Whittaker's)
Get the gingernut. Put it on a plate. Put the bit of chocolate on it. Put the plate in the microwave. Microwave it for about 15 seconds, until the choclate melts and the gingernut goes warm and soft. Spread the hot choclate around on the gingernut. Let it cool, but not too much, just so it doesn't burn you. Eat the nyumchoc.
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| This is a family photo. That's Toki's thumb. |
I loved this post; I've been thinking about it for days. One of the things I struggle most with in being a vegetarian is that your food choices are public and open to regular scrutiny. And when you inevitably get asked and you tell people, they feel judged.
ReplyDeleteI've got myself into a pickle at my new job. A couple of weeks after I started my colleagues were having a conversation about what assholes vegetarians were, and I didn't admit to being a vegetarian, and now I feel awkward about everything including the food I put in the fridge and my impending awkward discovery as a vegetarian. Many times I don't really want to discuss it at all, I just want to do it. Anyway, thanks for the really interesting thoughts on this topic, B.