The Pondering Absurdist

In my first post I mentioned that when I was 12 years old my parents decided to join the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church, and that our lives and lifestyles changed drastically. I’m not going to talk about the religion aspect here, but rather the dietary changes that our family adopted. One of the tenets of the SDA church, at least during the time we were involved (we joined in 1976), was that church members should adopt a vegetarian lifestyle for health principles. We knew of a few members who still chose to eat meat, but for the most part, the majority of the people we knew in the church had either been vegetarian all their lives (generational church members), or had adopted a vegetarian lifestyle when they converted. My parents had already cut back on the amount of meat our family was buying before we joined the church (meat prices had increased quite a bit at the time), so becoming vegetarian was a relatively easy decision for them. Being “heathen” before joining the church we had eaten just about anything and everything… beef, pork, chicken, turkey, fish and shellfish, and of course the accompanying vegetable products as part of a complete meal. After we joined the church we were taught (in the Bible, the book of Leviticus, chapter 11, if you care to look it up) that some of the foods we had been eating were considered to be “unclean” in the eyes of the “God” of the Bible. These included pork, shellfish, fish without scales (catfish and shark), and several other types of animals that some cultures still eat to this day, but the rest of the world doesn’t (any carnivores, or animals that eat carrion [even dogs & cats if you think about it], horses, insects, etc.). The “biblical law” was easily followed by our family, since we had adopted our new vegetarian lifestyle and we wouldn’t be eating any more meat. We did continue to eat eggs and milk products (cheese, ice cream, milk, etc.), so we were technically considered to be lacto-ovo-vegetarians.

Since we did have a background of being meat-eaters, we quickly adopted the meat substitutes available at the time into our dietary habits. As it turned out, a company owned by the church produced some commercially available vegetarian “meats.” We tried and used several of those Loma Linda Foods products during our family meals (the company was later sold, but still sells vegetarian food products in some local grocery stores). We also discovered and started eating meat substitutes from Worthington Foods. Worthington products are still available in some local stores as well. A little bit later (they were still pretty new at the time), we started eating MorningStar Farms meat substitutes as well. I have continued to eat the MorningStar Farms products ever since, even preferring them to meat after I started eating meat again.

Since my mom didn’t work outside the home, she had plenty of time to read during the day when my brother and I were at school. My mother never did anything part of the way; she always dove into something with “all four feet,” as she used to say. As she did more research about foods and what we should be eating, she took things even further. Since she was the one who cooked the meals for the family, we were all at her mercy. She decided that we needed to be even healthier than we already were as vegetarians. For at least a few years during my teens we didn’t eat any refined sugar, and most of our foods didn’t contain normal vegetable oil. Instead of using oil, my mom found that she could use the fat from ground raw cashews in her recipes (well before cashew milk was available to the masses). She would use dates to sweeten desserts instead of sugar. I think a secondary reasoning (other than health benefits) for her using these options was that I had a fairly bad acne problem as a teenager. She reasoned that with less oil and refined sugar in our diets it might help. I still had acne throughout my teen years, so I’m not sure how much it actually helped. We even had to give up chocolate, because it reportedly contained caffeine, a stimulant. Instead of chocolate or cocoa, we went through a period of time where we ate products made with carob, a chocolate substitute (it tastes nothing like chocolate, to be honest). It was not uncommon for us to have a pie for dessert that was made from oat flour and ground cashews (for the crust), and that contained a filling of carob, dates, and other “healthy” ingredients pureed in a blender, then baked to solidify it. She also made some of her own “fake meat” foods from scratch. She used wheat gluten to make patties with a chewy, meat-like texture and flavored them with a vegetable-based broth. She made a “meatloaf” with a primary ingredient being Post Grape Nuts cereal.

After high-school I joined the US Navy and was away from home for over four years. During those four years I wasn’t under the watchful eye of my mother, so I could have rebelled and reverted back to being a meat eater. It probably would have been easier, in fact, but instead I chose to continue a vegetarian lifestyle, not eating any animal products other than eggs and dairy. When I returned home again, I got into a relationship with a young SDA woman and we were married after a few years. During the seven or so years we were together, we also maintained a vegetarian diet. After my divorce from her I decided to leave the SDA church and abandon any type of religious association. However, I did remain a vegetarian for a couple more years. It was only after I got re-married, to a meat eating woman, that I started adding small portions of meat to my diet again. That said, I would only eat a little beef, some chicken, turkey, or fish. I never returned to eating pork or shellfish again.

Fast forward another 30 or so years… it’s now a few relationships later, a few different employers later, and hopefully a little added wisdom. During the past 30 years I have eaten a little meat here and there, mostly out of convenience (especially at social events), and sometimes because meat products were actually less expensive than the vegetarian meat substitutes I prefer. I very rarely ate beef, didn’t eat a lot of chicken, but would eat turkey products (turkey pepperoni, “bacon,” or sausage), or have salmon as a main course. As a person who always claimed to be an “animal lover” (more so than humans), I felt guilty eating meat. Even when eating meat I was super picky about it. I didn’t enjoy chewing into gristle or fat… it was actually revolting to me. I would still eat the vegetarian meat products as well during those years, probably more often than real meat.

Finally, late this year I made the decision to mean what I say with regard to animals. If I’m going to be an animal lover, then I can’t condone supporting anything that harms animals, especially in my diet. I made the resolution that I will no longer buy any meat, dairy, or egg products. Humans are able to gain all the nutrients their bodies need, including protein and amino acids, from plant based products. What miniscule amount of extra vitamins we might need are easily attainable in natural supplement form. Additionally, I won’t be buying any more leather products (belts, shoes, etc.) in the future. I am going to be “vegan for the animals.” The unfortunate aspect has been that I made the decision to “go vegan” before getting rid of all the animal products in my refrigerator and freezer. I thought about it and decided that since I bought the “food” because I was eating it at the time, it would be stupid (and disrespectful to the animals in question) to just throw it away. So I’ve been eating up the remaining products while wanting to consider myself as being a vegan. Technically, I know I will not be truly vegan as long as there are still animal products going into my body, even though I’ve made the decision to never buy any more. It took a couple of weeks, but I finally got through all the actual flesh-based products. However, I still have some butter that I’m finishing up and I have some egg noodles in the pantry to use. I have a (large) jar of bullion for soup base and/or flavoring in the cupboard, but I might take that in to work and try to give it away to one of my coworkers. I’ve already started using vegan cheese substitutes and I am constantly checking the list of ingredients for any products I buy in the grocery store to make sure there is nothing animal-based listed. I will be skipping my company’s annual holiday party in December this year because the menu is always the same… pick one of three options, chicken, fish, or beef, and free (alcoholic) drinks for the duration of the party. Since I’m trying to limit or eliminate my alcohol content as well (you’re welcome, liver…), it’s another reason to stay home.

I’ve been a picky eater all of my life, so I’ve learned to cook well, and often produce some tasty meals. Switching to plant based products has been easy for me, though a little more expensive if I buy a lot of the dairy and/or meat substitutes. It can balance itself out if I use a large amount of dried legumes in cooking, and grains/seeds/grasses like oats, quinoa, rice, etc. I look forward to trying out several new recipes and taste combinations, made solely from plants. My only regret has been not making the switch to veganism earlier in life. I might have saved at least a few animals that didn’t need to die to nourish my body.

PA