The Grass-seed Radical: Thirteen Years of Vegetarianism

[dawn_felagund]

Thirteen years ago today my cousin Trish had her high-school graduation party. How do I remember this? Because thirteen years ago today, I also became a vegetarian.

I was twelve years old at the time, and for a twelve-year-old, those sorts of family parties are always boring affairs. So I brought a book--okay, a stack of books--with me for company

Comments

Re: Let's have a little confabulation. Way toolong one :)

[dawn_felagund]

"the execution by anal electrocution of animals raised for fur."

That sounds horrible, I didn't know that O_o

They can't damage the fur, so they can't shoot or cut the animal to kill it. As such, fur animals--over here anyway--are usually bludgeoned, drowned, or electrocuted. :(

You changed to vegetarianism a good while before I did, so I can only imagine the challenges. Of course, I'm speaking as an American too; I have no idea how well vegetarianism fits with Polish culture. But when I changed thirteen years ago, it was pretty much a choice of salad or tofu, and even tofu was thought to be exotic enough to be gross by most people. But these days, we have all sorts of substitutes that are just as good as the real thing: chicken, sausage, beef, meatballs, riblets ... it's quite amazing how far things have come in thirteen years!

And I remember too what you said about being thought to be "too young" to give up meat, back when it seemed unthinkable and people were still talking about needing to match amino acids to be healthy. These days, I think it's generally accepted that vegetarians are healthy people.

Is vegetarianism difficult in Polish culture? I ask because Bobby and I are each 25% Polish, each with paternal grandmothers who are children of Polish immigrants. And it seems that the Polish foods I am familiar with are even more "meat-centric" than American foods. (And American foods are pretty meat-centric too!) My first real food as a baby was gołąbki, for example! :^D (And I still miss it; it can't be replicated without meat, that I've ever found.)

I never had anyone force me to eat meat, thankfully. Though I did have people who thought it would be fun/funny to sneak meat into things to see how I'd react. Of course, it's not a violation of my vegetarianism if I'm told that what I'm eating is vegetarian and then, later, someone confesses that it was not. But luckily, those immature stunts are part of the past now.

I'm okay with being around meat. I was a cook for several years, so handling meat was part of my job. I will admit, though, that the first time I saw a burger bleeding all over a grill, I was glad to be vegetarian! There have been times when restaurants have messed up my order, and it comes out with meat mixed in, only I don't realize until I take a bite and ... bleh! The feeling of flesh is not a pleasant one, once you're used to vegetables and grains.