I woke up on Monday morning to the smell of bacon. Everyone knows the smell of bacon. Warm, salty, crunchy, meaty, barbecue yumminess. With my eyes barely open, still sore from watching hours of Netflix before drowsing off, I got out of bed and slumped downstairs. My mom was standing next to the stove, still in her pajamas, cooking breakfast as she does each morning. I walked over to the pan with the sizzling bacon, took a long whiff, then shuffled over to the fridge and got out a bag of carrots and a handful of grapes. Sadly, being vegetarian means bacon is probably number one on the do-not-eat list.
I take pride in my food. I love to cook and I love to eat even more. I would categorize myself as an uncharacteristically healthy eater for a person my age; however, I don’t follow any specific diet. Recently, I have become more interested in the way other people eat and why they chose certain diets. I decided that to fully grasp what it’s like to live a lifestyle with food restrictions or limitations, I needed to get a first-hand experience.
Vegetarianism was my first mission.
People become vegetarians for many different reasons, including animal rights, religious beliefs or maybe an attempt to be healthier. There are also many different kinds of vegetarians. An ovo-vegetarian diet includes eggs but not dairy products, a lacto-vegetarian diet includes dairy products but not eggs and an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet includes both eggs and dairy product. A semi-vegetarian will eat fish and poultry and sometimes other meats on very rare occasions. This is similar to a pescatarian diet, which includes fish but no meat at all.
Vegetarianism dates back to the ancient Indians and ancient Greeks. Both peoples practiced voluntary non-consumption of meat or animal flesh in an act of nonviolence towards animals, which was originally promoted by certain religious groups and philosophers. As the idea of vegetarianism slowly spread around the world, it was viewed as more of a religious practice. Catholics still incorporate a bit of this today for Lent. During Lent, the time between Ash Wednesday and Easter, Catholics abstain from eating any meat on Fridays except for fish.
Now, it seems that an interest in vegetarianism is sparked from the desire to be healthier or get in shape. Personally, I do not agree that cutting out all meat from your life is a smart way to get healthy. Unless that meat is a Big Mac or 12-piece chicken nuggets from Don’s. A more effective way to cut down on calories could be to eat more in moderation and cut out foods you don’t need, like sweets.
Paige Rhoderick, Middletown High School senior and lifelong vegetarian, said her parents believed vegetarianism was a “healthier option” for her and have raised her as one since birth.
MHS sophomore Aubrey Troop said she is a vegetarian in support of animal rights.
Despite all my obvious protests toward vegetarianism, for one school week I cut out all my favorite foods from my diet: meat.
Waking up Monday morning, I was optimistic about the week but also a little scared. I honestly did not think I would be able to go the entire week without cheating. In the past when I would try to stop eating foods from my family’s “snack cabinet”, I lasted about two or three days before telling myself I needed some sugar and succumbing to the temptation of the holy cabinet.
Thankfully, my mom went to Costco while I was at school on Monday and bought a whole bunch of fruits, veggies, hummus, nuts and, of course, extra peanut butter (the best food of all time). When I got home from practice, everyone else had already eaten the gourmet chicken and sausage dinner my mom made which, unfortunately for me, filled the entire house with the warm smell of cooking meat. So, determined to stick to my plan, I washed some carrots, mushrooms and lettuce, put it in a bowl and whipped out the fresh hummus from the fridge. After about five mushrooms, a bunch of lettuce and 10 carrots dipped in hummus, I got nauseous and ran to grab the peanut butter from the pantry to calm my stomach. I realized that I was completely overreacting about the entire thing because I actually do love vegetables. It was probably the post-practice extreme feeling of hunger and not being able to satisfy my stomach causing me to eat way too fast that made me nauseous. However, I pushed through.
Tuesday was a much better day. I took the time to actually cook something for myself. Spinach, mushroom, bell pepper and potato stir fry was on the menu. I added a whole bunch of garlic and pepper to that baby to spice up the “delicious” taste of spinach. I then scarfed down a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter with a banana. Getting into bed Tuesday night, I realized that I didn’t notice the lack of meat in my meal.
Much to my surprise, I came home from practice on Wednesday to a fabulous spinach salad sitting out on the counter for me. It consisted of spinach, onions, cucumbers, mushrooms, shredded cheese, walnuts and raisins. Shockingly, it filled me up – but not enough to skip my daily dose of peanut butter, which I enjoyed with a glass of Silk.
At this point in the week, I was honestly expecting to feel some sort of change. I’m not quite sure what type of change I was expecting. It wasn’t like I was eating much more vegetables than before; I was just eating less meat (I typically have salad or some kind of veggie dish with dinner). It is likely that I would feel some kind of change of I became a true vegetarian and never eat meat again; however, I can guarantee that will never happen.
I enjoyed my dinners again on both Thursday and Friday. We bought spinach and cheese ravioli, which tasted superb when smothered with a large amount of gravy. There was sausage in the gravy, but I reluctantly scooped around the goodness both days. To finish off my week as an herbivore, I helped myself to a hefty amount of peanut butter and an apple.
The reason I conducted this experiment for the entire week was to get results of some kind to try and get a better understanding of the lifestyle of a vegetarian. I got no results, and I still can’t bring myself to believe that voluntarily cutting out all meat is the solution to pretty much any problem. I think this experiment would have gone differently if I had committed more time to veggie eating. I definitely think a month would be sufficient enough time to start feeling and/or changes in my body; however, I am not really willing to change my lifestyle for that long of a time.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against vegetarians and I do understand being one for possible religious reasons, and I could maybe get on board with the animal rights aspect. But I cannot bring myself to understand how one could pass up a juicy steak, crispy fried chicken or a tender rack of ribs for a salad.
