This is the first of an intended series, the focuses of which are at present undetermined, of Why I Ams. I suppose they will serve as a means to express–to those who want to know–why I do things, if I can explain them, or as practice expressing why I do things that I have a hard time explaining. If you have any requests for future topics, let me know in a comment, and I will do my best. I can’t promise that I’ll be able to explain everything, though.
Some people who read this blog are already aware of this fact, but the rest of you should also know: I am a vegetarian. I figured it up last week, and discovered I have been a vegetarian in the form I currently practice it for fifteen years now, and about seventeen years without some kinds of meat. Somehow that doesn’t seem quite right since saying I am a vegetarian still feels so non-habitual to me. Even so, having been at it so long, there is something of a routine to my interaction with my vegetarianism. It’s not very often these days that I have to ask myself, “Do you want to eat this?” For a long time, I would try and re-try different things to see if they could be moved from the inedible list to the edible list, and sometimes the other way around. In general, this has been the case with vegetables I don’t like (i.e. broccoli and cauliflower), although with some outside prompting I have re-considered different types of meat from time to time. At this point, the two lists are fairly cemented. I assume that I will have occasional surprises from the vegetable and dairy food groups which will cause me to swap them from one list to another, but I have trouble believing that I will ever eat meat again. The reason is I have difficulty qualifying why I like fruits, vegetables, cheese and bread, but very little difficulty qualifying my distaste for meat.
I have narrowed the factors for not eating meat to three items.
- Taste. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, in and of itself. There are a lot of the tastes about which I cannot describe my dislike, but the primary objectionable taste is metallic in nature. I assume, at this point, that this is an idiosyncrasy of my taste buds because I have talked with a lot of people about this and they don’t have the same experience. When I remember eating meat, mostly eggs and red meat, I remember the taste of metal, kind of like licking a penny. Maybe you like licking pennies, but I don’t, so I don’t like that taste. For the record, fish is in its own category. It doesn’t taste metallic, it’s just all-around a bad taste, in my opinion.
- Texture. This is more unusual among vegetarians, but I have met a couple of people with whom I agree on this. I don’t know if I can say what it is, exactly, about the textures of meat that I don’t like, but at the very least I can say that I hate how much chewing it takes to be able to swallow meat. And I just don’t like how it feels on my tongue. I suppose that’s about as complex as it is. I just don’t like it.
- I don’t like animals. This item has only recently been added to my list, I believe thanks to a conversation with my friend B.J., who said this first. When he said it, it was a moment of revelation for me. So many people don’t eat meat because they love animals, but this has never been my claim. I have said, for years now, that I don’t care if you hunt animals so long as you don’t make me eat them. It’s impossible to come from a family that enjoys hunting and eating the elk, deer, etc. that they’ve killed in humane ways and be opposed in principle. The ethics of mass meat production are bothersome to me, but not in a way that makes me stop eating that meat. Really, it’s that I just don’t like animals. I grew up around cats, dogs and horses and have observed other animals on neighboring farms. I see how animals live, what they eat, how they care for themselves, and I have to say that it does not make me want to eat meat. Since I know most people who read this eat meat, I won’t mention the particulars in this public format, since if you want to eat meat, that is your choice. However, if you really want to know what I mean, feel free to ask.
Currently, I am content with my vegetarian status in most ways. The biggest difficulty for me is knowing the inconvenience that my being vegetarian brings to the lives of the people around me. If you suffer because of that inconvenience, please feel free not to accommodate my vegetarianism. I have been a vegetarian long enough to fend for myself, so you shouldn’t feel bad or mean if you can’t feed me.
Even so, if you are one of those people who is not limited in the foods you eat, please consider trying out a limited diet so that you can sympathize with those who have one. I don’t say this for myself, because it is thoroughly choice-based for me, but for the sake of people who are forced into limitation. I am sure that you all know someone who is lactose intolerant, allergic to gluten or peanuts, or has some other dietary restriction. For their sake, try something like that out (the Candida diet is a REAL challenge) and see how hard it is for them to find a large enough volume/variety of foods, let alone to get enough nutrients from the foods available to them. If you do this for one week, you’ll get a taste of how difficult it is for them on a daily basis.
Well, I hope this has been enlightening for you in some way or another. Just remember: I don’t care if you eat meat or don’t, I’ll still be your friend.
