I Just Wanted To Know What Kind Of Vegetarian She Was!

[redbrunja]

I was at my childhood home last weekend, and my mother and I had a friend over for dinner.

As my mom and I were making dinner, I was stealing shrimp for shrimp foo young (and sidenote, dropped one down my shirt and IT VANISHED INTO MY CLEAVAGE NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN, I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING) I go, "wait, isn't friend-we're-having-for-dinner-a-vegetarian?'

Mom: Yeah, she's a vegetarian but she eats seafood.



Me: I'm sorry, but that is not being a vegetarian.

Mom: But it's just fish. If I was a vegetarian, that's the kind of vegetarian I'd be.

Me: Fish and shrimp are animals, mom! They count.

Mom: You're right.

[long pause]

Me: So I was reading about the siege of Leningrad, and did you know that cannibalism was so prevalent that the police had a special division to try and stop it?

Mom (disgusted): Really?

Me: I wonder if I would eat human flesh to survive. I want to say no, but...

Mom: ...you're hesitating.

Me: I mean, if I was starving, and my neighbor was already dead right across the hall... I'd probably eat them.

Mom: I wouldn't! How do you live with that afterwards? ...unless I had kids who were starving. Then I'd probably feed them human flesh. But I'd lie, I'd say it was rat.

Me: This probably wasn't the best conversation to have before dinner, was it?

Comments

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, vegetarians don't eat animals and vegans don't eat any animals OR animal BYPRODUCTS. So no dairy, no honey, etc.

Unpopular opinion: I think it's a very rare person who's body actually functions better on a vegan diet. I will actually argue that being a vegan is unhealthy. It's very, very hard to get all the nutrients that your body needs.

[qualapec.livejournal.com]

"I will actually argue that being a vegan is unhealthy."

This. I do think it's possible to be vegan and healthy, but the problem is that it costs a lot of money. I have one friend that was practically eating nothing but bread because she couldn't afford anything else...then when she couldn't eat glucose anymore, she pretty much had no choice but to go back to eating meat.

However, it's an ironic shift class-wise, because vegetarian/vegan food sources were basically discovered by incredibly poor people that couldn't afford to slaughter cows, goats, and chickens all the time.

[just-shai.livejournal.com]

Also, it's really not that expensive. You just have to like beans. I grab the $1 stir-fry vegetables from Kroger, make some rice and lentils. Meal in 20 minutes, with all your needed nutrition. Except B12. This is why I still eat fish.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

but the problem is that it costs a lot of money.

Yep. And frankly, one of the contributing factors to obesity is that in some places (not everywhere, but some) due to the availability of grocery stores, it's cheater to eat badly than to eat healthily.

[just-shai.livejournal.com]

My body seems to be much happier on an almost completely vegan diet. It's very sad. But I have more energy, my digestion isn't so troublesome, and I'm dropping weight at a nice pace. I eat fish, honey, some other things occasionally. But mostly I've dropped all animal products.

I miss steak and bacon, but my cholesterol does not.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Good for you - and to be honest, I'm glad you're still eating fish for the protein and the B12.

Diet is very personal - I know for me personally - and I say this as someone who has been eating more and more vegetarian meals as the years go on - it would be really, really unhealthy for me to try to stop eating the animals that I do.