Sometime in February this year, Candice came home from work and said "I think I'm going vegan." I rolled my eyes in a "yeah right," dismissive fashion. She HATES when I roll my eyes so I immediately lost what little leverage I might have carried forward in the ensuing conversation. "Why don't we just try it for a week?", "Why are you so against it?", and (my favorite) "Why don't you want to support me?" were just a couple choice moments in our back-and-forth.
I resisted sternly based on the fact that we consumed an extremely small amount of animal products in the first place. I've been what's called a pescatarian (vegetarian + fish/seafood eater) since the age of 14 when I came home from an extended vacation in Humboldt Co, degenerate capital of the US. When Candice and I got back together in 2003(?), she was a self-proclaimed "meat and potatoes" girl...digging on the steak and fries. A couple years ago she switched her diet to match mine for reasons I can't recall. Now she'd done a complete 180 and aimed to eliminate ALL animal products from her diet. And she was serious.
Now, as I enjoy doing the majority of the cooking in the house, this notion presented some significant challenges. I wasn't about to begin cooking two separate sets of meals on a nightly basis (as my saintly mother did for me as a teenager and college kid). How was I going to make this work? Well, I diverted my negativity and reluctance into something more positive and productive. I tried to view it in the light of a culinary challenge and once I did that, it was mostly smooth sailing. Next thing I know, I'm whipping up tostada pizzas, creamy corn chowder, gyros, vegan sausages, coconut curry tofu, enchilada casserole, and on and on and on. Even our pug Benny enjoys the occasional vegan scraps in his bowl. You can find a handful of recipes in the Food section here on my site.
And things are good. Can immediately dropped several pounds (she busts her ass in the gym though, too). I can't say I truly "feel" differently but my digestive system **ahem** responded positively. And most importantly, we've chosen a significantly more compassionate and healthy approach to sustaining ourselves.
So, am I a vegan? No, I am not a vegan. If you've heard me discuss veganism in the last couple months, you've heard me express my opposition to labels as they relate to my diet. I still eat dairy yogurt (though that may stop as I'm exploring and creating an increasing number of animal free breakfast options lately). On the seldom occasion we go out to eat, I may end up eating food containing animal products (egg, cheese, butter, etc) but I'll avoid it if an appealing vegan option is available on the menu.
Looking back on it, I think (and Candice may disagree) some of the strongest influences in her new found "nutrition position" were Facebook posts by her friend Ari who is a vegan and (per Candice) a "big time" animal rights activist. Every so often I'd catch her on the desktop PC reading an article describing, or even worse, a video depicting the horrific treatment of animals in food production processes. All of these and other inputs built up over time and she finally reached an ethical breaking point. It's all for the better, I must say.
Do I think people should more carefully consider what they eat and drink and the consequences of how those things are created and produced? Absolutely. That said, I'll never be one that's up in your grill, criticizing you for what you put in your body. That's for you to decide. Or for your wife to decide on your behalf.
