A few weeks ago, Hubs decided he wanted to incorporate eggs back into his diet. He enjoys egg whites (even though a whole egg is more nutritionally sound) for a heart-healthy protein. For the record, his egg habit lasted through not-even a carton. New [eating] habits die hard, eh? During this Week of The Egg (blech), Hubs forgot to wipe up after making an omelette and egg albumin was left on the countertop (blech again), freaking me out. It had been so long since I had worried about food-borne bacteria that I realized the joys of vegan cooking:

1. There is never the risk of food-borne bacteria, aside from the possibility of bacteria living on unwashed produce. However, this type of bacteria is generally not caused by the food itself, only the handling of it. Raw meat doesn’t have quite the same built-in safety. Any spills on the counter will not send me into a germaphobic frenzy as they once did, pre-veg diet!

2. I can taste my food at any point in the cooking process! I was throwing together some “meaty” filling recently, made with nuts, breadcrumbs, and spices, and was able to taste the concoction as I went along. Try (er–actually, don’t try) that with ground beef. I also enjoy the fact that I can lick the spoon/beaters/bowl while baking without my mother’s voice ringing in my ear, “There’s raw eggs in that!”

3.  Along the lines of the above reasonings, I like that my child will grow up in a household where the kitchen is a loving room producing life-giving nourishment, not a place where things have to be maimed, hacked, and cooked at high heat to be deemed safe.

4. I have a stellar pantry! Sometimes veg cooking calls for unusual ingredients if one is trying to replicate non-veg foods, but often veg cooking just lends itself to trying other cultural food choices (like Thai curry or Ethiopian lentils). Therefore, I’m proud to have an incredible spice collection and to call my cabinets home to things like: agar-agar, barley flour, masa harina, nutritional yeast, kelp flakes, nori, tamari, liquid aminos…the list goes on!

5. (Pretty much goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway.) No animals were harmed in the making of this food.

The biggest question I see (not hear, because I never hear it in real life) concerning veganism is, “How do I become a vegan?”  I am a regular poster and/or lurker on a few message boards that are geared toward eco-friendliness, and the topic comes up quite often, including issues of “safely” converting to a vegan diet and how to feed children in this way.

There are many, many resources online to aid in the transition to a veg diet/lifestyle, which I have listed at the end of this post. However, I’ll share my personal experience, too, in order to show how it can realistically happen. Our transition to this type of eating was certainly done in stages, so I’ll organize it as such:

Starting Out (Fall 2005)

We naively thought that eliminating animal products just meant substituting soy for dairy, veggie burgers for meat, and tossing any products/foods that didn’t comply.  When we found that all we were eating was a lot of soup, bread, and snacks (and gaining weight in the process!), we picked up a few vegan cookbooks and started learning more. One thing that made it tough was we tried to go, excuse the pun, cold turkey and ended up craving meat and cheese periodically. We called giving in to these cravings “meat cheats.”

Tip: Don’t try to go completely vegan right away. Start slowly, eliminating one thing at a time. For example,  start with soy milk in place of cow’s milk. Or, try getting rid of cheese but keep your eggs and milk for awhile.

Getting the Hang of Things (2006)

We began to understand how to cook without animal products and began building a small repertoire of dishes that worked for us, mainly using processed soy products (like soy “cheese” or “sausage”). We genuinely liked the taste of these products and didn’t miss meat. However, I’m pretty sure there were times when we were more vegetarian in our eating as we couldn’t totally get rid of cheeses.

Tip: Accept the fact that vegetarian/vegan processed foods aren’t always meant to exactly replicate the carnivorous version they represent. Enjoy these foods as they are. Enjoy a veggie burger as a veggie burger and not as a hamburger substitute. These products should make the transition easier, not painful, so choose things that taste good to you!

Really Learning, Really Eliminating (2007)

Here are some common questions (with my answers) about maintaining a vegan diet:

1. How expensive would it be in comparison to vegetarianism?  I really have to watch our budget.
I can’t really say much about cost in comparison. We spend A LOT of money on food and nutrition per month, but we also live in an area with limited options. We’re lucky enough to have an organic market that stocks many items, and there’s a chain grocery retailer that sells much of what we use, but we live in a resort area and pay high prices for everything, it seems. Like anything, there are ways of going cheap, and there are ways of going big. If you’re constantly buying processed, pre-made vegan food, it will add up. If you want, you could live off of rice, beans, and veggies and be fine!

2. What are the staples of your diet?
This is basically what we always have on hand, and consider it’s winter in the fruit/veggie dept:

Protein:
tofu (use this for everything, for any meal, including desserts)
nuts (not just for snacking–I use them in place of meat to make everything from stuffed cabbage to meatloaf to patties)
black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans,quinoa, soy milk, soy yogurt, avocados

Grains:
quinoa, long grain brown rice, cous cous, rice pastas, enriched pastas (the only thing we buy that’s not organic), hemp or other whole-grain breads, wheat tortillas, polenta

Fruits (right now we always have): apples, bananas,  citrus, papaya, mangoes, frozen berries

Veggies: Spinach (fresh and frozen), cabbage, leafy greens like kale, carrots, celery, onions, potatoes (technically not a veggie for us)

Supplementary items (this is where it adds up): greens drinks (for extra veggies), nutritional yeast (for necessary B vitamins), flax seed oil, good quality cooking oils, tamari, minced garlic, ginger, good spices, Earth Balance margarine, rice milk, etc.

Supplements: probiotics, enzymes, high quality multi vits, pre-natals, vit E, cal/mag/zinc liquid supplement (the only thing we take regularly is the vitamins and calcium; Hubs is better about taking enzymes and such–not really required for vegans, just something we do for good health)

3. What is a good place to start that is comprehensive but not overwhelming with vegan info?

The bottom of this post has a good list of places to start.

This is For Life (2008 to present)

We finally learned the right way to eat: we balanced our food groups, got the right nutrients, and eliminated processed soy products (which are no better for the body or the environment than any other mass-produced food).  A supportive and informed naturopath was essential in this process.

We started this diet together when we were dating, and I wasn’t in love with meat enough to hang onto it, so I supported Hubs in his quest to live a healthy, heart-friendly life, so I did most of the cooking. It was a learning process, for sure (still is). However, I advocate it not only because I learned about the horrible food-industry practices in this country, but because we have read SO MUCH about how a vegan diet is better for your health, hands down. The body cannot process all of the protein and dairy that generally comes along with a Standard American Diet, and it leads to other health issues.

Mainly, I found this: when I stopped eating meat (dead energy), my world got brighter. I believe it is because I stopped ingesting dead things. When we started eating more cleanly, more natural foods, we stopped getting sick. When I stopped eating dairy, my chronic sinus problems went away. And when I stopped eating things that most people eat, I was no longer tempted to buy into our consumerist society. Changing the way I ate changed the way I thought about life–and so much for the better.

Excellent Resources:
Veg for Life–excellent easy-to-read site about making the transition to veganism
Go Veg–in association with PETA; tons of info and their Vegetarian Starter Kit
Farm Sanctuary–a wonderful organization which is a wonderful reminder of why people choose to eat vegan

Books to Check Out:
Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet,  Davis & Melina
Food and Healing, Annemarie Colbin
The China Study, T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D.
The Great Cholesterol Con, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick
Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer

Favorite Cookbooks:
Vive Le Vegan, Dreena Burton
Veganomicon, Vegan with a Vengeance, Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Vegan Soul Kitchen, Bryant Terry
La Dolce Vegan, Sarah Kramer
Vegan Yum Yum, Lauren Ulm
Vegan Planet, Robin Robertson

Nothing is more exciting and, truly, invigorating than getting the first big bag of fresh veggies from the CSA to which we belong. Where we live, year-round produce beyond eggs and certain lettuces just isn’t possible. (And at some point, the lettuce doesn’t grow and we don’t eat eggs so…) When those full, bountiful bags start rolling in, we’re ecstatic and we know it’s summer! This week, we picked up our harvest at a local farmer’s market so we got to sample other farmers’ wares.  We ended up with only a beautiful bottle of herb-infused vinegar, but I think that as the summer wears on we’ll find more to please us. Our CSA picks this week included: red and golden beets, lettuce, arugula, salad mix (with beautiful edible yellow blossoms!), sugar snap peas (mmmmm), broccoli, and carrots. We were honestly in heaven sitting down before dinner to a plate of just-picked veggies sprinkled with herbed vinegar. FANTASTIC.

Eating food that came from the Earth (not a lab or greenhouse), farmed with good energy, sunlight, and water (not pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers) and picked by someone’s good hands (not ripped out by a machine) is one of life’s blessed experiences.

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Try to ignore the fact that the fireman is nervous, but calm, and the factory-brand morning-show host is, ironically, rushing him through the segment (as they always do). THIS IS THE REAL DEAL. The fireman, Rip Esselstyn, and his fire company buddies got healthy by averting themselves from the Standard American Diet (or, SAD–coincidence?). So, I’m a little miffed that it takes a bunch of “manly” firefighters to have mainstream media take note of the concept of –gasp!– not eating meat nor dairy. But, if it gets the word out there, so be it. But don’t buy the book; spend your money on research from people who have been doing this longer and aren’t necessarily trying to make a buck. Unless you’re a manly-man who needs a fireman book to help you feel more secure in your manlihood when not eating meat…