Hmm...I say day 3, but I haven't even been counting. Things are going smoo-ooth. My parents and brother ate meat leftovers for dinner tonight and had the kindness to heat up some Kitchiri for me. (here is a recipe; not the one my mother has, but it looks about the same http://members.tripod.com/~priya_s/htmlfiles/rice.html#skkb) Last night,my friend (also a vegetarian)'s parents thought us ridiculous to eat a different meal than they and made carrot jokes. It was the third carrot joke I got since the beginning of the challenge. The two first were from my father, who is actually supportive, but wouldn't consider trying it out for himself. It seems to be the case of many people. I have to say I found it a little weird to reffuse food from people who had invited me to dinner. I don't think that I want to make absolutly no exceptions once the challenge is over. For now, it's more about the personnal challenge and noticing how many times a day you are offered or tempted by animal products.
p.s. I'm not using a spellcheck. Mille excuses.
Vegetarian/Vegan Challenge from February 1st to March 12th 2007.
About Me
Up for the Challenge:
- Jason (carn to vegetarian)
- James (vegetarian to vegan)
- Stef (carn to vegetarian)
- Denise (carn to vegan)
5 comments:
Stef,
Regarding the carrot jokes... You should check out the episode of the Simpsons when Lisa becomes a vegetarian. Bart teases her that she is going to marry a carrot and she dryly replies, "Yes, I am going to marry a carrot."
How about this one:
Two snowmen are standing in a field and one turns to the other...
"Hey do you smell carrots?"
hee hee!
...maybe you had to be there.
Sorry, I have no clever veggie jokes but your dinner invitation dilemma is kind of interesting.
I've been vegetarian for about two and half years now and I've never had to 'refuse food' any differently than I would refuse second helpings or something along those lines. The first time was kind of rocky because everyone made a big fuss about my health and eco-hardcore-ness.
What sort of dining situations was it and what sort of etiquette was required?
Cheerio,
Jiayi.
I've actually had the same "problem". It makes me really uneasy because I feel like I'm an inconvenience to the hosts. If they have prepared a fancy meat dish and I say I can't eat it, I would feel bad if they felt they either had to make me something else, or were led to believe they were inadequate hosts.
Those really awkward situations are rare, there's usually an easy way around them, but I also plan like Steph to make some exceptions once this challenge is done. It's almost an issue of politeness...
On Vegie ettiquette:
I found quickly that a rule that worked for me was to accept if the hosts had no idea I was Veg because I forgot to tell them or some failing on my part. After the meal I would invariably make some remark like "Well, I am usually vegetarian, but that was delicious.", and make a private note to remind them should there ever be another invitation.
However, if they had known that I was vegetarian, then I had no problem refusing anything and everything since they knew that I would not eat whatever it was. That I would not was implicitly part of their extending and my accepting the invitation.
In either case I always sought to put my hosts at ease about my decisions and to make sure they understood I was grateful and had or would enjoy myself ... with one exception.
It is probably rarer now, but you get folks who will argue with you about what a vegetarian is. Something along the lines of "Well my cousin is a vegetarian and he eats every kind of seafood, chicken, aardvark, snake, game in season, penguin, albatross, pork during the week and beef if it's a weekend." As politely as possible I would try and point out that animals are not vegetables, but there was at least one (male, big surprise) who was not going to be happy until I ate the chicken, and damned if I was going to ...
It is odd that we will sometimes be regarded as being rude or problematic where a Jew or Muslim would be unquestionably accepted for their dietary restrictions. I have the suspicion it is an unspoken assumption that they are serious whereas we are merely being self-indulgent.
Maybe we should claim a medical condition? "Oh, if I eat meat I come down with an unbelievable case of Acute Egregious Hypocrisy that lasts for days."
Anyway, good luck with it, but I think you will find that many are supportive, and just about everyone is very accepting, even if a little puzzled.
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