Herbivore No More

            After being a vegetarian for many weeks, I can say that it is a very morally rewarding experience. I have put myself in another’s shoes and survived. Meat became the enemy and vegetables the ally. I experienced the ups and downs of a meat free life, and can say it has made me more aware. I am no longer ignorant to the conditions of industrial slaughterhouses around the nation. But through this project I have also become aware that cutting meat out of my life isn’t going to change those conditions.

            Now this might come as somewhat of a surprise, but I am not going to continue living the vegetarian life. I know that cows are being tortured, but my not consuming meat isn’t going to make the impact I want it to. Besides it’s not even consuming meat that I have a problem with, it’s the torturing of the animals and workers that I don’t like. Animals were placed on this planet for us to eat, not for us to torture before we eat them. This is why I plan on limiting myself to having meat only once a day and getting meat from local places I know as often as possible. I’m not making a complete switch back to my old lifestyle, but I’m not sticking with my new one either. This plan is the compromise I’ve come up with, to satisfy my moral and logical sides, and to keep healthy.

My body has taken somewhat of a toll during my weeks as a vegetarian. I started bruising more easily, and it got to the point where it looked like I was getting beaten up because of how many bruises I had and the amount of them that were in abnormal places. My energy levels started off higher, but slowly began to decrease as the weeks went by. As far as I can tell, these symptoms go along with getting low levels of protein. If I wasn’t lactose intolerant I would be more likely to stay a vegetarian, my intolerance for dairy cuts out a main source of protein and eliminates many vegetarian dishes.

This past weekend marked the end of my project, and the official end of my vegetarianism. I’m proud of myself for sticking with it as long as I did, but as the end neared, I knew it wouldn’t last. My breaking point was when I went to my friend Jill’s house in San Francisco for Memorial Day Weekend. I knew that I didn’t have to be a vegetarian anymore, but hadn’t made the transition back to my old ways. The first meal that we had was pulled pork, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts and a salad of avocado, cucumber and tomatoes. I politely passed on the pulled pork that night, but when Jill’s sisters were eating it for lunch the next day, I cracked. Pulled pork is my favorite! I then consumed meat for the rest of the weekend (barbeque chicken, bacon, burgers, etc.) without one ounce of regret (terrible, I know). I overdosed on meat, and my body is not very happy about it. I’ve been plagued with a terrible stomachache. I guess this is the price I’m going to have to pay while my body gets readjusted. Goodbye veggies and hello meat.

There’s one thing I still want to know even though this is my final goodbye; have any of you experienced an upset stomach when you decided to quit being a vegetarian? I’m curious to know if this is normal. To my lovely readers that were moved by my words and are going to stay a vegetarian, keep on trucking. I believe in you and I have a lot of respect for vegetarians and vegans worldwide. To those who have decided, like me, that the vegetarian life isn’t an option, it is okay. We tried and the cows (hopefully) appreciate our efforts. Stay true to yourself, and most importantly, stay healthy.

Quinoa Pass the Seitan?

            ‘Are you getting enough protein?’ is a question I’ve been asked by everyone (including my concerned mother), and I’m going to give you the simple answer of yes. I know I mentioned earlier that I was concerned with whether or not I would be able to find a variety of protein sources. Turns out that most of the foods I have been eating are high in protein and I didn’t even realize it. I know that I’m getting protein from the dark leafy greens I’ve been consuming (spinach and broccoli being my favorite), but I had forgotten that while I am chugging my espresso shots, I am also chugging soy milk, which has a decent amount of protein in it (about 7 grams per cup) (Mangels). While I would be satisfied with only munching on spinach and broccoli with a soy caramel macchiato in hand, I know that there are more options out there for me. Here’s what I gathered from scrounging my resources.

            Soy. Most people know that soy is a great alternative form of protein for all kinds of vegetarians (lacto-ovo and vegans included), and another plus is that it comes in many different forms; soy milk, tofu, soy ‘meats’, soy yogurt, and soy beans (also called edamame) just to name a few off the top of my head. Edamame is a weakness of mine. Last year, back home in Seattle, my friends and I went a little crazy with our love of edamame, to the point where I only eat them on occasion now. If you’ve never had soy beans before, I recommend steaming them in their shells and then sprinkling a little sea salt on top (scrape your teeth over the shell to just eat the bean). They’re addicting, and you can’t say I didn’t warn you. Plus at 29 grams per cup, you can basically get away with indulging yourself. As I said above, I have at least some soy milk every day in my coffee. It’s a great milk substitute for lactose-intolerant people, vegetarians, lacto-ovo vegetarians and vegans. [Side note, technically I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian, this basically means I don’t eat animal flesh of any kind but I will eat dairy and eggs. Apparently vegetarians eat fish too, and since I haven’t been eating fish, this makes me a lactose-intolerant lacto-ovo vegetarian (I’m a special breed)]. Pour soy milk over your Honey Nut Cheerios, splash a little in your morning cup of joe, or if it suits your fancy, drink the stuff straight. After my failed attempt of enjoying soy ‘meat’ I haven’t tried it again, but they make the stuff, so people must eat it and like it. Tofu is something I struggle with. I love it in miso soup, but when I eat it in main dishes, the chunks are too big for me to handle and I get turned off when I have to slice it and it jiggles. Have you tried any of these or other forms of soy? What did you think of them?

            Quinoa (“KEEN-wah”) is a seed that is becoming increasingly popular. Up until the last year I had never heard of the stuff and up until I was politely corrected, I pronounced it “KIN-oh-ah”. Lately I’ve been sprinkling it on top of my salads, mixing some in stir fries at our sauté station, and occasionally eating the stuff plain. It doesn’t taste like much, and at a whopping 11 grams of protein in every cooked cup, it is my new favorite source of protein. For any of you that are gluten-intolerant, quinoa is gluten free and makes a great substitute for the starchy foods you’re probably missing.

            Seitan (“SAY-tan”) is made mostly from wheat. It has earned the nickname of “wheat-meat” for its texture similar to meat. It is also the most densely-packed vegetarian protein source at between 20-30 grams of protein for a four-ounce portion. I had never heard of seitan, but I’m interested to try it. Wheat and veggies are my best friends, and if I can eat wheat that’s meat-like then count me in. I have no idea what it tastes like, but I’m sure it has qualities similar to tofu in that it absorbs the flavor of whatever it is cooked in/with. If any of you have tried it, I’m dying to know what it tastes like because right now, it’s sounding too good to be true.

            Beans, beans the magical fruit…I’ll stop the rhyme there, but you get the picture. Popular sources of protein, almost all cooked beans have about 12 to 15 grams of protein per cup. Chickpeas (also referred to as garbanzo beans) are my favorite type of bean. I am always saddened when the salad bar is out of chickpeas because they’re my favorite topping. Black beans are another bean I enjoy, and my school offers them as a substitute for pinto beans at our Mexican station in Benson (I know some places cook their pinto beans with bacon, which is definitely not vegetarian friendly).

            Dairy is an option for vegetarians and lacto-ovo vegetarians, and is how most vegetarians get their protein. Sadly, I cannot rely on dairy to be my only protein source because as you all know by now I am lactose intolerant (even though I eat the occasional cheese slice). I won’t talk about dairy protein in detail, but I figured I should mention it for those of you lucky people who can eat dairy.

            There are many more options than the ones I listed, and I recommend you do your own research as well to find options that fit your lifestyle. These are the sources of protein that I eat, with the exception of seitan (I included this out of curiosity), and in my opinion, it is easy to add any of these to your diet as a substitute for something else, or an addition. If you are having serious concerns about your protein levels, please go see a doctor or nutritionist. I hope that this information will help you stay happy, healthy and packed full of protein!

Works Cited

Frazier, Matt. “Four High-Protein Vegetarian Alternatives to Soy.” Nomeatathlete.com. N.p., 8 Jul. 2010. Web. 21 May 2013.

Mangels, Reed. “Protein in the Vegan Diet.” Vrg.org. The Vegetarian Resource Group, n.d. Web. 21 May 2013.

Living in a Fast Food Nation

            In the fall quarter of this year, I was assigned to a critical thinking and writing class as was every other freshman. I was curious when I found out it was titled the “Rhetoric of Recipes” (I honestly thought we would be analyzing recipes). In this class I was introduced to Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, a book whose subtitle, “The Dark Side of the All-American Meal”, should have been my first clue that my outlook on our nation’s food industry would be changed forever. As I’ve mentioned before, I had considered becoming a vegetarian prior to this project, and after reading this book I began considering it again. The one chapter that sent me over the edge is titled “The Most Dangerous Job.” The graphic details of the horrendous events that happen in a slaughterhouse somewhere in the High Plains will be seared into my brain for the rest of my life. This particular slaughterhouse gives a glimpse to what all industrialized slaughterhouses are like. I will briefly recount some of the most disturbing parts here, but I highly recommend reading this book on your own. You will probably never look at hamburger, or steak the same way again, I know I don’t.

            Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation, is a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly. This is the first book he has written, but he has earned many journalistic honors, including a National Magazine Award for an article he wrote about marijuana and the war on drugs. He seems to be very interested in hot topics in health, and as a journalist, I feel that he has a drive to get to the truth of an issue no matter what he has to do. This non-fiction book was originally published in 2001, in New York, New York. The intended audience is people who are aware and care about the fast food movement and the negative impacts it’s having on our society and environment.

            Schlosser provides vivid details of the conditions in a typical industrial slaughterhouse. He provides this account from the firsthand experience of his tour, provided by a worker who was upset with the working conditions. Hundreds of workers pressed close together, slicing hunks of meat with sharp knives is what he’s met with when he gets to the line. When he reaches the beginning of the line a man turns around and smiles. His face and goggles are splattered with blood and gray matter. The man’s job is to shoot a steel bolt into each cow’s head, knocking the large animal unconscious. After watching the “knocker” miss a few cows and have to shoot two bolts into the animal’s skull, Schlosser mentions he’s seen enough and goes back outside. Further on in the chapter he provides the disturbing truth behind how dangerous working in the meatpacking industry is. The sanitation crew that comes in to clean up the plant at the end of each day has the most dangerous job. Most workers don’t wear water-resistant clothing while working with a high-pressure hose that shoots a 180 degree mixture of water and chlorine, in visibility of about 5 feet, riding moving conveyor belts sometimes fifteen feet off the ground. A former sanitation worker said, “It’s hot, and it’s foggy, and you can’t see anything.” Schlosser goes on to mention that workers are discouraged from seeking medical care, encouraged to do drugs to keep up with the speed of the line, unions are almost impossible to form, and that the value of an arm is only $36,000 if you’re willing to wait a few years.

            Schlosser provides relevant and adequate evidence to support his claims against the meatpacking industry. A firsthand experience is a very reliable source, and he talks to workers in the area to get the whole story. I am convinced what he is telling in this book is the truth. He doesn’t acknowledge the opposition much, but I’m satisfied that the evidence he provides makes the reader bias enough that the opposite side has no credibility. The main mode of persuasion used in this book is ethos, with some logos to support his claims. He is effective in tapping in to one’s moral side, especially by his use of real stories. The cleaning-crew accidents he gives brief descriptions of are specifically haunting; like this one “another employee of DCS Sanitation, Salvador Hernandez-Gonzalez, had his head crushed by a pork-loin processing machine at an IBP plant in Madison, Nebraska. The same machine had fatally crushed the head of another worker, Ben Barone, a few years earlier” (Schlosser, pg. 178). This is an example of how he uses logos and ethos together to compel readers to realize how bad the conditions for workers are in slaughterhouses.

            This is the text that opened my eyes to just how unethical the conditions of slaughterhouses are for both the animals and the people that work there. After reading Fast Food Nation I avoided eating red meat for a few days because every time I looked at it, all I could picture was the knocker shooting steel bolts into the cow’s skull, or a man who lost his arm because the person next to him was high on drugs to keep up with the line. After some time I was able to eat red meat, but now that I’ve been a vegetarian for a little over a month now, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to eating factory farmed beef. I think Schlosser might agree with me that if the animal comes from a ranch where they are grass fed and slaughtered humanely by workers that are treated well, it is okay to eat red meat. If you’re on the fence about being a vegetarian, or sticking with it, read Fast Food Nation, it may help you make the tough decision.

Works Cited

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001. Print.