Vegetarianism

Versalean

Imagine a world where you're having a meal with people and you're a vegetarian, and your vegetarianism doesn't become the central topic of conver-f***ing-sation, and everyone at the table doesn't feel that it's their duty to the human race to test the extent to which you're 'really' vegetarian and to preach the Gospel of Bacon.

Xenthos

My best friend growing up was a vegetarian (still is, in fact).  I think we had one conversation where he tried to convince me that vegeratianism was the greatest thing, when we were both really really young.  Neither of us were going to change and that was a-okay.

Far as meal-times go, it was always a given that we needed something non-meat-based and was never an "interesting" thing (thus never worth really talking about at the table).

I guess what I'm saying is, the world exists, just need to invite different people to dinner.

Kendra

I used to be a vegetarian. I would make it my goal as a 'Know-it-all-teenager-and-then-university-student' to make it known to -all-! That I was a vegetarian. I think I even made some kind of rhyming title for myself, when making new friends/boyfriend I would make it a conversation starter, 'Sagittarius Vegetarian'.

I don't know why I used to do this, but I am -that- glad my parents had a BBQ when I came home for a visit, and OMG chickennnnn. I don't even know why I was a vegetarian (I think it was the trend at the time!? My trend!?). It lasted 6 years.

Now in my 30's and looking back, I can't help but think "If you were my child, I would have hit the vegetarian know-it-all right out of you." I laugh now, but seriously what I must have sounded like I do not know. So cringe worthy.

I suppose my kids will be my karma.

Eldanien

Hah, yes.  My life does not necessarily revolve around the one quality you find most bizarre or alien.

Rancoura

My sister-in-law is allergic to gluten, dairy, fatty foods, etc... to the point where all she can really eat are vegetables and fruits and, very very tentatively, lightly-prepared white chicken breast. She's still one of the most energetic people I know (woman keeps herself impressively busy and rarely even sits still).

People will always rail on others with different beliefs, but like all things, it's best not to force others to share your point of view, particularly with personal choices such as these. That goes for both sides.

Orventa

As long as it's not like the person who when asked about specifically dietary preferences says, 'Oh yeah, I'm good with anything' turns out down the road to actually be a hardcore vegetarian/vegan animal rights person and whines and berates you for being an omnivore and decides to throw out anything meat/animal based from your home while you're out? It's all good.

Rancoura

Random sidenote: I'm not vegetarian by any means, but I'm not a huge fan of bacon -- so salty and greasy, blugh.

Reylari

It's funny. You could swap out 'vegetarian' and put in the word 'cross-fitter' instead, and it'd be the same concept. 

Thyelleia

I'm a mostly vegetarian with occasional vegan phases. So far, I've been lucky because nobody tired preaching to me and in return, I don't preach either. The 'mostly' is because even though most people know that I don't eat meat, some do not. So if I am invited to a place where the hosts serve meat because they didn't know (like my landlady's mother for example), I just eat the meat without making a fuss because I don't want to be impolite. It is not that I don't like the taste of it (especially Chinese duck) but I want to kill as few animals as possible. In those situations I keep telling myself that I made up for the meat that I just ate by keeping my meat consumption to a minimum all other times.

Arix

My comment for vegetarians: if you can handle spices, many Asian cultures have strong vegetarian/piscetarian populations, and this shows in their restaurants. Indian food is a good one, especially if you are not lactose intolerant (paneer). Its also easier to get your friends who know you're vegetarian to go eat with you if they know they aren't going to that vegetarian restaurant

Ayisdra

Arix said:

My comment for vegetarians: if you can handle spices, many Asian cultures have strong vegetarian/piscetarian populations, and this shows in their restaurants. Indian food is a good one, especially if you are not lactose intolerant (paneer). Its also easier to get your friends who know you're vegetarian to go eat with you if they know they aren't going to that vegetarian restaurant

While I'm not vegetarian (so my experience is probably skewed), I would say this is a hit or miss depending on the place. A good number of places will consider stocks/booths vegetarian because they don't have pieces of meat, even if it was made with it. (I am told the reason is that Asians don't have much experience the concepts of vegetarian and think that it only means no physical pieces of meat)

Portius

Ayisdra said:

Arix said:

My comment for vegetarians: if you can handle spices, many Asian cultures have strong vegetarian/piscetarian populations, and this shows in their restaurants. Indian food is a good one, especially if you are not lactose intolerant (paneer). Its also easier to get your friends who know you're vegetarian to go eat with you if they know they aren't going to that vegetarian restaurant

While I'm not vegetarian (so my experience is probably skewed), I would say this is a hit or miss depending on the place. A good number of places will consider stocks/booths vegetarian because they don't have pieces of meat, even if it was made with it. (I am told the reason is that Asians don't have much experience the concepts of vegetarian and think that it only means no physical pieces of meat)

I can't comment on the reasons for this, but there's this and other occasional problems. Like, some places assume that vegetarians eat fish, and label accordingly. It's a pain. If you've ever wondered why vegetarians tend to make a point of asking, this is one of the reasons.

Kistan

Rancoura said:

 I'm not a huge fan of bacon -- so salty and greasy, blugh.

The smell of bacon and coffee is so much better than the taste.

Lerad

Ayisdra said:

Arix said:

My comment for vegetarians: if you can handle spices, many Asian cultures have strong vegetarian/piscetarian populations, and this shows in their restaurants. Indian food is a good one, especially if you are not lactose intolerant (paneer). Its also easier to get your friends who know you're vegetarian to go eat with you if they know they aren't going to that vegetarian restaurant

While I'm not vegetarian (so my experience is probably skewed), I would say this is a hit or miss depending on the place. A good number of places will consider stocks/booths vegetarian because they don't have pieces of meat, even if it was made with it. (I am told the reason is that Asians don't have much experience the concepts of vegetarian and think that it only means no physical pieces of meat)

Actually, vegeterianism here in Asia having weird stuff included (or excluded, as case may be) is simply because there are many different variations depending on the religious reasons behind them - just like everywhere else, really. Ie. they aren't solely because of a desire to save animals or for environmentalism (though that also plays a huge role in many asian religions that advocate or require vegeterianism)
 
It all boils down to the culture itself, and exactly what vegeterianism means to that culture. Depending on the religion/culture, there are both super strict as well as not-so-strict variations, where on one end of the spectrum, they may even go further than vegans and consider things like onions and garlics to be in the list of things considered "unvegetarian" (even though they are obviously not meat), and the other end of the spectrum could have cases where they consider things like eggs to be perfectly "vegetarian".

Of course, learning about an entire religion just to decide what restaurant is suitable may or may not be your idea of time well spent, so in some cases, it may very well come down to how strictly you hold to your personal beliefs, whether they are religious or otherwise - and also whether or not you're willing to risk eating something that may or may not be strictly within the rules you have for yourself.

Sylandra

Oh boy. I'm in the middle of figuring out catering for a group of people that includes peanut allergies, gluten and lactose intolerance, and vegetarian and vegan diets. The last wedding we went to with the peanut allergy crowd ended up with a 911 call, so I am taking absolutely zero chances. I feel if you invite someone to eat with you the least you can do is make sure they can eat what you put in front of them.

Versalean

Lerad said:

Ayisdra said:

Arix said:

My comment for vegetarians: if you can handle spices, many Asian cultures have strong vegetarian/piscetarian populations, and this shows in their restaurants. Indian food is a good one, especially if you are not lactose intolerant (paneer). Its also easier to get your friends who know you're vegetarian to go eat with you if they know they aren't going to that vegetarian restaurant

While I'm not vegetarian (so my experience is probably skewed), I would say this is a hit or miss depending on the place. A good number of places will consider stocks/booths vegetarian because they don't have pieces of meat, even if it was made with it. (I am told the reason is that Asians don't have much experience the concepts of vegetarian and think that it only means no physical pieces of meat)

... they aren't solely because of a desire to save animals or for environmentalism (though that also plays a huge role in many asian religions that advocate or require vegeterianism) ...
 
...It all boils down to the culture itself, and exactly what vegeterianism means to that culture. ...

...and also whether or not you're willing to risk eating something that may or may not be strictly within the rules you have for yourself.

THIS. Oh my life, this.

Sylvanas

Recently swapped to vegetarian. If someone cooks meat for me, I'll still eat it. I'll try to avoid ordering food with meat at restaurants. At home I'm 100% vegetarian.

It depends on your own viewpoints. I try to be the non-asshole vegetarian.

Ordassa

Lerad said:

Actually, vegetarianism here in Asia having weird stuff included (or excluded, as case may be) is simply because there are many different variations depending on the religious reasons behind them - just like everywhere else, really. Ie. they aren't solely because of a desire to save animals or for environmentalism (though that also plays a huge role in many asian religions that advocate or require vegeterianism)
 
It all boils down to the culture itself, and exactly what vegeterianism means to that culture. Depending on the religion/culture, there are both super strict as well as not-so-strict variations, where on one end of the spectrum, they may even go further than vegans and consider things like onions and garlics to be in the list of things considered "unvegetarian" (even though they are obviously not meat), and the other end of the spectrum could have cases where they consider things like eggs to be perfectly "vegetarian".

Of course, learning about an entire religion just to decide what restaurant is suitable may or may not be your idea of time well spent, so in some cases, it may very well come down to how strictly you hold to your personal beliefs, whether they are religious or otherwise - and also whether or not you're willing to risk eating something that may or may not be strictly within the rules you have for yourself.

I second that. finding vegetarian cusine in asia can be fairly easy if you tell people its for religious reasons. People are familiar with that. in bigger cities that isn't needed either. It is easy to find meat substitutes that look & taste like meat but is actually soy. failing that, there's teh old stanby of rice with vegetables & tofu. :P

Going vegan the american way: no luck unless you cook it yourself. yes to salads and the like.

Arix

I was just commenting on the fact that most of the Asian restaurants I've been to that weren't specific foods like sushi tend to have fairly large vegetarian sections, especially the Indian ones. That was literally it.

Kerith

Interesting about the religious bit. I experience that here in America, especially rural parts. "You don't eat beef and pork, but you're not Muslim or Jewish?" Then the blank stare. Sometimes they flat out ask, "Why, then?" and sometimes they don't but you can tell they want to. I always want to respond, "I don't have to justify or explain my personal choices to you, k?" I mean, I don't go around interrogating people on why they choose to eat meat. Because it's not my body and not my business. I don't know why people think they have the right to do that to me just because my reasons aren't religion-based. They're still just as valid...

Breandryn

Personally, I'm a pesca-pescatarian. 

Jokes aside, people could be bringing it up out of concern. It is more rare but people with eating disorders sometimes mask them behind dietary restrictions. My sister struggled for a while and would be like 80 pounds on diet pills and eating lettuce saying she was vegetarian. She was anemic and very unhealthy and it was scary for a bit.

Obviously this is not the case for everyone but if people are expressing concern maybe they are worried about your overall nutrition. Or they are pushy jerks.

Kerith

Breandryn said:

Personally, I'm a pesca-pescatarian. 

Jokes aside, people could be bringing it up out of concern. It is more rare but people with eating disorders sometimes mask them behind dietary restrictions. My sister struggled for a while and would be like 80 pounds on diet pills and eating lettuce saying she was vegetarian. She was anemic and very unhealthy and it was scary for a bit.

Obviously this is not the case for everyone but if people are expressing concern maybe they are worried about your overall nutrition. Or they are pushy jerks.

Yeah that's definitely not the case with me. I think they're just ignorant and nosy and don't know when to mind their own business. You know, typical small-town attitude to anything "unusual" (even in 2017, vegetarianism is still considered exotic in many places).

But good point, that could definitely be the case for some people.

Skanylla

A friend of mine tried vegetarianism for about a year. We never questioned each others dietary choices. It was sort of like an unspoken rule that it is not discussed about. However eventually she developed hallucinations. It was scary when she would frantically call for me and tell me that her hands were covered in blood and that she was bleeding out even though in reality she was fine. She wasn't bleeding and her hands were clean. She had to start eating meat again at least in some form for her own sake and mine. 

Eldanien

Same thing happened to me.  I was strict vegan for just over two years (there was a REALLY cute girl involved).  Anyway, I wound up hospitalized for B12 deficiency.  That's when I realized I should have paid more attention when people told me to take supplements.  True fact: strict, plant-only diets ("vegan") are impractical to the point of impossible for humans without modern vat-grown bacteria slurry farms.

Fyler

My experience around vegetarians is people generally don't care so far as millennials are concerned. The older crowds tend to want to talk about it a lot for whatever reason, I suppose it is more atypical for their generation.

Though, I have been accosted by some rather militant vegens and vegetarians. Luckily they live on lettuce and soybeans so they are typically not a threatening people in person. 

Maligorn

I only care if I suspect that said vegetarian/vegan is doing what Eldanien did, because I don't want them to mess themselves up. And I can't exactly ask people ARE YOU COMPENSATING FOR YOUR MEAT-FREE DIET??!!?? without being super awkward.

Elryn

I cannot agree more with this thread!

I've been travelling through some of the countries in southern Africa for the last few weeks (which are all so beautiful!), and while I've been really lucky in being able to find vegan food that isn't just 100 variations on a garden salad, it can be SO frustrating to have the same conversations and questions and challenges at every freaking camp dinner. Apparently veganism isn't a thing here yet, so I can't just order simply off menus which have a dozen more types of animal/animal excretions in every dish than my home country.

I'm sure there are other visible minorities that have to deal with being questioned about their beliefs far more often, but for someone who is pretty shy it gets tiring pretty quickly.

I've joked about making up business cards to hand out referencing the websites that answer all the common points that come up again and again (not enough b12, we have canines, not enough protein, dairy isn't cruel, we need animal testing, etc). Sometimes would be easier just to point people to do their own research directly! Then again, if more menus just had one clearly marked vegan & vegetarian dish, it wouldn't even need to be brought up at all - one day I'm sure we'll get there!

Stratas

Maligorn said:

I only care if I suspect that said vegetarian/vegan is doing what Eldanien did, because I don't want them to mess themselves up. And I can't exactly ask people ARE YOU COMPENSATING FOR YOUR MEAT-FREE DIET??!!?? without being super awkward.

I'm glad you don't ask that, because some people really don't care about being super awkward. I never had so many people care about where I got my protein when my dietary choice becomes public knowledge.

Sylandra

Yeeeeah, you know what they say about assumptions. I am a tiny person and I do not have an eating disorder or a drug problem but it hasn't stopped random strangers and/or acquaintances from feeling it is their duty to make sure I have neither of those things.

One time I happened to be recovering from food poisoning and chose to just have an apple for lunch to make sure I was fine, and a girl I sort of kind of knew put her hand on mine and said, "Oh honey don't do this to yourself, you don't need to starve yourself, it's not the way." And I looked at her and said, "I got sick last night and am trying to pace myself today," but she scoffed like I was in serious denial. Maybe only ask if you're very close to someone, because I was pretty insulted. >_>

Fyler

Lord, the number of times I've been told "You're so thin! You need to eat more!" in my life is mind blowing. It was literally every time I saw my family while I was a teenager. 

I still get it on occasion, but with age comes confidence and I simply cannot with their bullshit. Now it's more "what gym do you go to?" crowd, but that's gay culture for you. NONE. People are at gyms. People like you, who talk to me and ask stupid, banal questions. There are entire segments of the population that get no enjoyment from picking up heavy things and putting them down, and many of us are perfectly healthy and happy. 

The pressure to fit within cultural body standards is real.

(Reminds me of a joke. How do you know if someone does crossfit? Don't worry, they'll tell you.)