Archive for February, 2010

I’m really struggling with all of the information that my brain is processing after watching the documentary Food, Inc. If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing Food, Inc., let me give you a brief description of the movie taken from the official website.

In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government’s regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment.

To be honest, I can’t express to you the importance of being informed on all aspects of life.  We need three things to survive….Air, Water and Food.  Food, being one of those three, means we should be very concerned on what is in it and where it comes from.

I already eat pretty healthy, but I never realized that if you’re not buying certified organic, farm raised, grass fed, hormone-free, local and free-range you are eating horrible things.   The short list contains such delicacies as feces, steroids, hormones, methane, various cancer causing chemicals and (oh yeah) Ecoli.  If you didn’t already know, they are even selling genetically engineered meats in supermarkets which means cloned animals are ending up on your plate.  I say…..YUCK!

Please Do Not Take My Word For It…. Watch it for yourself! I’m loaning my copy to friends and family but you can get it from your local library or buy it online or at your local store.  I always say, “Education is the key to change.”

What’s a girl to do?

I love cheese but it doesn’t love me back.

This has been an interesting week of experimentation with adding dairy and seafood/fish into my daily diet.   Unfortunately, my body has told me time and time again that dairy of any kind isn’t welcome.  I think that in the back of my mind I knew this would be the outcome of my little vegan experiment, but I truly hoped that I could detox then return to the love affair I’ve had with cheese these many years.

Those days are gone forever, but I will remember my time with cheese fondly.  Brie, Goat Cheese, Gouda, Swiss and all of my other international relationships will be missed.  Although, there will be occasions when we will meet again which can not be avoided.  I will have to smile, say ”Hello friend” and enjoy.  To turn it down would be unheard of and after all, it’s cheese!

Well I did it!  It has officially been a month of a complete vegan lifestyle.  I managed to do it all without cheating even once.  Which is a huge accomplishment in self control for me.  I’ve realized I really can do anything I put my mind to.

I also came to the conclusion that there is a need for an easy guide to being vegan that the average “Joe-shmo” can follow.  I think it was easy for me to dive into this lifestyle because I cook in a weird way.  I’m always tweaking recipes to work within my way of life.  I have become pretty good at adjusting meals to be pescatarian and now vegan friendly.  The thing is, not everyone cooks like me nor do they even make meals from scratch on a daily basis.

I’ve had several people ask what I ate and how to design a meal.  I would begin to explain but noticed they just weren’t getting it.  Whether it was the lack of knowledge when it came to meat alternatives, confused by cooking terminology or just not concerned with reading labels, there seemed to be a universal “Huh” on everyones faces.

With that being said, I’m working on putting together a guide/cookbook that even a child would understand.  It is still a thought in my head, but I have been bouncing ideas and will be brainstorming with friends this week about the possibilities for this book.

As for me, I am still eating vegan and have decided to slowly add in fish to my diet.  I will probably stear clear of the dairy when possible but there is always room for cheese.  This isn’t the end of me as a vegan.  It is the beginning of me as a conscious eater.