Veganism: Summation

Last night, I went to Kona with the group. I ate the roasted vegetable ziti, and it was very good. It was very difficult for me to look over the menu at all of the things that I could eat, but I somehow managed.

Today, I ate cereal with soy milk for breakfast even though I didn't have to. It's just become a habit.

For my first non-vegan meal, I will be eating sushi. This is ironic considering that seafood was by far the easiest to avoid. I don't feel a rush to eat as much non-vegan food as possible, I just want to eat food that will fill me up.

I believe that I will eat less meat and dairy now that I have done this project.

Looking back on my other posts, I noticed that I mentioned hummus one time, on my second day as a vegan. This was a curious omission from my other posts, considering that hummus became my new best friend.

I currently weigh 166 pounds, which is four pounds less than what I weighed at the beginning. Not a big difference, but I have never been very concerned about my weight and it did not factor into my decision to take up this experiment.

The biggest issues I had with the diet were getting enough protein, and feeling sufficiently full after meals. Both of these could be addressed by a richer knowledge of available vegan foods, but I am not in possession of this knowledge.

The time has come for indulgence.

Day 9 of Veganism

Only two more days to go, and I couldn't be more excited for this to end. The experiment has been enlightening because I have become aware of healthier foods that I enjoy eating, but I cannot maintain this lifestyle.

I have been eating cereal with soy milk every morning. I usually don't even eat cereal, but it's one of the best meals that I have available.

Tomorrow, I am going to Kona Bistro with the rest of the group. As much as I love eating there, it is expensive.

This tends to be the trend: If you have a infinite amount of money to spend, you could eat all of your meals out, and a delicious vegan diet would be a cake walk. Unfortunately, that isn't how the world works for most people.

For dinner tonight, I will again be making pasta, and that is getting really old. Nothing I've eaten these past nine days has really filled me up, and that is disconcerting.

Day 8 of Veganism

My decline in appetite has become much more apparent. There is absolutely no way that I can continue this for more than the 10 days I agreed to. I have been eating healthy, but I a vast knowledge of different foods you can eat is the only way to maintain a vegan diet.

I was talking with some of my other group members today, and they mentioned the book "Skinny Bitch" as well as the follow up cookbook "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch".

Two years ago, I was working for a publishing company in New York, and the office was essentially a warehouse in which every book arrived with more than enough copies for every employee to get their own copy.

My job was to mail books to salespeople in different parts of the world, but I was also allowed to peruse all of the books and take whatever I wanted. My apartment is filled with north of 100 books that I boxed and mailed to Ohio.

Both of the Skinny Bitch books had become extremely popular, and I spent a lot of time boxing copies of the books and mailing them to different parts of South America and Asia. If I had taken just one copy of the cookbook, it would be extremely useful for me right now.

However, I was discouraged because of the explicitly feminine target audience of the books. Take for example the subtitle of Skinny Bitch in the Kitch:

"Kick-Ass Recipes for Hungry Girls Who Want to Stop Cooking Crap (and Start Looking Hot!)"

As anxious as I am to "Start Looking Hot!", this book simply did not appeal to me. This is despite the fact that I have always considered myself open-minded to different dietary choices.

This brings me to a larger theme of what I have pondered throughout my vegan period: the association of vegetarianism/veganism with femininity, and the association of eating meat with masculinity.

To many of my friends, giving up meat would not just be difficult because they enjoy eating it. Giving up meat would make them feel like they have departed from an aspect of male identity.

In my discussions with friends they have said, in jest, that I would be more manly if I ate meat, or that I am being feminine for not eating it. Even though they were joking with me and meant no disrespect, there is no doubt in my mind that they (and countless others) see veganism as an affront to male self-determination.

The relevant literature should address this misconception. I'm sure that gender nonspecific vegan cookbooks already exist, but where are the books advocating veganism in a decidedly male tone?

I like to think that I am beyond some type of male-targeted marketing scheme, but I'm not, and my friends definitely aren't. If vegan lifestyles were promoted in a way that reflected popular male interests, I think these associations would wane.

I want to see veganism promoted during football games in a way that fits with the rest of the ridiculous advertising (i.e. Being vegan will make women attracted to you! or Being vegan will make you feel better... so that you can play sports! Mow the lawn! Be productive!)

Day 7 of Veganism

The last week of classes has me running around like a mad man, but added stress has revealed how much better I feel on this diet.

The main difficulty has been protein. When I was eating meat and dairy, protein came easy. On a vegan diet, you need to make a concerted effort to get enough protein to stay active. This means eating a protein bar and possibly some nuts every few hours.

While this is by no means unpleasant (cashews and pistachios are miraculous), it is very easy to forget and then start wondering why I am falling asleep at my desk.

So assuming that I have met my protein quota, I have been feeling very, very good the past few days. I have not once woken up with heart burn, which used to plague me after a night of drunken pizza consumption.

This diet has also made me feel much better... digestively. I won't go into detail on this, for for fear of making you feel much worse digestively, but you can assume that the difference was big enough for me to mention it.

I was a cross country runner in high school and an avid runner for my first year of college until my legs started to get worn down (I could go into a long story about my decline; pronated feet, stress on the knees....).

In order to stay in good shape, I have become dependent on exercise bikes and machines of that ilk. The only problem is that I absolutely hate doing this, and I therefore get much less exercise. There's just no way around the fact that exercising is much better when you are outside exploring new terrain.

My new diet makes working out feel much better, and I can overcome a lot of my usual frustration with being at the gym. In fact, that is where I'm headed right now!

Day 6 of Veganism

To the surprise of no one, I did not get around to updating my blog over the weekend, but in hindsight I wish that I had because introducing alcohol into the equation provided new challenges and insights into life with a vegan diet.

First off, any food that you like, becomes MUCH more desirable when you are drunk. This was problematic during my trek down High Street from Skipper's to my apartment when I passed (in this order) Bruno's Pizza, Jimmy Johns, Great Steak and Potato, Skyline, Qdoba (which serves queso sauce that I should just avoid thinking about altogether), and Coldstone (which despite the cold weather would be a sensational treat in my current state of mind).

It is also worth mentioning that Skipper's (the bar I was at last night) has a number of delectable animal dishes on their menu, and Buffalo Wild Wings was also within arms reach.

The weekend forced me to reconcile my veganism with the world at large. If I were to start eating a gyro at Skipper's, this would be considered normal behavior. No one at the bar is aware of, or even concerned with, the fact that I have gone vegan.

The only source of resistance was my own devotion to the experiment, and that devotion gets worn away dramatically when you have been drinking. Suffice it to say, I experienced cravings that were disturbing.

Luckily, I took precautions that proved to be much more helpful than I had ever expected. On Saturday afternoon I ate a vegetarian burrito from Chipotle (quickly becoming my new favorite meal) and did not want to eat my side of chips and guacamole. Guacamole goes bad very quickly, so I put it in my refrigerator for later that evening.

When I was battling my carnivorous demons uptown, the one thing that kept me in control was knowing I had hot chips and cold guacamole. After running through Oxford's gauntlet of temptations, I finally made it home to eat the guacamole... and it was glorious.

There were not the same temptations for me today because I stayed home, did homework, and watched football. I'm glad that the experiment ends on Friday because I don't think I could last another weekend.

Day 4 of Veganism

Last night, after my last post, I went to dinner at Kona Bistro. I used to work in the kitchen there, so I knew exactly what I was going to order: the adobo tofu salad.

For $9.50, I was much more appreciative of this delicious dish that I used to make for myself (with chicken) several times a week.

In addition to sautéed tofu, the salad is topped with black beans, roasted corn, sundried tomatoes, red onion, scallions, shredded Monterrey jack (which I begrudgingly declined), croutons, and spicy avocado dressing.

Without meat, my appetite has declined. Not in a drastic, leading-to-intervention type of way, just enough that I can eat a large salad for dinner and be content.

Day 3 of Veganism

Earlier today, I was watching the show "Bored to Death" on HBO. Jason Schwartzman's character referred to himself as a "non-practicing vegan" due to his his philosophical concurrence and non observance of veganism.

In real life, Jason Schwartzman does not eat meat or dairy, and has described himself as "basically" a vegan.

I began to ponder the varying degrees to which I could permanently alter my diet, and concluded that I would not have a hard time giving up some food groups over others.

Giving up seafood would be easy most of the time. I've hardly been pining for lobster or shrimp these past few days, and the only time I can ever expect seafood to be served to me is during the few weeks each summer when I am in Cape Cod. It may be a difficult conversation with my aunt when I explain to her that I can no longer eat the lobster she has made for me since I was a child, but I would be willing to persevere.

Giving up red meat would certainly be more difficult, but this difficulty could easily be mitigated by continuing to eat chicken and turkey. Poultry could enable me to phase out red meat completely, and I could worry about phasing out poultry at a later date.

Dairy presents a few different issues. Cow milk will not be hard to give up because it can easily be substituted by soy milk. The only time soy milk falls short for me is when I drink a glass of it. This could be resolved rather easily by drinking water, juice, or beer when I eat really spicy food (you gotta drink milk or beer with spicy food).

The truly arduous effort would be, and has been, giving up cheese. There's just no way around it: I love cheese. All types. It is extremely fattening and it negates any health benefits of switching to soy milk, but it makes me happy. Can't I retain this last vestige of my unenlightenment?

Some of my other group members have mentioned "vegan cheese", which upon further research I have discovered is called "chreese". I am extremely skeptical of this product, but it is still might be worth a try.

Day 2 of Veganism

Yesterday was a busy day, and I only ate one other meal after breakfast. Around 8 or 9 o'clock, I went to Chipotle and ordered a vegetarian burrito.

The burrito had white rice, black beans (NOT the brown pinto beans, which are cooked in bacon), sauteed peppers and onions, lettuce, tomato, and the hottest sauce they have. I also got a side of chips and guacamole.

This meal was simply divine. My burrito did not include: steak, pork, chicken, sour cream, or cheese, but was nevertheless quite fulfilling.

This morning I woke up to another bowl of cereal and soy milk, this time Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It was about as good as the rest of the cereal I've eaten in my life, so not much to report there.

Lunchtime was when things got interesting. King Cafe sells there "Hummus and Pita combo", which had been an occasional snack during my carnivorous zenith. I anticipate that hummus will be a big part of my life during this experiment.

For dinner, I made pasta. I specifically made sure that I used pasta with no eggs, and I did not use any sauce for fear of exposure to cream.The only other ingredients were garlic salt, olive oil, and basil. Overall, a tasty and healthy meal that required no withdrawal from my own comfort zone.

Talking with my friends about this project has been interesting. Many of them are more conservative-leaning, and consider eating meat to be "part of the natural order" (a direct quote from my friend Ryan). Their prediction is that I will go back to eating as normal when the trial is over next Friday. I'll have to wait and see how I feel before I decide to either concede or prove them wrong.

Veganism Realized

Today is my first day being vegan for a class project. For the next 10 days I will not eat any meat, poultry, seafood, or dairy.

I elected to participate in this project because I am interested in nutrition and animal rights activism. A recent book called "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran has gotten a lot of press on popular blogs such as the Huffington Post or Brooklyn Vegan.

While I have not myself read the book, my arch-liberal San Fran resident cousin has pestered me endlessly to read it, and it inspired Natalie Portman to become vegan after being a vegetarian for twenty years.

A vegetarian friend of mine is currently reading "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell, which outlines a connection with meat consumption and a variety of diseases, including many different forms of cancer.

I have never given up any type of food before, and this has led me to begin feeling trepidatious about my own health. I will not be able to forecast my own long term health in the next 10 days, but I hope to gain some insight into how different foods make me feel and what type of healthy choices are the easiest to make.

I started off with a breakfast of Raisin Bran with soy milk, and I honestly could not tell the difference from cow milk (which I almost called "normal" milk).

Miami likes to be green, when it's convenient

Miami received a C+ award for its sustainability initiatives last month, the same grade they received last year. The university’s sustainability task force has essentially accomplished nothing in the past year. That might seem a bit harsh, but it becomes clear when you look into where the focus has been.

First off, with the exact same grade, you can’t really make a case that the university has done anything to improve their green initiatives. Even if they did small things to make the campus more green, this has been akin to rearranging deck chairs rather than actually making a net contribution to environmental sustainability.

The university got A’s in categories such as recycling, in other words, the stuff that is easy. This summer, I went to the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago’s Grant Park. There were swarms of people rushing to pick up beer cans so that they could exchange filled trash bags for t-shirts. Getting people to recycle is easy and cheap, and it gets things off the ground so that the campus at least looks cleaner.

But the last I checked, the failure to recycle cans and bottles is not being cited by anyone as the root cause of rising global temperatures. Recycling is great, but in this situation it’s really serving as nothing more than a veneer for the university to avoid going after what really matters: carbon emissions.

Last spring, a student proposed that the university purchase a biodiesel converter so that cooking oil could from dining halls could be used to create fuel for the buses or even potentially sold. I don’t remember the exact price, but the converter was going to cost something in the $20,000 range, and the money saved by not having to buy fuel would eventually pay off the investment.

Call me crazy, but is $20,000 such a huge expense for the university that they need to know in advance how it will be reciprocated? Aren’t we building new facilities that are estimated to cost millions? Even if it was going to take 20 years for the money saved on fuel to show a return on the converter investment, couldn’t the university absorb a loss here for the sake of doing something good for the environment?

Well as it turns out, the university did need assurance that they would be saving money in the long run, and the plan fell through because it was unclear when the money saving would begin. The initial estimates of how much biodiesel could be produced turned out to be wrong, so it was going to take longer than expected for the alternative fuel to offset the price of the converter.

The university received low grades in categories such as transportation and administration. I would reckon that these grades were well deserved. They won’t even spend as much on alternative energy as they do on a single athletic scholarship.

When I reported on this, the plan was not off the table and university officials said they were still discussing the possibility of buying the converter to make biodiesel for maintenance vehicles rather than the buses. I don’t mean to criticize the university too much because it is clear that alternative energy remains an interest and this proposal could still go through with some tweaking.

However, it remains to be seen when alternative energy will actually become a priority (i.e. enough to spend $20,000). It would be lovely if every green initiative saved the university (not to mention the rest of us) money as soon as it was implemented. If sustainability is a priority, the university shouldn’t act so indignant about their responsibility to invest.

Sure, this proposal would have cost the university money, probably even more than current or past estimates. The point is that the university should be prepared to lose money in order to accomplish their own stated goals, especially when that expenses are so comparatively meager.