Fresh vegetarian devours stale stereotypes
My eyes darted back and forth between a limp hummus sandwich and the nearest available exit.
My girlfriend encouraged me to take just one bite. The anticipation was unbearable, but finally the mush hit my tongue and it tasted – not bad.
Actually, it was amazing.
I had my first vegetarian meal last Tuesday night, and it was delicious.
But the transition from carnivore to cabbage cruncher has left a new and unfamiliar taste in my mouth – hypocrisy.
I grew up in the extremely liberal Marin County, which made meeting vegetarians a common and unpleasant event.
More often than not, Marin’s homegrown vegetarians made me feel barred from their elite club because of my tenderized tendencies.
Every time I ate a burger, it felt like I was demonstrating a seething hatred of baby seals or lack of consideration for lofty beliefs.
But being a levelheaded man, I had absolutely no qualms grabbing the nearest piece of meat and eating it in front of their self-righteous, hippie faces. How ironic life can be.
Then last Friday, my doctor told me I had mildly high blood pressure due to a combination of my genetics and a poor diet.
I thought long and hard about my current lifestyle as he explained all the complications it could cause in my lifetime.
Then I went out and considered it some more over a Double Whopper.
I sealed my fate when I told my girlfriend about the diagnosis. She had been thinking about becoming a vegetarian and this was the push that started a chain reaction.
Thirty minutes later, we were at Trader Joe’s looking at different kinds of tofu.
Maybe my previous vegetarian acquaintances had the right to feel superior. Thus far, going green hasn’t been easy.
Ever hear that statistic about men thinking about sex every six seconds? That’s been me the last few days – except I’ve been fantasizing about pastrami and ribs.
The stakes are high, the steaks are missing, but there is hope.
The first 28 days of the diet transformation are the hardest, said Cheyenne Bluhm, a sophomore nutrition major and vegan.
Bluhm has been a vegan since June 1 and loves the effect it has had on her life, claiming it has made her feel better mentally and physically.
She was influenced by the book “The China Study,” a scientifically
contested book that asserts that animal protein can speed up the development of cancer cells, she said.
“I’m doing it because of the nutrition aspect,” Bluhm said. “Eating a diet high in vegetables and low in animal protein can prevent the three main diseases in America: cancer, diabetes and heart disease.”
Becoming a vegetarian or a vegan is a daunting task. It takes discipline and drive to resist eating a juicy steak and the cooking prowess to turn tofu, mushrooms and zucchini into main course meals.
To be honest I might not be up for the challenge. My first week of attempting to follow a vegetarian diet has forced me to respect the 3.2 percent of Americans who are dedicated to this way of life.
From Chico to Marin, I’ve decided to stop judging those who choose to eat something different than the norm. And I’ll be washing down that prejudice tonight with a cold glass of soy milk.
Jake Buffenbarger can be reached at
