No, not pagan. Pesce-vegan. Due to some pre-disposed genetic irregularities I fear might lead to problems when I grow old, I have chosen to remove animal products, with the exception of fish, from my diet. No more mammals, eggs or dairy products.
According to its founder, “‘veganism’ denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practical — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals…”. Because I subscribe to a pegan diet for reasons of personal health and not ethical concerns, I probably shouldn’t borrow from the vegan name. But I am. So there.
I think animals are great. But I think it’s okay to eat them if you understand and accept the methods by which they came to be on your plate. I also lament the day computers argue for rights aligned with animals. do animals have souls? Do machines have souls? (hellll no.)
It’s been about three weeks and so far avoiding mammals and dairy has been extremely easy. Hilary is on-and-off vegan and most of the meals she cooks are vegan. Eating out is not a big deal because san francisco is super veggie friendly. The only time I run into problems is late at night when restaurant options are slim.
It’s also simplified my life a lot. 50% of the supermarket is off-limits to me. I don’t spend nearly as much time grocery shopping and I’ve had to learn to cook or I starve to death — most packaged foods contain some speck of dairy. I buy fresh vegetables from the local farmer’s market and google a delicious way to prepare them. Much of chinese and japanese cuisine is vegan so I now have a great excuse to eat lunch at cha-ya once a week.
Until I am confident my body is receiving enough protein to repair muscle tissue torn from biking, I have decided to continue eating fish. I would like to ween myself off but at this point in time I don’t feel I’m a “good enough” vegan to support regular exercise. rice protein, here I come.
I encourage everyone to try being vegan for a week. If nothing else, it’s a great lesson in self control. Exercise your wille zur macht. if nothing else it’s always fun to try new things.