Taylor Clark's Slate.com on Being a Vegetarian
Do you ever read an article and have this weird feeling like the author is channeling you? Or rather channeling a version of you that writes words together real good like?
That's how I felt about Taylor Clark's hilarious essay on Slate explaining vegetarians to omnivores. He captures exactly my definition of being vegetarian (food that didn't previously have eyes), my reasons for being veg (don't like to kill things), lack of judgement about other people's personal food choices, and plea for reasonable consideration at restaurants.
Granted there are lots of other kinds of vegetarians (which he acknowledges) but I'm on exactly the same page as this guy. If you are too, it would be a good one to forward to friends and family who feel the need to taunt you, think you hate food, or are worried that you are near malnutrition.
Wow - that was good. I am technically a pescatarian although I very seldom use the term because it's easier to just say I'm a vegetarian and I eat seafood. I know, as he explains, that makes me an omnivore, but for me, it's more about taste and texture than not eating living things. I've been at it for eleven years now and I almost thought I was going back to poultry last year until I tried a bit and really didn't like it. Vegetarian food has so much potential, often much more than meat based cuisine, as long as it's cooked with care and attention to detail. I love stumbling on a good vegetarian blog - yours has been a nice treat, as well as Tofu Hunter and Mac and Cheese from Philly(www.macandcheesereview.blogspot.com). I read GastroGnome, but when she gets going on duck prosciutto or raw meat..I get a little lost because it really doesn't appeal to me.
Back to the article - I found it hilarious that he mentioned enjoying the smell of meat and having people call it hypocrisy. My father-in-law has this deep desire to make me eat meat again and he does it by waving medium rare steak in my face and talking about how good it smells and how nice it looks. I'll agree with him - a barbequed steak does smell good, but it doesn't make me want to eat it.
Anyway, I've gone on long enough - keep up the good work..I think I've read nearly everything you've written here in the last two weeks, so I need more :).
May 21, 2008 9:17:13 AM
Haha! I find it funny that people are so concerned or frustrated about what someone else chooses to put in their belly. My sister has been a veggie for so long it's all normal to me.
Thanks for linking to the article, I would have missed out on a good laugh.
Jun 27, 2008 6:30:55 PM