Food for Thought
I pride myself in being open minded. I try to look at things from all sides. The past two years have been the most eyeopening and fascinating years of my life. I have learned many things, had many conversations that ended good, some bad. Just like any baby christian I went into veganism full force like a militant crazy person. I ended up disappointed and sad. Looking back I have to laugh at myself. When it comes to veganism there are so many different points of view. Different views on diet, activism, advocacy and politics. There are so many camps that argue with each other over these issues.
I've heard it all:
"You are not vegan enough!"
"You were never vegan!"
"Veganism is a lifestyle not a diet!"
"You can't be vegan and feed meat to your pets!"
"You aren't vegan unless..."
It's very similar to religion and all their differences. I am very sad to say, "How can you take it seriously?" You can't convert someone to christianity by telling them they will go to hell any more than you could convert someone to go vegan by telling them they are a murderer.
The word vegan by itself is triggering. It's a very tricky and loaded word. When someone hears "vegan" they immediately link that to a past experience. Possibly with someone who was a militant vegan. That is very problematic. I now realize I don't want that. I want people to feel safe and not judged when discussing food or veganism with me. People will make a decision to go vegan or vegetarian on their own. No one can make another person do it.
We as vegans need to be understanding and less judgmental. If someone is trying to make this change why would you break their efforts? People want to be healthy and strive to be better. When someone demands you to drop all animal products from your diet that can be very intimidating. Most people aren't capable of doing this. I'm afraid vegans have painted themselves as so demanding, so intimidating and militant that we may not be able to bounce back from it. When I go to a restaurant I prefer not to use the vegan label. I will ask what ingredients are in certain foods and make my own choices. It's the labeling that's the problem.
If you want to go vegan that's great! Everyone can benefit from adding more fruits and vegetables in their diet. All you need to do is incorporate more of that into your diet. All the other things like vegan cosmetics and clothing, that's the easy part. Do it at your own pace and don't let these militant vegans steer you away. There's a new label for it and it's called a Reducetarian. But do we really need a label?
I never realized how effected people are by food. When someone offers me an animal product and I tell them "No thanks I'm vegan." they take it as a personal assault on their character. Not just animal products, any food. I once told someone, "I don't eat cantaloupe." there reaction was, "Well I love cantaloupe!" I now understand why this happens. So much energy is put into the food we make.
I was listening to The Rich Roll podcast the other day. He is one of the top fitness podcasts and he is vegan. Rich's wife Julie was telling a story about this vegetarian chef who worked at a retreat. She made very tasty vegetarian food. Julie knew this chef was a very angry person. She was putting that anger into the food she prepared. She chopped the food up with resentment. Every time Julie and her friends went to this retreat they would have horrible digestive issues the entire retreat. When a mother makes a loving meal for her family she puts loving energy into that food. Cooking from a loving mother can heal and comfort you. In the old times the spiritual hub of the house was in the kitchen by the fire. That's where the sacred energy came from. Julies story really struck me.
Nowadays we don't have the time or energy to put love into making meals. It's all fast food, or grab and go frozen meals that we nuke in the microwave for 5 minutes. There's no loving energy there. I had to wonder is this the problem with our world today? In my opinion it most definitely is. Why can't we take the time to prepare a meal anymore? It's a pivotal core part of family lifestyle. It's how we bond, connect, share and nourish our bodies. What could be more important than that? We've lost that in the hustle and bustle of the 21st century. We're simply too busy to do it and that's sad. We know that sitting and having a nice family dinner is good for our children. But we don't do it because we want to, or because we enjoy it. It's become and obligation. We need to bring that back.
Food is energy. It effects how we feel, how we communicate, how we see the world and how we sleep. It is huge. What kind of energy are we inviting into our bodies? What energy goes into the food we nuke in the microwave, or the food we pick up from the drive thru window? When I went vegetarian I immediately noticed a shift in my brain. I had less brain fog. When I finally decided to make the full change to vegan I cut out all dairy and eggs. I had so much energy. I went through what I now learned was a detox. I noticed my mood changing. I was less angry, less depressed and less anxious. I felt an immediate change in my overall perspective.
The meat in our society is not harvested in a hunting manner. Violence is inflicted on these animals. Shocking the animal, scaring the animal, all that energy goes into that meat. That meat is processed and packaged. We eat that meat and put that negative energy into our bodies. That for me is the thing we need to wake up to.
Food has become the great divider. It is up for debate on every level. It causes passionate arguments. It is difficult to even raise an issue about food. It's like discussing religion or politics! Food used to unite us. Smartphones, TV and social media has replaced the family meal and that is very sad. I hope one day we will see less fast food joints and more families sitting down to a lovingly prepared meal.
I've heard it all:
"You are not vegan enough!"
"You were never vegan!"
"Veganism is a lifestyle not a diet!"
"You can't be vegan and feed meat to your pets!"
"You aren't vegan unless..."
It's very similar to religion and all their differences. I am very sad to say, "How can you take it seriously?" You can't convert someone to christianity by telling them they will go to hell any more than you could convert someone to go vegan by telling them they are a murderer.
The word vegan by itself is triggering. It's a very tricky and loaded word. When someone hears "vegan" they immediately link that to a past experience. Possibly with someone who was a militant vegan. That is very problematic. I now realize I don't want that. I want people to feel safe and not judged when discussing food or veganism with me. People will make a decision to go vegan or vegetarian on their own. No one can make another person do it.
We as vegans need to be understanding and less judgmental. If someone is trying to make this change why would you break their efforts? People want to be healthy and strive to be better. When someone demands you to drop all animal products from your diet that can be very intimidating. Most people aren't capable of doing this. I'm afraid vegans have painted themselves as so demanding, so intimidating and militant that we may not be able to bounce back from it. When I go to a restaurant I prefer not to use the vegan label. I will ask what ingredients are in certain foods and make my own choices. It's the labeling that's the problem.
If you want to go vegan that's great! Everyone can benefit from adding more fruits and vegetables in their diet. All you need to do is incorporate more of that into your diet. All the other things like vegan cosmetics and clothing, that's the easy part. Do it at your own pace and don't let these militant vegans steer you away. There's a new label for it and it's called a Reducetarian. But do we really need a label?
I never realized how effected people are by food. When someone offers me an animal product and I tell them "No thanks I'm vegan." they take it as a personal assault on their character. Not just animal products, any food. I once told someone, "I don't eat cantaloupe." there reaction was, "Well I love cantaloupe!" I now understand why this happens. So much energy is put into the food we make.
I was listening to The Rich Roll podcast the other day. He is one of the top fitness podcasts and he is vegan. Rich's wife Julie was telling a story about this vegetarian chef who worked at a retreat. She made very tasty vegetarian food. Julie knew this chef was a very angry person. She was putting that anger into the food she prepared. She chopped the food up with resentment. Every time Julie and her friends went to this retreat they would have horrible digestive issues the entire retreat. When a mother makes a loving meal for her family she puts loving energy into that food. Cooking from a loving mother can heal and comfort you. In the old times the spiritual hub of the house was in the kitchen by the fire. That's where the sacred energy came from. Julies story really struck me.
Nowadays we don't have the time or energy to put love into making meals. It's all fast food, or grab and go frozen meals that we nuke in the microwave for 5 minutes. There's no loving energy there. I had to wonder is this the problem with our world today? In my opinion it most definitely is. Why can't we take the time to prepare a meal anymore? It's a pivotal core part of family lifestyle. It's how we bond, connect, share and nourish our bodies. What could be more important than that? We've lost that in the hustle and bustle of the 21st century. We're simply too busy to do it and that's sad. We know that sitting and having a nice family dinner is good for our children. But we don't do it because we want to, or because we enjoy it. It's become and obligation. We need to bring that back.
Food is energy. It effects how we feel, how we communicate, how we see the world and how we sleep. It is huge. What kind of energy are we inviting into our bodies? What energy goes into the food we nuke in the microwave, or the food we pick up from the drive thru window? When I went vegetarian I immediately noticed a shift in my brain. I had less brain fog. When I finally decided to make the full change to vegan I cut out all dairy and eggs. I had so much energy. I went through what I now learned was a detox. I noticed my mood changing. I was less angry, less depressed and less anxious. I felt an immediate change in my overall perspective.
The meat in our society is not harvested in a hunting manner. Violence is inflicted on these animals. Shocking the animal, scaring the animal, all that energy goes into that meat. That meat is processed and packaged. We eat that meat and put that negative energy into our bodies. That for me is the thing we need to wake up to.
Food has become the great divider. It is up for debate on every level. It causes passionate arguments. It is difficult to even raise an issue about food. It's like discussing religion or politics! Food used to unite us. Smartphones, TV and social media has replaced the family meal and that is very sad. I hope one day we will see less fast food joints and more families sitting down to a lovingly prepared meal.
Comments
Post a Comment