Q&A

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your daughter’s choice to become a vegetarian. There are many health benefits to a plant based diet and the various forms of vegetarianism have gained popularity in recent years. The best thing you can do is support her decision and educate her and yourself on how to maintain proper nutrition. There is a lot of information on the internet about plant based nutrition. This may require some changes to your family’s eating habits but hey, you may all get healthier in the end.

First of all, there are pretentious people in all walks of life; not just vegans and vegetarians. Don’t judge an entire group of people because of the actions of a few. Go into your interaction with an open mind. Most vegetarians and vegans view their lifestyle choice as a personal one and have no intention of converting or judging you. I promise that they have seen more harassment on the subject than you have, and probably have some of the same apprehension as you. If you do feel that your cousin may be judging you, just explain that you will respect their eating choices if they respect yours.

Although it may be funny to you, I guarantee that your brother does not think so and is probably a little confused. Vegetarians often feel a little apprehensive about eating around non-veggies, especially at BBQs where the focus of the event is the meat. This is not because of any judgment on their part, but because of the comments they receive about their eating choice. Making animal noises with your food at someone who does not eat meat is quite insensitive and borders on bullying. Next time try enjoying your meal and try a few jokes that don’t pick on anyone.

Any diet that is poorly executed can make you ill. Some people embark on a vegan or vegetarian diet by simply eating what they normally would minus the meat. Like only eating potatoes and salad with dinner and passing on the chicken. Worse still, many will unknowingly embark on what is sometimes called a “potato chip” vegan or vegetarian diet. This involves eating mainly processed junk food. Both of these deprive the body of essential nutrients. The key to a successful vegan or vegetarian diet is ensuring you are eating complete protein, or protein combinations, that provide all the essential amino acids a person needs. This means being conscientious of what you eat and knowing what your body needs. With proper education and execution a vegetarian or vegan diet can become easy and rewarding.

No. A person’s sexual preference is in no way connected to their eating choices.

No. In fact there is much debate on whether or not Hitler was even a vegetarian. The best information indicates that he was advised to reduce his meat consumption by his doctor for health reasons but did not keep to this diet for very long. Regardless, there are “evil” people in all walks of life. Pointing out that one “evil” person was possibly a vegetarian does not give any validity to the argument that vegetarians are evil. Statistically speaking, roughly only 4% of the population is vegetarian. So just going by the numbers there are way more evil people that eat meat than are vegetarian. But even that doesn’t prove any correlation between dietary choices and a propensity for evil-doing.

Although the idea of not eating meat can seem appalling to most non-vegetarians it’s not as absurd as you may believe. Vegetarians and vegans eat many of the same foods as everyone else. They eat pizza, pasta, tacos, chili, sandwiches …If you can think name it, there is probably a vegetarian version. The main difference is that all meat ingredients are replaced with another form of protein. Although it may not seem appetizing to you, vegetarian food is actually quite delicious and I’ve even had a few of my meat-eater friends think the vegetarian dishes I’ve made had meat in them. Next time you are eating around vegetarians ask to try a bite. You might just be surprised.

If you are fearful of giving up all meat there are numerous routes you can go. Many people opt for meatless Mondays. This idea started as a campaign where people go meatless for just one day. (Check out our FACTS and LINKS pages for more information). Another route is something called being a versatarain. Versatarians eat a primarily plant based diet but occasionally eat meat. There are studies that indicate this lifestyle allows for many of the same benefits as going full vegetarian as well as dramatically reducing your diet’s impact on the environment. This way you can improve your health and the environment but still occasionally have that hamburger without feeling like a hypocrite.

It would be extraordinarily rare to find a true vegetarian or vegan that would eat something prepared with chicken broth, lard or any animal product. Although it is not a solid form of meat, it is prepared using meat which is a no-no for the vegetarian. You could always modify the recipe to use vegetable broth. But if you fear it would greatly affect the taste, make two versions: one with chicken broth and one with vegetable broth. Vegetarians are typically quite understanding when it comes to the inconveniences caused by their eating choices. Simply call your guest and ask questions about what they can eat. Most of the time they will offer to bring a dish or two to take some of the strain off of your meal preparation.