This isn’t going to be an article that is filled with detailed recipes and advice about a smooth try at becoming vegan. In fact, people who are successfully vegan should probably not read this at all unless they want to become frustrated. My story begins when I, randomly feeling like a challenge, decided to go vegan for a week.
Being from northern Michigan, I’ve always loved eating meat and cheese, and I personally have never seriously considered a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. I just figured I would try it out and write about it.
Most people looking to do something like this would plan ahead – maybe even do some research – but I did nothing of the sort. Right after the inclination popped in my head, I decided to drop the meat, dairy and other animal-based foods the following week. The only thing that somewhat resembled preparation was buying a carton of soymilk – assuming that’s what vegans drink, right?
Jokes aside, I was pleasantly surprised that soymilk tastes pretty good. I’m considering switching to it in general, as it’s healthier than regular milk and even contains no cholesterol. My morning routine was also hardly affected; I simply put the soymilk in my coffee in lieu of creamer, toasted bread and added peanut butter, and I was good to go.
The other meals were a little more difficult. On day one, I stared into the fridge, panicked, and just grabbed an apple for lunch; however, I got better as the week progressed. A vegan café in downtown State College – Café Verve – helped me out with quick meals a few times during the week; their soy-based “chicken” sandwiches were actually really good. I didn’t even find myself missing meat during the week, but I did miss cheese – I even found myself craving it. It did make me think, though, that being vegetarian would be a pretty easy switch for me. Foods like pasta, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and vegetable lo mein from the Chinese restaurant below my apartment, for example, made the week a lot easier for me.
On a more serious note, if anyone feels an inclination to stop consuming food connected to killing animals or in other ways harming them, I would encourage them to just go for it. It might be hard at first, but it’s definitely manageable. As my week came closer to its end, a few people here and there would even suggest vegan recipes to me – none of which I went on to create, but it’s the thought that counts. I could have gone for the vegan lifestyle if I had really put my mind to it; and coming from me, that’s really saying something.