Edited by Avleen Grewal
“How have you lived this long without bacon!!???” is a question I am completely accustomed to when I let someone know that I’ve been vegetarian my whole life. And the answer is simple: I don’t really know what bacon tastes like, and that makes it much easier to live without it.
I come from a whole family of vegetarians, mostly for cultural reasons. As I grew older, I stayed vegetarian, mostly out of a laziness to actually attempt tasting meat. As a result, except for a few unfortunate accidents, I have never eaten meat or seafood in my entire life. This got me thinking about how my vegetarianism could possibly affect various aspects of my life and body. There are several cases in which being vegetarianism has presented hurdles, and several others when I quite enjoyed being vegetarian.
Social and Personal Life
Being vegetarian has actually had an impact on my social life at times. As vegetarianism is becoming more acceptable in restaurants and society in general, I am respected for my choices and provided many options, whether it be at social gatherings or restaurants. Most meetings, workshops and parties I attend manage to order a cheese pizza at the very least, while restaurants are adding more vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options in order to appeal to the increasing population of those in need of these modifications. I have had very few situations in the last couple of years where I really had to struggle for food options.
However, this was not the case when I was much younger. There were much fewer vegetarian options when I went somewhere on a school trip or with friends, and those options were not exactly appealing. For example, a camping trip I went on in elementary school had an extremely unappealing menu of tofu salad and vegetable stew for the vegetarians in the group. Not as many restaurants had veggie options back then, so many of my hangouts with friends consisted of me sadly chewing on fries or a salad with a soft drink.
There were also differences in cultural norms that I had to deal with. Coming from a country like the UAE with a significant Indian population meant that there a lot more vegetarian options, even in places like McDonald’s. Veggie burgers from McD’s were a staple in my family once a month. Flash forward to when we first moved to Canada and decided to head out to McDonald’s for dinner. The cashier was absolutely baffled at our request for a vegetarian meal, first asking us if we wanted a fish fillet, then offering us a “burger” consisting of the buns, lettuce, a slice of cheese, and ketchup (Note: Those who eat seafood but not meat are actually called pescatarians, while vegetarians eat both meat and seafood. Also, I’m very sorry for the poor cashier who had to deal with our culture shock). Learning how big meat was in Western culture, from Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners to the confusing obsession with bacon, was quite interesting. I never could fathom what it would be like to live with meat, and I suppose most meat-eaters here would have felt the same about living without meat.
But times are changing, as more people turn to a vegetarian or vegan diet, whether it be voluntarily or involuntarily. There is a growing amount of the population that doesn’t consider meat or seafood as an staple anymore, and with that, comes a new demographic to accommodate. And of course, I am enjoying the hell out of it.
Health
Not eating meat or seafood for pretty much all my life meant that I am not susceptible to diseases that pass through these foods and I do not get the extra fat intake from these foods as well. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m much healthier than most people out there.
It may surprise some to know this, but it is extremely easy to be an unhealthy vegetarian. I can’t speak for veganism, but since vegetarianism includes dairy products and eggs, a lot of junk food options aren’t exactly off the table. And being the menu savvy vegetarian I am, I know exactly what to buy to satisfy my sweet tooth and where to buy it.
And boy, do I have a sweet tooth.
With the pressure of exam season, I’ve had a plethora of sweet foods to dissipate my stress, from venti-sized chai tea lattes from Starbucks to boxes of Timbits for that 5-hour study session in Robarts. I snack a lot when I’m studying, so my desk at home usually has a box of cookies or Indian snacks to munch on as I lose myself in problem sets. Fried food is almost regularly made at home, and cheese has no right being as amazing as it is. Eating high-calorie foods that are veggie is a trap I have fallen into many times, and I have definitely gained weight and gotten sick from my terrible eating habits.
Of course, this results in me having to watch my calorie intake, and actually attempt being healthy in terms of my diet. And I’m actually able to put off coffee now! I am starting to make different varieties of salads, I’ve replaced cookies with baby carrots, and I make a U-turn the moment I spot a Starbucks in my path. I actually feel like the vegetarian most people attempt to be! I’m enjoying my rabbit food very much.
Except for one of those cheat days.
Being vegetarian and healthy is definitely possible and a very noble effort, but it is possible to be extremely unhealthy while being veggie. So a word of caution to those wanting to go veggie for weight loss/diet reasons: that chocolate chip Frappuccino is still an option, and it can be extremely tempting.
Dietary restrictions need not necessarily be a political statement. People may use these restrictions for cultural, social, and health reasons as well. I am extremely happy to see an increased understanding of vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and other dietary requirements over the last few years. My only hope is that this grows, and future generations feel free to eat the way they would like to without any hindrances. After all, that rabbit food isn’t too bad after all!