“SO, try something. Pick one of the vegetarian styles and do it for a month.
“See what you think.” The chef said.
He had been educating our carnivorous minds, as per the curriculum, and he casually tossed it out there. He’d mentioned that he used to make his students keep a food diary, to log their calories and nutritional information, but after repeated omissions of countless pints of beer and pizza slices, it was a hopeless proposition. So, here I sit, contemplating once again, the scientific benefit of going Veg and how my body needs to feel versus its current state. If not now, when? Why the hell not?
I have all the tools to accomplish this little exercise. My Food Diary keeps my virtual refrigerator all tallied up and organized. If I try hard enough, I can even print it off. I might as well get my blood sugar recordings in the mix, too, since I have been a lazy-ass and it shows. My dog is a great exercise instigator, no problem there, with our daily one hour hauls up and down the huge hills in the ‘hood. I know how to cook a few grains and actually don’t mind eating them. This house is totally rocked to the hilt with whey protein products, essential fatty acids and balanced nutrition supplements. I am totally set up. Now if they only had a supplement for compliance, I’d be in kick-ass shape.
My fiancee will not suffer at all- I will gladly prepare him whatever he desires, since everything but meat, to him, is “filler”. I am not going militant on meat, not banning it from my presence.The dog will not suffer either, as she can only eat fish, and hey, she has no business eating pinto beans, trust me. She sleeps on my side of the bed. Do the math. Its going to be a good trial of the Portland restaurant scene’s abilities when we head out for the evening. Where I am able, I will just opt out of a meat entree when I order a meal, picking around it if necessary.
I guess the inevitable question behind most vegetarianism practices is this: What is the motivation? In reading for school, I have learned that politics plays a part as much as personal choice in some countries outside this fatted nation of mine. People still forage for what is edible coming from the dirt in parched regions, meat is a luxury, seeds and grains are the mainstay. Part of the reason is not ignorance of the workings of a proper well and plumbing, but a war, overpopulation, governmental ruin, lack of money. Rather than feed an animal valuable grains to fatten them for later slaughter and short-lived gastronomic indulgence, saving their own grains from year to year for direct consumption is a more efficient and cost effective solution to hunger and need. True living by hand to mouth, is more critical an undertaking when there is no industrialization, no job, no corner market run by Mom and Pop, no Wal-Mart.
My motivation is my health. I’ve slacked off this past year or two, and if I continue on, I will become the very train wreck I have been wagging my finger at during family reunions. Culinary school lore tells of the weight gain average per student is nine pounds. Joking with my last chef, I swore I’d lose 9 by graduation, to which she replied, “I’m automatically gonna give you an F.” I cannot afford to take the only body I was given and let it go to hell. Part of my reasoning for going to school was to learn more ways to cook foods, mainly foods that my fiancee and friends with special dietary needs can eat. I am taking Baking and Pastry classes next so I can find Brian that perfect loaf of non-chemical warfare inducing bread, one that he can enjoy without fear of physical agony or being made to join the dog on the balcony in the tent all summer long (see Pinto Bean discussion above).
So, here I go. I am declaring myself an Ovolacto Vegetarian for a month. I have to taste food in class, and its Beef Week here soon, so there is no getting around that. I will taste, to do the work and put a product out, but not eat more than that. Fair is fair and this is my GPA, by golly, so, I’m not screwing around with some insane principle in the school kitchen.
Wish me luck.
