I'm already a vegetarian. Pescetarian if you really want to get picky, but whatever. I went vegetarian in late February and loved it. I've still been having some dairy products, I eat things that contain eggs, and, for the past two days, I've actually eaten poached eggs for the first time in my life. Can't say I was really a fan.
Lately I've been reading some quite eye-opening literature on food, animal products mostly. First on my list was Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation.
I like to say that Fast Food Nation is like the literary equivalent of Super Size Me.
Yeah, remember this one? The 2004 documentary that showed us what we already knew: FAST FOOD IS AWFUL FOR YOU. Well now we have Eric Schlosser telling us again, and not only does he tell us how terrible the food itself is, he informs us on the awful working conditions in fast food restaurants and slaughterhouses and the meatpacking practices that are even worse. As if we weren't already turned off to fast food just from the simple fact that it makes you fat, we now are aware that the meals that millions of Americans can cause deadly diseases (read: CANCER), the slaughterhouses seek out illegal immigrants who barely speak English and exploit them with horrendous working conditions, and the methods of slaughter aren't even humane. Because guess what? After a cow is "stunned" (with a metal bolt to the head) it isn't dead. It might be unconscious (in the best cases, sometimes the people operating these things miss), but it's still alive. And these live animals are skinned, dismembered, and sent to be processed (all while covered in their own feces, which --newsflash! -- aren't being cleaned off sufficiently), packaged and presented on a plate for your consumption! Tasty, right?
I know it seems like I'm just ranting right now, but give me a minute. I swear I have a point.
Now, I'll be perfectly honest. I didn't go vegetarian six months ago because I was on an animal rights crusade. I was as blind to all of that as you are. I wanted to lose weight. And it worked. I lost ten pounds in the first week of cutting meat from my diet.
Which brings me to today. An hour and a half ago, I started reading Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin's Skinny Bitch.
I'm already halfway through, and I've had an epiphany. Every woman in America, no the world, needs to read this book. It's like a slap upside the head from your best friend telling you that no, you cannot eat another Oreo and expect to lose weight. A few chapters in, Freedman and Barnouin prompt readers to go vegan. And here I am, sitting in a club chair at my local library and thinking, hey! Why not? I'm already a vegetarian, so what would I be cutting out really? Fish, eggs, dairy. Yep, that's pretty much it. I think I can do it.
Of course, I don't plan on going it alone. My next read will be Kathy Freston's Veganist.
Warning: Not a cookbook. I saw Freston on Oprah around the time I decided to go vegetarian. Yeah, she was on the same episode that did a slaughterhouse expose and let yours truly see cows being stunned. Coincidence? Absolutely not.
I'll also be frequenting the archives of The Preppy Vegan for delicious vegan recipes. And of course I'll post some in the near future.
XO
North Shore Prep
