I’m not a vegan, but i play one….
I’m a vegan sympathizer.
Here’s a brief history of my relationship to animal products:
1990-1991: I explore vegetarianism and declare myself meat-free. I am taunted at school and scorned at the dinner table. What a weird response people have to something that doesn’t affect them at all. At some point I forget why I became veg and resume meat-eating. I also become a born-again Christian (Yikes!) which lasts until about 3 months into college.
2000: My roommate, who is becoming increasingly political, starts dating a vegan. Which I think is cool. My boyfriend is vegetarian. We all live together and I do lots of vegan cooking because, well I love to cook and welcome the challenge. I love the vegans and the veggies, but still don’t take the pledge. After the Christian thing, I’m reluctant to adopt principled abstentions.
I also learn to knit this year. I make no connection between wool and veganism.
2001: Me and veg boyfriend get married. Wait, now he’s a “pescatarian?” WTF? So, we have salmon and clearly labeled vegan options at our wedding. Nobody is surprised because we live in San Francisco.
Nate’s good friend Aaron is living with a vegan named Jerry. He decides to try veganism as well. It makes sense to me, but still resisting labels, I just start “eating vegan”. In addition to reducing my impact on the earth, I’m not contributing to animal suffering, and through my food choices am provoking thought and conversation among all sorts of people. Oh, and Aaron and Jerry start the Vegan Potluck, which eventually gets super-big and I believe is still going on in SF these days. The first one was only like, seven people!
2003: I get pregnant. I try to find info on vegan pregnancy. The one book I discover on the topic is out of print. The cravings get strong. The worry about a healthy baby sets in.
2004: I’m scarfing down anything that can’t run away. By the final weeks of my pregnancy, I’m eating hamburgers and ice cream. You know, to be sure my baby is healthy. Didn’t I say this would be a brief history?
2005: Me and my son Max have returned to an animal-free diet. He lives on soy yogurt, soy milk, tofu, gardenburgers, fruits and veggies and grains. On a trip back to Seattle for Christmas, he starts having horrible diarrhea and vomiting every night. We have no idea what’s causing it. Three weeks and lots of doctor’s visits later, he is lethargic, bony, and only drinking soy milk. Our doctor says it’s got to be a food allergy, so we must do an elimination diet. Max slowly recovers, as whatever was poisoning him get out of his system. As we reintroduce things, he fares well until we bring soy back into his diet. Immediately, he vomits. So we’ve figured that out. Meanwhile, we discover my husband’s chronic stomach distress has been alleviated by the absence of gluten. One evening after a vegan takeout gluten-fest, he’s sick as the proverbial dog.
PRESENT: I’ve got a kid with a soy allergy, a husband with celiac disease, and we’re not sure about our daughter yet. For this reason, we’ve been leaning heavily on the animal kingdom to meet all our dietary guidelines in one meal.
Meanwhile, my knitting addiction is growing, and I’m learning about all the wool alternatives that are coming available…bamboo yarn? corn yarn? recycled soda bottle yarn? Then I start reading about the wool industry in australia.