Monday, July 16, 2012

My Vegan Mondays


I started doing My Vegan Mondays about two and a half years ago, inspired by the Meat Free Mondays celebrated in England. I’m obsessed with food—from the ridiculous and indulgent to the pious and pure; from the principles and practices to the customs and culture. This is why, at the turn of the millennium, after being introduced to MichaelPollan and feeling pretty scared about our environmental future, I gave up red meat. It was a combination of intellectual fascination and a very doable lifestyle change. It was a small thing I could do, and something that was personally meaningful. And when Paul, Mary and Stella McCartney, launched their Meat Free Mondays, I figured I would up my ante a wee bit by doing My Vegan Mondays—“my” vegan Mondays, a very deliberate label.

It may seem silly that I don’t eat any animal products or by-products on Mondays. But it’s my little thing. It’s not meant to co-opt the vegan label or be misleading about what veganism is. Just as I’m not preaching to those who eat meat, I’m not being ignorant as to what veganism is about. I don’t claim to be a purist. I just eat a vegan diet one day a week. Or at least try to.

You can’t change the world, you can only change yourself.

Morning
Coffee with soy milk
Green juice (kale, apple, cucumber, lemon juice and banana)
Peanut butter Clif Bar (it had been a long, long time; I had forgotten how these can be like eating candy bars.)

Afternoon
Brown rice bowl with some eggplant, sprouts, carrots and edamame
Dried pineapple (I had a book event in Stamford tonight. Any time I pass through Grand Central, I have to get dried pineapple from the market. From Zabar’s, they’re some of the gummiest, most decadent rings in the city.)

Evening
Fruit salad
Lentil salad

4 comments:

  1. Very nicely said ... much more nice than I would be :)
    I quit eating meat when I met my (then vegetarian) husband and got pregnant . I figured it could only be better for me and the new baby to have less bad stuff and more good stuff .. it hasn't been bad so far .. over 30 years of non meat eating and all of us are pretty healthy. Vegan is hard ! Even one day is difficult, I admire that you manage it every week.
    This Monday I actually managed but not for trying :) I had vegetable broth and tea all day because I was not hungry but cold and last night we had baked sweet potatoes, baked squash and roasted tomatoes. It is cold so having the oven on made things nice and toasty :)
    besitos.

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  2. Perfectly said. We all ca make a difference in our own little way, and we must. It is so important. Thanks for the inspiration Amy.

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  3. You can’t change the world, you can only change yourself. yeah, truth always the truth

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