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
