[Sca-cooks] Vegetarians

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

From: Philippa Alderton <phlip_u at yahoo.com>
>Most dear my UUY, I know perfectly well what ovos are,
>but my point was that many people don't, so that the
>veggie shorthand tends to be rather self-defeating.

Frankly, ovo-lacto-vegetarian is (a) NOT shorthand (it's a rather
long word), and (b) very clear and descriptive. It obviously means
that the person is a vegetarian who consumes eggs (ovo-) and dairy
products (lacto-). It's not at all confusing. It's very specific. And
it serves to differentiate between them, and other kinds of
vegetarians, such as vegans who eat nothing made in any way by any
non-plant creature (of course, there's always the question, do vegans
swallow... uh, never mind)

There are vegetarians who eat dairy, but not eggs
(lacto-vegetarians). There are the "Sun Fired" foods vegetarians who
eat food "cooked by the sun". There are vegetarians who eat only raw
foods. There are fruitarians. In short, there are many different
kinds of vegetarians. Adding ovo- and lacto- makes it more clear what
kind of vegetarian one is. It is self-explanatory, not self-defeating.

I was trying to stay out of this thread, because i really don't
understand your extreme anger toward vegetarians in such general and
blanket manner. I can understand your annoyance at your "friends" who
made you eat sprouts for four days, but not at *all* vegetarians.

I wrote about Tofurkey and UnTurkey, but i'm not a vegetarian. I used
to be a vegetarian, an ovo-lacto-vegetarian, to be exact. I didn't
eat fish; fish are not vegetables and people who eat fish are not
vegetarians.

I was constantly harangued and harassed by people who ate meat. I had
no interest in "converting" anyone, and only discussed vegetarianism
when questioned by others, making it clear that this was my choice,
and everyone was free to make their own choices. I was not
sanctimonious. I never criticized someone for eating meat nor did i
make snide remarks about meat. My being vegetarian didn't make me
"better". It was what i decided to do for a variety of reasons, some
spiritual, some ecological, some health-related. I read standard
nutrition textbooks to make sure my diet was providing me with all
the necessary nutrients.

I was harassed by doctors, too. One did this huge work-up on me,
taking massive quantities of blood for tests because he was convinced
i couldn't be healthy following a vegetarian diet. Needless to say,
after getting the results back, he found i was perfectly healthy. I'm
sure we all know unhealthy people following omnivorous diets...
Whether or not one is healthy is in the details (what exactly does
one eat in relation to various aspects of one's body and one's
lifestyle), not the generalizations (vegetarian, omnivore, etc.). But
i don't hate all doctors because of this.

I was even kicked out of a shared housing situation because one of
the guys there didn't like the fact that i didn't eat the same food
he did. I never criticized his choice, and being around other people
eating meat didn't bother me. Heck, we all ate dinner together. But
my not eating meat really bothered him, even though his eating meat
did not bother me. But his behavior doesn't make me antipathetic to
people who eat meat, just to that guy. Why are you antipathetic to
all vegetarians? It is illogical and senseless.

I find those who work *real hard* at trying to convert folks to their
way, whether it's a religion, a diet, a political point of view, etc.
*very annoying*. But i don't hate all people who follow those points
of view, only the proselytizers. And i respect those who follow their
own paths with conscience and thoughtfulness, but without judging or
hassling others, even if it's a path i wouldn't choose. There's a
definite difference between sharing information (why one has chosen
to act or believe a certain way) and trying to convert people (try to
get you to do the same thing). I don't like proselytizing vegetarians
in my face, but i don't like obnoxious meat eaters in my face either,
and i met plenty of them.

I think your wrath would be better directed to those who specifically
cause you trouble, and not at some group in general. It's an awful
lot like disliking or distrusting people of a particular ethnic group
just because they're that "eth" and it displays irrational prejudice.

As for bad vegetarian food... Some people are bad cooks. Whether or
not they are vegetarians or omnivores is irrelevant. You can be a bad
cook who eats meat, too. Trust me, i've known quite a few omnivores
who eat boring, bad tasting, ill-prepared, and unhealthful food (what
about all those horrible fast food restaurants?). There's no reason a
vegetarian diet can't be healthful and delicious.

Sure, some vegetarians are annoying. But all sorts of individuals are
annoying. Most of them are NOT vegetarian. Most vegetarians are
perfectly nice people who have just chosen not to eat meat.

Get over it. Find a better place to direct your angry energy...

Anahita