One Resolution a Month for a Year
at 9:03 pm on January 20th, 2009 in Jan: Vegan/Refined Sugar/Corn Syrup Free | 
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For anyone who was worried that I might have broken my VRSFCSF diet to take a crack at the S.O.’s Giant Chicken Boogers from Chili’s last night, not to worry. I’m not even tempted. Obama has given me the strength to resist.
And to anyone interested in the Obama O’s and Cap’n McCains breakfast cereals should go here. Obama O’s Theme Song!
at 12:23 am on January 20th, 2009 in Jan: Vegan/Refined Sugar/Corn Syrup Free | 1 Comment
A recent study shows that women have a harder time curbing desire for food than men. Women and men put under a brain scan while being exposed to a food they loved showed differing levels of inhibition. While men were able to curb their desire when instructed, women were less able. No editorializing here, though such a premise leads easily to a Seinfeld-esque “what is the deal with women?” come back.
Chicken Boogers
However, it resonates in my own current (albeit temporary) VRSFCSF diet. My previous life could have been described as “Flexitarian” or “Freegan” – that is, in my case, when someone was going to get rid of something meaty I would save it from the trash can. Better to put a piece of chicken to good use in my tummy than leave it to rot in the garbage.
Tonight, my S.O. ordered varying styles of glazed boneless chicken thingies from Chili’s (I call them Giant Chicken Boogers, because they look like they came out of Paul Bunyan’s nose). She only orders them when she is stressed out, like during exam time. And she usually doesn’t finish them, so when that giant chicken filled styrofoam clamshell sits in the fridge for more than a day, I’ll go ahead and get up on them before they get thrown out. I’ll restrain any desire for the morsels until it is clear there is no chance she’ll eat it, and then I’ll go after it myself.
Admittedly, I enjoy them a bit, so it isn’t just out of some sort of sense of duty. And I have a feeling I’ll go back to being a Freegan when this month is over.
But I wonder, do any vegans ever have ethical debates between the waste argument and the consumption? Is it better to rescue a piece of meat from waste in the landfill? Or preserve your vegan purity?
at 4:00 pm on January 19th, 2009 in Jan: Vegan/Refined Sugar/Corn Syrup Free | Comment
On the eve of the inauguration, I wondered: whose cereal should I crack open to celebrate?
Neither. Both have refined sugar and honey. On the surface they are very, very different, but on the inside they are all the same.
I’m talking about the cereals. Not the dudes.
at 3:53 pm on January 19th, 2009 in Jan: Vegan/Refined Sugar/Corn Syrup Free | Comment
Trolling some forums out of a need to procrastinate I found others have tried to address the issue of whether gel caps are vegan. mum2sarah writes on the forum vegfamily:
I was at my local natural foods store last week looking for raspberry leaf that could be taken in a pill rather than a tea. The only bottle I could find was in a gel-cap. The lady working there was really nice and even looked at their product list to see if she could order any in a veggie-cap, but, alas, could not find any. She said I could either just keep using the tea, or buy the gel-caps and open them up and mix the contents into food or drink. I opted for the tea, because, to me, I would still feel responsible for the unneccessary death of animals by purchasing the gel-caps. I mean, it just seems not much different than being forced to buy a piece of chicken with your red beans and rice. Sure you can just throw the chicken away, but you still paid for the death of that chicken. ‘Animal suffering is perpetuated just as surely whether we pay to eat animals, pay to wear them, pay and then inexplicably throw them in the dumpster…so how can we possibly morally differeniate between these things?’ -Jed Gillen ‘Obligate Carnivore’
“Please don’t think I’m condemning here–I understand completely that there are not always alternatives to gel-caps, and it’s better to throw them away than to force yourself to ingest them. I am just sort of brainstorming here; what can be done about the prevalence of gel-caps? Can we make it a point to contact these companies that make our pills and explain to them that they are offerring no alternative to vegetarians/vegans? Can we somehow make more people aware of just what gelatin is, since many people don’t even seem to know? It’s so frustrating; I just wish we could take that frustration and turn it into some sort of positive action that would get results… My best advice would be to dump the contents for now and in the meantime, write a letter to Celebrex making your opinion about gel-caps known…”
For prescriptions, your pretty much stuck with whatever the pharmacist wants to give you. The best short-term advice I’m seeing is to become friends with your pharmacist and ask them to either give you the medicine and dosage in powder form for you to mix with food, or to bring your own vegi-gel caps (made from vegetable cellulose, hemp seed, or even pine bark!) for them to fill (they may have to suppress the urge to snicker).
In the longer term you would be better off going the old fashioned route and writing a letter. A cursory Google did not reveal any letter writing campaigns to gel cap manufacturers, but I imagine if you started with the big consumer pharmacies and supplement suppliers (Vitamin Shoppe, GNC, Walgreens, CVS, Rite-Aid) you’d be off to a good start.
There, a non-snarky, actually useful post on veganism!
at 2:19 pm on January 19th, 2009 in Jan: Vegan/Refined Sugar/Corn Syrup Free | Comment
…and nor should there be. Behold! The hot dog encased in French Fries.
at 6:31 pm on January 18th, 2009 in Jan: Vegan/Refined Sugar/Corn Syrup Free | 4 Comments
My last post fantasizing about a cupcake that had eggs and refined sugar, two big no-nos, received two interesting comments from friends. They recommended a couple of vegan and non-refined sugar options for satisfying a sweet tooth that I wanted to repost, with a question.
We all know a vegan or two out there who thumb their noses at the idea of eating a vegan “meat replacement.” Why should you need a replacement for something you shouldn’t be eating anyway? And there are quite a few more ominvores out there who say they would never eat something that “pretends” to be meat, when they could actually eat meat.
I’m a little bit in both camps, but only because some of the replacements are actually better than the original. Vegan sausage is so much better than real sausage in my opinion, and soy milk is really growing on me. But bacon is bacon; it can’t be replaced. When I was a kid I used to build meaty fortresses from the unlimited bacon buffet at Shoney’s, and demolish them like a dragon who just turned in his yarmulke. On the other hand, I’ve tried real duck, and the mock duck at Pongsri Thailand Restaurant in Lower Manhattan would beat out Daffy’s greasy carcass any day.
But I wonder, what vegan “meat replacements” do you recommend? Is there something you gave to an omnivorous friend that has effectively fooled them? Is there a dish that just happens to be vegan that you would eat even if you were the world’s most dedicated meat eater?
at 2:08 am on January 17th, 2009 in Jan: Vegan/Refined Sugar/Corn Syrup Free | 3 Comments
I mean just look at it! If that cupcake is verboten than I don’t want to be boten.
at 5:37 pm on January 16th, 2009 in About the Project, Jan: Vegan/Refined Sugar/Corn Syrup Free | Comment
When I planned out the rules for this resolution I knew I would have to have some kind of tangible incentive to keep myself on target. This month’s simple resolution to eat vegan and avoid refined sugar and corn syrup has worked out extremely well so far. I no longer feel the deprived of sugary foods, I only miss eggs a little bit, and I only grimaced slightly when my SO ate an oatmeal cookie right in front of me a few minutes ago.
Nevertheless, my rule was $20 per violation, and somehow I have managed to consume $80 worth of honey in violations (I spitefully disagree that bee juice isn’t vegan, but I didn’t make up the rules).
My colleague Jillian gave me a great idea to donate my sin money to a really great cause though: the Syrian Red Cross. The SRC are part of the International Red Cross, and are the only relief organization of their kind able to get in and out of Gaza, though they are facing a ton of difficulties in their aid work. The death toll in Gaza already is above 1000, and access to food, water, and medical aid is extremely scarce. Aid workers are struggling to address these emergency conditions as they put their lives on the line in the middle of a war zone.
This situation makes the “struggle” in my resolution seem all the more petty, but I will carry on! I am donating my $80 now so the donation can make a difference sooner than later (plus another $20 in case I slip up again!).
If you’d like to match my donation (or make any size donation) to the Syrian Red Cross, twitter me, comment me, or message me please!
at 4:39 pm on January 16th, 2009 in Jan: Vegan/Refined Sugar/Corn Syrup Free | Comment
I just was made aware that leather is “technically” not vegan, so the shoes and belt that I wear have “technically” put me in violation of my resolution for the last 12 days. I rationalize my behavior by claiming ignorance, but also note that I have not bought anything with leather since the start of my resolution either, so there. And I haven’t clubbed any baby seals lately either. Not because I haven’t wanted to, I just haven’t had time.
In all honesty, this resolution and all the technicalities that come with it have truly made me hate respect vegans all the more for how obsessive committed they have to be. Walking in the faux-leather mocassins of a vegan for a month has raised some interesting questions for me. For example, is wool not vegan because it comes from an animal? Or is it safe because animals are not killed for it? Gel caps aren’t vegan because the gelatin is made from horse’s hooves, but what if the medicine you have only comes in gel cap form? What about oil? It is made from dinosaurs, so is it not vegan? Okay, I asked that just to be obnoxious.
at 10:38 am on January 15th, 2009 in Jan: Vegan/Refined Sugar/Corn Syrup Free | Comment
Like a prisoner anticipating parole, I am making a list of the things that I will eat once my penance is done.
First on the list is the item that you see to the left. I saw this little gem in Super Stop & Shop the other night. That’s right, it’s pancake batter in a spray can.
The kicker? It’s organic! Because that is the first thing on the mind of the quaint chef looking for pancake batter in a can. The sustainability of the farm on which the flour, eggs, milk, oil, and xantham gum was produced.
I am seriously *this* close to breaking my diet just so I can shotgun this stuff straight from the can….Must…resist….
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