So, what do vegans eat?

Hello, friends!

Welcome to my newest blog endeavor, where I will try to help people answer a question I get quite often--What do vegans eat?

The answer is, of course, anything. . .as long as it doesn't involve animal products. But for anyone not familiar with checking labels and asking restaurant servers, the list of DON'Ts could seem miles longer than the list of DOs. Part of the reason why is that it is easier to explain what we do eat by defining what we don't eat. No meat, no seafood, no eggs, no dairy (including whey, milkfat, etc.), no gelatin or other by-products of the factory farm industry.

So what does that leave you?

A whole lot of delicious, healthy and inexpensive gifts from nature. Plants! Okay, I know I've lost some of you there. But here's the deal: I'm a lucky girl. I went vegan last year, and the cruelty-free options that are available to vegans in the 21st century are leaps, bounds and mountains beyond mountains better than the options (or lack-thereof) of decades past. There are cookbooks, blogs and even Food Network vegan cupcake competitions. There are bakeries, restaurants and grocery stores dedicated to providing you delicious options and satisfying delights to keep you happy and healthy for the rest of your herbivore life.

But why vegan?
A healthy vegan diet is ideal because it is high in fiber, no cholesterol, high in vitamins, minerals and good fats, low in artificial hormones, and provides enough protein without overloading your system (yes, too much protein is not a good thing). Of course, Oreos, Sweet & Spicy Doritos and Primal Meat Seitan Jerky are all vegan, but they're not healthy. So don't plan on living off of french fries and hummus.
Eliminating meat, eggs and dairy from your diet also has an important effect on the environment. Let's face it: Factory farms are not natural, and they wreak havoc on our natural world. The sewage pools contaminate drinking water, poison our bodies (hello salmonella illnesses!) and pollute our fresh air. Remember when you were little and adults told to you "Smell that sweet country air!"? How gross is that? Why were we brainwashed to think that poop smelled good? Animals that are confined to small spaces to live out their entire lives are prone to sickness. No one is meant to spend years in a cage the size of their bodies with no room to turn around. Imagine spending every day of your life packed into a small room with some chicks who got so frustrated they would scratch you with their claws. Welcome to life as an egg-laying hen. There's nothing natural about the way that the factory farm industry "raises" farm animals, and everything about factory farms goes against what we imagine as a healthy environment. Period.
So my last point ties into the environmental issue--cruelty is just unnatural. I know we feel like we want to reminisce about the caveman era, when it was appropriate to club people and eat raw meat and speak with a 10 word vocabulary, but I'm sorry to say those days are over. Sometimes we are socialized to be cruel...to hurt family pets, to laugh at suffering and death as if they were insignificant, to think being "tough" is more important than being "caring". But it's time to grow up. Our society is moving towards a consciousness that supports compassion, understanding, and higher morals. There is a growing number of folks who see war, violence, oppression and marginalization as a sickness that needs to be remedied. We need to find a better way to live together, and to cohabit this planet with all other life. That better way is encompassed in the concept of veganism.

So enough of the why. Back to my initial question: What do vegans eat?

I'm going to tell you. Every day. Welcome to my blog about what I eat, and what other vegans I know eat. I'm hoping that along the way, you'll discover foods that you didn't think were possible on a vegan diet, and perhaps enjoy new foods that you never considered trying. I'll try to keep things healthy and inexpensive, but I love pizza and wings and barbecued anything, so don't judge!