How It All Began

I'm often asked by people why I'm a vegetarian. The two options they often presented are ethics or health. While neither of those was the original reason, they've come to become a part of it.

You see, I used to love meat. I couldn't get enough steak or ribs. I have fond memories living in Africa as a child eating a platter of lamb surrounded with vegetables and couscous. And we were eating with our hands! Everyone was. At the same time I'd always been an animal lover and about sixteen years ago I realized the two didn't really match up and eating meat just didn't feel right anymore. I haven't missed it since, though still find the smell of a good steak, barbecue and ribs rather comforting. What I think I am connecting those smells to is a communal experience of dining with others. My communal dining experiences started with meat long ago so those two will always be somewhat connected.

When I gave up meat I still ate chicken, for a brief period of time, until I saw my mom preparing one in our kitchen using pliers to pull out a vein. That was it for chicken and me. After that milk and eggs left my diet. Milk, because it just seemed odd to drink a liquid that came out of another animal and eggs after seeing baby chicks hatch at the Lincoln Park zoo. I know that is odd since they aren't truly "fertilized", but they could have been and we've all heard stories of people cracking an egg open for breakfast only to find a baby chick fetus inside. Like when I first gave up meat, it just didn't feel right anymore.  Cheese on the other hand is another beast. So many tasty varieties exist. It's hard to say no entirely to cheese.

Oddly, I never ate seafood. I developed some unexplainable aversion early on and remember either slipping the pieces my mom forced me to eat to the dog or quickly washing them down with milk so I wouldn't taste them.

And as I've continued on my near vegan journey I've serendipitously discovered so many great non-processed vegetarian and vegan food options, particularly here in Chicago. It's a great sense of discovery and satisfaction looking at a menu or challenging a chef to come up with something and then really enjoying the result.