Tuesday, April 22, 2008

The dude abides


It's biking season and I've been thinking more about bikes than veggieism recently. But, I did see a few good stories today I thought I'd mention:
Everyone knows about Paul McCartney being vegetarian and a strong veggie advocate, but hey - even Chinese politicans are getting into the act right now, at least for Earth Day.
If you had any doubt that your veggie diet was healthier than that of your omnivore friends, here is another research study to back up your "it's healthier!" argument - vegan diet helps prevent prostate cancer.

And here, from Wired Magazine, is a great piece titled Food Riots Begin: Will You Go Vegetarian?

The writer, an omnivore, kind of explores how various things had made him more and more sympathetic and receptive to vegetarianism, and now, with the worldwide food shortages, he finally feels ready to accept, without reservation, the logic of the veggie argument:

As I grew older and my palate more sophisticated, I learned to appreciate the joys of vegetables and grains and fruits. I ate more of these, and after reading Michael Pollan's This Steer's Life tried to make sure that the animals I consumed lived and died as decently as possible. But going non-meat was a non-starter. Even when environmentalists pointed to the extraordinary greenhouse gas burden of global livestock, I put it out of mind.

I'm not sure if I can sustain that willful blindness anymore.



It's a really good piece, at least for us veggies. Here's hoping more and more people learn about veggie secrets like Quinoa and serve their friends salads like this more often.


P.S. - My partner and I are getting married this autumn, and are planning to have a vegan wedding. Wish us luck!!

4 comments:

Krista said...

Congrats on the wedding news!!! But you might want to rethink the meal. You wouldn't want any of your meat-eating wedding guests to collapse from protein-deficiency on the dance floor! ;-)P

Seriously though, it's your day and like you said, it's one meal out of a lifetime!

Anonymous said...

Evenin', Dude,

Congratulations on the upcoming nuptials!

I wonder if this is one of those "Is the wedding for the couple or the family?" issues, combined with the "A meal is a feast and feasts mean meat" tradition. Which leads to the "What will our neighbours think of us if there's no chicken?" anxiety.

Personally, I think a wedding is for the couple (and you're darn right that your guests can celebrate your love, and your values, with a vegan meal).

I just floated that to my wife, Heather, who feels that weddings are really for the family... and that those family members and friends have probably had plenty of fantastic vegan meals and not recognized it.

Susanne said...

Hi Tuco,

Yes, ofcourse I'm familiar with your veggieblog! It's very inspiring. By the way: congratulations with your upcoming marriage. I must say I've never heard of a vegan wedding. Interesting. I'm looking forward to the pictures :)))

Susanne

Elaine Vigneault said...

Congrats! Have a great wedding day (and don't stress out too much).