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My food journey: 25 years of a meat-free evolution

Why do you eat what you eat? Have you really thought about it? Do you eat to fix or control something? Are you focused on eating for longevity? Or, do you eat out of joy or just out of necessity? Is how you are eating now the result of how you grew up? Part of your cultural identity? We all have a relationship with food that extends beyond the plate. It is one of our deepest connections to our sense of identity and has a huge impact on our lives, whether we are conscious of it or not.

With that said, it only makes sense for me to get started on this topic from the context of my own food journey, which starts with my food awakening. This awakening began when I was sixteen. I was volunteering for the Special Olympics, and the organization kindly provided me with a free lunch: a soggy-bun covered McDonald’s hamburger. As I unwrapped the thin paper covering and took a few bites, I knew I was done. “I don’t really want to eat this, and it’s not that good.” Oh, wait, I have a choice.

Oh, you righteous Nelly!

Speak no, hear no, see no evil: my teenage-self (on the right) who walked the righteous talk with her big pants friends

When I first realized that I did not need to be subjected to bratwurst or meatloaf (sorry, Mom), I was purely motivated by ethical reasons. “Who influenced you to do this,” my mom asked in mild shock when I made the I’m meat-free now announcement. “No one. I just realized I don’t HAVE TO or WANT TO eat animals.” It was hard for her to believe as a person raised in post-WWII Germany. Meat was a staple but also a luxury. Nevertheless, she and my dad supported me with purchases of many veggie burgers, vegetarian cookbooks, and a subscription to the Vegetarian Times.

“So, you’re straight edge,” commented a high school friend. Well, yes, I listen to punk rock. I don’t do drugs/drink/smoke, AND I don’t eat animals. But, really, what’s with the need for a label? As I started to make choices based on my interests and values, I began to notice the need for others to categorize me. I resisted this but as a teen I was part of a social group based on my burgeoning identity, whether I liked it or not. And, there was part of me that needed a sense of belonging.

The total immersion experience

The joys of shojin-ryori, temple food in Kyoto, Japan

Ten years into my meat-free lifestyle, I moved to Japan. I wanted to be immersed in EVERYTHING Japanese, and that included exploring a more traditional Japanese diet. White rice, soba, soy products of all kinds, green tea, sea vegetables, and, yes, sushi. No, I wouldn’t eat Basashi, raw horse meat, but raw fish entered my diet.

Japanese culture taught me to revere my food. From the method of mindfully eating beautifully presented food to only eating while sitting (walking while eating was rude), I began to embrace the tastes, sights, and smells of food. Never before was eating more fun and all-encompassing. When I would say, I was a vegetarian (“Watashi wa bejitarian desu”), people would ask, are you Buddhist? Ah, a label but of another kind. Meat had been banned by a Buddhist emperor in 675, and the taboo of eating it didn’t really disappear until the Meiji dynasty (late 19th century). Vegetarianism as a secular act didn’t really exist; and, quite frankly, treatment of animals often can be atrocious there.

So, you say I SHOULD eat coconut oil?

Healthy and powerful: hoping this shittake mushroom will keep me chronic disease-free

Through the years, I started thinking more about my personal health and longevity. When books like Fast Food Nation (2001) and The China Study (2005) came out, I devoured them (nice pun, right?)  When food documentaries like “Super Size Me” (2004) or “Food Inc.” (2008) hit the theaters, I’d make a beeline to the box office. I’ve blazed through hundreds, probably thousands, of food-related articles and recommendations over the years.

Blueberries to help my memory? Got it. Fish oil to reduce body inflammation? I’m on it. Coconut oil to help my hair and skin? Oil me up. When studies came out, however, suggesting that soy intake was associated with breast cancer risk (I have a family history), I began to question if my choices could be harming me.

Wait, what? I SHOULDN’T eat coconut oil?

Then it happened. “Coconut oil isn’t actually all that healthy with its high saturated fat content. It’s a marketing ploy based on limited evidence pushed by the food industry, and I would not recommend it for a society with such high obesity rates,” commented one of my professors during my early days of grad school. Ugh. He’s right.

Basically up until that point, I was not REALLY thinking critically enough about what I was reading or watching. I put the coconut oil away, and became less reactionary and more mindful in my approach. I knew I needed to understand the literature more thoroughly, and go beyond the catchy click-bait on “the latest study” or “the facts” from a sensationalized documentary. The thing I was interested in: getting as close to the truth as possible and understanding the limitations of what we know.

So, why do you eat what you eat?

In some sense, my hyper-vigilance around my diet turned into a way I thought I could control my future. We are all in control of our health to a certain degree, but then there are situations where we really are not. Today, I am still meat-free and still experimenting. I’ve gone through phases of eliminating fish and dairy. I continue to read about the societal, cultural, ethical, political, and environmental implications of the food we eat. It never gets old. My mom still wonders who influenced me way back when and when all of these eating experiments will end. But today, I am much more self-aware and much more critical of how the media and the food industry shape our perceptions around food.

Upcoming: Next week, I’m going to talk about what “the best” diet is. Can you guess?