I would have saved this entry for tomorrow, but I will be at the annual Business Manager Retreat all day, so I doubt I’ll be on a computer much, if at all. I already emailed the coordinator of this event to see if there would be a vegan meal option, and she responded that there is “a vegetarian chili that is considered vegan”. And they usually have fruit laid out for breakfast, so I just need to avoid all of the questionable pastries. ;-)
So, since going vegan on Monday, what have I learned?
1) There are surprisingly a ton of vegan options out there in grocery stores. I thought the local selection would be limited, but I’ve been fairly surprised. I stocked up on some things in Indy, like Trader Joe’s THIS IS NOT A TUB OF CREAM CHEESE, but I’ve gotten some pretty convenient options locally as well, like Gardein’s Ultimate Beefless Slider.
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| Beefless Sliders |
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| Not Cream Cheese |
2) Alcohol isn’t as vegan-friendly as you would think! I had bought a couple bottles of wine recently and thought to confirm their vegan status. Yellow Tail’s website states that “All [yellow tail] red varieties are vegan friendly. White varieties are not due to the use of animal products (gelatine) in the fining process. All the gelatine is removed during filtering before bottling.” http://www.discoveryellowtail.com/faqs.php
It was a little bit harder to find information about Oliver, but I found a vegan beer wine, and liquor guide, http://www.barnivore.com/wine/m-r#. In an email featured on the site, the company stated “We do use animal products in several of our wines on as needed basis to fine out unwanted tannins. Some wines tend to get gelatin, an animal derived product, and some wines tend to get egg albumin, an egg product.”
The good news is that Bacardi is listed as being vegan friendly. J And so is Malibu. This is a super-handy list.
3) Vegans apparently never get headaches. I scoured the shelves of CVS and there did not seem to be a single vegan pain reliever. I ended up emailing CVS about one of their products that seemed like it might be vegan. I got an email response today stating that they are contacting the vendor and will be back in touch with additional information.
I've mentioned my friend Johnny to you several times in the last few years. He was the one who, up until about a year ago, had been vegan for over 10 years. Clearly, I do not imagine he speaks for all vegans, but he once said to me, "those of us who care about animals and the Earth but are forced to live on a budget are also forced to make exceptions for certain items whose vegan alternatives are insanely expensive..." He had been referring to hand soap and lotions and even vegan butter (he used Smart Balance, I think, as an alternative when he couldn't afford the $7 for Earth Balance).
ReplyDeleteI know you want to be completely genuine in your, uhmm, test thing here, but even real honest-to-goodness, die-hard, "this is my life choice all year 'round" vegans make exceptions. Johnny took Aleve. ;-)
Yes, as much as possible, for the 3-week trial, I would want to stay as true to a vegan lifestyle as possible. However, I recognize that a 'true vegan' occasionally might have to make hard decisions when no viable alternatives exist. It's similar to my "normal" vegetarian lifestyle. From what I've learned about OTC pain relievers, there doesn't even appear to be a vegetarian alternative. My go-to product has always been Advil, but I didn't learn until this week that it contains animal products. I have no intention to give up Advil going forward - not until an animal-free alternative product pops up on the market. I don't like it, but it doesn't appear like there are many options out there. You also just end up having to make assumptions and reasonable exceptions as a vegetarian. I really enjoy going out to eat, but I am not under the misconception that my veggie burger is being cooked on a separate griddle or my french fries aren't being dunked in the same oil that some kid's chicken fingers were dunked in. There are SOME restaurants who assure separation of these products, but not enough. You try your best to follow a lifestyle you've chosen to lead, but, as we all know, we don't live in a perfect world.
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