| This marks Day 2 of my month and a half as a vegan. I'm doing this on a dare from a friend, and to see if my body feels any different (or better?) when I take away the eggs and dairy. Yesterday was easy. I had an awful headache. I hope Percocets are vegan because I took a few of those and then just went to bed. All I ate was an apricot and a nectarine. I was just too sick to fuss with food.
Today's a little harder. I'm in post-migraine mode (what I refer to as a "headache hangover"). Those who get migraines know what I'm talking about. I've eaten a baked potato, some oatmeal, an orange, a nectarine, and an apricot. But in my head, I keep dreaming of lattes. I made black coffee earlier but it really just didn't give me what I wanted. I wanted coffee. You know, with milk. The way I like it. So now my brain keeps thinking that the reason why I can't have coffee is because there's no milk in the fridge, and I keep coming up with ideas about stopping off at various coffee shops to pick up a latte.
I do want to note that I'm not doing this vegan challenge out of any belief that all people should be vegan or that no eggs or dairy are OK to eat. That's hardly the truth. When done right, animal agriculture can be good for the earth. The problem is that most of the time, our culture doesn't do it right. Many people (like Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono, who are now joining the Meatless Monday campaign) paint all meat or even animal products with the same broad brush, and that's not entirely correct. Factory farmed anything is bad for the planet. Sustainably farmed anything is good for the planet. Unfortunately, it's difficult to communicate complexity and it's much easier to tell people that all meat is bad.
I'm not sure what I'm going to eat next but it won't be a latte.
UPDATE: I just got an invite to an ice cream social emailed to me. 7pm, a few blocks from my apartment. Great. Maybe I'll go and watch all the other people eat ice cream. |
