Vegetarian for a Week

Photo by Flickr user muammerokumus.

By Broadside Correspondent Evan Benton

I can think of nothing better right now than a thick, juicy steak.

The smell is what hits me first; the aroma of grilled beef, cooking in its own juices, tinged with the simple yet irresistible marinade of salt, black pepper and herbs. It is better than any supermodel’s most alluring perfume.

I cut it with a fork and knife, the meat so tender it takes little more than the most gentle of scrapes. And then, I pierce the meat with the ends of my fork, and bring the glistening piece of perfection to my lips and I bite down into a forkful of bland lettuce, carrots and too much dressing. Or, maybe a piece of bean curd, dripping with brown and over salted mystery sauce, because I am a vegetarian at George Mason University, this is my lot.

This madness began as an experiment—a way to test my own gastronomic limits, as a glutton for punishment and as a curious friend of so many others who call themselves vegetarians, whether lacto (dairy, but no eggs), ovo (eggs, but no dairy) or even pesco (fish).

It did not really seem that difficult of a thing to undertake. I know lots of people who do not eat meat and they seem like healthy, regular human beings; the same as me. My mother is a vegetarian and from as far back as I can remember, she would spout off her reasons for going meat-free, which are similar to other vegetarians’ sentiments on campus.

I talked to 10 different vegetarians on campus (there is an incredibly large number) and the two most prominent reasons for going meatless were because of their disgust at how animals are treated in the meat and poultry industry and how unhealthy processed meat can be for the body.

“Eating meat all the time can be so bad for you,” said freshman communication major Justyne Louk over a conscientiously meatless lunch. “That kind of diet can spell heart disease down the road if you don’t find some balance.”

Louk is like many vegetarians I talked with who have been living the meatless diet from an early age, some even since birth. To me, that was too mind-blowing to take in.

With this in mind, I prepared for my valiant crusade of which people like my mother and the animal rights activists who hand out gruesome pamphlets near the Johnson Center would be proud.

But now, a week later, I am left as a shell of my former self with more than a few words of warning left for others.

For instance, after a rigorous workout at Skyline Gym the first day of my vegetarian adventure, I found myself combining all sorts of side dishes to create a suitable meal since no one dining facility at Mason could support my appetite with its non-meat options.

This culinary banquet consisted of one order of 7-layer nachos from Taco Bell, two springs rolls from Mein Bowl, and a combo of basmati rice, aloo saag and a potato samosa from Sangam.

Later that night, I learned a valuable lesson: never combine nacho cheese with excessive amounts of curry.

“I don’t think I could go without protein in that form,” Karl Kramer, my trainer, said to me that same night at the gym. “Vegetables and fruit just couldn’t support my hunger. I’d be eating all the time.”

At the time, I told him to keep the advice to himself and stick to making sure I did not behead myself on the bench press. But now, I completely see what he meant.
Which abruptly brings me to my main point.

If you are going to become a vegetarian at Mason (or just plan to flirt with it, like me), get used to never being truly full, finding yourself eating more cheesy snacks than you ever have before, and being forced to avoid nearly every entrée Mason dining has to offer.

I learned that Mason does not seem like the kind of place to be altering your eating lifestyle in. People my age, 20, are still growing. Meat and dairy (for you vegans) are two food groups that support the developing body, giving strength to both muscle and bone in the same way carbs give you energy.

Unless you are the most conscientious of vegetarians, the kind that strategically plans their meals in advance and records gains and losses in a nutrition calculator like a culinary stockbroker, a vegetarian diet seems impossibly unsatisfying. Chances are, you are just as hungry as I was, trying to sate your screaming appetite with anything that did not once have feelings—or a face, while at the same time wasting away over visually beautiful, yet tasteless salads.

And what about those with eating disorders? Going vegetarian is a good excuse to disguise some unhealthy eating in a very socially-acceptable way.

Needless to say, becoming a vegetarian for a week was an enlightening experience, despite what I endured. And, for those of you that have been vegetarians for longer than a week and consider me a wimp, my hat goes off to you, but I have to say that your choice of diet not only seems masochistic, but impractical considering our rich history as omnivores.

Except for PETA, inspired obligations or some kind of allergic reaction to flesh, why not continue our legacy as humans by devouring animals? I’m not saying “don’t eat your veggies,” but eating meat does not mean eating unhealthy. What is truly unhealthy is going through your life asking yourself, “was there bacon in that?”