Monday, March 21, 2011

My Vegan Mondays

Little things matter. They do. Here I am, seemingly for no reason at all, carrying on with Vegan Mondays. I mean, really, who cares what I eat every Monday? But the reason I keep doing it is that I truly believe you can’t change the world, you can only change yourself. Not eating red meat (it’s been 11 years now), and practicing veganism one day a week (for over a year) are my small efforts to combat the negative environmental impacts of the industrial farming of red meat.

What do you do? Maybe you can try just cutting back on red meat? Or cutting out all meat? (Eliminating all animal by-products is tough. But also easy. It’s a mindset, I guess.) Maybe you can buy only local produce. Or stop drinking water bottles (imagine how they add up! And where do they go, do you know? Do you think about it?). You can stop buying plastic soap dispensers (after all bars still work—especially lovely olive oil bars from Provence!). You can walk (or Velib!) instead of drive. Little things matter. I double-dog dare you to do something.

(Now, stepping down from my soapbox.)

Morning
Coffee & soy milk
Oatmeal
Apple

Afternoon
Veggie stir-fry with brown & red rice
Crackers

Evening
Lentil soup
Too many dried pineapple rings

6 comments:

  1. Amy, I agree completely. I do try to limit my consumption of red meat and choose not to consume pork, rabbit, duck or lamb, generally only purchase organic chicken or from local shops and favor a water bottle over bottled water. I love that at my gym, the shower head runs on a timer so you have about 20-25 seconds of running water before it turns off and you have to manually hit a button for it to resume. So in theory, you scrub down waterless and then rinse which must save gallons upon gallons of water a year.

    Like you say, it's these little steps that make a difference! I love following what you choose to eat on Mondays, keep it up!

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  2. Just wanted to let you know that your Vegan Monday posts inspire me. Actually, I love the fact that your blog is not a “vegan only” publication, but rather you show the world this one side of you in a very approachable manner and it makes others feel like they could try it. jennie t.

    http://jenniesdeliciousblog.blogspot.com/

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  3. And that's the reason I went vegetarian and organic as much as possible a few years ago. So I second your Vegan Mondays heartily and encourage you to keep posting them to encourage me/us!

    I also have this weird kind of justification process I go through when I'm dining out. I always eat vegetarian, but organic is harder to find. So if it's not organic, I eat at a locally owned establishment. And if I'm with friends and they want to go to The Olive Garden or something, well, then I just calm myself knowing that at least I'll choose a meatless option.

    (Not that I'm perfect. Didn't I confess my CheezIt binge here a few weeks ago??)

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  4. Well, you know me .. I haven't eaten red meat in 40 years.
    My son has never eaten meat .. all thanks to my husband.

    I find vegan harder because I don't think about it or am not sure what constitutes vegan ( cheese? baked goods?) but when I remember, it is fun to try.

    Yesterday - I blew it , we had calamari .
    But last night I had a salad so I sort of saved my day.
    I have made a note in the calendar to remind me of Mondays being vegan.

    You are a Good Influence.

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  5. Hi Amy!
    After reading your blog for over almost two years now, and following you through your journey in Paris, I adopted a vegan diet about a month ago and just bought a new bike to ride to work, yoga, etc. Of course, living in Orlando, I take my life in my hands riding a bike, but I feel so much better about those small changes! Thank you for the inspiration!!

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  6. Mes amis, thank you for your notes and encouragement. I love that there is a collective movement out there and I'm so happy and proud to be part of it. Thank YOU all for being so inspiring! xo

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