<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for Is it possible for an NFL star to go meatless?]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by GreyFlcn http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/ Sun, 27 Jan 2008 05:32:01 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/1 Well of course

It's simply more complex to get all 13 amino acids.

Meat is easy because it already did all the combining for you.

]]> Well of course

It's simply more complex to get all 13 amino acids.

Meat is easy because it already did all the combining for you.

]]> Comment #2 by caniscandida http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/ Sun, 27 Jan 2008 06:49:46 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/2 our mouths, ourselves

God knows why men and women eat, and refuse to eat, what they do, qua men and women.

We recently re-saw the 1940 classic "My Favorite Wife," in which the hunky, athletic, apparent alternative love-interest of Irene Dunne, played by Randolph Scott, claims to be a vegetarian.  (Was Randolph in fact meeting co-star Carey Grant after hours?  That is not beyond the realm of possibility, but is neither here nor there at present.)  I was moved to wonder: In 1940, were many people associating athleticism with vegetarianism?  And if so, why?  Did the concept of athletic vegetarianism back then include, say, Rocky Balboa's breakfast of raw eggs straight from the cracked and dripping shell?

I also wonder: Do men secretly feel defensive of their muscle tone, and tell themselves they must eat so much animal tissue, or else they will lose their edge?

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.

]]> our mouths, ourselves

God knows why men and women eat, and refuse to eat, what they do, qua men and women.

We recently re-saw the 1940 classic "My Favorite Wife," in which the hunky, athletic, apparent alternative love-interest of Irene Dunne, played by Randolph Scott, claims to be a vegetarian.  (Was Randolph in fact meeting co-star Carey Grant after hours?  That is not beyond the realm of possibility, but is neither here nor there at present.)  I was moved to wonder: In 1940, were many people associating athleticism with vegetarianism?  And if so, why?  Did the concept of athletic vegetarianism back then include, say, Rocky Balboa's breakfast of raw eggs straight from the cracked and dripping shell?

I also wonder: Do men secretly feel defensive of their muscle tone, and tell themselves they must eat so much animal tissue, or else they will lose their edge?

Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.

]]> Comment #3 by Pangolin http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/ Sun, 27 Jan 2008 15:59:24 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/3 More vegan porn?

and a book plug too.

I'm sitting here picking parsley (locally grown and purchased at a farmers market 1.3 miles from home. I drove, it was raining) from my teeth and wonder at why a single football player being vegan should matter to me. It's really not that exceptional considering that many football players already live on smoothies, eggs and steak. Simply substitute veggie burgers and tofu scrambles and keep on moving. Football players are not known for being fabulous epicurians. They eat to fuel the obsessive body fixation that allows them to play pro football in the first place.

I just don't have the cash to pay several nutritionists to design a vegan diet that I will actually eat and be happy with. I can't afford the fancy, packaged vegan foods. I hate shopping at the local "natural foods" co-op because of the crappy prices and snotty service from the dreadlocked and distracted staff.

Let's just forget to mention the infinite hassle and tedium of trying to live on a vegan diet in a carnivorous society. It's like an trying to eat kosher at a pig-picking. You can do it, but you end up unsatisfied even when you have a full belly.  Or you pack your own food with you everywhere and insult your hosts constantly; been there, done that, over it.  

The two places in my very foodie town that acknowledge vegan diets are such palaces of privilege and pretension that my stomach churns just walking past them. You can pay more for less food with less flavor but you really have to work at it. Until flavor, service and satisfaction become priorities with producers of vegan food the market will be limited. People like to eat, at least some, meat.

So can we quit with the vegan porn? Aside from preaching to the choir it just annoys the rest of us.

Put the Carbon Back

]]> More vegan porn?

and a book plug too.

I'm sitting here picking parsley (locally grown and purchased at a farmers market 1.3 miles from home. I drove, it was raining) from my teeth and wonder at why a single football player being vegan should matter to me. It's really not that exceptional considering that many football players already live on smoothies, eggs and steak. Simply substitute veggie burgers and tofu scrambles and keep on moving. Football players are not known for being fabulous epicurians. They eat to fuel the obsessive body fixation that allows them to play pro football in the first place.

I just don't have the cash to pay several nutritionists to design a vegan diet that I will actually eat and be happy with. I can't afford the fancy, packaged vegan foods. I hate shopping at the local "natural foods" co-op because of the crappy prices and snotty service from the dreadlocked and distracted staff.

Let's just forget to mention the infinite hassle and tedium of trying to live on a vegan diet in a carnivorous society. It's like an trying to eat kosher at a pig-picking. You can do it, but you end up unsatisfied even when you have a full belly.  Or you pack your own food with you everywhere and insult your hosts constantly; been there, done that, over it.  

The two places in my very foodie town that acknowledge vegan diets are such palaces of privilege and pretension that my stomach churns just walking past them. You can pay more for less food with less flavor but you really have to work at it. Until flavor, service and satisfaction become priorities with producers of vegan food the market will be limited. People like to eat, at least some, meat.

So can we quit with the vegan porn? Aside from preaching to the choir it just annoys the rest of us.

Put the Carbon Back

]]> Comment #4 by spaceshaper http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/ Sun, 27 Jan 2008 21:05:16 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/4 Pangolin,

looks like you really have some issues there, buddy. What does it matter to you what other folks eat and how they feel about it? Get help. Lighten up.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

]]> Pangolin,

looks like you really have some issues there, buddy. What does it matter to you what other folks eat and how they feel about it? Get help. Lighten up.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

]]> Comment #5 by amc89 http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/ Mon, 28 Jan 2008 02:26:09 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/5 Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler

Since most Americans are more interested in loosing pounds than keeping it, eating vegetarian makes a lot of sense for the vast majority of us over-fed affluent folks in the developed world.

Pangolin, I suggest you read Mark Bittman's excellent editorial in the NY Times today on how unsustainable our current meat consumption levels are:

Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman. ...

"I can't afford the fancy, packaged vegan foods."  I highly doubt that "fancy packaged" vegan food is any more expensive than "high packaged" carnivorous foods, in fact I would suspect that it's probably cheaper.  And if you don't want to buy packaged foods, don't. Buy whole foods, and a few vegetarian cookbooks and start learning how to make easy plant-based meals.

I've been vegetarian for 14 years and I've never "insulted my hosts."  If you behave sensitively and plan accordingly, you'd won't end up making people uncomfortable.  When I eat at other non-vegetarian people's houses, I offer to bring a vegetarian dish that I know other people will like. As vegetarianism becomes more common, most hosts today aren't intimidated by vegetarianism and don't mind accomodating you. Usually it just means putting meat on the side for some of the side dishes and the like.  

Being a vegetarian in a non-vegetarian world is really not such a big social disaster as you may think initially, not unless you make it one.  Most of my friends and family who are not vegetarian have been nothing but supportive. They're often curious about my diet and want to know more, and some have actually made changes in their diet to include more fruits and vegetables and less meat. And some have even become vegetarians themselves!

]]> Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler

Since most Americans are more interested in loosing pounds than keeping it, eating vegetarian makes a lot of sense for the vast majority of us over-fed affluent folks in the developed world.

Pangolin, I suggest you read Mark Bittman's excellent editorial in the NY Times today on how unsustainable our current meat consumption levels are:

Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman. ...

"I can't afford the fancy, packaged vegan foods."  I highly doubt that "fancy packaged" vegan food is any more expensive than "high packaged" carnivorous foods, in fact I would suspect that it's probably cheaper.  And if you don't want to buy packaged foods, don't. Buy whole foods, and a few vegetarian cookbooks and start learning how to make easy plant-based meals.

I've been vegetarian for 14 years and I've never "insulted my hosts."  If you behave sensitively and plan accordingly, you'd won't end up making people uncomfortable.  When I eat at other non-vegetarian people's houses, I offer to bring a vegetarian dish that I know other people will like. As vegetarianism becomes more common, most hosts today aren't intimidated by vegetarianism and don't mind accomodating you. Usually it just means putting meat on the side for some of the side dishes and the like.  

Being a vegetarian in a non-vegetarian world is really not such a big social disaster as you may think initially, not unless you make it one.  Most of my friends and family who are not vegetarian have been nothing but supportive. They're often curious about my diet and want to know more, and some have actually made changes in their diet to include more fruits and vegetables and less meat. And some have even become vegetarians themselves!

]]> Comment #6 by Greta http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/ Mon, 28 Jan 2008 04:12:06 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/6 Hosts, Fret Not

I agree with "amc" about insulting your hosts.  This might be true in a poor country where the host scrimps and saves for months to serve a meat-centric meal for a guests.  

But, if people fix a sensisble meal, which normally would include at least one vegetable and a salad and probably bread, there will be something for the veg*n.

At least that has been my experience.

As for football players, they should do what I do: what you lack in meat, make up for in dessert!

NoPunProductions.com ~ AmericaTheGreen.org

]]> Hosts, Fret Not

I agree with "amc" about insulting your hosts.  This might be true in a poor country where the host scrimps and saves for months to serve a meat-centric meal for a guests.  

But, if people fix a sensisble meal, which normally would include at least one vegetable and a salad and probably bread, there will be something for the veg*n.

At least that has been my experience.

As for football players, they should do what I do: what you lack in meat, make up for in dessert!

NoPunProductions.com ~ AmericaTheGreen.org

]]> Comment #7 by amazingdrx http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/ Mon, 28 Jan 2008 04:27:11 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/7 Thanks Sarah

The WSJ interview points out a good source for information on training diets.  It appears that dairy and eggs would be a suitable substitute for meat.  But going further along down the food chain to bean and other plant protien sources would work.  

And that iron and calcium, that has to be vital for exersize intense living, aerobian living.  Hehey.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

]]> Thanks Sarah

The WSJ interview points out a good source for information on training diets.  It appears that dairy and eggs would be a suitable substitute for meat.  But going further along down the food chain to bean and other plant protien sources would work.  

And that iron and calcium, that has to be vital for exersize intense living, aerobian living.  Hehey.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

]]> Comment #8 by kylegracey http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/ Mon, 28 Jan 2008 07:08:54 -0800 http://www.grist.org/article/full-time-athlete-and-full-time-vegan/8 Not so much with the porn

I can't evaluate anyone else's experience, but my near-vegan one has been pretty easy. I'm with Pangolin on not preferring the prepackaged soy-meant-to-look-like-chicken-breast, but that leaves beans and seitan and nuts and a whole bunch of other things that are not difficult to cook with. Nor has it been an issue with hosts. I just eat my salad/vegetables/baked beans/etc. and don't mention to my host that boy, if there was less meat here I'd have more choices. Given that, most hosts don't even notice, and I still end up full and happy.

]]> Not so much with the porn

I can't evaluate anyone else's experience, but my near-vegan one has been pretty easy. I'm with Pangolin on not preferring the prepackaged soy-meant-to-look-like-chicken-breast, but that leaves beans and seitan and nuts and a whole bunch of other things that are not difficult to cook with. Nor has it been an issue with hosts. I just eat my salad/vegetables/baked beans/etc. and don't mention to my host that boy, if there was less meat here I'd have more choices. Given that, most hosts don't even notice, and I still end up full and happy.

]]>