Tuesday, May 20, 2008

On Why Veganism is Perfectly Normal

I'm sure you have heard the very worried question, "where do you get your protein?," anytime you tell someone you are vegan. Perhaps your pediatrician has written "crazy hippy" beside your name on your kid's medical chart, or maybe your grandmother wonders what in the world you eat for Sunday dinner if it isn't pot roast. Yes, everyone is protein obsessed (and not just those on the Atkins diet), but it seems that few people are stewing over the more important question, "am I getting enough vegetables?" Behold the following table from the Canada Food Guide:

You will note that we adults only require 2-3 servings of "meat and alternatives" per day. That's right. For non-meat eaters, that means as little as 1.5 cups of tofu or beans per day. And let's not forget our dear friends tempeh and seitan. Piece of friggin' cake. We also need two servings of "milk and alternatives." Soy milk easily fits the bill. The bulk of our diet is supposed to come from fruits and vegetables and grains. Really, the vegan diet conforms more to the recommendations of the Canada Food Guide than the standard North American diet that makes a rather large chunk of meat the centrepiece of each meal. I'll leave you with this tidbit of advice from the Food Guide:

Mission accomplished.