The Subtle Vegetarian

Jul over at Veggie Chic asked whether meat on the table bothers you, which mirrored a discussion at Veggieboards.  This is a common discussion point, both within vegetarian circles and in discussions with our omnivorous friends.

As for me, I have to say that seeing meat on the table, and seeing others eat it, has definitely gotten much easier after nearly 20 years. At this point, I’m so far from eating meat that I just don’t see it the same way anymore.

This may sound really weird, and maybe I’m the only one who feels this way, but meat just doesn’t look like food to me. It’s like someone is eating a shoe, or a pile of grass, or a roadkill squirrel, or a tire. I think to myself, “why are they eating that? It’s not food!” I know some vegetarians, and especially new vegetarians, feel really “grossed out” at the sight of meat eating, but it’s just not that way for me anymore.

I hope this makes sense to you. I haven’t lost my compassion for animals, but I just don’t see it the same as new veggies seem to.

Maybe this has to do with my subtle approach to my eating habits.  Live and let live certainly applies to animals to me, but it applies just as well to other people.  I wish we didn’t kill so many animals in this world, but it’s better to lead by example than bludgeon people with something they don’t understand.

Thanksgiving Dinner photo by Ms. Jones, used according to the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.

Let’s get this straight right off – I love Morningstar Farms‘ food products. In fact, the accessibility and attractiveness of their products are one of the enablers of mainstream vegetarian (and vegan) living!

But there is one thing about Morningstar that many people don’t know: They’re actually just another brand owned by the Kellogg Company. Despite the lack of any mention on the “About Us” page at the Worthington (owner of the Morningstar Farms trademark) web site, Kellogg purchased Morningstar in 1999. Of course, since the Worthington and Morningstar pages are hosted at Kellogg.com, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out.

Why mention this? So many vegetarians and vegans don’t realize just how corporate-ized the alternative foods industry has become. Pick just about any alternative foods company, and you’ll find that a corporate giant owns it:

• Boca, Back to Nature, and Balance are owned by Kraft, which is part of Philip Morris (nee Altria)
• Annie’s and Gardenburger are owned by (separate) private capital companies
• Cascadian Farm is owned by General Mills
• Fakin’ Bacon, Foney Baloney, Gimme Lean, Smart Dogs, Tofu Pups, etc (Light Life) are ConAgra since 2000
• Kashi joins Morningstar Farms at Kellogg
• Nantucket All Serve is now served by Cadbury Schweppes
• Nature’s Farm Organic is chicken-monster Tyson
• Odwalla is Coca Cola
• Stoneyfield Farms is a label of Groupe Danone (Dannon)
• Ben and Jerry’s is now part of Unilever

Ask yourself: Are the healthy alternative foods you enjoy really what you think they are? Is there that much difference in eating Stoneyfield Farms or Dannon yogurt? How environmentally friendly are ConAgra’s Tofu Pups, really?  And does it bother you that the same company makes Chef Boyardee and Slim Jim?

I’m not sure what the answer is. But I have questions…

More information is available at endgame.

I was just watching the pseudo-educational television documentary series, Modern Marvels, an episode of which focused on the production of cold cuts. And wouldn’t you know, they covered the production of tofurky, too!

Let’s start at the beginning. I must say, bologna production is the most vile thing I’ve seen in a long time. It’s basically ultra-processed emulsified pork, beef, and especially chicken, which makes up 70% of the total. It was so processed that the ingredients, recognizable at first, became a kind of paste or goo before cooking.

They also covered salami, olive loaf (which is basically bologna with olives), and even head cheese. This last was another of the more vile things I’ve seen – what’s worse, the pig snout cuttings or the gel? The production of turkey breast was amazing – one breast is actually two to four turkey breasts processed and melded together! I could not believe just how processed basic items like turkey and pastrami are…

They finished with a visit to Turtle Island Foods, to show the production of tofurky. Looking very much like raw bologna goo, tofurky seemed somewhat more wholesome to my eyes. Perhaps it’s just the knowledge that it is made of happy beans instead of sad pigs and chickens is coloring my perception, though.

One thing I did like seeing was the Turtle Island manager enjoying a bite of tofurky. He seemed to genuinely like the product, just like the artisan salami maker and quite unlike the bologna and turkey factory workers.

Salami photo by André Karwath, used under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License.

One of the trickier aspects of being a subtle vegetarian was brought up by my blog buddy, Jul of Veggie Chic – do we as vegetarians or vegans participate in “don’t ask don’t tell dining“? In other words, should we explicitly request ingredient information from restaurants or should we just assume that if it doesn’t look like it contains meat, it probably doesn’t?

This is especially trick for us subtle vegetarians. Regardless of our reasoning for wanting our food choices to remain private, it can be difficult to inquire about ingredients and food preparation at a restaurant without tipping our hand. Most menus list some ingredients as a way to describe the various dishes on offer, but there is an understanding that restaurant diners do not demand full disclosure. This stands in contrast to packaged food, where most countries have laws regarding ingredient labeling and these are constantly upgraded with greater detail.

Personally, I do care about what is in my food.  I make an effort to read labels to make sure the items I purchase don’t contain suspicious ingredients.  I don’t do this because I’m a particularly political vegetarian (I’m not, but that’s a different story for a different day) but rather because I have decided to be a vegetarian and refuse to compromise without a good reason.   If I was stranded on an island or lived in a hunter/gatherer society, I would not be a vegetarian.  But I live in the United States in the 21st century, time and place of the greatest abundance of food the world has ever known, so there is no reason I can’t eat (or not eat) anything I decide to.

What do I do at a restaurant?  I try to remain a vegetarian.  Despite my subtle choice, I do assess the menu items for likely hidden meat products.  Soups are always suspect, as are risotto, cream sauces, and “stuffed” foods.  I always ask the wait person if these items are vegetarian, and request that they go find out if they are not certain.  Wait staff are usually very helpful and vegetarian friendly, and are often vegetarians themselves!

When it comes to more basic foods, I usually assume their content based on experience.  Marinara sauces almost never contain meat, sandwiches and salads usually list their full set of ingredients, and so on. If I order one of these items, I will not ask or tell, but I will certainly send it back and ask for a replacement if I find a surprise, like that one place in Massachusetts that puts ground beef in the marinara and puts (real) bacon on all the salads.

Yes, asking and telling ruins subtlety, but I suppose the subtle is less important to me than the vegetarian in the final analysis.

And of course sometimes this just doesn’t work. The other day I ordered the “Grilled BLT without the bacon” at Applebee’s (the kids love their 3 veggie choices!).  It came with the bacon on, and I asked for another without bacon.  The wait person came back in about 3 minutes with a suspiciously molested-looking sandwich…  Yes, the kitchen simple removed the bacon and sent it back out, and she knew they had done this!  Sheesh – what if I was allergic?  Or Muslim or Jewish?  They got me a fresh one, and took the whole thing off the bill…