Why I ditched veganism

A short essay about why I ditched veganism:

I was vegan from 2005 till 2014, then I ditched it and these are the 5 reasons why.

1st reason: Stress: Yes, stress is the silent killer and people are awesome at giving stress or causing some problems and inconveniences to others. No, it’s not hard to find protein, what’s hard is to find the patience to deal with the million assholes who ask you where do you find protein. The difficult part of being vegan is not finding vegan food, is having to defend yourself from all the people who attack you for being vegan, or get defensive whenever they hear the word vegan, and they feel they have to defend their food choices, while actually I never actually gave a damn about what other people ate, I was vegan because I wanted to, because I had chosen to, and never cared what others ate. But still, people felt the need to attack me because I ate something different than them.

And yes, I was healthy, I didn’t feel sick not even once in 9 years, and I never needed to go to the doctor because of being vegan, I had to go to the doctor because I was living a reckless life and having heaps of accidents but not because of being vegan.

And people are insecure and they need validation, they need you  to validate their life choices and food choices, they won’t accept the fact that you have chosen to eat something different than them, they will want to talk about it, A LOT, and ask you  many questions and judge you and attack you for no good reason besides the fact that you have chosen to eat something different than them.

2nd reason: Freeganism: Yes, veganism is the solution to all the world’s problems, except that no, it totally isn’t, freeganism is! Because even if we were all vegan, our society is still structured so that, for whatever reason, we will waste 50% of the food that is produced, be it vegan or not vegan, that food will still be thrown away if it reaches its expiration date, if the packaging gets damaged during its transport, because someone didn’t finish their meal or whatever other crazy reason. 

Freeganism means eating or using whatever has already been discarded by society and that’s the real solution to all our problems. Because vegan food that is made especially for you to eat, takes heaps of resources to produce, pack and transport and that would all be saved if you ate whatever had already been discarded by society, whether it was an animal product or not. You won’t be raising the demand by eating from the bin, because it had been already thrown away anyway, so no one would be able to buy it anyway.

3rd reason: Star Trek: This is one is a strange reason, but one I feel deeply identified with. By understanding and acknowledging the fact that other animals also feel pain when they are killed, you actually belong to the 1% of people who are empathetic enough to understand that there are other sentient beings on this planet, besides themselves and that animals are not a commodity, but they are sentient beings who are scared and want to live, and don’t want to be chopped into little pieces and sold just for your pleasure.

So, the fact that I was able to understand that, it actually made me feel as if I were beyond my time, as a Star Trek character, following their prime directive:

As the right of each sentient species to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred, no Starfleet personnel may interfere with the normal and healthy development of alien life and culture. Such interference includes introducing superior knowledge, strength, or technology to a world whose society is incapable of handling such advantages wisely. Starfleet personnel may not violate this Prime Directive, even to save their lives and/or their ship, unless they are acting to right an earlier violation or an accidental contamination of said culture. This directive takes precedence over any and all other considerations, and carries with it the highest moral obligation.

And it made me adopt their prime directive as a philosophy for life. A philosophy to avoid getting crazy dealing with all the people who want to judge you for having chosen something different than them or for being way ahead of your time from at least an ethical point of view. And yes, I know society is like this and we shouldn’t question it, and yes I know, traditions, customs, politics, religions, economy, everyone says you should eat meat because they have their own agendas and they all benefit from you eating meat. You will get cancer and get sick more often so the doctors or insurance companies will make more money. A single hamburger is the equivalent water consumption to leaving the shower running for 2 months, so some water company will benefit from you eating meat and all the grains that are fed to cows are enough to feed the entire African continent, and I am sure many rich people benefit from poor people dying or staying poor. And I’m sure many poor people benefit from other poor people dying because they save themselves the hassle of having to think for themselves or having to questions the system. Being obedient is easy, while going against the stream means you need to face those who have chosen to be obedient to avoid having to think. Because thinking means having to accept the fact that we are going to die a meaningless life and that we are no more than insignificant specs of dust in the vast cosmic ocean. So doing, thinking, saying and eating what is socially accepted will relieve me of the pain and stress of having to confront and be confronted by every single obedient sheep everytime I go to a freakign restaurant or get invited for dinner somewhere. 

Reason 4: Other vegans. If you are vegan you not only have to be against the meat eaters but also against other vegans, who are always trying to make you feel bad.

Meat eaters try to make you feel bad for not eating meat and vegans will try to make you feel bad for not being as vegan as they are. And they are snobby and usually well off, and I’m poor and usually homeless, and they don’t understand that when you don’t have money to buy special vegan food you need to eat whatever people give you or you can forage. But still they will try to make you feel guilty for agreeing with them only 99% instead of 100% and that all ads up until one day you find that you have ran out of patience to defend your life choices in front of both meat and non-meat eaters.

And it doesn’t stop there, some vegans will also attack you if you don’t read books from vegan authors, you don’t watch vegan movies or documentaries, or stupid things like that, and they won understand I found this pair of leather boots were a gift from someone who didn’t use them anymore, and didn’t pay for them so I’m not increasing the demand for it, the rabbit was already dead by the side of the road and I didn’t contribute in any way to it’s suffering or dead.

Reason 5: Powerlessness, I truly don’t believe the actions of a single individual can make a change in the big picture. And I believe life is too short for having to spend time arguing with people, and the universe is too big for any of our arguments or choices to matter. 

I know I will die soon, that’s why I chose to spend my last years on this planet doing only the things I like, which are: reading, writing and exercising. And they certainly don’t include having to defend myself at every meal. 

And yes, I do eat meat sometimes, especially when invited to eat at someone’s place, I just don’t buy it or pay for it, and yes it stills grosses me out, and I still think it’s disgusting, and I would never eat it if there was another choice.

And yes, I do eat cheese or ice cream sometimes, and yes I think it’s disgusting and I imagine the pain the cows have to go through while being impregnated and having their babies taken away and killed in front of them but I still do it because I know I’m a terrible human being.

And yes, I do eat the road kill sometimes because I don’t want it to go to waste, I skin it and take the guts out and cook it, and I do eat the meat from the bin that the supermarkets have thrown away, and yes, I do eat the leftovers from the restaurants’ tables and I do whatever I can to avoid the need of having something produced only for me to eat it or use it.

And no, I don’t have all the answers, and no, I don’t know if I do the right thing, and no, I don’t know anything better so far. And no, I’m not a politician or a billionaire and my life choices will have no effect whatsoever in the big picture, and no I don’t feel guilty for being morally superior and not doing anything about with it.

And yes, I still don’t get sick and haven’t been to a doctor in 15 years and I still can run a full 42k marathon without breaking a sweat and no, it doesn’t have anything to do with my diet, it’s because I run and train everyday, and yes I can still do 50 pushups in a row, that’s 49 more pull-ups then everyone else I know, and no it’s not because I favor soy burgers over beef burgers, it’s because I train hard every day.

And yes, I do still care for the animals and the environment, just not as much as I cared about it in my 20’s when I felt I could be the change I wanted to see in the world and I felt that my choices could make a difference.

Living in Asia as a vegetarian 1

How to survive in south and far east asia as a vegan/vegetarian:

Japan:  Pretty tough. Fruits and veggies are crazy expensive, only affordable options are udon, katsu-udon but have to fish out some seafood from it, tempura, and foreign restaurants which cost at least twice as much as local ones. The only cheap supermarket is called “super tamade” where they sell lots of pre-cooked vegetarian options, and of course sushi, tempura, salads, at around 100 or 200 yen a tray. Hyaku-en, 100 yen shops are your best friends to find some salads, fruits, drinks, noodles and many other things. It’s pretty much same as a 7/11 but everything costs 100 yen. And as a last resource you can always throw away the inside thing of the onigiri and eat the rest.

Korea: Moderate. While eating out you have like 2 options, kimbab or bibimbab. While ordering kimbap make sure you say something like “ham bek chusaio” so they dont put ham on it. If you’re not vegan there’s always “Pizza school”, they are everywhere and you can get a huge pizza for 5.000 won. Street food is alright, there’s a fish-shaped pastry that has red beans inside and is pretty cheap, often you can find tempura and fried veggies. They have many chigae, which is like a stew or hot pot, sundobu chigae, or kimchi are good but you may have to take out some seafood from it.
Mr pizza could be the best value for money restaurant, they have salad buffet for 6.000 won, so all you can eat of salads, fruits, some cold noodles and other stuff.

China: Fairly easy. Fruits and veggies are dime a dozen and they are everywhere, options are plenty, rice and noodles with vegetables everywhere, beans, vegetable bbq at night. They use almost no dairy while cooking, so very easy for vegans.

Taiwan: Very easy. By far best vegetarian food in east Asia. Vegetarian restaurants everywhere, and most normal restaurants have at least a few vegetarian options. Great variety, affordable and extremely tasty. Even 7/11 are quite cheap and have fresh fruits and salads, noodles, vegetarian fried rice, vegetarian dumplings, fries, nuts, pastries, tofu and many other things.

Malaysia: Delicious Indian food, samosa, curries, roti, paratha, puri, chapati, many dosas, delicious Chinese vegetarian restaurants, delicious Malay food, some fried noodles, rice with veggies, lost of street food and fruits. From Penang, to Melaka, to Sabah, most dishes are delicious + juice bars + fruits everywhere.

Philippines: Probably worst food in SE Asia, there are some fruit markets and western food places, so it’s possible to kind of get by on a vegetarian diet.

Laos: Rice with veggies + fruits.

Singapore: Same as Malaysia, just more pricey.

Indonesia: Not as bad a Philippines, but local cuisine doesn’t have much to offer for vegetarians, there’s is gado gado and that’s pretty much it. You may find some Indian food in Bali if you’re lucky, but in Sumatra, Java or Borneo you’re going to eat your rice with veggies, every day + fruits 🙂

 

Living in Argentina as a vegetarian

I frequently tell people I grew up in Argentina, and one of the most frequent questions I’m asked is: “was it tough being a vegetarian there?”

Answer is always no.

Of course, we find there’s a big meat eating culture there, but there are also many sub-cultures who chose to oppose it for some reason, so you’ve got the hippies, the SxE, the are krishna, the budhists, the hindus, the animals rights defenders, the environmentalists who do it for the planet, the gays and many other groups who have chosen not to eat meat.

That plus to the fact the food the Italians that many Italians have migrated there during the last centuries brought along like pasta, pizza, ice cream, bread, everywhere, plenty of vegetarian buffets, choices are plentiful.

To conclude, we can observe that during the last 20 years Argentina has seen, same as most developed countries, an increase in awareness regarding social, ethical and environmental issues, and finds itself slowly evolving towards a more humane, more compassionate society day by day.

Whatever 6

 

Friend: Why do you want to end world poverty and income inequality? Some people are rich, some are poor, that’s just the way it is.

 

Bruno: I want? No, this is not about what I want or I don’t want, it’s about doing the right thing. It’s about what has to be done.

 

Friend: But I like having more than the rest, that way I have no stress, don’t need to work, can live a comfortable life, and all that thanks to my country’s government who promote and enforce this income inequality you don’t like.

 

Bruno: It’s not about what I like or don’t like, it’s just the right thing to do!!!

Friend: And who are you to say what’s right or wrong?

 

Bruno: I’m just a man, with all my flaws and all my goodness, just a man. Who doesn’t accept that billions suffer because of the greed of hundreds.

 

Friend: We live in complex times, things are not just black and white.

 

Bruno: It’s easy to say that with a full stomach and a roof over your head.

 

Friend: Well, you’re on your own on this, what are you gonna do?

 

Bruno: I’m not on my own, and everything’s done already, half of it at least, the guys from  the venus project found all the solutions to all the problems, war, poverty, crimes, hunger, everything’s solved in theory.

 

Friend: Theory won’t feed people.

 

Bruno: It’s a start.

 

Friend: How about the practice?

 

Bruno: We are working on that.

 

Friend: How? by standing on the street with a sing or signing online petitions.

 

Bruno: No, when we run out of resources everyone will understand that there’s something wrong and the system is not working if enough people stop supporting it, will collapse by itself and then we can build something better, something that actually works for everyone and not for a few. Then we can implement the ideas of the venus project

 

Friend: People already ran out of resources in many countries a while ago, did anything change? did they stop supporting the system?

 

Bruno: Not yet but they will.

 

Friend: You know what they did in Africa to justify the genocides, plagues, and famine, they build churches and told people the reason why they die and are poor is because of God’s plan so they won’t complain or look for a solution.

 

Bruno: I couldn’t say, I’ve never been the Africa, but what I do know is that when people have no education they are easy to manipulate, control the educational system or better yet, get rid of it and you can mold and control people’s minds. Control education and you will have slaves for life, who will never dare to question the system or your decisions. They will say “that’s God’s plan” or “that’s just the way it is”.

 

Friend: Thanks for the tip.

 

Bruno: My pleasure.

 

Friend: Things are never gonna change.

 

Bruno: Not with that attitude for sure.

 

Friend: There can’t be good without evil, can’t be light without darkness. Darkness gives meaning to light.

 

Bruno: That could be true in the case that we didn’t know what light was and we only knew darkness, but in our case, we know both already so we can choose one.

 

Friend: I don’t want to choose.

 

Bruno: By not choosing one you are already choosing.

 

Friend: I’m not, this is not my problem.

 

Bruno: Ok, so when they can’t farm the land, breathe the air and drink the water anymore, you will be the one to explain to future generations that it was good for the economy. And that you chose not to choose.

 

Friend: Whatever.

 

Bruno: Yeah, “whatever”.

 

 

ajumas and the bibimbap

Some months ago I stumbled upon the works of Dr. Bass, and the natural hygiene diet, and I found it quite interesting, especially the part about sequential eating: http://drbass.com/sequential.html

So I read it, it made sense. I tested it, It worked, and have been trying to practice it, basically it says that different food is digested differently, the order in the one we eat is important,  and it’s better to eat the more watery food first, that is digested faster to conserve energy.

So when I go get bibimbap (which is one of the few vegetarian dishes at local restaurants) instead of mixing it, which is how you are supposed to eat it according to ancient Korean traditions, I’ll eat first the veggies and then the rice.

But this practice seems to upset the local old ladies (who, I suspect, haven’t had the chance to read the works of Dr. Bass) and they always mix it for me, when they see I eat it separately.

Explaining in Korean can be challenging, and even my English speaking friends would have problems understanding how the stomach or digestive system works. So I found some ways to trick them. Either sitting where they can’t see my plate or pretending I mix things up but actually only mixing the rice.

Sometimes I have to play with the lights and mirrors to make the illusion of mixing, which has made eating out a bit more challenging than it already was.

Anyway,  I love the 2900 won bibimbap across the street from my place and the ajumas who just want to teach me and make it more tasty for me.

And it’s open 24 hours, so it gives me the chance to find out who goes for bibimbap on a Tuesday at 4 am.

If you’re ever around Sincheon I’ll show it to you!