From what I can tell, omnivores have a much easier time when traveling than herbivores do. I’ve been a vegetarian and a vegan (the latter with various levels of militarism), and, at this point, all I really do is laugh at some of the questions tossed my way by perplexed workers in the travel and food-service industries. On a recent trip to Russia, I was just going as a vegetarian, realizing that cutting out dairy and eggs as ingredients would simply be too challenging given my limitations with the language. First question up? “No beef, just chicken and fish, right?” No chicken, no fish, no beef broth, please. The beef broth crept in.
I’ve just opted not to be militant about my food preferences. I’m vegan most of the time—definitely at home, usually at local restaurants, a bit less so when on business trips and vacations, or at weddings. I just don’t like to make every mealtime a discussion about yours truly’s eating habits, especially since so many people take some perverse joy in tripping a vegan up. (“Wine is made using gelatin.” “Your shoes are leather.” “Medications include animal products.” Yes, I know.) Also, I cheat a bit. When in France, I’m going to eat some cheese. In the Hamptons, chances are I’ll be sampling some oysters (though I sometimes put the irritating carnivores off by launching a discussion about whether it’s okay to eat shellfish so long as they don’t have central nervous systems). I just don’t like to talk about my preferences for fruits and vegetables. I mostly like to eat them. At times I’m more diligent when I think that my falls off the vegan wagon have led to recurring health problems (migraines, psoriasis). Other times, I just have to have a bit of butter cream.
Ever hopeful that the food industry will recognize what I hope are increasing numbers of vegans, I applaud those who are able to make more of the matter than I am willing to. For now, I’m enjoying being what I didn’t know I was until this weekend, when I learned a new word: flexitarian, a vegetarian who, basically, sometimes indulges in animal flesh. I’m my own category of flexitarian, though: I don’t eat meat or fish, but I do sometimes eat cheese, honey, and shellfish. Except when I don’t.
© Lori Tripoli, 2012