Beginnings

I was inspired to start this by an old school friend of mine who I, sadly, have lost pretty much all contact with. She made a post on her wonderful blog I AM OFFENDED BECAUSE about 'good' and 'bad' foods. And while I will admit I totally warped the meaning of her post to make it all about me, she really made me think. About how often I am offended over something silly and insignificant like a choice I made about what I choose to eat. 


About casual comments dropped by friends, family and strangers that may seem completely innocent, but really only serve to degrade my decision. About friends (who shall remain nameless) who make mooing noises while eating veal and venison pie in front of me. About family who ask why I don't "just give it a try", and family 'friends' who drip meat juices purposefully across my plate of vegetables, rendering them inedible. About strangers who make me feel like I need to apologise profusely for trying to find something I'm comfortable eating every time I dare to try and go out for a meal.

I understand that by making this (apparently radical) choice, I have placed myself firmly in the minority, in the camp of the dreaded 'hippies', those who actually give a crap about what their food is and where it comes from. And while I understand the seemingly ubiquitous need human beings have to knock each other down for things that are really irrelevant, it still pisses me off every time I go out with my (100% loving) family only for the topic to inevitably turn to my eating habits. Or when I go to a restaurant and see 'fish' in the vegetarian section. Or to be told that if I had warned them, they could have made something for me. I appreciate that it's off the beaten track, but is it really that hard to dig out some vegetables and stirfry them? 


And now I'm ranting. Admittedly, most Dunedin restaurants are amazing about it - there I go, guilt-tripping again! It's force of habit now,which makes me sadface. They will happily make me something, and many places I've gone to actually seem to enjoy the opportunity to make something that isn't off their cookie-cutter menu. We also have one of the most amazing vegan cafes (I can eat EVERYTHING!!!) which make me happy inside.


Mostly I get annoyed at the immediate box I get put into whenever someone finds out I'm vegan. It's as though everything else I am ceases to have any bearing on who I am - like I'm not also a daughter, student, sister, lover, friend, star wars nut, op-shop junkie, oreo-mad, snowboarding, obsessed with all thing grey and/or shiny, headband loving PERSON.


/rant


I have no idea how often I'll write anything here - although I'm going out for tea tonight, so opportunities to become pissed off should be plentiful.