Hah! That must be a “southern” thing. I have to tell people here in South Korea that vegetarian also means no ham.
Some chocolate contains wheat.
As my roommate once said, “I thinkt he food there had MSG in it. I was really full, but I got hungry again really quickly.” I don’t know what the hell she thinks MSG does. But then again, she thinks she’s allergic to “chemicals”…
[rant]
I once went on a camp. It wasn’t until we got there that they tell us that they’ll need money to buy food, but they will only buy vegetarian foods. After all "going without meat for 5 days can’t hurt won’t hurt anyone." If we wanted to buy somethng with meat in it, we had to buy it ourselves. It would’ve been nice to know about this before-hand so that I could’ve brung my own food along.
It was union run women’s camp. And the union wonders why people want to get rid of them.
[/end rant]
*At the time I had a really low Hb count, and I donated blood on a regular basis despite this. They didn’t substitute the meat with anything with a high iron count either, no leafy greens, no nuts…
*Of course that meant buying from the convenience store, which we could only get to when they drove (which was twice), and only stocked roast chicken and ham anyway.
It’s my understanding that ordinary sugar is out for vegans because of the processing; they claim it uses animal byproducts somehow. Sugar in the Raw, which comes in a brown paper package, is the solution to that problem, or that plant that is sweet that I forgot the name of.
Ordinary chocolate contains both sugar and milk products, so it’s out, but you can buy special vegan chocolate–it’s very dark.
Let’s see:
Ooh, chickpea curry! That sounds good, and it’s–oh, wait. It’s got salt in it.
Black bean soup, yum! no salt in the recipe–but that vegetable broth is almost certainly full of salt.
Ginger veggie stir fry! Not only salt, but it’s also got soy sauce in it, which is really salty AND made with wheat.
Bok choy salad? What the hell? Soy sauce AND ramen noodles. Salt and wheat central!
That’s the first three recipes. The rest follow the same pattern.
And yes, I’ve seen a letter from one of the sugar manufacturers, on their letterhead, confirming that the sugar is filtered via charcoalized cow bones (I forget the exact terms they used, but that was the gist of it). The best part about the letter was that they assured the consumer that the bones were from Indian cows, which were famously treated very well. It was really bizarre–I almost suspect that the public relations department was sending an implied “fuck you, hippie!” message to the vegan who’d inquired about the process.
Daniel
I can almost wrap my mind around that. It implies that the cows died of natural causes rather than being slaughtered.
From Animal Ingredients, A to Z, Second Edition…
“The popular rumor says that cane sugar is processed through gelatin. This is untrue. Come cane sugars are processed using boneblack as a decolorant. The process is similar but not the same. [explanation of the difference between gelatin and boneblack that made me throw up a little in my mouth] At any rate, it is not suitable for vegans. We contacted several popular cane sugar manufacturers and they all confirmed the use of boneblack in their processes. We recomend contacting the manufacturer directly to inquire whether or not their particular brand of sugar is vegan.”
Any milk chocolates would be out for vegans since they contain milk.
The gluten thing is weird, but I’ve met people who actually really believe that gluten causes GI cancers. So does refined sugar…so they say.
I’ve never heard of someone who doesn’t eat any grains, she may not realize that flour/=wheat. She must eat fruits and vegetables and nuts and legumes, but if she eats other grains, you could use rice noodles, or other types of noodles for your lasagna…If you had to.
If you cannot eat a reasonably normal diet, IMHO, it is your job to provide a personal alternative or make do with what you can eat from what is served. If you are cooking for a group, you shouldn’t have to make something that sucks tofu balls because you have crazy not eating psycho in your club.
Salt and sugar are pretty ubiquitous, so you probably get plenty from the foods you eat if you eat a balanced diet…but this chick isn’t doing that. I don’t think that vegitarianism/veganism is an eating disorder for some people, for for some it is. Bulimia and anorexia are as much about self control as they are about diet/body image. Many vegitarians and vegans also have no idea how to eat a balanced diet, so as they age, they will face nutrient defecits, osteoporosis, dimished functionality, etc., or they will give up their vegg ways.
But people still smoke, too…people are dumb.
I respect your right to be vegg, but when it come to potluck time, I don’t follow your rules…but I respect your right not to eat what I prepared.
Hey!
Tofu balls are delicious!
No, really…
But… but… but it might have passed through a fish’s kidneys! :eek:
My sisters husband used to be a vegan (strict vegan I suppose…he still is a vegan but not as strict and my sister is just a vegetarian). I asked about the salt and he said ‘sea salt is fine. Regular table salt is processed though so some have a problem with that.’ No idea what that means, he didn’t have time to get into a lot of detail. Wheat was the same…whole wheat (unprocessed? god knows what that means) is fine, but processed wheat is out. Of course the ‘meat…butter, cheese, eggs’ thing would be right out, thats pretty standard for a vegan (and most vegetarians, though my sister eats the dairy stuff). Baked goods I think would depend on how you prepared them and what ingrediants were used…my guess is this lady is just giving blanket restrictions because she has found out in the past that people use ingrediants that are processed or baked goods using some kind of animal fat or something.
Were it me I’d ask here if her for more details on some of those to make sure she really has problems with them, or if its just in how they are prepared (i.e. if she actually CAN have salt, wheat, etc…but that it needs to be from a vegan oriented source).
As for whether or not veganism is ‘an eating disorder’, I think that was supposed to be a joke, though one that I would say has a ring of truth. I know that my brother in law is decidedly odd about what he’ll eat, and I know from my sister that he has to be VERY careful in making sure he gets all the nutrients he’s supposed to or he could get sick (due to all the things he can’t or won’t eat). When you are on a diet that could potentially cause you harm if you aren’t careful about it, I suppose you could say that this was ‘an eating disorder’…if you are willing to stretch and bend enough it meets that definition. Of course, the ‘standard American diet’ could probably be considered ’ an eating disorder ’ as well. 
-XT
Oh…sugar was the same. They actually eat cane sugar (completely unprocessed) in some of their foods (I’m talking my brother in law here…my sister has no problem with sugar), but processed sugar is definitely a no-no. (don’t ask me why, I don’t understand the other things either).
-XT
Some vegans (clearly not all) can be total nutbars. I’ll never forget the woman I worked with who explained to me that she doesn’t eat dairy because “dairy causes mucus and mucus causes diseases.” Somehow, she seems to have that whole cause/effect thing turned upside down, but there was clearly no point in discussing it with her.
Frankly, I don’t see any reason why you should do anything other than let the woman know what you’re fixing, and if she can’t eat it, she should bring her own food. Otherwise you might find that all dinner conversation will end up being her dissecting every brand of every ingredient used in every dish, and explaining why, oh, she can’t possibly eat THAT if it includes THAT. Nope. Bring her own is the only solution I can see.
All good points. The thing that bothered me the most about trying something new is I don’t know how it will turn out. If I am cooking for a group of casual aquintances, I would like to be reasonably certain that whatever I prepare will be tasty. I have a number of dishes that I’ve tried with other people and they have all lived to tell the tale and spoken to me the next day.
The situation also kind of reminds me of my mother. When I first became a vegetarian, way back in high school, I was informed that the family dinner wasn’t going to change. No problem, I just ate the vegetable and grain parts and skipped the meat bit. Didn’t bother me, didn’t wreak havoc with the family meal.
Then my mother discovered vegetarian recipes. Every once in a while, she would get the idea that she was going to produce the latest healthy vegetarian dish and would launch into a flurry of cooking. Sometimes it was okay, but there were a number of god-awful meals that was presented to me as some kind of gift: Look! You too can join the family eating the main dish of soggy tofu*! Pointing out that the effort was uneccessary and really, I Like grilled cheese sandwiches was apparently offensive or ungrateful or something.
I guess I’m trying to say that I just don’t want to be the person bringing the soggy tofu and expecting everyone to enjoy it. Better to stick with something I know.
And just to really confuse matters - she informed me that she does eat yeast. I honestly don’t get it. I’ll have to corner her on Monday and see if there’s any kind of logic behind her diet.
*Tofu when properly prepared, can be very tasty. However, tofu in the hands of an amateur can be a dangerous thing.
Anyone who eats a severly restricted diet based on some other thing than preferences/health has some degree of an eating disorder. If you have developed a lot of blanket rules about what you eat and do not factor in rational exceptions, that is not a normal process. I am myself a vegetarian, and I understand that it’s not a normal way to eat. But it’s not unhealthy and doesn’t bug me or those around me.
Anyway, there is a line out there some there. Some popel cross it, some don’t. But when people have severly restricted diets on top of severly restricted diets, it makes me suspect that they might be a little wacky.
Word.
What bizarre definition of “disorder” are you using? Certainly you’re not calling it an ailment, are you? And clearly folks who restrict their diet are MORE ordered than those who don’t, so you’re not using it in the sense of a lack of order.
Who gives a shit if it’s not normal? I despise the modern Glossy Magazine, Quiz Yourself On Your Fingernail Clipping Habits, Are You Attractive? Find Out If Your Child Is Exactly On Track For Being Toilet Trained mentality that thinks anything not normal is a disorder.
Geez. I wanted to give you a chance to clarify yourself, but I think I’m with Otto. Calling voluntary eating restrictions a “disorder” is pop psychology of the worst sort.
Daniel
So if I don’t eat veal because I don’t like the taste I’m normal but if I don’t eat veal because it’s derived from calves who suffer their entire lives from being chained up in little boxes I have an eating disorder? Are you, in fact, high?
Could you please do me a personal favor and never, ever purport to speak on the topic of vegetarianism again in your entire life? I have enough trouble explaining it without nutters like you out there falsely claiming that it’s an eating disorder. Just shut up.
Off topic, but related: does anyone know of a good site/book that discusses how to eat Vegan in a healthy manner? I have a student who, after several years of being vegitarian, started a vegan diet about 3 months ago. He’s losing weight, and it scares me, because he’s 5’3", only about 100 pounds, still growing (he’s 15), and reasonably active–he’s on the school swim team and walks alot. He’s not getting any guidance at home. I looked for a book, but there were 10000 books on losing weight but that’s not what he needs. He needs to be sure he’s getting ENOUGH fat and carbs and proteins.
I’m not the only teacher that’s noticed he’s become more lethargic, and we HAVE talked to his mother, but she’s unconcerned. He’s a smart kid and a good reader, but I have no idea what sites to point him to or what book I could buy him. I suspect that extreme dietary concern (a call it a disorder or whatever, he’s super empathic and terrified of dying, both of which are reasons to worry about what you eat) is something he will always show, and if that’s the case, at least want him to do so in an educated manner. What’s reputable?
I came across this webpage. It’s discussing vegetarian diets to aid in cancer recovery but makes some excellent points about achieving complete nutrition on such a diet. Might be a good place to start, anyway.