it's just ... food

Posted by meli on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 in i like it raw, social justices and controversial topics | No comments

I received a handful of messages after my last blog entry on animal welfare/rights & veganism. The question asked in each message? ... "What do you EAT"???

This happens every.single.time, yet this question always stumps me. And the longer I've been vegan (nearing 15 years) the more perplexing this question is to me. 

Food. I eat food. 

I mean, I get it, for a person not familiar with a plant based diet, I'm sure there's curiosity, intrigue, confusion. And really, this is true for any dietary choices outside of what we're used to. When someone tells me they don't eat any fruit and very limited veggies especially the "green kind", my mind swirls for a moment in the "what the hell do you eat then" clouds before coming in for a landing. So really, I get it; it doesn't make it easier to answer ;-). But I want to help those who want to understand, and I do better with photo support, so here you go, the boys' lunch today ...

There's a corn tortilla on the bottom. 

Homemade hemp seed pesto smeared on it. 

Cabbage & lettuce massaged with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and salt. 

Bell pepper, tomato, avocado slices. 

Ground pepper. 

And a homemade veggie&quinoa patty on the side to finish it off. 

All organic. 

*My lunch was slightly altered 

(no corn, bell pepper, or tomato. i'm on an elimination cleanse to find this rash culprit ... again). 

And see, without that photo support, I would have said something like "Umm, we had... salad ... ?" 

And yes, it's true, salad. But it's so much more then the typical image that pops up in ones head when "salad" is the dinner description. And it's that finesse for describing our food that has up and left me; unless I have photo evidence to point to. 

When something is second hand for so long; it's hard to see it as unique anymore. It's just ... Food. And I don't see our food as different, or unusual, or special. There was a time when ALL I wanted to talk about was vegan foods. And then I went completely Raw Vegan, and oooh lordy ... I thought about it constantly. Researched endlessly. Played in the kitchen until the sun came up. I could rattle off recipe after delicious recipe after delicious recipe; most of them my own. And then one day I realized it mostly just ... stopped. I was no longer learning *how to be vegan/raw vegan; I just was. I still crafted recipes, new and old, but they all came *through me now; leaving me a delicious meal at the end that I stopped questioning. Learning about and sharing recipes was no longer my gig. My interests shifted. 

I do love having conversations about Veganism. More so as a lifestyle rather then a dietary choice, but I do realize that most people start with the diet. I did. So bring it. And I'll work to bring the food descriptions up from "salad" to something that actually sounds exciting to the general masses :-)  Maybe I'll start carrying around a portfolio of just our food photos; so I'm always prepared to ... point! lol!