Vegetarianism is the new black

As we near the end of Vegetarian Awareness Month, a columnist from Michigan gives some tips on how to ease into cutting the meat and going all veg. I don’t agree with some of them, but they are the most truthful answers I have seen yet.

Columnist Tricia Woolfenden gives tips on vegetarianism for beginners. She starts by urging converts to start slow and read about it. Not starting slow is also an option, and the one I took. She does say, though: “Just keep telling yourself: ‘Those bacon cheeseburger withdrawal shakes are a figment of my imagination,’” which in a way helps me to understand those weird meat-eating dreams I had in the beginning.

Now the one part I don’t agree with on a health standpoint, but completely practice is to “stop obsessing about protein.” She says Americans fear not getting enough protein (which may be why so many of us choose meat over anything else). But, she says, one has to have a clearly healthy diet to substitute not having that meat. So diet is everything. She writes: “I haven’t eaten a steak in nearly 15 years, and I can play roller derby for hours at a time.”

Woolfenden also encourages eating Morningstar Farms products as well as peanut butter, two food items I very much support. She urges vegetarians, specifically new vegetarians, to stay away from dining out, cheese and negativity, and always have your kitchen stocked with alternatives such as beans and anything else canned.

The article is for sure worth citing but also important for people interested in seeking out more cost-efficient, healthier, vegetarian-friendly alternatives.