Interview w/ Joe Part 2: The Hardest Parts
December 9, 2007 – 7:05 pmWhat is the hardest part of being a vegetarian for you / is there anything you really regret about being a vegetarian?
It’s a very counter-cultural thing to do, and it’s at times difficult to not be understood, especially by close friends and family. It’s difficult to explain to people without coming off as judgmental. Also, I come from the South, where good food and good cooking are central to the culture and to family traditions. Most traditional Southern cooking that I learned involves meat: i.e. fried chicken, smothered pork chops, barbecue, etc. I don’t like having to turn my back on some of those traditions, or not participate when my family is having them. But in the end, being vegetarian is more rewarding, and more life-giving for me. I feel like my “vegetarian experiment” has helped me get to know God better.
What is the best part for you?
It’s very joyful and rewarding for me. It helps me be more grateful for my food, and relate with nature more peacefully. It’s also very freeing for me to know that I am not supporting systems I disagree with, and that I am making a statement about that in a small way.
As much as I love and take joy in being vegetarian, in some ways it’s difficult. Not eating meat is not difficult for me (I find it pretty unappealing by now). To differ from people I love and need in an area as fundamental as what I choose to eat, in my limited experience, takes steadfastness and courage and can be lonely. Among some members of our (husband’s and my) family, we encounter scorn and occasional ridicule. It’s usually masked as “teasing”, but we aren’t fooled.
I have come to believe firmly that food is a fundamental part of human culture, certainly of the culture I grew up in. It’s a hard thing to make a choice that alienates us from the culture we were born into, that brings an element of tension into our communion with family.