From Joey:
Week 2

This week I met another vegan eater that gave me a lot of strength and support in caring so much about what is going into my body. I was starving coming back from a climbing trip, and I didn’t want to eat Chipolte because I knew it wouldn’t make me feel good. I stayed in the car and didn’t say anything either way. Julia spoke up and said that she wanted to go to Whole Foods and wanted to get some rice and beans and veggies, rather than going to Chipolte. Despite my extreme hunger, that is ultimately what I wanted to do too. Slowly, everyone in the car actually said that that’s what they would rather do. I had a dinner that I had already cooked at home, but I was simply going to wash with the way that everyone else was moving in order to avoid conflict. What if Julia hadn’t spoken up? We would all be eating something that we actually didn’t want to. It made me realize I need to speak up when it comes to what I want in my body. This is important; I can be picky.

It is so easy for me to cut out meat because of this class; It is so easy for me to cut out GMO’s. They now make me nauseous. I realize the limits of their nutritional values. What I am having a hard time with is cheese. I understand its ecological effects, and that my body cant digest it, but it just tastes so good! And I don’t especially love the alternatives. I am going to need to work on this.

My week consisted of a lot of less super organized meals because I realized that I was eating a ton by planning out carefully all of my meals. I made guacamole for dinner one night, veggie sandwiches, and had a lot of fruit in the mornings from my new tip from Nina. I made an acorn squash too! It is an awesome feeling to care about what you are putting into your body.

I liked the food that we ate in class this week. The French toast was creative! It tasted so much better than real French toast, but I don’t know that I would be able to whip that up in my kitchen every once in a while. It seemed super gourmet and complicated. I am very busy and while I am cutting more time in for food, I am not making landslides of changes. I really liked the teriyaki, but eating it two days in a row made me sick of quinoa. I decided it was something that I am not super into, which is a good thing to know! But I love its nutritional value!

This week, I was really affected by the Boss Hog reading. This is probably why I am so turned off from meat this week. I felt so much compassion for the people within the town that was destroyed by the feces of our destruction. Fainting when they walk outside, because of stench! It is horrible. It made me clearly relate destruction to meat, and meat to disgusting. The other reading that shocked me was the China Study. The serious health consequences were appalling and easy to see. When you guys revealed your age, it made me realize that this was more than a fad.