Learner's Permit: Thanksgiving

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Thanksgiving

appetizer: Catalan mushrooms with garlic & parsley

Wok-seared sesame green beans

Roasted acorn squash with chile vinaigrette or

Mashed sweet potatoes with pumpkin pie herbs (from Veganomicon)
Chili-cornmeal crusted tofu (from Veganomicon)
Focaccia with cracked pepper and fresh rosemary (from Veganomicon)
Strawberry/peach/raspberry pie with vanilla soy ice cream

This day is sunny and gorgeous, clear. Trees from our back deck glow copper and still green, and the air is fresh. Rosemary's scent permeates the house. Daphne sleeps in a sunpatch, for once not eating the plants. There is much to be grateful for - that I can enjoy the leisure and have the financial ability to enjoy the creation of the above menu is just a part of that. We'll take a walk later, when it's a bit warmer, maybe continue reading Byron's silly and excessive Don Juan.

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Why vegan?

In May 2007, I went mostly vegan when my new housemate, a long-term vegan, moved in. I guess you could say I'm a vegan for health, since I've become increasingly aware of chemical additives, and have been in the process of moving away from packaged foods for a number of years. Since May I have eaten nonvegan maybe 3 times, usually dairy, and never at home. Having that 'permission' to choose my foods has meant that I have never felt pressured, so there was little difficulty in the transition at all.

I've also been doing some reading and exploring, learning about food production issues and ethics. It's funny how food, one of the things most central to our existence, and most necessary, is least examined. I don't think that's an inadvertent omission - I think that marketing exerts tremendous efforts to ensure that our focus rests on the sizzle, while shielding from view concerns about the effects preservative chemicals, hormones, and other unexplored elements have on our health - and the health of our children.

Obesity, diabetes, allergies, systemic infections, dermatologic and digestive sensitivities... these are real. Which of these are caused or exacerbated by our poisoned environment, by our lack of attention to the tremendous richness of our produce, by the overuse of corn-based sweeteners and salt?

Real, whole, foods remain. Diet should be enriching and an important part of our lives. As Pollan says, shop the margins of the supermarket, and you find inexpensive, whole food: grains, beans, rice, fruits, and a tremendous variety of greens and vegetables that are not canned, have no salt or sugar or coloring added, and that await our exploration.