Vegetarian in Texas

Yes! I am a vegetarian in Texas and maybe some of you don’t think it’s a big deal – believe me it’s an adventure in itself! A state which is famous for dishes like Breakfast Tacos, Chicken Fried Steak, Barbeque Beef Brisket, Pork Ribs, Hamburgers, Texas Chili, King Ranch Casserole and TexMex like Burritos & Fajitas – typically beef or chicken, what does a vegetarian do?!

But let me begin by explaining the difference between vegetarianism and veganism.

Vegans are people who have chosen to not eat any animal product – that includes seafood, eggs, dairy and any kind of meat. Some vegans, in protest of animal cruelty, refuse to use animal products like leather, wool, silk, fur, down and animal tested products.

On the other hand, Vegetarians are people who choose to abstain from any kind of red or white meat and seafood. Some of us do eat eggs and all vegetarians consume milk and milk products.

Now that that is clear, here is something else I came across in Texas which was new to me (having lived in a majorly vegetarian society most of my life):  A lot of meat eaters find a plant-based diet strange and in fact baffling.  There are so many misconceptions that they have about vegetarians, like – “Then you must be undernourished? Do you take supplements? Or you must eat all the time since how much can plants and veggies fill you up?” They keep looking at me with a huge question mark on their face, “So then what do you eat?!” Till date it cracks me up! I keep thinking, if I have been doing this for my whole life, don’t you think I have it down by now? And I am alive, healthy and thriving so stop looking at me like I might fall down and faint any second!!

Not that everyone is like that, but I have met a fair share of non-vegetarians who have not had the opportunity to know of a way of life which includes an absolutely different kind of cuisine and food groups. They don't know that fruits and vegetables can actually satisfy all of your nutritional needs and is in fact proven by research to be a healthier way of living (refer to link below). That it is not such an absurd choice but in fact a very humane choice – since it means avoiding killing and slaughtering of animals.

Thankfully, today there are so many choices available to vegetarians even in a state like Texas. (Let me specify here that within Texas, I have mostly been to the more cosmopolitan cities like Austin, Houston, San Antonio & the Dallas Fort Worth Area). The popularity of international cuisines has made vegetarian choices available not only in restaurants but also at grocery outlets. This means ease and choice for vegetarians. If I had moved to America 15 years ago, I would have had to cook everything myself, from scratch, and hardly ever go out to eat at restaurants. Trust me, I am so glad that wasn’t the way my life worked out!

Most eateries today have a few vegetarian dishes on their menu now. And most of them are willing to make substitutions in one or more of their dishes. Of course we have had a few misadventures too in our eating out ventures where, in spite of specifying, "no fish or meat", we might have something fishy or meaty put in front of us. And so, this really matters - and a vegan/vegetarian would really feel this - is that more and more now, the servers and the kitchen actually understand what we mean when we say ‘vegetarian’.  They actually remember to tell us that apart from the meat that we asked to substitute, there may be fish sauce or chicken stock in the side that we chose.. 

As the world is moving towards healthier lifestyle and the American society is getting more and more conscious of their youth, I have now noticed that several Kids’ Menus now have really healthy choices too. No more just meat, wheat and cheese combinations like pizza, mac n cheese or grilled cheese sandwich accompanied with canned fruit, fries, chips, cheese sticks etc. Now there are often real kids’ size salads, choice of sandwiches with veggies in them, pizza with toppings available (other than just pepperoni), soups are available and even for sides there are choices like steamed edamame, steamed broccoli and other veggies and real fresh fruits.

At this rate, I am hopeful that vegetarians and vegans will not have to pack lunches for themselves or their kids for work and school respectively because soon enough there will be enough choices available for everyone everywhere!

REFERENCES:

http://facts.randomhistory.com/facts-about-vegetarianism-and-veganism.html