Last Monday, I ate a lot of vegetarians.
Excuse me, I mean, I ate with a lot of vegetarians. And one other vegan. We went to Taj Mahal, a restaurant which promotes itself as being an Indian/Italian restaurant, but is actually just an Indian restaurant that happens to also make and sell pizza. I ate a bowl full of mushrooms drowned in some kind of red paste. I realize that doesn’t sound appetizing, but it was surprisingly delicious. Also very spicy, which was a welcome change from the normally bland food served here (compared to Germany, food from the Sub is spicy!).
Last night, Gunnar and I argued about whether or not to use spices. I told him food is boring when bland, and he claimed that it isn’t possible to taste the actual food when one uses spices, just the spices. That can be true, but spices can also enhance the flavor of the food (broccoli or potatoes or whatever).
But this is about Monday, and the Taj Mahal, and the “Greifswald Vegan” Verein. They mostly exist just as a FaceBook group, but once in a while, on a sort of monthly basis, they go out to eat together. This was my first time eating with them, so it was nice to be able to finally meet in person! They are all very nice. Carla, who lives 4 floors down from me, pointed out that when people try to form friendships based on similar diet choices, they may not have that much else in common. She offered the example of making a group for people who like chocolate– many people would want to be a part of that group, but how much else in common would they really have? I definitely see her point, but I also think it is not the best analogy, and let me explain why.
When people choose to become vegan, it is usually not because they think tofu is the best thing ever. It is not a matter of liking or disliking a certain kind of food. Becoming vegan or vegetarian requires making major changes in lifestyle. It requires a commitment to principles which are more important than the convenience of eating whatever, whenever, wherever. There are many reasons for not eating animals, but they generally fall into one of these categories: environmental concern, ethical concern, personal health concern. These reasons require the person to think beyond the moment, to consider the bigger picture, to consider what is “right”. Right for the environment, right for the animals, or right for their own health.
(Please don’t read into my words that non-vegetarians don’t care about the environment/animals/their health, or that they aren’t intelligent, principled people. I mean only to point out that, given the kind of commitment veganism takes, you don’t see that many people doing it just for kicks.)
Anyways. That all being said, people who choose vegetarianism usually have more in common than just tofu. They tend to share similar beliefs and values. And those are things you usually (subconsciously) look for in friends. Of course, that being said, most of my friends aren’t vegetarian, let alone vegan, and Paul is a very happy omnivore. 🙂