6 Annoying Things I've Heard this Week

Look, Ma! Straight from the grill and no meat!

Whether you are vegan or vegetarian, you have heard some of the funniest, stupidest, and sometimes baffling comments from meat eaters. Here is a list of some of the annoying things I've heard this week about being vegetarian.


1. This is just some fad diet. I've been vegetarian about 15 years, but sure, keep telling yourself it's just a phase or just a fad diet. What's the lifespan of a fad anyway? For some people vegetarianism might be a fad, but vegetarianism as itself, is not a fad. It has been around a long, long time dating back to Einstein and even Pythagoras. Most people vegetarian or semi-vegetarian populations are actually increasing as it is becoming a more visible segment of the population.

2. What do you eat anyway? Grass, of course. I eat a lot of the same things as everyone else with one big exception, my meals not full of meat. Has it caused me to get more creative with my cooking? Sometimes. Has it made me more adventurous with food? Absolutely. Do I often go hungry? Rarely, but there are functions and restaurants that leave few choices or the family Christmas everything, including the bread was filled or covering in meat... bacon and sausage were treated like a condiment. In general though, I am definitely not in starvation mode.

3. It's just not a meal without meat. Yes, it is. I've been doing it for over a decade and I am not alone. I do eat meat substitutes, but I don't base my diet on them either.

4. Of course, it's vegetarian - it only has chicken in it. (It chicken broth or any other meat broth or lard.) This is an oldie, but a not so goodie. This is also how I've gotten sick a couple times... chicken broth in mashed potatoes, lard something else... I've actually heard this at restaurants.

5. Can't you just pick the meat off (or pick it out)? I have heard this for years and it never seems to be less frustrating. No, I am not eating the pizza I picked the pepperoni off of. No, I am not picking the meat out of the pasta either. It has still be cooked together. It still has the grease and the juices, which can still make me sick and are not vegetarian.

6. Don't you miss meat? No. There are social aspects that were easier when I ate meat, but otherwise, I don't miss it.