Starting Wednesday, I’ll be Megan the Vegan. For 40 days.
“Why would you want to do that?” asked my lovely, carnivorous other half last month when I explained I’d be shunning animal products for a while.
Several reasons:
One. Giving up meat for Lent has become a personal tradition I’ve practiced for the past few years, but it never feels like much of a sacrifice. I’d like to actually feel a little bit put out this year so I can observe the season the right way.
Two. I’ve read that old school Christians used to do vegan fasts to observe Lent. They’d have big pancake dinners on Fat Tuesday to get rid of all the milk and eggs. You can’t beat a time-tested ritual. (Though I probably won’t partake of a pancake binge.)
Three. It’s good for the planet. Like, really good. If everyone went vegetarian for just one day — not even vegan — the U.S. would save: enough water to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months; 1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year; enough gallons of gas to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare; 3 million acres of land, an area more than twice the size of Delaware; and 33 tons of antibiotics. That’s a pretty impressive impact. Can one person going vegan for 40 days make even a fraction of that greatness happen? I can only hope.
Four. I watched Food, Inc. recently and the messages really resonated with me. Not just related to animal cruelty, but related to this whole screwed up modernized way of eating food with a blissful ignorance about its origins, and the way we’ve so passively surrendered to allow factory farming to run this entire country. I won’t elaborate for fear of breaking veggie libel laws.
Five. While my choice is in no way related to Alicia Silverstone and her recent (and rather successful) book promo on Oprah, I do identify with with one of her points. “I just took a look at my dog and said, ‘If I’m not willing to eat you, how can I continue to eat these other creatures that have the same desire to live, are just as funny, and just as cute as my dogs?’”
My dog, Pepe
Six. PETA is encouraging Cardinals, Bishops, and everyone else to go vegan for Lent this year. Oh yes, I succumbed to this ploy and took their pledge.
Seven. It rhymes with my name, kind of. So, I mean, how can I really pass that up?
The important question here is whether my running will be affected. And if it is, will it be for better or for worse?
Expect forthcoming reports.
Happy Lenting.
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