happy vegetarian day

happy vegetarian day! ok, so i know i'm a day late, but i had no time to write yesterday.

i became a vegetarian on june 1, 2008, people ask me why i decided to stop eating meat, and my only answer is..... 'just because'. not because meat disgusted me, or because i saw a cow get killed in an inhumane way (i'm jamaican we saw those things all the time), i became a vegetarian because i wanted a change, really and truly as simple as that.

growing up jamaican, i lived on meat. oxtail, curry goat, bully beef, manish water (goat head soup), (yes i said goat head soup), chicken foot soup, meat was a staple, it was an insult to talk about salads and anything green except for callalloo.
yet despite my proud jamaican upbringing, i one day just stopped, and as much as i miss the bully beef and white rice (my fav dish). and the baconater from wendy's, i'm happy with my decision. i must confess in the spirit of honesty that i have fallen off the wagon a few times (count on one hand i promise), in light of that, meat just doesn't do it for me anymore. i actually enjoy making my curry tofu, and stir fry beans and veggie ground beef mix. being a vegetarian has opened up a whole new world of culinary discovery for me, i was already an adventerous eater, but this has made me so much more of one (english?)

i know someone must be thinking to themselves that i am not a real vegetarian because i am not sold out for animal rights, protesting and threatening to burn down a kfc or something, and to that i raise a celery stalk dipped in veggie dip and say 'cheers', because truthfully of all the things to fight about, food is not one of them. food was created to eat and enjoy, whether veggies or meatitarians, love food and hate war. love food... try new foods, stop eating just to shove nutriment in your mouth and actually spend time to savour and enjoy what you eat. i am always trying to entice people to join the meat free community, 'just try it for one week', because even if they go back to the bloodier side of the dish, they will go back with a new appreciation for what they eat.

so to that i say not only happy vegetarian day, but happy food appreciation day.... cheers

luv la.moi