April 19, 2013

Vegan Challenge: I Draw the Line at Yeast!

One week in and the vegan diet has been treating me well.  I unintentionally dropped three pounds, not necessarily due to not eating any cheese, but because I stopped snacking on junk food or doing late-night fridge raids.  While my body has been responding well, my sub-conscious has developed a snide side I never knew existed.  I feel like I'm constantly thinking of and being reminded of all the food I'm not allowed to eat.  It's like someone gave me a coloring book, but took away more than half the crayons.  Grocery shopping has been a little more exhausting because I have to read the ingredients of everything.  It took me 20 minutes to find a loaf of bread I could eat as well as afford.  Why do I have to pay twice as much for fake sour cream?  

I decided that during my 30-day challenge I was going to be a strict vegan when it comes to food (winter is almost over and I'm taking full advantage of my leather boots before I put them back in storage), so I decided to go as far down as bee's honey.  I got off my brew pub job early today so stuck around to order a new Braggot ale we have on tap, which is a hybrid of beer and mead.  My careful co-worker reminded me that the beer was made with honey, and then continued with the idea that since yeast is technically "alive", some vegans don't consider it on their animal-free menu.  She had me on the honey, but I draw the line at yeast!



3 comments:

  1. Gosh, you could argue this 'alive' thing so far. Do you think any of the vegetables or fruits had living bacteria on them before they were scrubbed clean to eat? OK, I know. That's going too far. Or is it??

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  2. Aren't the fruits and vegetables themselves living before they're harvested? It's a fine line.

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  3. FWIW, I personally don't draw the line at "alive", but rather at "sentient", so yeast and plants are in, but anything with a central nervous system is out. =o)

    Of note on the beer, the "gotcha" from a vegan perspective is usually what "fining agent" they use. A few of them use gelatin, casein, glycerin, and/or isinglass (all of these being animals derived products). So, Guinness is, very sadly, not vegan, but Corona is (also sadly, IMHO, because it's not Guinness). =oP

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