Vegetarians in a canvas
FD
Food in a Canvas
(What I’ve been eating lately and does it matter)
I’ve been experimenting with what and when I eat for a while now. This is where I’m at right now — shared for anyone going through the same thing, or curious enough to start with a mellow, perhaps self-interested activist agenda:
The Day Begins: Always — oddly, for convenience perhaps — with the same few vegetables: a cooked beetroot, a cucumber, a radish bulb, a cherry tomato. All of them. Some. Followed by a filling protein portion. Eggs, chicken, or beef - with dairy. Finished with fruit, nuts, and yoghurt. Sweet, and dense, to kick off — and manage cravings at dinner!
Lunch: usually at the office: a leafy salad. A modest portion of grain + meat or legumes. About an hour later: two pieces of fruit. Sometimes, a herbal or green tea later in the afternoon
Dinner: Cooked vegetables + grain (oats, pasta) or potatoes
Weekend experiment: Coffee and a pastry. Reintroduced after a long break to see how my mind reacts. Do I need this? Am I missing something if I don’t, ongoing questions.
Some History: I was vegetarian for three years. Vegan for a few months. Like many — I reached a weak point. Reintroducing meat came with its baggage, energy, strength, and feel-good aggression. Conclusion: it’s probably a social thing. Everyone around me eats meat. I didn’t have a vegetarian community in my weekly routine. More power to those who do and feel great!
A Few Thoughts Along the Way: Treating food as reward is hierarchical. It’s easy to forget the consumer’s power to influence the food system. The social aroma around food is lovely — but also, increasingly, questionable.
Main General References
Eating to extinction - Dan Saladino
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Consumption in a canvas
Attempting to answer the question, how does the food consumed impact thought. I’ve been experimenting with what and when I eat for a long time now, here’s my current yet evolving routine, shared to reach out to those who have been through or want to go through this process with a mellow and selfish activist agenda, at some point :
It always starts with these exact few small vegetables for some convenient reason, a cooked beetroot, a cucumber, a radish bulb, a cherry tomato, all of them, or some of them. Followed and with a rich savoury protein source like eggs, chicken, beef with some dairy. Followed by a bowl of fruits, nuts, and yoghurt for a sweet boost to kick off the day with, and minimise cravings through out the day
For lunch, usually in the office, it’s a simple modest leafy salad, followed by a modest portion of a grain + form of meat or a legume
2 fruits will follow 30 min to an hour after a meal
Not daily, but sometime a herbal or green tea.
To finish off the day, it’s usually a portion cooked vegetable(s) plus a grain (oats/pasta) or a bowl of mashed potatoes.
Recently, on the weekend, i’ve re-introduced the amalgamated enjoyment of coffee and a sweet pastry - to ask the question through trial and error rather than reading a book, was it really something i’m depriving my body from having, am I missing something if dont? On going.
I’ve been a vegetarian for 3 years, a vegan for a few months - i’ve concluded, like most people who try this, that I am depriving my body of something! I feel stronger and more energetic, perhaps it’s because everyone around me eats meat - I didnt seem to have a community of vegetarians that where part of my weekly life. however, a few things I came across the way:
Treating food as a reward is hierarchical. The consumer’s choice to influence the industry is easy to forget. The social aroma that is created around food is in my progressing view and purpose, lovely but questionable.
Things I want to get to: a simpler less frequent meal plan.
Main General References
Eating to extinction - Dan Saladino
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After experimenting with vegeterianism and veganism for quite some time, here are my findings. The first thing stubbled to, as simple as this question might be, what is food as reward, and what happens if we treat it otherwise. what is food beyond the survival need it poses. Do we pose and think if we really need this. Why is it that we often automatically turn to food for a reward, a treat, a highlight of the day when it’s a typical normal day, or worse, when things are’nt going well. This writing is really to look at these moments, we know the difference between food that feels good on an exciting day full of productive and meaningful engagement, and food that feels good on a lowly motivated day. treating what we consume as a ‘reward’ is heirarchical in nature. and cultures do it al the time, it’s the highlight of the day, most things revolve around it, arguably, it creates a social space, where we’re sharing a form of art that takes time and effort to create and deserves a ‘highlight’. sparks conversations. and maybe it’s alright, we add a few flavours, make a cake, let the kids indulge a little. and the adults too. an imperfect gathering, a heirarchical event if thought of that way. It really is, in Rory Sutherland’s words, about perspective and perception.
The consumer’s choice and Rory Sutherland’s ‘Perspective’:
It’s general knowledge at this point that the food system is flawed in many ways. Even the raw unprocessed organic food we eat is likely to be ‘processed’ in some form before they’re even planted or framed.
What is the consumer’s choice in choosing what to buy and consume. what are we supporting with every choice we make. It’s easy to say it does’nt matter, everything is crap anyway, but i’m sure a second thought through will jog back the reason. That being said, how do we choose, who do we listen to, and who do we trust. It feels too much, almost like a second job to keep on top of this.
What are some individual actions that everyone can take without feeling like it’s useless and probably does’nt make any difference?
The obvious thing to do is probably stop buying products that are clearly crap if we dont have to.
How does it feel"?
The same old tale, it’s really not about what it is, it’s about how it feels before, during, immediately after and well after,
food as reward
General references :
