Les Jeux Sont Faits

To quote Ed Rooney, Les Jeux Sont Faits. After 5.5 days of fairly devoted veganism, I quit. I had convinced myself that I would make it to the end, despite my misgivings about life as a vegan. Fortunately, saner minds prevailed.

Last night, my friend Evo was visiting from New York, and we all gathered to go out to dinner. I made us reservations at Founding Farmers, which features classic American comfort food, along with a special vegan menu. Seemed like a good place for the ominvores and the herbivores to meet, greet, and eat. But as we sat down to dinner, Elin and I both agreed that 5.5 days was enough, and that we were done. I'm glad she agreed, because I wouldn't have stopped the venture if she hadn't also. Plus, the minute we agreed to stop, I felt like a weight had lifted. The whole week has been kind of stressful.

So what did I learn from the week. That Tofitti sour cream sucks? That Oreos are supposedly vegan? All true. But here's what else:

I think it's hard to be a vegan, but particularly if you don't have a strong moral conviction about meat. As much work that's involved, it's difficult to sustain the energy and motivation if you don't really care about whether there is meat or dairy in something. Vegan for vegan's sake is not enough.

On the other hand, it does make you very mindful of what you are eating, which is a step in the Michael Pollan direction. It's unbelievable how many unidentifiable ingredients are in the food we eat every day. And, rarely had I stopped to think about it before.

An added bonus from the week -- I remembered that I like to cook. And I learned that it's a good idea to read the recipe beforehand. And prep everything beforehand. And that I don't like chiptole. (The pepper, not the restaurant. I actually had a delish vegan lunch at the restaurant one day.)

Was it worth it? I think so. I'm glad to have done it, but even more glad to end early. Because as I said last week, I really like quitting and the relief it brings.