I'm a KissMyAssitarian.

plinkerton- sorry if that sounded aggro. I agree with you, I hate that **** too, and didn't want someone thinking that was what I was doing.

My girlfriend is using the term pescaterian. It works. She has to explain it sometimes, but hey, she'd have to explain it sometimes no matter what she said.

I think its possible to be an ethical omnivore. Of course, 'ethics' are a flexible thing. Being ethical only means that you have a system of ethics, and that you endeavor to uphold them, it says nothing about what those ethics actually are. I don't think its ethical to kill an animal to eat it, and some don't think its ethical to mistreat animals, though it IS ethical to kill them for food. As long as both of us are endeavoring to uphold those ethics, then we are both ethical people. Tricky business, this ethics.

I'm in support of anyone who thinks a little harder about where their food comes from, how it affects their bodies, and how it affects their community and the world around them. You might not make the same choices as me, but if you are thinking about those issues, you are bound to make better choices than the 99% of the world's tendency to just cram whatever they see into their gullet, and we can work together to improve things.

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Damn, that mushroom is huge. Here is a quicky recipe on my favorite way to prepare mushrooms. Boletes and oysters are best, but any fresh mushroom will do well cooked this way:

Heat a completely DRY skillet over medium heat.

Slice your mushrooms into reasonably thin slices.

Toss the mushrooms into the dry pan with a good pinch of kosher salt (any salt will work, but kosher salt's larger pieces pull moisture out of things easier, which is what we are doing).

Saute the mushrooms over this heat, keeping them moving around. The moisture in them will begin to evaporate, and they will shrink. If the mushrooms look wet, or there is free moisture in the pan, keep cooking till it evaporates off.

When the mushrooms are fairly small, and have taken on a firm 'meaty' texture, add a clove or three of crushed and chopped garlic, and a few good pinches of shredded fresh sage (the fresher, the better, seriously!).

Mix together, and add a squirt of olive oil, just enough to lightly coat the 'shrooms, and make the herbs all stick to them. Cook for a few seconds just to let the flavors permeate.

Then eat them! Or put them on a sandwich, or in pasta, or whatever. The dry saute cooks mushrooms WITHOUT slimyness, which is a very common mushroom complaint. The garlic and sage makes a wonderful taste combo that can't be beat, but of course you can try other herbs and spices if you want. Once they've been dry sauted, they can go into other dishes without taking on a slimy texture. I've converted several "I don't like mushrooms" people with this simple method.

peace,
sam

Ewww.... I don't even want to KNOW what YOU eat...

Lots and lots of bacon?

Well said. I avoid Whole Paycheck for the same reason.

Lately, I have been having digestion issues, so I went to a naturopath for food alergy testing.

Apparantly I have to avoid; wheat, sunflower seeds/oil, milk - cheese etc. and lamb.

So. I have to switch back to beef/chicken eggs, etc.

Steak and potatoes here I am.

Haha, no worries man. I'm just messin' around.

Absntr wrote:

"I'm not a fan of cherries so I'll have to adapt for apples instead."

Oh, my cherry pie recipe only works with cherries.
However, I have an even easier Apple Pan Pie recipe that doesn't even require a pie tin.
From memory, I think it involves a prepared commercial crust, sliced apples, sugar, cinnamon and a handful of Corn Flakes.
It travels very well wrapped in a cloth or paper towel (newspaper) and one can eat it with his/her fingers.
I'll post it.

vegan, have been for some years now, but i will admit to occasional lapses, and i guess at the end of the day i'm okay with it, not the animal-parts-eating as much as the label-evading, though i suppose the two are tied up with one another.

but definitely as organic as possible. there are a few reasons for this. sadly, thus far only one person has brought up the issue of fairly traded foods. for me, eating organics is as much a human rights issue as it is a way for me to insure that i know what's going into my body. one way or the other, someone is going to have the job title "farm worker," and i want to make sure that i do all i can to ensure that said person has some dignity (and capital).

it's never been an issue of money for me. when my wife and i were at our poorest (i was making $8.50/hr working part time at a used bookstore) we made the decision that it was worth it (operative phrase alert) for us to spend the extra money to live by our principles.

also, for what it's worth, while some nutrients are truly more difficult to obtain eating a vegan diet, i'm not sure that it's a long list, and for a savvy cook, i'm certainly not convinced protein should be on it. i don't mean any disrespect, i'm just speaking from my own experience as others have done.

woops, i forgot to mention punk rock. for me, this was my introduction to veganism, and i suppose, later on, fixed gear bikes. i think that was the original question that we've all been forgetting to answer.

that said, i'm really something of an ex-pat these days, unless listening to ted leo a lot counts.

Right?

big fat vegeterian here. (270 pounds, oh damn!) I'm a sugar junkie, which I think I need to cut out of my diet... But hell, what's the fun of getting high and not being able to gorge on sour patch kids?

oh, and to keep this fixed related, I nearly got ran over tonight while teaching myself to track stand in a parking lot by a kid learning how to drive...

Vegan for about 8 years. Never had a problem with a lack of protein, I think I actually get too much. I think alot of fixed gear riders are vegan/vegetarian due to an interest in doing things a bit differently. Veganism is niche way of eating and fixed gear riding is a niche (albeit growing) way of cycling.

"it's healthier, cheaper, better for the environment, more ethically sound, smarter."

saying that veganism is inherently more any of these things is pretty ignorant. tons of people are unhealthy vegans living on what could easily be considered junk food. tons of vegan products, the subsitute meat/dairy products etc., are extremely unhealthy. simply becoming a vegan doesn't mean you are being more environmentally friendly but a problem is that many people think it does so that's where they stop with their awareness. there are ways to be extremely healthy/environmentally conscious, and ethical while consuming meat in your diet. your line of thinking simply serves to alienate people.

"Fish is a much more ecologically sustainable form of protein than other types of meat"

the fishing industry is doing catastrophic environmental damage. many fish populations are being harvested to near extinction and in nothing near a sustainable manner. i was reading an interesting article the other day on how the boom in sushi's popularity has nearly wiped out particular tuna fisheries. i know you singled out line caught fish as well, but it's pretty rare that people consume line caught fish.

i think the problem arises when people think x is inherently more _________ than y. veganism is not inherently more healthy than omnivorism. fish is not inherently more environmentally sustainable than beef.

"sadly, thus far only one person has brought up the issue of fairly traded foods."

that was me. it's the next big thing on my checklist, trying to improve my form of consumption a couple steps at a time. it's getting to the point where my friends roll their eyes and tell me "not everything has to be political" as my unending quest for the perfect vegan/sweatshop free sneaker rolls on, but i feel like doing everything you can to reduce suffering inflicting by your choices is a worthy path.

"woops, i forgot to mention punk rock. for me, this was my introduction to veganism, and i suppose, later on, fixed gear bikes."

same here, although i'm staying true to my roots! i still listen primarily to hardcore/punk and it's off-shoots (ted leo is on lookout man, and was in citizens arrest!) and it is a HUGE part of my identity, and combined with an amazing family, is what has led me to be who i am today. at 26 i'm actually more involved in the DIY scene than ever before, doing a label/band/booking shows... it's what keeps me going, along with riding my bike! i think a HUGE correlation could be shown among the triangle of punk/fixie/vegans.

"life's too short to make other's shorter"

i love steak. and anything deep fried. i'd probably eat a human if it was deep fried and served with a good side dish....oops did i say that out loud? ummm...i meant i'm a vegan. yeah, thats the ticket. a vegan.

I had a friend who moved to Santa Cruz, dreaded his hair, and became a vegetarian. His vegetarian diet consisted of french fries, nachos, white bread, etc. It was the most ridiculous sh*t I'd ever seen.

All the while, he was chastizing me for eating meat. Saying that it's so gross, and how they treat animals, blah blah. Telling me that he's awesome for being a vegetarian.

He was rail thin, had no muscle mass, and was quite sickly looking sometimes, whereas I was running 3 miles a day, and lifting weights, and doing quite well.

So, I agree, being a vegetarian or vegan is fine, but pay attention to what you're putting into your body, and make sure you're getting enough of all the nutrients that you need.

haha i do actually love steak and i'm vegan. i'm not one of those vegans who'ss grossed out by meat... i always loved meat... especially bacon and fried chicken... i also love anything fried and a lot of places in NYC have tons of fried vegan food.

haha AOL awarded food swings in brooklyn some "best of" award for healthiest food in the city simply because it's vegan. the food there is so far from healthy it's not funny.

i'm currently on my own personal "get skinny" plan. rule #1 is no fried food.

edit: which reminds me, you wanna study the corelation between veganism and fixie riding, go sit at food swings for an hour. a vegan joint in williamsburg, you know it's fixie heaven

Hey, thanks for the recipe. Sounds delicious! I'll have to try that sometime!

You describe a totally stereotypical Santa Cruz Junk Food Veggie. I lived there for a while, and while its a nice town, its got a lot of half-assed world-savers marching around. Some really great people too though, don't get me wrong.

I try to help other aspiring veggies by giving them recipies and having them cook food with me, so they can get real food under their belts. I mean, if the only thing you've ever eaten in your life is hamburger helper that your mom made for you, then you go off to college, expand your mind, decide to become a vegetarian, what the heck are you going to eat? You don't know how to cook, you don't know any meals to make, and the easiest veggie food to find on the shelf is chips. I mean, the spirit is willing but the knowledge to hold it up isn't there yet. If people get off to a good start early, it helps a lot.

peace,
sam

and hard to pronounce and spell. but my spelling is terrible.

about the vegan is more of a lifestyle, for the hardcore yeah, life is difficult.

no leather -- im on the side, that a leather belt will last me 15 yrs, and leather shoes last longer, but i have vans that have man made uppers, rolley (sp?) xl2
apparently loads of glue (shoes etc) is made from animal bones
honey -- its their food for their kids??? but i dont count bees as animals

but being veg/vegan doesn't equal healthy. originally i cut the dairy eat healthier, was eating too much cheese at the time -- now its soy cheese (?better??worse???)

also to bring this back on topic, i started riding fixed for more exercise on my short ride to/from work. so both were a small effort to get healthier.

i guess if you just ran the aisles scooping up everything in view it could be a tad on the pricy side, but with careful shopping and a frugal eye i find it not that much more having more things in one place...instead of having to dash over to the farmers market(the days they are open), then over to the deli, then bakery & herbalist.... thats four stops covered right there.....4 trips = more time and the trade off is pretty good, if i don't have the extra time or on work days...

I only eat corn. I only sh*t corn.

I'm a vegetable-tarian, for the same reason I ride a bike. I like vegetables. I like bikes. Mmmhmm. Mmmm, spinach.

Oh, and also for environmental/ecological reasons and for moral reasons.

yeah, and sour patch kids DON'T have a crap load of gluten in them!

(gluten=rendered animal fat)