Eating vegan poses it’s own set of challenges.
{Hey! I’ve decided to start a new series in which I share some insights & tips, photos, & ideas for gluten-free cooking, since it seems to be a topic of interest for many of you. While my personal recipes that I share with you will always be vegan (& almost always gluten free–my family, except for my youngest daughter & myself, still eat gluten), I may occasionally share non-vegan links to gluten-free resources or blogs that I think are useful. Hope that’s cool with you.}
I don’t really see them as challenges anymore, as I’ve been vegan for 6 years, & the way I eat is now second nature.
Not only that, in the past 6 years since I made the leap, I’ve noticed an explosion of vegan friendly foods (like non-dairy yogurt & cheese, for example, that actually taste great!) & these foods are no longer isolated to health food stores or order-by-mail programs.
The same goes for gluten-free foods.
Have you noticed it, too? Most restaurants, if they are in any way forward thinking, having joined the gluten-free movement & offer at least a few menu items that cater to the GF crowd.
However, vegan AND gluten-free? This is where it get’s a bit sticky.
Remember last week, when I got glutened*?
Part of the reason I chose to have some wheat bread (remember, I’m not Celiac, just have an intolerance) is because in our new interim location, there are three stores–a Wal-mart, a Latin-catered grocery store, & a Safeway, a pacific northwest based grocer. Only one of these stores carries gluten-free bread, but they only carry one brand. While this brand is dairy-free, it is not vegan because it contains egg whites.
I decided for now, I’d buy & eat this bread, despite the egg whites, because that’s my best option for now. Sure, I can live without bread. I don’t like to, mind you. My diet is still 99.33% vegan.
I know it becomes a bit of a slippery slope if you say you’re vegan & then start letting the eggs, milk, cheese, & other animal products start creeping into your diet. Before you know it, your diet hardly resembles a plant-based diet. Fortunately, since so many foods are naturally gluten-free & vegan, I don’t have to make this choice very often.
Since I have an intolerance to gluten, but not necessarily eggs, I’d take the gluten-free bread with the egg over the vegan wheat bread. I will always buy the gluten-free & vegan bread if possible, but if not, I’m not going to sweat it.
And so, here comes the hard questions.
If you’re “really” vegan, would you eat bread with eggs in it?
What if you eat cake with milk in it, at a party?
I think this is why many of us hate labels & why many people think they can’t ever eat vegan or become vegan because it seems too restricting. They don’t want to live up to impossibly high standards.
This is just my take on the issue, but I’ve always believed it’s about the principles.
If you choose to go vegan, great. That doesn’t mean you have to be a “perfect” vegan. I think if 95% of your diet is plant-based, animal free food, you’re pretty vegan as they come. I know some vegans would disaree, but there it is. That’s the way I see it.
If we want more people to join the movement of eating more plants, less animals, for health &/or ethical reasons, we’ve got to set the example that living this lifestyle is not only do-able, but enjoyable. That it’s not about nit-picking, but about the total, holistic approach to a wholesome, flexible diet based on each person’s health, background & needs.
*Term used in GF culture to describe encounters with gluten, that more often than not, result in circumstances that aren’t pretty, not to mention life threatening if you happen to be Celiac.
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Are you gluten-free & vegan? Just vegan? Or just gluten-free? Have you ever had to choose between vegan or gluten-free?
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