Vegan Vibe

Pamela Anderson is one. So is Paul McCartney. Dennis Kucinich, Natalie Portman and Cesar Chavez are part of the group too. In fact, being vegan is a lot more common than you would think-around 1 million Americans say they are vegan, a study by Vegetarian Times said in April. Last week, the count would have been 1,000,001.

Yes, to be able to write a story about vegans on campus, I thought the best way would be to become vegan myself for the school week. Although a little bit apprehensive about what I would eat, I was interested in how the experience would change my view toward food. After all, not eating any animals or animal products (including dairy, gelatin, eggs and honey) would be a challenge for me, especially if you are aware of my undying love for the Marketplace chicken stir fry or Cooler chai lattes.

But it surprised me how many things I could eat even after my experiment began. I had to bid adieu to egg salad sandwiches and mashed potatoes, but I could still have pita and hummus, lemonade smoothies (without yogurt), cinnamon pita chips and bean burritos. I had always believed that vegans had little in their diet that extended beyond "rabbit food" (fruits and vegetables) and soy products.

The same misconception was held by many Oxy students before they became vegan as well. "I had always thought that being vegan was too restrictive and that I wouldn't be able to get enough nutrients, and my mom was not about to cook entirely different meals just for me," Caitlin Goss (first-year) said. Her mind was changed when her friend took her to Real Food Daily, an organic vegan restaurant with two locations in LA and Santa Monica.

"Some of the ingredients are definitely weird compared to conventional cooking, but that does not take away from the taste at all," Goss said. "I'd argue the food has more flavor and is by far more nutritious because it lacks all the preservatives and processed junk." She did her research on being a vegan and has now happily been one for three months, with plans to work at a vegan restaurant over the summer.

"Don't believe the myth that it is too restrictive-that just means you haven't researched all the options available," Goss said. "Most of the stuff that makes up a vegan meal is part of a 'conventional' meal too. I love to cook and bake, and I have discovered so many new recipes and substitutions that have awed my family and friends who usually-after tasting what I've made-say, 'This is vegan?!' as if all vegan stuff is gross and weird."

Kit Warchol (sophomore) agreed with Goss. "Veganism doesn't mean you can only eat bland stuff," she said. "It just means no McDonald's Sausage Egg McMuffins in the morning. Big deal. You can still create delicious meals without meat."

Warchol became vegan when she realized there were plenty of good reasons behind it. "I was actually against veganism for a long time because I felt like it was a constructed diet that you can only pursue in a rich nation like the United States, where people can afford grocery stores like Whole Foods," she said. "But I realized quickly that isn't the way it has to be. My friends eat vegan to be healthy, reduce their environmental impact and shop locally. I eventually realized these were excellent reasons, swallowed my pride and gave it a shot."

Fascinated by the large number of vegans on campus (eight of them contacted me when I expected to find maybe two or three), I wondered why others had "given it a shot."

Many said it was to support the ethical treatment of animals and to be more environmentally-friendly. "Global warming is a critical issue and over-farmed animals being raised for the meat-obsessed American culture are huge emitters of greenhouse gases," Katie Davis (sophomore) said. "There is a vegan activist group out there whose motto is 'A vegan in a Hummer is still more environmentally friendly than a meat eater on a bicycle.'"

A lot of the vegans on campus were vegetarians first and then became vegan because it was "the next logical step." Then there are people like Joellen Anderson (sophomore). "I saw PETA's video 'Meet your Meat' two years ago and never turned back," she said. "I actually went cold turkey (so to speak!), straight from meat to no animal products whatsoever."

I wondered if it would be as easy for me to give up non-vegan food when I started my experiment. My first day eating vegan, I bought way too much to fill myself up-a non-dairy bean burrito from the freezer near the soda fountain, a huge salad piled high with vegetables, an apple and a vegan chocolate chip cookie from the bakery. Intrigued by the latter, I ate it first and it wasn't half-bad; you could tell it wasn't a true chocolate chip cookie, but nothing tasted off about it. After the burrito and about half the salad, I felt stuffed. "Should I keep the apple?" I wondered. "Maybe for later."

I was so happy that I did, because about three hours later I was famished. I had forgotten how much meat and dairy fill you up. Usually I can have a half-serving of chicken stir fry with rice at 12:30 p.m. and be set until right before closing time at the Marketplace (7:30 p.m.) I had discovered my first pitfall of being a vegan-it wasn't finding something to eat, but finding enough to eat.

The Marketplace didn't help much. Although they do have lots of vegan choices (labeled with a "v"), most are options that can't be made into a true meal (like Brussels sprouts or zucchini). Also, most run out before you can even get to them. Despite there being a special glass box just for vegan bakery items, the one and only time I saw something in there was Monday, and that was one cookie. Every other day, I looked for more but never found anything. The night I went to Homestyle for mashed yams, they had just run out. When I discovered that the cinnamon pita chips in the Cooler were vegan, I went to look for them the next day and only found parmesan pita chips-a no-no because of the cheese. Anderson recommended that the MP have rice and black beans available every day, which I think would be a great idea; it would make crafting meals a lot less of a trial for Oxy vegans.