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Difficulties of being a vegetarian in a carnivore society |
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Tuesday, 19 February 2008 |
Editor’s note: This is the second in a four-part series focusing on diets in popular society. Roberti will try one diet per week for a period of four weeks and record her experience.
by NIKKI ROBERTI
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
Whether it’s for health reasons or ethical issues, vegetarianism is a growing trend, visible through adjustments in menus on campuses and restaurants around the country.
“Vegetarians tend to have lower rates of heart disease, obesity, hypertension, type-2 diabetes and some forms of cancer,” said Janna W. Lyons, a registered dietitian at the Student Wellness Center.
Appalachian
Food Services offers vegetarian options including soup, salad, and
potato bars, and a variety of options on the Lite Side in Welborn
Cafeteria.
Appalachian’s
Food Services ranks high in the state of North Carolina, said Todd. V.
Williams, a supervisor at Welborn Cafeteria.
“As far as productivity, and what we offer as a whole, we rank first in
service productivity,” he said. “As far as options go, we have a lot
compared to the average [university].”
During my one-week trial as a vegetarian, I decided to explore the different restaurants of Boone with my family.
Only problem was my family is completely carnivorous.
The first day my parents were in town, they took me to the Peddlers
Steak House, where the waiter actually wheels out a huge slab of beef
to cut fresh in front of the customer.
The only vegetarian option was the soup and salad bar with a potato.
Needless to say, the limited menu at certain places made being a vegetarian difficult.
“I’ve really noticed how difficult it is to find vegetarian options at
restaurants because most dishes are served with meat,” said freshman
journalism major Jessica L. Evans, who recently became a vegetarian.
“It’s really frustrating that the vegetarian options at most
restaurants are so few.”
But there are places that do try to take vegetarian customers into
account such as Melanie’s, Los Arcoiris and Pssghetti’s, which have
vegetarian sections specified on their menus.
But while finding tasty meals may seem like an important obstacle to
overcome in a vegetarian diet, what you eat is more important than how
it tastes.
“It is more difficult for someone trying to pursue a vegetarian type of
diet to get the full compliment of all the vitamins they need,” said
Dr. Bob Ellison, staff physician at Student Health Services. “The
omnivore who is eating some meat – chicken and fish –doesn’t have to
think about if [they are] getting all [their] complimentary proteins.”
Lyons said a poorly planned vegetarian diet could lead to deficiencies in other important vitamins, such as B-12.
She said the most common mistake is when a student with an unhealthy
diet tries to become a vegetarian simply by eliminating meat.
“[The student] decides to stop eating meat thinking that will be
healthier, but without adding more fruits, veggies, whole grains,
beans, nuts,” she said. “They changed their diet somewhat, but did not
really improve it.”
Ellison recommends students take the “least expensive, generic
one-a-day multi-vitamin,” especially adult women who need folic acid
for future pregnancies.
Folic acids are found in leafy green vegetables and are recognized as reducing preventable birth defects, Ellison said.
However, getting your recommended amount of vitamins, regardless of whether or not you eat meat, can be difficult.
“You’d have to be a Popeye and eat six to eight cups of spinach everyday to get your requirements,” he said.
Lyons said students wanting to go vegetarian should start off slowly by
eliminating red meat first, and integrating different protein sources
into their diet such as legumes and soy products.
When I had limited options to eat at certain places, I did not feel as
satisfied or energetic. But overall, the vegetarian diet was do-able
and delicious.
Junior technical photography major Hannah C. Conway has been a vegetarian for eight years.
She agrees with Lyons and Ellison that rushing into a vegetarian diet may lead to problematic nutritional deficiencies.
“Be smart, cut back slowly and don’t ignore nutritional needs,” Conway
said. “Do your research and use your head about it like you would with
any other diet.”
Afterall, if you don’t do your research, the results won’t be how you expected.
“Just because you’re not eating meat, that doesn’t always mean you’re having a healthier diet,” Ellison said.
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