Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Being Vegan

Through a mix of hardcore Buddhist belief and practicality, I spent many years as a vegan. That it also caused the nick problems was just a bonus.

Passing through the servery one lunchtime, my plate was ladled with precise portions of mashed potato, boiled potato and baked potato. That was my meal.

Spying a shifty looking kitchen screw, I bore down on him, my plate held out in front of me. He legged it for the exit, locking the wing gate between himself and my outrage. Leaning far out of reach, he insisted this was a balanced diet as the potatoes were of different varieties...

4 comments:

  1. Ben, you have all my respect for being a vegeterian or vegan. I am not a Buddhist as I believe that all religions are men-made. But I love what Buddhism teaches and have visited Buddhist monks in their monastries to re-enforce my theory of what Buddhism teaches. I have/had Buddhist friends who talked me into being vegetarian/vegan and it made so much sense. But for 3 years all I dreamt of was roast chicken, leg of lamb, lamb cutlets and roast beef and roast duck. I used to drive up the M11 to visit my inlaws in Peterborough and am surprised I never got into an accident as my eyes were always at the sheep and cows in those farms one sees whilst driving along the M11.

    God bless my soul because after 3 years I was in despair and finally gave up and went back to meat with vengeance. My excuse is that I am a Zulu woman and hunting is part of our Zulu history. No one ever hunts for potatoes or brussel sprouts! You have my sympathy, but my argument is that if I am meat to the lion, then the lion can be meat to me as long as I kill it as humanly as one possibly can.

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  2. And then we wonder why prisoners riot...

    The great mystery to me Ben is how you have retained your sense of humour after dealing with all this pettiness for so long?
    Kate

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  3. Africa Shox video especially for florence
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzaiL8HEKM0

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  4. I was vegan in Prison, Due to the hard work of the Vegan prisoner support group i had a good diet. The trouble is, too many no-genuine "vegans" jump on the bandwagon to get the extra goodies, and spoil it for the genuine ones. If you are in prison for animal rights, you are not going to want to eat meat, dairy or eggs. Read Why vegan by Kath Clemments for more info.

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