Being a greenie, part II

Why Vegetarian?

2 weeks ago, I blogged about being a greenie, about making choices even when they seem insignificant. Choices such as wanting to turn vegetarian is almost laughable in Singapore because some people say that this is a food paradise, and apparently in food paradises, you can't just have veggies.

Some cold facts about factory farming and industrial fishing:

- Modern industrial fishing lines can be as long as 75 miles - the same distance as from sea level to space

- Animal agriculture is the no. 1 cause of climate change; it contributes 40% more to global warming than all of the transportation in the world combined

- 26 pounds of sea animals are killed and tossed back into the ocean for every 1 pound of shrimp caught

But what caught me most were the philosophical arguments and questions posed against animal eating. Because today's factory farming is industrialized and modernized, it's all about efficiency, technology and cruelty. (Read the book!!! Eating Animals by Jonathan Foer) I love God and I've been taught all my life to be pro-life, not just pro-human lives but in all I can, to not to put any creature through intentional suffering. That's why even though I hate vegetables and love meat, I decided to take a tiny baby step toward vegetarianism: To be vegetarian twice a week (Tues & Thurs) and that entails no meat or eggs. As of now, I'm okay with cheese and milk, which I hardly eat anyway. As I told my friend, I'm sad to say I'm not a purist. I'm fine with cakes that have eggs in them.

The Semi-Vegetarian Journey so far..

Josh and I just watched Shrek 4, and were wandering around at AMK Hub looking for a late dinner. At almost all food places we stopped at, we would only stop for a mere 2 seconds before we moved on. In exasperation, I said let's just go home, I could fix myself a salad at home. But Josh insisted we look around more, finally we settled at a HK cafe because we thought we spotted dishes that looked vegetarian enough.

Before ordering my mee sua (noodles), I asked the waiter if the dish was vegetarian, he said no. I asked, could you make it vegetarian? He said ok, and Josh did likewise. 5 minutes later, he came back, he asked, do you want an egg added? I said no. 20 minutes later I left the restaurant happy.

What did I learn? I learnt that you can request for vegetarian dishes, and that contrary to what I expected, no one's going to laugh at you. I guess it helps that in Singapore, there is a sizable group of people who are vegetarian for religious reasons, and meat-eaters have learnt to respect that. But I also learnt that Singapore is not a vegetarian-friendly place. While it is manageable to turn vegetarian in Singapore, it's hard to be pure vegan. When I told Ann that I usually go for yong tau foo or cai fan during my vegetarian meals, she said most veg dishes in cai fan have meat in them and yong tau foo's soup is boiled in fish stock.

Initially I started out to be a Sunday vegetarian, but it got my parents slightly upset. On Sunday, which is our family's only day of the week to gather together, my father will order many dishes of meat and just one plate of vegetables (probably cooked with egg). Food is not just food, it comes with stories and relationships. It's not easy for my family to understand why I must be a Sunday vegetarian because a meal is so tied to family relationships. And so I changed to become a Tues & Thurs veg. (And over the years, I hope to increase the number of days, with Sunday probably being the last day of conversion)

Is this just a fad?

I can't say for sure it's not. Who knows, maybe 3 months from now, I might give up? This sounds deeply philosophical, but there are only few life-changing decisions you can make. Marriage is one of them. PSLE, O'Levels and A'Levels aren't. I think probably turning vegetarian is one, for me at least, because this issue affects me on intellectual, moral and philosophical levels. And I hope you will try it out too. :)