Eating bugs

Today I am introducing bugs and insects into my diet. Over the last 6 weeks, I have successfully maintained a vegan approach to eating. For those of you following my journey, I have evolved from the most basic of vegan foods to complex nutritionally packed and delicious meals.

I do not wish to immediately return to eating meat ( nor is that a goal at this time ). However, the experimental journey of what I eat continues.

Today I will be trying a cricket based protein bar.

What I like about cricket flour:

Complete protein source
Sustinable
Ethical (I feel)

I feel there is a difference between crickets and beef. I am excited to mess around with bugs and insects.

Having said that, I don't plan on turning over any trees for some light snacks :).

Why I am no longer a vegan

I have completed 5 weeks as a vegan. It has been a great experience and I have learned a lot about food, society, and myself. I have had both great conversations and unpleasant conversations about being a vegan. I have had many conversations about why I changed to a plant based diet. Everything is going great, and as a result I feel I am currently evolving in my personal life. However, I am deciding that as of today, I am no longer a vegan.

Why change from a diet that I enjoy, notice results from, and feel is sustainable for myself as well as society?

The answer is simple: The title

While I am not changing (at this point) the things on my plate, I am changing what I classify myself as.

Over the last 5 weeks, I have been labeled as a vegan.

At first, I thought it was cool. I gained a new community, a new association, and a new title. For those who doubted me, a new challenge to withstand peer pressure, and even opinion-sourced science (because ultimately, that’s what most of it boils down to in the end).

However, by classifying myself as vegan, I also become the black sheep in many groups. I have become the person people put an imaginary microphone in front of to answer impromptu Q + As. It is funny, because much like religion and politics, it is easy to feel the change in body language when you announce a different ideology into a group. People consciously or unconsciously judge me based on my classification. While I am never shy from a question, I do question the intentions of those asking. I am not even completely sure why I am vegan at this point, as I am still in the beginning of my journey – so to answer on behalf an entire belief system, is not fair at this point.

Those are the non-believers. What about my new community? How have I been received?

My new community of friends, by means of diet, has invited me with relatively open arms. However, I feel those arms only extend so far.

I had a recent experience that left me feeling a bit sour about the idea of community. I posed a question asking the group their opinion on eating cricket flour. Perhaps I was a bit naïve, but I generally wondered about the sustainability and ethical aspects of it. Long story short, I don’t feel most people who answered have ever researched eating crickets (a few have), as I felt they were very dismissive and condescending. I was disappointed reading the backlash of comments.

I am sure they all meant well, however I realized something from this. My ideas of vegan community, and the implications tied to labeling myself a vegan, are two things I am no longer interested in. Vegans aren’t a group of elite or more consciously aware people… they are like everyone else, and that is totally okay.

I feel that by labeling myself, I give myself an imposed set of rules to follow. I feel that by labeling myself, I give others the ability to judge me based on their preconceived thoughts of what it means to be ‘vegan’. By joining an ideology, it is expected I share the views of my peers.

These are things I do not want.

As I evolve, my thoughts are allowed to change. As an independent, I am not tied to any expectations, or guidelines. By being anonymous in diet, I am not spotlighted by others. I do not allow judgment, because I am not asking to be different.

Today I am no longer a vegan.

Today, I no longer have a title.

Today, I simply do not eat animal products.