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Posted on Tue, Feb. 15, 2011 12:10 PM
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closeThe vegan way: Correcting myths about a growing trend
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Not so long ago, if you wanted to eat vegan food at a Kansas City restaurant, you’d have to wave a stalk of celery and hope it was a magic wand.
This was a meat and cheese kind of town. Still is in many ways.
But by 2011, things have changed.
Vegan restaurants such as Fud and Café Seed have opened. Vegetarian restaurants, including Eden Alley on the Plaza, will gladly make any dish vegan. Countless other eateries now feature vegan options.
Vegans abstain from meat and meat byproducts, including cheese, milk and eggs.
If cookbooks and television are any indication, interest in veganism is growing. Kathy Freston’s “The Veganist” spent several weeks on Amazon.com’s best-seller list. Earlier this month, Oprah Winfrey aired a show where she and 378 members of her staff went vegan for a week.
What’s it like to be a vegan in Kansas City? And what do nutrition experts think? We asked Julie Wynn, a 21-year-old vegan from Kansas City, and Denise Schmitz, a registered dietitian who coordinates the family nutrition education program in 11 counties in the Kansas City area for University of Missouri Extension, to share their thoughts.
When did you become a vegan?
Wynn: The last year and a half I’ve been full vegan.
Why?
Wynn: Everything’s so overly processed. The stress our livestock goes through is not natural.
How has it changed your life?
Wynn: You don’t feel weighed down or lethargic after you eat.
As a registered dietitian, what do you think of vegan diets?
Schmitz: Vegan diets are fine. In fact, with the new dietary guidelines that just came out Jan. 31 from the USDA, they are encouraging people to make half of their plates fruit and vegetables.
Concerns about a vegan diet?
Schmitz: Nutrients found in meat and dairy are often missing in a vegan diet: vitamin B12, calcium, iron, zinc, omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin D. This means that anyone on a vegan diet should do their research and find out how to get these nutrients, because it is possible by eating a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Do vegans need supplements?
Schmitz: They should consider taking a multivitamin and vitamin B12. Vitamin D is good, too.
Misconceptions about veganism?
Wynn: People ask if I eat like a rabbit. They think I just eat lettuce.
What do you eat?
Wynn: A lot of tofu. Portabella mushrooms and eggplant are good meat replacers. I eat hummus, lentils, beans and nuts for protein.
Things to know if going vegan?
Schmitz: When you increase your fruits and vegetables, you increase your fiber. Drinking more water will help you prevent gastric problems such as gas and constipation. I would suggest taking baby steps and gradually changing your diet over several months.
Is it possible to eat unhealthy as a vegan?
Schmitz: Yes. There are a lot of processed foods in boxes that don’t contain any meat or meat byproducts that are not nutrient-dense. They have a lot of calories with not a lot of nutrition. So, yes, a person on a vegan diet can eat unhealthy just like anyone.
What are some surprising things that true vegans can’t eat?
Schmitz: Honey is one of those things that some vegans choose not to eat. That surprised me when I first saw that. I guess it’s because bees are involved.
As a dietitian do you think it’s cruel or bad to eat animals or their byproducts?
Schmitz: No. Humans have been hunters and gatherers from the beginning of time. … If people think it’s unethical to eat meat, that’s their right. But it’s important for people not to impose their own views on others.
Do you think people who are not vegans are cruel or immoral?
Wynn: No. I would never pass judgment. I don’t like the vegans who assume people are bad just because they haven’t cut out meat and dairy. Nobody’s perfect. But it’s not like I don’t want to live by example. But if someone wanted to know about what I have been through cutting out meat and dairy, I would love to share my knowledge.
Hard to go vegan?
Wynn: It’s hard, and I’m not perfect. There are still times I will have something that is baked into something, or I’ll have a little cheese over the holidays. It’s just super challenging. I love pizza, and that was really hard for me to give up. But Waldo Pizza and the Foundry in Westport both have vegan pizza. It’s also hard because being vegan is expensive.
Critics say vegans are more kind to animals than other animals, which have eaten each other for millions of years.
Wynn: Eating animals is not a means of survival anymore. It’s more gluttonous over-consumption. We take these animals and give them no type of natural life. … I believe if you don’t give an animal a natural life with natural food, then you’re not really eating a natural animal. You’re eating a man-made, chemical-, hormone-filled animal, which can’t be good for you.”
Critics say if everyone became a vegan tomorrow, millions of animals would be spared, but millions of people could lose their jobs.
Wynn: If everybody became a vegan it would make a shift in the way (animals are treated.) If society did that it wouldn’t eliminate jobs, it would just create different jobs.
What do you most want to tell people about becoming a vegan?
Wynn: The true fight of veganism dates back to the 1800s. It’s about the natural way of getting our food, and treating our animals well. Because if they are treated well, then the meat we receive will be the natural meat we are supposed to eat.
But vegans don’t eat meat.
Wynn: Well, that’s why. That’s what we’re fighting for.
Would you go back to eating meat if all animals were treated well?
Wynn: At this point I’ve been without it so long I don’t even know if I would have any desire. But for me it’s a protest. I am going to cut everything out until it changes.
Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/kcstar_fyi
To reach James A. Fussell, call 816-234-4460 or e-mail jfussell@kcstar.com.
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