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Hi! I’m so glad you’ve found my page- I really do hope you find something you enjoy here! Although it’s not usually my schtick, I’m going to use this one place to talk about myself so that you can get a better sense for who I am and why I started That Green Cuisine.
Who I am (for now)
So, as I write this I am a teacher by day, amateur cook by night. I am originally from Canada (go Leafs) but I have been living abroad for almost a decade, mostly in Asia. I have been so incredibly fortunate to get to see the world, explore and live in new places, experience cultures very different from my own, and (most importantly) have access to so many delicious and diverse cuisines. In fact, one of the things I’ve loved the most is getting to see how much vegetarian and vegan foods exist across the world. It’s not just that one beige aisle at Sobey’s. Taiwanese street food, vegetable amok in Cambodia, mango sticky rice in Vietnam, not to mention ALL the Indian food- there is so much for us to try! It’s given me the chance to try new flavour combinations and opened up a whole new world, filled with amazing food. What more could I want?
My Road to Green
How I became vegetarian, eventually vegan and a green eating advocate has been a twisty path but I think it’s one worth sharing, because it challenges some of the initial assumptions about us plant-based eaters. Usually, when I tell people that don’t eat meat they automatically assume that my motivation is moral, and that I just couldn’t possibly eat something cute (can anyone relate?). Of course I love animals (I don’t necessarily think they’re all cute, but I respect and defend their right to exist) but that’s not what turned me veggie and it’s not what keeps me veggie. There are so many different reasons that someone choses to adopt a plant-based diet, and often times the reasons overlap and evolve.
For me, the first thing that triggered a plant-based life was a very nasty infection when I was a teenager. I somehow managed to contract a bacterial infection which caused stomach ulcers. I had no idea what was happening, I just knew that I was having excruciating pains, seemingly out of nowhere. As a teenager, of course I didn’t go to the doctor, I just stopped eating most things. Eventually it got to the point where I’d found a bit of a formula- which foods were safe and which foods were a oneway ticket to pain-town. I stopped eating meat, tomatoes, oranges, grapefruits, anything sugary, anything spicy. It was just a lot.
In my late teens I did eventually see a doctor and once I explained what my diet had become, she was able to diagnose me and get some medication to help me to gradually re-diversify my diet. I welcomed the opportunity to bring back things like citrus fruits, tomatoes and anything spicy, but I had no interest in meat. Part of it was that I had lost the taste for it, and I think the other issue was that I was a university student and it was just way cheaper not to eat meat (I remember chicken prices being front page news at this time). That was it. It wasn’t an ethical issue, it wasn’t anything other than how it made me feel.
How My Thinking Has Grown
As I’ve gotten older, accumulated more life experiences and (hopefully) gotten a bit wiser, my reasons for continuing a plant-based lifestyle have grown. I still just don’t want to eat meat, that hasn’t changed. It’s been nearly 16 years now and I’m not sure I could handle the texture. So if I don’t crave it, what’s the point? Plus there are so many more benefits to eating veggie. Animal welfare (why harm animals if we clearly don’t have to?), economics (it can be much cheaper to eat plant-based), overall health (vegetarians and vegans have a lower risk for things like heart disease, diabetes and many cancers- see my sources page for more in depth research), and, my new number one motivation, the environmental impacts (it is absolutely terrifying to see the rapidly deteriorating global environment just within my lifetime). The environment, climate change, sustainability, whatever you want to call it, is why I have shifted my thinking and my identity as a vegetarian or vegan, to just being ‘green’. It allows for a shift in focus from diet to lifestyle, and allows for conscientious choices that make a difference.
Here’s to Green!
I hope this has given you a better idea of who I am and why I’m here. I am interested to know about anyone who stumbles upon my page, so please don’t hesitate to leave a comment about stuff you’d like to see, or your reasons for going ‘green’. I think that finding community in people with similar values and goals is how we can truly have an impact. If there’s anything you’d like to see on the blog (or recipes you’d like to have me try) please send me an email at contact@thatgreencuisine.com.
Thanks for coming! 🙂