Dairy-Sea-Legs

Not too long ago a friend asked me if I had ever thought about being vegan. I told her flat out that I had no interest in it. (I didn't mention that the night before, I had been scribbling on the back of bar napkins angsty comments about vegans who buy meat replacements at places like Costco. Yeah, I've got an opinion or two.)

I explained that I had changed my diet for health and environmental reasons about six years ago, when I began limiting my intake of meat. Excluding all meat, with the exception of fish, is referred to as a pescetarian diet and I have followed that lifestyle for some time now. While still eating animal products like eggs, milk and cheese, I was pretty rigid about the presence of meat in my diet.

Then, something changed. Well, actually, a lot changed and has been changing for some time. Looking back on it now, I guess it has been a long time coming. When I returned from Thailand, I started working at a food cooperative in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After being out of the country for a few years and away from my absolute favorite foods, finding myself surrounded by western food, I embarked on a culinary love affair. It felt like I was rediscovering produce, vegetarian options, cheese - foods I had only dreamed of while I was overseas. However, things were strikingly different.

For one, very quickly, this dream world comprised of joyous, delectable feasts, came to a grinding halt when I realized that I couldn't stomach all of the dairy. Here I was, in the land of glorious, cheesy New Mexican food, pizza and macaroni - delicacies in the land of stir-fry and curry, but my body was being destroyed. I felt terrible. I couldn't believe what a havoc it wrecked on my system, and this was after less than two years of eating a mostly dairy-free diet. Not by choice, but due to regional availability.

During the height of my war with dairy, I met Phil. I think it would be reasonable to say that Phil is a mad scientist when it comes to mac and cheese. When we started dating, he was cooking up the dankest and certainly the cheesiest recipes I had ever tried. I persevered through each meal and somehow got my dairy-sea-legs.

So, I started changing my diet back to "normal", but after being in a different country for so long and seeing a lot of different ways of living and thriving, I could see how things were starting to change for me beyond my difficulties with dairy. I was really taking the time to consider my health, my body and my relationship with food.

It is due to this relationship with food, my body and the world around me, that I have revisited my friend's question and have arrived at a different conclusion than I had anticipated.

This is the beginning of a new adventure. Stay tuned.