It is better to travel well than to arrive
-Buddha (or not)
Last year I made a big ole vegan boo-boo, very publicly. I ate eggs and cheese.
A few months ago I was led to believe that I ate eggs again, albeit a little less publicly, when I ate this salad at Phantom Canyon Brewery.
I later learned the server was wrong – the general manager and chef confirmed there is no egg in the batter. The server did indicate that the tofu is fried in the same oil as fish and other animals and that, I learned, is in fact true.
I was a bit dismayed and wondered whether food fried in the same oil as meat is considered vegan. The obvious answer is of course it is, tofu is from a plant. The bigger question is around the preparation method. Am I going to start asking how fried foods are made at restaurants? Maybe, maybe not. Less vegan? I don’t think so but others may.
Which makes me think of my personal circumstance of living with an omnivore. We use the same pots and pans. Less vegan? I don’t think so but others may.
What’s the point here?
I have been teaching vegan lifestyle and cooking classes for just about a year now
My cooking demo class last night, photo shared by student Shannon M.
and for as much as I’m offering information, education, coaching and advice, in return I am learning much from my students.
Most of my students are not vegan and they don’t necessarily want to be “100% vegan.”
What they do want is to
- eat better
- learn more
- make change.
I am privileged to be a part of their exploration.
I encourage them to avoid judging themselves – or others – and I need to remember to not judge myself.
I ask them to focus less on perfection and more on right now. I need to do the same.
I hope to continue doing the very best I can each day.
Because, for me, it’s better to travel well than to arrive.
Because it is a journey.
16 thoughts on “It is better to travel well than to arrive: Revisiting vegan perfection”
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Love this, as much as we strive, I think it’s near impossible to be 100% vegan, sometimes the bread at a restaurant may have been brushed with butter or our veggie burger fried on the same grill as a hamburger. I have eaten cheese in the last year by accident, No matter how well you try to explain it to your server, to not put cheese on your enchiladas, they will bring it to you on your salad, you can send it back and seem like a jerk (as I have over and over again) or you can pick as much off as you can and eat the dang salad. xx
No doubt, @facebook-100003855166862:disqus, that 100% vegan is unattainable. I drive a car and though I opted for fabric seats, I continue to find leather pieces in the most unusual places. We do the best we can!
So so true, JL! Also you made my heart stop a little because I’ve had that peanut crusted tofu salad more times than I can count, so I’m glad it doesn’t have egg. I asked the first time and was told it didn’t, but I never asked again. I guess that’s another thing, right? Because menus and ingredients change, so just because it was vegan once doesn’t mean it always will be, but I really doubt I’m going to start asking EVERY TIME I order something. I’ve vegan, not crazy 🙂 And like my girl Somer says below, it’s pretty impossible to be 100% vegan unless you only eat at home and even then cross contamination could’ve happened at the processing plant, ya know!?
Oh, @twitter-464809434:disqus, I was so bummed for a few weeks when I was uncertain about that salad!
JL, thank you so much for this post. As I head off to Vida Vegan Con in two weeks, I’m worried I’m not vegan enough. I started eating a plant-based diet in March for health reasons. I’ve transitioned 100% but I don’t even think about asking about tofu batter, cooking oil let alone think about my clothes and the products I use.
@kay_lynn:disqus, you’ll find the VVC crowd to be wonderful! I say don’t worry about what others think and just feel confident of who and where you are on the journey. I hope to meet you there!
Exactly. We do our best and try to inspire others to do their best. I live a vegan life on and off the plate, but I don’t appreciate vegan scorn. I
do ask a lot of questions in restaurants, and would be upset if I were
given incorrect information about ingredients, but I wouldn’t feel
guilty if I unknowingly ate non-vegan food. It’s happened. I once reviewed a cake and said I couldn’t believe it was vegan — it wasn’t!
Nor do I try to make others feel bad about their dietary choices. As for
sharing cooking equipment for plants and animals (I could tell you a
story about that but it would take too long), I sure didn’t throw out my
pots and pans when I became vegetarian, or again when I became vegan. But I do feel uncomfortable with animal and vegetable foods cooked in the same oil, grill, or without washing the pan first.
@google-a784752f4493e3d803861ca4f9c2fbdd:disqus, vegan scorn is a great phrase! That’s it and me neither. As Colleen Patrick Goudreau says, “before we vegan, we were not.” I think treating people kindly right where they are is so important. I also agree with your last sentence. It’s not a preference and once I know something I can’t now know it, which means I won’t be ordering that tofu salad any longer. But I can’t say that on my long list of questions I need to ask servers I’m going to go as far as to ask about grill space, etc. Or maybe I will. Hard to say!
I just experienced this circumstance today. After the previous post about asking for vegan food at a conference, I did the same for a conference I attended today. Even after following up with the conference organizers, a server still tried to give me a salmon steak and then the veggie plate that did arrive was probably cooked in butter or possibly margarine. I haven’t had either in so long I could not tell but I could see and taste that the foods were not just steamed. Nonetheless, I just could not make a fuss once the plate arrived. My politeness was rewarded when I received a nice fruit plate to replace the fruit tart that I did not touch.
Ugh, @1b1cd2d14faef95d52090aaa29579c0e:disqus I’m glad you got that fruit plate!
<3
Thanks, @esoakley:disqus! 🙂
Thanks for this post. I went about 90% vegan (or, as my husband calls it, veganish) last summer, keeping occasional seafood and cream for my coffee (there is no good sub, I’ve tried them all!). Your blog has been very helpful! So far, it’s mainly dietary, though I’m considering my purchases a bit more carefully moving forward. My dilemma is eating out, that’s what I reserve the seafood for. I try to make the best choice, but I’m not comfortable demanding a lot detail, and basically asking the chef to cook something special just for me. I just tell myself that if everyone was 90% vegan, there would be no factory farming. Also, it’s a journey, and I’m not even a year into it. Perhaps that’s a cop out, and maybe I’ll be more strict over time, but for the moment this is where I am.
Thanks again for all the great info you provide, and I’m looking forward to your book!
Hi @8da53b235a68a997409be239acb69500:disqus and thanks for your kind words!
My strategy at restaurants is to kill ’em with kindness. If I’m eating out I try to find an online menu to see if anything looks vegetarian because I can probably figure out a simple way for them to make it vegan. Pizza? Hold the cheese and double up the sauce and veggies. Pasta with cream sauce? Can I have the pasta, hold the sauce, just give me a side of veggies (then I can mix them)? Etc.
I also take a look at the sides they offer for other entrees and ask if I can have a plate filled with a few of the sides. If I can’t find a menu I call ahead and simply ask “What do you prepare for your vegan guests?” You’ll be surprised by how quickly many will respond with vegan options!
Great post, JL. I wrote down some similar thoughts last year, having also once been more prone to be intolerant of little accidents and lapses — in both others and myself. Veganism isn’t a personal purity contest, and it’s not about us. I actually ate some non-vegan food by accident two weeks ago; it happens a few times every year, no matter how careful I am, and I don’t think it’s really the point. The point is to live with the intention of being as compassionate as possible. If fear of an unattainable ideal keeps people from going vegan — as I believe it does — it’s the job of educators like you and me to show folks that veganism is about effort and intention, not perfection. There’s certainly a difference between eating some cheese at a holiday party just cause you felt like it and accidentally consuming something at a restaurant — or even having a moment of genuine temptation and struggle. But whereas I was once unable to see that distinction, categorizing all “mistakes” as an affront to veganism, today I do see a difference.
@google-02003909bd1462353521b9a71f10dc29:disqus, I was definitely hardest on myself early on and have since become far more forgiving – because mistakes are going to happen. Period.