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Vegetarianism Blog Post #4

In my last post, I talked about the reasons for why there is such a lack of vegetarians in the US. I went over various reasons, the last of which being due to health reasons, in other words, those who had tried vegetarian diets realized they had felt healthier prior to when they quit meat. I concluded the post by discussing the importance of iron (which happens to be found primarily in meat), and the fact that you can in fact achieve iron sufficiency without meat, it just takes a little extra effort.

On my last post, I received a comment asking me about alternative ways in which one can maintain sufficient iron levels without meat, as well as if there are currently resources available in helping new vegetarians adapt to the lifestyle. Without further ado, let’s get into it.

Though the most iron dense foods around are meat (primarily beef), there are other non-meat foods that contain the component, just in lower levels per serving.

Some of these foods include lentils, beans, spinach, tofu, seeds, (such as pumpkin, sesame, and squash), dried apricots, chickpeas, and baked potatoes. Though all of these foods contain lower mgs of iron per serving compared to meat products, they can still very much get the job done when eaten regularly.

If you’re someone who for some reason can’t rely on the above foods to maintain their iron levels, then a great alternative is daily supplements.

As I mentioned before, I am very anemic, and though I do eat many of the foods listed above, my body doesn’t absorb iron as well as other people’s. Because of this, I take daily iron supplements, which are over the counter, and give you a healthy daily dose of iron. These are perfect for people who are vegetarian, or whose bodies simply don’t absorb iron as well.

If you’re a carnivore, however, you should talk to your doctor before taking these supplements. This is because unlike some vitamins/minerals, iron can be quiet dangerous when over consumed, so it’s important to make sure that iron supplements make sense when combined with your personal diet and lifestyle.

Now when it comes to resources people can use when acclimating to a vegetarian lifestyle, I’d say the best options around would be a dietician and/or your medical doctor. Since dietician’s are highly knowledgeable about the world of foods and nutrition, I think conversing with one during and/or prior to becoming a vegetarian would be highly beneficial. If you don’t have access to a dietician (which many people don’t), then I’d suggest relying on the internet to inform yourself about helpful tips and tricks to transitioning from a meat eating lifestyle to a vegetarian one. Besides that, obviously keeping in touch with your regular doctor while transitioning is very important as well.

As for my personal experience, I have started to becoming incredibly used to my vegetarian lifestyle. Since beginning my iron therapy a few weeks ago, I have generally felt more energized, alert, and healthy. And though I used to love chicken and fish, I find that I no longer crave them like I used to.

I day to day life, I have began to emphasize the natural world around me more and more, and often find myself advocating for the vegetarian diet casually among my peers. Through speaking openly about my journey, my family have also decided to hop on board, and have decided to try living a more green lifestyle. So far, they’re finding it highly doable, as well as  beneficial to their health and their minds (for moral reasons).

My goal from here on out is to continue to inform as many people as possible about the positive effects vegetarianism has had on me and my health, and continue to spark conversation about the importance of animal rights.

 

https://www.nomeatathlete.com/relax/

https://www.webmd.com/diet/iron-rich-foods#2

Mandala Project: #4

Nearing the end of the semester, I now have a collection of mandalas that I have created over the past few weeks. Though I find the mandala making process a way of relieving stress, lately it has been difficult to find time to work on this craft because I have been very busy. Even though the mandalas that I have been making do not look too intricate, the drawing of the circles and creating the patterns on the mandala involve a lot of patience. However, I have been able to create small and quick sketches. As of now, I do not have as many mandalas as I’d wish to have, but I think I am satisfied with the quality of each mandala that I’ve created.

In one of my mandalas, I incorporated a quote by Adlai E. Stevenson, which reads “Making peace is harder than making war.” The past few weeks our class has been discussing the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and I find that this quote closely relates to this topic. For years, Israel and Palestine have been experiencing an ongoing struggle and have yet to come to a compromise. This quote by Adlai Stevenson illuminates the difficulty of obtaining peace, which causes many people to turn to war because it is the easier option. Many times in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, people went down the path of war simply because it was perceived to be the easier option. While creating this mandala, I thought about how it is important to recognize that although peace is not the easier option, it is the better option.  

As our personal projects come to an end, I wish to find more time to create mandalas and continue to enjoy the calming experience of mandala making.

Vegetarianism Entry 4

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it revolves so much around food and togetherness. When people think of Thanksgiving the first thing that comes to mind is probably the turkey, which is like a symbol and a decoration for the holiday. What stands out the most to me, however, is the baked mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, biscuits, greens, and pies. Even before I became a vegetarian I thought these dishes outshined the turkey.
This year, as always, I was really excited to eat some good food and I also wanted my family to limit the number of dishes made with meat. Some people might think that there aren’t many options during this holiday for vegetarians, but I think there are plenty. My family used to be one of these people, however, this year we made a variety of dishes that were all vegetarian except for one.
It took a little bit of convincing, but my mom decided to not cook a turkey, which I was really happy about. Although, no one in my family really liked turkey we usually had it because it was a tradition. We all agreed that we should have an alternative, especially, because the turkey was too big and there was always so much leftover. Then we ended up cooking chicken instead, which is relatively smaller and arguably tastes better. It was so much fun helping my family make vegetarian Thanksgiving dishes and we felt good because they were much healthier than dishes made with meat. It was also nice seeing my family try to minimize animal suffering by avoiding meat consumption as much as they could on the holiday.

Amnesty Personal Project #4

Gregory Bove

For my personal project, I have ultimately decided to create a piece of art which demonstrates the message of equality among all humans, especially between different genders in Egypt. I decided to do this because it was the best way that I deemed fit to both connect the track team and to show support for Azza Soliman, a woman’s rights activist in Egypt who is currently in prison for speaking out against the inequalities that reside there today.

After looking to Amnesty.com to find out about Azza Soliman, I was able to collect a number of statements from the Lafayette Track and Field team, as well as the Lafayette Cross Country team, about the importance of equality in our world today. I will take these sentences and create a picture out of them, which will be the gender equality symbol inside an outline of Egypt.

I believe that the effect of this project will be that the team will now have something which we can say that we all contributed to, and it also allowed me to more closely connect the Track team with the Cross Country team because we were able to come up with these statements in small groups of people which included track and cross country members.

Vegetarianism Entry 3

Since my last project entry both Fatimah and I have been trying to get out of our comfort zones and challenge ourselves when it comes to our diet. My goal was to adopt a vegan lifestyle for at least a week, and hers was to avoid eating pork. I wanted to challenge myself because as I was urging people to cut meat out of their diet, I felt that it was only right that I also take the initiative to eliminate all animal byproduct from mine. The process was extremely hard for both of us. Although she was successful at times, Fatimah found it difficult to resist the fresh made bacon and egg breakfast sandwiches made at the Marquis dining hall. She claimed that it was too hard to avoid pork because most of her go-to meals for breakfast included bacon. According to Fatimah, she was so accustomed to eating pork that she sometimes forgot about her pork free diet. Even though she wasn’t completely successful in sticking to her diet, I commend her for being courageous enough to at least try it out. It is important to recognize that these changes take time because it is hard for people to completely avoid foods that they are so accustomed to consuming.

I experienced a similar struggle when I tried a vegan diet. I had already struggled with finding vegetarian options that taste good at the dining halls, so finding tasty vegan dishes was even more challenging. I couldn’t eat the crepes, bagel with cream cheese or cereal that I usually ate for breakfast. Finding vegan foods that provided the nutrition and energy I needed throughout the day posed a greater challenge than I had imagined. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to continue with the diet after a couple of days. I am planning to attempt veganism again over winter break because I will have more control over what I eat and more options at home.

Impacts from Eating Vegetarian

               This project has impacted me in several manners. For several weeks, I followed the vegetarian diet very strictly and realized that it was difficult in some ways to get enough protein when eating in dining halls because of the lack of control over meal planning. I found it was becoming challenging to meet nutritional needs while eating vegetarian because of my other dietary restrictions including the avoidance of gluten. However, I continued to limit any meat intake to once a day only three times a week and every time I ate meat it was a very small portion. I realized how meat does not need to be the center of a meal and started talking to family members and friends. This is where I realized the power of conversation and communication. I emailed several recipes to my family members and many said that they planned on trying out the recipes. I spoke with many friends about eating vegetarian and though some were initially adamant that eating meat was important to their diets and my diet as an athlete, eventually they questioned whether meat consumption is necessary. I led people to question what they thought as I practiced my communication and advocacy skills.

             I intend to continue to eat very little meat. I no longer place meat on half my plate. Rather, a small amount of meat is found on my plate about three days a week. I was curious about the environmental impact of limiting meat consumption even if it is not complete elimination of meat. I found that sustainability can be improved even without complete elimination of food groups (Perignon, Vieux, Soler, Masset, and Darmon 2016, 15). Moving forward, this is encouraging as now I know small changes such as limiting meat consumption can have a positive impact. I will continue to encourage family members and friends to limit meat consumption both to reduce violence against animals and the Earth.

Sources:

Perignon, Marlène, Florent Vieux, Louis-Georges Soler, Gabriel Masset, and Nicole Darmon. “Improving Diet Sustainability through Evolution of Food Choices: Review of Epidemiological Studies on the Environmental Impact of Diets.” Nutrition Reviews 75, no. 1 (January 2017): 2. https://ezproxy.lafayette.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edb&AN=120221013&site=eds-live.

Screenplay Personal Project Entry #4

I am very excited to move to the next stages of my project. Right now,  I am revising my draft, looking for any possible errors with characterization or symbolism, and just general grammatic mistakes. I have settled on a name for the project. The eventual short film will be called Soul Force, a homage to satyagraha, the Gandhian term that we learned from Nagler and Kurlansky. I believe this is an appropriate title because I believe that the active practice of nonviolence is a spiritual experience; it is not easy to choose love instead of hatred. It is even more difficult to hate the opposition but not the oppressor. In my screenplay, Amani certainly displayed soul force in dealing with her sister’s death.

The central focus of my project originally had two features: successfully completing a screenplay and eventually filming a short film. At first, I sought to accomplish both in the first semester. A while ago, I contemplated the time constraints and realized that since this project is interactive and involves other people, it would be unfair to myself, my art, and the actors/actresses and producers involved to cram the actual short film into the remainder of the semester. I made an executive decision to produce and distribute the short film next semester when I will be taking a film class and can understand the intricacies of film better. I am very satisfied with my screenplay and view the short film as a continuation of the knowledge I learned this semester beyond this class.

Currently, I am making decisions about the actual production of Soul Force: its length, soundtrack, schedules, media, among other things. I am looking forward to cementing these details and moving towards the actual filming of Soul Force.

Vegetarian against industrial animal husbandry part 4

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have accepted that eating meat will be inevitable for this occasion. Nonetheless, during the past few months I was able to reduce my meat intake substantially. With my goal of boycotting industrial animal husbandry still standing, I found an even stronger motivation in trying to embrace a healthier lifestyle.

For me it is hard to continuously compromise for the sake of an issue I have only experienced through my computer screen. But when I know that I am also doing this for myself, remaining a vegetarian becomes much more compelling. So, although it is important to be aware of the maltreatment of these animals, I find that the argument for attaining a higher quality of life is more persuasive.

As humans our bodies are built better for a plant-based diet (for more go the PETA website linked below). This means that we are more efficient in digesting high fiber and nutrient dense food, the two main characteristics of a plant-based diet. My experience confirms this evidence, since I became a vegetarian I feel more energetic throughout the day and don’t experience a “food comma” after each meal, which has led to better concentration overall.

I have now realized that while I was trying to reduce violence towards animals the result that more directly impacted me was a decrease in self-violence (our bodies aren’t made for the diets we give them). It still astonishes me how many of our cultural constructions, just like with war, work against our own well-being. Finally, if you don’t think becoming a vegetarian is worth it to stop an inhumane practice, you should at least consider the health benefits.

 

Is It Really Natural? The Truth About Humans and Eating Meat

Yoga Post #3

So far my yoga journey has been progressing quite nicely. Due to the fact that the season is over, I have had a lot more time available to practice yoga and have found it to be a huge stress reliever. The app I have used to help me practice yoga, Yoga Studio, has been extremely helpful and convenient considering I can practice yoga right from my dorm.

One difficulty I have had practicing yoga is finding the inspiration to do so. I have really enjoyed yoga, but sometimes it becomes difficult to really set the needed time aside for myself to really immerse myself in it. Over break I think it will improve considering I’ll be in the comfort of my home, but as of now I struggle to really set the time aside and appreciate the art of yoga.

One thing I have really enjoyed about practicing yoga so far is that it has helped me feel more balanced. When I do practice it, I feel a lot more productive and complete. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and makes me feel good about myself because I am doing something for myself.

One of my goals that I wanted to achieve from practicing yoga was to relieve stress and so far, when I do practice yoga I feel much more relaxed. I’m looking forward to see where else this yoga journey will take me.

Screenplay Personal Project #3

             I have now moved into the draft writing stage of my personal project. I think the most challenging aspect of this stage is dedicating time to write amongst my busy schedule. I’ve found that my habitual devotion to writing has become therapeutic because I can convert my daily struggles into the emotions of my characters. I think writing, is a very effective tool of nonviolence because the pen is truly mightier than the sword.  


             Now that I am in the draft writing stage of my personal project, I have completely developed my film. I am still deciding on a title, as I believe that a striking title is instrumental in getting people’s attention and conveying the right message that I want to relay.   


            The main theme of the movie is the power of forgiveness in the face of a familial travesty as the epitome of nonviolent action, but there are also other themes, such as family, colorism, racism, and structural violence, and social inequities.  

             In the film, Amani, the protagonist, finds out about her sister’s murder while away at college and is, unfortunately, unable to come to her family’s solace because of her distant geographic location. Amani, who has a fiery personality, is devasted by the death of her peaceful sister, Nia. She is forced to deal with this tragedy without her family and seeks appropriate avenues to channel her pain. In the end, she chooses to blog as her outlet and begins a blog in her sister’s honor named Nia Lives. Through the blog, Amani enumerates ways to advocate for real social change and to keep her sister’s memory alive.  

              I’ve decided that the project will be animated because animation allows for more flexibility and creativity. I am looking forward to the next stage of physically producing the film.

 

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