Where do you fall on the food spectrum?
Carnivore…Omnivore…Vegetarian…Vegan?
How about somewhere in between?
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the kinds of food I eat, where they come from, and what impact that has. So as not to cause confusion or appear hypocritical, I really haven’t shared any of these thoughts & observations.
I want to, but to be able to do so adequately, I need to take a step back and explain my food philosophy with you.
Everybody’s background & upbringing has some impact on what types of food choices they make as an adult, and I’m certainly no different. Before I get into what I think about the food spectrum & what that means, I want to share what’s gotten me to my current eating “style”.
My Food Background: Part 1
When I was little I paid no attention to what I ate- I just ate whatever was put in front of me without complaint. Like most kids, I didn’t really care what I was eating- what it was made of, where it came from, or what it did for my body.
Then came “Sunday Dinner”:
It was just my mom and I growing up, so my aunt & uncle would invite us over for dinner occasionally. (I think they worried about my mom’s cooking skills…) Every weekend we’d wait anxiously by the phone in hopes of a Sunday night dinner invite.
Eventually it became a Sunday night tradition- no more invitations; it was just assumed that we’d be there hungry! (Oh, and we were!) My uncle is a great cook, so he took care of dinner every time. My mom & I would bring dessert- we would spend all week brainstorming dessert ideas- imagine if we’d been responsible for more than one item!
Anyway, this is relevant because I can solely pinpoint my aversion to red meat to these dinners.
My uncle sat at the head of the table: he was the chef, the meat carver, the server. My aunt sat at the other end of the table, and I was someone in the middle. For some reason I have yet to understand, my mom and aunt like their dinner rolls soaked in the juice left on the meat platter. To get the soaked rolls from one end of the table to the other, it was required of me to pass them.
It only took one glance to learn to turn my head, but the damage was done. That and the fact they referred to this delicacy as “blood bread”. Yup, I’m pretty sure that’s what did it for me. (That and the time that I went to a pig-pickin not understanding the true nature of the name, and ended up face to face with a roasting pig.) I definitely caught flack from the rest of the family when I stopped passing my plate up for meat, but I didn’t care.
Somehow despite all this, Sunday dinners still hold a special place in my heart and remain one of my favorite family traditions. To this day, a wave of nostalgia & homesickness continue to wash over me every Sunday evening, since I no longer live near home. (I always try to find a way to include Sunday nights in my trips home 
)
I know you’re on the edge of your seats, but you’ll have to wait til tomorrow for more 
I’m also in the middle of making an epic dessert, but this post is already way to long, so you’ll have to wait to hear about that too.
Here’s a sneak preview:
What has been influential in forming your eating habits?
{ 6 comments… read them below or chime in }
Yum…I am already axious to see the dessert!! My favorite meal time memories were what we called rock n roll dinners. Once a month (usually on a Friday night) growing up my Dad would make a big pot of spaghetti and meatballs and we would actually play classic rock and roll music during dinner. We would get up and dance and sing (think Joan Jett, ZZ top, etc.) and have a blast!
What a great, thought-provoking post!
I am definitely an omnivore with no plans of changing that title anytime soon. The thought of cutting out an entire food group is quite frightening to me, to be honest. I have a very Type-A, easily stressed/anxious personality, so I’ve learned that I don’t like feeling bound to one thing or another (and that goes for other areas of life as well). So although I don’t eat meat ALL the time (many days are fully vegetarian) I don’t think I’ll ever be able to (or want to, for that matter) swear it off completely.
With that being said, I have the utmost respect for vegetarians and vegans. As cliche as this sounds – everybody’s different, and every BODY is different
Gosh, so many different things have affected the way I eat! I think most of it comes from my parents, who raised me eating real, mostly organic foods thanks to the local co-op that was down the block from where we lived. I still remember my brother and I taking a “kids love tofu” class there when we were in elementary school!
I like hearing stories like that – Sunday dinners remind me of family too. I am a carnivore. What can I say? I enjoy the beef. I TRY to limit myself to beef only once per week, chicken one serving per day, as much fish as I want, and tons of veggies and whole grains. I am not anal about it, but just sits in the back of my mind. I go to my parents house for dinner nearly every Sunday, I cherish my time with them, as we live close. My mom and dad are both fabulous cooks!
This is such an interesting post! I try to avoid ANY label because I invariably end up “failing” or “breaking” it somehow. When I’m eating with people I’ve just met, I call myself a vegetarian because I don’t eat meat 97% of the time. I rarely eat dairy either but am definitely staying away from vegan. Um, omnivore light?
What an interesting story! I guess READING has been my biggest influence. I try to be the most informed eater that I can!
{ 1 trackback }