"Why would you even want to do that?"

Just about a month ago, I decided to take the plunge into a diet of only things grown from the Earth, excluding all animals and any by-product thereof. It all came about because I was thinking about vegans and what they eat and how they could possibly survive without eggs, milk, or, most importantly, ice cream. I did some research and discovered that their meals and diets reflected what I wanted to eat but always chose the easier, tastier animal-laden options.
I put myself up to a challenge, and a pretty daunting one for a cheeseburger-eating, ice cream addicted, carnivore. My initial thought was to make a permanent switch to veganism but that was quickly squelched by the thought of an approaching cruise vacation where I would be doing humanity a disservice by not eating the delicious food prepared. So I cut back to an experiment, giving the whole “vegan” thing a shot for a month. I have three days left and must say that my attempt at an animal-free diet has been surprisingly and overwhelmingly enjoyable. I may, in fact, find ways to incorporate such a diet into my post-vacation life.
My point in telling you all this is that my diet shift actually incited in me many changes and revelations that I wasn’t expecting. Because animal products exist in most mass-produced food, I found myself reading ingredients of every thing I put into my mouth that I didn’t prepare. Just by turning the packaging over, I was mercilessly forced to see the nutrition facts which subsequently caused me to put the food down. That being said, I have become way more aware of what I am putting into my body and have begun to treat it like the gift it is.
Additionally, being a vegan isn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, convenient. A snack isn’t as easy to get your hands on so I found myself eating less and choosing foods like fruit and vegetables to satisfy my need for a snack rather than the cookies or chips I previously reached for. This sparked some in-depth thought processes in my head that led me to thinking about how easily we take the convenience of food for granted. We live in an age where there are stores open 24 hours that have bananas in the middle of winter, foot-long sandwiches with all the fix-ins, and soda or juice that was bottled in a land far and away. And even further, for the food-insecure in our very own country, my inability to find anything to eat in a house full of food (by my determination, let me clarify), it makes me appreciate the convenience and abundance of the food I can easily purchase whenever I have a craving.
I also found myself being more careful with the words I used to describe my diet... being mindful of the fact that I could, in fact eat meat or ice cream or Oreos if I wanted, but that I was choosing not to. And that a vegan encompasses far more than a diet, but a lifestyle absent of any animal products, therefore I would say "I'm not eating animal right now," which inevitable sparked smiles and odd looks of questioning.
Eating closer to the Earth, I found that there was a generally simplicity (though it was difficult) to my diet, to my lifestyle for the past month.
I know this seems like an odd post for a soup kitchen blog and it is. Who really wants to learn about some random girl’s weird, masochistic dieting habits? But I think apart from learning how to cook tofu and tempeh (which I didn’t even know existed until a month ago), the simplicity I learned, the convenience of, or appreciation for abundantly, accessible food, and the care with which we must treat all of God's creation struck a thicker chord for me. I won’t lie, I’m really looking forward to a big, juicy cheeseburger on Sunday (February 28th marking the end of my experiment), but my body will certainly miss the healthy, vegan diet of February.