Snaking through the crowds, I found myself sitting in front of an ideal gameday brunch: an omelet sprinkled with shredded cheddar, toast and slices of crispy bacon, all washed down with a blueberry milkshake. Then, time to wobble your way to Camp Randall for the second half of a greasy, sweaty day. It's not until now that you start longing for a refreshing bite of tomatoes.
That's how the idea of vegetarianism came to be. Especially in the first half of 20th century, technological advances such as Freon brought a boon to the meat-packing industry. Meat consumption rose dramatically as a result of affordable prices. After 50 years of binge eating, Americans began to miss the merits of fresh garden fruits and vegetables.
In the ‘90s, the government finally abandoned the long-standing basic four food groups sponsored by the meat and dairy industry, switching to the Food Guide Pyramid we know today. Even if you don't care about the well-being of animals, taking meatless meals makes you healthier by avoiding troubles like the notorious E. coli. In the past few decades, food scares have swept across most kinds of livestock. Mercury poisoning in fish, salmonella in eggs, mad cow disease and bird flu. Each time they rock our faith in food safety while vegetables, on the other hand, keep a rather clean record. This always gives vegetarian advocates more to say, especially when the 33rd World Vegetarian Day is right around the corner on Oct. 1.
Although you see vegetarian options in most restaurants, vegetarians make up less than 10 percent of the nation's population. It may be more effective to look at minor, practical changes to eating than seeking to convert the masses.
In a well-balanced diet amounts of vegetables and fruits come second only to staple foods, about 1.5 to two times those of meat and dairy. But the true story is three out of four individuals eat less than the suggested servings. All too often, we get tricked by the stunt of heat in advertisements. The pepperoni pizza fresh out of the oven, the beef stew shrouded in steam and the boiling chicken noodle soup all become glorified by high temperatures. In comparison, the unpretentious looks of veggies can hardly get our attention.
Encouraging vegetable intake is thus one priority of World Vegetarian Day, and it is a suggestion helpful to almost everybody. But sometimes it can be narrowed down to stiff idealism. Do a Google search of ""vegetarian."" Most of the time you come across ""vegetarianism"" instead. The ""-ism"" creates an antagonizing dichotomy of meat lovers and vegetarians and pulls all food choices into a grudge war. A friend, for example, constantly finds herself struggling between the temptation of meat and the commitment to vegetarianism, inhaling lettuce in guilt after a visit to a steakhouse.
Staying healthy doesn't need to be so painful. Hurling all chicken nuggets out your window won't help. Even in the food pantry of America's most voracious carnivore, all you need is one more bunch of green vegetables. Artichoke, for example, helps protect the liver from potential damage and helps the organ regenerate. A typical working day for the liver starts at around 11 p.m. Staying up late thus puts a serious strain on the largest organ in your body. For any night owls, artichoke could be an ideal part of your dinner. Even though the vegetarian lifestyle has only been embraced by a small few, most of us could take a veggie-friendly stand, eating more vegetables but not to the extreme.
This is also the idea of Michael Pollan, whose ""In Defense of Food"" boils down to a defense of vegetables and fruits. You probably have already devoured five cucumbers since his lecture. Keep working on that. It's still not too late to fix your twisted diet pyramid. Once again, feel the tomato juice squirting out to cool your shirt, and enjoy the sensation of crunching cabbage aloud. After all, more veggies a day helps keep the doctor away.
Qi Gu is a junior majoring in journalism. We welcome all feedback. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
