By: Jamal Smith Sports Editor
Knowing that I was about to embark on one of the most difficult challenges of my life, one week of eating vegan, I decided to head to Fogo de Chao, an all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse in Portland to fill my belly up on a week’s worth of meat.
As I sat at the table devouring mouthfuls of scrumptious prime cuts from beef, chicken, and lamb, I questioned whether I had bit off more than I could chew. Was the next week going to be a complete failure? After a night of drinking, could I avoid Taco Bell, and replace my familiar drunken meal with a vegan burrito or a vegan meatless patty that sat in my freezer?
Deep in thought, I was interrupted by a waiter who came to my table and asked, “Would you like a brandy marinated chicken thigh wrapped in bacon?” Ashamed at my reliance on animal flesh, I nodded in approval, for my mouth was full of prime rib.
To say that I love meat is an understatement. For me, a meal is not complete without some sort of meat. Then there is dairy: ice-cream, butter, milk, yogurt; all important foods in my animal-reliant diet.
By now you may be asking yourself, why then would you put yourself through the torture of eating vegan for a week? The answer is simple: I am appalled at the exploitation of animals for human consumption.
My conundrum started when one of my vegan friends posted a video to her Facebook feed of animals being mistreated in slaughterhouses and it opened up a Pandora’s Box of savagery. After watching other online videos concerning this subject, I felt sick to my stomach. It was then that I decided I would eat vegan for a week.
To prepare for my week of veganism, I stopped by Whole Foods to stock up on vegan delicacies. I plundered various fruits and vegetables, almond milk, meat substitutes, and other items lacking animal byproducts. My normal five minute trip to the grocery store took nearly an hour as I carefully examined the ingredients on the food labels.
The first day of the challenge was by far the most difficult. For breakfast I ate a banana with a bowl of cereal — with of course, almond milk. At lunch I heated up a vegan burrito which was mediocre at best. For dinner, I ate a vegan bagel and a salad medley which I smothered in caesar dressing. It wasn’t until I had half consumed the salad that I realized that the dressing that I liberally poured on the vegetables violated the challenge. I took a mental note of my indiscretion and vowed to be more careful for the remaining six days.
The next three days came and went without any hiccups; however, on the fifth day, in a drunken stupor after a night out celebrating my friend’s birthday, I stopped by Wendy’s. I’m not sure if it was the lack of meat, or if it was from all of the vodka Red Bulls that I had consumed, but their Baconator was to die for. Strike two.
When I awoke the next morning and saw the empty Wendy’s wrappers scattered on my coffee table, I have to admit that I felt a little ashamed. The caesar dressing fiasco was an honest mistake, but indulging in a greasy bacon layered burger was self-sabotage. At that point I could have given up on the challenge, but I already had a few more days left of vegan food, and my momma didn’t raise a quitter, so I decided to continue.
I finished out the challenge strong, and despite the two mess-ups, I would consider my overall results successful. The challenge wasn’t nearly as hard as I had expected; I felt great at the end, and I consumed more fruits and vegetables in a week than I had over the course of the entire year.
My advice for anyone who is thinking about eating vegan is to realize that if you make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world. Just put down the meat and try again.
Contact the author at jsmith15@wou.edu or on Twitter @journalsportWOU
Alexis Anderson, senior, Biology major
various clubs and organizations I’m involved in that relate back to what I identity myself in. And [Western] does a really good job in opening new clubs and making you feel welcomed. If you’re still trying to find yourself, figuring out who you think you are, you’re
nstitution Party. Castle is a lawyer and ex-Marine who advocates for the US to withdraw from the UN and NATO. He wants to end the Federal Reserve and is against abortions.
nominated him in 2012 as well. Johnson is pushing for a balanced national budget, the decriminalization of marijuana, and lowering taxes. As a Libertarian he is conservative on fiscal matters, and more liberal on social matters.
like their probable choice. She made history in the last presidential elections for receiving more votes than any other woman in U.S. history. The Greens’ campaigns focus on environmentalism, participatory democracy, nuclear disarmament, and social justice.
EN 
ES