I have been following the Dawn vs. Scott issue with interest. I have
always said that the very low fat vegetarian diet is socially isolating,
even if it is much healthier. I have found that some people "just have
an open mind" and some don't, no matter how you try to cook vegetarian
for them...if it is vlf or vegetarian--some people just won't touch the
food at all. Others embrace it with enthusiasm.
My Son-in-law Drew embraced it with enthusiasm! After he married our
daughter Amy, he started doing all of their cooking and has become such
an expert at low fat vegetarian cooking that he has come up with
stunning, delicious and creative menu ideas. He is actually much better
at it than I am! He still will eat meat sometimes when at restaurants,
or greasy food, but that is usually less than once a week. He is a great
guy. We're really glad Amy married him.
When I became vegetarian very low fat, (doctor's orders) our social
isolation was a problem. I was "critical" of restaurants (I still am) in
front of our friends, so they stopped going out with us, and for a while
our phone never rang. Frankly, it was my fault. I apologized to them
later and kept my mouth shut at restaurants, eating before whenever
possible so I could have my dry salad and baked potato in silence. When
we found the Mongolian Grill restaurants, it solved many problems. If
you have them in your community, you should try them. They can prepare
food very low fat easily. And you can trust them, because you actually
watch them prepare it yourself.
My wife still likes to eat chicken once in a while, but I don't cook it
home. I don't "confront" her on this issue at restaurants since I am not
an animal rights activist. I'd say that Dawn will have problems if she
is--and her fiancé' is a meat eater. If she is not an animal rights
activist and doesn't mind cooking with flesh in her kitchen, then I
think it will be OK with them. I can't predict what people will keep an
open mind. Can you readers?
We have served marvelous, tasty tofu recipes and some guests will
surgically pick out the tofu to put at the side of their plate, treating
it as though it is poison. My wife's cousin became ill at one of our
dinners and actually threw up after dinner! Can you believe it! It
actually happened.
I'd agree with other posters that Dawn and her beau should try to find a
way to work out this issue, because food is such a big part of our
lives. It is almost impossible to avoid conflicts if either party is not
very mature and willing to keep an open mind. Perhaps this issue could
be a fountainhead: it may guide them to a better understanding of each
other and serve to actually improve their marriage and willingness to
compromise. Is that possible? I hope so.
Mike Rosenblatt
ROSEY1@xxxxxxxxxxx
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