Wednesday, June 4, 2003 12:03 PM CDT
For vegetarians, there's no 'me' in meat
BY ARLENE MANNLEIN, Staff Writer
Nicole Lutes and Hilary Disch each changed to vegetarian diets for similar reasons -- they feel it is a way for them to help prevent cruelty to animals.
"I am pro-life to everything," said Lutes, 17, a Decatur Eisenhower High School junior who has been a vegetarian for three years. She objects especially to animals raised for slaughter strictly for the purpose of food.
Her imagination even led her to ask, "What if this was my leg?" when she used to hold a chicken leg in her hand.
"When I was 10, I just didn't want the animals to die," recalled Disch, a Millikin University sophomore from Beaver Dam, Wis. She stopped eating red meat then and has eaten no meat since entering high school.
Neither young woman's choice was immediately accepted by her family.
"My mom was raised on a farm. When I told her I was going vegetarian, she flipped out on me," said Disch, 19.
When she had reached high school and still maintained her resolve to be vegetarian, Disch's mother insisted on a complete physical examination. The teen received a green light from her doctor.
"At first, my dad thought it was a phase," said Lutes. And with a grandfather and uncle who are cattle ranchers in western Nebraska, it's not always an easy choice at family gatherings.
"My grandmother still puts meat on my plate," Lutes added. "That's what they do for a living."
Neither young woman eats red meat, poultry or fish. In addition to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, Lutes drinks milk and eats dairy products and eggs. Disch chooses similarly but limits as much as possible her egg consumption.
Neither, however, is a vegan, a person who eats no animal meat or animal products. Disch thinks that vegan is a healthy choice but also "very expensive and so idealistic for society."
The women have company. A University of Minnesota study published several months ago found about 6 percent of the high school students in the Minneapolis area were vegetarian and the majority of them were female. The American Dietetic Association reports that about 30 million Americans have explored vegetarian eating patterns and about a third of U.S. teens think being a vegetarian is "in."
Jane Frankie, registered dietitian at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center, explains a vegetarian diet "can meet all of the nutritional guidelines of the FDA.
"But with kids, especially teens, or anybody who decides to embark on a vegetarian diet, find out exactly what they are eating. Make sure it's not just fruits and vegetables. Have some grains and high-protein items in the mix."
Frankie said as long as there are replacements for high-protein foods, being a vegetarian should be a healthy choice. That could mean adding nuts, eggs or legumes to replace meat.
It is, in fact, the position of the ADA "that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, are nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases."
The ADA also indicates vegetarians can get many health benefits from their diet change. Vegetarians often have fewer degenerative diseases as well as lower death rates from those diseases. They frequently have lower incidence of hypertension and renal disease as well as lung and colorectal cancers.
Vegetarian diets low in fat and/or saturated fat can help reverse coronary artery disease.
Being vegetarian taught Lutes to become a better label reader. Just because the soup can label says vegetable soup doesn't always mean it was made without a meat stock, she explained,.
"Always read labels," she advised. And when eating out, "Always ask or choose something else."
At Eisenhower's cafeteria, Lutes frequently chooses salad entrees or veggie submarine sandwiches, or she will bring her own lunch. At Millikin, Disch and other members of the Millikin Vegetarian Society have worked on student menu choices with Jeff Tartar, executive chef, and Joe Harness, general manager of Sodexho Campus Services.
There is at least one vegetarian entree at every meal served at Millikin.
"Everybody eats it, not just the vegetarians," said Disch.
"The vegetarian folks are vocal about what they do and don't like, more than the nonvegetarian group," said Tartar. "That's good from our point.
"They are very concerned about their nutrition and very aware of it," he added.
And at home?
With school and activities taking up time, there isn't much left for cooking.
"I cook when I have time at home," added Disch, "and improvise with what we have at home.
"I use soy protein sometimes because it's so easy. But that's not what I survive on at all."
Contact Arlene Mannlein at amannlein@herald-review.com or 421-6976.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
CLICK TO ENLARGE
|
