“Why would you ever do that?”
This has been the most common response I’ve received when I tell people I’m a vegetarian. To be fair, it’s the same one I used to ask other vegetarians as a former omnivore myself. Meat, for me, had always seemed like the main event of any meal, so when I decided to cut it out cold-turkey (pun intended), I wondered if I was going to be left eating off of half-empty plates. Instead, I found that by cutting out a pillar of my diet, I was forced to try different foods, navigate new social situations and escape the monotony of the college routine. Something as low-stakes and self-imposed as being vegetarian taught me the self-awareness and adaptability needed to thrive outside of my comfort zone — exactly the kind of growth we should all seek out at Brown.
Without your own kitchen, it’s not easy to be a vegetarian. Many students who come to college as a vegetarian struggle to eat balanced meals in dining halls and find themselves giving up the lifestyle after just a few months. But for me, all it took was a friend saying, “Do you think you could be a vegetarian?” to make me want to prove her right. I’d always admired vegetarianism for its environmental and health benefits, but something about the challenge in her words spurred me to actually try it for a month. For me, being a vegetarian at Brown was less about a lifestyle change and more about pushing myself outside of my comfort zone.
It’s true that the benefits of vegetarianism are great: A plant-based diet can lower your risk of heart disease and reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by more than half. Despite these benefits, staying healthy as a vegetarian is a lot harder than it may seem. Faux meats — probably some of the first things you think of when you imagine a vegetarian diet — are highly processed and not necessarily better for you than the meat alternative.
This left me with the arduous task of filling myself with sufficient protein at every meal. I’d always wondered whether the importance of protein was just an overstated dietary fad, but when my intake plummeted, it became almost impossible to feel completely sated after meals. During the first week of my experiment, I was constantly exhausted and groggy. Before I got desperate enough to try Khloé Kardashian’s protein-packed popcorn, I realized I needed to diversify my protein intake and let myself eat fish. Despite my staunch commitment to fulfilling the challenge in its entirety, when the already-limited diet met the whims of Brown dining hall menus, something had to give.
That being said, I would be remiss if I did not extend kudos to Brown Dining Services for their incredible variety of vegetarian options on campus. Vegetarian cuisine around Providence, however, is seriously lacking. Beyond Plant City on South Water Street, which has become a personal favorite, meatless eats off-campus are hard to come by. This certainly contributed to the unexpected adventurousness that accompanied my vegetarianism — when options were limited, I had to get creative and try something on the menu that I never would have ordered without the self-imposed obstacle.
Adapting to these new obstacles, I grew familiar with editing my order and forgave myself for not being able to partake in late-night chicken nuggets. My short lived-foray into Filet-O-Fish territory won’t be repeated — sorry, but those are just bad. Instead, I found myself trying things I never would have gravitated toward had I not been forced to: fried chicken made out of mushrooms, anchovies and lots of random vegetables. I’d always had an aversion to both black and refried beans, but now I love them. Being vegetarian, technically “pescatarian,” became my normal and helped me build confidence in unfamiliar situations.
At the end of my monthlong experiment, I’ve decided to extend it to the end of the semester. I may even just up the ante and swear off fish. What started as nothing more than a whim has become a competition with myself, a way to stay on my toes outside of the stress of academics and extracurriculars. I challenge you to find a way to escape your comfort zone, too. Maybe you go to a workout class at the Jonathan Nelson ’77 Fitness Center, delete Instagram or start learning a new language on Duolingo. Force yourself to be a little uncomfortable. If nothing else, opt for the tofu at Andrews Commons next time instead of the chicken. You never know, you might just find your new favorite food.
Isabella Gardiner ‘28 can be reached at isabella_gardiner@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
