Do You Know About World Vegetarian Day?

I just heard about "World Vegetarian Day." I don't know who gets to decide these things. Is there some global governmental body in charge of these declarations? Maybe my conspiracy minded friends are right and there is a New World Order that all nations kowtow to and this is a glimpse of the future.

I've always been sympathetic to vegetarians. The term used to mean that you didn't eat meat. But now there are additional terms like lacto-vegetarian for people who are vegetarian but also drink milk. I guess if you don't like peanuts, then you could be a peanut-vegetarian. But if you like both peanuts and apples then you would call yourself a peanut-apple-vegetarian. It gets confusing.

The world seems to have accepted the concept of eating less of or no flesh foods. I remember as a child in the 1950's being looked upon as weird. My neighbors thought my whole family was weird. We didn't eat bread made with white flour, and we ate vegetables. Being a vegetarian never hampered our appetites, and we were as healthy or even healthier than the neighbor kids.

The one drawback to vegetarianism, however, is the encouragement it makes for bingeing.

Last month I visited my old neighborhood that I hadn't seen in over 50 years and it brought back memories long overlooked, like the time my father brought home a large box of bananas and stored them in the cellar. Back then basements were called cellars.

For the next two weeks I binged on bananas. I was in monkey heaven as I ate them with every meal and in-between. In the summer we would have bushels of peaches, buckets of blue berries, baskets of strawberries among other things.

I remember at the age of 9 or 10 spending an early summer day with the family picking strawberries. My mother and father worked hard. My brother and sister were less productive and I must have eaten as many as I picked. On the drive home the movement down the country roads made me sick, and in the emergency my mother shoved an empty quart jar in front of my mouth. After filling the jar I felt a little better, but my love for bingeing on strawberries never dissipated.

My brother had a different experience with maple sugar. After his over-indulgence on that flavor, his desire turned to disgust for the remainder of his life. I didn't mind as that left more for me to enjoy.

Let's face it, bingeing is fun. Just this week I made macaroni salad, misjudging the quantity of pasta as I poured it into the large pot of boiling water. After boiling a half-dozen eggs and dicing a raw onion, I stored the salad sans mayo in five containers. I'll add the mayo to each container as it's opened for consumption. My wife and I'll be grazing on it for the next week.

Being a vegetarian also encourages having a larger inventory of food in the pantry, and results in nurturing a more generous family culture.

It's easier to invite someone home for a meal when you know there's plenty of food to be served, and this reminds me to ask, "Would you like to come over this evening and have some good macaroni salad?"

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