Monogamously Partnered Carrots

As any postpubescent knows, the dating world is terrifying terrain. There are your standard creeps, cheaters, clingy potential stalkers, thirty-year-old Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts and… meat-eaters?

Yes, as many of you have probably noticed, just because you’re an awesome veggie vixen or broccoli boy doesn’t mean that your dating pool is. In fact, depending on your location and sexual preference, the odds of you finding a partner who can spell “seitan” correctly may be slim.

With all the standard red flags to watch for on a first date, how important should we make sizing up a date’s diet? With so much of the mating game centered around local nightlife and restaurants, you and your partner are bound to take notice when one of you orders lentil soup and a dinner salad while the other orders Porky Pig and Foghorn Leghorn. We’re left to wonder: how/to what extent is a vegan/vegetarian (veg*n) to tolerate non-veg*nism in a partner? Here are the approaches I’ve seen others/myself take:

• Veg*nsexuality. You absolutely cannot date someone who eats meat/animal products. It’s either unappealing to you emotionally (usually the case for “ethical” veg*ns) or just gross to consider coming in contact with their “PG-13 and worse” areas because they consume/pass/smell like animal products. Your only interaction with non-veg*ns is when you lean from the balcony on your Fortress of Moral Superiority and shout at the unwashed masses, telling them they all smell like cheese because of their dairy intake.

• Veg*n Playstation. You get around, my dear. You are a die-hard animal advocate, putting your reputation on the line in the name of what’s right. You spend every weekend possible at your favorite bar, on the prowl for attractive, soft-hearted omnivores who you can win over with your superior stamina (I’m referring to dancing, of course…). Then, once they’ve experimented with or converted to veg*nism because of your persuasive arguments and their dedication to you, drop them and move onto the next one.

• The “blind eye” method. You might be a “health reasons” veg*n or just don’t feel it’s your place to judge or force yourself onto your partner. I’m guessing you probably enjoy listening to Tegan and Sara. Either you don’t mind smelling meat nor watching your partner eat it or you choose to eat and prepare your meals separately, then regroup for romance later in the evening. You might even be willing to cook meat for your partner, despite the fact that you probably have no idea what temperature it needs to reach to avoid possibly killing them.

Where do you fall among these approaches? Or do you have your own patented method of being both a great date and a great herbivore? Leave a comment to let me know!

Related Posts

1. Save the Date for DC VegFest 2010!

Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary will host its annual “Run for the Animals” (including Stewart and his mother Beulah, pictured) this Sunday at the Wheaton Regional park. Participants can choose to either select to compete in the 5k run (alone or as a member of one of several local teams) or in a 1-mile walk, depending on your athleticism and desire to work up a sweat before noon on a Sunday. Registration, which goes directly to the good folks at Poplar Spring, is $25 until Saturday, then $28 on the day of the race. As an added incentive, at least two of your very own DCVegan Bloggers will be competing, as well as several other hot-bodied vegans in various states of undress.

For more information about the event, please visit the Poplar Spring website. If you’re ever interested in going the extra mile and volunteering at Poplar Spring, you can do that, too. Hope to see you this Sunday!

Related Posts

1. Poplar Spring 5k Run / 1 Mile Walk
2. This Weekend: Poplar Springs, Thanksgiving with the Turkeys
3. This Weekend’s Events

Is this appropriate for Hezbollah Tofu enthusiasts such as myself? No. Will it teach you how to make homemade manicotti, right down to the noodles? No. What it will do is give any real-world, on-the-go student or young professional great recipe ideas to stay vegan and well-fed even when they don’t have time to think.

Written in a tone appropriate for college students other people generally more hip than I, some choice recipe titles include Butt Ugly Sticky Buns, Hangover Helper, Tofu or Not Tofu—That is the Sandwich, and WTF Wings. It even includes a helpful cheat sheet of meat and dairy analogues for newbie vegans. PETA is selling the cookbook through their online catalog for $14.99.

Related Posts

1. Soy of Cooking, Sunday, May 31
2. Out with the old, in with the new
3. What’s cookin this snowy weekend?

I’m a young’un, having finished my undergrad in ’06 in the fun colonial epicenter that is Williamsburg, VA. I then shrugged off my tri-cornered hat and wandered off to Norfolk, VA, where I worked in various administrative and research posts at some global animal rights nonprofit that had set up shop there. I left them at the beginning of this year, deciding to move back home to the Northern VA area, barely within the reaches of public transit.

I went vegetarian at some time during my high school career, having been sold on the idea by a childhood friend. During my college days, a vegetarian campus group made infrequent trips to a vegan nonprofit, where one staffer sold me on veganism. I’ve been vegan ever since, and taken great interest in other animal rights issues, especially vivisection and oversight of animal laboratories.

I love to cook almost as much as I love to force my culinary creations on others. I enjoy cycling (urban or rural), keeping fit, sudoku, chess, and cracking wise. I answer to the nickname “Anti-Sean” because I’m seen as ethically opposing everything fun or convenient and I’m a bit oppositionally defiant to boot. I’m a big fan of Craigslist, making about half of my home appliance and furniture purchases through the site. I’m gay, but incapable of enjoying house music nor matching an outfit to save my life.  Also, I love free food–please use this knowledge wisely when you meet me.

Related Posts

1. We’re BACK!