"You shouldn't drive a Prius because you're not Vegan"

Opinions are like assholes... everyone has one and most of them stink.

Seems like you've got this one alright.

 

I had an acquaintance who was "alternative - to save the planet" - his family mostly ate vegetables he grew, along with some chickens and eggs ... but he built his own house ... from hardwood timbers from the forest while criticising my brick home built from plantation timber frame ... but worst of all, he drove an ancient VW Kombi that you could smell that it had started up for at least 5 minutes after he'd left.

I suppose it was balanced?

 

I respect the choice of a vegan lifestyle but if any vegan friends made weird judgements of *my* choice of cars based on *their* diet, I guess I'd have to ask them when they planned to have their canine teeth removed and if they hadn't yet done so, I'd ask them why they were wavering in their commitment.

 

While I went through 6 pairs of footwear, only 2 pair were new, the rest I had already used.

 

When they start making vegetables taste like a nice grilled T-bone steak, I'll go "vegan" all the way.
In the meantime, I'll just have my daily apple, and the occasional salad, and continue to drive my Prius in the PWR mode.

Back to my Snickers bar...

 

The prudent diet is a nutritionist's dream. People in this category tend to eat relatively large amounts of fish, poultry, cruciferous vegetables (i.e. cabbage and broccoli), greens, tomatoes, legumes, fresh fruits, and whole grains. They also skimp on fatty or calorie-rich foods such as red meats, eggs, high-fat dairy products, french fries, pizza, mayonnaise, candy, and desserts.

The Western diet is the prudent diet reflected in a carnival mirror. Everything is backwards: Red meat and other fatty foods take the forefront, while fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are pushed aside. In addition to fat and calories, the Western diet is loaded with cholesterol, salt, and sugar. If that weren't bad enough, it's critically short on dietary fiber and many nutrients -- as well as plant-based substances (phytochemicals) that help protect the heart and ward off cancer.

Put it all together and you have a recipe for disaster. In a 12-year study of more than 69,000 women, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a Western diet was found to significantly raise the risk of coronary heart disease. Other studies have shown that a high-fat, low-nutrient diet increases the likelihood of colon cancer, diabetes, and a host of other ailments.

What's Wrong With the American Diet?

I see a great parallel when an oil thread is started on any automotive forum. It almost always explodes into a multi-page discussion with near religious fever over the importance of the "food" we put into a simple mechanical engine but when it comes to what we put into our complex bodies so many folks just close their eyes and ears to the obvious evidence/science.

If someone were to say, "I always put in 8 quarts of olive oil with a high ratio blend of metallic bits and acid in my engine and it runs just fine", nearly everyone would immediately see the problem. And later on when the OP comes back to say their engine (heart in this analogy) began mysteriously losing power (weight gain, low energy, aches & pains), oil pressure (blood pressure, high cholesterol, clogged arteries) and seized way too soon (heart attack, stroke, etc), nearly everyone would say "DUH!".

As a life long (former) heavy beef eater, I'm certainly enough of a realist to know very few will ever make the switch to full-syn oil (vegan) but if folks would at least go back to a conventional oil instead of the olive/sand/acid toxic blend that is the typical western diet that would be a HUGE improvement both for the individual and society as a whole (environmental, food chain and future medical costs). Best bet and an excellent compromise: a semi-syn blend (the good stuff listed in the first paragraph).

Bottom line: at least do as your mothers says, "Eat your veggies!"

 

Actually, I don't think it was an attack. To me, it's obviously a sarcastic statement to get your attention and it did. Your vegan coworker wanted to talk to you about the vegan lifestyle and your car was the perfect segway. Your coworker may not have started the conversation well with you or ended well. But look at the consequences. You wrote a thread and now I for one now know that producing meat may cause as much pollution as a V8 vehicle. This is something I never connected.

Can we all agree that it's a great thing for the planet that your coworker is vegan? We can also agree it is not the lifestyle most of us would choose. But perhaps there are a few undecided that may appreciate more information. I don't feel attacked when coworkers trumpet their 400 hp mustang being way faster than my Prius. I jibe with them on a long distance trip, they're going to stop more for gas. It also seems weird that just because I drive a Prius, I'm now seen as the self righteous tree hugging hippie.

I also started eating only salad at lunch. I did it for health reasons but now I'm a self righteous tree hugging vegetarian hippie. It's interesting when I started working here, I drove a pick up truck and was considered a red blooded American with a dog at home. Just because I changed vehicles and diet, I'm suddenly no longer one of the "boys."

 

I've often ferried south bound AT hikers to the REI in Blacksburg, VA for new shoes, socks, even sandals.

AT hikers coming off the trail at Pearisburg head straight for the Chinese restaurant buffet. Next stop was motel room, a hot shower and the pool

 

We used 3 tents, the 6 pairs of Boots/shoes each, and coveted showers. (longest was 21 days, Weldon CA, to Echo Lake, CA) I had walked repeatedly around Mt Rainier before the PCT so I knew a trick, we packed one meal that was heavy in each mail drop as we did not need to carry it anywhere. (Dinty Moore stew, King King Chow Mein, Nalleys Chilli, etc) so our on trail menu was not quite so repetitious. We mostly coveted bacon and egg breakfasts and soft, foldable bread.

 

Boy would I like just to sit at a table-for-8 and listen to the last 8 posters in this thread talk to each other! How interesting it would be to be a fly on the wall, or perhaps in someone's soup, and listen to that conversation roll. The only problem would be deciding on a restaurant to meet at which would have a menu that could accommodate all of us! And then, of course, we would have to all work hard to avoid the otherwise inevitable food fight! I take absolute delight in a vigorous but civil discussion.

 

Also if you have cheese it doesn't count

 

Robert, I am up for it, so long as mammals are not on the menu as the entree. When I worked at Honda Canada, my team consisted of folks from Singapore, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Kenya (although ethnically Indian)
Niton was a vegetarian, Kaiser and Nacci did not eat pork, Nacci observed more restrictions than Kaiser.
The Han members of the team would be trying to explain everyone needs to waiters. Our boss was from Jamaica, when he ate with us it was more challenging, finding vegetarian Rotis. (It is still a mystery why no one on our team was of Japanese descent, or why we were assembled to convert my American Honda program into French)

 

Assuming this list is in order of importance, then at least my household has priorities straight. House efficiency improvements began first, and the house is now Net Zero, and even a slight energy producer. Water use is also significantly reduced.

Between the Prius and much more cycling, transportation fuel is also down, though much less dramatically than the house changes. The house solar system is already wired for the capacity expansion for a plug-in car, but that car is still a few years off. Light rail transit will also arrive nearby in a few years as the expansions progress.

Diet? Personally, the meat consumption is way down. But having grown up on a beef ranch, I started at a particularly high level. The new low level is not as low compared to public norms as are our home and transport energy improvements.

 

My understanding is that it is a good order of importance for most people. Obviously there are exceptions - if you rent in an energy efficient condo but drive 100 miles round trip daily in a huge truck that gets 12mpg, the low hanging fruit environmentally for such a person would be to address transportation first.

 

I guess I'm the non-typical, non-left leaning Prius driver. I love meat, and I don't do any of those "green" things... except for some very minor recycling of putting my plastic in the "blue bin" on trash day. My old place doesn't have AC, and I only use one or two LED lamps sparingly... does that give me a gold star? Otherwise, I just sit in a hot dark cave and chew on steak bones and pizza crust.

And I'm sure we've all heard examples of, or know people who were "vegans", hardcore runners, lifetime gym rats, etc, who still died of cancers and/or heart disease.... some very early. I just eat whatever I want, and enjoy whatever lifespan God gives me. (My parents made it into their 90s, and they didn't do anything special. My dad lived on fried eggs, hotdogs, meatloaf, ice cream.) To each his own.

 

Yes, it's always interesting when the subject comes up. When I tell them I'm looking to improve my health and weight, it's typically a positive reaction usually followed by their thoughts on improving their own diets, wanting tips, etc.

But a few will respond with something similar to this:

Yeah we're all born with an eventual expiration date but that doesn't mean you're powerless to move it one way or the other or just as importantly the quality of it.

What does that mean?

Ditto. Chicken a few times a month and fish maybe a couple of times a year but only if that was heavily breaded and super deep fried so I could no longer taste it!

 

Ok, foto man.

Live and let live, I say.

And the dumbest thing to do, in my humble opinion, is to discuss personal matters with coworkers. Does anybody really give a flip what they " think?!"

Back to Toyota TUNDRA chat...

And back to my cold pizza...

 

Let assume I ordered the Cashew Shrimp, if there is Pork fried rice on the side I will not have a meltdown.
I am just unlikely to deliberately order a dish that is Beef, Pork, Sheep, Horse, Goat, Dog or Cat.

If someone in the kitchen decided to wrap bacon around my shrimp without mentioning it in the Menu, I will be annoyed, but eat it.