Veggie Gals

Yesterday, after church, I spent my afternoon with my fellow veggie gals at the Veggie Day Parade, (duh, where else?)

The Veggie Pride Parade, was more like a march- and it was over by the time we made it down to Union Square after church. I'm not too sad about missing out on the march- I mean those Vegans are pretty unapologetic, preachy and dogmatic in their beliefs. BUT, we did get lots of free stuff, Lara Bars, Raw Food Bars, vegan jerky and treats from Whole Earth Bakery and The V Spot.

I am not a vegan, nor have a ever been. I have been a vegetarian, then a vegetarian who ate sea-food (pescaterian) now I'm a flexiterian, but hey- I'm not really one for classifications or categories anyway...

Honestly, I can go days, without eating meat, and not even notice it. I'm not a big meat eater, I don't crave it or love the way it tastes. I just needed more protein- affordable, easy to prepare protein. Not to mention the fact that I'm married to a 6'5" big-time meat eater. So, I caved.

Some of the people we encountered, however, who were showing their "veggie pride" were really "bashing carnivores." It wasn't just pro-veggie, it was anti-meat. These people were seriously passionate about not milking cows and not eating honey. Which, I won't get into here, but my reply (to friends & family) is, "I'm from Texas. We have a deer-stand in our backyard. We caught and ate the fish out of our pond all summer long." Me personally, I'm not going to try and persuade, convince or convert my meat-eating friends and family. But I do think less meat is better. Simple foods are better- less ingredients, the closer it is to the dirt from which it came. Seriously.

I've threatened to start a garden in our living room in order to take advantage of the floor to ceiling windows. But I think it could get a little out of hand.

I loved spending the afternoon with a couple of my favorite people, wandering in the sunshine through The Lower East Side without an agenda. We made some new friends, found some quirky shops and discovered the decadent Red Velvet dairy-free ice-cream at Stogo.

I really needed it. I need these gals.