1st Experiences

Lauren Yastremsky has been an active vegetarian for almost seven years. I have known Lauren since the 6th grade and she was not brought up to be a vegetarian. She lives in a house with her mom, brother and sister who are not vegetarians. Lauren decided in 9th grade that she didn't want to eat meat anymore. She has a endearing love for animals and one day she realized that meat was a cruel unnecessary foundation in her diet.

"It was easy to go without heavy meats at first, because I was actually trying to lose weight," said Lauren. Lauren says that it can be tricky at first because its very easy to tempt yourself. It is best to avoid restaurants for awhile, because you find yourself reading the descriptions of all the past foods you use to love.

I remember in 11th grade we all went out to dinner at Cheeseburger and Paradise and Lauren ordered a veggie burger. I remember thinking, "That is just grose."

My mom hasn't eaten cow, pig, or turkey for almost five years. She will only eat chicken and fish. Veggie burgers started to become a consistent item in our freezer. One day when there wasn't anything to eat I decided to try one. Turns out they weren't that bad. If you put all the necessary condiments on it, with some lettuce, tomatoe and onion, then your good to go. It really doesn't taste much different than a regular burger. Don't let me fool you, I'm not far in front of you on the path of becoming a vegetarian. I have however, tried a veggie burger in the Brickstreet Cafe on campus. If ever one day your feeling bold, you should swing by and give it a try.

"I really like vegetables," Lauren said. She told me that she could just open a can of green beans and eat that for lunch. That image kind of made me want to gag. She also said that you would be amazed at what foods you can still eat without meat. You can still have your eggs for breakfast, Quiznos salad for lunch, and your Mom's pasta for dinner. In my next blog I'll go into further detail what meals you can still eat and enjoy as a vegetarian.

I talked a little bit more about Lauren's lifestyle in this link.
http://tiger.towson.edu/~skemp2 click on A young vegetarian