Vegetarian has somehow come to mean, by default, an ovo-lacto vegetarian, meaning that eggs and dairy are okay, but meat is not. A vegan lifestyle eliminates use of practically all animal products, from meat & dairy to honey, silk, wool, and leather. Being vegetarian, I often feel like a total hypocrite when I'm out with friends who aren't vegan and I fail to clarify whether a dish I'm about to order or the bread I'm about to eat contains dairy or egg, and I'm basically just tired of it. I need to make an all-or-nothing commitment for the sake of my own intellectual honesty. If I've already made the decision to opt out of eating meat for health, environmental, and cruelty reasons, then continuing to support dairy farms and ingest animal milk doesn't make any sense and makes my meat-free decision irrelevant.
Though I have some excellent farmers' markets around, I would still like to explore container gardening to see if I can live a little more sustainably.
Running is the least expensive way to maintain a healthy heart and weight - the $100 shoes last about 250 miles, and there's no gym membership required.
