I had to do a lot of research in order to prepare for this week. The main thing I needed to know was what food I needed to avoid. I knew that I could not eat any animal products, but there are some names on ingredients list that aren’t Vegan that aren’t as obvious as “milk” and “eggs”. In general vegans avoid eating meat, chicken, fish, shellfish eggs, dairy, and honey. According to healthline.com, some ingredients that aren’t as obvious are: “albumin, casein, carmine, gelatin, pepsin, shellac, isinglass, and whey”. I also wanted to know more about the reasons that people go vegan. I found that people likely do it for health reasons, ethical reasons, or environmental reasons. I learned a little bit about the health and environmental benefits and I also learned a little more about the mistreatment of animals by large companies. 

 

So fast forward to today, the first day of trying a vegan diet… I thought it wouldn’t be too difficult to to eat vegan. I realized I might be wrong when I went to make toast and almost every single type of bread I had contained milk in some form. In order to find something to eat for breakfast, I downloaded an app that allows you to scan a product and it lets you know what ingredients are vegetarian and vegan in the product. This was super helpful to figure out what contained some of the less obvious names for animal products. Out of the three types of bread my family had in our pantry, I could only eat one. My options for what to have on my toast were limited too. I couldn't have honey or butter, so I had to stick with either avocado or peanut butter. I have no idea what I am going to have for lunch today, but I’m beginning to think I will need to go to the grocery store to get more food that is vegan. 

 

Now, I think I will need to do some more research on meals that I can make that are vegan and look into restaurants that have more vegan options.