"There are so many choices," said Marcus, who describes herself as an animal-rights activist and "a huge vegan baker."
The Sun recently asked Marcus and two other young women to dinner at the Yabba Pot, a popular vegan restaurant in Baltimore, to talk about their vegan food choices.
All three told of similar journeys - realizing at a young age where all that meat came from; tentative but supportive parents; some harassment from schoolmates while growing up; an unwillingness to get in somebody else's face about what they eat; and the freedom and general ease with which they have been able to maintain a vegan diet as young adults.
Steffany Moonaz, a graduate student at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and eight months pregnant, chose sauteed greens, barbecued tofu and an Indian-flavored vegetable dish for dinner, though there was "beef" stir-fry and "chicken" pasta salad, too.
For her, fake meat and cheese seem like a bit of a dodge.
"I prefer things that feel like they come out of the ground," said Moonaz, whose husband converted to veganism after their first date. "These things are created in some kind of process, and I don't know what that process is."
"I actually like fake meat more than I ever liked real meat," soft-spoken Marcus said with a laugh. Like so many vegans, she found it tough to give up pizza.
"But I found a recipe for focaccia, hummus and vegetable `pizza' and it was amazing," she said.
Jillian Parry Fry, who told her mother the day before Thanksgiving that she had decided to be a vegan, is a Ph.D. candidate at Hopkins whose husband ends up doing much of the cooking while she studies.
"He's an omnivore," she said, the way someone once might have said, "He's a Taurus." Or "He's a runner."
When they go out to eat, they choose a restaurant that has vegan options for Jillian.
"But when I cook for us," said Roderick Fry, who showed up at the end of the dinner, "I cook vegan."
susan.reimer@baltsun.com
Advice for parents
A vegetarian or vegan diet can be healthful for teens, said Dr. Angela Guarda, director of the Johns Hopkins eating disorder clinic, but parents must pay attention, to make sure their child is not using it to mask an eating disorder. Here's what to focus on:
Parents need to notice if the vegetarian choices are also low-calorie or fat-free choices; if the child is refusing dessert or cheese, or if veganism is the reason given for refusing meals.
"Parents need to promote eating a wide variety of foods at three meals and in normal portions," said Guarda. "And parents should be a role model for their children."
Learn the basics of nutrition along with your child, says Helen Cordes, editor of the bimonthly newsletter Daughters. You'd be surprised what you don't know. Some of the nutrients in meat and dairy products can be replaced with those in other foods, like nuts, beans and leafy green vegetables. Vitamin supplements might be needed, such as B-12.
Negotiate a family plan to incorporate vegetarian choices and then plan some weekly menus.
Monitor your child's eating habits to make sure she isn't eating only dry salads, for instance, or substituting chips and soda for a meal or eating only pasta and pizza.
[Susan Reimer]
