Friday, February 2, 2007

Au Bon Pain, Vegetarianism, and Feminism

Lunch today was from Au Bon Pain -Tomato Basil Bisque with an Asiago Cheese Breadstick. I was feeling a tad gratuitous and was craving to something rich and creamy-corn chowder perhaps? but unfortunately the vegetarian options were all “light” or “lower in sodium” so as I pined for the Broccoli Cheddar (made unavailable with a hearty golden chicken stock) I filled my paper bowl with the unsolicitously healthful red puree. Normally I inhale my lunch while browsing over the day's Metro, but my lack of reading material forced me to acknowledge the whirring electric-caffeine storm of my mind. I tried to focus of the flavours of the Tomato Bisque, heightening its flavour to near Broccoli-Cheddar status with the power of thought. You know how they say to eat slowly and savor the nuances of flavor, yada yada. Like that. Like a good child of the ADHD generation, my thoughts couldn't focus of nuance for too long, they quickly moved on and I found myself considering the vegetarian bent I have. When I became vegetarian, I did so because I find it to be a more sustainable way of life, and also because I am a sensitive, artistic soul who doesn't want to eat Mr. Bunny (childhood pet). As I ruminated the thoughts and the breadstick, I sae that the more I massaged those ideas into the prizefighter cravings for meat that I had, the more I realized that I feel so comfortable in the identity of a vegetarian because I'm rejecting that masculine, beef-blood loving, fraternity BBQ party of carnivores of which I feel I'm supposed to be a part. The power orgy of blood never sat well with me, but I never consciously rejected it, I suppose this makes me a bit of a feminist-- soemthing I never consciously identified with. The next time someone asks me why I became a vegetarian, I'm going to say it's because I'm a man-hating lesbian stuck inside a man's body. Au Bon Pain...soup, sandwiches, and self-discovery.

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