To Meat or Not to Meat

Being a vegan in America once meant being on the very outskirts of society. Appropriately, southern California punk band Vegan Reich – not in any way fascistic, just militant – from the late 1980s are now archived away but considered groundbreakers in a lifestyle movement that has spread far and wide. We all know people who have “gone vegan,” and the perennial joke is that vegans remind you they are vegan exactly every eight minutes. Less strict than vegans, vegetarians (and offshoots pescaterians, ovo-lactoterians, et al) have long been part of humanity, but have also moved from the fringe into mainstream society. The 1950s ideal of a big slab of meat with a couple of smaller sides has been radically upended. 

The Debate

The tension between omnivores/carnivores and non-animal eaters will never be resolved, and both sides cite evidence for their arguments. We have canine teeth for ripping flesh, says the former. But we have molars for grinding roots and nuts and rabbit food, say the latter. One compromise is to make vegetarian and vegan foods as traditional and meat-like as possible, which began in the 1990s and 2000s with faux meat products. But these faux products never quite hit the mark, because there is something primal, ancient, and satisfying about meat. The Impossible Burger claimed to do just that by imitating, through the scientific study of meat, the quintessential meatness found in meat, and it comes close, but not enough to replace the traditional hamburger in some opinions. While some folks think everyone on earth going vegetarian would reduce carbon, eliminate animal suffering, and provide other benefits, it would actually require an amount of fertilizer, water, and energy that would negate benefits. 

Bex and Veg- Diets 

At Bex, Chef Becky stays current with food trends while sticking to her principles about how she approaches food. She has several vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options (even though gluten allergies affect only about 1% of the population). Her skill set is incredibly diverse: she can be handling a huge slab of beef one moment and making quinoa the next. She believes strongly in anti-inflammatory foods, having seen firsthand the health problems that can accompany too much inflammation in the body. “Amazingly, it took so long for people to figure out the close relationship between diet and overall health,” she philosophizes. “I grew up eating butter and sugar sandwiches with a grandmother who put down tallboy beers and smoked,” she reminisces. “The more you can reduce inflammation in the body, usually the better,” she continues. “I have a close relationship with the Acropolis down the block.” The Acropolis is a gym that focuses on nutrition and caters workouts to a client’s specific needs. Bex is also partnered with the Lavender Fig Apiary, a local beekeeping business. A theory that seems to ring true is how ingesting honey locally may help with allergies. 

The Bottom Line

Rather than polarize the issue between everyone doing one thing or the other, a natural, healthy balance already exists in those who are omnivores versus vegetarians or vegans, much like the sweet spot achieved between analog and digital experiences (email is faster than postal mail, but analog sounds better for music). One of the reasons Bex has been successful in the culinary field where others fail is because she is versatile enough to offer meat-based and vegetarian dishes without going hardcore in one direction or the other, or thinking temporary fads are forever.