Anthony Bourdain convinced me to end my three-year experiment with vegetarianism, which was the first in what I plan to be a series of epiphanies. The open-mindedness and candidness that he portrays in his books has been an inspiration for me during my time in Singapore. Although I spend many of the daylight hours in a basement laboratory, attempting to use lasers to move around strands of DNA, I explore as much of the island as I can during my free time. I have gone to movie festivals, wine festivals, cooking classes, a 10k race, and a half-marathon, among other things.
I initially became a vegetarian as a sophomore in college for environmental and ethical reasons. After I arrived in Singapore, I naturally gravitated towards the vegetarian food stalls and vegetarian Indian restaurants. As time went on, I met vegans, raw foodists, and even a fruitarian, although I became increasingly skeptical about their attitudes towards food.
A turning point in my life occurred soon before my recent trip to visit my family in India. Their traditional Bengali diet includes eggs, dairy, fish, and a little meat and I had to decide whether to request special meals from them. They would happily accommodate my dietary requests, but I was acutely aware of the inconvenience that this would cause. Moreover, I realize how food and cooking is such a central part of any culture, so rejecting their cuisine would be inherently closed-minded. As if that weren't enough, I didn't know if my pro-vegetarian arguments about factory farming, over-fishing, etc. would make any sense in their entirely different environment.
By some odd coincidence, I saw my landlord for about the fourth or fifth time in my life, even though he lives in my apartment. He was cooking dinner with one of his friends and her daughter, and invited me to join them. Their Chinese meal included meat in practically every dish. I was stuck in the middle of an imaginary debate between Anthony Bourdain, Nina Planck, and Michael Pollan on one side and Peter Singer, Jim Mason, and my vegetarian friends in Singapore on the other. The voice that finally won out was Anthony Bourdain's rant against vegetarians in his essay "Woody Harrelson: Culinary Muse."
That decision led to a far more enjoyable and thought-provoking experience in India, which i will elaborate in future posts. However, I am glad that I went through the experience of being a vegetarian, since I am now more deeply aware of the global effects of meat production. Although I will eat meat occasionally from now on, I will continue to do whatever I can to make a positive impact on the issues that made me a vegetarian in the first place.
