How the Army is Making Itself more Fat

I know that this title might be like a handful of other titles for newspapers out there. (oh, what? you don't read the newspapers on post?) But, I have a point to make in this, so bear with me.

I have recently shared with a guy at WLC about why I'm vegan, and why I think it's a good idea for others to be vegan or vegetarian. And you know what? He agreed to try it! Not only am I super excited at every meal now, but I'm super depressed at the same time. Since he's agreed to give it a try, the food for vegetarians has seemed to go down a very steep hill; some might call it a cliff. We had a "pitta pizza" for dinner. It was some grilled veggies inside of a pita, covered in cheese. By the time our group got to the food, both of ours were hard as a rock. Not the best start. For breakfast, it's breakfast. The only change was he tried what I do, and got at least 2 things of fresh fruit. Oh, and skip the bacon. No problems, right? For lunch, we were playing the super fun role of the bad guys (OPFOR... I cant remember the accronym right now.) and so we had MREs. (Meals Ready to Eat.) They generally suck. I grabbed my mandotory one, but i packed food to hold me to dinner. He grabbed some fruit, like I suggested, but also ate the "Veggie Burger with BBQ Sauce." It's not the worst one, especially hot. But, once everybody else noticed it, the jokes started. I don't mind the jokes, and he seems pretty fine with it (thank goodness). But, why? Why make fun of somebody for their food choices?

This ties back into my argument about the Army being more on the heavier side than desired (like most of America.) Vegetarians are continually offered foods high in fat, sometimes higher in fat than the 10 oz steak in the next tray over, that are hard as a rock, flavorless, and usually look weird. Why WOULD people want to try this lifestyle? And vegan? Forget it. I'm eating so many bananas and so much peanut butter right now, it isn't even funny. How hard is it to just have healthy food, fruits and vegetables, beans and whole grains, that taste good? Maybe we dont' want something covered in a cup of cheese. But, that's what we're offered. So, even with the argument that a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle is healthier in the normal world, the Army has made it almost impossible to make that rule survive it's DFACs.

I hope tonight's meal is better, but we'll find out. For now, I'm going to try and remain as positive as possible for him, so he won't see my frustration. On a side note, he told his girlfriend, and she said that she'll try it too! I'm so happy about this, I almost don't care that there's like 4 foods in my diet right now. Almost.

Keep it real Veg-Heads.