All Things Vegetarian/Vegan (merged)

[vonGarvin]

Can I ask the specific reason why your a vegetarian?

If it's cause you don't like meat, then you should rethink the role nutrition has on your body for recovery and energy in the field.

Meat is a high source of energy and nutrients, we owe our big evolved brains to cooked meat.

Then why not use your omnivorous brain to check your spelling? 


One thing I've learned about people is that they make their own choices for their own reasons.  If she is a vegetarian for health, moral or other reasons, then that's her choice, and she seems to have acknowledged that it's not always practicable to avoid meat.

 

[sunnylovee]

I have spoken to Hatchet Man who said I should post my question here.

A bit of background I have been vegan my entire life, I was a cadet when I was in youth and they accommodated me during "training" summer camps at the mess hall, and during our mess hall banquets.

I am not here to discuss my moral and ethical values on being a vegan I'm simply here to ask if it is possible to remain vegan during any period. I found 1 thread on vegetarians which is unhelpful to some extent as vegan does not eat cheese, butter, any other dairy or eggs.
I only know 2 people who served one is quite older and cannot answer my question as it would be irrelevant information from the 1940s and the other passed away a few years ago.

I am interested in becoming a medical officer, second choice being a med tech. I am currently a certified holistic nutritionist as of right now. I work out 7 days a week and am quite sure I will pass physical as well as mental.

Does anyone have any insight , or helpful hints, while I am reasonable person and expect if I was in combat overseas I'm going to most likely have to deal with vegetarian (hopefully not though) I will never actually eat meat itself. I know some may find this unreasonable and as I said I do not want to get into a heated debate on the choices of eating meat.

I've read some replies that the physical endurance during training is going to be unrealistic as a vegetarian but as I stated I do excessive physical work outs  6 days a week 7th day doing yoga and I am in pretty good physical condition I think I will be okay.

Anyways thanks for taking the time to read and I hope to hear some replies and thoughts on being vegan during combat situations ect.

 

[ModlrMike]

Having different dietary needs than your peers is no impediment to serving. The chain of command is aware that different people eat different things, but you have to let them know your restrictions.

I know we have vegetarian, halal, and kosher ration packs, but I couldn't say for certain that we have vegan. That being the case, in austere conditions you may have to make a hard choice and eat something you might normally not want to.

In the end, it's your responsibility to let people know you have different dietary requirements. The CF will accomodate when it can, but no one can account for all situations.

Also, always have something on hand that can fill out a "regular" meal.

 

[sunnylovee]

Having different dietary needs than your peers is no impediment to serving. The chain of command is aware that different people eat different things, but you have to let them know your restrictions.

I know we have vegetarian, halal, and kosher ration packs, but I couldn't say for certain that we have vegan. That being the case, in austere conditions you may have to make a hard choice and eat something you might normally not want to.

In the end, it's your responsibility to let people know you have different dietary requirements. The CF will accomodate when it can, but no one can account for all situations.

Also, always have something on hand that can fill out a "regular" meal.

thank you for your excellent post, I will for sure let the right people know. I know in not the best situations I may have to eat vegetarian, is it common for others to have their own food brought with them to certain training or barracks areas?
I have protein shakes I use and a handful of snack bars, that are meal replacements or used as snacks for more nutrition, as I said I work out quite vigorously so I eat quite a bit...

 

[runormal]

On the three courses I have been there was seldom any issue for any vegetarian people. I can't recall a vegan, and like Modlr Mike said in a worst case you may have to eat vegetarian or extreme cases something else. Sometimes in the field it has been less than ideal.

Issues I have seen so far:

On my BMQ - L course there was one vegetarian who never received a vegetarian meal during the second FTX even though they asked beforehand. So yes it can happen. He wasn't in my section so I don't know the whole story. He brought it up in the ECR and he also said that while it happened other candidates shared food with him. But I know there was special vegetarian meals every meal during the first FTX as well on the range.

On my DP 1 for our field ex one guy requested halal ration packs and while he did get them,  he only got dinner meals to eat 3x a day as that was all they had, which was repetitive but the world didn't end.

At my home unit, it has never been an issue that I have been aware of.

 

[PuckChaser]

thank you for your excellent post, I will for sure let the right people know. I know in not the best situations I may have to eat vegetarian, is it common for others to have their own food brought with them to certain training or barracks areas?
I have protein shakes I use and a handful of snack bars, that are meal replacements or used as snacks for more nutrition, as I said I work out quite vigorously so I eat quite a bit...

Think of it this way: Can you carry enough protein shakes in your backpack to sustain you for weeks at a time? Will the CF resupply your protein shakes? (unlikely unless you get lucky and find the issued ones). Also, storing food where you sleep is a bad bad idea in the field, and having more than a few granola bars in the barracks will bring in bugs.

You have to think more beyond training environments, ModlrMike put it the best: you need to be able to eat non-vegan food in austere conditions, or you'll become a casualty. I personally have never seen a vegan ration pack, our vegetarian, halal and kosher meals are all the same package (these: http://www.myownmeals.com/)

 

[stealthylizard]

I think the closest ration to being Vegan is the macaroni and cheese.  Yes it has "cheese", but I remain skeptical as to it being "real cheese".  More along the lines of a processed cheese product like cheese whiz.  Maybe someone can post the contents of it.  Everything else has meat.  There is also the omelette with salsa, but that contains eggs.

 

[Messorius]

There's cheese tortellini too, I think. 

Even with those, if there isn't dairy/eggs in it, there'll probably be sugar, so depending on how that was processed vegan/strictly vegetarian is a no(plus there's leather, feathers and wool in your issued kit...)

 

[PMedMoe]

No go on the Mac & Cheese or the Cheese Tortellini; they both have eggs in them.  See reply #10 here.

 

[Lilswitche]

Coming from a former cheesemaker, all processed cheeses are made with real cheeses.  Even those made with small amounts of real cheese (ie. fat free cheese slices) contain ALOT of milk products that are a biproduct of the cheese making process (skim milk powders, whey proteins, etc).

Also, 'Cheese Whiz' is pretty much as close to real cheese as you can get within the 'processed cheese' realm; it's 30%+ real cheese with water (50%~), powders, and dry chemical for pH, salt and phosphate levels.

In terms of eating Vegan, most times during your career you can be accomodated, but expect that there will be slips and you will not received your requested meal. Plan for the worst, and when in need you can usually bet that people will also try and give you a helping hand.

 

[sarahsmom]

The OP didn't say whether he's going Reg or Res. I'm a little concerned about his getting through BMQ with its 5 minute timings for meals and such. There isn't any time to discuss with the cooks what's actually in the food, and most of the time you only have time to inhale it without looking at it.
I don't remember there being very many vegan choices at St Jean, beyond the salad bar and the veggie side dishes. And keeping food in your cubicle at the mega is a big no no. You may get away with a protein bar or two, but anytime food was seen on our floor we got our beds flipped.

 

[Pusser]

You're going to have difficulty maintaining a vegan diet in the CF.  Under current policy, the CF is under no obligation to accomodate any dietary requirements other than for medical reasons.  That doesn't mean we won't provide.  It simply means there are no guarantees.  I can also say that accomodating one individual, out of hundreds, will be low on the priority list.  Bringing your own food is not impossible, but is definitely frowned upon or even prohibited in some situations, simply because of vermin issues.

In my last ship, we did have some vegetarians on board, who managed to make it through each deployment without starving and I did try to ensure the menu had vegetarian choices other than the salad bar.  I also know we turned a blind eye to them bringing a few of their own items on board.  A vegan situation would be quite different, however.  Keep in mind that it would be virtually impossible to prevent cross-contamination of utensils, pots, cooking surfaces, etc. with non-vegan foodstuffs.

 

[brihard]

Coming from a former cheesemaker, all processed cheeses are made with real cheeses.  Even those made with small amounts of real cheese (ie. fat free cheese slices) contain ALOT of milk products that are a biproduct of the cheese making process (skim milk powders, whey proteins, etc).

Also, 'Cheese Whiz' is pretty much as close to real cheese as you can get within the 'processed cheese' realm; it's 30%+ real cheese with water (50%~), powders, and dry chemical for pH, salt and phosphate levels.

In terms of eating Vegan, most times during your career you can be accomodated, but expect that there will be slips and you will not received your requested meal. Plan for the worst, and when in need you can usually bet that people will also try and give you a helping hand.

Blessed are the cheesemakers?

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-xLUEMj6cwA

 

[Occam]

I think the closest ration to being Vegan is the macaroni and cheese.  Yes it has "cheese", but I remain skeptical as to it being "real cheese". 

I'm fairly certain that on RCN ships, the second ingredient in macaroni and cheese is "Crayon, Crayola, yellow".

 

[dapaterson]

I'm fairly certain that on RCN ships, the second ingredient in macaroni and cheese is "Crayon, Crayola, yellow".

I do not think the budget is sufficient to pay for real Crayola. 

 

[Journeyman]

I do not think the budget is sufficient to pay for real Crayola.

Pips/crowns and Div patches, Brown leather jackets and RCAF Ptes wearing propellers rather than chevrons, Nelson's Eye and Crayola.....each service invests as it sees fit 

      >

 

[dimsum]

Pips/crowns and Div patches, Brown leather jackets and RCAF Ptes wearing propellers rather than chevrons, Nelson's Eye and Crayola.....each service invests as it sees fit 

      >

Yes, but we can just get the propellers from the local Air Cadet sqns, so that's zero-cost  >

 

[Nudibranch]

You're going to have difficulty maintaining a vegan diet in the CF.  Under current policy, the CF is under no obligation to accomodate any dietary requirements other than for medical reasons. 

And if the medical reasons require something that might be impossible to get on deployment, such as a guaranteed gluten free diet for a Celiac sufferer, that's a PCAT and release (those who just prefer to eat GF but don't have "must" on their med docs are fine).

The CAF doesn't have to provide vegan food (and does not provide vegan IMP's for ex), and if for some unknown reason vegan was medically required, that person would be medically unfit for the CAF. That said, I know one vegan member who made it through basic on the PB packets and the, errr, bread. Lost a ton of weight and looked like s#!t, but he made it. In garrison it shouldn't be an issue, and on deployment, well, you eat what's avaialble so I wouldn't count on being able to stay vegan.

 

[Brasidas]

Does anyone have any insight , or helpful hints, while I am reasonable person and expect if I was in combat overseas I'm going to most likely have to deal with vegetarian (hopefully not though) I will never actually eat meat itself. I know some may find this unreasonable and as I said I do not want to get into a heated debate on the choices of eating meat.

If your philosophy is more important than your ability to function in a situation where others are dependant upon your effectiveness, you should actively avoid putting yourself in that situation.

I've had vegetarians repeatedly request appropriate rations in a timely fashion, remind their CoC again with 24h notice, and confirm before deployment to the field, and been offered only standard rations in the field. I've been on three to four month taskings where "vegetarian options" consisted of fish and pasta with cheese sauce. Had one vegan complain for weeks, informed his home unit CoC, and attempt to claim one hell of a list of meals at the end of a summer. It wasn't approved.

You're unlikely to be happy, and depending on how stoic or outspoken you are, others are unlikely to be happy with you.

 

[Ningen]

Hi, everybody!

I am in the process of enlisting into the CAF. I have passed the CFAT, the Personality-Trait Reliability Test, the interview, and hoping that I will pass my Medical Assessment as well. I passed all the tests, however I am waiting on my blood test results to come back before they send my assessment to Ottawa for further studying.

My question, as a Vegan, can I go through BMQ? Also, will I be able to eat anything in garrison and/or overseas missions?

This is something I am truly concerned about, because I have been Vegan for a long time, and I am perfectly content with my diet and nutrition. Please provide me with as much information as possible regarding this subject.


Thank you,
Ningen