So You Want to Be a Vegetarian…

Becoming a vegetarian doesn’t require one giant step from a diet of charbroiled steak and ribs to a veggieburger and seitan (wheat "meat").

Peepy steps will do, local vegans and vegetarians say.

"Any step along the plant-based journey is better than where you were before," said Phil Allamong of Quarryville, who became a vegetarian about a decade ago for health reasons.

He knows there’s a lot to learn about vegetarian foods, cooking and eating habits even the rationale for becoming vegetarian. And it takes time to get used to a different lifestyle.

One of the first steps toward adopting a vegetarian diet is to read about it and know why you are doing it, he said.

People like Allamong and Jim Lefever of Lancaster decided to eat vegetarian to improve their health. After a triple bypass, Lefever started a vegetarian diet and lost 75 pounds. The numbers on his cholesterol and triglycerides charts are "in excellent shape" compared to five years ago, he said.

Other people, such as Barbara Kettering, started on a vegetarian diet in college to save money, but became more invested when she understood the efficiency of consuming grains rather than growing grain to produce meat.

Of course, some people become vegetarian for the love of the animal. Christa Wissler was one of them. Even as a child, she remembers walking around the farm show feeling tenderness for the animals that would become food.

"Read up on factory farming," Wissler advised. Make informed choices and know where the food you eat has come from, she said.

Allison Whittaker is sympathetic to all the reasons for being a vegetarian, especially the health reasons, but she has yet to make the commitment, she said.

"I have slowly gotten to the point where I eat meat only two or three days a week," Whittaker said. She’s also changed to eating leaner meats and fish.

"I don’t know if I’m that far from it," Whittaker said. "It’s just like old habits die hard," she said.

Like Whittaker, Allamong said he started removing meats from his diet gradually, but he didn’t stop until he ate no more meat or dairy products.

It helped, he said, that as he cut back on meat, he began to experiment with other sources of protein, such as meat analogs, tofu and seitan. He took a class on vegetarian cooking offered at Lancaster General Hospital.

Allamong restocked his kitchen with essential items listed in the front of some vegetarian cookbooks and removed items from his pantry that he would no longer need.

Gradually he learned how to make tofu taste good and how to make "meatloaf" and other "meat" dishes from textured vegetable protein. Soy milk replaced cows’ milk in his diet.

"Do not be afraid to experiment," said Wissler, who with her husband, Paul Cupples, has a vegetarian catering business after owning The Enchanted Forest Vegetarian Cafe for several years. "So you screw up. So what? Do it again."

What Allamong discovered is that he eats a wider variety of entrees now than he ever ate on a meat and potato diet.

"You just have to be open to trying new things," said Laura Gordon of Lancaster, who became vegetarian when she was 14. She advises clients at Sheehan Chiropractic, where she works, not to expect non-meat sources of protein to taste like meat, but to learn to like them for their own characteristics.

Every person who adopts a vegetarian diet will encounter roadblocks along the way, several experienced vegetarians and vegans (a vegetarian who eats no animal products, such as cheese) said.

Finding restaurants that have vegetarian options, family resentment, more expense, extra time and the learning curve are all issues that must be dealt with.

To encourage people in their "plant-based diet," Allamong is starting a support group tonight at The Enchanted Forest Vegetarian Cafe, 610 N. Plum St., 7 p.m. A lite vegan buffet will be served for $8.

The support group is designed for anyone interested in a "plant- based lifestyle" from veterans to beginners, from vegans to potential converts.

Although the group will determine exactly what it wants to be and do, Allamong envisions the group as location central for anyone wanting information, support or education about a plant-based lifestyle.

Activities could include sharing Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners that don’t require "a dead bird carcass on your table," he said. He pictures people sharing recipes and doing cooking demonstrations.

"It’s for folks that have a common interest and need a place to find other folks with the same interest," Allamong said.

The group will encourage each person to take another step down the vegetarian path, Allamong said, no matter where they begin.