Google search trend: Beans

Yeah I think that was the problem with Americans all along. From the late Medieval period until the 19th century, it was mainly the rich who ate a lot of animal products. Common people ate a lot of lentils, mushrooms, whole grains, herbs, root vegetables, cabbage, and apples. Quite a healthy diet, really. They did also have a little dairy and fish sometimes in certain regions, but in moderate amounts, not extremely unlike rural Asia - just more milk and less tofu. Eating large amounts of animal products and eating meat was associated with aristocracy and wealth. This attitude still pervades the Western world, that it's some kind of gift or proof of status to eat animal flesh, or different animal products mixed together in the same meal.

I saw a parody video called "My Corona Home" (to the tune of the Beach Boys' "Kokomo") where the guy eats nothing but cans of black beans (and a cocktail during a business video meeting, lol). Couldn't figure out if he was a self-mocking ironic vegan, or an omni trying to make a sad point.

My grandparents were children from the Depression. They grew all of our fresh vegetables, in a great variety, and we also had a grape trellis, from which they made homemade jelly. We also had apple trees. We always had things like nuts and pickles to snack on. We had a pot of beans with cornbread at least once a week. So in many ways they adapted these habits into their adult life. BUT they considered meat a great thing to have and I was chastised or punished if I didn't eat meat, except by my grandmother, who would let me eat poached eggs and toast, or grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup instead. I think I probably would have been a vegetarian a lot sooner if my grandma had lived past me being six years old. My typical breakfast was oats or cold cereal and juice. My typical lunches were vegetarian or vegan. I grew up eating meat once a day or less, if we had beans that day. My grandparents also let me start ordering veggie pizzas in middle school. They weren't bad people. I would venture to say their diets were more balanced than the SAD.

My mom is the same way. She mostly eats what she calls a mix between Mediterranean and Japanese. She eats a lot of vegetarian meals, she can't drink milk because she's lactose intolerant, but she's obsessed with fish and sea animals. She thinks there's some sort of magic in eating what Jesus ate. I guess I should just feel grateful she doesn't eat mammals two to three times a day every day like some other people's parents. She told me when I went vegan it was fine if I still ate fish once or twice a week like an Asian person, she wasn't kidding. She also told me and my sisters we shouldn't eat red meat because we're part Native American and it kills us faster because we weren't made to eat that much meat.

So there are all kinds of possibilities of what children and young adults of this time will emerge with. Hopefully more vegans and vegetarians, but maybe people who grow up to at least be like my grandparents.
 
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