December 24, 2019

Vegan Christmas

Christmas is the time of the year when family gathers, stories are shared and all are merry. The later one might not be true for everyone. Many families I know including my own are like fireworks stored in a box of dynamite. One dull comment and one dull interpretation of what-someone-said-and-was-hardly-understandable-due-to-horrible-music-being-played-with-the-piano and it all goes down the drain. Merry Christmas everyone!

Now, imagine you just turned vegan, turned your life around, started worrying about your health, reading nutrition labels and getting and instapot. Christmas is approaching, you can hear “Last Christmas” at the wholesome food aisles of your supermarket and with that you can hear your relatives at the Christmas dinner table asking:

Where do you get your protein?
What’s wrong with dairy and eggs?
Is vegan food more expensive?
Don’t plants feel pain?
Is “humanely raised” meat better?
Can you be an athlete on a vegan diet?
Don’t cows need to be milked?
What if you were stuck on a deserted island and had nothing else to eat?

Please note that while I’ve been asked a lot of questions about my lifestyle I decided to check out the amazing FAQ list from choseveg.com.

But it’s Christmas! You need to it duck or goose or whatever the hell it is they are serving in your country.

I’m guessing you’re reading this post because you want some answers on how to deal with this situation. Here come two approaches:

Religious Approach:

Customs vary, but in general the traditional Christmas fast calls for the faithful to observe strict abstinence (no meat, fish, dairy or other animal product, wine or oil) on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays, and a lesser abstinence (no meat, fish, dairy or animal products) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fish is allowed on Saturdays and Sundays, but no other animal products.

Several popular feasts fall during the first three weeks of the Christmas Fast: the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple on November 21, the feast of Saint Nicholas on December 6, and the Maternity of Holy Anna (Conception of the Theotokos) on December 8 or 9. As a result, in many places the Christmas Fast either does not begin until December 10, or becomes stricter at that point.

The final day of fasting before the feast of the Nativity is particularly strict. On this day – either December 24, or the preceding Friday if December 24 falls on a Saturday or Sunday – the Royal Hours are celebrated, and the faithful are encouraged to fast if possible until after Vespers, which may be combined with the Divine Liturgy. After this service, it is traditional in many places to hold a meal called the Holy Supper, which is meatless but festive.

So, if you live in a place where Christmas is celebrated on December 24, like in Germany, that’s your argumentation line.

2. Other-traditions-approach

While neither my own family nor my in-law family would ever get on board with something like that, I’m sure there is more open-mindedness out there. What about suggesting having a Bulgarian Style Christmas Dinner?

Here is why Bulgarian Christmas Dinner is perfect: It’s another way of saying Vegan Christmas Dinner!

Bulgarian Christmas Dinner is normally a rich vegan meal and includes dishes made of different such as beans soup, ‘sarmi’ cabbage leaves stuffed with rice, peppers stuffed with rice, boiled wheat with sugar and walnuts, different kinds of pastries, lots of fruits and nuts like dried plums, dried apricots, oranges and tangerines and ‘oshav’ a dried fruit compote. But it’s only after midnight that dishes with non vegan ingredients are served and eaten!

There is some more quirks, such as :

The meal should traditionally have an odd number of dishes in it (normally 7, 9 or 11) and an odd number of people sitting around the table. (Salt, pepper and sugar can count as separate dishes!)
Straw is often put under the tablecloth and you might even bring a wooden plough into the house and put it behind the door! These are meant to help you have good crops during the next year.
There’s a special round and decorated loaf of bread called ‘pita’ which has a coin baked in it. If you find the good you’re meant to have good luck for the next year!

The above information is quoted from the amazing site whychristmas.com. There is a lot of country-specific information on there, I’m sure you could even find more vegan Christmas traditions and set up your very own vegan Christmas custom.

I hope you’ll have amazing holidays, delicious meals and peaceful hours with your beloved ones.