Personal Narrative: Vegetarianism In The United States

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Sitting at the kitchen table looking out the window from the 13th-floor apartment, I had a clear view down Komendantsky Prospekt of Saint Petersburg, Russia. After studying Russian in school for five years, I had finally made it to Russia with my school’s foreign exchange. I had been so excited to finally get to travel here, except for one fear: I am vegetarian, and I was about to spend two weeks immersed in a culture in which meat was a central part of the cuisine.
I’ve been a vegetarian since I was six. I’ve had a hard time over the years defending my choice; since it’s based on taste rather than animal ethics, friends and family don’t really understand. I simply don’t like meat in the same way other people don’t like peas. Fortunately, thanks mostly to very vocal ethical vegetarians, vegetarianism in the US has become much more widely accepted over the years. I don’t get as many …show more content…
The Russian perspective is pretty different. Historically, in Soviet times, the people weren't really allowed to have a choice. Culturally, meat and fish are absolute culinary staples.
With that in mind, I was nervous about how I would be received in Russia; would they roll with it, simply accepting my choice as something American, or would they ask hundreds of disapproving questions, thinking of my choice as pretentious and spoiled?
My one consolation was my experience on the French exchange I had taken the year before. My exchange student and her family were extremely accepting and curious in a friendly way about my vegetarianism. In fact, one night while I was helping my host mom with dinner she said to me, “Cailin, I am so glad you are here. My children detest vegetables- now I have someone to cook them for!” I also did my best to try as many of the local dishes as I could, even going as far as to try escargot, ham and egg gallettes, and raw oysters straight from the ocean at Cancale.
But meat is not as ingrained in French culture as it is in Russian
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