For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 12, 2024

Really Elly, couldn’t you do vegetarian a couple of days a week first and see how it goes instead of fulltime right away.

Pork Puffs! LOL The perfect contraband name after the veg brand names in panel #2!

And do the dogs have to be vegetarians, too??

Why do some people insist on forcing their choices on others?

I don’t know if Elly is ignoring the input from her family or if her family isn’t communicating their wishes clearly. Hiding out while scarfing on snacks isn’t going to help.

A Vegan and a vegetarian are jumping of a cliff to see who hits the button first, who wins? Society. (Just a joke, before I get any feathers ruffled).

From Lynn’s Comments: I actually tried making vegetarian meals for a while. I think I lasted a week. The problem wasn’t the vegetable diet, but finding enough easy recipes that would please everyone. In the end, we caved and ran out for a greasy chicken dinner—which, at the time, tasted like ambrosia!

Someday pescetarianism will be the new veganism/vegetarianism

“Vegetarian” is an old Algonquin word meaning “the failed hunter“..

Eating vegetarian meals is one thing going whole Quinoa on being vegetarian is another.

This is ridiculous. I’ve seen people try this with religion.

I was given a veggie burger without being told it was a veggie burger. I have to say that if you can’t taste the difference your taste buds are dead. Never again.

We’ll see how long this actually lasts.

Vegetarians and Vegans delude themselves into thinking others will just go along with a “healthier” lifestyle. Keep your delusions to yourself Elly!

I try to base my diet on what early man ate, they survived it or we wouldn’t be here.

We’ve been vegetarians for almost 50 years. We have a rich and varied diet, and neither of us feel deprived.

“How many ways can you cook beans?” I’m not a vegetarian myself, but even I know that’s a bullshìt argument against it.

I start the day with a bowl of bamboo sprouts. Yum.

A challenge indeed.

I struggle with this. I hate seeing animals suffer, but I am not vegan either.

As a vegetarian, I would never think of forcing others to go veggie. That only creates resentment. To each their own in this regard.

Was vegan for 30+ years until my blood work started going south fast. Added eggs in and it helped some but not enough. Ketovoire for the win! Meat heals.

Never heard of Pork Puffs. Down here in the South, they are Rinds.

trump does that every day….

How to get their meat fix while Mom buys vegetables and legumes.

I’ll take my vegan steak medium rarely, please!

I’ve had several friends try to go full vegan but quickly ran into issues with protein, B-12 and iodide deficiencies. Other issues arose with problems processing some vegetable matter that led to diarrhea and trashcan breath. Then of course there is the issue with having to graze throughout the day in order to stay nourished. At the minimum vegetables, seafood, poultry and a little dairy should be a part of any healthy diet. Growing up on a farm in the 1950s we didn’t eat meat every day, but we always had access to eggs and dairy and a chicken dish on Sunday’s. Going fishing and hunting was a fun way to supplement as well. Eating red meat like pork or beef only once or twice a week stretched our seasonal budget and kept everyone healthy. We don’t need to eat meat every day, but we do need to use common sense and at least eat according to how we evolved. Even our chimp cousins have to supplement their diets with some meat.

I am a proud card carrying member of P.E.T.A. People Eating Tasty Animals.

I didn’t climb to the top of the food chain to eat tofu burgers and broccoli lasagna. You never see in a restaurant people high fiving each other when a 20 ounce rare-medium rare grilled veggie steak is placed in front of them.

What ?! No more ’Baco’s’ for Farley?? This will not end well… The family is already cheating – see pane four.

I am a de facto, part-time pescatarian plus eggs.

I guess she’s been following the Fox family.

I had a girlfriend who was a complete vegan and since I was living with her, expected me to conform to her dietary choices. Needless to say, some compromises needed to be reached, since she couldn’t cook for beans ( no pun intended ). I quickly learned to cook some really tasty vegetarian meals for both of us, thanks to a friend who ran a very successful vegetarian restaurant.

For 2 1/2 years I abstained from eating meat or poultry, although unlike my girlfrend, I did eat eggs, fish, shellfish, and occasionally lamb.

That was almost 30 years ago and my diet is almost the same, with the exception that while my diet consists of lots of fruits and vegatables, fresh fish and poultry, my wife and I will occasionally eat pork or beef.

Show me a Michelin star vegetarian restaurant and I’ll try it.

Many of the people posting here have made up their minds that they must eat dead animals to be healthy. If you have at least a somewhat open mind, may I recommend the Netflix special: “You are what you eat: a twin Experiment”. 22 identical twins agreed to follow a diet where one was a vegetarian and the other followed a healthy omnivore diet. At the end of 8 weeks, they compared the twins to see how their diets affected their weight and overall health. Check out the difference in sexual responses for one thing.

Please tell me this isn’t going to be a series about vegetarians only eating beans, tofu and salad. Good vegetarian cooks make good vegetarian food, nuanced and layered. You don’t have to be a vegetarian, but please don’t spread ignorance. Looking forward to seeing what happens!

on how to cheat and eat behind your back it would seem…….

What comes out of your mouth is more important than what goes in it.

If you’re cutting back on salt, canned soups and jarred spaghetti sauce are OUT

I remember an online story. A new wife offered to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her inlaws. She’s told uncle’s girlfriend is vegetarian, so she figures she’ll just include a meatless alternative with the turkey. Uncle’s girlfriend tells her she isn’t allowed to have turkey. She checks with rest of family and finds they’ve been having meatless holiday dinners for a couple of years because of this woman even though NOBODY ELSE likes it. New wife declares there will be turkey at her dinner along with a meatless alternative. Uncle’s girlfriend refuses to come, they break up soon after.

Idea for tomorrow’s strip..

Elly empties all the wastebaskets in order to take out the trash

Elly{talking to herself}: That is funny, I don’t recall shopping for Pork Puffs. How very odd indeed.

Elly walks to John

Elly: Dear husband, we have a mystery on our hands. A bag of processed food was found. It can’t be mine; I have been cooking healthy nutritious meals for us. It can’t be April’s, she only eats Gerber. It can’t be Michael’s, he left for school two weeks ago. Unless someone broke into our house for the express purpose of putting this empty bag of junk food in our wastebasket, I would say that I have a good idea who did it…

When my step daughter was home and in high school, I would cook vegetarian versions of our meals for her. Then she decided that she would go vegan. I told her that her mom and I were NOT going vegan and that she had to be careful because it was possible to have vitamin and nutrient decencies on such a diet. Lots of people do this successfully but it takes work. She would be making her own meals going forward on that diet (she was 16 at the time). If she gave me a list I would get what she needed when I went shopping. It lasted about 6 weeks.

yeah like all the liberals in every blue state

Why is there a happy pig on a bag of Pork Puffs? Like the happy pigs and bulls on the signs of barbecue restaurants, and even happy lobsters on seafood restaurants…. Douglas Adams took off on that in “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe” (part of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series) with an animal that’s brought to your table encouraging you to eat it, and pointing out which parts of its body are tastiest. The main character thinks this is horrifying, but not everyone agrees.

As if beans are the only things you can eat if you don’t eat meat. I’m not vegetarian but even I know there are a lot more choices than beans!

I think everyone should become a vegan but no one should be forced to become a vegan. I suggest for those who are curious about a plant based diet to find a good vegan/vegetarian restaurant (nearby or when traveling) and eat there a number of times to find out how delicious and varied such a diet can be. I guarantee you will be surprised.

Or not…

From my experiences living in Canada and the United Kingdom as a digital nomad…. it’s much easier, with far more acceptance, with far more choices, and far less ignorant comments… to follow a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle in Canada and the UK than the United States.