The Vegetarian and Vegan Guide to Fasting and Abstinence During Lent

I've often wondered about this, even tho' I'm not a vegetarian. However, the C&SH is a non-dogmatic vegetarian (she doesn't mind if I eat meat).
From Ignitum Today

By Siobhan Benitez

I spent most of my young adulthood as a vegetarian (a life-stage which ended after marriage to a carnivore; you just cannot force that kind of gastronomic commitment onto someone else). As a vegetarian, something always troubled me when Lent came around and my friends and family members were “suffering” on Fridays, sullenly picking at plain ramen or whatever they chose to replace a properly balanced meal while I enjoyed my stuffed peppers or mushroom risotto or black bean quesadillas, not suffering at all.

Of course, this whole “not suffering” thing is not exactly Lent-appropriate. Friday abstinence from meat is meant to interrupt your average Catholic’s lifestyle, forcing him or her to reflect on the suffering of Christ on the Cross and in the imago Dei of less fortunate human beings by changing his/her meal planning style and eating something unusual or less desirable to his/her diet.

The vegetarian and vegan lifestyle is not at all interrupted by Friday abstinence. Vegetarians and vegans can still participate in the fasting days (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday) by eating one normal-sized meal and two smaller meals which do not quite add up to the one normal-sized meal, but the remaining abstinence days still can (and ought to be!) a chance for you to unite your suffering to Christ, to be “interrupted” in a way that points you to God during the Lenten season.

Here are my suggestions for interrupting your life style:

Vegetarians:

• -Go Vegan on Fridays. Just like it’s a fairly small adjustment for meat-eaters to switch to fish, you can cut out eggs and dairy products to make a small change in your diet.
• -Check out these “5 Creative Food Fasting Ideas” suggested by blogger Billy Kangas—warning, the “food desert fast” is not safe for vegetarians; you will not be able to get the nutrition you need.
• -Try the Orthodox fast (explained for the vegans below) for a larger life style change.

Vegans:

• – Check out these “5 Creative Food Fasting Ideas” suggested by blogger Billy Kangas—warning, the “food desert fast” is not safe for vegans; you will not be able to get the nutrition you need.
• -On Fridays, practice the fast observed by our brothers and sisters in the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox fast is largely vegan (actually, they allow products derived from animals without backbones [like honey], but you can continue your normal vegan-ness and add on some of the other practices), but in addition they fast from:
  •         -alcohol
  •         -olive oil (some push this to ALL cooking oils)
  •         -sex (assuming you are already married)
•     -Eat only two meals a day…no snacking

Lent is a time for conforming your will to God’s through small sacrifices throughout the season. I hope you find these suggestions helpful.