Monkey diary – three days as a fruitarian
Plagued by the reality of industrial farming described by Michael Pollan, I’ve decided to try a fruit-and-seed diet, which would consist of only things that can be harvested without killing the plants. At first I thought it would be pretty restrictive, but a lot of vegetables are fruits: tomato, cucumber, bittermelon, bell pepper, chayote, green beans, eggplants, etc. Cereal is the hard part. I wasn’t sure if I should include corn, rice, wheat and other grains in my experiment because technically they can be harvested without killing the plants, but in reality the plants are killed after the harvest. The same goes for soy beans. Then I figure the industrial farms also kill tomato and cucumber plants after harvesting, and my experiment is geared toward whether I can survive on only fruits and seeds, so restricting to heirloom produce is “beyond the scope of our study”.
Bought $29.72’s worth of avocados, navel oranges, blueberries, plums, cultured coconut milk (i.e., coconut yogurt), and bananas from Berkeley Bowl.
– First day –
Brunch: one plum, one avocado smoothie. Snacks: blueberries. Work from home. At about 4 pm I was doing ok, then I saw UmamiMart‘s picture of crispy golden fried gyoza on Facebook and my stomach started feeling a little empty, so I had to snack on a banana and some toasted coconut chips. Dinner: white rice with muối mè (salt-sugar-sesame mix), one orange and one cup of coconut milk yogurt. I was excited to open the coconut milk yogurt but quickly regretted buying it: the sour taste mixed with the familiar coconut smell, which has been hardwired in my brain as sweet and rich, made me instinctively think that this coconut milk has gone bad. It was only an instinctive reaction, I told myself, and managed to finish the whole cup. The chocolate flavor didn’t help very much. There are still 3 cups in the fridge, I wasn’t sure if that’s enough to get me used to the taste.
Later that evening, I fixed a bowl of rice cereal with soy milk.
– Second day –
Brunch: blueberries and one avocado smoothie. Work from home. I was so busy I didn’t even feel hungry until 7:30 pm. Dinner: vegan instant ramen, rice with muối mè, one fresh cucumber and one banana. I didn’t have any room left for dessert, but around 11 pm I ate an orange and a plum. I began thinking that this fruit only diet is pretty efficient time-wise.
– Third day –
Breakfast: one banana. Didn’t have time to pack lunch because I had to rush to the bus stop, only to find the bus arrive 20 minutes later (the bus is supposed to arrive every 10 minutes). At school, I was thinking of the alternatives around campus but couldn’t come up with anything except Jamba Juice and the avocado smoothie at UCafe. Just my luck, UCafe was closed that day, and the only thing I ever like from Jamba Juice is their fresh-squeezed orange juice, which certainly won’t fill me up for lunch. So I caved. I bought 2 chocolate donuts from King Pin Donut. After I ate one of them, I felt dizzy.
Dinner: a can of corn (I couldn’t even put butter into it), two bananas, one avocado smoothie, one plum. I felt full but it’s the weird kind of full where I felt tired and hardly satisfied, as if something was lacking. (Of course something was lacking! It’s called protein.) In fact I felt so tired I couldn’t do anything productive for the rest of the night.
– Fourth day –
Breakfast: one plum. I was debating whether I should continue this experiment and finally decided that it’s fruitless to die of malnutrition now. So I bought an egg and chicken sausage muffin from Julie’s Cafe. It’s the worst egg muffin ever but it revived me. Two minutes after I finished the muffin, I felt a rush of energy spreading to my fingertips and my vision got clearer (no way the body can process food that fast?!). I could just be imagining all this but the point is I didn’t feel so tired anymore.
A few conclusions I can draw from this experiment:
1. Fruitarianism is not sustainable for me, when I work 12 hours a day and has no motivation to cook. There are not enough cooked options in what I can buy, I’m too picky about taste, and fresh fruits alone are not enough.
2. Fruitarianism is not economically practical. Fresh fruits go bad way too quickly. My bananas are spotty 4 days after I bought it from the store. (Now I have a theory to explain why Berkeley Bowl is ALWAYS so crowded everyday: people with a lot of free time go there to buy a tuft of salad just enough for three meals in one day, then they go back the next day and repeat. That way their produce stays fresh.)
3. Assuming that I’m human, I should accept my fate as an omnivore instead of eating like a cockatoo. It’s advantageous because human can survive if one type of food vanishes, but it’s disadvantageous because human needs many types of food to healthily survive.
4. A diet where the human restricts itself to one type of food is not healthy for the environment. If everybody starts eating only fruits and nuts, the demand will soar, the scientists and the farmers will start thinking of ways to enhance the plants’ production even more than they already have, the soil will be overworked, trees with no fruits or inedible fruits will be killed to give land to orchards, farm animals like chicken and cow will go extinct because raising them will no longer be profitable. Something that started out as harmless as a fruitarian diet will inevitably harm many species if too many people adopt it. (Not to mention that after some time, supply will surely exceed demand, the price per unit will drop, overproduction will lead to even more overproduction just like the story of corn and milk.)
5. June is stone fruit season, which is unfortunate for me because I don’t like peaches and plums are neither filling nor tidy to eat (every bite guarantees at least one squirt in some direction, usually forward and up by 30 degrees). Had it been apple season this experiment would have lasted longer.
6. I wonder if I can survive on avocados alone. That stuff is amazing.
Heya i am for the first time here. I found this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and aid others like you aided me.
1Merely wanna input on few general things, The website pattern is perfect, the content is very good. “Crime does not pay … as well as politics.” by Alfred E. Newman.
2Whats up very nice web site!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Superb .. I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds additionally?KI am satisfied to find numerous helpful information right here in the publish, we need develop more strategies in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
3Thank you for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were just preparing to do some research on this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more from this post. I am very glad to see such fantastic info being shared freely out there.
4I just could not depart your web site prior to suggesting that I actually enjoyed the standard info a person provide for your visitors? Is going to be back often to check up on new posts
5certainly like your website however you have to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very troublesome to inform the reality then again I will certainly come again again.
6I’m still learning from you, as I’m trying to achieve my goals. I definitely love reading everything that is posted on your site.Keep the posts coming. I liked it!
7you’re truly a good webmaster. The site loading speed is amazing. It sort of feels that you are doing any unique trick. Furthermore, The contents are masterwork. you have performed a magnificent task in this matter!
8Very interesting subject , thanks for putting up.
9포항오피를 검색하며 포항 지역 일반 마사지·스파를 알아보는 분들을 위한 안내입니다. 프로그램 선택, 관리 시간과 비용, 시설·위생, 주차, 예약 전 확인사항과 자주 묻는 질문을 정리했습니다.
10강남출장마사지 셀럽의 코스와 가격, 예약 방법을 확인하세요. 서울 강남구 역삼동·삼성동·논현동·신사동·압구정동·청담동·대치동·도곡동·개포동·수서동 등 주소별
11경기도 구리출장마사지 셀럽의 코스와 가격, 자택·호텔 방문 상담, 선입금 없는 예약 및 현장 결제 기준을 확인하세요. 방문 가능 여부와 예상 도착 시간은 주소와
12부산출장마사지 셀럽의 코스별 가격과 예약 방법을 확인하세요. 해운대·서면·광안리·동래 등 지역별 방문 가능 여부, 예상 도착 시간, 선입금 없는 현장 결제와 자택
13Hey there! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be ok. I’m absolutely enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.
14I got what you intend, thanks for putting up.Woh I am happy to find this website through google.
15I’ve been exploring for a little bit for any high-quality articles or blog posts on this sort of house . Exploring in Yahoo I ultimately stumbled upon this site. Studying this info So i am glad to convey that I’ve a very excellent uncanny feeling I found out just what I needed. I most definitely will make certain to do not omit this website and give it a look on a continuing basis.
16Hello.This article was really motivating, particularly because I was investigating for thoughts on this subject last week.
17주소콘에서 필요한 사이트를 분야별로 살펴보세요. 뉴스, 커뮤니티, 영상, 웹툰, 쇼핑, 생활 정보와 온라인 도구를 찾는 방법부터 주소 확인, 즐겨찾기 관리, 접속 오류 해결까지 안내합니다. 목적에 맞는 링크를 고르고 더 편리하게 이용하세요.
18Thank you for sharing this interesting content. I love your site. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment on your article. I look forward to more informative publications from you soon.
19I am perpetually thought about this, thanks for putting up.
20주소콘에서 필요한 웹사이트 주소를 쉽고 빠르게 찾아보세요. 분야별 주소모음과 링크모음, 주소찾기 방법부터 변경된 주소 확인, 안전한 링크 확인 방법까지 한눈에 살펴볼 수 있습니다.
21I have not checked in here for a while as I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are good quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my daily bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
22There is perceptibly a bunch to identify about this. I consider you made various good points in features also.
23Terrific work! That is the type of info that should be shared across the internet. Shame on Google for no longer positioning this put up higher! Come on over and discuss with my web site . Thank you =)
24Do you mind if I quote a few of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your webpage? My website is in the exact same niche as yours and my users would certainly benefit from a lot of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this alright with you. Many thanks!
25Hi , I do believe this is an excellent blog. I stumbled upon it on Yahoo , i will come back once again. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and help other people.
26Hi there, I found your blog by way of Google whilst searching for a related matter, your website got here up, it seems good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
27Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say great blog!
28Thanks so much for publishing this interesting content. I love your blog. Thank you for providing a space for me to comment on your web page. I hope more engaging articles from you in the coming days.
29Hello very nice web site!! Man .. Beautiful .. Superb .. I’ll bookmark your web site and take the feeds additionally…I am glad to seek out a lot of helpful information here in the put up, we want develop extra strategies on this regard, thanks for sharing.
30Hey, you used to write great, but the last several posts have been kinda boring… I miss your super writings. Past few posts are just a little out of track! come on!
31I believe you have observed some very interesting points, thanks for the post.
32I’ve been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thanks, I will try and check back more often. How frequently you update your site?
33Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your site and in accession capital to assert that I acquire actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I will be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement you access consistently rapidly.
34I dugg some of you post as I cerebrated they were very beneficial very helpful
35Howdy! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could get a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having difficulty finding one? Thanks a lot!
36You made some decent points there. I did a search on the subject and found most guys will consent with your site.
37I envy your piece of work, regards for all the good content.
38Very interesting information!Perfect just what I was looking for!
39Good web site! I truly love how it is easy on my eyes and the data are well written. I am wondering how I could be notified whenever a new post has been made. I have subscribed to your RSS feed which must do the trick! Have a great day!
40I am lucky that I noticed this web site, precisely the right info that I was looking for! .
41Appreciating the time and energy you put into your website and detailed information you provide. It’s good to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same old rehashed information. Great read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.
42It’s actually a nice and useful piece of information. I’m happy that you simply shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
43Great beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your website, how could i subscribe for a blog web site? The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast provided bright clear idea
44I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you design this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz reply as I’m looking to design my own blog and would like to find out where u got this from. thanks
45I gotta favorite this website it seems very beneficial very helpful
46There is noticeably a bundle to find out about this. I assume you made certain nice factors in features also.
47Dead written subject matter, thankyou for entropy.
48fantastic points altogether, you simply gained a new reader. What would you suggest in regards to your post that you made some days ago? Any positive?
49Nice article, I learned a lot from this blog. Keep it up!. This is exactly what I was looking for.
50