[Blog Post #2.5] Interview

INTERVIEW GOALS

• How interviewee feels about the stereotypes
• Clarify misunderstanding-might have different views of themselves
• How stereotypes affect daily life for interviewee
• Personal efforts to break the stereotypes
• If interview experiences differ in different places/countries
• What you want the general public to know about your subculture
• Don’t have to stick to the questions strictly

Our vegetarian research team interviewed a vegetarian friend who is a German. The interview was held through Skype in April 3rd and it took about 30 min. We really appreciate for her participation !

[INTRODUCTION]

What type of vegetarian are you?

I don’t eat fish and meat. Occasionally I just eat eggs and dairy products. It’s really hard to live in Germany without having those products. There serve cheese and yogurt everywhere.

What kind of questions have you heard when you said people that you are a vegetarian?

Almost every time, it’s same. People ask me, ‘Don’t you have any deficiency in your health? Do you have enough protein?’ like that. I am kind of sick of the routine answering the same questions.

[NUTRITION / HEALTH]

Do you eat something as a substitute for meat?

I do try to have more beans and tofu that contain more protein apparently. However, I don’t’ have any supplement for vitamins or protein. I just try to ingest a broad range of food.

Have you experienced any health problem after being a vegetarian?

I usually have no problem. Just a year ago, I felt so much tired that went to see a doctor. After saying that I am a vegetarian, he assume that my personal health could be resulted from my dietary habit. However, it turned out to be untrue, because my blood diagnosis result was perfectly fine.

Do you agree with the opinion that vegetarians are slimmer?

In case of myself, it was somewhat true. I become skinnier, though I am in normal weight in my height now. Naturally it is difficult to get a lot of weights when you eat only vegetables and some products that contain less oil.

[SOCIALIZATION]

Which one do you prefer more, cooking in your own house or eating out?

I like both.

When you cook by yourself, how do you get the recipes?

There are lots of recipes in the Internet. So there’s no worry about that.

Is it easy to find vegetarian restaurants in your country?

Yes, it is. You can find any dish that you want almost every time. There is at least one vegetarian dish in each category of the menu. It gets better and better to find a place to eat in the city. Recently many traditional restaurants opened near the central city, so we have more choices.

Unfortunately, however, we could seldom find vegetarian dish in the country side. Then, I try to eat potatoes, vegetables, beans, and etc, personally asking for a waiter/waitress.

Have you ever joined a vegetarian community?

Not really. In Germany, about 10% of the people are vegetarian. It’s very easy to find friends who are vegetarian. So I don’t try intentionally to join some clubs.

Did you have any difficulty when you got along with non-vegetarians?

Not so much, but sometimes. If you don’t know how to deal with the situation, then it might be difficult. For example, we often do a barbeque in Germany. German people put meats a lot on the grill, so I usually bring substitutes for that like meat made out of tofu, grilled cheese, and some corns. Usually, it works very well for me, but people become very surprised when they see me at first.

How do you feel about being a vegetarian in Asian culture?

There is a Korean restaurant in our city. I went there yesterday and they served vegetarian dishes, too. When I travel, however, sometimes it seems difficult to choose what to eat. If you think of a soup, it could contain animal bone product. So I try to be more sensible, when I go outside of the country.

[BELIEF or CREED]

How did you become a vegetarian?

I watched a documentary about treating animals violently in a factory, beating and hurting them in order to get a meat. I couldn’t erase the image since then and made up my mind to become a vegetarian. It has been 5 years.

Have you ever heard that you are stubborn and picky because you are a vegetarian?

Yes, sometimes but it’s not really in negative tone. When they have really good foods or when they prepared foods, people try to ask me for a bite, saying ‘It’s really a good food. You don’t have to care.’ But I have to say ‘no, no, no, I don’t want to’ and it’s quite tough, although I am a vegetarian, I know that some non-vegetarian dishes are really delicious!!

What do you think of non-vegetarians?

I just do respect everyone’s decision.

What kind of personality might be needed in order to being a vegetarian?

It’s hard to say, but the only thing that turned up to my mind is that you have be aware of what you eat, thinking from where they are coming. If you keep in mind that every time it would not be too hard. However, if you ignore it at least one time whether unintentionally or on purpose, then probably can’t be a vegetarian.

** What do you want to say to the general public about vegetarians?

At first, vegetarians are not unhealthy.

For second, I hope that everyone consume less meat in order to keep our planet and our environment more sustainable. It requires additional energy to raise animals, leaving our food resources unusable. The way that we keep livestock is also very cruel.