[pct-l] Vegan Thru Hike?

[Eric Lee]

Daniel wrote:
>
The falicy here of course is the assumption, implicit in these two responses
to Becky's query, that all or most vegetarians on some level REALLY want to
eat meat, that vegetarianism is in some way a burden or a deprivation or
something.
>

There are some vegetarians and vegans who thru-hike just fine.  It's not
impossible.  But we also know from concrete experience that many vegetarians
and vegans start the trail intending to maintain their chosen dietary habits
and then for whatever reason change their diet during the hike.  I don't
know the reason for that, but it's a fact.

Maybe those who change just weren't true vegetarians in the first place.
Maybe something about five months of strenuous exercise tends to make people
want to change their diet.  I would speculate that those who choose
vegetarianism for health reasons rather than moral reasons might be more
willing to start including some meat during a thru-hike if they feel that
it's more healthy in that situation.  Again, the change is not inevitable
but experience shows that it's fairly likely, whatever the reason.

Eric