Out Health: Going Vegan – Out In Jersey

Sometimes we make changes in our lives because we reach a turning point. It may be a sudden revelation that causes us to change course. Or it could be an event that changes our perspective. For my friend, Tom Mazorlig, it was eating at a restaurant.

“I was out with a friend and his theater friends,” he told me recently. “I was talking about respecting and loving animals, and an annoying guy from our group turned to me and said, ‘You need to shut up because you’re eating a pepperoni pizza.’ At that moment I knew I had to align my behavior with my beliefs.”

Tom became a vegetarian for seven years and then vegan for twenty years. When I asked him what inspired him to become vegan, he said, “I went to college to become a veterinarian. I have always been interested in animals. I didn’t know much about veganism when I became vegetarian. I was just in that headspace of not eating meat. In the summer of 2001 I read Diet for a new America, by John Robbins of the Baskin-Robbins Ice Dynasty. The book talks about the consequences of the dairy industry for health, animal welfare and the environment. My main reason for going vegan is the impact on the environment. But it also affected my health.

“I noticed my allergies got better immediately after quitting dairy. I would eat cheese pizza on Fridays when I played Magic with my cousins ​​because it was a tradition in my family. It was my only non-vegan thing. But on the weekends my allergies would flare up.”

Tom then became a committed vegan. He also noticed that he healed much faster. After a car accident in which he broke his pelvis in four places, his doctor noticed how quickly his body recovered. The doctor also noted that Tom’s blood work was a textbook example of good health.

I asked him how things have changed since he became vegetarian and then vegan. Tom said: “Since going vegan things have become so much easier. Going to grocery stores and restaurants is so much better now than it used to be. Things are so much better labeled. Most people know at least something about it. For example, vegetarian burgers are so much tastier to eat than they used to be.”

An interesting paradox about Mazorlig is that he owns exotic pets. “Many may object to that as I try to live a vegan life,” he said. “Most vegans would consider it exploitation of the animal and therefore not in line with veganism. Plus, there’s the problem that they eat other animals. The pet industry also has many problems. But I think it is possible to maintain a good environment for them. I provide them with health care and regular food.”

I have to admit that I have never been to Tom’s house. I don’t like spiders and snakes. I know he has them there. But I often dined with Tom and his husband. I am a vegetarian, not vegan, but I do cherish the insight Tom has given me into a lifestyle I have been interested in for a long time. Could this be my turning point?

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