This past weekend I paid a visit to my far-geekier past and attended OryCon for a day. It was a lot of fun seeing friends I’d not seen in a long time and hanging out gaming, but the thing that really stuck me was how terrible the food was overall. I was happy I’d started the day off with lunch at Blossoming Lotus before going.
I found myself wondering if the food at science fiction conventions had gotten worse, but I finally realized that it hadn’t. At one point I had been willing to tolerate the cheap peanut butter and slices of white bread or be grateful to have the option of a big bowl of iceberg lettuce with lousy dressing because at least it resembled a vegetable. Taken as a whole it seems like the Con Suite food has always been mediocre at best.
Given the bad and really only snack level food available from the Con, and having heard about the poor quality of the hotel restaurants, a group of us decided to have some Chinese food delivered. I had a very stilted conversation with the restaurant and settled on stir-fried green beans and spicy tofu with vegetables for Devon and I to share. This food was also really lousy. “Not inedible”, was perhaps the kindest description that could be applied.
At this point Devon pointed out that she would have a far easier time finding food-like-substances, not being vegan, and insisted I finish her leftover half a white bean and pesto wrap she’d saved from our lunch earlier at Blossoming Lotus. We’d also picked up some hummus while picking up things for a party, but the wrap was pretty filling and tasty. I was really grateful for it too after having unenthusiastically eaten some of the tofu and green beans.
I was so surrounded by a lack of good vegan options, unusual for being in the middle of Portland, that it was a good reminder of how much concerned I am about what I eat now. After a day of this I have found it interesting to observe how differently I approach food now. Starting first from the compassionate choice of vegan food, then moving on to delicious food, and quite often healthy food as well. This relationship with food has made a profound impact to my life.