Same thing for fellow vegetarians. Since you announced yourself vegetarian, then accidentally ate meat, what do you do?

1. Freak out.

2. Hate yourself for it.

3. Say you're sorry!

Just kidding! I know I've done all of the above, but the best thing you could do is...

RELAX.

It happens to all of us.

When I went vegetarian, I accidentally ate minced pork hidden inside my black bean noodles. I checked the ingredients and, although it didn't have any animal product written on the package, my tummy started acting up. I checked the website the ingredient "pork" was there. Horrified, I swore I would never buy that product again. And I learned to veganize that dish! The worst thing I could've done is, "Oh well, so there goes my vegetarianism, where's my double bacon cheeseburger?" and hop on the omnivore bandwagon.

Similar things happened as I went vegan. Heck, I once thought my order was vegan and offered it to all of my vegan friends! (It had eggs) I didn't mean it and I apologized soon after my realization. When I traveled to Tokyo, Japan, it probably happened more often since I couldn't speak the language. More on that later.

The sad fact is, we live in a non-vegan world, although there are lots of positive signs that more people are going vegetarian than ever. We are constantly bombarded with hamburger signs, BBQ outings, veg-unfriendly restaurants, and friends & family (except for vegan friends, of course) that meat and animal products is a way of life, thanks to years of advertising by the ultra wealthy meat & dairy industry.

But it doesn't have to be. At least for you, me, millions of other vegans around the world, and all animals.

Every mistake that I've made along with my wonderful journey of veganism was a great learning experience, and I know I won't make that mistake again. It made me review my stance on veganism and pray to every creature around the world to have a better life in the future.

Also say sorry to my beloved tummy. I will treat you better next time!

The recent news of course attacks veganism again, using a study that's not even published, and says "vegetarian diet 'weakens bones'". If your friends ever ask, higher bone density does not equal strong bones. Further, vegan diet actually promotes strong bones. Read 'The China Study' and you will find out that osteoporosis was more common in people with higher consumption of animal products. ('The China Study' is a published, large-scale study that was peer-reviewed and was not funded by a particular industry.)

Personally, I've seen many people who suffered from osteoporosis due to their doctor's false assumption that they need more cow's milk for "calcium". However, their conditions worsened as they drank more cow's milk. Puzzled, once they reduced their consumption of cow's milk, their conditions actually improved.

I wrote a review about the episode "Lisa the vegetarian" (The Simpsons) on my blog.
http://cubepark.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/lisa-the-vegetarian/

After a visit at a petting zoo and the encounter with a lamb, Lisa can’t still eat meat so she decides to becomea vegetarian. Her relatives jeer her about this choice (the jingle “You don’t win friend with salad” is so weepy…). The strife with the school is really strong, too.
The barbecue organized by Homer will touch off Lisa and she’ll get so angry to the extent that she’ll throw away the main course. Lisa will take comfort in the Jet Market, where she’ll meet three other vegetarians: Apu, Paul and Linda McCartney.
This episode is a classic and it’s one of the best of the series. It faces an issue that is quite important, in a really professional way. At the same time, funny jokes never lack.
In 1995 – the year when this episode gone in the air for the first time – there was already millions of vegetarian all over the world, but this issue hardly appeared on TV. It’s unusual to hear someone talk about the difficulty that the vegetarian face daily. The response of the people (her family, the school, etc.) toward Lisa and her choice, represent really well this facet. Lisa start figuring out this problem and she’ll find the biggest trouble in school. When she’ll voice her ideas at enmity with the teacher and the chef, it will be launched a “free-thinking alarm”. In order to confute Lisa’s ideas it will be shown a didactic film where Troy McClure explains why it’s right to eat meat. The response of Lisa’s classmate after the film (“You should be stupid to ask all that question about meat”), prove how much feelings and children’s mind is easy to handle with small advertisements and propaganda. Just when Lisa is almost giving up her vegetarian diet, Apu will come to help her with a vegetarian hot-dog. Lisa still be vegetarian for all the Simpsons Seasons. It’s a permanent change for this character because the people who do this kind of choice hardly going behind. It’s not like stop smoking. Often in The Simpsons, at the end of the episode, there’s a return to begin. Not in this case. There’s a full support to the battle engaged by Lisa and there aren’t other interpretative position (it’s quite unusual in The Simpsons). On the contrary, there is an introduction on the motivations that induce a lot of people to become vegetarian, without using a petty way.
Lisa refuses to eat the lamb cutlets ‘cause she was thinking that them came from the little lamb she was playing with. A similar scene, but a more bit strong, was described by a big thinker: “The things that we euphemistically call “meat” are, in truth, pieces of a killed animal’s corpse. Why do we have to turn our stomach in a cemetery? ” Tiziano Terzani

Fabrizio Cirnigliaro

Thanks to Luca Feliciotto for the translation from Italian to English