My mom’s journey into veg, an interview
Who: Susan Elaine Long is a classically trained mezzo soprano with degrees in Languages and Music Performance. She also has a masters in Music Therapy. She raised my brother and I in a loving and caring household.
Why: Susan became a vegetarian in the 70’s, when the movement really picked up in the United States. She tells me about her journey with the veggie life, its evolution, and what health means to her.
Favourite dish: A classic “parmigiana di melanzane”, a rich and layered Aubergine parmigiana.
1. Let’s start from the very beginning. Can you tell me where you were born, your parent’s names and what they did for a living?
I was born in Primghar, Iowa - in a town of about 1000 people. My father - Lloyd Arthur Long - was a farmer. My mother - Helen Elaine Long - studied to be a nurse but renounced her studies to marry my father. Farmers were the last to be drafted in the second world war, but they married as a precaution.
When I was three we moved from the farm to Green Bay, Wisconsin, where my father found a job with the Wisconsin Public Service (Gas and Light). Around that time, my mother started a part time job with AVON. I was glad to leave the farm, I was terrified of the chickens!
Left: my grandfather Lloyd Arthur Long and grandmother Helen Long. Right: my mother and her brother Steve in Green Bay.
“This was the 60’s, when the food industry was trying to convince women that pre-packed foods were best.”
2. What types of food did you eat growing up?
We had lots of jarred foods when we were on the farm. My mother would jar apples, squash, beans, and peas. We also had potatoes and corn. We usually had meat, a veg and a starch. I would consider it to have been an overall reasonably healthy diet. I maintained this type of diet until I was about 10.
My mother took a full-time job around that time, so food increasingly became pre-packaged and canned. This was the 60’s, when the food industry was trying to convince women that pre-packed foods were best. As I moved through middle school and high school my diet became increasingly processed, with more things like pizza and ice cream.
3. When did you first learn about vegetarianism?
I was at the University of Wisconsin Madison. I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but I attended a meeting about a book on childhood diseases that had been recently published. I went because I was desperate to improve my health and wanted to avoid gaining weight.
They spoke at length about health in general and diet specifically, with a strong point of view on how the industrial meat industry was filling our food with antibiotics and hormones. This was a big scandal at the time. I remember learning about how meat could be impacting our immune system - there was an understanding that we were being poisoned.
4. So you were really looking for ways to become more healthy.
Yes, I ventured into vegetarianism because I was looking to improve my health. My brother-in-law is a hunter so I never thought of eating animals as something that was wrong or reproachable. He taught hunter safety and respect for the forest: They would eat and use the entirety of the animal. The ethics question wasn’t even on my mind back then. I was trying to find out if my diet could change my health and help me maintain a healthy weight.
Left: mom’s professional headshot as a music major at Madison. Right: mom at Tanglewood music festival.
“When I was at Madison in the 70’s there were many COOPs and lots of ethical farming. I could buy grains and vegetables easily - it was all very accessible and in vogue.”
5. Since that first introduction, what kept you engaged with vegetarianism?
Changing my diet saved my life. As a child, my health was always weirdly precarious. I had something doctors called “Scarlatina” - nobody in my town had seen it before. I had a bladder infection too, and later found out I had a ureter malfunction [tube that connects bladder to kidneys], which I was operated on in 1980. In my adult years my health got better - so I believe changing my diet had a huge impact.
When I was at Madison in the 70’s there were many COOPs and lots of ethical farming. I could buy grains and vegetables easily - it was all very accessible and in vogue. Around this time I read “Diet for a Small Planet”, “the Vegetarian Epicure” and “Sugar Blues”, which all made a lasting impression on me.
I really started getting into vegetarianism in the mid 70’s, when more information also started emerging about the ethical and sustainability implications of meat consumption. In my case though, being a vegetarian was about better health.
6. As a lifelong musician, your body is your instrument - are diet and musical performance connected in your experience? If so, how?
Yes, you can feel the impact of food in your body right away. Many singers have weird food habits. For me, alcohol, fatty foods and cheese created mucous, which of course is a huge problem in performance.
I realise now that I wasn’t a well-rounded vegetarian, I had a meatless diet but still ate a lot of cheese. Now I know how to eat a more balanced diet, with beans, legumes and ancient grains. Nutrition is incredibly complex, and I wish I had known more when I was younger.
I recently accompanied a friend who is in treatment for cancer to visit her primary care physician, and was genuinely relieved that he had also provided her with a nutritionist: what you put in your body is so important.
Left: mom performing Cherubino from the Marriage of Figaro in Rome, Italy. Right: mom performing QUARTETT in Kiel, Germany.
“Buddha was a vegetarian, but would eat anything when offered. There was something about this form of gratitude and respect for others' generosity that struck me.”
7. Your perspective on being a vegetarian changed in the late 80’s, what happened?
I had become a really radical vegetarian between 1980 and 1988. If I went out and there was nothing vegetarian to eat, I wouldn’t eat. I was vehement and imposed my choice on others.
Then I had a crisis.
Firstly, the readings on my spiritual path challenged my stance. I was studying Yoga Nanda and learning more about Hinduism and Buddhism. Buddha was a vegetarian, but would eat anything when offered. There was something about this form of gratitude and respect for others' generosity that struck me. The second thing was a conversation I had with Marco (your father) - he believed my inflexibility and antagonism would eventually give me a heart attack. I realised I didn’t want to be this person.
8. As a vegetarian, how did you approach cooking and feeding us? Was this something you were conscious about?
Very much so. This was maybe the third thing that pushed me away from being a pure vegetarian. In 1989 - when I had you - I couldn’t find enough information to create a vegetarian diet that I could be confident wouldn’t hurt you. I’d heard stories of children with developmental issues caused by restrictive diets, so I had to take a step back.
Also, your father and brother very much were and remain uninterested in the vegetarian diet, so we’ve always bought meat and fish. These days if there is food that risks being thrown away in the house, I will eat it no matter what it is. I believe we should eat what we need, respect the animal as much as possible, and be thankful for our food. There are so many trade offs, it can be hard to balance what is right.
Left: my brother’s joyful pancake moment in Crivitz, Wisconsin. Right: with my mom in Crivitz, Wisconsin.
9. What does it mean to live a “sustainable life” to you?
I try to buy only what I need from responsible grocers (where I can afford to), create as little waste as possible and recycle things till they fall apart...but it’s still hard. I feel awful about not doing more in the house. I think we have a responsibility to reduce our energy consumption, but when I’m sitting at home 12 hours a day I can’t stand being cold. I wish it were affordable to insulate our homes. The system is not set up for us to be able to make the most sustainable choices without incurring high costs.
10. If you could give one piece of advice on how to achieve health, in its physical and emotional forms, what would it be?
Learn to listen to your body - it will tell you what it can and cannot take. Continue to study and listen to others - science is always changing. Try to get in touch with your heart and your emotions - this will help you strike healthy balances and set boundaries. I find that there is something that resembles “the truth”, but the answers usually lie somewhere in the messy middle.
