#or possibly Chicken Leapin'

[marlynnofmany]

Today in "Reports From Elsewhere," the spambots on BlueSky have a distinctive name pattern that would make some excellent usernames here. It's tragic, really.

Anyways, tag yourself; I'm Highfalutin Alligator.

[addictedtostorytelling]

hi aj! i have a question. how do you think sara is about being a vegetarian? like at first i thought she just stopped eating meat in general and still ate eggs and drank milk and maybe ate fish (i don't know how far my headcanon goes haha) anyway and i read fics that sometimes are like that and other times she's full vegan. what do you think about that?

hi, anon!

while i can very much understand why some authors might choose to write sara that way—especially given that jorja fox has often identified herself as a vegan or "aspiring vegan" in her press—though she never says as much explicitly, sara's diet on the show in canon strongly suggests that she is a vegetarian but not a vegan.

sara becomes a vegetarian after the events of episode 01x10 "sex, lies, & larvae."

after that point, we see her:

eat sea bass (i.e., fish) in episode 01x15 "tables stakes"

eat pancakes* (which are typically made, unless specifically using a vegan recipe, with both milk and eggs) in episode 01x23 "strip strangler"

eat an egg salad sandwich in episode 02x06 "alter boys"

eat muffins (which are typically made, unless specifically using a vegan recipe, with both milk and eggs) in episode 06x05 "gum drops"

eat yoplait yogurt (i.e., a milk product) in episode 07x22 "leapin' lizards"

* since many vegans are also conscientious of potential cross-contamination issues, it is noteworthy that these pancakes come from a greasy spoon diner, meaning they are presumably prepared on the same flattop griddle where meat products like bacon and hamburgers are also grilled, and yet sara doesn't seem to care.

she also, for what it's worth, doesn't appear to have an issue with wearing/using leather, as both her prodigious jacket collection and the furniture in her and grissom's condo attests.

since vegans typically don't eat or make use of any animal-derived products—including fish, eggs, milk, leather, etc.—then sara can't be a vegan.

to me, the idea of sara being a vegetarian but not a vegan tracks with her motivations for becoming a vegetarian in the first place: she is, after spending the night watching grissom's decomposing pig experiment, too grossed out by the thought of meat to ever eat it again. she also, as an animal lover, doesn't like the idea of the slaughter industry. however, she will still eat animal products (such as milk, eggs, honey, etc.) that don't require slaughterhouse animal deaths for their production. she will also eat fish because they're not slaughterhouse animals.

my guess—which i have no way to substantiate—is that, given her concern for animal welfare, she is probably conscientious about making sure the animal products she consumes are ethically sourced when possible.

so when she buys eggs at the supermarket, she probably makes sure they come from free-range chickens or whatever.

however, she probably also can't afford to be too picky in that regard, as, as a csi, she oftentimes has no choice but to eat whatever food is fast/convenient/available during her shifts—hence why she's also willing to get an egg salad sandwich, made from just regular ol' bulk-farmed eggs, from the deli when needs be.

whether or not she has has any health considerations that factor into her opting for vegetarianism over veganism, we don't know.

for example, people with chronic anemia sometimes find it difficult to maintain a strict vegan diet.

we also don't know if and/or to what extent grissom ever adopts a vegetarian diet along with sara once they get together.

anyway, like i said up top, i can understand why some authors might choose to write sara as being vegan (and don't at all find the idea to be ooc for her, particularly given her deep love for animals). however, i think show canon fairly strongly implies she is more likely a vegetarian who still has some animal products in her diet.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.