Punk Rock and Food

In the insular little community of punker rockers and metal-heads I call my friends, often times I realize that we are constantly surrounded by hipocrisy and more importantly, very poor eating habits. This hit me last weekend, when I was standing in the middle of nowhere, staring at a veggie weiner and two portabella mushrooms. The dudes in the band playing after us (a super-hardcore outfit called "Assbeer"-no joke) had decided to have a barbeque at the outdoor lodge we were congregated at. It was supposed to be local benefit for something or other, but was really a big chill-fest for all the kids in the bands and in the scene.
Functions like this crack me up. Punk is dead. At least to me it is. The real punk, the smack you in the face, scare parents and babies punk is dead. Henry Rollins is on TLC and Hot Topic is selling Black Flag shirts for 20$. This is decidedly not punk, no matter what anyone tells you. So when I see a huge group of dirty, scabby kids waving skateboards around and screaming lyrics about fighting the man like a fuzzy Ian MacKaye I feel a little...silly I guess. Don't get me wrong, I love the raw power of the music, and the rebellious DIY spirit of the ideals, but the whole thing can get very tedious and backwards after a while. That said, most of my best friends are huge punkers and would not be very happy with me for writing this.
Anyways. Back to the food thing. No teenage boy I have ever encountered cares about nutrition or calories or vitamins. But punk, punk in all its glorious rebellion has always had close ties to vegetarianism, veganism and other forms of radical foodie thinking. Most of the punks I know, all who are pretty young, subsist on a diet of pizza, mountain dew and really cheap stolen beer. They all tolerate my uber-healthy, free ranginess but it tends to be the butt of all jokes. When we stop for a pre-show fuel up at the Wilson Farms I'll get a expresso and granola bar while they all buy Red Bulls and DingDongs.
So I was suprised and delighted to see the guys from Assbeer standing around smoking and grilling giant mushrooms. Admittedly it was a little sad, seeing packs of veggie hotdogs littered next to a jumbo bag of Chitos and Cokes, but it gave me a little hope. I guess it's punk rock to eat vegetables.
Veganism in punk goes hand in hand with "straightedge" or the concept of abstaining from all drugs or in some cases, sex. Bands will tour the country under the straightedge vegan banner, tattooed and angry and very very sober. The local DIY punk house that sets up alot of the underground shows, will host vegan cook-outs and vegg-fests with lots of good music in park pavillions next to bridal showers. For me, when I say punk is dead, I am speaking about the old style punk, the old ways of dressing and flicking everyone off. True punk can never die however, as long as free thinkers need a way to define themselves out of what they consider the norm. Punk is doing what feels right and not caring what anyone else thinks. Punk is sticking to your guns and doing the right thing. Hell, punk is grilling portabella mushrooms with a bunch of hairy dudes called Assbeer.