Why I’m becoming an almost-vegetarian
I’ve kind of known I would take this step for a while, but the recent spurt of publicity about the carbon impacts of the meat industry (and reading Prashant Vaze’s The Economical Environmentalist) has finally driven me to a decision: I’m going to become an almost-vegetarian. Using the Guardian’s carbon output ready reckoner, I calculated that my annual carbon output is now about 10 tonnes, around two-thirds of that of the average Briton, but still more than we all need to get to soon.
I don’t drive except in France (and then no great distances, and I’m looking to cut that down), don’t fly, use little gas and electricity, have been trying hard to cut down on my usage of disposable plastic containers, so it is hard to see where I can make further cuts, except in diet.
So almost-vegetarian it is.
I can see the eyebrows: “Almost?”
There are three reasons for that: 1. I can’t eat gluten, and given that the vegetarian option in restaurants is often pasta, I will be left with no alternative. There will be times when making a fuss and demanding to go off-menu just won’t be practical. 2. If the point of this is cutting carbon, then the occasional fried rice (favourite comfort food), containing a tiny smattering of pork, shrimp and chicken (or similar dish), is going to have minimal impact. (And I’m certainly not going to fuss about a Thai dish containing a dash of fish sauce.) 3. I want to allow myself room to slip up occasionally and not then feel that I’ve failed (and yes, I am going to declare oysters “almost-vegetarian”. I only eat them three or four times a year, and I LIKE them.)
Ah, but I hear the purists cry, shouldn’t I be becoming an almost-vegan? Well, yes, on carbon grounds, but sorry, I just can’t do it. I can go without meat without too much difficulty, I think, but cheese, yoghurt, butter, no!
Maybe one day, but not now…
On the other side of the sceptics’ fence, you might say that individual action is irrelevant, that major societal and government action is the only thing that can deliver real cuts in emissions. True – but you’ve got to start somewhere, and through my work for the Green Party I’m working on that too.
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I’ve become a bit of an ‘almost vegetarian’ recently, for both health and ethical reasons – I wouldn’t call myself that though, just someone that eats a little meat about once a week I think that the ‘all or nothing’ culture of vegetarianism puts a lot of people off reducing the amount of meat in their diet – we think ‘oh well, I couldn’t manage that’ and carry on buying food that we don’t really need to make delicious meals. My gran would be horrified at the idea of cutting out meat, but she comes from a time that didn’t have readily available the herbs, spices and out of season veg that make meat quite superfluous to taste.
Comment by Anna — November 10, 2009 @ 2:47 pm
I have plenty of hardly used vegetarian and vegan cookbooks if you ever want to borrow any
Comment by Sue — November 10, 2009 @ 2:59 pm
I’ve been a vegetarian (the ovo-lacto kind) for about 20 years. I don’t have to worry about gluten, but I can understand your concerns about the limitations gluten-free will have on you. However, I don’t think you should be concerned about slipping up on occasion and thinking you’ve failed. I’ve found it very easy to avoid meat, chicken, and fish. I’ve never had any temptation to have any of those and have only made about 5 mistakes when I ate something that I thought was fine but turned out not to be. (Usually at a cocktail party where I’ve been given some bad information about the hors d’oeuvres.) So, if you can find a way to get by the gluten problem, you might be able to eliminate “almost” from your category. But, in any event, congratulations on the steps that you are taking.
Comment by Mike — November 10, 2009 @ 4:04 pm
Natalie,
Good move. “Almost-vegetarian” is not only sensible in terms of making do with what’s available to eat, especially out, but also hints at keeping a sense of humor about one’s choices. I have cut back meat consumption to essentially condiment levels, for a mixture of reasons that include personal health, a certain squeamishness about causing the death of critters who have done much less harm during their lives than the average Republican Party leader and, increasingly, understanding the carbon impact of meat production and distribution.
These are all serious considerations, but the humor is important. I say this based on extended contact with a sister-in-law who is an odd mixture of gifted pastry decorator and utterly committed and highly judgmental vegan!
Comment by david ware — November 10, 2009 @ 9:43 pm
I do kind of worry when I see individuals adopt a VEGetariAN diet on environmental grounds. Whilst it is true that a VEGetariAN can cut an individual’s carbon footprint quite significantly, as soon as we have non-methane producing cows everywhere (which they’re working on) then it’s easy to full back into an full–blown non-vegetarian diet.
I would rather all vegetarians consider the ethical and moral ground of going meat-free. If we consider that factory farms are places of a huge ammount of suffering for animals, and if we consider that even buying a little tiny amount of meat then the industry is still being supported and propped up because the boycott- VEGetariANISM) is effectively a boycott against cruelty- is failing and the cycle perpetuates. It makes much more sense, and I think its alot easier, by going vegetarian from the off. Vegetarian’s are only taken seriously if you adhere to the full principles of the label. It’s like Dave Cameron’s one-time ‘green’ agenda, yes he said he was green but he had a car driving behind his bike carrying his shoes! I suppose he was an almost-greeny because he was nearly all the way there, but a man needs to have shoes, you know?!
My problem is that vegetarianism shouldn’t be diluted. It’s not about being pure (in the sense of avoiding medicines and throwing away any leather shoes you may have), it’s about supporting the boycott against cruelty by not investing or buying anything from the cruelest of industries- factory farming.
Comment by Luke — November 13, 2009 @ 6:46 am
Good idea. It’s not that everyone has to go Vegetarian but if everyone only eat meat once a week or less, the impact would be huge.
I’m an almost vegetarian as well, given that I occasionally eat fish.
Factory farming is of course horrific and I have a lot of sympathy with those who only eat organic meat.
Comment by Charlie Kiss — November 14, 2009 @ 8:28 pm
I’ve been happily vegan for more than 15 years, despite hating vegetables as a child.
There are vegan versions of everything from custard to fudge, many of them gluten free. Check out http://www.veganstore.co.uk and http://www.goodnessdirect.co.uk
I recommend the Lazy Day Foods Tiffin and Millionaires Shortbread Fingers, both of which are gluten free, vegan and scotch the myth of vegans living on rabbit food and wearing hair shirts. I love my treats and being vegan apparently allows me to scoff lots of them without putting on any weight as the main constituents of my diet (pulses, potatoes, vegetables) don’t ’stick to my hips’. I get through quite a lot of chocolate, biscuits and flapjacks. All balanced by regular exercise of course.
Kind of weird as I have very little will power, giving in to temptation being almost a hobby. Once I stopped eating meat I just never wanted to eat it again, and after a few years I went vegan. It is surprisingly easy. I no more want to drink milk taken from an animal’s teat nor eggs with those little bits in them that you don’t want to think about, than the meat of an animal that has been bred for slaughter. Ick. I just don’t want these creatures to be unnecessarily killed for me.
Coeliac disease complicates things but there is so much out there that is OK for you if you look online.
Friends, real friends, will be pleased to accommodate your diet as it is such an important and personal thing, just tell them in advance. If they moan, then they really need to check up what friend means in a dictionary. Turn veggie or vegan and you often find out who your real friends are.
Eating out is something of a lottery, regardless of whether you are vegan, vegetarian, almost vegetarian, or coeliac. Personally I’d rather do the cooking and the washing up myself and know what’s in my meal. It’s cheaper and there is no waste. Wasting food is criminal. Don’t put it on your plate if you aren’t going to eat it.
Keep an eye on your iron and selenium levels (your GP can test this, check them before you change your diet as a control). Don’t consume too much tea or coffee around meals as these impede iron uptake. This is one of the main reasons most folk in the West feel so tired all the time. Their response? Usually to drink more tea and coffee, which just makes it worse! I dropped from 4 or 5 teas a day to 2 and the result was a real eye-opener.
I’ve never felt that I am on a particularly limited diet (which is a surprise) although I’d be *very* pleased if chocolate-coated foam bananas were vegan. Once I started to explore all the various things I could eat, I found that there was always something delicious to cook. Steaming instead of boiling can make a big difference. And lose the salt-it destroys your ability to really taste food, especially good quality vegetables.
We don’t value food enough in the West because we have become used to it being a cheap commodity item (often at the expense of farmers, the environment and food quality, benefiting only the supermarkets and agrochemical industries). In the recession, too many supermarkets have reduced their organic ranges, replacing them with heavily processed crap for a quid. Buy quality organic food to support those who are doing the right thing.
Because so few processed foods are vegan, a vegan diet is typically healthier by default and often cheaper, even if you are buying better quality ingredients. Even if organic costs more than chemically-assisted (not ‘normal’), it is surely better to spend a little more on food and a little less on other things as food is the fuel that keeps us going. And because it is one of the great pleasures in life. Or at least it should be. Food is like sex: if you aren’t enjoying it, then you aren’t doing it right.
Our diet is often fixed by our cultural context-what our family ate and what our friends eat. Making a break is a healthy, beneficial and life-affirming decision. Dumping other peoples’ baggage and bad habits.
Surf for a whole load of goodies, get your pinny on and enjoy.
Comment by Evil Clanger — November 17, 2009 @ 2:01 am