Categories: ethics
Tags: Veggie
Date: 31 March 2008 17:33:42
I had a request to blog about how my new veggie diet was going. So I thought I would do.
Generally very well. The only meat I've really missed is bacon. I think its the smell. I'm beginning to find that my instinctive, internal reaction to meat is negative. Except bacon. That still requires some self control.
Since the first week I haven't forgotten. Not that I really forgot in the first week, but I did have a couple of moments when I nearly picked out the ham sandwich, before I remembered. I've only eaten meat once since deciding I was veggie. I was at Birmingham New Street station, desperate for a pasty and also in a mad rush from one platform to another. Given there was about 1000 people also rushing to the change of platform, I figured I had time to stop at the pasty shop and buy a cheese and onion pasty. It wasn't until I got onto the train and had eaten half the pasty that I realised I'd been given a chicken and onion pasty (I was very hungry). Anyway, I decided it would be wasteful not to eat it, now I'd accidentally ended up with it.
I haven't yet used up the meat in my freezer. There are three pieces of chicken left. This is partly because I've dived into the veggie thing, and it seems odd now to cook chicken. And partly because I've had an offer from a Very Good Cook to make a yummy dish for me with these last pieces of meat.
I'm quite enjoying trying out new meals within these new limits. In fact, I've not really found it limiting, I've found it liberating because I've been trying all sorts of new food that I wouldn't have touched otherwise. I have been eating more fish and sea food. Which given that I've allowed myself it, because my main reason is the impact that meat production causes on CO2 production and consequently on the environment, is justified. I think. I know fish farming isn't great either, but in terms of my diet balance I think its important. And I do love fish.
My mum's initial reaction to my vegginess was to be concerned about my diet. I have a medical condition which is affected by diet. But having read around it, I don't think that cutting meat out of my diet will impact badly upon this. Basically as long as I eat healthily, and make sure I am getting my protein from elsewhere, then I think its ok. Given that I have been anemic in the past (I never ate much red meat anyway), I will probably get this tested after a while, to check its ok. In the meantime I'll have to eat lots of spinach!
I spent Easter weekend with some friends in Bristol, who had an interesting reaction to vegetarianism. One guy there, who I didn't know prior to that weekend, declared that vegginess was a way of living, beyond just your choice of diet. This was an interesting theory, which I was initially sceptical of but warmed slowly to. Basically, if you are a true veggie, then you will always choose the less selfish, least comfortable option in life. So you walk into a room full of sofas, and you sit on the floor. Or you cycle / walk instead of going by car. My argument against this, was that I enjoy cycling and walking, so therefore it is the preferable option when possible. It was an interesting theory, but I'm not entirely convinced.