So, as I mentioned in the opening blog, I think this challenge will take some planning. So I did a bit of googling into starting out as a vegetarian, what to expect and how to go about it. Here's some interesting stuff I discovered:
1. Lent is Wednesday February 13th to Saturday March 30th - good to actually know when its starting and ending! This does mean that I will have to pick the vegetarian option at the Veterinary Christian Fellowship conference in March. I think that'll be a good opportunity to try out being the "awkward person" in a different setting. I am a bit worried that I'll get distracted and just plain forget though!
2. Whether you become vegetarian gradually (not an option for me) or go "cold turkey" (should that be "cold tofu?"), most new vegetarians are more hungry generally for the first few weeks. Seeing as the whole experiment only lasts for a few weeks.......
3. It seems to be impossible to find an unbiased vegetarian group/society/website. They all appear to me strongly motivated by either the health benefits - carnivores/omnivores are all going to die of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, etc - and/or environmentally friendly stuff - methane production, carbon footprints, land use - and/or animal welfare. I find it somewhat hard to them trust the information and advice they are giving as its so politically motivated rather than just plain facts.
4. Animal products can turn up in weird places, so I'm going to have to stick to things labelled with "suitable for vegetarians" or read the ingredients list on everything. This is no doubt going to get annoying and time consuming. If you read the label and can't find anything that sounds animal-based, but it doesn't have a veggie friendly label, then what???
5. Vegetarians produce more gas, particularly in the first few weeks. Oh the joy.
Further research plans include more googling and maybe some online cooking lessons.
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
Introduction
About Me:
I am a newly-qualified farm animal veterinary surgeon in West Wales. I've been an omnivore all my life.
About the Challenge:
Vegetarianism has always intrigued me. I've had vegetarian and vegan friends for many years and lived with several vegetarians. It has always seemed to me to be fairly difficult to be a vegetarian - society and shops are geared towards omnivores, our digestive systems are capable of digesting both plant and animal components and it is easiest to maintain a healthy balanced diet by consuming both. I have no major moral or ethical issues with carnivorism or omnivorism, and fully intend to revert to omnivorism come Easter. But I am curious - what is it like to be a vegetarian? how will it affect my shopping experience? how will it affect how I feel about food, how I feel after a meal and how I feel generally? Will it have any effect on my digestion or have other physiological effects? Will it make social eating difficult? Will it cost me more or less money?
As a Christian, lent is a great opportunity to do a 40 day trial of being a vegetarian. I love meat so it will be a genuine Lenten hardship for me to go without. I will be giving up all meat and fish, but continue to eat eggs, milk and cheese, although I may experiment with alternatives. I plan to try vegetarian ready meals, meat-substitutes and "true" vegetarian foods where there is no direct mean substitution, cooking from scratch. I am also hoping to get the opportunity to eat out in both vegetarian specific and main stream restaurants, to discover what range of food is available and if there are any barriers or difficulty in being vegetarian "in public".
About the Blog:
I thought it would be a good idea to write a diary of sorts, to document the foods I've tried and what I think of them, how the questions above (and others) are answered, and to get feedback. I'd love to know what people think of the challenge, whether their experiences are similar or different to mine, whether vegetarian or omnivorous. I'd love to hear people's recipe and substitution suggestions as well.
I'm starting early as I think even preparing for this may take time. I will need cookbooks and recipe ideas, to plan how to sensibly balance my diet and learn about labelling and sourcing of foods.
Let the adventure commence!
I am a newly-qualified farm animal veterinary surgeon in West Wales. I've been an omnivore all my life.
About the Challenge:
Vegetarianism has always intrigued me. I've had vegetarian and vegan friends for many years and lived with several vegetarians. It has always seemed to me to be fairly difficult to be a vegetarian - society and shops are geared towards omnivores, our digestive systems are capable of digesting both plant and animal components and it is easiest to maintain a healthy balanced diet by consuming both. I have no major moral or ethical issues with carnivorism or omnivorism, and fully intend to revert to omnivorism come Easter. But I am curious - what is it like to be a vegetarian? how will it affect my shopping experience? how will it affect how I feel about food, how I feel after a meal and how I feel generally? Will it have any effect on my digestion or have other physiological effects? Will it make social eating difficult? Will it cost me more or less money?
As a Christian, lent is a great opportunity to do a 40 day trial of being a vegetarian. I love meat so it will be a genuine Lenten hardship for me to go without. I will be giving up all meat and fish, but continue to eat eggs, milk and cheese, although I may experiment with alternatives. I plan to try vegetarian ready meals, meat-substitutes and "true" vegetarian foods where there is no direct mean substitution, cooking from scratch. I am also hoping to get the opportunity to eat out in both vegetarian specific and main stream restaurants, to discover what range of food is available and if there are any barriers or difficulty in being vegetarian "in public".
About the Blog:
I thought it would be a good idea to write a diary of sorts, to document the foods I've tried and what I think of them, how the questions above (and others) are answered, and to get feedback. I'd love to know what people think of the challenge, whether their experiences are similar or different to mine, whether vegetarian or omnivorous. I'd love to hear people's recipe and substitution suggestions as well.
I'm starting early as I think even preparing for this may take time. I will need cookbooks and recipe ideas, to plan how to sensibly balance my diet and learn about labelling and sourcing of foods.
Let the adventure commence!
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