Hi, I am Lauren – long-time vegetarian and recent vegan. I don’t eat “anything with a face” (I am in an ongoing discussion with my dad about whether mussels fall into this category. They do, he’s wrong), I don’t use anything tested on animals, wear animal products and avoid eggs and milk, but I have one delicious nemesis – cheese.
Lauren Regan-Ingram
Becoming vegetarian was one of the best decisions I ever made and once I started to discover more about the dairy and egg industry, veganism was the next logical step. However, I love cheese, like really, really love it, and have yet to find and a vegan substitute that doesn’t taste like chewing on an old plaster. This means that when I speak to ‘proper’ vegans (who don’t swallow a cheese and tomato sandwich like a pelican once a month) I feel like a bit of a fraud.
I have had many, MANY conversations with various people, including one rather heated debate with my former boss after a couple of glasses of wine, about my decision to avoid using animal products. My argument is simple; I could never kill or cause harm to an animal and I don’t think someone else should have to do that dirty work for me. The same applies to eggs and milk – if you think it is wrong to make an animal suffer for your own gain then don’t participate in an industry that tortures animals. That should be simple right? But I know that it is hard to make that leap to eating / living in a cruelty free-way. I also know that it is an amazing privilege that I get to choose what I eat and that I have the platform to discuss why I choose to be vegan – practically, everyone just can’t do it.
On a recent trip to a restaurant in Tennessee the waiter looked me straight in the eye and asked me when I was “diagnosed”. I am sure all vegetarians have all had the same conversation: “but what if you were stuck on a desert island and you had to eat your best friend…who is a pig?” My main concern about this is the sheer amount of people who are at risk of shipwreck. Is anyone alerting the coast guard? And yes, if I was on a desert island, maybe I would chow down on Snuffles as I waited for the rescue helicopter but until that happens I am happy to continue being vegan, please and thank you.
I don’t think everyone should immediately become vegan, or even vegetarian, but starting to think about what you eat and cutting down on your meat consumption is not only good for the planet it is good for your health too. The NHS recommends that an adult eats no more than 70 grams of red or processed meat per day to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and even cancer – so even if you are not doing it for the animals, do it for you.
My fairly longsuffering, non-vegan husband does all of the cooking in our house (we can eat worse food, later at night if I cooked) and after a lot of trial and error, we have finally stumbled on an amazing vegan product that we both enjoy. Hooba Foods use mushrooms to create their signature sausages, burgers and meatballs which look and taste just like meat. Perfect! Now if only they could bring out a cheese…
Lauren
Tagged in Vegetarian Vegan