Kim and I have really taken to this change of eating pattern. We are really enjoying it, and I feel full all the time.
In fact word is getting around. Our local paper were looking for some vegetarians and contacted me (as the President of the sustainable living group), and wondered if I knew anybody that would talk to them. I mentioned that I was ‘almost’ vegetarian with a goal of 80% less meat in our diet, and the reporter locked in an interview. Here is the story: Vegging Out. I was the odd one out, but at least I am trying my best.
We have replaced meat products with a range of things, mostly lentils, beans, pulses and some veggie substitutes that I have mentioned in this post titled “Almost Vegetarian?” However, Kim recently found a really tasty meat substitute called Quorn, from the UK that has started to appear in the major supermarkets here in Australia. The company website has this to say about the mock meat;
“Mycoprotein is the common ingredient in all Quorn products. It’s made from a member of the fungi family (the same family that morels and truffles belong to) and is a high-quality meat-free protein that’s low in fat, high in dietary fibre (important for your digestive system) and is a valuable source of amino acids.”
I like it, but the food miles are atrocious. The price however is comparable to real meat, so it has not hit the back pocket. Kim only buys it when it is on special, so it is even cheaper.
We still eat biodynamic bacon every second Sunday morning which eggs from our chooks, as we believe that if you are going to eat meat, it better have lived a happy life, free range and chemical free. Occasionally, the odd anchovy lands on my home made pizza, but I can’t seem to do without the salty little suckers.
Anyway, all good so far, and I feel very healthy and my insides have never worked better! I can’t remember if I mentioned it, but my cholesterol test was good, and was getting lower due to this conversion to almost vegetarian. Love the benefits!
You will get a few more years greening and blogging out of me yet!
Group hugs all round for being ‘almost’ vegetarian.
Quorn is good, isn’t it? Great article in the local paper too.
Gavin, you are a ‘media tart’! Great article. We have also embraced the ‘almost vegetarian’ path. When we do buy meat it is locally grown and buchered, and like you, we sometimes eat organic piggy. But meat is a rarity. Mostly, we get by with veggies, eggs from the girls, cheese, lentils etc. I love it! I especially like your stomach diagram. Go, go go, veggo!…well almost veggo!.
A couple of years ago my husband and I dropped meat from out diet for about a 10 week period. We loved the meatless meals but my husband developed a serious iron deficiency whereas my iron levels were fine. I can’t understand the difference or the cause and can only speculate that he possibly was is not as efficient at using vegetable based iron. We are back on meat but eat less and choose carefully where it comes, is it organic and is it adulterated with hormones and antibiotics.
My family and I were fully vegetarian but have introduced a bit of meat back into our diet. The reason I became vego was because of animal suffering. Not the I disagree with killing to eat but I do disagree with modern large scale farming practises. My partner became vego because the meat upset her stomach. Without letting go of our values we managed to introduce meat by becoming what is termed an ethical eater. What we eat must be raised and killed with kindness. Wild roo is often on the menu, they spend their life roaming free until an unexpected bullet kills them instantly. Eating ethically also solved Melanie’s issues as it must have been related to preservatives or antibiotics in supermarket meat.
thats really great about your cholesterol going down Gavin, my GP is still amazed that changing my diet and going vego can have such an effect.