Vegans rule okay?

I have had no difficulty getting any dairy products and have never run out of any of them.. The only meat in short supply is chicken, which is the only meat I buy from the supermarket. The rest comes from a local pork producer/butcher, who also does delicious sausages, pies etc and a Pasture for life farm that raises its cattle and sheep on entirely on pasture and hay on their farm.

I continue to have an omniverous diet.

I'm not a vegan or a vegetarian (although WAS veggie for 15 years). I don't eat much meat though. I don't really think about whether I'm going to eat a veggie meal or not, I just cook what I fancy and what I have the ingredients for. If it includes meat, fine. If not, equally fine.

I’d be starving if the situation was as you describe Paulsroom . Luckily I live rurally , our local butcher delivers contact free and the majority of his meat comes from a 20 mile radius.

A free range chicken farm at the bottom of the lane with 2000+ chickens mean eggs are plentiful , our local greengrocers sells local cheese and the local farm sells milk and cream ( bring your own container ?) .

The only thing in short supply in our house is plain flour which I can’t buy for love or money !

Most of the few things in the freezer of the supermarket I went to last week were vegan! Lots of Quorn and own-brand vegan products.

Don’t listen to all this Vegan propaganda in the media the fact is vegans are less than 1% of the population, they get far too much attention. Granted a lot more do eat some vegan meals, even I had a vegan lunch yesterday, beans on toast, but it’s steak and chips today. Don’t be influenced by self publicists or activists, eat what you enjoy.

I find proslytisng vegans and vegetarians so often work on the assumption that if you eat meat, you are a carnivore and spend your time eating, meat, meat and more meat.

In fact most of us are omnivores we eat a wide range of foods, meat, fish, shell fish, dairy, fruit and veg, grains, legumes, you name it and we probably eat it.

Throughout my life I have eaten a wide range of foods and had meals and days, where, without intention I have actually eaten no meat or fish, or even no animal products.

There are such a wonderful range of foods out there to be tasted and enjoyed, while I have every respect for anyone who chooses not to eat certain foods for ethical reasons, I will continue to eat across the full range of available foodstuffs.

paulsroom
How weird is that.
I was quoting that Aesop's story yesterday to illustrate point to my DiL.
I had a book of the fables as a child and the stories fascinated me.
BTW, no shortage of cheese in M&S or Waitrose.

You don't know whether or not I want to reduce the amount of milk I have, so I'm puzzled as to why you would tell me I do


I don't, by the way.

I am a vegetarian and avoid dairy as much as possible. I have never drank milk so the current situation is no hardship. Our protein comes from pulses mainly but I over the last few years the tide is turning. There are vegan options on most menus when just a few years ago there was only one vegetarian option and that tended to be a mushroom risotto. As awareness grows and the environmental impact continues to hit, I can only see veganism growing.

Why do people talk about 'vegan' and 'vegetarian' meals, what is so special about them that only vegans and vegetarians can eat them?

All they are are dishes that happen not to include either meat or any animal products. There are also meals that do not include green vegetables, or grains , or fruit. So what? Meat-free meals were a normal part of my childhood: beans on toast, spaghetti in tomato sauce (that came in tins), baked potatoes, cauliflower cheese, vegetable curry, stewed fruit, jam.

What has happened is that in recent years a huge range of new foods have become available in this country, so there is a wide range of recipes around that use lots of new ingredients and happen not to include meat products in any form. Many of these new foods and recipes come from countries and cultures where there cuisine includes a mix of meat and meat free recipes.

As I said in another post, I have every respect for those who choose to be vegan or vegetarian. I just wish they would stop giving themselves airs and graces and thinking the meals they eat are special, they aren't.

We, as a nation, probably do eat too much animal flesh. One way forward, is to eke out meat as our grannies did. Make it last for several meals.

This is why options like Yorkshire Pudding or dumplings, or stews as example, were ‘invented’ in this country, whereas pasta or rice or noodles etc, did the same job in other counties.

Eat like granny might be a way forward.

As an ex vegetarian (over 20 years ago now) I well remember the lack of vegetarian options on restaurant menus. It isn't that vegetarian or vegan meals need a meat replacement, but the lack of vegetable only meals back then was dire. Rather than the mushroom risotto of DaisyMae's nightmares, for me, it was always bloody vegetable lasagna, and as one that isn't a huge fan of tomatoey tastes, it wasn't something I wanted to eat. A vegetable curry, or chilli, or risotto, or even a non-meat sandwich would have done.

Thankfully things are hugely better now. I'm not a veggie now (although my daughter and grandson are) and last night (for example) had meatloaf for dinner. I was just as happy with the vegetable pasta bake of the night before.

I don't find vegans preachy or superior. They are trying to put their point across in the same way who believe in anything put their point across. I wish I had the will power to go meat free again.

I love many vegetarian meals and often don’t have meat with meals. However, I am emphatically omnivorous.
What irritates me with vegan/vegetarians is the fact that they are so pious about their lifestyle choices and try very hard to make me adapt.
There is no one more enthusiastic than a convert...

I do accept that the availablity of non-meat meals was very limited in the past, but that was because so few people were vegan or vegetarian. In the past when people ate out it was a treat so they treated themselves to a meat dish couldn't cook or afford to eat at home, so that is what was offered.

A member of my family is allergic to soya. A known allergen, but not that common. We often go into restaurants that will list on the menu which dishes are vegan, vegetarian or contain, or not, lactose or gluten because these are things people commonly enquire about, but not whether they contain soya. We, obviously always enquire and they let us know, but we understand why it is not listed on the menu. It is not often asked about.

Vegans and vegetarians arguing their ethical values is one thing and I have every respect for that, but going on about vegan and vegetarian food as if it was something unusual or different. It isn't. I love and have always loved vegetables, even as a child and I often chose and choose animal free dishes when eating out and have done so for a very long time, but I do not see that as choosing vegetarian or vegan dishes, merely choosing the dish on the menu I just fancy eating.

No, MOnica, I agree. Meat free isn't anything special, it's just whatever you plan for dinner. I think the problem is there IS a proportion of the population that think it isn't a meal unless there is some meat on their plate. My ex husband and my current bloke, are firmly in that camp. My family (even as a child) never ate that way. 50 years ago, my mum had probably never heard of vegetarianism yet at least half, if not more, of our meals WERE veggie, mainly due to poverty.

When I lived in China, for a year, I was lucky enough to live with a woman (now a very dear friend) who was the most phenomenal cook and was happy to have someone to cook for. How LUCKY was I?! She put us both on a diet (totally unbeknownst to me!). Our meals consisted of vegetables in a myriad of forms. I honestly never noticed that she'd put us on a diet because the food was so amazing. No meat. No carbs. No dairy (but that is usual in China). Totally plant based.

Going back to the original post, it’s the “veggie” food that I’m finding it difficult to get hold of, lentils, beans, chickpeas -especially chick peas, flour, rice, pasta, eggs. Tinned tomatoes.

We have meat at every meal now because that’s what the farm shop delivers. Can’t get a supermarket delivery so it’s meat and veg for us!

Incidentally twice now Ive been on a group holiday with vegans who scooped up all the vegetables on the table saying they had to have them because the rest of us could eat meat ?

I was born during war time and rationing to a mother who did not particularly like meat, so non-meat meals have always been part of my life. When my DF returned from the war, he loved meat, but happily ate anything that my mother cooked. We ate more meat but still had a good range of non-meat meals and, because he was in the army, and we moved around the world, we sampled lots of other cuisines and I grew up with Chinese and Indian recipes, and later pasta dishes as part of normal eating.

This is why I get so irritated with food being described as 'vegan' or 'vegetarian'. It isn't. It is no different from lactose or gluten free, simply meat or meat products free or 'suitable for'.

My GS is veggie. But he also has a tomato allergy. It's REALLY hard finding veggie stuff to eat when out that has no tomatoes. Understandably. Tomato gives a lot of flavour.

Not too bad now, while he's little and his mum and I can control what he eats. But as he gets older it'll be harder.

Also, as with soy, NOTHING is ever labelled tomato free. Until he gets an epi pen, it's touch and go. EASY now we're in lockdown. Everything cooked from scratch.

Gagajo He may grow out of it. DGD had a tomato allergy when she was a toddler. She is now nearly 13 and the tomato allergy has more or less gone, although she doesn't like raw tomatoes. We are still left with the allergies to nuts, sesame and salmon, but none need an epipen.

It is DDiL's soya allergy, which does require an epipen, that causes all the grief. Try and find an Easter egg or chocolate bar that does not contain soya lecithin as an emulsifier. In fact emulsifiers occur in all kinds of food where you would never expect it and it is almost always soya based, all though there are alternatives, sunflower for example.

M0nica, the Moo Free Easter egg I got from Tesco for my granddaughter has sunflower lecithin. She can't have milk or soya.

It would be great if he did. He does seem to have a range of allergies, centred around fruit and veg. I find the tomato one a bit worrying though because his reactions to it are getting worse. Used to be, he'd just get a little rash around his mouth. Now he gets a rash all over his body, vomits, has severe stomach cramping at night.

He's got an allergy clinic appointment at the local Nuffield next month, but that will probably now not happen because of the virus.

Thanks for that Hetty, I will remember for next year.

I have a reaction to tomatoes too - not an anaphylactic one thank goodness - but within 24 hours I come out in an angry, itchy red rash that lasts for 2-3 days.

I agree that so many dishes are tomato based, and it’s taken a long time to make people understand; they seem to think if there’s ‘only a teaspoon of tomato paste, so that won’t affect you will it?’

Emm.. yes it will.

I didn't know about tomatoes nor salmon.
Interesting.