Apparently today marks the start of National Vegetarian Week. As someone who has been Vegetarian forever this is something that normally passes me by, but as a recent Twitter addict this year I've noticed it and it seemed the perfect excuse for a blog lol!
I've been veggie for 21 years now, since I was 15. I decided to go veggie on a teenager's whim, but then a few days in saw documentary on the meat industry and have never knowingly eaten meat since.
When I first went veggie, I was quite naive and just didn't eat animal flesh - as far as I was concerned if it wasn't meat I could eat it (I did include fish and shellfish in that though....). Over the years, I've become far more aware of what I'm eating and have slowly become far more educated over what being a Vegetarian actually means. For the record, I'm what's known as an Ova-Lacto Vegetarian, that means that I'm a Vegetarian that still eats eggs and dairy produce, however only Vegetarian dairy produce - some cheeses are still made traditionally with rennet, and as such aren't veggie. The eggs I eat are free-range, and the milk I drink is organic, so I do try in my own way to be ethical in the animal products that I do still eat.
However it does mean a lot of things that I once took for granted have become off limits for me....MullerLight yoghurts, once a staple of my dieting self contain gelatine as do just about every type of pick and mix sweet. Other hidden non-veggie ingredients include rennet, animal stock of various types and cochineal. To be honest, these days manufacturer's have got much, much better at their product labelling, so if something isn't labelled as Vegetarian, I won't eat it. It's funny how much has changed in what I eat over the course of maybe the last five years or so as I've started to think more about what my Vegetarianism means to me. And that is all that's important, what it means to me. I don't want to make anyone Vegetarian, I will still cook meat for Hague, and sit around a table and share dinner with meat eaters. I don't want to change the world, I have just chosen to be Vegetarian.
Although, I'd just like to add the following ....... If you eat a Kebab when you're pissed, you're not a veggie! If you eat fish, you're not a veggie (thanks for making life a total pain in the arse for Vegetarians the world over you imbecile - the word is Pescetarian, learn it and sod off). If you eat chicken occasionally, you're not a veggie! Same goes for bacon sandwich eaters, sausage roll sneakers and cheeky burger munchers!! We all get tarred with the same brush - if only I had a quid for every time I was asked "Oooh but don't you always just want a bacon sandwich?" No...if I did, I'd eat one, and as I'm a Vegetarian I won't! No-one is forcing me lol!
I've been veggie for 21 years now, since I was 15. I decided to go veggie on a teenager's whim, but then a few days in saw documentary on the meat industry and have never knowingly eaten meat since.
When I first went veggie, I was quite naive and just didn't eat animal flesh - as far as I was concerned if it wasn't meat I could eat it (I did include fish and shellfish in that though....). Over the years, I've become far more aware of what I'm eating and have slowly become far more educated over what being a Vegetarian actually means. For the record, I'm what's known as an Ova-Lacto Vegetarian, that means that I'm a Vegetarian that still eats eggs and dairy produce, however only Vegetarian dairy produce - some cheeses are still made traditionally with rennet, and as such aren't veggie. The eggs I eat are free-range, and the milk I drink is organic, so I do try in my own way to be ethical in the animal products that I do still eat.
However it does mean a lot of things that I once took for granted have become off limits for me....MullerLight yoghurts, once a staple of my dieting self contain gelatine as do just about every type of pick and mix sweet. Other hidden non-veggie ingredients include rennet, animal stock of various types and cochineal. To be honest, these days manufacturer's have got much, much better at their product labelling, so if something isn't labelled as Vegetarian, I won't eat it. It's funny how much has changed in what I eat over the course of maybe the last five years or so as I've started to think more about what my Vegetarianism means to me. And that is all that's important, what it means to me. I don't want to make anyone Vegetarian, I will still cook meat for Hague, and sit around a table and share dinner with meat eaters. I don't want to change the world, I have just chosen to be Vegetarian.
Although, I'd just like to add the following ....... If you eat a Kebab when you're pissed, you're not a veggie! If you eat fish, you're not a veggie (thanks for making life a total pain in the arse for Vegetarians the world over you imbecile - the word is Pescetarian, learn it and sod off). If you eat chicken occasionally, you're not a veggie! Same goes for bacon sandwich eaters, sausage roll sneakers and cheeky burger munchers!! We all get tarred with the same brush - if only I had a quid for every time I was asked "Oooh but don't you always just want a bacon sandwich?" No...if I did, I'd eat one, and as I'm a Vegetarian I won't! No-one is forcing me lol!
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