Antioxidant rich muesli bowl

Great start to any  day

Home made muesli,with organic almond milk, a medley of antioxidant rich fruit, a generous serve of vegan coconut yoghurt and a dusting of magical cinnamon 

The early days of transitioning to veganism.

After a month following a completely plant based diet, I really can't believe how easy it has been, so far as food is concerned. OK it has helped that I had been vegetarian for over 30 years, so you kind of know what the potential pitfalls are, and what to be aware of.

What I hadn't anticipated is how mindful you become about food and cooking. You literally have to consider every ingredient.  I do not see this as a burden - what better way to be aware of everything that you are putting into your body. 

But it doesn't stop there, you start being more aware of products that you are using on your body, such as shampoo and body wash. You start thinking about things like where do all of the used toothbrushes go? I estimate that there must be around 5 billion or so toothbrushes disposed of every year.  This is a guesstimate, but could even be a conservative one, if you consider that the world population is over 7.5 billion and around 1 billion plastic toothbrushes are disposed of in the US alone. Even here in Australia with a population of around 25 million we are disposing of 30 million a year. I have taken into account the fact that unfortunately there are many people throughout the world who do not have access to a toothbrush.

It is the little things such as this that start to weigh on your mind.  It is not just the cruelty to animals, the needless slaughter, the waste of natural resources such as water in producing meat and dairy, not even the deforestation of the rain forests, but the combination of all of these things and the many other related environmental issues, too numerous to mention. It really does concern me how little thought must be going into our daily lives.

It is not a reason to not follow a plant based diet, it is the realisation that this is surely the only way for compassionate, mindful, emphatic, and caring humans to live their lives. What is so amazing is the extent of the massive anomaly between those that have made the choice and the rest of civilisation who continue to mindlessly partake in the meat and dairy industries elaborate, brain washing marketing campaigns. Unfortunately the budget for endorsing broccoli for example is no where near that afforded by the meat and dairy industries and their government subsidies funded by tax payers-yes even vegans are paying towards this.

Once you have made the decision to turn your back on the barbaric and unnecessary treatment of animals for human consumption those very animals that human beings appear to adore, it is.almost impossible to understand why everybody doesn't feel the same way. You want to shout from the roof tops, engage in conversation with everyone who still consumes meat and dairy to discuss the error of their ways. 

BUT you know this is not realistic, it is not going to achieve anything and you will simply be ridiculed and face the same old, same old uneducated, unresearched arguments about protein and it being natural for humans to eat animal flesh.

What is reassuring is the amount of medical evidence that backs up the benefits of a plant based diet and the negatives of consuming meat and dairy.

It will undoubtably be a slow process, and there will be a lot of counter arguments made by the meat and dairy industries that have so much to potentially loose if the trend does start to move in a plant based direction. I do believe however that things will start shifting towards plant based, I have to believe this, not least because the planet cannot continue to sustain the current volume of meat and dairy consumption. 

I am also slightly puzzled as to who is actually eating the annual 315 million tonnes of meat globally, as all the meat eaters I seem to speak to say, I hardly eat any meat, just a couple of days a week. Perhaps this is another example of cognitive dissonance. 

What does the bible have to say about eating animals?

I know that religion and politics are best avoided, as they will undoubtedly lead to conflict, but then again we are already dealing with what is a contentious issue, so why not.

So lets start at the beginning.

Genesis 1:29-31Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it- I give every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning-the sixth day.

If I am not missing something, then it is pretty clear, but presumably I am missing something, otherwise wouldn't all Christians be vegans?

I have seen it said on several occasions that the Garden of Eden was vegan and animals were not exploited in any way. In view of the damage that meat and dairy production is inflicting on the Earth,  if one believes in the creation, surely God did not create the earth for it to be exploited and damaged beyond repair in order that humans can eat the creatures that were also created to live in harmony with us. 

In 2006, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that the world’s meat-producing industry contributes more greenhouse gases (which cause global warming) into the Earth’s atmosphere than the emissions of all cars, trucks, airplanes, and trains put together. Animal agriculture is also the main factor in deforestation and water pollution throughout the world. Converting plant food into meat wastes approximately 78 percent of the protein, up to 96 percent of the calories, and all of the fibre.

Many Christians appear to believe that humans have dominion over animals, but surely the humane and compassionate treatment of animals also  contained in the bible completely contradicts this. In the same way that once, not too long ago, many humans believed that it was acceptable to take ownership of another human being, i.e. for slavery, and this now thankfully is no longer the case, it is my belief that one day we will all see that dominion over animals for our own greed and consumption of their flesh and fluids is not acceptable.

Romans 14:21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

Assuming that brother or sister is not be taken in the literal sense, does this imply that all creatures, including humans and animals are considered as one?

There was an interesting article in the UK newspaper The Guardian in March 2018, which suggested that due to modern day meat production and farming methods that no meat could be considered kosher and went on to suggest that many members of the Jewish faith should consider veganism as it is naturally kosher and therefore a safe food choice for many Jews.

As quoted in this article, “The world has changed. We don’t have a choice. We must become vegan,” says religious scholar, Asa Keisar, a figurehead of the campaign for Jewish veganism. “There is no kosher meat at all.”

Still in Genesis and we have the first of what appear to be many contradictions, or at least tweaks to what seemed like a pretty good story.

Genesis 9:3-4“Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.”

Surely if it is all about spirituality then not eating meat is a lot closer to being truly spiritual than taking the life of another to feed ones self.

Didn't the bible also say thou shalt not kill? I will leave that one with you.

  

Recipes for transitioning to a plant based diet

Protein packed spaghetti bologniase

Serves 2
Ingredients

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion finely chopped
3 medium mushrooms chopped
1 cup of textured vegetable protein (tvp) mince. Hydrate in a bowl with 1 cup of boiling water and a teaspoon of vegetable stock powder 
1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast (optional, but adds to the flavour and nutritional value)
1 1/2 teaspoons of mixed dried herbs
1 x 4000g tin of chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons of tomato paste

Method

Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onions stirring regularly until translucent
Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 3-4 minutes stirring regularly
Add the mixed herbs and nutritional yeast powder, stir well 
Add the tin tomatoes and tomato paste
Add around 3 cm of water to the empty tin and add to the pan
Stir ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally 
Add the hydrated tvp. Mix the ingredients and simmer for a further 10 minutes stirring occasionally 
Season to taste with salt and pepper 
Cook enough spaghetti for 2, following the instructions on the packet. Once cooked drain and add to the sauce and gently fold through covering the spaghetti with the sauce.
Serve immediately with your favourite salad leaves of spinach

Thai tempeh salad bowl

Serves 2

Salad ingredients

300g pack organic tempeh cut into 1cm cubes

1 tablespoon of sesame oil

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

1 tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce

1 teaspoon of tamari

1 medium carrott peeled and grated

8 cherry tomatoes halved

1 avocado sliced

10 cm length of cucumber halved length ways and cut again lengthways into strips

2 generous handfuls of baby spinach or your favourite salad leaves

Sauce

4 tablespoons of olive oil

2 tablespoons of almond butter

2 tablespoons of tahini

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

1 tablespoon of tamari

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 garlic gloves, crushed

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Place all of the ingredients for the sauce into a blender with 6 tablespoons of water and blend to a smooth sauce, adding extra water if necessary.

Fry the tempeh cubes in the sesame oil, adding the maple syrup, sweet chilli sauce and tamari until golden brown (around 5 minutes) turning the pieces regularly.

Dividing equally between two bowls, make a bed of spinach and assemble the grated carrots, tomatoes, cucumber and avocado in roughyly equal sections on the spinach.  Scatter the tempeh equally  on top of each bowl, generously drizzle the sauce over top and enjoy.

VEG OUT WITH GRANT MILLER-THE ORIGINALS

Back in 1998 I set up a vegetarian recipe website, coincidentally called Veg out with Grant Miller.  I have just come across the paper versions of the original recipes and drawings that I prepared all those years ago.

I hope that they might be of interest if only to show how we used to cook in the 90's. Apologies for the quality of the pages, as they are simply photos.

But eating meat is natural for humans - isn't it?

If we remove the it, from this question, and replace the is, with the isn't, the question becomes the statement - but eating meat isn't natural for humans. Not saying that this is right or wrong, but it is amazing what a slight tweak to a belief system can make.

If we had all been brought up believing that eating meat was not natural, or the norm, then humans, as a species would not be eating meat and we would not know any different.

We all know that it is possible to live a healthy life on a vegan diet, the evidence is clear, and more and more people are choosing this approach. Assuming that the data is correct and that around 2-3% of the worlds population of approximately 6.7 billion people is currently vegan, then there is an estimated 168 million people on a vegan diet.

The majority of the meat eaters that I know strongly believe, as they always say that eating meat is natural for humans, and because of the follow up question of, so where do you get your protein? they clearly believe that not eating meat is unhealthy. 

An interesting point, is that if you have transitioned from eating meat to a vegan diet, whilst you most likely had the meat is normal and part of a healthy diet instilled into you from an early age, you no longer have that belief.  You have questioned this belief system, perhaps on compassionate grounds or simply the connection with what you were eating is that same cute little lamb, or pig, or cow you have experienced in that idyllic country meadow.

Therein lies the quandary that has always perplexed me - surely if you make the connection between what is on your plate, what it originally was, say that fluffy lamb running around the field, and the process of how it got there, then how, why? I am not here to judge - I ate meat for many years, and am not saying that non meat eaters are right, and we all saw the light.  I just question if we all took time out to consider that animal, could actually experience first had how they were slaughtered, what drugs and disease might be present in what is in that cellophane wrapped piece of meat, would there not be a degree of trepidation or emotion about continuing on the path of what is perceived to be normal. After all as human beings core values are compassion and justice. Compassion and justice for who?

So why is it acceptable to eat certain animals and not others.  Why will humans eat cows, pigs, sheep, goats, kangaroo, for example, but not eat animals that we perceive as pets, such as cats, dogs, guinea pigs and even horses. But wait a minute, this is where it all gets very confusing, because in many Asian countries including China, Vietnam and South Korea, they eat dogs, in Taiwan they also apparently eat cats, in parts of South America they eat guinea pigs, and horses appear fair game in parts of Asia, Europe and South America.  So how does this work. Say you were born in Taiwan, and were brought up eating cats and dogs and then moved to the UK, what then happens to your belief system on what is right and wrong?

If it were purely down to instinct, would humans eat meat now? If we had not been brought up to believe that it was normal and acceptable, would we all think like vegans? I do not pretend to know the answer to this question, but have a suspicion that if we were born today, were not influenced by our parents or society regarding food choices, once left to our own devices, I am not convinced that we would choice to eat animal flesh.

I believe that it is fair to say that as a species humans have an affinity with animals and a strong inclination for compassion and love towards them.  Just think of the money spent on vet bills, the feeling that you get when greeted by your pet cat or dog as you arrive home after a hard days work.  this is not a learned emotion, it is one that is deeply ingrained into us from a very early age.

There is a real collision going on here, yet there appears to be no real feeling of grief or guilt when consuming meat. Some people may even give a bit to their pet who is looking longingly at them by the dinner table. In simple times the disconnect in our minds between the animal on one hand that is being eaten without emotion and the animal we love unconditionally who were are sharing it with.

We are influenced heavily by gratification and this perhaps tends towards selfishness, but are we really to blame if we have been indoctrinated into believing that are actions are completely acceptable and normal, and indeed necessary if we are to grow up fit and strong. Maybe we should listen less to Pink Floyd when it comes to dietary advice when they said "If you don't eat your meat you can't have any pudding..." and took more notice of the infamous saying, "Eat your vegetables up"  I remember the latter when I was growing up, but don't remember being told to eat up my meat.

It could be said that we do not always act according to our conscious thoughts, for example if we have just been for a lovely walk in the country side, patted a cow on its head over the fence and then returned home to a roast beef Sunday lunch. Therefore there must be unconscious forces influencing our behaviour, disconnecting what we do from what we feel emotionally. This all sounds a bit woo woo, but there must be some rational answer to why the majority of people live their lives in total conflict with their emotional beliefs, and their everyday actions when it comes to consuming animals, or are we simply living in denial?

If we were to look at this in a deep  way, then one could argue that it is a classic example of what psychologists would term cognitive dissonance. In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values. The occurrence of cognitive dissonance is a consequence of a person performing an action that contradicts personal beliefs, ideals, and values; and also occurs when confronted with new information that contradicts said beliefs, ideals, and values.
Food for thought indeed.

Can vegetarians and vegans drink alcohol?

Before I go any further, don't forget that alcohol is a highly addictive drug that may not be particularly good for your health. Never drink to excess.  You will know when you have done this because you will more than likely state that you are never going to drink again, feel extremely thirsty the next morning, have a pounding head and feel nauseas. Perhaps drinking alcohol is not such a great idea, but if you still want to know the answer to the question in the title, then please read on. I myself do enjoy a drink or two, so was keen to get some answers.

You will not have to give up alcohol on either a vegetarian or vegan diet, but this is not where the story ends.

Most alcohol is vegan, ignoring the obvious ones that contain cream and other dairy products which does not make them vegan. Some beers and wines are clarified using fish products such as isinglass (isinglass is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish), others use egg albumen, casein, which is a milk derived product and some even use gelatine (made from boiling animal bones, skin and cartilage) in their processing, which makes them both non vegan and non vegetarian. To the best of my knowledge, vodka, gin, whiskey and rum are vegan.

It is a real minefield, and requires a lot of research on individual products to ensure a vegan friendly experience.  There are websites out there that have a data base of various producers products and state whether or not they are vegan friendly. Whilst I cannot vouch for its accuracy, Barnivore.com looks like a pretty good website for this purpose.

When I was wondering around a bottle shop recently I was going to ask if there was a vegan wine section, which on the face of it seemed like a reasonable request, but then I thought to myself if based on my research several wines are vegan friendly this would completely muck up the shops display and categories. Would they only have a specific wine in the vegan section and not for example in the sauvignon blanc section, or would it be duplicated in both?

The problem is that even within specific wine producers, they may have some wines that are vegan friendly, whilst others are not.  I am sure there are processing reasons for this, but you would have thought that if they were going to the trouble of making some that way that they could use the same process for all of their production.

The issue then becomes how can you differentiate between a vegan wine and a non vegan wine when you are perusing the bottle shop.  Perhaps some winemakers show it on the label, but if you have ever tried reading the small print on a wine label and are not under 25 with 20/20 vision, good luck with that. So even if you know that XYZ wine producers make some wines vegan, you cannot guarantee that they all will be. I can just imagine the reaction you will get if you ask a shop assistant if such and such a wine is vegan, particularly bearing in mind that wine producers are not legally required in most countries to list their ingredients and can include up to 50 different substances in the wine producing process.

Winemakers are however required to state where egg and dairy products have been used as they are allergens, so this at least is one red flag for vegans. I wonder if the eggs are free range or not? Perhaps I wont go down that rabbit hole or we could be here all day discussing the subject of egg production, and whether or not even vegetarians should be eating them. I am sure that a separate post will follow on this subject in due course.

I guess if there is a particular tipple that you are partial to, then the best course of action is to contact the producer and ask them to confirm if their products are vegan friendly, and hope that whoever deals with your enquiry is knowledgeable enough. This will also hopefully serve to reinforce the demand for vegan wines to the producers if they are receiving a steady number of enquiries on the subject.