2023 see’s me celebrating 10 years of 100% living life meat free (go me!) And I say 100% because according to a recent Facebook memory I stopped eating meat (kind of) back in 2010.
I say “kind of” because as I recall I would eat the odd McDonald’s burger after a night out (because, doesn’t everyone?) Or I would enjoy a plate of my mums beef casserole on a Sunday afternoon (because that was the best homemade comfort food!) However in 2013 I took the plunge and stopped eating meat altogether. And do you know what? I am going to give my self a pat on the back for that, because I have stood the test of time. I stopped eating meat before it even became “fashionable” and it hasn’t just been a faze either. It’s been a complete lifestyle choice & change and one that I have stuck too.
I have written several blog posts on my choice to live my life meat free which you can read here and to be completely honest my views are still exactly the same. If you eat meat you like pets not animals. I don’t preach or force my views onto anyone, if you eat meat that’s your choice and I respect that. I wouldn’t sit there and judge anyone for tucking into a chicken roast dinner, the same as I wouldn’t expect to be judged by tucking into a bowl of vegetables and some kind of meat substitute. We are all different and we can eat what we like when we like.
So living life as a pescatarian (meaning I eat fish) Well it’s great, I love vegetables and I love the variety of plant based food that is now available in both the supermarkets and restaurants. If we were to go back 10 years to when I first fully went meat free all that restaurants seemed to offer on the menu was a stuffed pepper with some goats cheese in, I mean it was pretty much slim pickings. I actually remember going to one restaurant who barely had anything suitable for me, so I ended up ordering a chicken Caesar salad, but without the chicken of course, so I basically ended up with a bowl of lettuce with some croutons and some Caesar dressing, not exactly the most delicious meal I have ever eaten. But thankfully with more and more of us choosing to follow meat free diets, there is now a much wider variety, with many restaurants having a separate menu for the veggies and vegans!
I find that the hard core carnivores out there are always pretty intrigued with us herbivores and usually come with a question or two. The first one being “how can you not eat meat?” Which is like a completely dumb question right? And I mostly do a sneaky eye roll in response! But for me, the biggie question that I seem to get asked a lot is “why do you eat meat substitutes, why not just have actual meat? I think the misconception is it’s automatically assumed that I miss the taste of meat, but in all honesty I can’t really remember the taste of meat it’s been that long. I genuinely love the flavour of meat free products, and it may not be to everyone’s liking but it certainly works for me.
Today, I think we are seeing more and more people choose a life without meat. Or at least begin to cut down the amount of meat they eat. When you start to learn about how meat is produced, you can definitely see what a huge benefit going meat free can have for not only yourself but also for the animals and the environment. So really there’s no surprise it’s becoming more popular.
But I’m never one to preach because as they say each to their own and I am completely here for that.
