As a self confessed carnivore, it came as something of a shock when my daughter suddenly announced she was turning vegetarian.
For me, many of life’s fondest memories have revolved around food, and meat particularly - sharing cote de boeuf in Paris with my wife to be, the first time my daughter tried minute steak at a food market at Snape Maltings, not to mention the countless family roasts and barbecues over the years.
True we have accommodated vegetarians before but only for the odd meal and if I’m honest, our vegetarian repertoire has been somewhat limited. It was certainly a daunting task to start thinking vegetarian for each and every meal.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised though by how things are going. My daughter has cooked us quite a few meals herself and we’ve opened our eyes to a whole range of new possibilities in terms of family meals. Sites like Jamie Oliver and BBC Good Food have been extremely useful and we’ve dusted off a fair few cook books to look for quick and easy mid-week veggie meals.
This has meant we’ve been able to avoid too many mealtimes where we’re eating different meals, saving a lot of stress and washing up. It’s also meant our own meat consumption has gone right down and meat has become more of a treat than a default.
It seems we’re in good company. According to a recent Guardian article, 1 in 8 Britains are vegetarian or vegan and I am what I’ve recently discovered to be a’ flexitarian’ - someone following a largely vegetable-based diet, supplemented occasionally with meat.
This certainly chimes in my work life too. We’re often working with customers looking for innovative products to offer consumers who are increasingly concerned not only with their health but with their environmental impact, with meat and dairy products often the worst offenders.