The underlying reason for going veggie or vegan, and a troubled son

Vegan cook books. The one in the middle
is my vegan bible - fantastic resource

Most of you probably know I'm a vegetarian, bordering sometimes on veganism. It's not something I push down people's throats, but often when I'm out eating with those who don't know me well the usual questions come up - why are you vegetarian, or what made you turn vegetarian (because I wasn't always), what do you eat, and on a couple of occasions I was asked if I was okay eating around meat eaters.

That last question is interesting and rather nice for one person in particular to be concerned for me! I don't have a problem eating with others diving into steak or chicken, however I do have a problem with the smell of lamb and some fish. I just try and switch my nose off (impossible) and carry on. The place where my book group meets often smells of fish. We don't eat there (except at Christmas) but they serve meals in the restaurant and in the main pub. I don't like it but I'm not going to say anything because I am one person. I enjoy the evening and the company. Sometimes you just have to get on with it.

The thing I find most offensive is hog roast. They upset me - the whole pig on a stick thing. I'll avoid those. I also hate the vans delivering raw meat - the sight of dead animals and the smell of dead pigs and cows etc. is awful to me. I walk past quickly and don't breathe! Lobsters...don't get me started on them. I was in a Korean food market with my other (meat eater) son and there they were...a tank of living lobsters. I really did want to go and buy them all and liberate them! I had to walk away. Seafood is mostly cooked before it's dead. How would you like that?

Why am I bringing this up now, you may ask? Well, my techie son came down this morning and told me he was disturbed after he had seen interviews and footage of the animal trade, and while he would like to go vegan he didn't think he could. He is already a vegetarian, by the way (I also live with two meat eaters). What he had seen and heard had upset him so much that he had difficult sleeping. I admitted that while I could read about stuff like this I avoided the films because I am a coward and it upsets me too much. I know what goes on and even I feel that to be a full blown vegan would be the ideal.

My son's eyes had been opened to the full horror of the meat and chicken trade - the short life span of most animals, the conditions a lot lived in and what happens to the 'unwanted', particularly male chicks. If you really want to know you can find it online. I am not going to share that kind of stuff. Suffice it to say that the fluffy male chicks never make it. They are killed shortly after hatching in horrible ways and are fed back to the chickens.

This is a consumer society and we are far from the hunter gatherers we once where when an animal's soul was respected and honoured. Tribes who took an animal prayed over it, thanked it and sent it's soul on it's way before claiming it for food and other needs. There was a sense of connection with the earth and everything that lived on it. Now we eat more than we need, waste tons of food and don't think about where our food comes from, how it was raised or how it was killed. Most meat is packed up and I bet not many would know which part of the animal it was.

Organic meat has a bit more going for it. The animals are better cared for, their short lives are at least better than the factory farmed variety, but it ends up in the same place in the end and not all slaughterhouses have humane workers. I feel sick when I think of all those animals lining up to be murdered. Sorry, if that seems strong. Animals feel like people do. They cry for their young when they are taken away, they feel fear.

One of the arguments that often comes up is that what would the farmers do if everyone turned veggie. Is that an excuse? They could farm something else other than animals. Half the world is starving and we are feeding and watering all these animals to eat. Not to mention the environmental issue. It is literally costing the earth!

I tried to reassure my son this morning that we can only do what we can. The world has so many troubles as a whole that if you think about it too much you can get really depressed and think it is hopeless. Doing something is always better than nothing and this goes right across the board. I told him that I try to live my life as best I can and think about what I am doing - how it will impact on people, animals and the environment. Everything we do has an impact. I know I fall short, we all do. We could all do more. We have to start small and then add to it if we can bit by bit.

You cannot change people but if you are able to influence some then all to the good. I never brought my kids up to be vegetarian, but techie son went that way. We had such a long and meaningful conversation this morning. He may not make it as a vegan, but then neither have I yet. I do try to avoid leather, I drink soya milk and use soya spread, but I fall down on the cheese and the yogurts. I check everything I buy for by-products (gelatin...particularly in sweets and desserts). Even some beers have a by-product of fish in them! It can be a minefield.

Certainly vegetarianism and veganism have come a long way in the last twenty years but I still have odd conversations with restaurants...staff who haven't a clue. I'm not the sort who complains or likes to draw attention to myself but sometimes I have to question things, even if it means sending the staff to the kitchen to check things out. If they cannot give me the right answer I will avoid whatever dish I was asking about rather than risk it.

Talking to my son made me re-think my own commitment to vegetarianism and the idea of veganism. I did do it for Lent one year, six whole weeks, (poor meat eater son got a home baked vegan birthday cake that year and never complained - he might now!). I certainly have the cook books for going vegan and I do cook vegan dishes and cakes sometimes (the spice biscuits are a big hit with the kids but messy to make). Such a conversation early on a Sunday morning was a surprise bur one I will remember.