Could you go fully plant based? U

[JC2021]

Any vegans/ strict vegetarians on here? Your views on climate change?

Any meat eaters ready to go green and move to a plant based diet for a better environmentally friendly planet?

And, if you had read the thread, you would have seen what I wrote about March.

Get a map and draw a circle with 100 mile diameter with your house in the centre. I think it is very doable from anywhere in the UK.

From where I am in Perthshire, it encompasses virtually all of the Scottish mainland.

[quote stargirl1701]@Newgirls

That's my point. It would be an improvement. You are never going to carry the MAJORITY of people in the UK into the extreme position of veganism.

Inspiring them with the 100 mile diet rather than berating them may be a more fruitful proposition. [/quote]
Go for it! Spread the word. Start a thread on the 100 mile diet. Talk to MPs. Stop buying imported food.

That’s one step of MANY we should be taking. Eating less meat. Stop buying factory farmed meat is all important too. Clean up the meat industry. Call out shoddy welfare etc

It will all help.

I doubt it.
I'd love to eat much healthier that's for sure but I'm thinking of cutting down on wheat atm, that's my main goal as I'm pre menopause and fed up feeling both sluggish amd tired.

100 mile diet will mean no more tea, coffee, oranges, chocolate etc - I think people may prefer to eat a bit less meat to be fair!

No, I don't eat much meat but every now and again crave it (I think your body tells you what you need if you listen to it) and couldn't live without cheese. I do however try to buy organic milk and local free range meat from the butchers. I do love animals, had chickens myself for many years, and hate cruelty to them. I haven't bought Danish bacon for decades after seeing a programme on how they keep their pigs! Another thing that bothers me is, if everybody went plant based (although unlikely😋) think how dull the countryside would look without animals grazing in the fields🤔

I like seeing sheep and lambs in fields - it’s what happens next to them that’s grim

@Newgirls

I like seeing sheep and lambs in fields - it’s what happens next to them that’s grim

Explain it to me

Me & Dh have been vegetarian for 2 years now with no plans to go back to eating meat. Saying that we feel being vegan is too much "hard work" which I know is wrong but we are doing our bit and I hate being frowned upon by vegans for that! (And it's happened)

@stargirl1701

And, if you had read the thread, you would have seen what I wrote about March.

Get a map and draw a circle with 100 mile diameter with your house in the centre. I think it is very doable from anywhere in the UK.

From where I am in Perthshire, it encompasses virtually all of the Scottish mainland.

Yes, I saw, you take a break in March. TBH pretty much the same applies for February and April - I think veganism is likely to be an easier sell to most people than the 100 mile diet.

Like I said upthread, I spend a huge amount of time on meal planning that is seasonal / local as far as possible, but I think I would probably struggle without things like rice, pasta, chickpeas, not to mention tea and coffee. What do you do for starches - do you stick to potatoes / other root veg? (Personally I'd be fine with that but the rest of my family would eventually mutiny!)

Derxa - would you work in a slaughterhouse? If not bore off

My aim is for our family to be vegan in five years. Small steps every day. I have stopped buying meat products.

@Formel it wouldn’t need to be a rigid 100 mile diet. If we just stopped importing protein from half way across the world when we have a fantastic supply here in the UK it would be an amazing start. It’s how our grandparents ate after all so not impossible or even extreme. I saw a placard at the Glasgow climate change protests yesterday “It’s not the cow, it’s the how” and that’s so true. Farmers are being blamed for climate change when it’s emissions from globalisation that is the main factor. Going plant based and importing your food solves nothing.

[quote daisymoo2]@Formel it wouldn’t need to be a rigid 100 mile diet. If we just stopped importing protein from half way across the world when we have a fantastic supply here in the UK it would be an amazing start. It’s how our grandparents ate after all so not impossible or even extreme. I saw a placard at the Glasgow climate change protests yesterday “It’s not the cow, it’s the how” and that’s so true. Farmers are being blamed for climate change when it’s emissions from globalisation that is the main factor. Going plant based and importing your food solves nothing.[/quote]
Sure. But we import animal protein too! In much bigger quantities than vegan protein. Prawns, tuna and cod for a start!

Salami, ham, chorizo…

We also import lamb, chicken, pork and beef.

We have restaurants importing French chickens as they are higher welfare than ours and ‘better flavour’. The whole system is a mess. You can’t pick on vegan products when we buy vastly more animal products from other countries.

@newgirls Plant based or animal based, why are we importing so much more food than we used to? If we ate more UK produce them our farmers would export less. Why not put effort into trying to get people to eat locally and seasonally instead of wholly plant based? That would be good for climate change.

@daisymoo2 absolutely agree on excessive imports - even when I was little the supermarkets didn't have green beans and strawberries available all year round, whereas it's now expected that they will, and they're flown in from all over the place.

Would anyone who does a 100-mile diet (rigid or otherwise) be willing to share a rough week's meal plan? I'm really interested in it but struggling to think what I would actually cook. And where do you buy from - supermarkets or not?

@formel I don’t do the 100 mile diet. Instead I believe in making conscious and responsible choices. So I buy milk, eggs, potatoes and such like from farm shops. Meat and fish from my local butcher/fishmonger. In supermarkets I look for origin, so deliberately buy UK cold meats (ie the pack labelled UK instead of silent on origin). I buy virtually nothing that is processed or factory produced (ready meals, freezer food, etc). I consciously buy British apples and would choose cauliflower over chickpeas again, conscious of buying local and seasonal. That said, I will buy bananas and oranges. I don’t think any diet needs to be extreme. Just conscious choices to buy local or UK produce where I possibly can.

[quote daisymoo2]@newgirls Plant based or animal based, why are we importing so much more food than we used to? If we ate more UK produce them our farmers would export less. Why not put effort into trying to get people to eat locally and seasonally instead of wholly plant based? That would be good for climate change.[/quote]
I wholeheartedly agree.

Brits eat prawns but far fewer Cornish sardines. Cod but not mackerel. Cheap imported salmon rather than Scottish salmon. We are price-led and squeamish about fish with bones.

The National Food Strategy covers all this.

But on the whole there are too many of us to live off UK land now. Far too densely populated. We also like fruit and salad etc all year round rather than swedes! It is conplciated.

[quote daisymoo2]@formel I don’t do the 100 mile diet. Instead I believe in making conscious and responsible choices. So I buy milk, eggs, potatoes and such like from farm shops. Meat and fish from my local butcher/fishmonger. In supermarkets I look for origin, so deliberately buy UK cold meats (ie the pack labelled UK instead of silent on origin). I buy virtually nothing that is processed or factory produced (ready meals, freezer food, etc). I consciously buy British apples and would choose cauliflower over chickpeas again, conscious of buying local and seasonal. That said, I will buy bananas and oranges. I don’t think any diet needs to be extreme. Just conscious choices to buy local or UK produce where I possibly can.[/quote]
Bananas have one of the worst carbon footprints of any import crop. The UK also wastes vast quantities of them. We perceive them as cheap but they require loads of water to grow and travel long distances.

Far worse than avocados for example which get a lot of negative press.

@Formel

Hi. I got started with it by using my Granny's Glasgow Cookery Book. It's fairly dated but tends to rely on Scottish produce.

We eat potatoes obviously, but I use Scottish grown barley and spelt grains as well as Scottish wheat to make dumplings and yorkies - especially in Aut/Win - for carbs.

Rice was a concern to me anyway because of the arsenic issue.

DD2 had 11 food allergies at one point so it became impossible to purchase anything other than 'ingredients'.

I would agree that the ultra high processed vegan food that is sold in the mainstream supermarkets is more convenient and accessible than the 100 mile diet. But, I find the 100 mile diet easier than veganism because I avoid ultra high processed food anyway.

At this time of year we eat a lot of soup for lunch, stews and roasts, etc. for dinner. Fruit is generally frozen from the summer - we are in the berry capital of the world! I can buy in flash frozen in bulk from a few different berry growers around Perthshire. Smoked, fresh and pickled fish are a couple of times a week - I cheat here and eat what is landed in Peterhead rather than restricting myself to coastal waters! Oats in many forms including milk. I even use oats to bulk out my mince and tatties.

My childhood was very much based in Italian influenced/flavoured food and I miss canned tomatoes/passata most of all, I think. I guess I could 'can' my own but I don't have time. And, I miss SE Aus Chardonnay. 😢 We have 'fruit' winery nearby which is fine.... Thank god for the hundreds of Scottish gins!!!

I'm not 'rigid' with it. My DC went guising at Hallowe'en and are eating their way through their plastic wrapped sweeties at the moment. They eat school dinners rather than packed lunches because I feel high demand for school meals will keep the current cook in a job,

Spices, I cheat too. I buy organic from the local health food shop with refillable jars. Grow and dry herbs.

It's like my approach to zero waste. I just do the best I can. But, we don't need a few people doing it perfectly. We needs millions doing what they can.

No. Meat? No problem, eat it very, very rarely. Fish and dairy? sorry but no.

@stargirl1701 Food for thought (sorry ).

It would take quite a lot more planning I think - e.g. I make fresh tomato sauce in summer and freeze it, and I could probably do more. I'd need a bigger freezer! I might give it a go for a week and see how close I can get.

😄👍

Is it safe to go plant based while menopausal, breastfeeding or pregnant?

The reason I ask is that I saw a dietician when I was breastfeesing my second daughter. My daughter had allergies to dairy and egg and I happened to mention that I found it easier to order vegan meas in restuarants to avoid contamination. The dietician cautioned against eating plant based meals. She explained that breastfeeding, pregnant and menopausal women need to basically double their iron and calcium intakes. It is next to impossible to do this while being vegan as the iron and calcium in vegetables and legumes is absorbed differenlt to that from meat eggs and dairy. It isn't as bioavailable. I was told to make sure myself and my daughter were eating bony fish multiple times a week .

So when I read about plant based diets being healthier I often think about this advice. Are those advocating for plant based diets just completely blind to the nutritional needs of women and children? Is this one of those cases of hidden sexism where mens bodie's are taken as the default? Or was the information given to me by the nhs dietician just wrong?

How do you maintain your iron and calcium levels on a plant based diet?

I think most women could benefit from an iron tablet anyway.

Even those who eat meat can be deficient at certain times of their lives. It’s about absorption. So if you drink or smoke or have any gut issues you can eat steak and still not get the iron you need.

It’s cheaper and easier to take an iron tab than eat meat. Less cruelty involved too

If concerned about health matters it’s worth knowing that red meat and processed meats eg bacon have the highest links to cancer. Plant diets are linked with low rates.