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?

[Newgirls]

@Caspianberg

No.
We don’t eat a huge amount of meat anyway, and I’m happy to eat plant based majority of the time, but I don’t think Getting rid of animals for food is the way forward.

Where I live there’s a really diverse microclimate area that’s been so successful with rare plants and animals due to people farming here for centuries. It’s at high altitude and traditionally these areas wouldn’t sustain much, yet because farmers have had cows, goats, sheeps up high all summers they have fertilised the ground and kept it in peak condition.

I think mass farming isn’t great, so we do need to eat less. But sustainable farming on a smaller scale does work. This month we have had venison locally that was part of annual cull that’s needed as no predators here ie wolves now, and eggs from neighbour who’s chickens live long happy free range lives

Venison is so rare in the UK. Compare that to the millions of factory raised chickens. Most of the UK live in cities and don’t/can’t buy ‘locally sourced meat’. That sadly is a fantasy.

[Newgirls]

Protein - even the NHS website says we don’t need meat every day. If we went back to say a roast on a weekend and fish once or twice a week (eg UK sardines rather than imported prawns etc) we would be much better off.

The meat marketing boards have encouraged us to eat more and more meat (slam in the lamb etc) and we don’t need it. It’s expensive too.

There is no nutritional need for ham sandwiches etc. Most of us could eat veggie at breakfast and lunch and 4-5 dinners and come to no harm.

[Livpool]

No as soy and lentils, chickpeas and beans do not agree with me and not sure I could get all the vitamins and minerals form literally fruit and vegetables

[mydogisthebest]

Me and DH have been vegetarian for over 30 years. Found that easy as I never really liked the taste of any meat and it made me feel sluggish and bloated when I ate it.

I no longer have cow's milk. I use oat milk instead. Hate the taste of cow's milk plus it upsets my stomach. I also think the dairy industry is cruel.

I rarely eat cheese as I don't like it so could easily give it up. Eggs though I love and just could not give up. I do only ever buy my eggs from local people where I can see their chickens running around which makes me feel less guilty

[CheeseCrackersAndChutney]

Those people saying we don’t have enough land to support a plant based diet, you do know what cows, sheep and chickens eat right?

[morechocolateneededtoday]

Been vegetarian all my life and reduced dairy intake significantly over the past 5 years for the environment but have absolutely no intention to cut out completely.

Tbh I think if everyone went completely plant based, we would replace one problem with another using pp's post of bees and almond milk as example.

I also find a lot of the 'prepared' plant based food available is very highly processed and in order to have a plant-focused diet, you need to know how to cook and work with naturally available proteins rather than rely on the processed ready food available otherwise it is not beneficial to your health.

I don't believe we need total veganism, we all need to consume less, increased the plant based components of our diet and waste less to help the environment

[Santastuckincustoms]

We are dairy free and I have to say it's very very difficult to get calcium requirements every day. My DC are on supplements because while the vegans trot out the 'oh you can eat green beans!' line, if you actually look at calcium requirements for children they'd need to eat a bath full of green veg, covered in a layer of chia seeds to get enough. A lot of vegan replacements aren't fortified either so it's quite stressful!

[GirlWithAGuitar]

Santastuckincustoms

Green beans? I just drink oat milk, eat oat yogurts, whole meal bread, nuts and veg. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Santastuckincustoms]

@GirlWithAGuitar

Santastuckincustoms

Green beans? I just drink oat milk, eat oat yogurts, whole meal bread, nuts and veg. 🤷🏻‍♀️

We have allergies to oats, DC refuse to eat replacement yogurt or nuts apart from peanut butter and they get sick of having it every day. I cope with chucking chia seeds in everything and with a lot of salmon. But the latter is clearly not vegan! Just making the point that it IS hard to meet dietary requirement, especially with DC as I can't control what school/nursery give them when they're out of the house 9-10 hours a day. It would be SO much easier if we could have cheese based dinners, eggs etc.

[GirlWithAGuitar]

Santastuckincustoms

You said vegans trot out, ‘eat green beans’. As a vegan, I’ve never heard anyone say you can meet your calcium requirements from green beans.

I’m just saying for most vegans its not difficult to get enough calcium. There are other milk and dairy alternatives that provide calcium too.

[Newgirls]

There are so many dairy free yogs now. The choice improves weekly. Always worth trying new ones.

[Moomarre]

No
I can eat a mostly vegetarian diet and I have oat milk rather than cows but I would struggle to go completely plant based.

Plus although I’m a good cook I struggle to get my children to eat well and that would be harder if I cut out animal products.

If anyone has any nutritious plant based meals that their children love I’d be grateful for suggestions. The younger ones hate beans, lentils, mushrooms, courgette and leaves 🙄

[Newgirls]

My kids like baked burritos with chickpeas or kidney beans inside. They like bean burgers.

But not always easy I agree. All steps help though.

[LemonSwan]

No because I dont believe vegan is a green lifestyle.

It relies heavily on imports from hotter climates and we need animals as part of rotation/ permaculture systems to rebuild our soils after crops have stripped out the nutrients and we have ploughed the whole thing into a dust pit.

From a gardener with her hands in the dirt everyday. Its much more fragile than you would believe and I think we all take it for granted.

Give it another 10 years and people will start to talk about this in developed countries, and about the desertification from crops in hotter climes.

[Caspianberg]

It’s tricky with children with allergies. Ds can’t eat nuts for example so it’s scrambled egg for breakfast rather than peanut butter on toast.

[Gindrinker43]

The evidence is mounting that a plant based diet is not good for the environment, and those who take their evidence from vegan websites need to bear in mind just how biased these are.

Just get a balance and remember no fortis cruelty free, do you know how that avocado farmer manages pests and local environmental issues? UK farming has some of the highest standards in the world yet moving more food production overseas is doing untold harm, but because it's not visible it's easy to ignore

[stopblowingyournose]

I'm a v low meat eater. It's months with no meat but the dds asked for salami this week and I've enjoyed that. I bought so chicken char grills too for the first time in years for a bit of variety.

I would struggle with eggs but eat them maybe once a fortnight.

I dont mind about cheese. I could eat vegan all sorts of things like making spag bol with grazed courgette but the kids moan like fuck. They only accept quorn which has egg in it. They like jackfruit in fajitas though.

Without even trying we are a very low meat and dairy family. I doubt going fully vegan would make a huge impact.

I would like to cut plastic right back though - I could make a bigger difference there.

[LastToBePicked]

If it wasn’t for having a very fussy child to feed, I think I would get much more of my food from local farm deliveries, reduce meat and dairy and stick to higher welfare/sustainable sourcing

I still try to reduce meat particularly (not so much dairy/eggs which are a big part of the kids diets).

It would be good to supermarkets making it easier to make sustainable choices - if I could filter my online shop to exclude food with air miles or highlight the sustainable choices it’d make it much easier when you’re a busy parent who typically does the food shop on their phone while the kids are in the bath.

[Newgirls]

@LemonSwan

No because I dont believe vegan is a green lifestyle.

It relies heavily on imports from hotter climates and we need animals as part of rotation/ permaculture systems to rebuild our soils after crops have stripped out the nutrients and we have ploughed the whole thing into a dust pit.

From a gardener with her hands in the dirt everyday. Its much more fragile than you would believe and I think we all take it for granted.

Give it another 10 years and people will start to talk about this in developed countries, and about the desertification from crops in hotter climes.

50% of ALL our food is imported including most of our meat and fish. Prawns anyone? Chocolate, tea, fruit, coffee…

For some reason the import argument is used to be anti ‘vegan’ products whereas meat eaters eat these foods too!

Meat companies like to get these stories out there because sales are falling. Read behind the stories - where does it come from? Who paid for the research?

Sadly meat production in the UK is not as free range as we like to think it is. The vast majority of animals we eat do not roam free in lovely fields. It might be better than some countries but it’s still pretty grim. Huge industrial chicken barns.

If you want to eat meat really read the labels but high welfare remains a luxury and the vast majority of meat production is not high welfare.

[NerrSnerr]

I'm a vegetarian and as a family we are trying to eat more plant based stuff but don't think I would ever go full vegan. I had to stop dairy when breastfeeding and I didn't enjoy it at all.

What I do think is brilliant is that there are more options for those out there with allergies.

[gogohm]

Plant based isn't automatically greener! Many mainstays of vegan diets have huge carbon footprints due to importing from around the world often by air. Not eating meat or dairy doesn't make you a saint

[PGordino]

I’ve tried going vegetarian and vegan several times. I can cook well and am aware of nutrition and am do not have to live on crap or processed food to avoid animal products.

But without at least some animal protein in my diet I always end up dizzy and tired. Not sure if it’s at least partly psychological, or if I don’t give my body enough time to adjust - but I need to be switched on for my job, so can’t afford to spend weeks with an idling engine.

So no, but reluctantly no. Any tips or insight as to the dizzy/tired thing welcome.

[daisymoo2]

Where I live I can eat dairy, eggs, potatoes, beef and lamb produced from within a 5 mile radius. All produced in accordance with farm assurance standards that are higher than anywhere in the world. Some seasonal fruit and veg at certain times too. No soya, maize, pulses and so forth for miles around. When I look at the trendy plant based alternatives in my local supermarket the ingredients list scares me. It’s big business’ way of reinventing ready meals that were popular but now so many of us avoid due to what’s in them! Synthetic food that’s often produced on the other side of the world, shipped to the UK, packaged to within an inch of its life and then marketed as more environmentally conscious than the eggs produced down the road and yet so many people actually believe the spin! Astounding.

[gogohm]

@Newgirls it's fast freight by air that's the worst culprit eg avocados personally I eat a local diet mostly, all meat at home is sourced from my county from free range sources according to the butcher and I pick up fish from my local trout farm once a week (they have locally caught mackerel as well as trout). Coconut I love but try to avoid due to monoculture issues, whereas I know where the veg i buy is grown, ok I do buy bananas (come by sea transport) but my carbon footprint is pretty good - at a price I should add

[HopingForOurRainbowBaby]

I went vegetarian/vegan years ago but ended up becoming pretty poorly and anaemic, and so on the advice of my Dr went back to a meat eating diet. Through the time I was vegetarian I ate tons of Quorn based products. Cooked one a couple of years ago for a service user and I literally boaking at the smell of it. I don't even know how the hell I used to manage to eat it