24 Apr 2008


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Three weeks to a meat-free existence and counting

Consultant editor Fiona Briggs prepares for a veggie challenge

Hats off to Su Taylor in the Vegetarian Society press office.

Within days of posting my “I'm going to go veggie for a week” blog, she had sent me some packets of vegetable seeds.

Mixed salad leaves, Chantenay red carrots and basil along with a selection of postcards, leaflets and stickers to promote National Vegetarian Week (May 19-25, 2008) plus a booklet explaining, Why it's green to go vegetarian.

I'm impressed and then some. The very next day, I receive an email from Lisa and Pat Drummy at Beannie's Health Foods in Fareham, Hants, a Vegetarian Society approved business, which imports frozen foods.

They had learnt of my plans to go veggie for a week from The Vegetarian Society and have forwarded details of their “meat replacement” products plus some recipe ideas in case I'm stuck for what to eat during the week.

To be honest, I hadn't given it too much thought. Up until now I figured I'd simply eat my current diet, just lose the meat, poultry and fish. On reflection, it's probably not going to be that straightforward.

The Fry's products, which Beannie's markets, are made from something called Protam, a mix of soya, textured wheat protein plus herbs and spices.

Apparently the range has been recommended as a 'best buy' by The Ethical Consumer magazine and has an 'ethiscore' of 16/20 making it one of the most highly rated meat replacement products on the UK market.

I'm not too up on ethiscores but it sounds good. However, as enticing as Beannie's recipes seem to be, I'm not won over by the substitute meat theme.

After all, who would choose the understudy when you can have the lead?

Just as I am left pondering my veggie diet plans, I receive an email from Andrew Phipps, a senior client director at convenience consultants, srcg.

Andrew's read my blog and has also decided to go veggie for the week. Fantastic. He too thinks it will be a tough call but is bit more explicit about the pending challenge: “We're talking nothing with a face? Fish, chicken – the whole deal, yes?”

Mm. I hadn't looked at it that way before, but we agree to compare notes.

As I desperately try to block out the bowl of white bait I ate at the weekend (lots and lots of faces Andrew), another veggie-inspired email arrives.

This time it's from Pertwood Organic Farm & Cereal Company, offering a sample of its new organic muesli, banana & walnut.

Now, as I will be recording my vegetarian diet on my blog, I don't want to trip up at the first hurdle.

Consequently, I politely reply that I would be happy to sample the muesli although I don't eat nuts or drink milk but I'm neither allergic nor lactose intolerant.

No problem, replies Pertwood. It even recommends I try the muesli with orange juice as opposed to eating it dry.

It forgets to mention the walnuts, however, so I'll just ignore them, along with the fresh meat, poultry, fish…

Now, where are those vegetable seeds?