The confessions of a curious vegetarian

There has only been one ongoing debate in my kitchen. How can you be vegetarian? It seems that from the people I have spoken to, it is puzzling how I can walk past a pan of fried bacon without being tempted to promptly shovel it into my mouth with a huge smile on my face. Incredibly, it isn’t that difficult.

Considering I am of Indian descent, I can understand why people think that I am vegetarian because of religious reasons. And it is true that my whole family are vegetarian and we are influenced by Hinduism. The belief is that no animal should be harmed as one living thing has no right to harm another for pleasure. However, this is only a side issue for me…the real reasons are far more practical which I will discuss in a moment.

Before that, I’ll break down some myths about vegetarianism. First of all, we are not grass eaters. For those of you quizzically looking at your paper right now, I was asked this seriously by someone in my first week at Warwick… very awkward.

Secondly, we don’t only eat vegetables…we also gorge down on bread, milk and cheese (excessively in my case).

Thirdly, we don’t eat fish like some people commonly believe, those are actually pectarians.

Fourthly, despite not eating meat, we get ready sources of protein from lentils, nuts and pulses which are actually better sources as they aid digestion.

I was seriously asked if I ate grass during my first week at Warwick.

Lastly, despite what my friends think, vegetarians don’t have less fun that omnivores. I just thought I’d point that out.

Now, joking aside, let’s get onto the real issue here. Recently, I watched a fly on the wall documentary called ‘The Fried Chicken Shop’ (still available on 4oD) about a fast food outlet based in Clapham, London. There were some facts about the consumption of chicken that shocked me: “Chicken used to be a luxury. We used to eat the equivalent of just one a year. Now we slaughter 2.5 million a day.

We eat it more than any other meat and it has changed our high streets. It’s the front line and bread line of Britain” The average price of a piece of chicken was no more than £2, which accounting for profit margins, franchise and distribution costs means that the unit cost could be as little as 50p. This is the cheapest that meat has ever been, how is it possible to get it down to this price?

Well, it isn’t pretty. A prior warning before I reveal this, the link I am going to give you is not for the squeamish. If you YouTube “Possibly the Most Eye Opening 6 Minutes Ever on Film” you will be able to see the impact of the cheap meat market.

I first watched it I was disturbed by the fact that you could see chickens literally being sucked up by a machine before being slaughtered. It would make anyone feel sick.

If we are happy to buy this cheap meat, now knowing where it has come from…Does it not taste a little bitter?

The frightening truth is that it just isn’t sustainable for us to be consuming meat in this way. If we are happy to buy this cheap meat, now knowing where it has come from, can we really say that we are enjoying it? Does it not taste a little bitter? Some would now argue that eating organic and free range produce would combat this problem, but the truth is that our collective appetite seems to be insatiable.

All around the world, arable land for crops is being given up to raise livestock, which is actually reducing the absolute amount of food in weight that can be taken from the same surface area of land. It means that by continuing to pursue meaty motives, we are actually worsening the problem and reducing the efficiency of the production of other food.

Let me be clear, I am not expecting you to drop your turkey sandwiches and devote your life to munching cucumbers. But I do want you to think about the implications of what you might be putting in your mouth and the story of how it got onto your plate. Just by refusing to eat cheap meat, or by having a veggie day of the week, you can start to make a serious dent in this issue.

‘The Revolution Will Not Be Telefried’ by Charles MacDonald

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Header Image courtesy of: Flickr.com/ avlxyz