I'm approaching this from a strange angle I know! Does one just go from being a meat/dairy eater to a vegan without coming at it from an ethical-kill-no-animals angle? Sure there are many reasons to become vegetarian, but vegan just seems like that little bit more of a "freak" thing to do (and no offense to any vegans reading this!).
However, as I understand and grasp more about a range of issues (for the main part I'm thinking peak oil and climate change) it just seems to be the next logical step. I've been thinking how we can be self sufficient food-wise while living in a town on a standard 1/4 acre section. There is no way of owning a house-cow or goat where I live, so unless dairy products and meat are still able to be supplied somehow if TSHTF and food is suddenly very expensive or unavailable, it makes sense to scale back our dependency on these products now.
Way back when I started blogging I made a commitment to reduce our meat intake from daily to every second day. And we've done that. Even when I've been tempted to do meat two nights in a row. And we enjoy it.
So! I discussed with Simon tonight about adding a few more vegetarian meals into the weekly cooking (afterall, I am the cook around here generally) and he wasn't phased by it. After poring through my cookbooks this evening and taking into account that we are on a tight budget (well, I really want to save $$ to pay off a large chunk of mortgage when it comes of the fixed term in a years' time), it seemed to rule out a lot of vegetarian meals that are loaded with dairy in them and in fact often hike the total meal price beyond a basic meat meal. Because at least half of the vegetarian meals I cook over a month would be vegan anyhow, I figured it wouldn't be too much to add a few more into the mix. From now, the aim is to eat no more than 2 meat meals a week (we have already cut back the meat portion sizes too for the nights when we do eat meat).
I do struggle with being hungry after eating a vegan meal occasionally, and know I need to include a bit more protein to that longer lasting energy, so have been more mindful of adding rice or quinoa to our vegetable soups. I have just purchased a few second hand vegetarian cookbooks which I am still waiting on to glean new ideas. I do wonder (if TSHTF) how we would get B12 on a fully vegan diet if there were no processed/enriched foods to rely on since it is not naturally available (aside from not washing our hands after using the toilet and reabsorbing our own stores of B12 or adding human manure to vege gardens and leaving the unwashed - blech). Of course, if my chickens start (!) laying eggs then that will be a source of B12 for us.
Back to the menu planning - and maybe we'll even be able to stretch grocery shopping day from once fortnightly out to once monthly with the reduced dairy/meat (since our little freezer can't cope with larger amounts and we switched off our large freezer a few weeks back after Simon left it open one night and defrosted it's contents!).
9 comments:
I have had the exact same dilemma...although we are a vegetarian family so it isn't as big a leap. We would love to be able to feed ourselves from our garden, and not rely on having to buy everything! Besides meat/dairy there is also the problem of grains, as our kiwi-sized sections don't allow enough space to grow enough grain...
Yes grains - and I think I've resigned myself to the fact if it's not easily available, that we need to find alternatives (which I guess means returning to traditional food that was relied on that we are able to grow such as potatoes and corn and dry beans).
I did buy some buckwheat seeds from Kings, and noticed you can also get amaranth, wheat and oats on there too...perhaps next year I might experiment...this year my focus is on growing enough tomatoes to get us right through winter ....one thing at a time, right (haha)
Yes, sounds like a good "next year" plan haha. I also want to do lots of tomatoes to get us through - how many plants are you putting in?
I have been reading your blog for a few days now. Came across it while searching for New Zealand blogs on Gardening as thinking of growing whatever veges I can but didnt know where to start.
Anyway, regarding your concern for Vit B12, I use soya granules a lot in my cooking as it is said to have B12 in it. something about protiens getting expanded when the oil is extracted from soyabeans and the remaining dry powder mixed with water to make granules...
And my non-vegetarian friends love it when I add them to vegetarian dishes and I have been told that you cant even make out the difference, it looks and tastes like meat chunks.
Hope that helps and sorry for the long comment.
I am not sure how many I will be putting in...have a few varieties though! Last year most of my plants were cherry toms, and we had about 10 plants (though they were badly staked...you live and you learn:) I cooked and froze loads of them and they lasted about 1/2 way through winter....so maybe 20 plants...and some cherry's in pots?
Thanks 2b's, will look into that.
Small pond - 20 plants eh? Sounds good, I really want to have a good supply. I've got 5 cherry tomatoes plants germinating about about 6 regular tomatoes, so will get some more seedlings going in a few months.
Why vegan if not for ethical reasons? For health. This guy turned us vegan and our health has improved many times over. Read through his free program in the link above to get ideas on how to fill up without resorting to animal products.
THanks Chile! I really look forward to reading that site. I know what you mean by health as being the driver for changing - since we do eat meat, I really notice the difference in how I feel from a meat/dairy laden meal to a plant based and feel so much "cleaner" iykwim?
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