There are a multitude of reasons why I decided to go plant-based, but I will focus on the three most important reasons that turned me off meat and dairy permanently. I would like to start by saying that I realise it’s not an easy path for anyone to take initially. In our culture, meat and dairy are still, to a certain extent, glamorised, and certainly where we live, when you go out to eat at a restaurant, you are rarely offered more than one plant-based option if at all, so customers are actively encouraged to choose the meat and dairy option. It certainly isn’t considered refined, sophisticated or cool to opt for a vegan choice.
Considering the real suffering of sentient beings that is so easy to ignore in our culture…
We only need to scratch the surface very gently to see how very disturbing the whole meat and dairy industry really is. An untold amount of suffering occurs in any large-scale meat or dairy producing facility both in the UK and worldwide. All animals reared for food suffer. Females are repeatedly forcibly impregnated. Babies are forced away from their mothers, mutilated, kept in crowded conditions, and fed a cocktail of drugs resulting in numerous health problems and alarming rates of antibiotic resistance. Then, often when they’re only a few months old, they endure a stressful and terrifying trip to the abattoir, where many are killed while still conscious. There have also been a number of incidences of mental health crises and suicides amongst people who work in slaughterhouses, so for me it was also about the devastating human impact as well. I believe that everyone should visit an abattoir and then decide after that whether they still want to eat meat.
Considering the environment…
The environmental impact is also devastating and I could no longer ignore this. The meat and dairy industry is undeniably one of the major contributors to climate change and by some estimates, animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gases than all of the world’s transportation systems combined. Worldwide the meat and dairy industry uses 30% of our fresh water and animal agriculture is the number one cause of species extinction, ocean “dead zones,” water pollution, and deforestation. A move towards veganism or at least choosing to eat plant-based meals more regularly is a very simple and positive step in the right direction and gives us all a greater opportunity to stem the tide of pollution.
Considering my health…
Eating more plants and going plant-based is not a fad, it is for me a far more sustainable and fun way to consume food and I’ve rediscovered a love for so many vegetables I barely used to notice before I went fully plant-based. Eating with the seasons has been an exciting adventure and I’ve loved exploring a number of vegetable ‘underdogs’ such as swede, Jerusalem artichokes (which feature in one of our most popular dishes so far) turnips, Brussel sprouts, to name a few, and learning ways to transform them into exciting and original dishes. The health benefits of eating seasonal fruits and vegetables are too numerous to list here and there are so many healthy ways to get the right levels of protein and iron from plant-based sources. It is a myth that vegans are more prone to iron and protein deficiencies. Just think about the versatility of chickpeas, lentils, nuts and beans (all rich in protein and iron) as well as greens such as broccoli and kale- their myriad uses in cooking, not to mention mushrooms, tofu and tempeh, all of which can be marinated, sautéed, baked or fried. Ramping up your plant intake will make your gut very happy- I know gut health has become a buzzword recently but one universal truth about the gut is that it craves a diverse number of plants and that leads to greater gut health. By contrast, meat has a toxic effect when we try to digest it and the liver has to work overtime to extract poisons from it in the blood. I feel more energised and my digestion has improved tenfold since I went plant-based.
Convenience & flavour are at the heart of each of our dishes, view our plant-based meals here.
