tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post3492598023664490573..comments2023-08-26T10:37:05.732+01:00Comments on The Sourdough School: Is flexitarianism the answer or a just cop out? Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18147063726085691438noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-78821365802107795752013-05-12T22:01:54.688+01:002013-05-12T22:01:54.688+01:00You have to do what works for you and your body. B...You have to do what works for you and your body. Being a flexitarian though can give you the best of both world. Eating less meat but when you eat meat eating good qulaity meat. Good for your health and the environment. Annabelle Randleshttp://theflexitarian.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-89881863299628272602013-04-28T15:27:40.291+01:002013-04-28T15:27:40.291+01:00Ouch that sounds painful! I'm a greenie and a ...Ouch that sounds painful! I'm a greenie and a bit of a hippy at heart.We're (me and my 3 kids) aren't veggies but we don't eat meat that often.We'll have red meat or chicken every couple of months and bacon twice a month (from a local butcher).It was a slow process as my youngest two were reluctant to try new things like lentils, tofu and relentless servings of beans.But after a year (they are fussy buggers) I managed to build up to not eating meat at all, or at least very rarely.I could quite happily avoid it but family members tend ignore all my ramblings about the health and wealth (it saves me £100 a month) side of not eating meat so often.It's vegetarian week next month why not just give a go? Alyhttp://www.plus2point4.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-10833588266893671112013-04-10T06:37:29.058+01:002013-04-10T06:37:29.058+01:00I think you have to just do the best you can. We a...I think you have to just do the best you can. We all face these difficult choices - and I live in a place where just breathing and existing is unsustainable! My daughter has been vegetarian since the age of about 6 and seems to have suffered no ill effects. She recently said she may eat meat again one day - however she gave up meat for ideology. She is actually less squeamish and more reasoned than my husband and other teen who eat meat. Anyway, really enjoyed reading this post (apart from the pain you went through as a catalyst for it!). Like many issues in life it's not cut and dried but I think we have an obligation to try to do the right thing rather than just accepting food industry propaganda blindly. Sally - My Custard Piehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09426408003723480160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-45849513253641640052013-04-10T00:43:42.855+01:002013-04-10T00:43:42.855+01:00Oh my, stones, very painful, we have had several b...Oh my, stones, very painful, we have had several bouts scattered through the family and yes it is compared to childbirth although one daughter-in-law said she would rather have had a baby! Water (or lack of it)seems to have been the common denominater in our circumstances, caused by a variety of stress and a lot of rushing about and generally over commitment to other things instead of ones self! Does that sound like you too?We have two veggies in our family but both eat fish and eggs, one who doesn't like to eat animals and has been brought up a vegetarian and one who just doesn't like the taste or enjoy eating meat. I think I could fall into the "flexi" category myself, moderation - love meat,fish,eggs and veggies and happy to eat whatever someone has been good enough to cook for me. That egg and bacon sandwich at the coffee shop on a Saturday morning would be very hard to give up! Does that sound flippant (its not meant to be) the politics of the environment argument is a minefield and the demise of an industry could have equally disasterous effects.<br />Glad you are feeling better!Magnolia Verandahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01212421297757442015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-68482737378623445422013-04-09T23:02:55.080+01:002013-04-09T23:02:55.080+01:00I hope the kidney stone problem was a one-off.
I...I hope the kidney stone problem was a one-off. <br /><br />If you have not read it already, you may find Simon Fairlie's "Meat: a benign extravagance" an interesting read for an in-depth analysis of the environmental implications of a diet with or without meat. Simon does not weigh into the ideological ethics of a meat or vegetarian diet but does provide a well-researched analysis of the energy, water and land use implications of a world with and without livestock for domestic consumption. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-9254199149524946032013-04-09T18:44:00.237+01:002013-04-09T18:44:00.237+01:00There is no right or wrong answer you just have to...There is no right or wrong answer you just have to do the best you can. Most of my cooking is vegetarian because of my husband. He has never eaten meat or fish even as a child. My Sons eat chicken which I buy from my local butcher as the quality is so much better than the supermarket. I am now having to learn to cook meat as I have taken over cooking for my parents and they are old school, meat, potatoes and 2 veg. In the end it is a about getting a balance that works for your family.<br /><br />Glad you are on the mend. cookiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03011650168667260010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-37450596903187936062013-04-09T17:25:07.516+01:002013-04-09T17:25:07.516+01:00So sorry to hear of your action packed, agony fill...So sorry to hear of your action packed, agony filled weekend away....but did smile as I read about your outbursts of swearing. Apparently I nearly floored the midwife with some appalling language during the birth of baby number 3 !<br /><br />I'm a flexitarian....like you, I care deeply about british farming, the provenance of food...adn I can't bear to eat meat I've met before.(How some of my friends eat their own chickens and lambs I don't know). I love veggie meals,but equally adore free range chicken. Left to my own devices I would probably just eat meat on a Saturday or Sunday..Thinking of the dayshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04369739724991129358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-16916292283319185152013-04-09T13:18:47.670+01:002013-04-09T13:18:47.670+01:00Sorry to hear about your pain and hope you have no...Sorry to hear about your pain and hope you have no reoccurence. As a small part-time farmer and omnivore I would ask you to think very carefully before becoming a vegetarian. I have full sympathy with the ethics of the Vegan, although it must be hard work to get all the nutrients you need. However, vegetarians eat the by products of meat production in dairy products and most also eat eggs. <br /><br />The countryside would be a very different place without livestock farming and not all areas are suitable for crop growing but will sustain livestock. As you have acknowledged, it is a complex area and I think your compromise solution sounds like a good one.Janicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04854564777269577428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-77008229630439850312013-04-09T11:12:58.809+01:002013-04-09T11:12:58.809+01:00I was a vegetarian for 6 years when I was around t...I was a vegetarian for 6 years when I was around the age of 14-16. Back then there were no quorn or soy burgers and stuff like that so I just ate whatever my parents ate - minus the meat. Not a very good diet but I didn't want to eat animals -just like your daughter.<br />I got ill, fainted all the time, turned grey, everything tasted sweet and I had no energy what so ever. After tests my doctor suggested I should start to eat red meat once a week - chopped up steak - and you know what... by eating meat only once a week, I got better. There was no explanation for my fainting (other than low blood pressure) and other symptoms.<br />Last year we found out I have an autoimmune illness, I need more protein and iron than healthy people so we now have an explanation for what I was feeling as a child. Early stages of my illness, induced by starving myself protein-wise.<br />I now eat meat, sourced from a farm that only sells to people who order their meat box to pick it up on meat day. They only have a few cows and pigs and rear them with care. I eat the meat without remorse but with great respect for the animal. And, only once a week or more if there are leftovers from that meal.<br />I'm a flexitarian it seems. But most importantly I think we should eat everything with a healthy view, not too much meat, fish, alcohol... Plenty of local veg and fruit though. Always support local farmers!<br />I think it's important people start thinking about what they are consuming. And I agree that being a vegetarian and eating lots of soy, quinoa, quorn and such is maybe almost equally as bad as our meat consumption.Regula @ Miss Foodwisehttp://www.missfoodwise.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-120716109579039372013-04-09T10:29:52.329+01:002013-04-09T10:29:52.329+01:00Yes the pain was excruciating!
I agree about giv...Yes the pain was excruciating! <br /><br />I agree about giving up a car.. but I am so rural, and it's not practical, but we did move house and build offices so my husband can work from home, and we also moved the children's school so that they can walk to school now. I rarely drive unless it's Friday and i go to my local town to buy from my local independents or I go to the train station to go to London. <br />xAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18147063726085691438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-34380882941169279002013-04-09T08:35:58.414+01:002013-04-09T08:35:58.414+01:00Kidney stones, apparently the only pain to rival c...Kidney stones, apparently the only pain to rival childbirth (though I must say, I'd rather birth again than have another bout of pericoronitis). This is a minefield isn't it. As a family we tend to eat vegetarian around 4 nights a week (food that is, not actual vegetarians!) but we do enjoy beef and bacon and chorizo... I don't know how the kids would fare without any meat at all and I'm not brave enough to find out. From an environmental point of view, is there perhaps another measure you could take to support your admirable 'half-way' step in your diet? Lose a car? Something like that? little macaroon.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05608420609275858904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-55872789224884045522013-04-09T07:58:15.684+01:002013-04-09T07:58:15.684+01:00it's a tricky one.
And something I ponder A ...it's a tricky one. <br /><br />And something I ponder A LOT. <br /><br />Between the ages of 16 and 26 I was veggie. Many reasons for it. Eventually, it wasn't the lure of a bacon sandwich, but roast chicken that brought me back to eating meat. <br /><br />At Christmas I am always riddled with guilt, over the amount of turkey's that give up their life to end up on a plate (we always have chicken!). The same at Easter, when Lamb is the meat of choice (we have chicken!). <br /><br />Last weekend we went to Jimmy's Farm - one of my favourite places to visit - and saw the tiny piglets and baby goats, and yet again I was riddled with guilt. I felt slightly better knowing they would have a good life, but a life that would end up on a plate nonetheless.<br /><br />It is tough. I get round it by having several veggie days a week, but it is a cop out. Ideally, I'd be meat free, but there is something that makes me not quite ready to go back to that again. <br />I'm also aware that any food choices I make will affect my little girl. She copies me in so many things, so if I were to refuse meat she'd do the same. And that's something I want her to decide for herself when she's older. When she was a baby, and weaning started, it took me ages to give her meat. Part of me didn't want to at all, but part of me thought I should. In the end I did. But if she decides in the future she doesn't want to,that would be fine by me. A meat free diet isn't a boring one. Back in my day it was, menus were limited, that is not the case now, and I still look at veggie options first when we eat out. <br /><br />Clearly, I have no sensible advice, but I understand absolutely how you feel!<br />xsadiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03891036834520023762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7008174934020878182.post-48086097014684540372013-04-09T07:07:56.769+01:002013-04-09T07:07:56.769+01:00first I am glad you are feeling better,
I had a ki...first I am glad you are feeling better,<br />I had a kidney stone when I was 20 and I was vegetarian, I had eaten no meat or fish for four years at the time, so I'm not convinced it's the answer.<br />I would say I'm Demi-vegetarian now. If I can I prefer not to eat meat, but my husband and family all love it so I only buy British, organic meat, and I buy fresh free range meat for the dog, I can't bear to think what poor creatures end up in processed dog food.<br />I do eat fish, but try to buy local again, easier here in Brittany where we buy from the inshore fishermen.<br />It is a dilemma, and like you I would be anxious about a young child opting fully for a vegetarian diet, it is hard and I think a vegan diet really does need a great deal of concentration to be successful.<br />Do keep us posted on what you decide, and again I'm so glad you are feeling better😀<br />Jude xscrumptious dayshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01419573938670000694noreply@blogger.com