I feel like these days, it's so much easier to choose not to eat meat. Restaurants and supermarkets have embraced us herbivores by providing a wider variety of meat-free options outside of a standard salad or pasta dish. It's even become a bit of a trend in the dieting world (although that's definitely not the reason I became a veggie) with claims that by cutting out the likes of red meat especially and replacing it with protein-filled, vegetarian-friendly choices, it can help you lose weight but maintain strength.
Now I'm not here to persuade you all to go green. I understand the lure of a decent bacon butty or a well-cooked steak; it's just not for me. When asked why I chose to cut out meat entirely, I struggle to concoct a definitive answer, so I decided to attempt to explain it here as best as I could. As a child, I never enjoyed the classic kind of meat you find on your roast dinner. Beef, turkey, lamb chops. From a very early age, I boycotted butcher-style meat for the plain and simple reason that I just didn't like it. The texture felt alien in my mouth and the flavours just weren't something I enjoyed. But of course, as a child, I had little say in my dietary requirements, and so whilst my parents eventually admitted defeat with classic cut meats, they still tried their luck with processed meats; the kind that you can't actually tell is meat to look at. I'm talking about the likes of battered chicken nuggets, sausage rolls wrapped in pastry and turkey dinosaurs baked in a layer or bread-crumbs. I can imagine how frustrating it must have been to be a parent of three and having to deal with one individual who wanted to eat something different at dinner time and so I can't blame them for testing my taste buds. Every seven years in particular, (when apparently your taste buds change - or perhaps that was a myth created by my familiar to get me to try something different) I'd be encouraged to try something different because 'I just might like it'. I never did develop a likening for meat. In fact, as the years went on, I discovered I liked all kinds of meat less and less. The defining point came in year 7 P.S.E when we were shown a documentary about a sausage factory. Now I was never naïve as to where the meat I consumed came from, but watching an entire pigs head being stuffed into a blender turned my stomach forever. For meat eaters, that image would never have digressed them from what they liked to eat, but with my temperamental relationship with meat, it was enough to put me off for good and I never looked back. Back then, it seemed so much more difficult to find a vegetarian option in a restaurant, in the supermarket or even at the local McDonald's. Perhaps I just didn't look hard enough or was unwilling to try something meat-free but different. But it seems it has only been a recent revelation, for me at least, to experiment with the likes of butternut squash, quinoa, kidney beans and other lesser-known fruit, veg and pulses. Prior to that, I had found vegetarian dishes to be extremely carb-heavy or just plain veg. In recent years, I've discovered more of a balance with my diet. I'm much more willing to try something new (unless it contains mushrooms cause, ew) and since rediscovered a love for food I never found with meat dishes. So I guess you could say that perhaps I was influenced by that year 7 video, or perhaps it was just something I knew I didn't like from the off. It's probably a combination of both. It doesn't bother me to be sat at a dinner table with someone tucking into a big juicy steak and, although I might squirm a little, I can manage to cook meat for other people. I just know it's something I don't enjoy but I don't have to dictate to other people or try to influence their diet, much like I wouldn't allow anyone to force meat upon me. It's a life choice very personal to us all and something we should be allowed to discover on our own. I'm not going to be signing any petitions to save the cows, but that doesn't mean I want to eat one. So I guess that's everything in a nut-shell (or a meat-shell, depending on your preference). I think it's important to try new things, and if you don't want to try it a second time, at least you've learnt what to avoid. (If my 2007 Mum was reading this now, she'd laugh and say it couldn't possibly be me saying this - I really was a stubborn git). And if you find you do want to try it again, you've expanded your diet and found something you can add to your weekly shop: winner winner, whatever-your-preference dinner.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
December 2022
Categories
All
Author
Part-time student/bar-associate |