Tom Cooks! is Vegetarian in March. Why?

A couple of weeks ago, I announced that during the month of March the recipes in Tom Cooks! would be meat free. The reason was simply that I thought it had been a bit meat heavy in recent months, but it did get me thinking about some of the pros and cons of diet types. These days it seems to be increasingly difficult to have a disagreement without views becoming polarised in the extreme. Let's try to take a balanced look.

Cards on the table first. On the omnivore versus vegetarian front, I am a wishy washy liberal. To paraphrase Voltaire, I may disagree with what you eat, but I will defend to the death your right to eat it (or to abstain from it). I have no such laissez faire views when it comes to vegans. I consider such diets to be downright dangerous. Please don't write in. The second point is that I have no scientific background, and am not in a position to be categorical on such matters. That may be an advantage, as there seems to be so much fake science bandied about these days.

For many people, the major issue is the ethical argument. It’s very hard to argue against that. Killing of animals is an emotive issue and one has to respect those vegetarians for whom this is the most important consideration. There is, however, another side to that, one which I had not considered until recently. L, my better half, feels that vegans are more honest than vegetarians. Why? She points out that the latter are happy to enjoy eggs, cheese, and dairy without considering the consequences. If you don’t eat meat, and if no one should eat meat, what happens to 50% of the relevant species, the males? Simply slaughtered and disposed of?

On the environmental front, contrary arguments rage, whether they concern the amount of methane produced by livestock, or the number of air miles required to import food. I am by no means certain anyone can provide definitive answers. Avocados from Mexico have a huge carbon footprint. Consider the amount of water required to produce a litre of almond milk*. Consider the implications on forestation and agriculture of so much produce which is integral part of a vegetarian diet.

Let’s look at health issues. It seems to be very well documented that eating an excess of red meat, plus processed foods such as sausages and bacon, is bad for you. But let us not assume that a vegetarian diet is necessarily a more healthy one. Go to your local supermarket, check out the vegetarian goods shelves, read the ingredients and shudder. That, of course, is not peculiar to ready meals aimed at vegetarians. The more I read about ultra processed food, the more concerned I become.

For any diet, I believe it is important to have a working knowledge of nutrition. Most vegans are aware that they require some form of supplements; however, I’m not entirely sure that all vegetarians are aware of the issues. In a recent article by Joanna Blythman she reported that 50% of women in the UK are suffering from some degree of iron deficiency. Yes, you can get iron from vegetables such as spinach but that's not to everyone's taste. The main source of iron for those on what I would dare to call a balanced diet is red meat.

Will you live longer on a vegetarian diet? Again studies, studies and more confused studies. We regularly hear the virtues of the so-called Mediterranean diet, but not many Mediterranean people are vegetarian. Go on holiday to the south of France or to Spain or Italy, say you’re a vegetarian, and watch many restaurateurs scratch their heads over how to feed you. Another study purported to come up with a conclusive answer in favour of a meat eating diet. Then someone pointed out that the group on which the research had been done were Seventh Day Adventists, people who did not smoke and did not drink alcohol.

What about costs? There is no doubt at all that meat and fish are expensive, especially at the quality end. Frankly I would not wish to consume cheap meat products. I asked a butcher friend what the content would be of those sausages which you can buy at 10 for £1. “Lips and arseholes“, was his uncompromising reply. Having said that, it is a sad fact that fruit and veg in the quantities required to feed a family are also expensive. My wife, a former head teacher, tells the very sad story of a wee boy in her school eating a doughnut.  He told her he had really wanted an apple, but his mum said that the doughnut would fill him up more.

While this next point has nothing to do with the meat v veg debate, I think I think it is a sad fact that poverty is one of the greatest causes both of ill health and of obesity. I find it a national disgrace that in a so-called developed country, with one of the largest economies in the world, so many people are reliant on food banks. It's easy for the comfortably off to maintain a healthy diet, and less excusable if we choose not to. While I believe in the theory of everything in moderation, and that a little bit of what you fancy, does you no harm, this column will continue to stand for food made from scratch, and will cast a cold eye on the ready meal shelves: but I will try to ensure that discussion on the subject is carried on in a civilised manner.

To sum it up, I am all in favour of the subject of food being an area where we can coexist without the tribal style of argument which seems to have invaded most other types of debate. One of the newest recruits to the wonderful world of Tom Eats! is LH, a devoted vegetarian. We have now shared a good number of meals together without rancour, argument or attempts at conversion. Amen to that, say I.

*Depending which source you believe, the answer can be either 371 litres or 6098. See what I mean about fake science?

On The Side will be back in a fortnight