Choosing

Today I did something unthinkable – I told a vegetarian she should seriously rethink her diet and shopping habits if she really wanted to save the world.

Normally I do not criticise food and drink choices. After all, Catholics have Fishy Fridays and the Lent season for fasting, Muslims have Ramadan for fasting and abstention from pork or alcohol, the Jewish stay away from pork and shellfish, the Buddhists and Hindus try to be as vegetarian as they can be, and there are plenty of people restricted by allergies & super-taste buds for particular flavours. We are all affected by our upbringing, and so can be adverse towards some things which are part of others’ normal meals.

However, I am concerned when people look unhappy or confused with the food they eat. Eating gluten as a meat replacement product is bizarre when mushrooms and lentils offer protein replacement in a more natural and healthy manner. Rejecting eggs and bananas because “they are bad for me” is an ignorant denial of the nutritious value and happiness points offered by these foods. Saying that “coffee makes me fat” is an insult to decent baristas around the world, most of whom are fit and thin. It’s the way you consume it, people.

Eating based on ethics is also always fraught with risk as the sustainability debate rages. Cattle reared for meat and milk cause a lot of methane but not eating heritage animals mean they become endangered from a lack of incentive to breed them. Eating organic vegetables is pointless for sustainability if they are shipped in from another country. Salmon and tuna are the best kinds of fish to eat for health but are terrible to eat for the environment.

You end up having to take a strong personal stance for the way you eat. The misconception around vegetables i.e. that “they are yucky and not very nice” is fading but not enough to convince people, short of a famous heart attack or three, that meat is not meant to be eaten alone by the kilogram on a weekly basis. On the other hand, the idea that fruits or vegetables alone can deliver all the required daily nutrients is misleading and a source of many pale faces around the place.

To that extent, I provided the vegetarian with a link to the Melbourne Farmers’ Markets, where she can ask the farmers about the way they grow their produce and support local industry instead of buying her produce shipped in from gosh-knows-where in Safeway. I encouraged her to think about incorporating sustainably-caught fish into her diet if she enjoyed her brief fishy encounter(s). Whether she will seriously consider my words is another matter altogether but at least I have done my part in information sharing.

In the mean time, SL has had to convince her mates that she has not lost weight from any special diet. The weight loss is a result of cooking her own meals instead of takeaways, a reduction in junk food intake, a decent amount of sleep and a lot more walking between meals. Again, the idea that losing weight means “diet” is incredible. Staying healthy does not mean starvation or deprivation, it means balance. It is not about reduction in enjoyment nor obsessive food label reading. It is about consumption in moderation, exercise in moderation, knowing your nutrition requirements and what you need to meet those requirements within the religious, taste, sense of adventure, ethical & medical parameters you operate in.