Plant based food

[MagicMarmite Profile]

I'll be following.
I ummed about a veggie January, (never giving up cheese), but I've a freezer full of food so it seems silly to when there's loads of meat/fish in there so no/minimal spend January instead.

[Amyw Profile]

I was browsing round my local Tesco today and there's masses of plant based food around . I think breakfasts will be easy , just getting a good mix of lunches and dinners on the go. Think it'll be a nice little cooking challenge too

[dennispc Profile]

Pasta can easily be made vegan, plenty of recipes on line.

Eggless pasta was featured in a railway programme about the Swiss Alps. One tiny station in the middle of nowhere does it, though uses buckwheat with just water, handmade on the work top.

[Sakkarin Profile]

I vaguely recall there was a Masterchef where a contestant made pasta using chick pea powder as a form of aqua faba (the chick pea liquid that supposedly replaces eggs). I'll have to check that out, as I'm feeling guilty about my animal byproduct consumption after watching yet another program about the impact on the environment of meat production.

[Amyw Profile]

Funnily enough I was browsing in M&S today and in their stir fry meal deal section, they had noodles made from lentils . Didn't buy them, but imagine a good protein source .

I saw someone go on a mini rant about veganism the other day saying how bloody vegans eat avocados pineapples and the like and the environmental impact importing all these over compared to eating meat .

Did make me laugh as surely a generalisation of vegans that all they eat is imported unseasonal fruit and veg . Same as how most vegans are pale , pasty and anaemia. There's a very good documentary called Gamechangers on Netflix, which shows it can be quite the opposite. I think with any diet, whether Omani,vegan, or vegetarian, it's the choices you make within that , that determine how healthy you are

[Pepper Pig Profile]

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/d ... an-recipes

[Amyw Profile]

Ah thank you some lovely ideas

[dennispc Profile]

Good role models for plant based eating are people like Djokovic, Hamilton, Smalling and my vegan friend, once of this parish. He recently did a 1000 press ups in 40 minutes and he’s only a few months younger than me - and we’re old! Certainly it’s no barrier to being fit.

Last Sunday’s Observer did a well balanced piece on Veganism - though it got the date wrong about when the word was first used, said it was 1962, in fact it was 1944 by Donald Watson, interesting guy.

[scullion Profile]

Good role models for plant based eating are people like Djokovic, Hamilton, Smalling and my vegan friend, once of this parish.

and roman gladiators - colloquially known as 'bean eaters'.

[Lusciouslush Profile]

Bean Eaters 'r us - Roman Gladiators...……………!! WoooooHooooo………………!

It explains a lot - now - where did I put my sword?!?!

[Pampy Profile]

Just don't stand downwind of them!

[dennispc Profile]

Here's a link to the Observer article I mentioned

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... s-they-say

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Plant-based “steak”.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/j ... k-revealed

[Sakkarin Profile]

Ha! This is the "rare" version of that steak! A slap-up 2oz steak meal. Pea, seaweed and beetroot juice, who'd'a thunk?

[Amyw Profile]

That’s amazing !! I think the best “natural” version I’ve seen is a griddled large field mushroom . Aubergines are quite good too for that meaty texture , not to mention delicious

[karadekoolaid Profile]

It´s precisely the texture which puts me off meat. I hate having to chew so much and it makes me feel sick.
So there´s a product I will definitely not be trying.
And once again, why the insistence on imitating meat if the food is made of plants?

[jeral Profile]

It´s precisely the texture which puts me off meat. I hate having to chew so much and it makes me feel sick.
So there´s a product I will definitely not be trying.
And once again, why the insistence on imitating meat if the food is made of plants?

[my bold]
Two reasons,
- First animal farming is not sustainable when the farmed food input is many times more than the edible output per pound weight of eventual grown animal (statistics aplenty). The writing's already on the wall re diminishing arable land, especially as prophesied climate change flooding might be relatively imminent.

- Secondly, it's big business with big profits. Greggs for example are now so drowned in profits that their workers are each being given a £300 bonus. Almost unheard of for actual workers as opposed to bonuses for the CEO/directors echelon.

The truth is that people don't want to give up eating meat for as long as they can both get it and afford it.

I choose not to eat meat or fake meat but I'm not of the new generation where it has no more connotations than being a simple choice. I.e. If it tastes good, well good enough, why not? Hard to argue with that.

[Amyw Profile]

It´s precisely the texture which puts me off meat. I hate having to chew so much and it makes me feel sick.
So there´s a product I will definitely not be trying.
And once again, why the insistence on imitating meat if the food is made of plants?

[my bold]
Two reasons,
- First animal farming is not sustainable when the farmed food input is many times more than the edible output per pound weight of eventual grown animal (statistics aplenty). The writing's already on the wall re diminishing arable land, especially as prophesied climate change flooding might be relatively imminent.

- Secondly, it's big business with big profits. Greggs for example are now so drowned in profits that their workers are each being given a £300 bonus. Almost unheard of for actual workers as opposed to bonuses for the CEO/directors echelon.

The truth is that people don't want to give up eating meat for as long as they can both get it and afford it.

I choose not to eat meat or fake meat but I'm not of the new generation where it has no more connotations than being a simple choice. I.e. If it tastes good, well good enough, why not? Hard to argue with that.

I disagree , if people want to eat meat for as long as they can get it and afford it , then why is there such an upswing in popularity of reducing or eliminating meat consumption ? Even a lot of my friends who I’ve discussed Veganuary with have said they only eat meat 2-3 times a week now . Surely that’s a sweeping generalisation.

I think a lot of people give up eating meat for environmental or animal welfare related reasons , but may still enjoy the taste and texture of meat , hence the “fake” meat products . It Also provides similar offerings if eating with other omni people , so you don’t feel odd man out and you can still enjoy meals you did before just by subbing the meat

[jeral Profile]

I'm not sure which bit you disagree with Amyw. It wouldn't be much of a good forum if we all agreed of course. The stats still suggest that only one in seven favour non-meat, even though that was the figure maybe a decade ago. It's the new version this last year or so of fake meat that's much closer to the real thing (especially red meat) that's triggered a new interest in plant-based alternatives.

As I said, I've no argument with that. However its popularity shows that people haven't "let go" of meat as the fake is often used as the protein star in real meat lookalike dishes so the mindset hasn't changed. Before you take me to task, that it hasn't changed is not a problem to me either. I do wonder why people are happy to eat food that's highly processed solely to emulate something it's not, but it's up to the eaters of it to weigh up the trade-offs.

[scullion Profile]

I do wonder why people are happy to eat food that's highly processed solely to emulate something it's not

that has been going on for centuries - when did you last see a cockentrice in the wild‽