flexitarian, vegetarian, vegan

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Comment by Iona Bayley on November 13, 2009 at 7:54pm

My husband also gets the shock "You Too" comments fairly often.......why people think it's not manly to be veggie I don't understand. We moved from UK (where being vegetarian is pretty common these days) to NZ about 2.5 years ago, and have recently relocated again from Auckland to a rural community. These days we spend quite some time explaining to people why our kids are veggie too. Whenever they get invited over for play dates and tea, I mention they are veggie and *most* people start to look worried....I'm sure they are wondering what on earth to feed them, so I feel obliged to start making some suggestions. All all our lovely new neighbours have invited us to BBQ's......even more tricky when we don't want our veggie food cooked next to meat. I think i'll start taking things with us that can be cooked in tin foil.

And as for definitions of who we are.....well I always consider us as vegetarian as although we eat free range eggs, honey and some dairy we don't kill animals to obtain these...at least not in a direct sense. When I tell people I am vegetarian I always get asked "do you eat fish?"....surely then I'd be a piscatarian? Although in an ideal world it would be lovely to go fully vegan, many of the alternatives to leather shoes and wool products are not particularly environmentally friendly. I haven't yet seen a pair of hemp shoes that would be suitable for smart business wear, only manufactured plastic based ones.

Comment by Barb Cuttance on October 20, 2009 at 11:32pm

Raw Vegan Pot Luck at Barb, Suzanne and Anne's place - 6 Grant St, Mt Albert, Auckland. 5pm Labour Day Monday October 26th...please come and enjoy. Bring a plate of lucsious raw vegan food, plate and eating utensils.....

Comment by Janet Byers on October 15, 2009 at 11:26am

Hi Kate and Robbie - thanks for the comments and definitions. I guess it's a continuum isn't it, and I'm not yet at the end where I don't wear leather etc. Have to agree with you Kate, a lot more explaining has been necessary since we moved from Christchurch to rural Northland about us not eating meat, and often my husband meets even more incredulity - "You TOO!"
I even had a local dining room manager argue with me when I complained after I found bacon in my salad - he said I should have said I was vegetarian. My argument was that it should have indicated on the menu that it contained meat, their responsibility not mine. I said too many people don't eat meat these days for hotels and restaurants not to be taking notice. He just looked shocked, and I wondered if we were the only people in the Hokianga who have said publicly that we don't eat meat :-)
What I don't do is judge what other people do, or tell others what they should or should not eat. This is my choice, not my religion and I don't preach about it, even though I have been verbally attacked (maybe too strong a word) for my views and choices.
Forgot to mention garlic when I wrote last night Robbie, I think there is no such thing as too much garlic, I grow it round my fruit trees and roses, as well as in many patches in the vege garden. Ours didn't do well last year and we are buying all we are eating this year, but we have about 200 bulbs growing nicely. Not enough yet for all the fruit trees, but this garden is only two years old, and there will be more next year. It's difficult isn't it when circumstances like your hedge mean a whole year of growing is affected to some degree or another. All the best with getting in some veges of your own this winter.

Comment by KATE MORONEY on October 15, 2009 at 9:20am

Hi Janet & Robbie,
Having been brought up not eating any meat or fish but dairy and now eating dairy & some fish I find the conversation of what we 'are' interesting! Being a no meat eating person in a rural community in NZ is an eduaction for those around me and I love the look of bafflement & shock when I tell people I don't eat meat or chicken.

Comment by Robbie Deighton on October 15, 2009 at 3:01am

Hey Janet,

I just put some definitions above to clarify things a bit. Brassicas are indeed a good thing to sow or plant in the autumn or early winter as well as garlic. I'm in the process of getting rid of a tall 8m high hedge so i'm not planting anything at the moment. The falling trees would only crush everything :(

Comment by Janet Byers on October 14, 2009 at 11:16pm

Hi
Peter, I get miner's lettuce seeds from Kings seeds, their catalogue is online, www.kingsseeds.co.nz and I grow buckwheat also from them though I'm not sure if buckwheat lettuce is something different.
Robbie if you're in the Northern hemisphere coming up to winter you might be able to plant brassicas, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflowers now, as long as they have time to establish before it gets really cold.
I think we often crave what our bodies need, and I eat greens most days, often mixtures of whatever is ready - at the moment it is silver beet (chard), kale, cabbage, the last of the broccoli, steamed with a little sesame or olive oil and chopped onion or garlic, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds at the table.
I'm not sure what flexitarian means, but after more than 30 years of not eating meat I get a bit prickly when people assume that I'm vegetarian - which I'm not; I eat eggs and honey, a small amount of dairy (not via Fonterra products) and some fish. I will sometime stop eating fish, and will still not be a vegetarian. To my way of thinking there isn't really a difference between vegetarian and vegan - if one doesn't live entirely on vegetarian foods one isn't a vegetarian - though I know I'm possibly a minority of one here. This is a rant but I feel quite strongly about it as I keep pointing out that honey, eggs, chicken, fish, dairy, are not vegetarian foods :-)

Comment by Barb Cuttance on September 6, 2009 at 8:23am

Hi Peter,

You can grow buckwheat lettuce from the buckwheat that you can purchase from a wholefoods shop and the miners lettuce I got originally from a punet of Weathershield seedlings I brought from Huckleberry Farms Wholefoods here in Auckland but I believe you can mail order them from http://www.ginnysherbs.com/ Happy gardening

Comment by Robbie Deighton on September 6, 2009 at 1:21am

I have just been to the head office of the company I work for which is situated in Cincinnati. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of vegetarian and even vegan options they have over there compared to Belgium!

Comment by Peter watson on September 5, 2009 at 8:04am

Barb,
Where do you source your miners lettuce and buckwheat lettuce, as I'd like to try them

Comment by Robbie Deighton on August 21, 2009 at 9:56pm

Thanks for those links Barb. Sorry I was so slow to reply, I was in Britain visiting family and attending a wedding last week.

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