WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT A PLANT-BASED DIET?

Recently I read that the most Googled word of 2019 was SUSTAINABLE. This could be considered good news if we take it to mean the majority of people (with access to the internet) are concerned about sustainability and/or the climate crisis. Well perhaps concerned is too strong, but certainly interested enough to look it up? Let’s lean towards the positive and say it’s definitely good.

This got me thinking about other words and phrases that I’m hearing more frequently in conversation. Some aren’t new per se, in fact, they’ve been around a very long time just not used as often as they are now. In many ways, this denotes the growing importance of the subject to the wider population. “Vegan” is an excellent example of a word I hardly ever heard five years ago that I now read in the press almost every day. Hello Joaquin. Dating back to the early 1940’s veganism is hardly new yet the practice wasn’t exactly popular indeed most people thought veganism was some kind of weird “hippy dippy thing”. I get that, I was called a hippy for twenty years because I believe the environment is more important than the economy. Funnily enough, nobody calls me a hippy any more now that the environment is at the top of every decent politician’s agenda.

So it goes, as topics grow in popularity we see new words created to form an entirely new language. Designed for inclusion, woke words like *cisgender become part of the social vernacular. (*someone who identifies with the gender of their birth)

When I notice new words I’m immediately intrigued and want to learn more about the subject, do you know what I mean? In turn, this makes me think, other people must be learning new stuff too. It stands to reason that as a race we are evolving. Expanding our knowledge along with acceptance because you can’t be curious and biased at the same time. Can you? Never the less I firmly believe there are enough of us curious cats on the planet to build a glorious green new world. A sustainable world is one without poverty and prejudice. Another great P word I’m hearing of late is PLANT-BASED.

O.K maybe that’s two words, in any case I’m gonna go out on a limb here, and predict the most Googled word for 2020 will be PLANT-BASED.

Can absolutely anything be derived from Plants?

What is this new phenomenon of everything made from plants and why is it so great? Good question and one I recently asked myself. Not to over-state this but..hell yeah I will! It’s actually utter genius in its simplicity. Basically, any substance derived from plants, without the addition of chemicals, is biodegradable, compostable and completely harmless to humans, animals and the environment. One of the best uses of plant-based material has replaced the petrochemical packaging of popular household cleaning tablets. The old-style dishwasher and laundry tabs are incredibly toxic and poisonous to marine life so if you’re still using them please switch as soon as possible. My personal favourite of the plant-based gloriousness is from the coolest most awesome sustainable, ethical and authentic brand on the face of the earth –  Dropps. Not only the sustainable choice but also great value and convenience by subscription. Both products have incredible cleaning power yet do absolutely zero harm to our waterways. This means marine life is protected, coral reefs are saved from bleaching and us humans aren’t ingesting secondhand poison. There are other brands obviously but Dropps is my fave. Other exciting advances of plant-based products are logistics packaging, cutlery, straws and food packaging.

Yes plant-based everything is the way forward. Designers are currently using science to create plant-based food packaging where you can literally throw your packaging in the compost after you finish eating your take-away. Imagine the scope of potential with this product and what that means to our over-burdened landfill? Not merely reduced garbage but a truly closed-loop where our waste no longer causes Co2 emmissions. WOO HOO IT IS HAPPENING PEOPLE!

Now moving onto the main subject that I’m excited to share with you. It began almost two years ago after we moved to America…

How I slowly transitioned to a plant-based diet

A plant-based diet should not be confused with a vegan or vegetarian diet. The plant-based diet is a loose term for eating mostly whole-foods derived from plants with minimal or no processing. Removing meat altogether is ideal but not necessarily the goal which is ultimately minimising animal products. Personally, I haven’t excluded seafood or cheese and possibly won’t although I no longer drink cows milk, preferring oat or soy milk which is less of a burden on the environment. You could say this is a flexible diet mostly derived from plants. Another way to think of it also happens to be the title of the excellent documentary “Forks over Knives”.

I think the most important point here is not to set any hard and fast rules. While my husband has given up meat entirely, for me it’s more realistic to transition rather than make an immediate switch. This is true for most things in my life and I find it works best because big changes tend to “stick” if I gradually get used to a new way of doing things as opposed to going cold turkey. My experiences with quitting fast fashion and removing single-use plastic from my home are the same. I didn’t one day suddenly stop shopping at Zara, I gradually came to the realisation that I was no longer shopping fast fashion. After months of consciously slowing right down, I came to a very gentle, imperceptible stop. At this point it was incredibly easy to maintain my distance as I genuinely felt pure distaste for the brand…indeed all of them. It was the same scenario with single-use plastic. While I abstain from buying more, I certainly haven’t stopped completely. There are still several food items I haven’t yet managed to find package-free alternatives for but I’m working on it and I’m not berating myself for the times I fail. My philosophy on switching to a plant-based diet is the same – SLOW and steady. If I know all the reasons why I should stop doing something, it’s a lot easier to fully commit.

Although I was eating a little meat, mainly chicken and fish you could say I’ve always been a flexitarian, even before the word was invented. My diet occasionally included red meat but was predominantly vegetables, legumes, fruit and grains purely because I prefer the flavour of clean food. Originally it was a choice that had nothing to do with animal welfare, I was oblivious to the exponential growth of the meat and dairy industry. Admittedly my knowledge of animal torture was limited to the beauty industry and science labs. However, some years ago I became aware of the abhorrent practice of factory farming, the likes of which is described in horrific detail here. Chickens, pigs and sheep are treated like inanimate objects, machines in a factory, used and abused to produce sustenance for us! Naturally I switched to free range eggs and meat right away. Then not long after that I read a disturbing article on industrial cattle farming similar to this one more recently in The Guardian that sickened me to the core. Vile images of animal cruelty and decimated forests are not something I can unsee and I refuse to be the reason for it.  So I turned to organic produce and pasture-raised animals. Unfortunately, free-range farming is akin to boutique shopping, it’s super expensive and not viable for a family of five. My grocery bill skyrocketed, we simply couldn’t afford to buy gourmet groceries every week. The only way forward was to reduce our meat consumption further so I could continue buying from ethical smallholdings. Again, a lot like fashion, buy less and choose well.

The easiest way to wean my children off meat was to gradually reduce the amount I served them. I introduced the children to one meat-free day a week and explained my reasons to them in detail, which was in short – It’s better for your health, better for the environment and better for the animals. To their credit, they agreed without argument. I think they understood the logic after all this subject isn’t entirely new to them. After that it was simply a matter of adding another meat-free day until we were more or less eating meat just two days a week.

Apart from a couple of hiccups when we had visitors from Australia, we were doing great with a limited amount of meat in our diet. I substituted their favourite dishes with meatless options bought ready-made from the supermarket. Winners were plant-based meatballs and soy mince spaghetti bolognaise, there’s even a new meatless burger joint in town to accommodate our plant-based diet when we go out!

Then a few months ago two major things happened that sealed the deal for my entire family, bar none.

The first thing was rather traumatic initially. After suffering dizzy spells my husband was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. Several big-ticket tests by the cardiologist and geneticist revealed absolutely nothing concrete. With no clue as to what caused this disease, the Cardiologist prescribed medication and change of diet. The second thing was a documentary.

My top 3 reasons to go plant-based

1. Improved health – Prevent premature death from heart disease, diabetes and other chronic illnesses related to inflammation. Better digestion, incredible energy, shiny hair, glowing skin, strong nails and clear eyes. Also if you struggle to lose weight, the plant-based diet is a no-brainer. You can stop counting calories and eat as much as you want!
2. Fewer animals are killed and none are tortured – Radically reducing my families meat consumption and limiting what we do eat, to grain-fed, organic and free-range farming means the animals are treated humanely. They get exercise and sun on their backs, dig in the dirt, eat well and nurture their babies. Check the ASPCA certificates to look out for here.
3. Fight climate crisis – A quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food production of which 58% are animal products. 50% of animal emissions come from beef and lamb. Additionally, agriculture accounts for 70% of fresh-water use. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers states that to produce 1kg of meat requires between 5,000 and 20,000 litres of water whereas to produce 1kg of wheat requires between 500 and 4,000 litres of water.

Every day that a person eats a plant-based diet they save 4100 litres of water, 2.8m² of forest, 20kg of grain, 9kg Co2 and 1 animals life.

“The Game Changers” is a game changer

There’s nothing like being diagnosed with potentially life-threatening heart disease to make you reassess your diet. Since Marks overall health is rather good these days, he no longer smokes or drinks and exercises daily, his focus turned to diet. As my husband began to research every aspect of his diet he came across an extraordinary documentary that proved to be the final push we all needed to fully embrace plant-based food.

The Game Changers is a documentary that explains in no uncertain terms, why a plant-based diet is so bloody great. This film however, is not laboriously technical or bogged down with facts, quite the contrary, we were absolutely riveted. It’s an incredibly subtle yet powerful film that has truly changed my life. Moreover, The Game Changers made a huge impact on my husband and my twelve-year-old son. As we all watched the film together, we were completely astounded by what we learned, lots of interesting conversation ensued and even the children were enthralled by what they learned. There is so much to say about the content of this film as it covers every aspect of the impact our food and most importantly, the production of it has on the planet. Do yourself a favour and watch it (on Netflix) whatever way you can because honestly, hand on heart, you will not be disappointed. Even if you don’t decide to go plant-based there is much to learn and appreciate about the global food economy.

Plant-based meals are easy for the whole family

O.K I’m not going to add recipes and meal plans because that’s not what this blog is about but I thought you may find it helpful to know what we eat. In terms of plant-based, it couldn’t be more simple. By substituting beef mince for soy mince or meatless meat or plant-based meat, I make the exact same meals I always have. At the moment I’m experimenting with different recipes as I learn about various substitute meat ingredients however, most supermarkets are choc-full of ready-made options for those busy days when I can’t be arsed to cook from scratch. In terms of ready-made brands,  Beyond Meat has THE best sausages and burgers which taste exactly like meat without that icky animal fat after taste. The protein is provided by peas, mung beans and rice while the “meat” is soy, gluten and GMO free. Here are some mouth-watering recipes from the brand. The only thing that bothers me about this company is the plastic tray packaging for the burger patties. This black single-use plastic tray utterly infuriates me since it’s contrary to the plant-based movement and totally redundant. To be perfectly frank, it boils my blood! Really Beyond Meat? You can do better.

Last but not least, we are a family of bread lovers and still adore our bread. Although white bread is now considered a treat bought fresh from the local baker which means it has nothing artifical and contains only the best ingredients . NOM NOM. That’s it really…Oh and always tonnes of fruit!

Bye for now my eco conscious queens xx

Shirt with tie from DAI | Blazer from Marks and Spencer | Jeans secondhand by FRAME