When you make a decision to be a vegetarian, it is a personal commitment and only a personal commitment. No one will ever give you a rule book, a set of principles to sign up to or a set of guidelines to observe. It is completely up to you what you mean by being a ‘vegetarian’. There are no regulations for being a vegetarian.

There are, however, different levels of vegetarianism yet some vegetarians may well debate and even argue that their personal point of view is correct. The strictest form of vegetarianism that you are likely to come across is the macrobiotic diet; then there are the vegans, who do not consume any animal products including fish, eggs and dairy products.

Then there is the majority of vegetarians who will consume fish, dairy and eggs but there are those who do not take fish, some who will drink milk and eat cheese but will not consume eggs and some who do. I even knew a vegetarian who allowed himself one bacon sandwich a month and turkey on Christmas Day (my father) and he thought of himself a vegetarian.

You could assume a mild form or vegetarianism at first but then gradually give up fish and dairy products later as your craving for animal protein diminishes. Or you could jump in at the deep end by going vegan and add fish back in if you find it too hard. You can do whatever your conscience permits you to do.

Let us suppose that you take the mild approach to vegetarianism for a year or two but then make a decision to give up dairy products and eggs. You have now be a lacto-vegetarian. It shows a sympathy for the animals in the dairy but egg industries. Many hens live in appalling battery conditions. In general, cows fare somewhat better, and they still live an unnatural life.

Ovo-vegetarianism is the name give to the diet by which you can keep eating eggs after you have given up meat, fish and dairy products. Ovo-vegetarianism is convenient if you find it difficult to get enough protein into your diet, because you can have an egg for breakfast and be vegetarian for the rest of the day.

Veganism is just about as strict as most people would like to go. Strict vegans do not eat any animal products including honey. Most people find that this is going too far and that it puts unnecessary stress on the vegetarian doing it. After all, a vegan has to know what is in everything he or she eats: each dish, loaf of bread, cake, biscuit and even slushie, in case someone has used honey as a sweetener or animal fat instead or margarine.

Most vegetarians would recommend the slow but steady approach to becoming a vegetarian, because it can become difficult at first and you do not want to put yourself off before you have even given it a chance to benefit you. Keep in mind that lifestyle alterations are always difficult, so go easy on yourself and take your conversion into a vegetarian slowly.

If you would like to read more about Welsh food, food in general or cooking eggs in particular, please visit Traditional Welsh Recipes

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment