Veggie news and a special offer

I thought I'd post a couple of things which may interest you, if you live in the UK...

National Vegetarian Week runs from the 20th-26th May '13. This year, the theme is Going Veggie – it’s not rocket science, it’s surprisingly simple! so there are lots of  tasty recipes, tips, ideas and events for existing, novice and wanna-be vegetarians. It's also worth taking a look at the but what do veggies eat? gallery with hundreds of everyday food photos, all created by ordinary vegetarians (including me!).

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The V Delicious Veggie Good Food Show  is taking place at London’s Olympia, 7th-9th June '13 . The organisers have kindly offered  free printable tickets to all We Don't Eat Anything With A Face readers, saving you between £7.50 and £10 per person; not bad eh?

V Delicious will be a fantastic event, filled with vegetarian, vegan, ethical living and free-from stalls, product samples, cooking demonstrations, seminars, yoga and much more. The show opening times are as follows: Fri 7 Jun (10am-5pm), Sat 8 Jun (10am-5pm) and Sun 9 Jun (10am-4pm).

Integrity Statement
I did not receive any payment or incentives to promote these events.

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Walkers to add real meat flavourings to their crisps!

News Flash!
According to the Vegetarian Society, from the beginning of February 2013 Walkers Smoky Bacon and Roast Chicken crisps will no longer be suitable for vegetarians as they will contain real meat flavourings.

Walkers have confirmed this on their Facebook page "...As part of our homegrown range, we are indeed making the move to make our crisps more authentic, and the Smoky Bacon and Roast Chicken flavours will now contain real, farm reared 100% British meat."

This is a real shame as they are obviously well aware of their vegetarian customers' needs, after changing the ingredients of their cheese and onion crisps some time ago (to include vegetarian cheese powder). Whether this is simply a publicity stunt planned by their marketing department to cause public outcry, or whether Walkers think this change in ingredients will increase their profits, I will certainly be contacting them to let them know how I feel, and urge you to do the same.

To contact Walkers about this issue, please phone their consumer careline on 0800 274777, email consumer@walkers.co.uk or write to:

Consumer Services Department

Walkers Snack Foods
FREEPOST LE4 918
Leicester
LE4 5ZY

You can also make your point on their Facebook page and on Twitter.

Read the full story here.

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The Midlands vegan festival - a review

I didn't think there were many vegans, or even that many vegetarians in the West Midlands, but by today's turn out at the Midlands Vegan Festival, I must be wrong - the Wolverhampton Civic Hall was packed with people of all ages. There were all sorts of stalls including various animal-welfare and environmental-type charities, cruelty-free products and best of all, lots of folks offering tasters and selling oodles of yummy vegan foods.

There were talks, music, cooking demonstrations, kids activities, a vegan cupcake competition and even vegan speed-dating on offer (I declined visiting the latter!) and it only cost £1 for adult entry - what a bargain!

I visited with Miss Ony, and we spent a pleasant couple of hours at the festival. We both particularly enjoyed Lizzy Hughes' cooking demos and tasting quinoa for the first time.
I hadn't been to the vegan festival before, as I wasn't sure how family-friendly it would be, but I'll certainly go again next year. Pin It

Artificial meat - the end to world hunger....or not?

An article shared by Yeovil and Somerset Vegetarians on my Facebook page, prompted me to write this post. It stated that the Japanese are developing a new meat-like food stuff made with protein from bacteria, extracted from human waste. After reading the article, I had to check the date, to see if it was written on April the 1st!

Then, last Sunday, I read a very interesting, but scary article in the Sunday Times newspaper about in vitro meat (an update from this previous article.)  Apparently scientists have managed to produce small quantities in the lab and think that mass-produced cultured meat could be a reality within the next 10 years.

I was slightly surprised to find PETA are promoting this research, despite their reasoning that in vitro meat could save the unnecessary slaughter of farm animals, reduce carbon emissions and could help tackle famine.

Famine is something that we would all surely like to end. As far as I understand, and I could be wrong, it's known that if the entire world's population turned vegetarian, we would, in theory, all have enough food to eat - Around 70% of the world's agricultural land is currently used to grow food to feed and raise livestock, instead of being used to grow plant-based food for humans. As a bonus, carbon emissions would be significantly reduced, as farmed animals produce approximately 20% of our global greenhouse-gas emissions.

Now, I'm not saying that the world going vegan or vegetarian is likely, or even possible (as this is a totally idealistic argument), but a diet more like that of our ancestors, containing just a little meat or fish along side plenty of plant-derived foods, would surely go along way to feeding the starving millions, and would help to improve the health of people globally.

We already have the option of eating non-meat alternatives such as soya, tofu and Quorn which are all low in fat, high in protein and cheaper to produce than meat - so why do we need a version which contains animal cells? I'll certainly be sticking to my veggie diet, whatever the scientists come up with!

What do you think...are you for or against cultured meats and do you think they could be the answer to world hunger?

Read more about in vitro meat here.  Pin It

Tourism and The Truth

It's not often that I'm glued to the TV, but when I stumbled upon Stacey Dooley's Tourism and the Truth, whilst channel hopping, I was captivated.

The episode I first watched, was about the impact of tourism in Kenya; In the drive to keep holiday costs down, more and more British tourists are opting for luxury all inclusive holidays at a bargain price. As most of the tour operators and hotel owners still want to make a decent profit, they cut costs by paying their staff below the paltry minimum wage, or in some cases sacking their workers without paying them for their labour at all. 

Shockingly, a luxury golf course had been allowed to cut families off from their water supply, by building a wall around to keep the locals out, and a Masai tribe benefited by a mere 300 shillings from 4000 shillings a Western family thought they were paying for traditional Masai souvenirs.

Certainly food for thought if you're considering such a holiday.

If you have a spare hour, please do watch it on BBC IPlayer, and let me know what you think. Pin It

No child born to die

Miss Kahonie, aged 10

Wendy from Inside the Wendy House tagged me in this potentially life-saving meme. It took a while for me to write this post, as it's one that means a lot to me, but here goes...

Maggy at Red Ted Art and Josie at Sleep Is For The Week are currently promoting the Save The Children “No Child Born to Die” Campaign, which was launched earlier this year. Since reading about the campaign, I've found out that 3 amazing fellow bloggers/vloggers (Lindsay Atkin, Chris Mosler and Tracey Cheetham) are all travelling to Mozambique next week, to follow the journey of a vaccine to a rural community. They will be reporting back about their experiences as they meet children and families on their journey. 

I'm supporting this campaign partly as it's such a worthy cause, and partly as my younger daughter, Miss Kahonie contracted meningitis when she was a baby.

I personally find it hard to comprehend why measles and other preventable diseases are on the increase in the UK again. Parents are well aware of the free vaccines available, but they are CHOOSING not to immunise their children.

If only we could have chosen to immunise our daughter against the strain of meningitis she contracted when she was a baby. She would not have had to fight for for her life in hospital. She would not have been studied and discussed by every doctor, nurse and medical student on the ward - whispering to each other and looking concerned, shooting sympathetic glances in our direction. Her tiny veins almost invisible as needles were poked into her for blood test after blood test; Veins nearly too narrow to take a cannula as the life-saving anti-biotics were pumped into her frail body. We wouldn't have had to ask the question every parent dreads and we wouldn't have had to consider how we would cope without her. Thankfully the necessary drugs and medical expertise were available to save her life...but many children around the world are not as lucky as she was.

Miss Ony, aged 12

Now, I know some parents may think the risks of immunisation are too great to consider (due to some pretty dodgy research IMHO), but I'm sure millions of parents around the world, especially those in developing countries, envy the position these people are in. What a luxury to be able to choose whether to immunise and to decide whether vaccination is a risk worth taking or not.

I find it shocking that every year 8 million children under five (around the world), still die from illnesses we know how to treat or prevent, such as diarrhoea and pneumonia. That's like the entire population of New York being wiped out every year.

Look at the self-portraits of my 2 beautiful and talented daughters. Would I still have them both if we lived in the developing world?

Want to try to make a difference and raise awareness of this campaign?You can help to by signing the petition before 13th June 2011, to help persuade world leaders bridge the funding gap and save the lives of millions of children.  I have; Will you?

• Get your child to either draw or craft a self portrait of themselves now or in the future.
• Sign the Save the Children petition and then pass it onto your friends.
• Write a blog post about it as soon as possible, including info about Save the Children and the petition.
• Come back and link up your posts, so we can all share your craftiness.
  If you have time, visit some of the other posts and say hello.

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Vegetarian week challenge

It's National Vegetarian Week next week - the annual awareness-raising campaign promoting inspirational vegetarian food and the benefits of a meat-free lifestyle; I'm doing my bit to promote the event, by setting you all a foodie challenge (whether you're veggie already, or not!)

If you're not vegetarian, I'm challenging you to adapt a meat/fish based recipe to make it vegetarian, by swapping the meat/fish for a meat substitute, pulses, dairy products or just leaving it out and adding extra vegetables.

If you're already vegetarian, I'm challenging you to adapt a vegetarian recipe and make it vegan.

If you don't want to join in with these challenges, but you're featuring Vegetarian Week on your blog, or you have a vegetarian/vegan recipe you would like to share, then please link up too.

Edit - Thanks to everyone who linked up!

Linky posts:
Lynn's Cooking Blog - National Vegetarian Week
Farmer's Girl Kitchen - Butternut Lasagne
Inside The Wendy House - National Vegetarian Week
Peace, Love & Lots of Giggles - I Heart Being Vegetarian
Tofu Fun - End of Days
Gotta Run
Celebrating Mums - Family Vegetarian Recipes
Senses in the Kitchen - Courgette and Feta Bake

Thinking about going veggie? Then the first thing to do is to get your hands on a copy of the Vegetarian Society’s very aptly named – Going Veggie guide, it’s free and brand spanking new. Call 0161 925 2000 or visit www.nationalvegetarianweek.org for a free copy.

Image courtesy of the Vegetarian Society. Pin It

Vegetarianism-ism

Have you ever been a victim of vegetarianism-ism?
Chances are that if you're a vegetarian by choice, then you have. There are laws to protect most minority groups from discrimination, abuse and ridicule (and rightly so) but what about human rights for vegetarians? 

Of course, many vegetarians have dietary requirements related to their culture or religion and they are protected by anti-discrimination laws, but for those of us who choose vegetarianism for secular reasons, we apparently have to put up with derision for our beliefs.

Take for example my daughters Miss Ony and Miss Kahonie; They've been shown pity, ridicule and downright rudeness by their peers and some 'grown ups'...this behaviour has even bordered on that of persistent bullying and I am currently poised to go into school and complain about this. Their peers have told them that they should eat meat and have sneered at their discomfort in defending their beliefs publicly. They've had meat waved under their noses at lunch time, and been told how delicious dead animal flesh tastes. Can you imagine them getting away with pushing drugs or alcohol at school? Well to me, this isn't so different.

Meat is something that I have chosen to do without and have brought my children up accordingly. To us, eating a burger is comparable to eating our pet cat or next door's budgie.Talking of burgers, how come a certain well known burger chain doesn't think that vegetarian kids exist? Come to mention it, Virgin Atlantic don't either.

I've been veggie for around 20 years now and have become used to defending my beliefs and my right to bring up my children on a vegetarian diet. I politely stand my ground and explain that we do not 'miss out' and that there really are plenty more delicious foods than chicken nuggets (the staple food for UK kids, it would seem!) People seem fascinated in what we do and don't eat, and seem to want to try to trick us up. If you're interested, no, we don't eat fish, and yes, we do eat free-range/organic eggs and milk.

 If all else fails, I tell them that we don't eat anything with a face or that we forage in the hedgerows for nuts and berries which normally shuts them up! Goodness knows how much stick we'd get if we were vegans!

If you want support and advice for bring up a veggie family, then try the Vegetarian Society. They have loads of helpful fact sheets, recipes and a forum. Pin It

Zoos - The moral dilemma

To zoo or not to zoo? That is the question!
Miss Ony has had a letter from school about an ahem 'educational' school trip to Chester Zoo and of course she wants to go, as all her friends are going. 

Being a vegetarian, I'm not a big fan of traditional zoos; Partly due to the whole animals for entertainment issue and partly for animal welfare issues. A zoo seems like a bit of a freak show to me..."Hey kids lets go and laugh at the funny animals walking back and forth in their cages enclosures, it's educational you know?" I remember going to Chester Zoo, on an 'educational trip' many years ago, and returning home no more (if not less) educated than I would have been after watching a good natural history documentary.

On the other hand I do see a need to protect and breed endangered species and I applaud their breeding of native species like the hazel dormouse, but is Chester really the right place to be breeding elephants?

I guess I'm a bit of a hypocrite as I've taken the kids to the West Midland Safari Park and we'll be going to Disney's Animal Kingdom later in the year. Somehow, a safari park and a kingdom, sound far more natural and spacious (and less guilt-inducing) places to visit than a zoo!

So, back to my dilemma on the school trip...Mr O is paying for her to go, to keep my conscience clear(ish).

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Vegetarian weaning - first foods

So, weaning's in the news again. Just after we all thought that there was an internationally agreed 'official' recommended age to wean, the blooming scientists have gone and changed their minds!

When my girls were babies, baby-led weaning was unheard of and the recommended weaning age had just gone up from 3 to 4 months. A couple of years later it had jumped to 6 months, making some of us 'early weaners' feel like we'd harmed our babies! Meanwhile nans and grans were still advising to wean at 6-10 weeks and put a bit of rusk or baby rice in baby's bottle to help baby sleep through the night ("Well, it never did you any harm!")

It looks like we all need to follow our own common sense and wean sometime after 4 months, providing baby is showing the signs of being ready to wean: Trying or able to sit up, wanting to feed more regularly, wanting to chew and put toys and other objects into their mouth, and reaching and grabbing accurately. 

Here are a few ideas for first foods, which my kids liked. Cook and puree or leave in chewable chunks depending on the age of your baby and your weaning approach. Add baby rice and breast/formula milk if wanted.

Make up in batches and freeze in little pots or ice cube trays. Transfer into air-tight bags or plastic tubs when frozen, and label. Defrost/reheat as needed.

Savoury
Carrot & potato
Butternut squash & cauliflower
Broccoli & potato
Parsnip & sweet potato

Sweet
Apple & pear
Banana
Peach & pear
Date & apple

For more information and recipes, visit the Vegetarian Society or NHS websites. Pin It

New year's resolutions

Happy New Year!

So it's 2011 and that means resolution time...As my close friends will tell you, I never seem to manage to stick to my resolutions for more than a month, but here goes anyway. As usual I'm thinking that I should try to eat more healthily, especially after seeing my choco-cheesy tag cloud text (on this blog) growing larger each week!
I also want to get fit in preparation for our Disney holiday this summer. When I say want, I actually mean should, as unfortunately, I hate 'official' exercise as I find it sooo boring! I don't mind walking, so long as I have someone to chat to, but the idea of running and getting all hot and sweaty for fun is alien to me...besides, running is bad for the knee joints!

I love this outside gym idea from the National Trust (so much cheaper than indoor gym fees and with much nicer views!), but I think I may just go walking round the grounds with the family, rather than doing the full-on exercise routines in public!

I actually find it much more enjoyable to make resolutions for the rest of the family, although for some reason, they don't seem to appreciate the effort that goes into this! I have decided that Mr O is going to do more some DIY this year, while Miss Ony and Miss Kahonie are going to have to start earning their pocket money. That means keeping their bedrooms tidy, putting their own clothes away and taking turns to unload the dishwasher.
I wonder if their resolutions will last longer than mine?!

Join the blog hop...
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Cloned milk and meat is safe?

So, it's official, the meat and milk from cloned animals is safe! Yipee, the world will be a better place and famine will be a thing of the past...or maybe not!

What actually are the benefits of cloning animals, apart from giving bored scientists something to do? They're initially cheaper to produce, I guess, but surely genetically identical animals will be far more prone to being wiped out by diseases like foot & mouth and BSE, which would have a huge economic impact on farmers. I also wonder what other long term costs to nature and the environment may be seen in the future.

It's up to consumers (and non-consumers!) to make sure that the demand for cheap meat does not lead to the mass production of cloned animals. This might well be a case of shutting the proverbial stable door after the horse cow has bolted though, as apparently cloned meat has already been sold in the UK (by 'accident'). Nice to know that the stringent standards of novel food regulation are in place then!

For more information see the Food Standards Agency website. Pin It

The new look Vegetarian Society website

In case you haven't seen it yet, I thought I'd give a quick plug for the lovely new-look Vegetarian Society website. The site now has a brand new forum, which is open to members and non-members alike, plus the old favourites such as recipes, news, resources and campaigns. 

They have some really useful information for vegetarian parents/parents-to-be, including fact sheets on raising veggie children, from pregnancy to weaning and beyond. If you have any questions from well-meaning family members/friends/health professionals, just hand them a copy to save yourself the bother of explaining that it is perfectly safe (and in fact, healthy) to raise children on a vegetarian diet!

They also have a whole section just for young veggies, which includes recipes, fun stuff and the option to join 2 kids clubs (Twiggy club for younger kids and Team Veggie for tweens and teens.)

I particularly like the look of this year's Christmas Recipe page, which is full of ideas for very posh looking veggie nosh at recession-beating prices! It certainly makes you wonder how restaurants and pubs have the nerve to charge the same extortionately high prices for their sad and uninspiring vegetarian option, as they do for their meat and fish based meals (fancy a festive bowl of soup and veggie lasagne anyone?)

If you haven't done so already, register on the website and pop a post or two on the forum...I have!

Image courtesy of the Vegetarian Society. Pin It

The Marks & Spencer £2 chicken

I was shocked by M&S's recent advertising campaign for their special offer £2 chickens. £2 for a whole chicken, bargain. That's about the same cost as a pack of Quorn mince or an organic butternut squash!

To tell you the truth, I expected more from them. I know they haven't broken any laws or anything, but it worries me that if M&S are going back down the 'cheap meat' route to make a few quid from cash-strapped consumers, we can only expect that the less ethically aware larger supermarkets will follow the trend.

I wanted to know just how concerned M&S are about the welfare of their cheapo chooks, so I visited the M&S website to find out. By reading between the Politically Correct (Plan A) lines, I found out that the slow growing Oakham breed are given a paltry (excuse the pun) 1 metre square of space for every 30kg/66lb of live poultry. Now, maths isn't my strongest subject but that doesn't sound like a lot of room to stretch their redundant wings and their oh-so-tender legs.
I reckon, assuming that the live weight of a mature (ready-to-eat) chicken is 6lb, that's equivalent to 11 chickens per square metre. Cosy!
Don't worry though, they have straw bales to perch on. Pin It