Vivid Food&Drink June 2004

life expectancy. So it is no surprise that over 2,000 people are turning vegetarian every week in Britain, for instance.

Turning vegetarian is actually a very easy and painless thing to do, by just cutting out meat and fish. There are many types of vegetarianism, as you will find out if you ever try and book a vegetarian meal on an aeroplane - you'll be asked if you want lacto vegetarian or lacto/ovo vegetarian or strict vegetarian or vegan, as some include fish, some eggs and some contain dairy products. I say ëWhatever suits you is fine'. Those who eat no animal products at all are called vegans. I do not eat meat except for fish and I eat a small amount of dairy produce, so I cannot really call myself a true vegetarian.

For me it was a natural progression: I grew up not really liking meat and eating very little and when I was older I decided that I would eat chicken and fish only, and some years ago I cut out all meat except fish because I didn't like the taste any more.

There are many reasons for becoming a vegetarian. Here are just a few:

1. Cruelty to animals ñ animals are kept in cages and they are overfed.

2. Animals are given antibiotics all their lives ñ in some countries this is banned.

3. Antibiotics are transferable to humans ñ antibiotics kill your immune system.

4. Animals are fed with animal feed: have you seen cow's grazing on green grass?

5. Animals do not have a long and happy life ñ for example, the normal lifespan of a chicken is 5-7 years but the ones that end up on your plates live for seven weeks.

Have a look at www.justeatveggies.com for more shocking information about how animals are really treated and for more reasons for becoming a vegetarian.

Refusing to eat animals refers to more than just the cooked flesh that ends up on dinner tables at homes and in restaurants. Food producers use animals to make a whole range of products, so it is important to check labels before buying what you think might not include animal products. Make sure you check the labels for hidden meat byproducts, such as the following:

ANIMAL FAT, SUET, LIPASE - A meat byproduct found in biscuits, cakes, pastries, chocolate, ice cream and margarine.

COCHINEAL/CARMINE (E120) - Crushed insect carcasses that produce the red colouring in sweets and cakes.

GELATINE - Boiled bones, skins and tendons found in jellies, jams, yoghurts, sweets, trifles, marshmallows, nougat and vitamin capsules.

GLYCERINE - Often comes from animal fat, and used to make chewing gum.

RENNET - Enzymes from cattle's stomachs found in cheeses.

ISINGLASS - Fish swim-bladders found in beer and wine

SHELLAC (E904) - Insect secretion often used as glazing for vitamin tablets, sweets and fruit.

Furthermore, food producers (and, let's face it, many ordinary meat eaters) like to spread the myth that vegetarians don't get enough protein. There is no need to worry that you are not getting enough protein. Protein needs are easily met by a balanced diet. There are plenty of foods that have protein in them such as tofu, rice, beans, pulses, nuts, whole grains, sesame seeds, soya milk, tahini, humus and bean sprouts. There is even protein in potatoes!

To get started I suggest you buy a couple of vegetarian cookbooks and try out a few of the recipes. It is also not difficult to adapt your favourite recipe that used to contain meat, as there are meat substitutes available. Soya mince is a great alternative to meat mince; you can find it almost everywhere and it is so easy to use. Pour the amount you are going to use into a container remembering that the mince swells to nearly twice the size, add boiling water and some Marmite, Vegemite or Promite or a vegetable stock cube if you want a bit of flavour. If you haven't got the time to do that just pour the mince into the sauce and it will swell in the sauce too. With the soya mince you can make lasagne, spaghetti bolognaise or Mexican fillings, for example.

At the market where I live in Limassol, Cyprus, you will be happy to know that there is quite a good choice of vegetarian convenience foods such as sausages, mince, and ëchicken' pieces! You will find them in the freezer section at most supermarkets. I can only really find two brands that have a small selection of things: Linda McCartney brand sausages, mince (which to me tasted a bit to much like lamb), pies, burgers and lasagne. There is another brand called Quorn producing sausages, ëchicken' pieces and mince, made out of a mushroom protein. You can also find dried soya mince everywhere to which you just add boiling water and then use as ënormal'.

that the red liquid that soaked through those foam trays was actually blood.

My earliest flicker of comprehension came when my goldfish Squirmy died. I loved that fish; I'd had him for a long time, by goldfish standards, and I had a gut feeling that there was some connection between my beloved childhood ìpetî and the fish sticks in our freezer. I refused to eat them after he died, but somewhere along the way my resolve faded. The idea of eating Squirmy was repugnant, but I consumed his brethren with a clear conscience.

My ìepiphanyî came right after high school. I was looking at ìjunk mailî from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the organisation where I now work. At the time, I hadn't even heard of PETA, but the horrendous stories and stomach-churning photos of animals on factory farms broke my heart.

One story in particular moved me to tears. It was about a cow who was so sick and injured that she couldn't walk off the transport truck at the stockyard. Stockyard workers beat and kicked her and used electric prods to force her off the truck. Eventually, they tied a rope around her neck, tied the other end to a post, and drove away. The cow was dragged along the floor of the truck and landed on the ground. Her hind legs and pelvis were broken.

She was left bellowing in the hot sun for hours. She tried to drag herself to a shady spot, but couldn't make it. Stockyard employees wouldn't give her any water, but a local animal rights activist, who had been contacted by a woman who witnessed the incident, gave her water and called the police. Unfortunately, they were no help.

The stockyard operator claimed that he would kill the cow, but only if the activist left. She did, but returned an hour and a half later to find the stockyard deserted. The cow was still alive and being attacked by three dogs. Her water had been removed.

The activist contacted the state police and four officers arrived. One wanted to shoot the suffering cow but was told that a veterinarian should kill her. The veterinarians at the stockyard insisted that, in order to preserve the meat, the cow could not be euthanised. A butcher finally shot the poor animal later that night.

I swore off red meat after reading that terrible story. Soon after, I stopped eating chickens and turkeys and sea life. These animals aren't as familiar to people as dogs and cats, or even goldfish, but they can feel pain, love, happiness, fear, and loneliness, just the same.

Most animals on factory farms never feel the grass beneath their feet, the sun on their faces, or fresh air. They are torn from their mothers, confined with thousands of other miserable animals, fed drug-laden diets, mutilated, and slaughtered.

Fish are squeezed in commercial nets for hours, along with rocks and debris. They undergo excruciating decompression - often the intense pressure ruptures their swim bladders, pops out their eyes, and pushes their stomachs out through their mouths - when dragged from the ocean depths. Many slowly suffocate or are crushed to death onboard, while others are still alive when their throats and bellies are slit open.

Some time after I went vegetarian, I learned - again through PETA literature - that dairy products and eggs also cause animals to suffer. I went vegan. My first meal as an official vegan was steamed broccoli and cauliflower - the kind of meal that ardent meat-eaters think vegans eat every day. But later, I went to a local health food store and stocked up on Not Dogs, Phony Baloney, Soy Milk, veggie burgers, Egg Replacer, non-dairy ìice creamî sandwiches called Tofutti Cuties, and other intriguing foods that I never even knew existed.

Looking back, I'm amazed at the variety of foods I found. This was twelve years ago - when most people thought a vegan was someone with a strange disease or a bizarre religion.

Now that veganism is more ìmainstream,î the plethora of vegan foods available is even more amazing. I used to eat meat and potatoes most every night. It gets pretty boring. Now, I feast on Indian, Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, and other ethnic foods. Vegans just aren't as afraid to try new things.

I encouraged everyone I knew to go vegan. A local grassroots group I joined, Maryland Animal Advocates, decided that footage from slaughterhouses would help us persuade others. Posing as interested college students, we visited a couple of slaughterhouses and meat-packing plants in Baltimore City. We didn't have much luck, but one small kosher slaughterhouse agreed to give us a tour - provided we not videotape. It wasn't even a ìkill day,î but our tour guide rightly reasoned that animal rights activists like to get their hands on slaughterhouse footage.

Inside he showed us the conveyer where the animals are hoisted by one leg and the knife that's used to slit their throats. He described it all very methodically, as if he had hardened to talking about the torture and deaths of countless innocent animals. He told us that many of his employees quit after just one day and some even ran out in the middle of the day. He admitted, without coaxing, that most people would go vegetarian if they saw what happened at a slaughterhouse.

People may say that ignorance is bliss, but I doubt the animals who are confined, tortured, slaughtered, dismembered, shrink-wrapped, and sold in the supermarket, feel that way. I don't. I'm proud to be a vegan.