There are many reasons to follow the ideals of famous vegetarians like: Alicia Silverstone, H.G Wells, India Arie, Jack Johnson, Jackie Chan, Joaquin Phoenix, John Cleese, Joss Stone, mark Twain, Naomi Watts, Meat Loaf, Moby, Natalie Portman, Isaac Newton, Oliver Stone Pamela Anderson, Price, Ringo Starr, Sade, Sael L Jackson, Seal, Sinead O’Connor, Richard gere Robert Redford, Tracy Chapman, Vanessa Williams, Ziggy Marley, Jennifer Connelly, George Harrison, Lisa Kudrow, Madonna, Woody Harrelson, Albert Einstein, Ghandi, Paul McCartney and Bob Marley.

Many people have already started:

• According to the Vegetarian society there are about 3 million vegetarians in the UK- 5% of the adult population. These don’t sound vast amounts but 3% of the population is 1.8 million. In the last 10 years, the number of vegetarians in the UK has practically doubled.
• You would make a difference: An average meat eater eats 5000 animals in his or her lifetime. And that’s how many animals you can rescue with your decision to become a vegetarian.
• Want to know more?  Check out the vegetarian society for everything you’ll need to know www.vegsoc.org.

Boston burger cow

Feeling hungry and want to try something veggie? Try this...

Red Pepper And Bean Cakes

Ingredients:
- 75g (3oz) green beans, trimmed and roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 red pepper, cored, deseeded and cut into cubes
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 teaspoons mild chilli powder
- 425g (14oz) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 75g (3oz) breadcrumbs
- 1 egg yolk
- Plain flour, for dusting
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- Salt and pepper
Lemon Mayonnaise
- 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
- Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- Salt and pepper

1) Cook the French beans in a saucepan of boiling water for 1-2 minutes until soft but crunchy, then drain.
2) Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and try the pepper, garlic and chilli powder for 2 minutes.
3) Pour the mixture into a blender or food processor and add the red kidney beans, breadcrumbs and egg yolk. Blend quickly until the ingredients are coarsely chopped. Add the French beans and a dash of salt and pepper and blend until the ingredients are just mixed.
4) Pour the mixture into a bowl and divide into 8. Using lightly floured hands, shape into little cakes.
5) Make the lemon mayo by mixing the mayonnaise with the lemon rind and juice and a good dash of salt and pepper.
6) Heat the oil for frying in a large frying pan and fry the cakes for about 3 minutes on each side until crisp and golden.

Stuff these crispy bean cakes into warm pitta bread, dollop on the lemon mayo and serve with salad.

If we all love animals, why do we call some ‘pets’ and others ‘dinner’? Breakfast: Cornflakes, Lunch: Chicken Sandwich, Dinner: Roast Beef with potatoes and vegetables A normal diet? Not for everyone! Ines Kuester gives 6 good reasons to consider a life without meat...

These days it’s common to come across ‘veggies’ and many young people are making the decision early for a life without meat. Some do it for health reasons, many are all too aware of what they’re eating and what that might have caused.  The reality? 1000 million animals are killed each year for food and every animal is capable of experiencing fear, pain, discomfort and distress. If becoming vegetarian has never crossed your mind, it’s likely that you believe certain myths about meat. You might think, our mouth and digestive system is designed to eat meat. You might think there would be too many animals roaming around or just except it’s thought to be necessary, nature and normal to life.

Here’s a few facts that might make you think again…

The meaning of life
Animals die just because they are a component of our diet. They are mass farmed quickly and inhumanly which means unspeakable conditions we wouldn’t dream of seeing our cats and dogs in. Many animals are crammed inside sheds for the whole of their short lives. It’s not the case that they live a long life and are killed when they would die anyway. The only purpose of their lives is our food.

Stunning stuff
Paul McCartney famously said, “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian”. Modern slaughterhouses are killing as many animals as possible in the shortest possible time, because time is money. Animals are killed through stunning or cutting their throats because it’s quick and many who do are paid on ‘piece rate’, that is for how many they kill. We also need to be aware of the implications of our consumption which can endanger the range and variety in the nature. Fish are often caught before they are mature enough to breed, resulting in many species of wild fish being threatened with extinction due to overfishing.

Meat or green?
And it’s not just the animals themselves who are effected, it’s their environment. All the land that’s used for cattle could be used to feed 10 times as many people as can be fed if the available land is used to feed people directly rather than growing crops for animals and killing them for meat. Plant-based agriculture uses much less water, land and energy than animal farming and generates less greenhouse gas. And we’ve all heard of dolphin friendly tuna which became necessary when so many dolphins were (and still are) getting caught and dying accidently in the huge tuna nets.

Omnivores are us So what about the idea that we’re made to eat meat? We can look to our closest primate relatives to answer this one. Chimps have a similar diet to humans and are genetically 99% the same as us so it’s a reasonable comparison. Chimps forage for berries and seeds.  Generally they live as vegetarians, occasional they will eat meet if their diet craves what it can instantly give in turns of nutrition. If they are getting the nutrition elsewhere, they don’t kill or eat meat.  Humans and chimps are both omnivores not carnivores.  We have a choice.

Veggie means healthy
Most people know these days, if only by the amount of celebrities who go veggie or vegan, that a life without meat is almost always a healthier no. No meat means no saturated animal fats that pile on the pounds and increase your risk of cancer, stroke, diabetes and heart diseases. And don’t forget that BSE, foot and mouth disease and bird flu can also infect people and are a result of intensive and unnecessary farming. For those do really don’t think about what they eat, there might be the real but unlikely (unless you don’t eat well at all!) chance of becoming anaemic (Iron deficient). It’s not difficult to get plenty of iron, you just have to eat the right food. The same goes for protein.  Lack of it can make you more prone to some injuries or prevent a teenager’s body developing normally. For more on what foods are good for what check out: http://www.lifeclinic.com/focus/nutrition/food-pyramid.asp

Spoilt for choice
For those who are thinking of switching, there might be a few reasons that are still discouraging you. You might be thinking it could make your life a little more difficult to change your diet. In countries like Britain, Spain, Germany, France and the USA there really are no excuses for worrying as we are fortunate enough to have the most choose of food in the world. There are an abundance of alternatives to eating meat and almost always at least one vegetarian option on a restaurant menu. It’s rarely even a problem explaining why you’re veggie as these days people are used to knowing others who don’t eat meet.  Most people are wise enough to respect your choices because they know you’re old enough to make up your own mind.

So do you still feel comfortable about eating meat?

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