Why am I doing this? It's not a conscious effort in support of green issues or animal rights or my own health - although, by varying degrees, I think all three are important to me. I just seem to have fallen out of the habit and, I must say, my food shopping bill hasn't scaled the heights it otherwise would have, had I been regularly buying meat to eat at every meal.
Of course, Christmas changes things somewhat: the frequency of eating out and also the pressure to eat meat increases. It can't be easy being vegetarian at this time of year. I remember when, as a student, I was vegetarian proper; everyone just expects you to eat meat at this time of year and if you don't then you are not enjoying yourself. In that Welsh food as a substitute for love culture, vegetarianism can even be seen as subversive: like you're spoiling it for everyone else by insisting on this silly behaviour.
My gran had a hierarchy of meat. Whenever I visited she'd always insist on cooking something for me. On learning that I was vegetarian, she paused for a moment then said, "So you don't want any beef then?" "What about pork?" "Will you try a bit of chicken?" "I got some cooked ham in the fridge?" "Sausages...?" "I think I got a tin of ham in the larder somewhere?" She looked flummoxed each time I refused her offers. When I suggested omelette, she went quiet and adopted a hurt expression, as if I'd told her that I didn't love her anymore.
That was 25 years ago. Attitudes have, no doubt, changed and I am no longer vegetarian. My diet of late, whether conscious or subconscious would not, however, impress my gran, "What about a pasty then boy, that's got potato in it...?"
| Today's run at 08:17 | |||
| Distance | 4.03 km | Time | 23:16 |
| Pace | 5:46 min/km | Cadence | 81 spm |
| Comments: Calm, cloudy and cool. | |||
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