Vegan(ish)

I would describe myself as "Vegan(ish) I sometimes break when it comes to a Cadbury's Creme Egg , but I don't think it needs to be that clean cut! Even by just reducing your meat and dairy, it will have a great impact on reducing carbon emissions. Even choosing chicken meat or other meats which is less impactful on the environment, is a great step towards helping the climate issue. 

I came from a 'meat and 2 veg' family.  It wasn't a meal if it didn't consist of a chunk of meat/fish. My Mum cooked a roast in the blood which always made my stomach churn. We would visit separate butchers and fishmongers so it was very clear what we were buying because the bodies just hung there. 

 At the age of 6 my new friend Zahrain who was from an Indian background spoke to me about how the Cow was holy and that within her religion they didn't eat meat as they saw animals as sacred.
The realisation hit me that we don't need to kill so that we can live! I came home and declared that I was never going to eat meat again and I wanted to become a vegetarian.

This was way before Vegetarian products (such as Linda McCartney sausages) were available and my meals consisted of whatever veg was being cooked that day and a chunk of cheese. I remember going camping with the Girl Guides when my Mum handed my bag over with a massive chunk of cheese saying "This is what Karen will eat."

Eventually my mum discovered the Cranks cookbook. which became a Bible in our house and as a teenager my mum, my friend and I went to an evening vegetarian cooking course at a local college. This really improved my diet and made eating so much more interesting, not just an essential thing to do in life.

As a parent I realised you’re making a choice for your children and we decided that we were going to bring up our children pescatarian as we felt they needed the  fish omegas to develop their brains and bones.  I later discovered that it was not just fish that had these oils, but that you could go straight to the source of what the fish are eating -  Seaweed.

It was a great discovery and something we all love and this meant we were avoiding the excessive mercury that fish has, plus not contributing to the overfishing of our oceans . Whenever possible and when budget permitted we tried to buy organic cheese and milk mainly because we do not want to fuel the intensive farming of animals.

It seemed quite a natural progression from being vegetarian for so long, when reading and understanding so much more about the impact of the dairy industry on the climate and its environmental impact ,to then becoming vegan. 

My 10 year old daughter Minnie decided by herself that she was going to turn vegetarian at 6 years old. Minnie then recently she has decided to become vegan; she said "It's the Bee’s honey, it's the cow’s milk, it's the goat's milk, it's the chicken's eggs. They’re the animals' things so we shouldn't take them away from them. The chicken's eggs could turn into chickens.’’

Minnie says ‘‘Go vegan to save the Planet it's now or never! (drops the mic )"

For more information or /and get involved with Lockleaze Community Climate Action please contact Karen on karen@lockleazent.co.uk Mobile: 07708 471785

- Blog by Karen Edkins Community Climate Action Engagement worker