Vegetarian month: ten vegetarian facts

March is Animal Aid's vegetarian month, an opportunity for them to spread the word about the advantages of a vegetarian lifestyle.
I'm not a vegetarian, and I wouldn't presume to tell anyone else that they should or shouldn't be, but here's some interesting facts about vegetarian diets;

1 - There are lots of different sorts of vegetarian diets. A 'true vegetarian', more usually referred to as a vegan will not eat any animal products including eggs, dairy, and even honey; pescatarians will eat fish (and sometimes chicken); lacto-ovo vegetarians won't eat meat but will eat eggs and dairy.

2 - It's not always obvious what is and isn't vegetarian. Most of the meat flavours of Walkers crisps contain no animal products, but, before a recipe change in 2003 the cheese in their cheese and onion flavour was made with animal rennet - derived from the stomach linings of newborn calves. (the mature cheddar flavour crisps still use animal rennet)

3 - Famous vegetarians include Pamela Anderson, Albert Einstein, Shania Twain, Martina Navratilova and George Bernard Shaw.

4 - Vitamin B-12, calcium, vitamin D, zinc, and iron can be difficult to get enough of in a meat-free diet. Nutritionists recommend lots of leafy green vegetables, supplements, and eating a broad variety of food to make sure you also get the right protein in your diet.

5 - Vegetarian lifestyles are associated with a reduced risk of many chronic illnesses, including heart disease, bowel cancer and diabetes.

6 - There are nearly as many reasons to be a vegetarian as there are vegetarians. Some are unhappy that animals die so we can eat them, or object to the treatment of farm animals. Some choose to go veggie to be eco-friendly, because they believe it's better for them, or just because they don't like meat.

7 - Studies have suggested that as much of 10% Americans are vegetarians, and between five and twelve percent of people in the UK

8 - meat substitutes can be derived from a number of sources. Tofu is among a wide selection of soy-based products, Quorn is made with mushroom proteins and buddhist tradition gives us seitan, made from wheat flour. Lentils, chickpeas, beans and pulses are also sometimes used this way

9 - Animal rights group PETA has offered a million dollar prize to anyone who can create commercially viable lab-grown chicken meat by the end of this year

10 - Vegetarian diets tend to be lower in calories and higher in dietary fibre, but if meat and fish have been replaced with lots of cheese and nuts, they can be higher in fat.

As vegetarian month continues, I will be collecting meat-free recipes that work even for fussy meat eaters (i.e. me) so stay tuned!