What happened was that I stayed for a week with a couple of gay friends in their Welsh cottage. I discovered they were both vegetarians and I thought it would be absurd for me to insist on making meat dishes for myself. So I decided to eschew (what a lovely word!) meat for the week.
When I returned home I realised I hadn't missed meat for a second and as vegetarianism was supposedly a healthier diet - and meant not killing animals - I thought I might as well continue to avoid meat.
When I met Jenny, who was a meat eater, and told her I was a vegetarian, she decided to join me. And the rest, as they say, is history. We were (and are) both fit and healthy and never saw any reason for going back to meat.
I'm glad to say I've never faced any active hostility from meat-eaters. In general people accept my meatlessness quite matter-of-factly. The only person who seemed totally bemused by it was my mother. I had to keep reminding her I was a vegetarian as she kept "forgetting". No, mum, I don't eat pork sausages.
So I have Ron and Paul to thank for my conversion 49 years ago.
PS: Researchers at Loma Linda University in the States have shown vegetarian men live on average 10 years longer than non-vegetarian men - 83 years compared to 73 years. For women, being vegetarian added an extra 6 years to their lives, reaching 85 years on average.
Nick, this subject can be discussed for hours. I eat no meat too but I eat once or twice a month fish and I am a big cheese fan ( a good one once a week) and when working and living in foreign countries you have to be polite and sometimes accept food which you would never eat in normal circumstances. We drank animal blood with milk in a Massai tribe in Tansania to be allowed to examinate pregnant women and help them when giving birth. I suppose you shiver.In our daily food vegetables , rice and couscous and many fruits take the largest place. Today on the menu banana curry rice with a lot of different spices and herbs. Simple and yummy.
ReplyDeleteHannah