Should We Stick to Fruit and Veg?

by Lucy Cole

(source: Daily Telegraph)

For the majority of those out there, the idea of swapping a lump of steak for some carrots is not one that strikes as particularly appealing. As one who has been vegetarian since the tender age of four, I am unable to comprehend the almost infatuation- like relationship that my family and friends have with a piece of cooked dead animal. I have been questioned many times by awe-filled friends as to how I have managed to resist the smell of bacon, or the look of a juicy steak, and listened to their angry protestations when I suggest that they themselves should try giving up meat for a week or two.

However, with the recent horsemeat scandal causing us to wonder ‘what really is in that burger..?’, the faith of meat eaters across Europe has been greatly shaken (although perhaps less so for the French) with sales of frozen burgers dropping almost 50%.  For most we are not affected by the idea of eating horse, but rather by the concept of not knowing what is being put in our food; our trust in package labelling has been destroyed. If manufacturers are putting horsemeat in our burgers, who’s to say the variety of unknown additions isn’t even more colourful…

(source: Wikicommons)

But, in reality, how bothered should we be? Many of us willingly eat Frankfurters knowing that they contain the ‘meat’ left over when every scrap of the pig that can be passed off as quality meat has been removed. Not only that, but they often contain bits of mashed up bone, grizzle, and occasionally even sawdust. Eating meat sounding less appealing yet? Let’s take a look at chicken nuggets, a children’s favourite at MacDonald’s; as demonstrated by Jamie Oliver, a whole chicken (yes that includes bones, eyes, brain etc.) is put through a machine, pulverised into a paste, combined with water, chemicals and preservatives and then covered in bread crumbs. I may be crazy, but I certainly would not choose to be eating those anytime soon.

So, if you are a hard core meat lover, and are totally unaffected by the idea of eating bones, eyes and horsemeat, I wholeheartedly encourage that you finish your steak, or go out and buy yourself a burger. However, if you are now looking doubtfully at your chicken nuggets, unsure whether chicken brain is really for you, I suggest you try the veggie way of life. Whatever your decision, personally I think I’ll stick to carrots. At least when the label says carrot, I know that it’s pure carrot, and not a tomato.