OPINION: Vhy did ve oust meat, fish and dairy? Not to lose veight, honest!
By Angie Jacobs
It all vegan when we watched a documentary on Netflix called Vegucated. It followed three meat and cheese loving New Yorkers who agreed to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks. “We could do that”, I challenged my ‘I like a bit of bread on my butter’ husband, Tony. “We could do it while the kids are away in August, just for the two weeks, obviously” I continued. “Ok,” he replied, “but can we still have chicken on a Friday night?”
As with making other lifestyle changes, it’s always a good idea to tell people you are doing it. You feel committed and less likely to wimp out. I opened my big gob, both on Facebook and in real life. When people asked why we were going vegan for two weeks, I explained about the positive effects on our health, the peace of mind of knowing that no animals were killed to feed us and the reduction, however small, our efforts would make to the carbon footprint. When people asked Tony why we were doing it, his answer was more simple: “Angie thinks she might lose weight.”
I do love my food. As a family, we’re all about supper. I love cooking, too, and this challenge would be about making more recipes from scratch rather than getting processed convenience food out of the freezer.
What’s more, I had a week off work so could have some really quality time with my new vegan cookbooks that I had bought from Amazon with my birthday money. (Don’t tell my mum. Ever since I can remember, the cheque has been given to me with the words: ”And get yourself some new clothes!”).
But before I started cooking, I turned to Facebook and made a page called “Angie & Tony – The Vegan Fortnight.” As is always the way, I found myself far more amusing than my readers and spent lots of time answering my own requests for famous vegans. Quinoa Reeves, I quipped, Kale Machlachlan, Lasoya Jackson, Nut King Cole. I moved on to songs: Pearl Barley’s a Singer (Elkie Brooks), Pasta Duchie on the Left Hand Side (Musical Youth) and Love Me for a Raisin (The Osmonds). No? Them neither.
So back to the gig. How difficult could it be? I mean, as Jews we’re used to all this dietary regime stuff. Veganism would be just like eating constant parev … oh, but no eggs, ouch. In fact, it would be a little like an inverse Pesach (okay, so potatoes sit in both camps).
Indeed, the night before the challenge was a bit like erev Pesach, with lots of yogurt and cheese finishing off.
It was a tough job and we had to do it.
The day arrived and we kicked off with cereal and that nice coconut milk we’d had at the V Delicious Day at Olympia. Hmmm, it tasted different. I’ll have cheese on toast instead. Er, no. Eggs?
Breakfast really was rather tricky and ended up with toast and non-dairy spread – every day. But I got into my stride for lunch and supper and with the help of my recipe books, made some top nosh.
So what did we eat? It’s got nothing tofu with you. (Sorry, that was meant to be a joke). Tofu, despite having a bad press, is really quite good when it’s part of a Thai curry. We made our own paste using fresh lime juice and basil and it’s even been eaten without complaint by our offspring since we’ve been carnivorous again.
Homemade mushroom burgers have also gone down a treat as have lots of interesting grainy salads. Freekeh, bulgar, spelt and couscous. Who knew?
And what of my chicken loving husband? He didn’t get his roast, but there was some fowl play. Despite having parev chocolate in the house, he still took a packet of Maltesers up to bed with him every evening.
I felt like a woman cheated. His defence was that it wasn’t a religion and he could do what he wanted. I let him believe it.
We broke it after 13 days as the kids were home from their vegetarian camps and chalisching for a bit of flayshik. (Also, our butcher had thrown in a piece of lamb with a deal on a barbecue won in a competition, but that’s another story.) A moral, moral victory.
Did I lose weight? Did I heck.
After all, nobody said you can’t have wine and tortilla chips.
One more famous vegan? Sean Bean.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
