In this blog post, we’ve teamed up with our friends at the Vegetarian Society to bring you the reasons we think you should (at least try) changing to a veggie diet this year.
This post also contains some delicious recipes you can try at home to make things a little easier. A lot can even be recreated with some of the tree gifts you can find at Tree2mydoor.
So, if you want to see our top 3 reasons to switch to a vegetarian (or vegan) and try some cooking of your own then you’re going to love this guide.
Let’s get started!
1. It’s better for the environment.
Climate change is at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Each day brings to light a new issue showing just how much we take the planet for granted. We pump harmful emissions out into the air and use precious resources wastefully.
Swapping to a plant-based diet is much less harmful to the environment and not only saves on water but also on emissions.
Studies have shown that changing to a vegetarian diet results in 2.5 x fewer carbon emissions than eating a regular meat diet. Over a full 12 month period, this saves the same amount of emissions as taking a small family car off the road for 6 months! [1]
The Vegetarian Society have started their own campaign - Eat to Beat Climate Change. You can pledge to help and eat to beat climate change and even opportunities to host your own vegan bake sale. Find out all the details on their site and join in!
2. It’s fantastic for your health.
Not only will the environment be thanking you, but your body too. Eating less meat has been linked to a reduction of illnesses including cancer and heart disease. Losing weight and keeping it off is another benefit of changing to a healthy, balanced veggie diet.
A healthier population brings with it an economic bonus. Research has found the NHS are estimated to spend up to £6 billion on diet-related health issues each year. [2] As the trajectory of this is set to increase, if the population were to change to a healthy, vegetarian diet then this could drastically decrease the current spending within our healthcare.
3. It’s a wonderful way to experience a wide array of delicious and colourful fruits and vegetables.
A vegetarian or plant-based diet doesn’t have to be boring, so here’s where we come in to help. Experience the delicious world of vegetarianism with us in these mouth-watering Vegetarian Society recipes.
We’ve grabbed 3 of our favourite recipes from the vegetarian society’s recipe collection. Each one is filled with an abundance of flavours and can even be made from the produce of some of our very own tree gifts.
1. The Fruit and Nut Salad with Chilli and Lime is sweet and zesty with a kick.
Use fresh crop from your fruit and nut trees to create a perfect starter for a dinner party or light lunch.
(https://www.vegsoc.org/recipes/fruit-and-nut-salad-with-chilli-and-lime/)
2. For a main, try a lemon and lime dahl, a popular heartwarming dish with lentils - simple, healthy and packs a punch with flavour.
Zest and juice the fruits from your lemon and lime trees for the zingy flavour.
(https://www.vegsoc.org/recipes/lemon-and-lime-dal/)
3. To wash it down, a smoothie with orange and mango.
Grab yourself a mango from a local shop and pluck some fruits from your orange tree. A delicious breakfast smoothie or a sweet treat to take on the go. (https://www.vegsoc.org/recipes/sunshine-smoothie-with-mango-and-orange/)
Let us know if you try any of the recipes we’d love to see your recreations.
[1] The United Nations Population Database [Online]. Available at: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/
[2] Public Health England (2017) Health matters: obesity and the food environment. [Online]. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-obesity-and-the-food-environment
