I’ve been predominantly veggie/ pescetarian for the majority of my life now, but switched to 100% Vegan in 2021.
My earliest memory of eating meat was as a child having a weekly “meat and potato pie” at my Grandma’s house, which I used to enjoy, but never had any concept of what was in it.
As I grew older and began to understand what meat actually was, the texture and taste of meat started to be really off putting to me. Much to the delight of my parents, I would consistently refuse to eat the meat part of the meal, which would either be successful, or I would be made to eat at least part of it.
If it popped into my head what the animal was, it made me feel sick and I couldn’t eat it. I was always paranoid about finding gristle, or a chewy bit in the food, as this would make me feel sick as it would jump into my mind what it is I was eating.
This wasn’t specific to meat, I couldn’t eat “meaty fish” like a Tuna steak as it reminded too much that it was an animal. Under no circumstance could I eat a fish if it was presented to me as whole fish, or if I found a bone in a fish I was eating. It would immediately make me feel sick and I couldn’t finish it.
I would happily eat fish like Salmon fillet’s or Chippy tea, as it didn’t feel like an animal to me, and I didn’t give it a second thought. Same went for things like Gravy.
As I got older I started to make my own food, and was able to cut out eating meat, but would still eat meat gravy at family meals as I would be able to not think about it as being meat.
However things changed for me after watching Seaspiracy in 2021. I’d watched similar documentaries about the meat industry, but as I still ate fish, this one really hit home for me.
I’d never really given much thought about the environments or conditions the fish I was eating were in, as they were supposed to be “healthy” and “good for you”. It made my stomach turn seeing the chemicals being put onto them, and the horrible lives and conditions they were in. I made the decision after watching Seaspiracy, that was it, I was going completely vegan. I could no longer decompartmentalise certain foods as being ok and not others.
I have a big sweet tooth, and used to absolutely love cheese and eggs, and not having these have been the hardest part of my vegan journey. However, even the past twelve months alone, I have seen a massive increase in the number of desserts and cheese coming to the market.
My goal on this journey is to share with people the vast amount of vegan options that are now available. Whether you’re looking to go fully vegan, add more vegan options to your diet, or supporting a partner who is vegan, hopefully Fork The Meat will get you there!