This section of the website is here to make sustainable dietary choices as easy as possible! Transitioning to a more sustainable diet does not mean completely giving up meat and replacing them with salads and chickpeas. It is easy to simultaneously appreciate the role lamb, lentils, fish, tofu, chicken, beans, vegetables and meat substitutes can play in your diet but we must begin to prioritise vegetables and meat alternatives in our cooking.
Foods 'carbon footprint' refers to the greenhouse gas emissions produced during growing, rearing, farming, processing, transporting, storing, cooking and disposing of the food you eat. New reports suggest live-stock agriculture produces 20-50% of all man-made CO2 emissions, with red meats such as lamb and beef producing the most. Eating 1kg of lamb produces the same amount of emissions as driving 91 miles!
One of the best ways to contribute to saving the planet is by changing your diet. Meat lovers possess the highest carbon footprint, producing 3.3 tons CO2e (Carbon Dioxide Equivalents) of greenhouse gas emissions each year. Whereas a vegan diet has the smallest, producing only 1.5 tonnes CO2e annually. Simply cutting down on red meats can cut your carbon footprint by a quarter and a vegetarian diet can reduce it by half.
However, old habits die hard, if you are used to cooking with meat most days of the week transitioning away can seem difficult, vegan and vegetarian meals can appear 'boring' without the inclusion of meat. This is far from the truth and the recipes on this page are designed to inspire your cooking, introducing you to new ingredients and flavours that are fun to cook with.
Furthermore, we understand that asking someone who enjoys cooking with and eating meat to stop doing so and instantly adopt a completely vegan or vegetarian diet is both unrealistic and unnecessary. However, it is essential we all cut down our meat intake, especially red ones. Below is a step-by-step plan to transition to a more sustainable diet, such dietary options are not mutually exclusive, in fact, a variety will make the transition towards vegetarian and vegan choices more fun and more importantly more sustainable. If you are someone who enjoys meat but wants to make a change don't criticise yourself if you crave a burger one day and chose a meat option, you haven't failed. Over time these cravings will become less frequent and you may even begin to crave bean burgers instead!
Finally, it is important to view and appreciate vegetables as unique flavours and opportunities; not as competition to meat. Stepping away from meaty classics to explore the culinary potential of vegetables will not only inspire new meal ideas but also help broaden your understanding of food. So when you occasionally cook with meat you can create exciting new combinations to enhance the flavour and enjoyment of the dish, possibilities not available without first exploring the world of vegetables.