How does being a vegetarian or vegan impact you?

[CuriousFoodie]

Hello everyone!

I am a new member of the CookingBites community and I am eager to learn new things about the vegetarian and vegan lifestyle! Though I am not a vegetarian or vegan myself, I am curious to understand the impact these dietary choices have on both identity and sense of community, particularly within this forum. I am an anthropology student looking into the topic for a university project and would love to get some feedback! In addition, if you are comfortable, I am looking to interview a few people on the matter so please let me know.


Thank you!

 

[TastyReuben]

Hi, welcome. Though not veg* myself, there are several in my extended family.

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

I'm not a vegetarian, but it can be really hard for some cooks to deliver good quality vegan food. Most of them I met, say something like "aw man, I'm not a vegetarian, I don't know how it should taste". Then they do something with Tofu and pretend to make good quality food for vegetarian people. Stay healthy

 

[Morning Glory]

Unfortunately we have very few vegan or vegetarian regular members. In fact I think there are only two. I'm not vegetarian/vegan but do cook a lot of vegan/vegetarian dishes. I was a vegetarian from age 11 to about 21. My (adult) son when he lived here was vegan so I became quite an expert at how to pack flavour into vegan dishes. These days I eat virtually no meat myself but I do cook it for others.

To cook good vegan food you need to be quite a knowledgeable cook. You also need to have a few specialist cupboard ingredients. Many of these are not cheap. However, since you can save money by not buying meat then it probably works out. I could go on...

Vegetarian food is much easier. The inclusion of cheese and eggs makes a world of difference.