Thinking about changing your diet?
Paul Mace tells his story about why and how he became vegetarian and later vegan (with encouragement from some unexpected quarters...

I became a vegetarian about thirty-five years ago. I was at the time completing an enrollment form to attend a summer school, and during the same week not only saw a TV documentary about factory farming, but had just read a homely little book called 'Akenfield'. This is not a novel, nor is it a book about vegetarianism or animal welfare. It is a book about a Suffolk village (Charlesfield, near Woodbridge)and each chapter is contributed by a different villager who describes their life and work. The chapter written by (or about)the local vet,as I remember,goes into lurid details about factory farming as well as the treatment of mainstream farm animals. I never found out if this vet was a vegetarian himself nor if he was hoping to promote a better deal for animals, but this chapter, as well as the TV documentary brought about my my putting a tick in the box to say that I wished for a vegetarian diet at the summer school.

I thought no more about it until supper time on the first evening of the summer school and had sat myself down at one of the canteen tables. After a few minutes, one of the staff came in an shrieked " 'Oose the vejjitarihan ?" (there was no chance of my being a closet vegetarian). As I had forgotten about having placed a tick in the relevant box, I did not at first respond, and she shrieked the question three times - each time getting louder and each time transposing it an octave or two higher. When I eventually realized that she was attempting to locate me, I put up my hand. At once a lass from Holland sitting next to me exclaimed in amazement "You mean to say that you never eat meat - what on earth do you eat ?" I replied " I have no idea but will tell you in a few minutes" After a stunned silence the Dutch lass asked "Then how long have you been a vegetarian ?" to which I truthfully replied "about three and a quarter minutes"

In those days there were not as many non-meat eaters about as there are now and by the time my special dish appeared, everyone else at the table had become full of curiosity about what I was about to eat. It turned out to be a meat pate look alike but very anaemic in colour. By now all eyes were on me to see how I reacted to my first taste.
"Quite delicious !" I exclaimed. My stage enthusiasm made them ask "but what does it taste like ?" By this time I had become a little carried away by the act, so I told them that it was just like TETRION - the all purpose filler , in those days much favoured by amateur home improvers for filling gaps between walls and window frames. My over enthusiastic act backfired on me as it resulted in everyone wanting to try it. There was none left when I eventually got my plate back.
No-one questioned how I became familiar with the flavour of Tetrion, the all purpose filler as stocked by all good DIY shops, but one old lady asked me if all vegetarians filled the gaps in their stomachs with this versatile product.

As I was committed to being a vegetarian for the whole week of the summer school, it was not difficult to remain so afterwards. The memories of the TV documentary and the vet's chapter in Akenfield remained with me.

Anyone reading this may be surprised to hear that my becoming a vegan came about thanks to a meat eater. Neither my brother nor sister in law (SIL)are vegetarian,let alone vegan but my progression to 'veganity' was very much due to SIL Angela. I have the greatest respect for her. One of her outstanding qualities is her enthusiasm for 100% accuracy - and more than anyone else I know she is a present and past-mistress of calling a spade a spade. There is no chance whatsoever of anyone who has heard her on the subject of spades confusing one of these useful implements with a coal shovel, let alone a pudding spoon. In the course of an evening discussion about animal husbandry she drew my attention to the cruelty in the milk trade.
This was about ten years ago and before the current anti-milk campaign became as widespread.

Giving up milk was no problem as I have disliked it intensely from the age of six. This came about due to being forced to drink some very sour milk while I was evacuated during the last war. When I protested, the good lady directing breakfast from her broomstick told me that I had to drink it "because there is a war on". Even at this tender age I questioned how getting this revolting stuff down me was going to help Mr Churchill. Far better to have force fed it to Hitler. Had I thrown up, it might have contributed more towards a war effort - if only the war which had broken out between me and the lady on her broomstick.

Those reading this may appreciate that the animal welfare movement has progressed some way since I signed up thirty five years ago as a non meat eater at a summer school. Even so animal abuse has been in the news in a big way recently. All in the one week ending October 15th of this year there was the reporting in the Sun Newspaper of the youths who hung a dog from a tree, reports via Compassion in World Farming of live exports to the continent having been resumed, and many of us will have been sickened by the sight on television of large numbers of live birds, prior to being burnt, being crammed into wheeley bins. These sights seem to me to be not far removed from the old films of loading the 'death trains' to Auschwitz. It is clear that animal welfare has miles yet to go.