The day? A sunny Saturday in July
The place? Bettys in York
The reason? To meet up with an old vegetarian friend whom I hadn't seen in 8 years or so ...
I first met her whilst on holiday in Kos in 1987 and we immediately hit it off and saw each other regularly over the next few years. She was a pescatarian at that time but shortly afterwards gave up fish too. As a child she had lived in rural Lincolnshire and was happy to mop up meat blood and juices with white bread - ugh! I'm not sure what made her vegetarian but I'm sure knowing her influenced my decision to become a veggie.
Eating out in the late eighties and early nineties was not easy for vegetarians and we had many a slimy vegetable lasagne over the years but it did show me it was possible to eat meat-less meals. On one occasion we were staying in Aviemore when I decided to extend our break by dropping in on my then pregnant sister. "Could four of us come and stay tomorrow night - oh and one is a vegetarian?" We arrived to the smell of lasagne cooking and settled down to eat. I remember my husband and I looking on in alarm at what we thought were huge balls of mincemeat only to a realise with relief that they were walnuts!
I took the plunge in 1990 and gave up meat and fish completely. After only a few weeks my migraines subsided a little and I felt energised, as if meat had made me sluggish. I think it must have been the sudden change of diet that perked me up but sadly the migraines eventually returned and the energy evaporated!
Around that time I was trying for a baby and, sadly, had many miscarriages. I worried that my diet was contributing and had many tests to try and find the reason. The young registrar looked at my blood test results and pronounced I was the healthiest vegetarian he had ever come across! I am pleased to say that I have since had 2 healthy children.
What is more, I'm actually proud to be vegetarian and so raise a cup of tea and chomp on a Bettys Fat Rascal to my friend of 28 years for showing me the way!
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