So this week's big news for vegetarians and vegans has been the shocking announcement that traces of tallow (rendered animal fat) are to be found in the new £5 notes. This has caused outrage with at least one vegetarian cafe refusing to accept the notes. Whilst my personal reason for being vegetarian relates to basically not liking meat, I don't want animals to suffer for the sake of feeding the world. However, the fact that a by-product of the animal is being used in the making of money (quite literally) does not offend me. Having said that it seems odd that, in our world of substituting artificial ingredients to replicate natural ones, we can't find a suitable alternative.
In the soap making world, tallow and lard were often used but now widely substituted with natural palm oil. I wonder if this would work in our Lady Godivas?
Although the production of palm oil is a contentious issue with indigenous people and animals being uprooted as land and forests are cleared for oil palm plantations. This in turn causes many environmental problems.
I don't know what the solution is; perhaps going back to the old notes which have served us so well for many years? Perhaps carrying a bit more shrapnel in our purses?
To my knowledge neither the Queen, nor Winston Churchill were vegetarian so I'm sure they won't mind.
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