The L-Plate Vegetarian

V is for Victory, Vitamins, Variety and Vitality!

Congratulations on your fantastic decision to be vegetarian and welcome to the wonderful world of healthier, cruelty-free, environment-saving, people-protecting living! You’ll never be the same again! For a start people you know will suddenly all become experts on nutrition, health, evolution and biology. People who can’t change a plug or program the video will now feel qualified to inform you, with total conviction, that you are crazy because humans need to eat meat to live and it’s unhealthy to be a vegetarian. They couldn’t be more wrong of course, and if you arm yourself with copies of the Viva! Guides you’ll have all the information you need to keep them quiet!

There are 17 Guides in all, stuffed full of essential and interesting facts on vegetarian and veganism. For example, Guide 1, Nutrition In A Nutshell and Guide 7, Your Health In Your Hands explain why a vegetarian or vegan diet is the healthiest to choose. And if you’re sporty, whether you’re an athletic winner or a tiddlywinks star, Guide 4 The Food of Champions shows you how a veggie diet can equal physical perfection. Guide 6, Fruits Of The Past gives you the evolutionary background to our diet – yes we are actually descended from vegetarian ancestors, so if anyone tells you you’re meant to eat meat, they just don’t know their onions! On a different note, Guide 5, Martin Shaw Cooks Veggie is packed full of delicious recipes as quick and easy to rustle us as a piece of (veggie) cake! However, if you like to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible, don’t worry, just read on…

Despite being such an important step for humankind and animal-kind, becoming vegetarian will be a short and simple step for you – no matter what your background. The L-Plate Vegetarian is designed to prove that you don’t have to spend hours searching for appetising food, or slave over a hot stove for ages preparing it! This is not a recipe book (there are hundreds of those already available; for a great selection see Viva!’s Books For Life catalogue) – instead this is a guide to masses of ideas for scrumptious, quick and nutritious lunches, evening meals and ready-made foods.

Nearly everything mentioned is available from at least one of the main supermarkets such as Waitrose, Tesco, Co-op, Safeway, Sainsburys, Asda, Marks & Spencer etc. The foods named are only suggestions – supermarkets change their products quite often so have a scout around your local shops and check the packaging for meals which are ‘Suitable for Vegetarians’. Most supermarkets and food manufacturers print this information on the packaging, or use a vegetarian symbol (usually either leaves or the letter V) so you can see at a glance whether the product is vegetarian or not. It’s also worth checking out your local health food shop, most towns have a Holland & Barrett or independent shop and there will be lots of interesting things available here that you won’t find in the supermarket. In some health food shops Viva! supporters get a discount too. So join Viva!, check out our discounts list, then just present your supporters’ card and a winning smile at the counter!

In a nutshell being a vegetarian is about saving animals and the planet. It’s also about having tastier, healthier food that can be simple, quick to prepare and tempting to even the most hardened carnivore. So, have fun eating your way through The L-Plate Vegetarian!

Next Section: What’s a veggie?