A recipe for roasted Chinese pork belly. We know raising meat has an impact on the planet. But plant-based alternatives aren't providing the satisfaction the eater is looking for.
Nov 2, 2022·edited Nov 2, 2022Liked by Julia Watson
So much in this article with which I agree, particularly as regards farming methods. The only reason farming has become bad for the environment is the exponential growth of monocultural farming since WW2. A return to mixed farming would do the land and the planet a world of good. As for converting us all to vegetable-eaters ... just another form of monocultural production, I'm afraid! I do eat some vegan/vegetarian dishes, but from choice, as a pleasant occasional alternative to meat, not from some desire to 'save the planet' - a manifest waste of time, the planet can look after itself, it's humans we should be worrying about! And perhaps if the zealots were less righteous about the whole thing, more people would try plant-based meals.
You make a good point about converting us all to vegetable diets is just another form of monoculture. And that the planet will survive our current farming policies and it's us who won't. That mixed farming is the way to go seems increasingly to be the line of farmers who make their views known.
But YOU have taken the trouble to open a random newsletter among a million others, and read and considered it, and taken the trouble to form a response. It's me who is really impressed and touched by that.
Thank you! I've only had a couple from you so far, as I haven't been with you for long, but I've found them interesting, informative, and (an increasingly rare thing, nowadays), well-written.
Don't forget about seitan! It's been around for centuries and is the perfect meat replacement in filler terms although not great for coeliacs or actual protein. But I used to frequent a Chinese restaurant in Oxford that had two menus, one normal and one all mock meat from seitan and it was fabulous! I've tried all of the fake meats on the market and they're rubbish. The only one I like is called Incogmeato, and I only like them for the pun, not the flavour.
I've eaten seitan quite a bit - one of those ingredients like tofu that depends on the cooking method and depends on a sauce to gain personality. But I'm a big fan of most sauces and its texture makes a nice change from tofu. I'd rather eat either of them than the current fake meats I've tried. I hope that's not thoughtless bias. I wonder how we'd fare in a blind tasting...
I don't think it's thoughtless at all! Tofu and seitan have been around for millennia, feeding a substantial amount of the planet (a not insignificant chunk of whom have above-average life expectancies...). If the various forms of fake meat are still around in a century, I'll get someone to wave a hat in the general direction of my skeleton's mouth.
So much in this article with which I agree, particularly as regards farming methods. The only reason farming has become bad for the environment is the exponential growth of monocultural farming since WW2. A return to mixed farming would do the land and the planet a world of good. As for converting us all to vegetable-eaters ... just another form of monocultural production, I'm afraid! I do eat some vegan/vegetarian dishes, but from choice, as a pleasant occasional alternative to meat, not from some desire to 'save the planet' - a manifest waste of time, the planet can look after itself, it's humans we should be worrying about! And perhaps if the zealots were less righteous about the whole thing, more people would try plant-based meals.
You make a good point about converting us all to vegetable diets is just another form of monoculture. And that the planet will survive our current farming policies and it's us who won't. That mixed farming is the way to go seems increasingly to be the line of farmers who make their views known.
I love the way you take the trouble actually to reply to comments!
But YOU have taken the trouble to open a random newsletter among a million others, and read and considered it, and taken the trouble to form a response. It's me who is really impressed and touched by that.
Thank you! I've only had a couple from you so far, as I haven't been with you for long, but I've found them interesting, informative, and (an increasingly rare thing, nowadays), well-written.
Don't forget about seitan! It's been around for centuries and is the perfect meat replacement in filler terms although not great for coeliacs or actual protein. But I used to frequent a Chinese restaurant in Oxford that had two menus, one normal and one all mock meat from seitan and it was fabulous! I've tried all of the fake meats on the market and they're rubbish. The only one I like is called Incogmeato, and I only like them for the pun, not the flavour.
I've eaten seitan quite a bit - one of those ingredients like tofu that depends on the cooking method and depends on a sauce to gain personality. But I'm a big fan of most sauces and its texture makes a nice change from tofu. I'd rather eat either of them than the current fake meats I've tried. I hope that's not thoughtless bias. I wonder how we'd fare in a blind tasting...
I don't think it's thoughtless at all! Tofu and seitan have been around for millennia, feeding a substantial amount of the planet (a not insignificant chunk of whom have above-average life expectancies...). If the various forms of fake meat are still around in a century, I'll get someone to wave a hat in the general direction of my skeleton's mouth.