With the recent revelation that processed meats cause cancer, the transition to vegetarianism or veganism should be more appealing than ever to the masses.
For students, vegetarianism should already be an attractive prospect, as vegetarian meat substitutes such as Quorn are cheaper than buying meat products. You can choose to forego the price comparison altogether by eliminating meat and its substitutes, saving yourself quite a lot of cash on your weekly shop. This money could be more worthily spent on an extra few pints in the college bar.
Aside from being cost effective, vegetarianism can be super easy to incorporate into your life if you are willing to do a little research into how to adapt your favourite recipes using vegetarian alternatives.
Some college staples including pasta, noodles and cereals are already vegetarian, and a quick Google search coughs up multiple quick, cheap and easy recipes for vegetarian burritos, Quorn curries and vegan pizzas. Try www.irishvegetarian.com for hundreds of meal ideas.
Vegetarian meals, in most cases, take even less time to prepare than meaty meals, as the necessity to wait for adequately cooked meat is no longer there. First time cooking disasters such as food poisoning and cross contamination are diminished as meat free meals are less dangerous.
A worry that some people have about the vegetarian lifestyle is that they will be deficient in protein and minerals, a worry that can be quickly rectified with a supplement every morning.
Vegetarian cooking is cheap, easy and exciting and makes you think more thoroughly about your food and health.
Sarah Magliocco
Image Credit: Sarah Magliocco
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