Growth promotants, antibiotics, extra hormones,bird flu, mad cow’s disease…the list of alarming things happening around the world to livestock  is enough to turn anyone vegetarian.

Wonderful Vegies

Our very own bio-ethicist Professor Peter Singer has been encouraging people to turn away from eating meat for over 25 years.  The publication of his book “Animal Liberation” attracted millions worldwide to the cause of animal welfare and the issues involved in intensive farming.
Singer has since become a vegan but his approach is not to make people feel guilty. Rather, his advice is to avoid the products of factory farming and to search out free-range eggs and pork and grass-fed beef and lamb.  He is also a great supporter of organic fruits and vegetables.And it’s not just the problems involved with livestock which are worrying more and more people.
Issues with food safety – like contaminated meat smallgoods – are also causing increasing anxiety.If you check out the dairy and freezer sections in your supermarket, you’ll notice a range of meat substitutes available.  They’ve got funny names like Not Bacon, Not Chicken Breast Fillets and Soy Slices.  A wide range of “sausages” is also available – Curried Vege, Honey and Sesame Soy, Soy. You might wonder why anyone would bother making vegetables look like meat, but in fact it’s something which Asian cultures have been doing for many years.
I remember once coming across something similarly bizarre at a Vegetarian Festival in Phuket, Thailand, where flour, water and food colouring had been converted into strips of barbecued pork (‘char sieu’).Sales for these “meat alternative smallgoods” have rocketed over the past few years, so there’s clearly a market for them – look for the Sanitarium and Longa Life Vegetarian brands.
These days there are plenty of other options for vegetarians. Tofu is now widely available (you’ll find it in the refrigerator section of the supermarket), as well as tofu burgers, tempeh and macrobiotic rice balls and there are endless varieties of noodles and pasta which can be combined with vegetables for a quick nutritious meal.
For those who don’t want to cook, there are any number of macrobiotic, organic and health food stores which offer a range of hot and cold foods ready to take-away.  Gone well and truly are the grim old days of brown rice and lentils!
And with so many wonderful fresh vegetables available, there’s no excuse to eat drearily. Two vegetables in particular lend themselves to hearty meals – large glossy black eggplant, cut in thick slices and either steamed or fried in oil, can be stacked with oodles of tasty colourful fillings in between (pesto, tomato sauce, roasted capsicum strips, ricotta or cottage cheese); and large flat field mushrooms, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with finely chopped garlic and flat-leaf parsley make a meal in themselves.
Now that autumn is here, it’s time to start making batches of flavoursome soups (leek and potato, pumpkin and orange, minestrone, parsnip and pear, chickpea, tomato and rosemary). Not only will they fill the house with marvellous aromas, but you can freeze them in plastic containers for a quick meal during the week.