Diary of a Reluctant Vegetarian...

My name is Jude, I work for LeafLiving.com, and I am a committed carnivore. My gloriously high metabolic rate means I can (and will) eat whatever you set in front of me - but I’d prefer if it was wrapped in bacon. Not the healthiest long term dietary plan, I know, but what can I say? I adore food. I’ve just never seen the point in discriminating between food groups. The stomach of Jude Crozier is an equal opportunities establishment, thank you very much.

So why, you might ask, am I going veggie? Let me explain how this insanity came about. We were scratching our heads in the office one afternoon, trying to come up with ideas for future Green Drinks themes and speakers, when I had a stellar idea: veganism. I didn’t know a huge amount about it, but this environmentally friendly and über-ethical way of life certainly appealed to my sense of curiosity. I mean, without meat or dairy, what did they actually eat? The Green Drinks regulars were sure to love it, and at the very least, I’d end up with some crazy new vegan recipes to try out.

I then took my lunch break, during which I consumed a large slice of lasagne; archnemisis of vegans everywhere. The delicious irony of my lunch hour led me to reconsider my ways. At Leaf Living, we do everything possible to smoke what we sell, so to speak. We work in a paperless office, and when paper is absolutely necessary, we use a stapleless stapler. Everybody walks or cycles to work, we shun the dreaded plastic bag and recycle religiously. But when it comes to matters of food (glorious food, light of my life) it seems I have little right to comment on anyone else’s dietary habits.

And so I’ve been convinced, cajoled and partially tricked into a vegan experiment. In an attempt not to give my body the shock of its life, I’m easing myself into veganism with a few weeks of vegetarianism, first. Please feel free to comment with advice and recipes (marketing@leafliving.com) to help me along the way, because as much as I’m going to miss my beloved bacon sandwich, part of me desperately wants to disprove my mother’s single, solemn comment concerning the next few weeks of my life: ”Judith… You will be hungry all the time”.