bowl of salad

The Future’s Bright, The Future’s Green

As a child, the phrase “Eat your greens” sounded as though I was doing some kind of penance for being naughty. My “greens” which were hardly green in colour, more grey if I’m brutally honest were something that I pushed around the plate and tried to hide under various bits of cutlery. Although growing up I came from a family that grew their own vegetables, school was a slightly different matter. Throughout the 70’s I still recall the smells of overcooked vegetables stinking out the classrooms before lunch and we were all too familiar with the over cooked Brussels sprouts debacle on Christmas Day. No wonder as a nation we weren’t too keen on vegetables. Dubious cooking methods and not much flavour, tended to make them taste like wet cardboard. Jazzy condiments like pancetta, olive oil, chilli, garlic and lemon juice were not on the horizon for a while.

In general terms there has been a decline in the amount of vegetables eaten and its still lower now than it was after the Second World War. This is mainly due to price, availability and the fact that our hatred of vegetables is entrenched into our culture. People know they should “eat their greens” but it doesn’t mean they actually go through with that sentiment. Despite the rise in popularity of juicing, we’re still having to disguise vegetables in a form that’s easy to swallow. Not a fan of juicing, I prefer vegetables cooked in their natural state and then doused in olive oil, herbs and garlic. Researchers at Stanford University have found that describing vegetables differently raises their appeal e.g. “dynamic chilli and lime seasoned beets” rather than just “beets”. They found that 25% more people chose vegetables if they were labelled in an indulgent way. So what can be done to entice us to embrace our vegetables? Our Planet Our Health (www.wellcome.ac.uk for more information) is teaming up with UK supermarkets to encourage consumers to eat more fruit, vegetables and plant based foods. Trials will include differing shelving arrangements to entice the consumer and placing vegetarian options next to the meat options. Another great initiative is Peas Please (Go to foodfoundation.org.uk for more information). Here various companies are pledging to increase the appeal of vegetables. We have seen the growth of gardening at schools helped by such initiatives as the the RHS Campaign for School Gardens to smaller initiatives like Urban Seedling with allotment waiting lists risings.



Social media is helping. Today as an Instagram user I am very happy to announce but only in a loud whisper that we seem to be falling in love with vegetables due mostly to the plant based/vegan movement. As meat consumption declines, we are embracing more vegan/vegetarian food, and with this our vegetable interest is increasing. My feed is full of stunning pictures of peas, wild garlic, kale everywhere, purple hummus, celeriac and plates full of wilted spinach. Many restaurants I visit are now embracing vegan options more than ever and I’m not just talking about a plate of plain pasta anymore. Our tastes it seems are slowly changing. Some of this is being driven by ethical considerations and some to do with health. It appears we are not eating vegetables through penance anymore but because we might actually want to eat them. However this is still a niche area. It takes time – many people until fairly recently didn’t know what do with a bag of lentils, let alone how to make vegetables amazing. We were in need of much inspiration. Being shown how to cook them properly helps and Yotam Ottolenghi paved the way. After his wonderful book Plenty followed by Plenty More there came a plethora of similar cook books giving vegetables the spotlight for the first time. Nigel Slater’s Tender and Hugh Fernley Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg showed us what we could do to make vegetables the main event. Food habits can change fairly fast so there is no reason to be too pessimistic that things won’t continue to change.

Certainly going vegan or plant based is the fastest trend of 2018. With this has come a tidal wave of vegetable recipes. In fact much of the world is shifting to plant based and that looks set to stay. Millennials are certainly drivers of this shift as they have more global awareness of what is happening around them. In the UK the number of people calling themselves vegan has risen 350%. With the rise of celebrities and athletes endorsing a plant based or vegan diet together with documentaries or “advocacy films” on plant based diets like Forks Over Knives, What the Health, Earthlings, Vegucated, Planeat and From the Ground Up, consumers have more awareness than ever before. Seeing the brutality of the meat, diary and egg industry in detail, can soon put you off your meal it seems. It is no wonder that after seeing such scenes people are taking a hard look at what they eating and where it comes from.

Being plant based does not necessarily mean the end of days for meat, but there is a shift to eating far less red meat than we previously have done. The high street is adapting to this with incredible speed. Big chains such as Marks & Spencer and Pret a Manger have introduced vegan ranges, Wagamama has a new vegan menu, Pizza Hut recently joined Pizza Express and Zizzi in offering vegan pizzas, while last year Guinness went vegan and stopped using fish bladders in its brewing process, after two and a half centuries. It’s not just more elitist outlets that are on the bandwagon, even Greggs are promising to sell 15 million portions of vegetables from now until 2020 in salads and sandwiches.

Kate’s top tips for eating more greens/ going plant based

1. Ask yourself why you are going plant based – keep this as a motivating factor.
2. Go slow – you don’t have to give up all animal based foods overnight!
3. Be prepared to spend more time cooking – after a while it will become second nature, but like all new eating regimes you need adjustment time!
4. Try not to focus on the foods you can’t eat but the foods you can.
5. If you’re trying to increase your vegetables use herbs, spices, olive oil, lemon juice, chilli to jazz them up! Don’t overcook them!
6. You can always try a few days a week plant based and the rest of the week stay with your normal diet and see how you feel.
7. Going fully vegan is an entirely personal choice. If you choose this, check your risk factors for certain diseases. Get your iron, ferritin, B12, calcium, and magnesium checked. It’s not that a vegan diet can’t give you vitamins, it’s that I’ve come across vegans (and non vegans!) who just eat pizza!
8. If you don’t feel well on a plant based diet, don’t worry, it’s not for everyone.
9. Hang out at the frozen vegetable section, as well as the fresh. If you can’t cook, a quick and simple soup with stock is easy!
10. Invest in some good vegetable/Vegetarian cook books.

I recommend:

Plenty and Plenty More – Yotam Ottelenghi
On vegetables – Jeremy Fox
River Cottage Veg Every Day – Hugh Fernley-Whittinghstall
The Book of Greens – Jean Louise
Six Seasons – Joshua McFadden
Tender – Nigel Slater

Author

  • Kate Arnold

    Kate Arnold Nutrition is a nutrition consultancy specialising in gastrointestinal health and fatigue disorders. Kate is passionate about an evidence based, patient centred form of healthcare. She has a special interest in the pathophysiology of obesity and how alterations in the gut microbiome can lead to weight gain and other medical conditions. Kate is a vocal opponent of nutrition pseudoscience and works closely with GPs and consultants where possible. With over twenty years experience Kate has worked with a vast range of clients including charities, The Princes Trust, schools, local government, music and media personalities. Kate is the spokesperson for an award wining yearly campaign for Dulcolax, resident nutrition consultant for Wellbeing magazine and has a regular column in Gastro magazine. Kate is also a Map My Gut and SIBO certified practitioner.