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A Vegetarian Diet On a Low Income
Unfortunately the general public often view vegetarians and vegans as middle class salaried, trendy, pompous persons who look down on others who are meat-eaters. If you were considering a vegan lifestyle, which would be great and probably the best lifestyle choice, this would take some planning and would occur over a period of time but can be done. However to become a vegetarian there are no such obstacles, anyone on a low income can become a vegetarian today.
Money
Many people on a low income think that meat is cheap and that they cannot afford a vegetarian diet. This is untrue, there are many meat-free alternatives that exist today and supermarkets are now bringing out their own meat-free ranges, even supermarkets such as Sainsbury's have a basics meat-free range so there is no excuse for not being able to afford vegetarian foods, however a vegan diet with proper nutrition requires a lot more diligent effort and money and is therefore a much harder diet and lifestyle to adhere to, but there is no excuse for not becoming a vegetarian.
A lot of people who do not have much money still buy the cheapest brands of meat products for themselves and their family not knowing how bad it is.
One more crucial thing to consider is that meat is a dead animal corpse, therefore it does not stay fresh for long, however vegetarian foods do last longer, and they will not carry the deadly bacteria that dead animals produce.
Cheap Brand Meat-Free Alternatives Vs Cheap Brand Meat Products
Supermarkets today have both value ranges for their meat products and now have value ranges for their meat-free alternatives. Unfortunately, because people are brought up to believe that meat is good for you, they think that all meat is good for you, just not as good as more expenisve meat. WRONG! If you think how bad meat is with it's hormones, carcinogenic toxins and even poisons such as arsenic, cheap meat then contains more of the toxins and harmful hormones than the more expensive cuts of meat.
Value meat-free alternatives are a much better solution which people should definately switch to. The main thing to remember when buying value foods is the overall nutritional content will be lower and therefore it would be advisable to supplement your diet with fresh foods as well.
Time
Many people on a low income are concerned that adhering to a vegetarian diet takes a lot of time and effort because of having to scour for vegetarian products which take more time to prepare.
A vegetarian diet in my view is the most simplest and quickest way of feeding the body the proper nutrition that it needs. You can cook two quarter pounder burgers in a microwave and serve them with a wholemeal bap. This small meal would provide 40 g of protein and it also only takes a few minutes to make without having to worry about catching food poisoning because it is not meat. This is the case when preparing all vegetarian meals, they do not require so much time with preparation and the only thing to consider is eggs, make sure that once you have made the meal you want using eggs, that you eat it straight away because the bacteria in stale eggs could make you ill. Also you have to take into consideration that less time is needed in the defrosting process because there is less chance of bacteria growing and multiplying. As with all healthy balanced diets, of course, fresh fruit and vegetables must be eaten each day.
Stress
Coping with stress is a big concern amongst people on a low income. Also people who are short of time tend to go for the easier option, so if the average family who are on a low income assume that meat is good for you then they will tend to just pick up some meat which they can afford without even thinking about it, in terms of the suffering that the animal had to go through and the risk to their health which is caused by eating meat, especially cheap meat. We must all remember that animals were not put on this earth for us to eat.
However, people are often keen to support animal welfare charities that prevent cruelty to animals, which is a very good thing to do, and many people love their pets and look after them very well, unfortunately many people do not take into account the abuse and cruelty that animals suffer when going to shop for groceries.
© 2010 change2veggie.com
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The Cost Of A Vegetarian Diet
