Your path towards a plant-based diet

September is the month to celebrate the plant-based diet. It is sometimes referred to as Vegetarian Awareness Month or even as National Fruits and Veggies Month. I will then take this opportunity to share something about it.

I’d say there are three main reasons leading people towards a plant-based diet: one’s health, the environment, and ethics or animal welfare.

We’ve talked plenty about the environmental impacts of animal farming, and we’ve also touched upon the health benefits of following a largely plant-based diet (see link at the bottom). Recently, our good friend Ella, from Australia, shared her own path towards a plant-based diet, one based on ethics, on love, and compassion for all beings.

Regardless of one’s motivation, I believe the most important thing in creating any new, long-lasting habit is to make sure to do it in a sustainable way.

There are a lot of nuances to changing one’s diet, especially when there is a big change involved. For instance, if one is used to eating meat-heavy meals with little or no vegetables or pulses, adding a big load of these foods overnight might cause intestinal discomfort, for the simple fact that the gut is not used to having to deal with that type of food.

On the other hand, it takes time to adjust to a new set of ingredients and cooking methods; to discover new brands, new restaurants, and to adapt to new flavours. Our taste buds, as well as the microbiota in our gut, get accustomed to our diet. This means a flavour we are not keen on now could be one of our favourites in the future; but this does not happen overnight!

All in all, my message here today is a humble suggestion to mediate expectations. Of course, if one’s a great cook, if one is diet is already varied and includes vegetables, or if one has found a deep motivation, no obstacles will stand in the way. But that would not be the case for most people.

In the article cited above, Ella shared her motivation. I invite you to share your own thoughts in the comment section below. Have you ever considered following a plant-based diet? If so why, and if not, what has stopped you? Are there any major difficulties in eating more plant-based? Any well-intended comments are welcome.

Do not forget that your path towards a plant-based diet will necessarily be different than that of the person next to you, and that’s okay! Respect your rhythm, respect yourself and keep it up!

International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste

A few days ago, on September 29, the world observed the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.

Below, you’ll find a few links to past Food For Thought articles written on this topic.

To honour this day, I baked a very simple, yet tasty plant-based cake. I had very very old bananas that would go to waste unless used on a cake, smoothie, or oatmeal.

I hope you try it!

Ingredients:

• 275 g of all-purpose flour
• 50 g of sugar (I used coconut sugar)
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 200 ml of oat milk
• 100 ml of vegetable oil (I used melted coconut oil)
• A pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon of vinegar

Method:

Turn the oven on to 180º C.

Grease a circular cake pan or line it with baking paper.

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Add the ripe bananas, milk and oil to a food processor. Blend until smooth.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix gently until smooth.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Further reading:

• Agriculture: conventional, sustainable, or regenerative?
• Food for Thought, August 2022
• Food for Thought, September 2022
• Celebrating Planet Earth. Respecting its gifts

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