Interview with Katarzyna Malets - Vege magazine expert, vegan with 10 years of experience.
Newsweek Polska: Is Man a Predator?
Katarzyna Malec (Katarzyna Malec): No, man is omnivorous. He can safely switch to a balanced diet without meat, since all the necessary elements can be obtained from plant foods. I am the best example of this: I have been a vegan for 10 years. And my 5 year old daughter is a vegan from birth.
Recently, doctors have been sounding the alarm that a diet rich in meat is the cause of many serious diseases, such as cancer. In addition, there is constantly news about meat, "stuffed" with hormones or antibiotics. Is meat really that bad?
“I don’t understand at all how something that is flesh before a living being could be useful to a person. As for hormones, we are talking not only about hormones that are introduced from the outside, but also those that are formed at the time of slaughter of animals.
Still, the exclusion of meat, fish or dairy products from the diet is associated with the risk of a lack of vitamin B12, iron, zinc, calcium. How to replace them?
- A balanced vegan diet can provide a person with all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients they need. You don't need to substitute one for the other, you just need to eat a variety of foods from different food groups. These are, for example, cereals, legumes, both seasonal and vegetables available all year round. And also - fruits, nuts, seeds, algae. When it comes to pasta and flour, it's best to eat whole grains.
Maintaining vitamin B12 levels is indeed important. Once upon a time, people most often got it when they ate fruits and vegetables simply from the ground, since it is found not only in animal products, but also in the soil. It is simply important that our food is varied and seasonal.
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Various diseases, weakening of the body, which are named among the consequences of vegetarianism - is this a myth?
- Yes. The funny thing is that it is distributed by people who have no practical experience in this area. Some people imagine veganism as constant fasting or malnutrition, but in fact, veganism with three full or five more modest meals a day is not a diet that can cause illness or weight loss. The American Dietetic Association has issued an official statement that the vegan diet is suitable for people of all ages and at every stage of life: children, pregnant women, lactating women, athletes and the elderly.
Human health and anatomy are just two reasons for avoiding meat. Is there something else?
- For me, ethical prerequisites are most important. No person has the right to take away the right to life from another creature. The desire to put meat on the plate does not justify killing a cow, pig, sheep or chicken. I think it is symptomatic that few people talk about their readiness to kill an animal with their own hands. Not many people would be able to provide themselves with such food on their own.
To me and to many other people, this position seems hypocritical. The production of meat requires huge amounts of water, it is generally uneconomical: the killed animal eats a lot of plant food during its life. Breeding of livestock is thus connected with the cultivation of plants for its nutrition, and these areas could be occupied by plants for human nutrition. In addition, the cultivation of feed for slaughter cattle is associated with the destruction of forests. From the point of view of ecology, this is illogical and unjustified.
WHO has recognized that a vegetarian diet is not harmful to health and fully covers human nutritional needs. Has this somehow influenced the popularity of vegetarianism?
- It seems to me that yes. Curiously, the number of vegetarians in the United States has doubled in recent years. Doctors have begun to take better care of the vegetarian diet. People are looking for authorities in medicine and encouraged by the opinion of doctors, they decide to switch to a plant-based diet.
On March 20, the No Meat Day is celebrated abroad. In which countries is vegetarianism gaining popularity the fastest?
“It is growing at an avalanche rate where there were already many vegetarians and vegans, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom. A curious phenomenon is the Scandinavian countries, where the Day without Meat is celebrated quite actively, although the level of consumption of meat products in these countries is quite high. In our country, the popularity of vegetarian food is also growing. I think Poland has a chance to catch up with Western countries in terms of the rate of increase in the number of vegetarians in society.
In Belgium, they discovered the advantages of a vegetarian diet and, under the slogan of reducing the weight of citizens and caring for the Earth, proclaimed one day a week a day without meat. Is vegetarianism promoted in Poland?
- In Poland, especially in large cities, the Day and Week of Vegetarianism are celebrated. The number of visitors to vegetarian food stores is always increasing these days. It turned out that the number of searches for the word "veganism" is also sharply increasing. This demonstrates a certain trend, the interest of people who want to learn something new, and, possibly, switch to vegetarianism.
Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein are said to have been vegetarians. Da Vinci argued that the day will come when the killer of animals will be looked at, just as the killer of man is now. Is this not a utopia?
- It seems to me that we are moving towards meat from a test tube: it will be possible to grow a piece of tenderloin from a pig's cage. Like it or not, this will be the future of the meat industry. Slaughtering is expensive and uneconomical, and slaughterhouse workers really don't like their jobs.
What can you cook on Meatless Day?
- Depends on desire and needs. I made pies stuffed with spinach and sunflower seed sauce. You can make pasta with some kind of sauce, grilled toast, something from Chinese or Thai food. You can easily find a wide variety of recipes on the Internet.
Original publication: Mięso zdrowia nie daje? Międzynarodowy dzień bez mięsa
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