Although it’s good to eat ‘natural foods’ (like lentils), most people like the taste of meat. But in a country of 60 million people, there is not enough land for everyone to eat free-range. So if you don’t want factory farms, it’s necessary for everyone to eat plant-based for at least of the time.
If your council does not collect plastic packaging, recycle at supermarket bag bins. Read up on keeping people & pets safe in the kitchen (many vegan meats are unsafe near animal friends due to onion, garlic, spices etc).
La Vie is a French vegan ham with pea protein. Nice on a baguette with vegan butter in a sandwich or pizza. Once opened, store chilled and use within 24 hours.
Another good brand is Heura (Spain). This young company in Barcelona launched with vegan nuggets, and now offers plant-based ham, sold in sustainable packaging.
Three supermarket brands with no palm oil are Quorn, Richmond (check labels as meat version is similar packaging) and M & S Plant Kitchen. All good with salad and vegan cheese in sandwiches. Also look in health stores and Co-op/NISA supermarkets for Suma organic pea & vegan ham soup. Just open, heat and serve!
make your own vegan ham
To be fair, most of us are not going to bother doing this. But if you’re an ambitious cook or professional chef, try this vegan ham roast made from a whole roasted celeriac (similar to nutty celery), and glazed with marmalade and cranberry sauce. Vegan Christmas ham is a recipe by a top Welsh chef (leftovers are good in sandwiches).
reasons to try vegan ham
Obviously, the kindest option for pigs is not to eat them, and there are many good vegan meat brands on the market these days. If you do eat real pig meat, Compassion in World Farming says that the only way (if you eat meat) to buy more ethical ham (or bacon or pork) is to look for words like ‘organic’ or ‘access to pasture’ on the packaging, meaning the animals have been reared outdoors, with access to pasture. Labels like ‘RSPCA-assured’ are not as stringent. And Red Tractor simply means the meat adheres to minimum legislation (with a few welfare add-ons) but does not address issues like confinement of sows during farrowing or tethering of dairy cows.
Around 1.4 billion pigs are killed for meat each year around the world (mostly in China, Brazil, Vietnam, North American and Europe). At least half are intensively-farmed, where sows are confined in narrow crates (unable to move while pregnant or nursing piglets – who are often kept in concrete sheds without bedding and castrated (without pain relief).
