Surely you have heard of people who call themselves vegetarians while chewing on a piece of red snapper. Truth is vegetarians don’t eat any animal products besides dairy and eggs; the so-called vegetarians who consume fish and seafood actually don’t belong to that group, even when most of the times they avoid eating cadavers. To set the record straight we researched that: Vegans avoid all animal products while vegetarians are allowed to consume lactose and eggs, hence the denominations of lacto-vegetarian, ovo-vegetarian and lacto-ovo- vegetarian.
So next time you come across a person who claims to be a vegetar- ian, make sure they are strict about their eating habits and beliefs; don’t accept fake vegetarianism as a category, that is, people who eat healthy most days but sporadically devour a plate of Steak Tartar. Even individuals who refuse meat and poultry but eat fish or seafood can’t be labeled as vegetarians; perhaps omnivorous is the right word for them.
Now, Vegetarian doesn’t mean Organic, although they go well hand- in-hand. You see labels of ‘organic’ everywhere nowadays, and here’s what that means according to the Berkeley Wellness Health Letter:
Foods that carry the green “USDA Organic” seal have been grown and processed according to strict criteria, as verified by private or state organizations. The use of most conventional pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers, geneti- cally modified organisms, irradiation, and sew- age sludge is prohibited. Animals are raised on 100% organic feed and are not given antibiotics or growth hormones. If they get sick and need antibiotics, they are removed from the other ani- mals and not sold as organic. The animals must also have access to the outdoors, though in fac- tory farms (a growing trend in the organic indus- try) they may never actually go outside or spend much time in pasture. A new proposal by the National Organic Standards Board aims to close this loophole for dairy cows, by specifying how much time they must spend in pasture eating grass, as opposed to eating grains in feedlots.
The best reason why to buy organic is because it’s better for the environment. Conventional farming erodes and exhausts the soil while gen- erating pollution of land, water, and air. On the other hand, organic farming uses animal ma- nure, crop rotations, beneficial insects, and other techniques to develop a sustainable agricultural system which conserves soil quality, plant biodiversity, water, and utilizes a lot less fossil fuel (non-renewable source of energy).
Try these organic wines, proposed by popular English Chef Jamie Kennedy, and taste the dif- ference!
- Barbera del Moferrato Minola 2001, Nuova Cap- pelleta, Piedmont, Italy.
- Nativa Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, Vena Carmen, Maipo, Chile.
- Albet i Noyal Xarello Classic 2004, Penedes, Spain.
- Soave Borgoletto 2003, Fasoli Gino, Veneto, Italy.
A votre santé!
Cheers! Salud! Salute! Fisehatak! Zum Wohl! L’Chaim!
