HOW IT STRIKES A VEGETARIAN,
(To THE EDITOR or TER "Sesames.")
41/ea—Amid all the agitation over food economy and war, diets caused by the shortage and increased prices there is one class of people who- may claim to remain comparatively calm, and that is the vegetarians. I do not mean, of course, that we aref unperturbed by the rise in the cost of living. If we are not troubled by the high price of beef, macaroni at 8d. per pound is a eerions matter; and if the problem whether meat-should or should, not include bone, and if everybody buys buttock what is to become of neck of mutton, leaves us unmoved, we are certainly disturbed by the thought of onions (those constant if too-odorous friends of the vegetarian) at double their usual price. But even In the matter of prices we have at any rate a present advantage. There is no one of our staple foods that approximates in cost to the price now asked for fresh meat, bacon, or fish, except the-very -cheapest kind. Cheese, of course, has risen to is. &I. or ls. 10d.. per pound, but then cheese, contrary to the popular belief, is not a staple of the vegetarian diet. I have not had cheese in any form on my table for over a fortnight at a stretch, but I cannot imagine the ordinary meat-eater, even in war time, going .without meat of some description for that period. Macaroni-cheese, wont to figure prominently on our menus, has of late become a delicacy. Bus, again, are supposed to be a staple dish with us; but that is another delusion. Many -vegetarians never eat eggs, and those 'Rho do used not be more dependent on them than the flesh-eater. Nuts may be quoted against me, and they, of course, fetch a high _price; but nuts are never eaten in anything like- the same quan- tities as meat by meat-eaters., But take away ,cheese, eggs, and nuts, And I 'think it will be conceded that our.modest . diet, of vegetables, cereals,-and pulse gives us a decided adi-antage'in the matter of price. over the f meat= ea ter. 1 do not, however, wish to dwell- particularly on this question of cost, for I realize that with a general decrease in the consumption of _meet, which we are likely to see, and the consegnent greater demand for and rise in cost of all-cereals and pulses, the food-bill of the aeg,etarien may in the near future approach very nearly, if it Aoes not eqrsal, that of the flesh-eater.
But prices represent only one.phase, though no doubt the anost important phase, of the present food problem. Unquestionably the majority of people are perturbed,at _the thoagat of cutting down their meat diet at all, and the prospect of abolishing meat _altogether fills them with dismay. And this perturbation has two causes. One is anxiety on health, grounds. The meat-eater --cannot believe that he can retain his vigour, mental and physical, if he does not have meat. This is one reason why the housewives are so busily engaged in calculating and planning war menus that will give them meat at least once a day. Of course if called upon to do so, the meat-eater, like a good citizen, will give up his beef and mutton, his bacon and sausages, but he will 'do so, as it were, with his finger on his pulse, 'watching for indications of nervous debility. He will feel that he is risking, if not life, at any rate health, for the sake of his country, though he will no doubt take the risk, as the Army take theirs, with cheerfulness and courage. Now we vegetarians have a tremendous advantage-here. We have no anxieties on the score of health, for we know them to - he unnecessary. For many years we have gone without these w- eaned necessaries, and we are, as the schoolboy might say, " in the pink." "We have not tasted fish, flesh, or fowl for five, ten, twenty, thirty, or forty years, as the case may be, and we are strong, alert, vigorous, and full of the zest of life. Not only can Lord Devonport do what be likes with regard to beef, mutton, and pork without causing us mental worry, but we can even be deprived of some of ,the foods we now have and sot be overmucli troubled, and certainly not anxious about our health. We:donet -want to go without macaroni or vermicelli, or be cut down to one- third of our onion ration, but if these things happen we alma not register our temperature daily. We have learnt by experience what the flesh-eater has not yet xealized, that many things which are supposed to be matters of health are only matters of, appetite. Another cause for the anxiety to keep meat in the menu is quite as widespread, I imagine, though not so acknowledged, and that-is the reluctance to give up a diet that is appetizing for one that is generally supposed to be altogether unappetizing. Here again the meat-eater, as a good citizen, will, if need be, take to lentils and haricots with cheerfulness and courage; regarding it as a war obligation. Unquestionably, however, it will mean, a big, sacrifice, and the fear of it, and the desire to minimize it as much as possible, complicate the ,problem before the housewife at this crisis. It is necessary as well as desirable that people should have some enjoyment in their food, but the prospect of providing this enjoyment in a time of food shortage is not one the ordinary housekeeper can face with tranquillity. But in this particular we vegetarians have another big advantage. We made our sacri- fice, most of us, years ago. Our palate has been disciplined and is ready for war service. The flesh-pots have long ceased to attract us. To people accustomed to the lusciousness of rump steak, pork chops, roast lamb, and toasted bacon, a diet of haricots. and swedes, tinned tomatoes (u-hen obtainable), and rice—with- out that last hope of the flesh-eater, meat gravy—is another form of German frightfulness, which leaves the veigetariane unmoved. We have become accustomed to a new set of focsd values, a new scale of flavours. No one but a vegetarian can know the delight of a floury potato baked in its jacket, or a dish df butter beans flavoured with tomato and eaten with wholemeal bread. We know the onion, the artichoke, the parsnip, the swede, in and out, through and through, and -cen calculate exactly what they will give us. We have no readjustments to make—they were made when we became vegetarians. War rations may mean for us, as for others, restriction of appetite, but it .cannot mean revolution. It is a great advantage in a time of crisis to have your position assured, your outlook clear, and it is this advantage which the vegetarian possesses at this period of food shortage.--
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