Veggie, Vegan, Lacto-Ovo, Fruitarian – what does it all mean?

Vegetarian, vegan, lacto-ovo, pescetarian, fruitarian, raw foodie…. what do they mean and how can you be sure you’re feeding your guests the right food this Christmas?

Throughout my childhood I grew up in a house where we actually cooked the turkey on Christmas Eve to avoid the stress of the trying to baste with one hand and play Monopoly with the other on Christmas Day.

We also always had extended family round on Boxing Day, which meant even more cooking, less space in the kitchen and even more organising. Now we’re all adults, the space in the house seems to have shrunk again, with not only more people but different dietary requirements to cater for as well.

Now let’s be honest, even adding vegetarians to the equation does seem to take up more space! It means separate dishes to fit in the fridge, oven or on the stove (although I maintain this is not the fault of the veggie’s – it’s mainly because all the surface space is already covered in cakes, champagne and bowls of nuts). So while you’re feeling pleased with yourself for organising a big enough feast that everyone present will end up feeling so full they’ll never want to eat again, the last thing you’ll want to do is serve someone something they can’t eat.

With people using the word ‘vegetarian’ to mean so many things (I once heard someone describe themselves as partly vegetarian – what does that mean?) it’s no wonder people still get confused about what foods come under this diet. I even have a friend that claims she’s vegetarian and then says ‘It’s alright, I’ll just stick some fish on for myself’, so it’s not just the carnivores in the house that are clearly confused!

So here is a quick guide to the various diets you might come across this festive season…

Vegetarian: A diet that is defined by not eating meat (flesh) – whether it be red meat, poultry, fish, shellfish or game. The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom is the oldest vegetarian organisation in the world, establishing the term ‘vegetarian’ over 150 years ago, and in their definition they also include slaughter by-products. This may mean you want to ask your guests whether they’ll eat sweets with gelatin in (derived from the collagen found inside animals’ skin and bones) before you serve them a desert topped with candy.

There are also some sub categories:

Lacto-ovo-vegetarian: Eats both dairy products and eggs. This is the most common type of vegetarian diet.

Lacto-vegetarian: Eats dairy products but not eggs.

Here are some other useful definitions of the different diets you might come across this season:

Pescetarianism: Typically includes fish and shellfish but excludes all other meat. It is also sometimes known as ‘pesco-vegetarianism’. This can easily lead to confusion as it isn’t actually a form of vegetarianism, but rather (for some people) it can be a transition period from omnivore to vegetarian. This is a fairly new term; ‘pescetarianism’ was only recognised in 1993.

Vegan: A vegetarian diet that also does not include dairy products, eggs, or any other animal product or by-product (including honey). Many vegans are committed as a lifestyle choice too; they not only avoid animals for food but all animal products such as leather, fur, silk and wool. The Vegan Society established in 1944 describes itself as “promoting ways of living free from animal products for the benefit of people, animals and the environment”.

Raw Foodist: A diet that promotes eating un-cooked, un-processed and often organic foods. Typically they eat 75 % of their food not heated above 46C (116F) degrees. Most often they are vegan (and this is considered the pure form of a raw food diet), but there are subcategories of raw vegetarianism and raw animal food diets, which means they eat some food that is cooked, but the bulk of the diet is raw.

Fruitarian: A diet comprising of only raw fruit, including raw nuts and seeds without animal products, vegetables and grains. Some people consider themselves fruitarian if their diet is 75% or more fruit.

So in a nutshell, and as demonstrated by my confused pescetarian friend, it’s always worth asking your guests a few more questions about their food dos and don’ts this Christmas. You never know – they might be as confused about the definitions as you are!

And if you need a few recipe ideas – have a look at Munch Less Meat.

Camley Street, King’s Cross – A Sustainable Vision

Alex Smith is the founder and MD of Alara Wholefoods – one of the UK’s biggest organic muesli manufacturers who are based in the heart of the capital at King’s Cross.

I love gardening, but more than that I love to grow food, and in this day and age when we spend so much money on food in the UK and yet there are people starving across the world I believe that we must move towards a society where we all grow our own.

It is all linked to the matter of fuel and moving from a non sustainable fossil fuel reliant society to a sustainable one who ‘welcomes the sun’ and harnesses alternative energy sources.

My food manufacturing company Alara Wholefoods is based right in the centre of London, the King’s Cross hub where historically there have been a huge amount of important social and economic developments throughout history. For example St Pancreas Old Church, which is based just down the road from me, is one of the earliest above ground Christian Churches in Europe, and near here at Battlebridge Queen Boadicea was finally defeated by the Romans, or so it is said…

Most importantly, I feel, for the development of London into one of the world’s greatest capital cities, was the completion of the Grand Union Canal in 1780 which allowed grain to be brought into the heart of the city via the River Fleet. Just down from Alara is Granary Street where the grain that was brought in along this water way would have been used to make bread and feed the growing population.

I feel this was one of the most important historical events for London as the growth in population to over 1 million people in 1785 (the second city to get to this size after Ancient Rome) led to an overall change in the structure of society. Governmental infrastructure was put in place and subsequently the Industrial Revolution, and from that the British Empire grew – all based on the ability to provide food for the fast expanding population.

Looking around this historical area nowadays I find myself becoming disheartened as to what has become left from the ‘green and pleasant land’ of the past that Blake wrote about in his famous poem. He lamented that the post industrial revolutions ‘dark Satanic mills’ were now covering the landscape, but amongst all the development and business I can see areas that could be green and pleasant once more….

My point is that here at the Kings’ Cross hub, which in my opinion was where London entered into the unsustainable industrial age, it is a perfect place to start to move to ‘Welcome the Sun’ and towards a more sustainable society. And it all comes full circle back again to food. Where once grain barges came to Granary Street to feed the population who worked to make industry great, now it is food that once more needs to be at the forefront of the change the way our society works.

All my business life has been about food, but more importantly organic food. I make muesli and at Alara we produce over 70 tonnes a week. I find it so crazy these days that so many people have no real concept of growing food, good nutrition, healthy eating – we live such a consumer way of life where the supermarkets supposedly have all we need and we don’t think twice about growing our own.

At Alara I decided to make my own Permaculture Forest Garden – Permaculture being the theory of using the space you have to produce the highest yield of crops. It took the removal of 50 tonnes of rubbish (the finest King’s Cross had to offer!) and the dreaded Japanese knotweed! I love my garden and found this year that I didn’t have to buy any fruit for me and my family – I always sit out there and eat my muesli in the morning looking at what we have achieved, whist hearing the roar of the express trains rushing by – my very own piece of green and pleasant land..

But it hasn’t stopped there; looking around the edges of the factory I kept noticing bits of land and thinking what we could do with them. Now we have London’s biggest inner city organic vineyard, and also a Community food garden with Camden Black and Minority Ethnic groups that is really thriving.

There are so many places that are wasted, so much potential for food growing for local communities, and all it takes is a bit of hard work and passion. There really is nothing better than eating something you have grown yourself….

A few weeks ago (Sunday October 18th) we held the Camley Street Apple Day which attracted over 250 people. The day was a fantastic celebration of that most English of fruits – the apple and much fun was had by all. It was also a way to bring people from the local area, community groups and organisations together to show them of the projects we have been undertaking already, to start a new project with our neighbours Booker Cash and Carry, and to look to the future of the Camley Street area.
Firstly the BME garden was opened by the Mayor of Camden who praised the hard work of the community groups who now are able to use the raised beds to grow produce for their community canteens. Many of the people in these groups used to grow their own produce before they came to London but are now without the space to do so, and so it is fantastic to see their growing knowledge and expertise coming to life once more.

Next we planted an Orchard in conjunction with our neighbours Booker Cash and Carry on land that up to now has been a grassy strip. Now it has a new, much more fruitful purpose.

Lastly I was able to introduce my Sustainable Vision for Camley Street and the surrounding area. As I mentioned there is so much land up and down Camley Street that is going to waste; it’s nasty, overgrown, dirty, dumping ground. So much could be done that would not only improve the look and feel of the place, but would also give rise to huge areas of food producing land for local businesses, communities and social enterprise. I think the people really got it, they saw what can be achieved with a bit of planning and some hard work but as always the more the merrier and when you have a group of you involved in planting an digging it is always easier to achieve your goal.

I have big plans for this area. We are currently moving forward with planning permission and funding for a small community scale Anaerobic Digester (the first of its kind in Europe) which would produce tonnes of digestate for these areas that I see in the area, and really help these small projects to get off the ground.

In summery there’s a huge amount of potential here, and I know this is the same all across the capital. Food is the most important commodity and we often really take it for granted, but I hope that we can all start to grow our own and reap the benefits of doing so.

For more information about the Camley Street vision and Alara please visit Alara's website.

Distributing food, maybe one day in a flying car?

New York non-profit distributes leftover Yankee Stadium food
Feature Story News New York Bureau Chief Nathan King has filed the following video.




British Space Agency tests 'crackpot' anti-gravity device
Apparently the device works by shooting microwaves into a specially shaped metal tin. It hits one end of the tin with more power, causing it to float. Regardless of how it works, I'm looking forward to driving a flying car while cooking frozen burritos. Brad Zerivitz reports.




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You'll find more from world news stories, plus analysis from FSN at FSN REPORTERS BLOG .

Tell the chef to cook something proper!

“Oh for goodness sake, tell the chef to cook her something proper!”

I was so thrilled to hear this that I nearly leapt out of my chair and did a little dance of joy.

Why was I so thrilled? Well, I have this issue with pasta and risotto as the unimaginative de facto standard vegetarian option in pretty much every restaurant I ever visit.

So when I was invited to stay for lunch at C Restaurant in Vancouver while interviewing Executive Chef Rob Clarke, I explained that I didn’t eat meat or fish. The waiter started to suggest their one vegetarian option – the pasta. It was at this moment that Mr Clarke uttered the words I was so delighted to hear.

And what the chef came up with was amazing. Why it wasn’t on the menu already and why they chose tedious pasta instead, I cannot imagine.

My meal started with tiny bites of marinated fruits and vegetables on skewers. They were served standing upright on a glass tile, looking like multi-coloured flags of food. The main course was essentially “British Columbia on a plate”. The chef personally delivered it to my table and explained each item and where it had come from in the province. It seemed there was a delight on offer from almost every area, laid out on the plate like a work of art and with a good balance of vegetables and protein (unlike pasta or risotto which generally only contains carbohydrates and fat).

It just goes to show; this chef was far better than pasta. It’s a shame that so often vegetarians (or meat eaters who fancy a day off) are palmed off with sub standard fare. And Rob Clarke’s comment makes me wonder if in fact they are aware of this but perhaps choose the safe (lazy?) way out on their menus.

My plea to chef’s everywhere is don’t treat vegetarians as second class diners.

My experience of vegetarian food in British Columbia was generally excellent. I also visited (along with eight meat eaters) a seafood and sushi restaurant called Blue Water and we all tried a taster menu. Each course was beautifully presented and explained and wine chosen specifically to complement it. Quite often as a vegetarian I feel that I am missing out on the care and attention that a chef gives to meat eaters. Not so here. My food was carefully thought through, artfully presented and deliciously tasty.

I spoke to quite a few chef’s during my trip and needless to say we ended up having “the vegetarian conversation” (it seems to have become impossible for me to eat out without being asked why I am vegetarian, and do I find it difficult and do I miss meat, and what do I eat... ? etc). Each chef told me that if I didn’t like what was on the menu I should ask the chef to make me something else. They assured me that every decent chef has plenty of vegetables in the kitchen and can easily make a meat free meal that doesn’t involve pasta or risotto.

I’d been given similar advice by British chefs too, so when I recently visited the Cadbury House Hotel in Yatton I was ready to put it to the test. Cadbury House is a gorgeous hotel with a boutique feel. The decor is modern, elegant and a touch quirky. The spa is luxurious and the gym is well equipped. And the group manager Mark has some great tales to tell that will keep you entertained if you are lucky enough to get a chance to share a drink with him.

The restaurant prides itself on including plenty of local produce on the menu and I was looking forward to dinner and an imaginative vegetarian meal. Predictably the dish on offer was risotto, but that didn’t worry me as I was armed with my advice to ask for something else. Unfortunately it didn’t quite work as planned.

My main meal was a selection of the vegetable side dishes, which would have been OK (although I did feel a little as though I’d been palmed off with an “I can’t be bothered” meal) except for the fact it had large chunks of bacon in it! I think it’s fair to say they hadn’t taken any time to think about what they were serving me. Once again, a sad indication of the attitude of many chefs towards vegetarians.

There are of course plenty of exceptions. One such is The Harbour Cafe in Margate. This is a small seafront bistro that does the best Sunday lunch nut roast I have ever had. And it comes with all the trimmings of a traditional roast dinner. It’s worth going to Margate just for that. I’d also recommend that you save desert for a trip to the bandstand cafe on the beach and have a freshly cooked donut Brown Derby. Delicious.

I don’t just like my allotment – I love it.

40 years to wait for an allotment – that’s what the headlines shouted recently.

In fact, on closer inspection, it’s not entirely true but it is interesting that allotments are in more demand than they have been since the post war years of the late 1940s and 50s.

I am lucky enough to have an allotment at a very well run site called The Paddock. I’ll be honest, for the first couple of years, when I was trying to cope with it on my own, it was really too much. An allotment takes time and energy and the tiny bit of each that I was able to dedicate to my plot meant that come harvest time I was pulling weeds not vegetables.

So about a year ago I asked a friend if she’d like to share it with me –and the difference has been astounding.



I’d always enjoyed working on the plot, but now, with a friend to chat to and to be able to share the successes and failures, I don’t just like it, I love it.

And I am no longer harvesting weeds. Instead we’ve had (and are still having) punnets of raspberries, handfuls of giant courgettes, delicious French beans, onions, cabbages, sweet golden tomatoes, rhubarb and crunchy carrots, with the promise of corn on the cob, pumpkins, beetroot, spinach, and leeks still to come.

Have I saved money? Overall, probably not.

Does the food taste better than supermarket fare? Most definitely yes.

Do I feel I’ve spent my time well? Yes, I’ve loved every minute, even weeding in a downpour. And not much can match the joy of harvesting your own veg and then eating them that night, while they are still super fresh and full of flavour and goodness.

Have I made friends? Yes and by being part of an allotment group I feel part of a community; something that seems to be increasingly difficult in the modern age and especially in a big city like London.

Will I be keeping my allotment next year? A huge and resounding; yes, yes, yes.



So what advice do I have?

1) If you haven’t already got an allotment and it appeals to you – put your name down now, most places do have a waiting list, fortunately it’s not generally 40 years, but be prepared to wait a year to 18 months.

2) Be prepared to work hard. But also be prepared to enjoy fresh air, the sound of birds singing, a connection with the land and strange conversations about blight and pruning and “how come yours are huge and mine are tiny?”

3) Share it with a friend; it’s more fun, less work, the yields tend to be higher, the highs and lows are shared and it can be great planning what to grow together and trying out each other’s favourite fruit and veg.To find out about allotments in your area you’ll need to call your local council. A good book to get you started is “The Essential Allotment Guide”.