Meat is a luxury


It’s a delicacy. Any animal product is a luxury to me. It’s something I might have on a special occasion, like a little treat. Meat and animal products don’t belong to my everyday diet. I don’t miss it and I certainly don’t need it.

Any sort of animal product is equal to caviar to me. You don’t have it every day, but you might splurge when you feel like it. Maybe you have a little bit on your main course while on holiday. But maybe you treat yourself to Royal Belgian caviar on your wedding.

It’s the same with the meat. I might have a barbecued fish while on holiday. And I might treat myself to a charcuterie board on my wedding day. It’s not about all or nothing.
You don’t need to be completely vegan to make this world a slightly better place.

The world doesn’t need a handful of perfect vegans, what the world needs are masses of imperfect people who are trying their best and are gradually reducing their meat consumption.

If you want to have a piece of bacon then go for it but be conscious about your choices. Make sure the meat is from an organic and local farm, and if you can’t afford it, then don’t have it. I hear you say it’s expensive. But hence my comparison to caviar. Meat shouldn’t be cheap.

I believe that low-quality cheap meat has no place on the market. It doesn’t belong to our everyday diet, so there is no reason to look for cheap options.

Eat meat only when you can afford the high-quality stuff. Treat yourself to something good instead of feeding yourself with questionable meat on a daily basis.

Eat it as often as you would eat caviar. For example, eat meat only on weekends, or have only one meat-based dish every two days. Start slowly and take it step by step.


This article is an excerpt from my book Surplus: The food waste guide for chefs.

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