It’s becoming increasingly popular for students to live a meat-free lifestyle while at university, which is not surprising considering the huge environmental impact incurred by the meat industry. Whether you’re considering to begin a meat-free lifestyle or have already started, we’ve put together some essential survival tips for having a healthy meat-free within a student budget in York!
Beginning a meat-free diet
Although we’re talking about having a meat-free diet in this article, you can still have a positive impact on the environment without cutting out meat entirely! For those of you looking to begin such a diet, don’t completely cut meat out of your diet from the get-go. Instead, start your diet off by mixing animal meat with plant based protein, such as tofu, lentils, nuts, and chickpeas. This not only helps you wean off from meat-based dishes, but it also gets you used to supplementing protein and vitamins through plant-based alternatives.
Once you’ve started your meat-free diet, make sure to eat a variety of foods. It’s incredibly easy for your diet to become carbs-only, which is not a healthy alternative. One of the best ways to make sure you are getting a balanced diet is by regularly eating wholegrain-based meals as these go great with a variety of vegetables, fruits, and meat-alternatives! Your iron intake is most likely going to drop with your new diet, so make an active effort to eat iron-rich foods, which includes eggs, dried fruit, dark green vegetables (e.g. broccoli, spring greens), and wholemeal bread.
If you’re looking to jump into a vegan diet, we recommend getting involved with Veganuary, which is a non-profit organisation encouraging people to try vegan for January. Veganuary supports people and businesses alike to move to a plant-based diet for the benefit of the environment, animals, and our health. By taking part and pledging to eat vegan for 31 days you get access to delicious recipes, easy meal plans, and helpful tips to help you sustain your new plant-based diet!
For recipes that are student-budget friendly, we recommend checking out the recipes we upload weekly on our blog, majority of which are taken from The Hungry Student: Vegetarian Cookbook written by Charlotte Pike, it is a must-buy! We also recommend checking out the Vegan Recipe Club and The Cheap Lazy Vegan websites.
Places to buy plant-based products in York
There are many supermarkets in York that provide a huge selection of plant-based products you can buy without seriously damaging your bank account. Although there are the big known brands like Quorn and Linda McCartney that you can get from big supermarkets, shops like Iceland, Morrisons and Aldi do their own vegan and vegetarian brands that are as equally delicious. Plus, by shopping in Iceland you can get products from the big brands at a much cheaper price than in supermarkets like ASDA and Tesco.
Alongside the many supermarkets where you can buy excellent meat-alternative products, there are many restaurants and cafés in York where you have the choice to enjoy many vegan and vegetarian options. We’ve listed some of our favourites below, including one you will find on Campus West:
Goji Cafe, 36 Goodramgate
Humpit - The Hummus & Pita Bar, 12a Church Street
Döner Summer, 17-21 Piccadilly
Orinoco Vegan York, 10 Church Street
Vedge, Wentworth College (now on Deliveroo!)
Comments