The other day I entered a vegetarian emporium for something to eat, and I have to say it really was quite an experience.

The first thing I noticed was the long queue of people waiting to be served up all kinds of vegetarian grub. Pasta bakes, lasagne (without the beef of course), cheese pie etc etc. Anyway, there seemed to be an awful lot of pensioners in the queue – and before anyone starts I’m not being ‘ageist’, in fact I’m not far off bus pass status myself!

Now, where was I? Oh yes, vegetarian oldies. You know, I couldn’t help but observe how much these good people were putting on their plates – the salad, rice and bean bar was a free for all. Well, frankly I’ve never seen anything like it. One lady pinched every tomato and bit of cucumber from the salad bowl to go with her portions of lasagne and chees pie, while her side-kick lumped on three portions of pasta bake and enough rice to keep an Indian restaurant going on a boys’ Friday night out!

My first conclusion was that these folk must have been stocking up for the week ahead, what with food banks and the cost of living etc. I even began to feel sorry for them. Not so. As I walked out, I noticed that these two particular ladies had scoffed everything on their plates and were about to go up for a desert!

But here’s the thing. Everyone in that restaurant was slim. There wasn’t a straining belt or piece of stretched lycra arse in sight. So it seems to me, that veggies are doing something right and maybe we could all learn a thing or two from ‘em.

As for me, I came home and bunged an Aberdeen Angus rib eye steak straight under the grill to make up for the mouthfuls of bean burger sawdust the missus had forced me to eat in the Veggie emporium.

Never again!

Julian Ruck – Editor