20/05/09
Cardiff PR agency calls on local vegetarian experts to help meat its steak-free challenge
A Cardiff public relations agency has challenged itself to forgo meat this National Vegetarian Week (May 18 to 24) in a bid to become a greener and healthier company.
Working Word PR called on vegetarian food experts at the nearby Trade Street Cafe to assist them with their beef burger and steak-free test of will. The award-winning Café, run by work-based learning company ACT Training, offers many healthy and locally-sourced vegetarian dishes, which are devoured on a daily basis by hundreds of local people.
Staff at Working Word decided to take on the challenge of becoming vegetarian for the week after discovering how a meat-free lifestyle can improve their health and the environment.
As well as containing less animal fat which can contribute to a healthier lifestyle, a vegetarian diet can also help reduce the amount of pollution in the atmosphere. In 2006, a United Nations initiative concluded that the livestock industry is one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems.
During the awareness week, Working Word's team of 13 visited the Cardiff café to enjoy a meat-free lunch and get advice from the café's chef Martin Jones about how to create mouth-watering and simple vegetarian dishes at home.
Amy Chase, account assistant at Working Word, said: "When I first heard about the idea of going vegetarian for a week I was quite reluctant as I thought I would really miss meat. But Martin introduced me to some new and tasty recipes, and showed how to make delicious dishes using seasonal vegetables, such as asparagus, that I haven't really missed it at all. I have also felt very virtuous about having reduced my carbon footprint!"
National Vegetarian Week is the annual awareness-raising campaign promoting inspirational vegetarian food and the benefits of a meat-free lifestyle. Celebrated by the Vegetarian Society since 1992, the Week is now an established event and everyone from small business to big corporations, schools, community groups and individuals are welcome to come on board.
According to the new Food Standards Agency survey of over 3,000 adults, three per cent of respondents were found to be "completely" vegetarian, and an additional five per cent claimed to be partly vegetarian, whereby they don't eat some types of meat and fish.
Martin said: "With more and more people choosing to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle for a variety of reasons, whether it be to improve their health or the environment, it is important that we as a business respond to these needs. As such, my team and I have come up with a selection of healthy and delicious breakfast and lunchtime dishes which hundreds of customers enjoy on a daily basis."
