A couple of weeks ago someone posted a query on our Edgewalkers Facebook Page about one of our walks.
I asked them what dates they were interested in coming.
Their cheeky answer was: "we'll come the day you serve meat!
I laughed and wrote back that I wished them a happy hike ... with another company!
Of course, there are plenty of other companies choosing to cater for the growing plant-based and vegetarian clientele; however, most businesses that serve food generally provide meat options. And that is fine.
Edgewalkers, is a vegetarian and plant-based company.
For some people this is the reason they’ve booked with us.
For a small minority of people, it may be the reason why they haven’t.
For most, it is not important, they welcome the opportunity to try something different and leave having tried ‘some of the best plant-based food’ they have ever eaten.
Here are some reasons why I chose to make Edgewalkers a plant-based & vegetarian company:
Reason number 1: Me
I am vegetarian. I know; it’s all my fault.
I became a vegetarian while living and working in Japan in 1991 - I was 22 years old and I had a moment (you could call it an epiphany) half way down a set of stairs leading into the meat section of a Daiei department store in Nagoya, when I realised that I did not belong in the life-death cycle as a meat-eater. There was something about the beautifully wrapped and glistening meat cuts that I was descending into that had this momentous impact on my life.
Just to be clear, I am not against other people eating meat.
In fact, I think that it is a natural cycle of life and death and like many other animals humans can fall into a number of categories. We can be like lions, sharks, hyenas. We can be like chooks, otters and monkeys. And we can be elephants, bison, elks.
I am an elk. I’m fine with grass. I thrive on plant-based food. I am not naturally inclined to fish or hunt, or to kill anything in general for food.
So, there is no way that I could be part of an enterprise that involves going out and procuring chicken drumsticks or pork chops. There was no other avenue for me in this business.’
Reason number 2: Sustainability
We are aspiring to be a fully accredited ecotourism company. And yes, it makes a huge difference to reduce how much we participate in animal agriculture.
Between 15 - 25% of greenhouse gas emissions come from animal agriculture (depending on what you read and how the carbon footprint is calculated) ...however you work it - it is significant.
Beef, lamb and dairy contribute almost 60% of all the emissions produced by food production... I know, it’s huge. Even if we cut back on eating beef and lamb to once a week and cheese and milk to a few times a week, we are making an impact. This is according to peer-reviewed journal the Lancet & other reputable sites like the Medical Journal of Australia, not my opinion.
Our water consumption is reduced by 55% on a plant based diet. For example, there are various calculations of this but generally to produce 100 g of beef protein, it takes approximately 700 litres of water - for the equivalent protein from tofu it only takes about 90 litres of water, 8 times less water.
It’s the easiest and quickest way we can immediately make a difference…
Reason number 3: Wellness
Edgewalkers is also a wellness company. Therefore we are here to promote wellbeing and health.
There is plenty of evidence out there to show that the consumption of animal products, especially in the quantities that we consume them, are making us sick.
I want to stress that I am NOT against animal consumption and believe that many people are naturally inclined to do better by eating meat. However, eating meat every day is NOT healthy. Look into it. Here is a start
Cooking plant-based food at one of our retreats
Most of us are passionate about our food.
Nobody likes to be told what they ought to be eating or that what they eat is part of our environmental problem.
I don't like it. You probably don’t like it either.
But you don't have to be a militant vegan or radically change your diet to make an impact.
At Edgewalkers we want to support all our fellow adventurers and creative souls in reducing our impact on the planet and helping to regenerate the pristine wilderness and care for the diversity that our amazing natural environments offer us.