How well do you score with a vegetarian MoT?

It's National Vegetarian Week and the ideal time to sample a plant-based lifestyle or check out your veg credentials, says Monica Cafferky

- Monica Cafferky

Plant-based lifestyles were once a source of ridicule and seen as a novelty. But now around 3.1 million people follow a meat-free diet in the UK, and numbers continue to grow.

Mountains of research has highlighted the health benefits, too, including reducing the risk of diabetes, heart disease and breast cancer. A meat-free diet also lowers your carbon footprint because plant-based food production uses less land, water and energy.

I remember the moment I decided to become a vegetarian.

I was 15 and eating a ham sandwich at school when a friend asked: “Do you know how they kill pigs in abattoirs?”

I shook my head. My vegetarian friend explained the gruesome process. I never ate meat again.

Back then, vegetarians were seen as odd, and there were no meat-free alternatives in the supermarkets. Eating out was impossible, too, unless you opted for a curry.

Now, 40 years later, a plant-based lifestyle is still a natural choice for me. But I realised recently that I needed a vegetarian MoT after reading the label on my shampoo - there was no animal-friendly logo.

I'd become complacent, this ethical nudge sent me on a quest to double-check my veggie credentials. If you're new to a plant-based lifestyle, or even a committed vegetarian, you might want to follow this MoT, especially as it’s National Vegetarian Week.

Here's what I discovered about my own habits in 24 hours...

TOILETRIES: There are only three of us in our house - me, my partner John, who’s veggie too, and our rescue dog Monkey - but there are lots of toiletries in the bathroom. Monkey's shampoos have cruelty-free logos as does John’s shaving cream, but many of my shampoos and conditioners have no leaping bunny.

CLOTHING & SHOES