Vegetarian week gains momentum
By Gillian Drummond
As the beef crisis continues to dominate the news, caterers across the country are gearing up for a huge promotion of vegetarian food.
Enquiries about this year's National Vegetarian Week have reached a record level, according to its organiser, the Vegetarian Society.
Five thousand leaflets and information packs are being handed out at schools, restaurants and cafés during the week, which runs from 18-25 May.
The Jarvis Caledonian Hotel in Inverness is adding 18 vegetarian dishes to its menus after running a recipe competition among staff. It will also feature the dishes on recipe cards for customers during the week.
"We wanted to offer a better choice of vegetarian food. We felt that there were more interesting things we could do with vegetables and that perhaps we weren't being as vegetarian-friendly as we might be," said general manager Myrah Macpherson.
Chartwells, the school meals arm of Compass, has been putting its chefs through special courses run by the Vegetarian Society. It will run quizzes during the week and hand out leaflets and information packs for pupils.
"There is a demand for vegetarian meals in the vast majority of schools in which we cater," said Alison Clarke, nutrition and food services manager at Chartwells, which provides catering in 240 schools.
Caterers at Devon County Council will also be featuring more vegetarian dishes in their 70 secondary schools throughout National Vegetarian Week. And the council is looking at expanding the vegetarian section in the catering manuals that it hands out to chefs.
At Nuclear Electric in Gloucester, Eurest, the business and industry arm of Compass, is setting up a special vegetarian counter with five or six dishes for the 1,800 staff to choose from. Head chef Alan Davis said he was now serving between 60 and 150 vegetarian meals a day.
Vegetarian Society members on the Wirrall, Merseyside, are putting together a guide of restaurants and hotels in the region offering vegetarian and vegan food.
According to the society, about 4.5% of the population - four million people - is now vegetarian, and a quarter of the population is cutting down on meat.
