What a meaty issue! (not)

When Kamil (you’ll recognise him as one of our Arts Editors) pitched this piece, I was really stoked. I’m not deeply for or against vegetarianism myself; after all, I live happily with a vegetarian housemate (who taught me how to make one of my favourite cream pasta dishes), and I willingly go meat-free for my meals sometimes, so long as I’ve had my fix of milk and eggs. I do adore the taste as well of certain quality meat dishes (c’mon, I work at a burger joint!), and for us girls it’s a safe way of making sure iron levels are in check. What I am against though is overtly-extreme “militant activists” (as Kamil himself describes them) – y’know, the ones who guilt-trip you for not subscribing to their cause, their school of thought, etc. So it’s really nice to see some level-headed thoughts on the matter... given that the main reasons I eat less meat when I’m buying and cooking for myself is both cost, and concerns over the quality (think battery chickens et al).

Personally I’ve always been of the opinion that with meat, it’s really a matter of quality over quantity. Back at home and during GCSE Food Tech lessons, both my Mum and my teacher always taught that it’s much better to pay a bit more for a better-quality product and eat it less often. Bearing in mind that meat was considered a special treat in the days of yore, I’d have to agree. I’d much rather be able to use every single bit of a whole chicken that has been carefully reared, compared to having to trim loads of unusable bits off a “value-price” bird, then watching what little is “usable” shrink like mad as it loses all that injected water. Ick – don’t even get me started on the taste.

In other (bi)weekly news, time for a confession bear: my body’s been having a mind of its own. Through no external stimuli (caffeine, all-nighters etc), this week has suddenly been a week of weird sleep (two 4-hour chunks instead of the typical 8-hour stretch at night) and slightly irregular eats (funny appetite fluctuations), and it’s rearing its ugly head already – I just got up from my second nap today. Boy, am I glad I’m currently on reading week. At times like these it’s all about the little achievements to keep you going. Woke up before 8 today? Not bad. Ate all three meals and a number of (healthy) snacks? Way to go. Water intake for the day sufficient? Round of applause, yo.

Speaking about achievements...not too long ago I paid Dave and Luke at Brompton Food Market (next to SNOG) a “work visit” to take product shots of their Christmas hamper offerings. You can actually see an edited crop of their confectionery hamper above...so many goodies! Given that I am by no means a professional – it was my first paid photography job – and that we had almost no lighting equipment, I was actually rather chuffed with the outcome. As some people have since asked me how to get that perfect “food porn” shot (even before it kisses an Insta-filter or VCSOcam treatment) as a fellow everyday mortal...I’ve been toying with that idea for a future Food issue.

In fact, I’d actually like to hear from you if you’re a budding food photographer, as Food has got an exciting long-term project planned, and we need you guys for that. You know how to reach us!