Festive food!
This festive season is flying by. We still have so many more Christmas films to watch!! Tonight on the film-menu is the classic Mary Poppins. We watch this every year, the kids absolutely love the magic in this cosy movie.
Aside from the movies, a big item on the list is festive food
Festive food in our household:
-I am a vegetarian, and I often cook plant-based meals
-My husband is a flexitarian – this seems to be a real thing now and it actually describes his diet best
-Our 3 kids: vegetarian, flexitarian and omnivore (my youngest loves meat at the moment – she mainly eats it at school, on occasion at home)
-Wider family (mum and sisters plus their families):
-Mostly vegetarian, with some pescitarian and omnivores
My husband’s family (parents and sister plus family):
-Omnivores – and meat/fish is important
Our festive food plans this festive season:
We are going to host my in-laws at our home for Christmas. The French festive meals are often fully fish and meat based. Luckily I will bring the vegetarian and plant-based touches to all of the meals!
For New Year’s:
We will be going to my mum’s, who lives in Spain. Here, our food will be fully vegetarian and plant-based
Home cooking vs. store bought food
Food made from scratch is obviously much more eco:
-Reduce packaging
-Less ingredients (and less additives)
-You can opt for buying in bulk and use your own bags/sachets
-It is easy to buy local and good (organic) ingredients of the elements you wish – even in one dish you can have a mix of organic, non-organic and local ingredients
We will opt for home cooking. It can get a bit stressful to cook a tasty meal for a lot of people, but then you can always simplify the dishes, and usually others will help out!
Festive food conclusion?
Even as a vegetarian with a love of vegan foods, I will be around fish and meat this Christmas. I know that traditions are important, they are for me too. But whatever you are going to be eating this festive season, we can all be more conscious of the impact our food has on the planet.
Everyone loves to add a variety of food, so let’s make the variety more green!
I leave you with an encouraging Christmas-food stat:
UK’s major supermarket Tesco’s carries out an annual Christmas Report. 
-2024’s report revealed that 27% of UK households were planning on serving vegetarian or plant-based options during Christmas 2024. (Source: Tesco’s Christmas Trends Report)
And if you are looking for ideas, I have specifically made an eco-Christmas guide to help families towards a greener festive season. It includes a range of vegetarian and vegan recipes that are really easy to make and that are yummy!
Sources:
Tesco’s, New Food Magazin