Alternative diets at shows...
 In
2016 Cat Clark was admitted to hospital with sepsis from an infection. When she
returned home, she was left with Chronic Fatigue. Her doctors told her they
couldn’t help her, so after some research, she decided to remove both dairy and
meat from her diet. Sounds completely crazy and impossible, doesn't it, but it
worked!
At that time, I had meat or dairy or both in almost every meal I ate, and I
really had no idea where to start or how to make being a vegetarian practical
within in my life. But I decided to try as there were lots of reports of energy
going up - even though I really thought people were just saying that to push
veganism. Within one week, however, I went from running on about 30% to 70%!
Following that, I learned about the ethical and environmental side which helped
cement the diet for me.
Winter was pretty easy but, as the agility season began, I suspected that I
would find things more difficult. I knew the amount of travelling would make it
more difficult.
It was going to be a big learning curve.
To begin with, I found veganism to be expensive. This was mostly because I
was buying loads and loads of fresh veg and either running out or it would go
off quickly. I was still experimenting with what meals suited me and my
lifestyle the most, so I did spend quite a lot on food in the first month.
However, as I discovered tips and tricks such as buying frozen veg, I spend a
lot less on food than I used to.
 So
I decided to create a Facebook support group for me and eight of my veggie
friends so we could share ideas and experiences on things like what we could eat
at shows and on training days. I certainly did not expect the response I got!
Vegan
& Veggie Agility UK
Amazingly, the Group went from nine to 350 members in just one month. While it
is open to everyone, it is mainly for vegans, plant- based vegetarians and
people on restrictive diets in the Agility and dog training community.
Not everyone is completely meat-free and we’re
not all completely healthy. We definitely still love junk food.
Members include people with allergies and others wanting to transition as
well some people simply wanting to reduce their meat, but not necessarily stop
completely! What it's not is a weight loss group. What
most of us agree on is that
catering
at agility shows isn’t always very veggie let alone vegan friendly.
We really don't love greasy catering vans every weekend.
The VVA chat is great.
Thus far, everyone has been extremely friendly, supportive and
non-judgmental.
We discuss food
ideas every day and
post pictures of meals, recipes, exciting supermarket finds, etc.
Meal
preps suddenly seems so much easier with loads of suggestions and advice. And,
of course. we all are united by our love of dogs.
We do have a rule that no preaching is allowed. We believe that if someone
wants to make a change it's much more effective for them to do it in our own
time with positive support. No cruelty posts allowed either - another biggie to
us!
 Our
experiences
Even before I had no dietary restrictions, I generally only ate
as lightly as possible (yoghurt bars etc.) at shows at least until the evening.
Although agility isn't a particularly strenuous sport in terms of exercise, I do
find it hard to run when full of heavy food. As I can’t even eat most of my
light food choices any more, the Group has been incredibly helpful with ideas!
Avoiding the grease and sticking to plant-based food has helped me so much.
It feels much easier to run, and I’m not getting as tired at shows. Still not
completely healthy - I am obsessed with paprika Pringles - but the difference
feels huge.
Since starting the group, we've been able to highlight which caterers are
offering what and at what shows. At the moment, however, this is mainly just
'praising' a show that has had an alternative caterer but very often we only
finding out until the day. I know that caterers are usually listed in the
schedule of a show, but their menus aren't so ideally we would ideally love to
create a website that gives everyone a heads up on what food would be available
that day. This is still in the planning stages though, and we'd love to hear
other people's thoughts!
When I agreed to write this
article, I decided to ask some other members for their comments.
Although 100 % veggie and 99% vegan now -barring accidental slip ups -
Co-Admin
Chloe Machon
is still learning.
Every year since she was five, she'd had extremely bad eczema. No sign of
it so far this year! She just hadn't been educated on what actually happens to
animals in the process of it all, but she is trying to live an animal cruelty
free life from food to every day products she uses.
She
started the process very gradually. Her diet has never really been meat or
diary driven although she thought it was. It was always an extra to her meals.
So when she started living on her own and saw just how expensive meat is, she
started to make changes.
She
started by cutting out all meat apart from chicken and fish from her diet. Then
she realised that she wasn't missing meat and that meat wasn’t bringing the
flavour to her food.It was the herbs, spices and sauces that she actually
enjoyed. Next she cut out chicken and about a year ago she stopped eating fish,
too - even though she loved
sushi!
She found that she didn't
miss meat at all. This year she decided to go the diary/egg free life.
Although she had always tried to make the best ethical decisions when buying
animal products (free range etc), it wasn’t until she watched Land of Hope &
Glory and UK Earthlings that everything changed for her. She realised
that free range does not really mean 'free range.' It was a huge turning point
in her life.
 Chloe
watched a few health documentaries about 'plant-bsed diets' most of which she
took with a pinch of salt, but some of it still made a lot of sense and she felt
the changes personally. After following a vegan diet, her asthma has almost gone
and her energy levels are much higher.
Sam Clarke has
found the V & V Agility group very inspirational to get her eating back on
track.
Being gluten-free, s it’s not easy to stay inspired for new ideas.
There are some wonderful recipe sharing. She is hooked on the Bean burgers
which taste amazing. They just don’t look like the group member's photo... yet.
Another member, Judith Falkner, is
not particularly veggie or vegan but she too is loving the recipes and
ideas for healthy eating. She does not eat much meat but has never enjoyed
vegetables much - her parents boiled them to death and things like peppers and
avocado etc were non-existent when she was young. She is very happy trying out
anything tasty.
Kayleigh Guilford was delighted to find out that she was not alone. She
went vegan in March 2017 when she couldn't justify loving dogs, cats
and horses while still eatung other living creatures! In terms of her diet, she
hasn't looked back. She reports that she is in the best shape ever and
feels healthy and strong.
She said, 'But, I was beginning to feel very isolated because of my
ethical choice. This group being made and seeing how quickly the number of
members grew has made me feel that I'm not the only vegan at a show, and I
love how supportive and kind everyone is.'
At the start of the year, Yvonne Lynch started experimenting
with a plant-based diet. She'd make some changes so she eating vegan one day of
the week when she joined the Group. As a result, she now has lots of ideas and
has decided to take the plunge.
What about our dogs...
It's important to note that we still feed our dogs meat - most of us being
raw feeders. We know that some would say that is hypocritical, but we also
appreciate that it’s not possible to be 100% ethical in today’s day and age.
According to
ACE (Animal
Charity Evaluators),
going vegetarian in the UK can potentially save 24-110 animals per year, and
according to the web site
Veganuary - the minimum when going
vegan is even more.
Chloe and I are very proud of the group! It's so polite, friendly and
encouraging. If you are interested in learning more, please do check us out. You
can find us on
Facebook. We LOVE food and have so many different ideas!
 About
Cat & Chloe
Cat Clark (24) lives in Cambridge along with her partner Maciek and
their three dogs. She started agility at 11 years old, and currently runs her
young Working Cocker Spaniel called Toast.
Cat and Maciek both work for a software company, but outside of their full
time work they also run a digital design business specialising in branding for
dog trainers. She is also launching her first official line of agility clothing
this year.
Chloe Machon (23)
works in Payroll/Acounts and currently lives in Milton Keynes with her
sister and sister's partner) with their five dogs. She
caught the agility bug in 2004 and has been hooked ever since! She is
currently competing two Cocker Spaniels in Grade 7.
First published 30 May 2018
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