The other day, I was watching Oprah. In her last season, she’s really let things go down the road to crazy town: as her episode where she signed her entire staff up to be vegan proved. The idea was mostly to get her staff to focus on what goes in their bodies, and how many animal products lurk in their kitchens. But it got me thinking: if the great and powerful O could go vegan, why couldn’t I? Even rock stars and celebrities have gotten in on the act, such Paul McCartney’s and his ‘Meat Free Mondays’, promoting having one meat-free day a week. I’ve been on a mission to eat healthier for a while, but in Qatar it just seems so hard. Where would I find tasty healthy alternatives?

Clearly, the people with the answers would be the vegans. Officially named in 1944, this is a group that not only doesn’t eat meat, but also avoids eggs, dairy, honey and all animal products. In an effort to go healthy, surely they would know how to do it. I began my mission by consulting resident Kirsten Miller, who’s been vegan for the last two years.

‘My becoming vegan probably started from my interest in animal welfare and the issues surrounding it,’ she says. As well as not eating animals, she also volunteers with the Qatar Animal Welfare Society, so her commitment runs deep. ‘I started reading and researching material on the methods of food production and farming and the more I read, the more I realised I didn’t agree with them. Somewhere along the line I started reading more about the effects of eating animal products and what it meant for my body and the concept of eating animals or animal products suddenly didn’t seem so appealing. I remember reading about cow’s milk and how humans are the only species on the planet to drink another species’ milk and how the purpose of milk is to fatten up the young of a species when they need it for crucial growth in early life. So why continue to drink it? Initially it was for ethical reasons but exploring what eating animal products can do to your body gave me as much reason to become vegan as my compassion for animals did.’

Expert opinions differ on whether or not a vegan diet is healthier than a carnivorous one. Humans have evolved to be omnivores, but most studies show that modern humans consume more animal fat and proteins than necessary. Not to mention the environmental side: it takes more resources to raise animals for slaughter than vegetarian alternatives.

Most criticism of vegetarian and vegan diets stem from poorly planned diets: the American Dietetic Association as well as Dietitians of Canada found that though such diets are appropriate in all life stages, if not done correctly they can result in vitamin, mineral, calcium and iron deficiencies. ‘Within a month of becoming vegan I physically felt a lot lighter and healthier. I know that my health has improved since becoming vegan because of the focus it has meant on eating a plant based diet,’ says Miller.

After that literal carrot being dangled, of course I want to try this. I go through my house and empty out the animal items. Goodbye butter. See you later cheese. Sayonara honey. My freezer of frozen hamburgers and chicken? No more. Under Kirsten’s advice, I head over to Megamart and Lulu Hypermarket to stock up on vegan supplies.

‘Many of the other supermarkets have expanded their vegan stock over the years and any supermarket will certainly have vegan items in them (after all, an apple is vegan!). Things like vegan pizzas, vegan margarine, vegan cheese, vegan ‘ice cream’ and meat substitutes have become more and more common,’ she says. Perusing the shelves full of vegan bologna, vegan cream cheese and soy butter, it really does seem like there are many alternatives, even on Doha’s typically challenging grocery store shelves. ‘Small things like vegan alternatives to foods are in short supply and stock is often erratic so it’s usually a matter of ‘get it while you can’,’ she says. ‘MegaMart is my ‘go to’ for vegan food but I like trying out the local fruit and vegetable markets and stores to find good quality fresh products.’

Most people, if they’ve been in Qatar more than a few months, have cause to whine about the stock gracing our grocery store shelves. Our pantries begin to look like we’re stocking up for the apocalypse, and we bring things like boxes of granola bars and jars of mayonnaise back instead of souvenirs from holidays. But according to Kirsten, we’d have no excuse not to embrace at least some elements of veganism.

‘This is a country that has a pretty good selection of vegetarian restaurants or menu options and the majority of the time, asking for something to be taken out of a dish or supplemented with something else is welcomed. When it comes to eating at home, the sky’s the limit as to what you can eat as a vegan and it certainly helps that my husband is such a great cook (despite being a true carnivore himself!). I have found that a lot of the time you just need to ask. Restaurant or hotel staff are really helpful with information or suggestions from their menu,’ she says. ‘Because Qatar is a country made up of so many nationalities and religions, the concept of being vegetarian or vegan is certainly not an unusual concept. With that goes the understanding of what I do and don’t eat without needing to go into long winded explanations. New restaurants and hotels are opening up all the time in Qatar so it means that the variety of food choices is expanding too.’

Still, images of frightening meals made up of lettuce and items that look like they’d best be saved for lining the cages of small animals mock my resolve. Time for the big question; what, exactly, can vegans eat?
‘ Loads! Fruit, vegetables, grains, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds and soy products…just nothing that contains animal products. A lot of the time it may mean reading labels and checking the ingredients or contents and it certainly helps to have done your homework and know what foods are really vegan and not just vegetarian (some foods contain animal products in them such as lactose, gelatin or eggs). There is so much information out there though to help you –it is easy to stick to buying vegan I find .’

My mind is set: I’m going vegan. Grocery shopping brings a wealth of new options I’d never considered. Surfing the web turns up ample recipes and things to try. In an effort to diversify, I try things that normally would never hit my basket: I try my first avocado during this experiment and find them to be delightful. But after only a few days, I’m jonesing for a big glass of milk. Miller says she’s seen this before.

‘The most common reaction is people asking how I stay vegan and then commenting that they don’t think they could do it themselves! It’s interesting when you really started to explore the concept though because with just a few changes of ingredients it’s really not a big deal and because there are the alternatives out there, it doesn’t mean surviving off a diet of lettuce leaves and nuts! For most people it’s not so much the meat but the dairy products they say they’d miss.’

And in fact, it’s a block of cheese that is my undoing. Sitting forgotten in the back of my fridge, I’m seduced back to the dark meaty side by a hunk of red Leicester. Still, as I peruse my fridge, now full of things like Portobello mushrooms instead of steak, cauliflower instead of chicken, and avocado instead of basically everything, there is something to be gained from this. By eliminating meat products, I forced myself to try new things, and include more plants in my diet, which can only be a good thing. It was also far cheaper: my weekly shop cost a third of what it normally does without the meat. I will definitely be sticking with those elements. But no one is taking away my cheese.