I was vegetarian for 9 years, 6 months of which were hard-core vegan. I harbored all the classic stereotypes: carrying my own soy milk with me (pre-Oatly, can you believe it?) and a tendency to monologue about factory farming after a few pints. I know, but I was rattled. How on earth could people accept killing a living creature with a heart and eyes just so we could taste it? Why would you eat a beef burger when cows are killing the planet and a Beyond Burger tastes just the same?

In 2020, I watched two documentaries about the majesty of regenerative farming: Kiss the Ground and The Biggest Little Farm. The former teed it up and the latter absolutely hounded it into the back of the net—crowd goes wild, everything makes sense.

I recognised that my big feelings in my veganism were really an expression of my lack of connection with nature, animals, this garden of Eden that provides. I was trying so hard to be part of the solution rather than the problem.

In fact, cows can and do help reduce greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere by being part of a system that sequesters carbon! Actually, my body is revelling in being fed nutrition-rich whole foods rather than the ultra-processed 'meats' I was shovelling down to scratch the endless umami itch.

Hallelujah, a revelation. What if I could eat meat and improve the world we live in? It's too good to be true!

I started obsessing, going to every event I could: Natoora’s Earthrise Festival, The Ethical Butcher supper clubs, searching for regenerative food but not being able to find it. How can I play my part in this movement? I'm not a farmer, scientist, or chef, but by God, am I a millennial consumer and if I can make it easy for fellow conscious consumers to shop, eat and cook regeneratively and spend their money where it counts, then that I will—and that’s WORMS, baby!

To me, regenerative farming is an opportunity for us to play our part, beat our drum in the rhythm of our ecosystem. We are not owning it but within it. I’m as opposed to factory farming now as I was in my vegan days, but now my drunken monologues are paired with a perfectly cooked steak from a cow reared by a farmer who loved it. My life is enriched, and the soil is too.

(I am not against veganism in the slightest, or any philosophy anyone wants to live by. This is just my story! I implore that meat is a treat, and I eat vegetarian most of the time. Not much can beat a peak-season vegetable.)