“Meat, now that was an interesting one. There were always people who lived perfectly well without ever eating meat. It was growing, but it was still a small percentage. But it was only when meat and poultry started to taste bad, and people started feeling sick after eating it, that things changed. No one understood why humans suddenly had problems digesting meat. Scientists did their studies and the meat and poultry industries pumped money into it, trying to save their bacon.” Molly laughed at her own silly pun.
“They found nothing. It was completely inexplicable. Of course, I have my own theory”. She winked at Belle and looked over at the young man waiting for him to give her the go-ahead to share her theory.
“Yes, yes. Tell me your theory, Mol.” This was a new one to him.
“The animals were helping us. We take this for granted now, but in those days they were seen as inferior beings. The animals and plants all knew it was part of the grand scheme that some of them would be food - for us, for other animals, or for other plants. They knew all about the food chain and made allowances for it in their strategies for the survival of their species. That part was all in perfect order. But when they saw that humans were getting sick from eating too much meat, and especially eating animals that had been farmed and killed under horrible conditions, they changed themselves. They stepped in to help us. They made themselves taste bad to humans. And it was wild animals as well as farmed animals. It must have been something specific to humans, because it was only humans it affected. Other animals could still eat meat and everything in the wild seemed to be the same. Eggs, too. Eggs made people feel sick as well.
“Anyway, if there was a reason, nobody knew. The meat and poultry industries were thrown into a panic. No one was buying it. Companies that stuck to their old ways went under. But the smart ones looked for alternatives. They looked at new foods and how foods could be combined better for better absorption of proteins, and they started to promote new ways of eating. They had huge education programs. And these were big companies with deep pockets. They planted fast-growing proteins like quinoa. They looked to the future and started using their land to plant trees, like olives and avocados. They started to grow useful plants, and without large-scale meat production there was more land available.
“What was incredible is that if the animals were kept in good conditions, meat became edible again, but only in small quantities. We started to eat it as we do now, on rare and special occasions.”
“It was the same with dairy products. These suddenly caused terrible digestive problems, except for good-quality goat’s milk. This was when goat dairy farming took off the way it did, with the push to high-quality and organic products. And they found an exception with eggs. For some people, small amounts of good-quality eggs, from chickens that were fed well and lived what they then called ‘free range’ seemed to be OK. We all had to go back to the traditional ways of raising animals if we were going to eat animal products.”
“It is extraordinary. But I think your theory must be true, Molly. Hey, did you leave any Maca-roons for dessert?” Belle said jokingly.
“Of course I did, but I must admit it was tempting.” They finished the meal with Belle’s delicious Maca-roons.
“You’ve got the cinnamon perfect in these,” complimented Molly.
“Almonds, cocoa, honey especially for you of course, coconut oil, dates, a little cinnamon, a drop of pure vanilla essence, and of course my ‘miracle ingredient’, lovely malty maca. A tiny touch of salt is the secret.”
She was still looking for a good name for them. Macabelles was the latest. Molly suggested Big Macs, but it was a private little joke to herself.