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EDITOR/GRAPHIC DESIGNER/SALES Michaela Gainey

Editor’s note

A

huge welcome to 2018! I hope everyone had a great Christmas, New Year, and that you all got to enjoy a bit of a break from the everyday grind.

I really hope this year brings with it many new developments and wins for the animals. I’d like to give a heartfelt thanks to all the animal / vegan activists around the country, and in fact, the world for dedicating so much of their time to be a voice for those unable to speak. You are and will always be my heroes.

But I’d also like to thank those that contribute even a little bit to the cause.

Those that pass on petitions and educate others in daily conversations, of course, those that abstain from animal products, but even those that are willing to listen and be open about learning about the industry. It all brings us a few steps closer towards a cruelty-free world.

There have been so many wins throughout 2017. Most significantly, the ACT made a commitment to ban greyhound racing, which takes effect from May this year; and Victoria banned the cruel practice of puppy farming. Victoria is definitely leading the way in Australia both in animal welfare and veganism.

An animal welfare body, Animal Welfare VIC, is being established and leading it a vegetarian ambassador; and Melbourne council banned horse-drawn carriages in the central business district.

Australia has also seen a 92 per cent increase in vegan products (2014-2016), and tops Google trends for searches for ‘vegan’. It has also been named the third fastest-growing market for vegan-labelled

package food in the world. Women in Australia who felt that it was important that their make-up be cruelty-free increased by 12 per cent; more than 150 Australian designers signed PETA’s pledge to go fur-free; dairy sales nose-dived and plant-based milk sales peaked; The Royal Australiasian College of Surgeons announced it would phase out the use of live animals; Australia got a first vegan franchise restaurant, and of course, a new mainstream vegan magazine at the newsagents; many new vegan restaurants sprang up around Australia; Sydney got a new vegan market; vegan food delivery services became available; Australia’s first ag-gag case was dismissed in NSW; and Jetstar announced a vegan-friendly menu.

Overseas wins included dog fighting being banned in Mexico; France passing a historic bill ordering cameras in all slaughterhouses; Taiwan banning euthanasia on stray animals in shelters; Europe voting to ban battery cages on rabbit farms; Taiwan banning the slaughter of cats and dogs for human consumption; Ringling Bros. Circus closing its doors; India issuing a ban on trading cattle for slaughter; vegan lunches being introduced in select schools in LA; 400 million less animals being killed for food in the US; a huge rise in vegan athletes and animal activist groups; fashion houses Net-A-Porter, Gucci and Michael Kors going fur-free; and vegan film Okja hitting Netflix.

So keep on fighting, keep passing those petitions around, keep cooking that delicious vegan food, because even though it sometimes doesn’t seem like it, you are slowly making a dent towards great change.

michaela

THE AUSTRALIAN

The winner of the WIN two nights for up to four people at Back to Earth competition is Hannah Prime, Penrith, NSW.

ON THE COVER Red sprouted superfood salad.

From Vegan Bowls by Vegan Souls - a Coconut Bowls Cookbook (coconutbowls.com).

Photo by Hannah Singleton & Jennifer Murrant @healthsynergy.

mag VEGAN JAN/FEB 2018 ISSUE 6 $14.90 (INCL GST)

ANIMALS

to become

JAMES

ASPEY:

human organ donors?

& HIS BIGGEST

The BIG

EMPOWER

DEAL with

GROWING UP

INFLUENCE

YOUR

EGGS

child

Healing

Slow down the

KITCHEN

HERBS

AGE CLOCK

Blissful

BUDDHA BOWLS

& DELICIOUSLY HEALTHY

CONTRIBUTORS Greg McFarlane Mark Pearson Sarah Williams Alexandra Karaoutsadis Sheila Hart Lisa Blair Julia Naismith Tianna McCormick Omanisa Ross Roshni Sethuraman Dr Lea Merone Clare Mann PUBLISHER The Australian Vegan Magazine (ABN: 42 353 152 551) COPY The next copy deadline for contributors is Friday, 26 January, 2018 ADVERTISING The next advertising deadline is Monday, 5 February, 2018 CONTACT PO BOX 777 WARNERS BAY NSW 2282 editor@tavm.com.au WEBSITE www.tavm.com.au SOCIAL MEDIA

www.facebook.com/australianveganmagazine/ www.instagram.com/theaustralianveganmagazine/

DISCLAIMER The publisher/editor believe all information supplied to The Australian Vegan Magazine, including in interviews and articles, is correct and accurate at the time of printing. The publisher accepts no responsibility, to the full extent of the law, for information which proves inaccurate.

All material in The Australian Vegan Magazine is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher.

The publisher accepts absolutely no responsibility for information supplied to The Australian Vegan Magazine in advertisements. Responsibility lies solely with the advertiser in ensuring the material complies with The Trade Practices Act 1974. The publisher accepts no responsibility or liability for any loss arising from the appearance or nonpublication of any advertisements.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor/publisher.

The publisher takes no responsibility for material supplied to The Australian Vegan Magazine in Letters to the Editor.

Material published in Letters to the Editor is not the opinion of the publisher or editor, and not to be construed or deemed to be so. Authors of published material unreservedly take full responsibility for their comments and opinions.

Contents JAN/FEB 2018

ON THE COVER 20 Animals to become organ donors?

Experiments are being conducted in Frankenstein-like operations with baboons and pigs to tackle shortage of human organ donors.

26

06

80

16

Healing kitchen herbs

18

Slow down the age clock Show your age clock who the boss really is with these simple and accessible methods.

21

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

60

Healthy Lives Plant-Based Cooking; The Vegan Affair Twilight; Vegan Australia Day; The Big Bayside and Peninsula Vegan Makers Market and Food Fiesta; Paws of Love at Wallan Twilight Market; Boho Luxe Market and Glamping Festival 2018; Cheltenham Cat Rescue Sausage Sizzle; Vegan Valentine’s Market; The Second Fundraiser and Educational Tour at Where Pigs Fly Farm Sanctuary; We Will Rise Together - Aussie Farms Fundraiser; Newkind Festival 2.0 - Post Human Boot Camp; 7-Day Vegan Intensive Cookery Course with Chef Alan Whykes; Japanese Superfood Author Talk at Hornsby Library; Seitan & Notzarella Vegan Protein Alternatives Cooking Class; Alive PlantBased Festival; Plant-Powered Women Leadership Conference; The Earth Festival; Japanese Superfood Talk at Balmain Library; Noosa Vegan Festival.

76

IN THE NEWS 12 Queensland a global top 10 deforester Eastern Australia ranks alongside Amazon in the top 10 of the world’s major deforestation fronts, the only one in a developing country.

13

96

Plastic that melts into nothing Two Australian companies are at the forefront to make biodegradable plastic out of plant-based materials.

Lab mice are more protected than cows Double standards appear to exist in the way people perceive animals for research and animals for food.

WHAT’S ON WHERE What’s on where

The good and bad of plastics Plastics can make a positive contribution to the environment if used correctly and for the correct things.

22 06

Greyhound racing under scrutiny The ACT government will ban greyhound racing from May this year. Although the other states aren’t following suit, they’re still not getting off that easy.

Learn about the health benefits of kitchen herbs and spices in this three part series.

86

Discrimination against vegans Recent cases of bullying of vegans has raised the spotlight on the need to protect those that choose to live a cruelty-free life.

Empower your child Learn how to empower your kids to stay strong with their convictions when you are not around to fend for them.

Oz trails behind in poultry standards Unlike other countries around the world including New Zealand, battery cages will not be phased out of Australian chicken farms any time soon.

The big deal with eggs The biggest reason vegans are abstaining from eating eggs is the inherent cruelty in the egg industry.

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23

Science and animal sentience There may have been confusion about animal sentience in the British parliament recently, but there’s no doubt when it comes to animals being able to feel in the scientific world.

24

NY schools to do Meatless Mondays Fifteen New York schools will participate in Meatless Mondays to acknowledge the importance of a plant-based diet for health.

24

Campaign calls for all animal groups to become vegan A North Carolina animal rescue group has called on all animal welfare organisations to adopt a vegan policy to save the world.

PROFILE 34 Spotlight on Vegan Australia This volunteer-run organisation is becoming a well-recognised voice for veganism.

35

On a holistic healing path Cancer survivor Joel Grace was heading for destruction until he began a journey to health, vitality and even a new career.

38

Spreading love and kindness Instagram hit Ally Sheehan’s life changed in an instant. Now she’s becoming the change she wants to see.

40

Fighting back Diagnosed with fibromyalgia, Julia Naismith refused to listen to her doctors and instead started listening to her body.

ON THE MENU 44 Blissful Buddha bowls

64

Red sprouted superfood salad................44 Momo peche bento bowl........................46 Green power smoothie bowl....................48 Rainbow nourish bowl............................49 Asian-inspired Buddha bowl...................50 Ratatouille bowl.....................................52 Mexican fiesta bowl................................53 The coolest chilli Buddha bowl................55 Buddhist noodle bowl............................56 Acai superfood bowl...............................58 The green beauty bowl............................59 The loyal lentil chilli...............................60 Japanese rice with eggplant, shiitake and cabbage.................................................62

The plant-based athlete Savoury oatmeal....................................64 Coconut silverbeet & sweet potatoes......66 Olive chickpea waffles............................68 Switchel sports drinks with juice.............70 Quick sweet and sour tofu stir-fry............72 Vanilla chia power bars..........................74

MOTIVATION Lifestyle 78 Tips to stay vegan if you’re struggling

Get some great tips on what to do when you want to fall off the vegan wagon.

HEALTH Lifestyle 79 Why quinoa is so healthy Find out why quinoa is the food of the moment.

88WW Avoiding despair at socials Vegan psychologist Clare Mann provides readers with coping mechanisms to deal with traditional celebrations.

ENVIRONMENT Lifestyle 93 How to save the planet Scientists warn that the earth is suffering irreparable damage and that we’re heading for a ‘collision course’.

TRAVEL Lifestyle 96 Why no vegan options is a good thing Travelling to a country with no vegan options can be wonderful for your health.

30 James Aspey is planting seeds.

what’s on

what’s on January

where

HEALTHY LIVES PLANT BASED COOKING Sunday, 14 January, Sunday, 28 January 12pm - 4pm The Beet Retreat 1/55 One Tree Hill Rd Smiths Gully, VIC Remember when what you ate, what was deemed ‘healthy’, seemed so simple? Before industry and government supported ‘advertising’ with all its inherent agendas and targets? Before celebrity chefs, book deals, reality TV? You don’t want an opinion or the latest fad. You want the facts, truthfully, and you just want to know how to make good food.

Food that serves your body and mind well, a way of fuelling yourself that is enjoyable, simple and sustainable. The Beet Retreat Cooking Classes, are your gateway. The classes are three hours of creating and one hour of eating vibrant, mostly organic and healthy vegan food. A good part of the lesson’s content and style is conversational. The basics classes will cover one (or more) from the following categories: breakfasts that can be ‘grab and go’ (from smoothies to overnight oats); hearty, 6 the

australian vegan magazine

satisfying salads and simple dressings; dairy and egg replacers (nut/seed mylks, cheese, mayo); nourishing, delicious but simple mains; and quick and healthy desserts and treats. Cost is $90 per person and includes a sit down three-course meal (value $35).

For more information email jan@thebeetretreat.com.au.

THE VEGAN AFFAIR TWILIGHT Friday, 19 January, 4pm - 8pm The Function Centre, Port Noarlunga Surf Life Saving Club, Cnr Saltfleet St & Esplanade, Port Noarlunga, SA The Vegan Affair is going twilight. Join the like-minded for an evening of vegan food, happy vibes, music, vegan products and beautiful scenery all along the gorgeous Port Noarlunga Coast. It doesn’t matter if you are vegan, vegetarian or just someone wanting to learn what the lifestyle is all about. Everyone is welcome, so bring your family and friends and watch the sunset this January.

THE BIG BAYSIDE AND PENINSULA VEGAN MAKERS

Photo by depositphotos.

VEGAN AUSTRALIA DAY Sunday, 21 January, 10am - 7pm Brothers Rugby Club, 103 Crosby Rd, Brisbane, QLD Hosted by Vegos Fun, this year’s vegan Australia Day celebration will be bigger and better than last year’s one. Every year, over 33,000,000 lambs alone are made to live miserable and tortured lives with the sole purpose to be cruelly killed and consumed for the Australia Day celebration. By celebrating Australia Day the vegan way, MARKET AND FOOD FIESTA Saturday, 20 January, 10am - 3pm Frankston Basketball, 90 Bardia Ave Seaford VIC This boutique and stylish event with divine stalls and sumptuous food trucks will tempt your senses at every turn with every brand being vegan so you can shop knowing you are buying 100 per cent vegan, crueltyfree and ethically-sourced products. The very best of Victoria’s vegan brands will be showcased in this very BIG summer event. Enjoy beautiful live music while you shop at more than 100 stores. There is plenty of seating, indoors market stalls, outdoor food trucks, free entry and free parking. Eftpos and PayPal

we are making a big difference by not consuming animals and sending the clear and strong message to the rest of Australia that there is no need to cause pain to defenceless creatures or the destruction of our natural environment that animal farming causes.

In partnership with The Brisbane Vegan Markets and other reputable cruelty-free enterprisers, lots of exciting events are planned for the day.

For more information go to facebook.com/events/ 426207337776464/. will be available at many stalls and an ATM will also be at the venue. Remember to bring your own shopping bags to cut out the use of plastic bags.

Dogs on leashes are welcome outdoors only. For more information go to facebook.com/ events/526856167654342/.

PAWS OF LOVE AT WALLAN TWILIGHT MARKET Friday, 26 January, 4pm - 8pm Hadfield Reserve Park, High St, Wallan, VIC Paws of Love Animal Rescue will have a stall at this season’s Wallan Twilight Markets. Come along and support a great cause.

February

what’s on

BOHO LUXE MARKET AND GLAMPING FESTIVAL 2018 Friday, 2 February, 6pm - 10pm Saturday, 3 February, 10am - 8pm Sunday, 4 February, 10am - 3pm Royal Exhibition Building, 9 Nicholson St, Carlton VIC Due to overwhelming demand, the Boho Luxe Market and Glamping Festival has outgrown its original venue and will now be held at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton, for three amazing days of shopping exclusive brands, food trucks, live music, and workshops. For the vegan market goers, there will be a vegan section with 100 per cent vegan, crueltyfree and ethically-sourced products. Entry is only $2 with kids under 12 free.

CHELTENHAM CAT RESCUE SAUSAGE SIZZLE Saturday, 10 February, 8am - 4pm Bunnings Mentone Nepean Hwy, Mentone, VIC Help the Cheltenham Cat Rescue raise money for kitty rescues by buying some delicious vegan snags.

Cheltenham Cat Rescue is a volunteer-based registered charitable organisation dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of cats.

VEGAN VALENTINE’S MARKET Sunday, 11 February, 10am - 4pm Upwey Community Hall, 1443 Burwood Hwy, Upwey, VIC Get your vegan fix at this grassroots scale, boutique-style indoor market with a variety of thoughtfully curated emerging

THE SECOND FUNDRAISER AND EDUCATIONAL TOUR AT WHERE PIGS FLY FARM SANCTUARY Sunday, 25 February, 9.30am Laguna, Lower Hunter Valley Hosted by Vegan Ahimsa Yoga Shala, this is an open invitation for all the yoga teachers and students of yoga in Newcastle and beyond to educate themselves about the mistreatment and misuse of farm animals for meat, milk, eggs, clothing and entertainment. Learn about the lives of rescued and abused farm animals in a tour that goes for 90 minutes. The tour will commence at 10am and finish with your vegan lunch (please bring a vegan lunch) under the Camphor Laurel or Pergola. Large vegan muffins from The Muffin Mob are available to pre-order for $6.00 (pay on the day with the correct money). For more information go to facebook.com/events/ 1885082661810494/. vegan micro businesses, showcasing products and services which are cruelty-free, environmentally-friendly, and which encourage sustainable living. Non-vegans/vegan curious and those evolving to veganism are welcome to attend and enjoy this event as long as respect for vegan ethos is maintained during the event. Please refrain from

Photo by depositphotos.

bringing non-vegan food or products to this vegan specific event. For more information go to facebook.com/ events/512753089076424/.

WE WILL RISE TOGETHER AUSSIE FARMS FUNDRAISER Monday, 12 February,

10am - 4.40am Pure Vision Tattoo at 272 Johnston St, Abbotsford, VIC ‘WE WILL RISE TOGETHER’ will be the catch cry in 2018 when the life changing documentary Dominion will be released. This documentary by Chris Delforce of Aussie Farms uses innovative technology

Australia’s vegan supermarket

SYDNEY · MELBOURNE BRISBANE · CANBERRA · ONLINE

www.crueltyfreeshop.com.au the australian vegan magazine

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what’s on

NEWKIND FESTIVAL 2.0 – POST HUMAN BOOT CAMP Wednesday, 21 March Sunday, 25 March, Tasmania Activists, academics, engineers, artists and physical trainers from around the country will converge on a secret ocean front property in Tasmania to inspire, empower and upskill 500 attendees. Rather than advocate for change, Newkind Festival seeks to ‘Activate for Change’, championing a philosophy that includes individual initiative, courageous investigation and affirmative consent. Newkind is a social change movement masquerading as a festival; a capacity building conference of ideas designed to upskill agents of social change in an off-grid, zero-packaging, and solarpowered festival environment.

The line-up of over 50 presenters includes Tenille to expose the industries that exploit animals. Tammy Leigh of Pure Vision Tattoo has graciously accepted an offer to assist with fundraising for Aussie Farms to raise money to assist Chris to continue his work in exposing these abhorrent industries, and bring the plight of animals to the forefront of the human consciousness. ‘WE WILL RISE TOGETHER’ will be the tattoo of the day, with a few different fonts to choose from. There will be no changes that can be

8 the

australian vegan magazine

Bentley (WA), James Aspey (QLD), Asal Alamdari (VIC), Kelly Snook (US) and Simon Jongenotter (Bali). Covering themes as diverse as emotional intelligence, sustainable architecture, economics, early childhood education, food production, health and wellbeing as well as theatre for social change, the programme is a serious attempt at investigating structural social change. Newkind goes beyond the leave no trace trend and runs a zero-packaging with a no drugs or alcohol policy, and a cruelty-free philosophy. Hosting over 100 sessions across five days and providing plant-based meals and hospitality, this could almost be described as a boot camp for social change.

For more information go to newkindfestival.com/ or facebook.com/ events/175170926357629/. made to the fonts and no extra ones will be added. These fonts will be available to view once Tammy has prepared them.

There will be a limit of 15 people for the day. The first people to give their name and time will be allocated these spots. There will also be some vegan treats and other goodies available on the day. A BBQ and picnic in a nearby reserve will be happening as well to raise some money - details to be advised. The donation will be presented to Chris Delforce

Animals rights activist James Aspey embracing one of his biggest fans, Sunsun Chen, after his address at Newkind base camp 2017. Photo by New Narrative.

at the end of the day. If you missed out and cannot make it, a link will be put up where you can donate online. You can also pop in on the day, see some people in pain, grab some vegan goodies, and donate in store. Dominion is due to be released in Australia in March 2018. You can purchase your tickets now humanitix.com/event/dwp/ or aussiefarms.org.au/dominion.

Please also check out Tammy’s amazing tattoo work at instagram.com/ tammyleightattoos and facebook.com/ TammyLeighTattoos/. For more information go to facebook.com/ events/144635139501082/ 7-DAY VEGAN INTENSIVE COOKERY COURSE WITH CHEF ALAN WHYKES Sunday, 18 February to Saturday, 24 February Sydney Cooking School, Neutral Bay, NSW This course is designed to teach you as much as possible about the foundations of sophisticated vegan cookery in the shortest amount of time. Held in a modern and fully-equipped kitchen, this carefully-structured course features 50 hours of hands-on cooking and theory covering soups, salads, finger foods, main courses, grain dishes, baking, desserts, dairy replacements, fermentations,

raw food and presentation.

You will learn knife/cutting techniques, foundation cookery principles, vegan substitutions and shortcuts, how to develop and perfect recipes and practical cooking skills. It also includes an apron, recipe book and an extra ticket for a friend to the grand finale dinner.

The course runs over seven consecutive days from Sunday through to the following Saturday. Dates for 2018 to be confirmed. All food and equipment is provided. For bookings go to otisbeanery. com/workshops.html.

JAPANESE SUPERFOOD AUTHOR TALK AT HORNSBY LIBRARY Wednesday, 21 February, 6.30pm - 8pm Hornsby Library, 28 - 44 George St, Hornsby Author, cooking teacher and qualified chef Yoshiko Takeuchi will be speaking at a free event at Hornsby Library about Japanese Superfoods and how they can help you lose weight while giving you a healthy and youthful complexion. During the presentation you will learn how certain food can affect your body and which food can benefit you. If you want to learn how to have a healthy body while maintaining a youthful complexion through the food you eat, join this talk. There will even be food from Spiral

what’s on

Foods, Bonsoy and Slendier for everyone to enjoy so join Yoshiko for a night of learning and fun. For more information go to facebook.com/ events/1991036567791755/.

SEITAN & NOTZARELLA VEGAN PROTEIN ALTERNATIVES COOKING CLASS Wednesday, 28 February, 6.30pm - 9.30pm Maker Kitchen, 552 Parramatta Rd Petersham, NSW Learn to cook plant-based vegan protein substitutes for meat and cheese. A plantbased meal can still provide the full-tummy feeling, creamy textures and savoury umami

ALIVE PLANT-BASED FESTIVAL - MARCH Saturday, 24 March, 10am - 5pm Kibble Park, Gosford, NSW flavours we usually associate This biannual event runs on with animal food products. This the last Saturday of March class looks at some amazing and September and is located ways to ‘beef up’ your vegan at the beautiful Kibble Park meals. It’s ‘tales of the schnitty’ in Gosford, just a short walk at this tasty workshop, as you from Gosford Train Station. learn how to make seitan to Free parking is available at the prepare schnitzel. There’s also Kibbleplex off Albany Street a hearty seitan roast. Also learn North. Come hungry and how you can make your own make a day of it. Bring your quick-setting stretchy notzarella picnic blankets, relax in the Alive Plant Based Festival 2017. Photo by Sasha Back: Instagram @earthlingsasha.

sun, enjoy the tunes, and soak in the vibes. Remember to also bring a cooler bag for all the awesome treats available at Alive. This event will also have a large range of vegan products from fashion, beauty, literature and much more. There is a large variety of vegan food including gluten-free and soy-free products. Entry is free and all are welcome, including the furry ones. Alive is organised

by Umbala Events and supported by GBID.

the australian vegan magazine

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in the news what’s on

other, both audience and speakers. Bring your business cards and expect to make great business connections and/or new friends. This event will be life-changing for many people.

It will give you the confidence, skills and connections you need to make a powerful, positive impact on the world.

The Earth Festival 2017. Photo by The Earth Festival.

and a cultured cashew cream.

This class is perfect for beginners and home cooks who want to learn how to prepare hearty and filling vegan meals.

On the menu is crumbed seitan chick’n schnitzel; quick and easy creamy ‘cheese’ sauce; soft notzarella balls; vegan ‘brie’; cultured cashew cream (with take home instructions for fermentation); and seitan roast with gravy. Enrol at Sydney Community College (02) 8752 7555.

March PLANT-POWERED WOMEN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE Saturday, 17 March, 8.30am - 5pm Karstens Sydney, 111 Harrington St, Sydney, NSW Hosted by Kathy Divine and Australian Vegans, The Plant-Powered Women Leadership Conference Series is a first of its kind for Australia.

The day will be jam-packed with vegan women speakers (some of Australia’s top ethical leaders) giving inspiring talks all day to fully equip you with the confidence, knowledge and motivation you need to make a powerful and meaningful impact on the world. If you would like to attend purchase tickets at ppwconference.

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THE EARTH FESTIVAL Saturday, 21 April Sunday, 22 April Australian National Botanic Gardens Clunies Ross St, Canberra, ACT Canberra’s The Earth Festival is a two-day event packed with a huge food court filled with a variety of local plantbased foods, 20 workshops and speakers, a tattoo tent filled with four vegan tattoo artists, a henna artist, an activity zone with free activities, and stalls that will be giving you the opportunity to buy sustainable clothing, accessories, make-up,

skincare, bags and a whole lot more. Many businesses are coming from interstate, so do not miss the opportunity to buy items that aren’t available in Canberra without the shipping prices. Eighty per cent of all ticket sales and merchandise will be donated to Lucky Stars Sanctuary Inc. to help them build new shelters and feeding areas so they are able to give homes to animals in need.

Tickets can be purchased at theearthfestival.ticketbud.com and children under 12 get in for free. For more information about stall holders, entertainment, and activities go to theearthfestival.org/.

ticketbud.com. Your ticket will include full day access to talks by vegan women leaders including Ashley Avci who is the MC for the day; an Indigenous vegan woman discussing kangaroos (identity kept confidential for safety reasons); Cassy Judychair trans awareness and fitness; Senator Lee Rhiannon - life as a vegan woman in politics; Bornali Borah - navigating career transition: from corporate life to heart’s passion; vegan psychologist Clare Mann; Anita Ahmadizadeh - professionalising the vegan movement; Tracie O’Keefe - longevity in business: how to stay in business for decades; Katrina Fox - how to get free media coverage for your business or cause; Cherie

Tu - the power of social media to spread the vegan message; Catherine Kelaher - saving animals: creating change through liberation and storytelling; Ashleen Peace - seeking adventure in adversity; Loren Lembke - successfully juggling disability, single motherhood and running a vegan non-profit organisation and events; Tenille Evans - aligning work and ethics; and many more.

Your ticket will also include a delicious vegan lunch, and tea and coffee throughout the day; a conference goodie bag packed with product samples, discount vouchers and a copy of the book Plant-Powered Women.

There will be lots of networking opportunities throughout the day and ample time for everyone to get to know each

JAPANESE SUPERFOOD AUTHOR TALK AT BALMAIN LIBRARY Tuesday, 20 March, 6.30pm - 8pm Balmain Library, 370 Darling St, Balmain, NSW Author, cooking teacher and qualified chef Yoshiko Takeuchi will be speaking at a FREE event at Balmain Library about Japanese Superfoods and how they can help you lose weight while giving you a healthy and youthful complexion. During the presentation you will learn how certain food can affect your body and which food can benefit you. If you want to learn how to have a healthy body while maintaining a youthful complexion through the food you eat, join this talk. There will even be food from Spiral Foods, Bonsoy and Slendier for everyone to enjoy so join Yoshiko for a night of learning and fun. For more information go to facebook.com/ events/881518075331735/.

April NOOSA VEGAN FESTIVAL Saturday, 21 April, 10am 60 Noosa Dr, Noosa Heads, QLD The Noosa Vegan Festival will showcase the latest vegan products in a family-friendly environment with stalls, speakers, music and celebrity guests. Purchase tickets at sa2. seatadvisor.com. For more information go to facebook.com/ events/1951515771769647/.

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in the news

Queensland global top 10 DEFORESTER

W

hen you think of devastating deforestation and extinction you usually think of the Amazon, Borneo and the Congo. But eastern Australia ranks alongside these in the top 10 of the world’s major deforestation fronts - the only one in a developed nation. Most of the clearing is happening in Queensland, and it is accelerating.

Only last year a group of leading ecologists voiced their alarm at new data which showed the clearing of 296,000 hectares of forest in 2013-14. This was three times higher than in 2008-09, kicking Australia up the list as one of the world’s forest-clearing pariahs. At the 2016 Society for Conservation Biology Conference, a Scientists’ Declaration was signed by hundreds of scientists, expressing concern at these clearing rates.

But the latest snapshot, Queensland’s Department of Science report on land cover change published late last year, showed a staggering 395,000 hectares of clearing for 2015-16: an increase of one third on 2014-15. As far as we can tell, this rate of increased clearing is unmatched anywhere else on the globe.

Strong vegetation management laws enacted in Queensland - the Vegetation Management Act 1999 - achieved dramatic reductions in forest and woodland loss.

But the subsequent Liberal National state government, elected in 2012, overturned these protections.

Coming up to the QLD election last year, ‘panic clearing’ caused clearing rates to shoot up, in anticipation that the state election would deliver a government that would reintroduce the much-needed protection of forests.

The Queensland Labor Party has since won the election and pledged to reinstate laws to prevent wholesale clearing.

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Australian community and wildlife lose Whichever way you look at it, there is not a lot of sense in continued clearing.

Australia already has some of the highest extinction rates on the planet for plants and animals. With 80 per cent of Queensland’s threatened species living in forest and woodland, more clearing will certainly increase that rate.

Clearing also kills tens of millions of animals across Australia each year, a major animal welfare concern that rarely receives attention. This jeopardises both wildlife and the $140 million invested in threatened species recovery.

This rate of clearing neutralises our major environment programs. Just one year of clearing has removed more trees than the bulk of 20 million trees painstakingly planted, at a cost of $50 million. Australia’s major environment programs simply can’t keep up, and since 2013 are restoring only one-tenth of the extent of land bulldozed just last year.

Restoration costs to improve the quality of waters running onto the Great Barrier Reef are estimated at around $5 billion to $10 billion over 10 years. Nearly 40 per cent of the land cleared in Queensland is in reef catchments, which will reverse any water quality gains as sediment pours onto the reef. $MJNBUF FGGPSUT OVMMJmFE Since 2014, the federal government has invested $2.55 billion on reducing emissions in the Carbon Farming Initiative through the Emissions Reduction Fund.

Currently, 189 million tonnes of abatement has been delivered by the Emissions Reduction Fund. This - the central plank of the Australian government’s climate response - will be all but nullified by the end of 2018 with the current clearing rates, and will certainly be wiped out by 2020, when Australia is expected to meet

its climate target of five per cent below 2000 emissions.

Ironically, this target will be achieved with the help of carried-over results from the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which Australia was only able to meet because land clearing had decreased between 1990 and 1997.

Why is this happening?

Most of the clearing in Queensland since 1999 has been for pasture. Most good cropping land was cleared decades ago.

Removing trees in more marginal lands can increase the carrying capacity for a short time with an immediate, and usually short-lived, financial reward. These rewards come at the expense of long-term sustainability, which future landholders and government will bear.

Large areas of the cleared lands have been subject to substantial erosion and nutrient loss from the newly cleared lands, and land degradation over time, and some areas have suffered massive woody weed incursions.

This is playing out today across the north where pastoralism is a marginal activity at best, with declining terms of trade of about two per cent per year, with no net productivity growth, high average debts and low returns, and many enterprises facing insolvency. Clearing vegetation won’t change that.

A recent preliminary valuation of ecosystem services, on the other hand, estimated that uncleared lands are worth $3,300 to $6,100 per hectare per year to the Australian community, compared with productivity of grazing lands of $18 per hectare.

Now that Labor is in power, it’s a good time to give land clearing the scrutiny it deserves.

By Noel D Preece and Penny van Oosterzee, James Cook University.

Article was originally published on The Conversation.

in the news

Aussie companies want to make PLASTIC THAT MELTS

Into nothing T

he concept of plastic that melts away into nothing is a holy grail in an era of grave environmental concern.

There are more than five trillion pieces of plastic pollution weighing more than 250,000 tonnes floating in our oceans, according to a 2014 study by the Public Library of Science.

The problem is that petroleum-based plastics don’t decompose in the same way organic material does. Plastic never fully degrades - in sunlight it simply breaks down into tiny pieces that end up killing sea birds and fish.

Two Australian companies are hoping to change that with bioplastics - a scientific endeavour that aims to make biodegradable plastic out of plant-based materials.

Leaf Resources is planning to produce renewable sugars that can be turned into almost any kind of plastic, while Secos Group supplies proprietary, compostable biodegradable resins and packaging products.

Bioplastics now makes up about one per cent of the 300 million tonnes of plastic produced every year, according to European Bioplastics - including nonbiodegradable petroleum-based products with renewable additives.

Demand for hybrid products is rising rapidly. The European organisation predicts production to rise from 4.2 million tonnes in 2016 to 6.1 million tonnes in 2021.

Plastic made out of sugar Leaf Resources plans to produce sugars from biomass such as banana leaves which could be used to replace petrochemicals of any kind, not just plastic, says managing director Ken Richards.

Last year, Leaf signed a deal for the location of its first plant in Johor, Malaysia, and has supply agreements in place for raw materials to make biodegradable coatings for paper.

Biodegradable plastics maker Secos was formed from the merger of resin producer Cardia Bioplastics and film and laminate maker Stellar Films two years ago.

The larger, merged company has been focused on producing its plastic films (used in hygiene products such as nappies) and resins (for products such as plastic bags) at the right volume and price, Secos chairman Richard Tegoni says.

‘We’re extremely frustrated the market hasn’t recognised our size’, he says. ‘We’re doing over $22 million in sales now.’

‘Investors seem to love the story, the blue sky, rather than the substance.’

In November, Secos secured a $1.5 million contract to supply biodegradable plastic bags to Penrith Council in NSW and two deals to supply bioplastics resin to Malaysian bag makers.

The Malaysia factor Leaf Resources is establishing a plant in Malaysia while Secos is also expanding there, adding to facilities in China and Melbourne.

Malaysia is a global hub for plastics - it’s one of the country’s top exports and the government is determined to attract clean plastic technologies to keep it that way.

‘Malaysia is one of the biggest bioplastics places in the world’, says Mr Tegoni. ‘The government is very keen to support companies moving into the space and doing their best to attract companies.’

For example, Malaysia offers incentives under a program called ‘Bionexus status’ for international and local biotechs working on ‘value-added biotechnology and/or life sciences activities’.

Secos has the status and Leaf Resources is applying for it, bestowing tax-free status for a decade.

By Rachel Williamson. This article first appeared at Stockhead, Australia’s leading news source for emerging ASX-listed companies. the australian vegan magazine

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Australia trails

behind in

POULTRY STANDARDS

pen o s d r a d n Sta . n o i t a t l u s for con

e v a h e s a e Pl say! your

B

attery cages will not be phased out of Australia’s chicken farms, according to a draft of industry guidelines released in November last year.

The proposed Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry, currently open for public consultation, will if approved, form the basis of federal and state legislation on poultry welfare.

A supporting paper to the standards argues that extra cage space does not guarantee better welfare for hens. Further, it claims that battery cages allow better inspection and more efficient management of the birds, the biosecurity risks and the environmental impact.

But continuing battery farming flies in the face of a global trend, as both countries and consumers turn against small cages.

Why do we battery farm?

In the latter half of the last century, a system of restraining laying hens in rows of small cages (like the cells in a battery), with up to five in each, became popular as a means of maintaining good health and high productivity in large numbers of birds.

This was introduced to meet a growing demand for national self-sufficiency in food production after two world wars which threatened, and at times delivered, widespread famine. Now the world has moved on and global trade is flourishing, but the battery cage remains.

It was not long before the poor welfare of birds in these ‘battery cages’ became a

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concern for consumers. In 1964, Ruth Harrison’s Animal Machines described the restriction on birds’ behaviour - their inability to forage for food, flap their wings, preen and dust-bathe - and the strange, injurious plucking of other birds’ feathers that is so common in these small spaces.

Scientists then proved that birds had a strong motivation to perform many of the behaviours that were rendered impossible in the cages, such as laying eggs in a nest. They also found that birds in small cages are more fearful than those in more spacious accommodation.

Research has also shown that hens don’t adapt to the cages, because the longer they are confined, the more they compensate by flapping and stretching when released.

Moving away from battery farming In 1999, the European Union announced a ban on battery cages from 2012, 20 years after Switzerland became the first country in the world to phase them out.

New Zealand and Canada are now in their phase-out period, ending all battery cage egg production in 2022 and 2032, respectively.

In the United States, a state-by-state ban has been progressing, often stimulated by the requirements of retail outlets. So far, three states, California, Michigan and Ohio, have taken action to end the production of eggs in battery cages. Several major retailers have now committed to cage-free eggs.

While Australia’s draft standards conclude that birds in battery cages have an acceptable level of welfare, many Australians don’t agree. The proportion of caged eggs sold in supermarkets has fallen from 75 per cent to 49 per cent over the past decade.

The supermarket chains recognise their customers’ concerns and are phasing out eggs from battery cages: Coles from their own brand from 2013, and Woolworths and Aldi applying the ban to all eggs from 2025.

The European Union has developed and supported furnished cages, which

are much larger than previous cages and specifically provide necessary ‘enrichment items’ such as perches, nests, and litter for pecking and scratching.

The Australian standards argue that these are only required for the birds’ mental state, not their biological functioning.

This view implies that a hen’s mental suffering is unconnected to its welfare, a claim that has been steadily eroding in the face of research into animal consciousness.

To deny the significance of an animal’s mental state is to deny the premise of

This... implies that a hen’s mental suffering is unconnected to its welfare. animal welfare at all. Without this consideration, animals would basically have the same rights as plants.

Despite this, the proposed standard’s accompanying paper relies on narrowly restricted studies, such as a report from industry body Australian Egg that claims there are no difference in the stress levels of birds in battery cages, barns and freerange farms.

Only 12 flocks in total were studied.

The stress hormone cortisol was used as the basis of comparison between farm types, even though little enters the egg and confounding variables are likely to affect cortisol levels.

These limitations are why much animal science today looks at welfare in terms of behaviour, disease and lifetime measures as well as biological markers.

It’s disappointing to see Australia’s welfare standards trail behind much of the world and the clearly expressed attitude of many Australians. With the standards open for consultation until 26 February, it is to be hoped that consumer advocate groups, researchers and members of the public register their concern.

By Clive Phillips, Professor of Animal Welfare, Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics, The University of Queensland.

Article was originally published on The Conversation.

in the news

Taking on discrimination

AGAINST VEGANS

A

n interesting new trend has started which attempts to use human rights laws to advance the rights of animals.

The International Vegan Rights Alliance (IVRA) was formed in 2012 and aims to advance the rights of animals by protecting the rights of people to live vegan. It also aims to protect the human interest of not being forced to participate in animal exploitation.

IVRA aims to raise awareness of the legal recognition of veganism and how vegans can be accommodated under the terms of rights and equality legislation. Veganism is a ‘protected non-religious belief’ under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Veganism is also protected under the International Bill of Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Australia helped draft and signed.

Vegans are protected under these documents because of the general right to live according to their own moral convictions.

One of IVRA’s goals is to use this legal protection to support vegans who are suffering discrimination and unfair treatment because of their convictions.

IVRA also makes legal challenges, such as against anti-vegan labelling laws. IVRA promotes veganism in law and argues for the rights of vegans primarily because this gives effect to the moral standing of non-human animals.

Two recent cases of bullying of vegans have brought the importance of this work into focus. One, in the UK, involved the suspected suicide of a young school boy who was bullied by other students because of his vegan beliefs. The other case was of a young student in Australia who had to move out of her university accommodation after being harassed due to her veganism (stories shown above).

One case, which is being currently supported by IVRA, involves a university student in Scotland who is experiencing harassment in relation to her veganism and vegan activism from one of her teachers.

Other cases which have been reported to

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IVRA involve disputes where a person’s veganism was threatened to be used against them.

This includes child custody cases, where it was claimed that because one partner was vegan they should not have custody of the children. There has been at least one case where vegans were barred for applying for a job, thus violating anti-discrimination laws. The employer changed the job ad after being notified by a vegan organisation.

There is also a case where a child who was born vegan has come under pressure to transition to vegetarianism whilst in the care of a local authority. Yet another case involves the lack of vegan food for a fiveyear-old in school.

Access to vegan meals is also an issue elsewhere. While some European countries have banned vegan meals in schools, in Germany, a case was won on the right to self-supply vegan food in kindergartens.

Also in Germany, prison authorities have confirmed that vegan inmates have the right to several vegan menu items and that they also have the right to self-supply vegan food. In Portugal, a new law has established the right to vegan food in public canteens.

IVRA is also challenging regulations that protect and promote the dairy industry in Europe, where words including ‘milk’,

‘cheese’, ‘cream’ and ‘butter’ can only be used to describe products that are made from ‘mammary secretions’.

IVRA also organises the International Symposium on Veganism and Law, where vegan professionals from all over the world gather to discuss how vegans are supported by laws and to highlight the value that legal protection for veganism can bring to non-humans. The next symposium will be in 2018 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Using the law and the legal system to advance the rights of vegans shows that the movement is maturing and starting to move towards a world where the rights of animals are protected.

Ensuring the rights of vegans is a means by which we ensure respect for the rights of non-human animals.

The International Vegan Rights Alliance is represented in Australia by Greg McFarlane, director of Vegan Australia. IVRA is also looking for a legal representative in Australia.

If you are a legal professional or know of someone who may be interested, please contact Vegan Australia. For more information, see Vegan Rights by Jeanette Rowley.

By Greg McFarlane, Vegan Australia.

Go to our website to buy online, or visit one of hundreds of stockists Australia-wide that carry our products.

CONTACT US FOR A LIST OF RETAILERS NEAR YOU

Visit us at Vegan Perfection to discover the finest vegan food products from around the world. Our range varies from cheeses to chocolates, desserts to deli-slices, creams to confectionery.

www.veganperfection.com.au jeremyj@veganperfection.com.au

(03) 9357 8069

in the news

ACT government will ban greyhound racing from May

And that's just the beginning

W

hile the NSW greyhound racing ban repeal was undoubtedly disappointing, the reality is that greyhound racing is an industry that is crumbling nationwide. The ACT government has held true to its promise to stamp out greyhound racing cruelty in the territory and passed legislation that will outlaw greyhound racing from May 2018.

Entrenched cruelty and corruption will ultimately see the end of this so called ‘sport’. Temptations that led the industry down a dark and horrible path, sadly, still remain. Industry participants did not celebrate the backflip in NSW an outright ‘win’ for good reason - greyhound racing hasn’t escaped its fate, only delayed the inevitable. We will win this fight. It’s up to us to keep a sharp focus on animals and public pressure mounting. We’ve seen what our collective efforts can achieve. Now we’re more determined than ever to continue making headway for animals.

Here’s how...

In light of ‘chilling, confronting and horrific’ findings from the Special Commission of Inquiry, NSW greyhound racing participants will face ‘the strictest regulations that exist anywhere in the country’. Dozens of commercial racing tracks will be shut down, fewer dogs will be bred and killed and a retirement plan will be required for every greyhound born into racing. Industry participants are realising they’re being held to impossibly high standards as it becomes harder to race dogs for gambling profits.

In the fallout from the Animals Australia explosive live baiting investigations, greyhound racing has been under intense scrutiny from the public, politicians and law enforcement. Mass killings, mass graves, doping and track injuries have been exposed - ripped from the shadows of this industry’s long, sordid past. When these atrocities tragically continue, together, we will be right there watching - holding this industry to account.

Tougher penalties await those who break the law. In QLD, the Attorney General recently intervened in a sentence deemed too lenient on an accused live baiter. In NSW, mandatory life bans and increased jail terms for live baiting will be introduced - consequences that dozens of greyhound trainers have already faced. The message is reaching industry participants loud and clear - the community has zero tolerance for cruelty.

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The untold suffering of greyhound racing victims went from being a well-kept industry secret to national news headlines.

Since Animals Australia’s live baiting exposé lifted the lid on this harrowing cruelty, hundreds of news stories amplified our voices and helped mobilise thousands of Australians to take a stand against what they saw - some for the first time.

Caring people with room in their hearts and homes have taken their concern for greyhounds and put it into action. Adoption rates have reportedly increased and greyhounds are finally being seen for who they are - gentle, playful and affectionate companion animals who’d rather a life on the couch than on the track.

You are the reason abused animals have hope for a kinder future. Tens of thousands of people have lent their voices to the victims of abusive industries by contacting politicians, rallying and making news headlines.

Compassionate advocates gathered in Sydney and Perth to show their support for a ban on greyhound racing.

The atmosphere was palpable and their voices reverberated in headlines across the country.

Momentum is building and every time you take a stand against cruelty, we edge closer to a world where animals are free from suffering.

Greyhound racing is an industry that remains on life

support. The sun is setting on days where industries could get away with abuse unnoticed or unabated. Together, we’ll be watching when greyhound racing makes its next misstep. We’ll show decision makers that the only ones who deserve another chance are those caught in this vicious cycle of cruelty and suffering - the animals.

As long as greyhound racing is allowed anywhere in Australia, animals will suffer.

Help secure a nationwide ban on greyhound racing by contacting your state MP today.

By Animals Australia.

X

enotransplantation is the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another. There are currently xenotransplantation experiments occurring at Prince Alfred Hospital, using baboons from the Wallacia breeding facility.

A recent media exposé described the hospital as undertaking Frankenstein-like operations with the transplanting of organs from pigs into baboons. Millions of dollars of taxpayer-funded research grants are being used but hospitals are not required to provide publicly available details about the nature of these experiments. Questions to the Minister for Medical Research have failed to yield answers.

Human to human organ transplants are now routinely performed on patients with organ failure. Australia is a world leader for successful organ transplant outcomes but we are only 22nd highest on the international list for organ donations.

Public awareness is, however, improving.

In 2015, there were 435 organ donations to 1,241 patients - the highest since national records began - with 69 per cent of Australians willing to become organ and tissue donors.

To increase donation rates, the federal and state governments have implemented a national reform

program, ‘A World’s Best Practice Approach to Organ and Tissue Donation for Transplantation’. Its aim is to increase clinical capacity and capability and to increase community engagement and awareness in relation to organ donation.

Unfortunately, the current rate of organ donation does not meet demand, and this has been used to justify xenotransplantation with animals, predominantly primates and pigs.

Xenotransplantation is a death sentence for all these animals. If xenotransplantation ever becomes a surgical practice, there will be mass wastage and enormous suffering of animals. Tens of thousands of animals will die miserable deaths in laboratory conditions. Sentient beings are reduced to nothing more than a spare parts warehouse.

Xenotransplantation causes stress from the moment the animals are born. They are unable to express their natural behaviours and suffer frustration, deprivation and stress. A significant stress factor is the sterile conditions in which the genetically engineered animals to be used for transplants will be kept. To reduce the risk of exposure to disease, sows have their pregnant wombs removed with the piglets placed into a sterile environment, unable to suckle from their mother, medicated and reared on artificial foods containing no animal proteins.

Aside from the animal suffering involved in xenotransplantation, there are serious human health risks with this procedure.

Possible problems with transplantation of whole organs from animals to humans include: viral diseases transferred from animals; rejection of the organs by the patient’s immune system; and differences in structure and biochemistry between human and animal organs.

Xenotransplantation also carries the potential risk of the transmission of infection within the To battle our dwindling organ donor cells of the graft. numbers in Australia, the Australian Pigs contain Government is using baboons in a endogenous Frankenstein-like operation in the hope retroviruses that of one day using them as organ donors are passed on to for humans. Photo by depositphotos.com. offspring in the DNA

of normal chromosomes, and therefore can’t be eliminated. Viral sequences in host DNA can be activated to produce infectious viruses that are closely related to leukaemia viruses of mice, cats and gibbons and second cousins to HIV. Because primates are most closely related to humans, they are considered the best animals for transplants, but this similarity also means that there is a greater risk of transferring potentially fatal viruses.

The following are examples of diseases transferred from primates to humans: • Monkey pox, a virus originating in African monkeys, spread to humans causing a 10 per cent fatality rate; • The HIV/AIDS virus is thought to have come from the primate Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (CSIV); • Seven laboratory workers in Germany and Yugoslavia died after being exposed to marburg virus from African green monkey kidneys.

• Ebola virus, which recently killed thousands of people in central Africa, has been linked to monkeys; • SV40 is a DNA virus in kidney cells from macaque monkeys, which can produce cancerous change in cells; • Herpes B virus is a common infection of macaque monkeys, but in humans, it can develop into a fatal neurological disease.

A new virus may become apparent only when it is transferred to a new species and begins to cause disease.

Patients need powerful immunosuppressant drugs to stop rejection of new organs, even more so if they are of animal origin. Therefore, the immure system is weakened and less able to fight off infection.

Even if pig organs are not rejected, questions remain as to whether they can adequately carry out the function of human organs. Very little is known about how whole xenogeneic organs will perform over the medium- and long-term.

Given the terrible animal suffering, massive wastage of sentient animals, the risks to human health and the expense involved in such experimentation, wouldn’t it make much more sense, save money and have a more compassionate outcome for all beings, if we focused our efforts and resources on community education programs to promote organ donations?

POLITICS

S C I T I L PO OLITICS

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in the news

The future of plastics: REUSING THE BAD AND ENCOURAGING THE GOOD

P

lastics have got themselves a bad name, mainly for two reasons: most are made from petroleum and they end up as litter in the environment.

However, both of these are quite avoidable. An increased focus on bioderived and degradable composites as well as recycling could lessen pollution and, in fact, plastics could make a positive contribution to the environment.

Plastics for bad The durability of plastics makes them so useful, but at the same time, it turns them into a persistent (and increasingly big) blot on the landscape, or more importantly the seascape, once discarded.

We’ve known for a while that bulk plastics are polluting the oceans. Converging sea currents are accumulating plastic waste in a floating island known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which now covers an area larger than Greenland. The bigger bits of plastic are life-threatening to marine life and sea birds. They can strangle marine mammals or birds and build up in their stomachs and guts.

More recently, awareness of microplastics has raised concern about their ubiquitous presence in the food chain. Commentators suggest that by 2050 there will be as much plastic in the sea as there is fish.

Beyond that, plastic production currently relies on petroleum and that has raised issues about health hazards, generally associated with petroleum-based products during production, use and disposal.

Plastics for good Plastics can contribute positively to the environment in the following ways: Reduced food wastage Between one quarter and one third of all food produced is wasted through spoilage.

But without plastic packaging, it would be considerably worse and have a larger carbon footprint.

Many recycling enthusiasts do not think about throwing out spoiled food that required energy in terms of planting, cultivating, harvesting and transporting

and therefore will have added to greenhouse gas emissions.

Lightweight transport The use of plastics in transportation (cars, trains and planes) will reduce fuel consumption. Their application (along with reinforcing fibres) in aerospace as alternatives to traditional metallic alloys has brought huge gains of fuel efficiency over the last few decades.

Incorporation of fibre-reinforced plastics in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, for example, has resulted in fuel efficiencies that are similar to a family car (when measured by kilometres travelled per person). By the way, carbon fibre, the aerospace fibre of choice, is produced from plastic.

There are good things about plastics including benefits for the environment, but is it possible to make use of the good aspects and avoid the bad?

'VUVSF QSPPmOH QMBTUJDT Plastics are, chemically speaking, long chains or large cross-linked structures most commonly made up of a framework of carbon atoms.

For a long time, we have been using bioderived plastics - naturally occurring materials such as animal skins including leather, gut and wood. These forms of plastic are complicated chemical structures that can only be made in nature at this stage.

Some of the early synthesised plastics were made from naturally occurring materials such as casein (from dairy) that was used for simple items such as buttons.

The development of petroleum-based plastics has been a major distraction from such materials.

However, in the last couple of decades, bioderived plastics have become available that provide good replacements. These include starch-based plastics such as polylactide (PLA), which is produced from corn starch, cassava roots or sugarcane and processed in the same way as petroleum-based plastics. Such plastics can be foamed or used to make drink bottles.

Recycling plastics is another essential step towards reducing the environmental load. Let’s face it: it is people who are doing the littering, not the plastics themselves. More effort could go into waste collection and a carrot/stick approach should include disincentives for littering and a plastic tax which would exclude recycled plastics.

Incentives are also needed to encourage product development that takes account of the full life cycle. In Europe, for instance, legislation has made it compulsory in the automotive industry for at least 85 per cent of a car to be recycled. This has had a dramatic influence on the materials and design used in the industry.

Even with best efforts, it is unrealistic that we would capture all plastics for recycling. Biodegradable plastics could be a useful tool for preventing environmental damage. PLA (polylactide) is biodegradable, though slow to break down, and there are other forms available.

This highlights the need for more research into controlling biodegradability, taking into account different applications and the need for infrastructure to deal with biodegradable plastics at the end of their life. Obviously, we don’t want our planes biodegrading during their 20 years of service, but one-use water bottles should break down within a short time after use.

The planet doesn’t have to become a toxic rubbish dump. In the short term, this will need some government action to encourage bioderived, recyclable and biodegradable plastics to allow them to compete with petroleum-based products.

There are signs of improvement: increasing awareness of the harm plastics cause and a willingness of consumers to pay for plastic bags or to ban them. We need to stop dumping in our own backyard and remember that the environment is where we live. We ignore it at our peril.

Kim Pickering, Professor of Materials, Science and Engineering, University of Waikato.

Article was originally published on The Conversation.

Plastic is killing our wildlife. Photo by depositphotos.com. the australian vegan magazine

21

international news Do people care less about the animals they eat than the animals that are used in research? Photo by depositphotos.com.

DOUBLE STANDARDS: WHY IS A LAB MOUSE BETTER PROTECTED THAN A COW?

T

he public are renowned for their love of animals. Historically, the UK has been a hotbed of heated debate about animal cruelty and the use of animals in research.

A number of well-established, UK-based organisations such as NAVS and the RSPCA have been highly effective in shining a light on animal cruelty and have garnered public support for better regulation of animal research. For example, the iconic picture of ‘smoking beagles’ appalled readers of The Sunday People when it was published in 1975 and had a dramatic effect on the way in which animal experimentation was perceived.

Ethical standards in animal research have improved significantly since that time but the UK currently has one of the highest rates of animal experimentation in Europe.

In 2015, this amounted to 2.08 million experimental procedures on a range of animals.

Most ethical codes for the use of animals in experimental research are based upon three principles: replacement, reduction and refinement – otherwise known as the ‘three Rs’.

The three Rs form the basis of most existing policy around the world including the EU Directive 2010/63/EU. Among other requirements, this directive lays down minimum standards for housing and care and requires the assessment of pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm caused to the animals. Hence, in the EU at least, a laboratory mouse should be well cared for by experienced handlers, kept in conditions that ensure its health and wellbeing, with

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minimal restrictions on behavioural needs.

The three Rs are widely accepted by scientists and the public alike as being a reasonable measure for ethical acceptability.

But the far reaching acceptance of the three Rs as a basis for governance of animal experimentation raises the question of why this concept is only applied to the use of animals in research. Why isn’t it also applied to the farming and slaughter of animals?

The slaughterhouse Compared to the number of animals that are used for experimental purposes, the number of animals that are slaughtered in the UK each year is enormous. For example, in 2014, the total number of animals slaughtered was almost one billion.

Hence, in the UK, the number of animals used in experimental procedures is only about 0.2 per cent the number of slaughtered animals.

A recent MORI poll found that as many as 26 per cent of the British public would support an outright ban on animal research and yet, according to another MORI survey, only 3.25 per cent of the British public never eat meat. Why is there such a disparity? Do the British public care less about the animals they eat than the animals that are used in research?

If we are to be consistent in the application of our moral principles, we should apply the same consideration to all animals that are used by humans, for whatever purpose. But if we apply the same ethical principles - in other words the three Rs - to the use of animals for meat, it would mean that: 1. Wherever possible, the consumption of animals should be replaced with other foods (Replacement).

2. If there is no alternative, then only the minimum number of animals needed to meet nutritional needs should be consumed (Reduction).

3. When animals must be eaten, great

care should be taken to decrease the incidence or severity of inhumane treatment and procedures (Refinement).

Clearly, if we apply the three Rs to the production of meat, the meat industry would virtually disappear.

It seems unlikely there will be consistency in application of ethical standards for animals any time soon.

The double standard that exists between animals that are used for experimental purposes and those that are destined for consumption is ingrained within cultures and legislation. However, there are signs that the British public may be applying the three Rs in their lifestyle choices, whether they realise it or not.

According to the UK Vegan Society, the number of vegans in the UK has tripled since 2006, making veganism the fastest growing lifestyle movement. While not as extreme, 51.3 per cent of the British public say that they try to avoid using any items derived from animals or that involve animals.

Certainly, the availability of meat substitutes in UK shops is increasing tremendously. Refinement has also shown itself to be of importance to the UK public.

This is clearly evident from the shift in buying habits that occurred after the efforts of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to raise awareness of the conditions in which battery hens are kept. About 80 per cent of the British public now buy free range or organic eggs.

There is no good reason why, if the three Rs are an accepted requirement for the use of animals in experimentation, that they should not also be a requirement for the use of animals in the meat industry. The fact that this notion is readily accepted within animal research, but not even discussed in regard to the use of animals in the production of meat, is a clear example of double standards.

By Kate Chatfield. Deputy Director Of The Centre For Professional Ethics, University of Central Lancashire.

Article was originally published on The Conversation.

international news

What science says about ANIMAL SENTIENCE

T

here seems to be significant confusion about what happened in the British parliament when MPs discussed a proposed amendment to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill to formally recognise animal sentience. But where science is concerned, animal sentience is in no doubt.

The definition of sentient is simply ‘able to perceive or feel things’. Today, most of us would probably also say that animals are able to feel emotion, form attachments and have distinct personalities. Yet for many decades the idea of animals feeling emotions or having personalities was dismissed by behavioural scientists. This strange view that arose from the 17th century philosopher René Descartes’ alleged assertion that animals are without feelings, physical or emotional.

Recent work has debunked this idea (whether or not Descartes actually said it). If any mammal appears to be free of emotions, apart perhaps from cynicism, it would be the goat. Yet scientists have been able to show that goats become emotionally aroused in response to various test situations, and whether these emotions are positive or negative.

The researchers analysed the calls the goats made when they were expecting food, when they were frustrated because a food reward didn’t arrive and when they were isolated from their herd mates. They also used the goats’ body language and heart rate to calibrate their assessment of the emotions expressed in the calls, as analysed using the frequency of the sounds.

Horses are a bundle of emotions. This is not surprising, given that they are very social animals, with a close relationship with others in their herds and are also prey animals whose response to threat is to run away as fast as possible. In Canada, horse riding is reckoned to be one of the most dangerous sports, ahead of motor racing and skiing, and the emotional state of the horse is an important aspect of the safety or otherwise of the rider.

Researchers in France looked at the level of emotion and the ability to learn shown by 184 horses from 22 different riding schools. The ability of a horse to be fairly calm in the face of a novel situation, and to learn quickly that a new object or situation is not threatening, is crucial when riding. So the researchers concentrated on these aspects of horse emotion.

They found that one of the most important influences on how emotional horses are is the way that they are housed. Horses that were kept outside in a field were likely to be less fearful of a new object and to respond with less excitement to being loose in an

arena than horses that were housed individually in boxes. While the result is not surprising, the study emphasises the fact that horses are capable of emotions such as anxiety and fear.

Another vexed question, in the early part of the 20th century at least, was whether or not animals have personalities. It is now generally accepted that they do, and that those personalities are capable of as much variation as human personalities.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this area of study is that personality is discernible even in fish, which are often seen as being singularly lacking in emotional range. Scientists have found that the personality type of a fish may affect its likelihood of having certain parasites, or its ability to move past a barrier in a stream when on migration.

Why it matters The reason that all these studies and the many others into animal emotions, personality and ability to feel pain, fear and stress, are important is the huge implications for animal welfare.

Whether or not the law recognises animals as being sentient, those animals will still feel afraid, fail to cope or suffer pain during transport and slaughter, as well as in everyday situations.

It is difficult to reduce the fear and stress endured by animals going to slaughter, or being used in sport, or entertainment. But it is likely to be even more difficult if the law does not recognise animals as sentient beings, to whose welfare we should pay full regard.

Slaughterhouse personnel are perceived as being somewhat rough in handling the animals under their care, in spite of repeated training. Unless animal sentience continues to be recognised in law, it will be even more difficult to deal with people who compromise animal welfare.

By Jan Hoole. Article was originally published on The Conversation.

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international news

NEW CAMPAIGN calls for all animal rescue Meatless groups to go vegan Mondays Fifteen schools in New York do

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n a move that acknowledges the importance of a plant-based diet for better health, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio announced that 15 Brooklyn schools will participate in Meatless Mondays beginning this year.

Meatless Mondays is a global movement inspiring organisations, institutions, communities, workplaces, and families to commit to abstaining from meat at least one day a week. According to a statement from the mayor’s office, the Brooklyn program will provide participating schools with healthy, all-vegetarian breakfast and lunch menus every Monday during the school year.

‘Cutting back a little on meat will help make our city healthier and our planet stronger for generations to come’, de Blasio says. It was also announced that the mayor and First Lady Chirlane McCray have committed to eating vegetarian on Mondays, too. ‘Chirlane and I are excited to participate in Meatless Mondays at home, and we thank Borough President Adams for leading the charge behind this healthy and sustainable initiative’, he says.

‘I am living proof of the power of a plant-based diet to transform one’s health’, said Adams. ‘I believe that Meatless Mondays is an extremely significant initiative that has the power to transform the health of thousands of our city’s students, as well as open the door to a powerful conversation that children can have with families on nutrition and wellness. I thank mayor de Blasio for working with me on this mission to change our relationship with food and tackle nutritional health in a real way.’

Adams’ own experience with type 2 diabetes, led him to switch to a plantbased diet, and he’s cited Forks Over Knives as a helpful documentary in his health journey that ‘deserves a viewing from everyone’. Since turning his health around, Adams has become a vocal advocate for plant-based nutrition.

The announcement was made at Bergen Elementary School (P.S. 1) in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighbourhood, one of five schools in New York City that now serve an exclusively vegetarian menu every day of the week.

By Maya Gottfried.

Article was originally published on Forks over Knives.

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n animal rescue group out of Asheville, North Carolina, is officially asking its fellow animal advocacy organisations to go vegan. Brother Wolf Animal Rescue (BWAR) has launched an online campaign and petition called Save the Animals, Save the Earth, calling for every companion animal group across the country to adopt a public vegan policy in order to prevent a planetary crisis.

After BWAR noticed an increase in their rescue work related to floods, fires, and other natural disasters, they reached out to scientists and experts to determine the cause of this global shift. They quickly discovered that the meat, dairy, and egg industries were driving climate change and causing a mass species extinction of epic proportions; the BWAR team was shocked that they hadn’t heard the extinction statistics before.

‘We’re an animal welfare organisation organised to protect animals’, says Paul Magee Berry, executive director of BWAR. ‘Learning that, as of this year, we’ve already lost up to 70 per cent of the world’s wildlife population since 1970, and that we’re on track to lose 90 per cent of the world’s wildlife by 2025. That’s less than ten years from now! It’s easily the most urgent crisis for animals in the history of the movement - and no one is talking about it, at least not with any real urgency.’

BWAR became a vegan organisation in 2015. It no longer serves any animal products at fundraisers or events, and has a vegan advocacy arm - Asheville Vegan Outreach - that does local and national work.

The campaign cites that meat and dairy consumption are the leading causes of global deforestation, soil degradation, water scarcity, desertification, ocean dead zones, and climate change through the production of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (NO2). Animal agriculture is responsible for more carbon emissions than the entire transportation sector combined. As BWAR’s campaign video says: ‘The consumption of meat and dairy is the single most destructive force on earth’.

Scientists say that humans have 10 to 20 years to create real change when it comes to the climate, or a fatal ‘runaway’ scenario could occur, says BWAR. ‘Animal lovers, animal rescuers, and nonprofits

organised for animal welfare - together, we have the power to forestall this mass extinction of Earth’s species, but we must step up and lead - now’, the petition reads.

Since going vegan is the most powerful way to fight back against this force, BWAR has committed itself to raising awareness and getting other groups on board.

‘We’re presenting the science we’ve learned on all this, and asking animal lovers and animal rescuers to help encourage all animal rescue groups across the country to adopt a public vegan policy for their organisation; to share it with their public, explain the urgency - and share the good news, too, about the massive gains we can make on these crises by transitioning to a vegan diet’, says Berry.

The campaign also includes an activist toolkit to help organisations and individuals further the cause.

‘In the U.S. alone, there are over 10,000 animal rescue groups, with an audience reach of over 100 million people. Those are huge numbers with the potential to create the urgent change needed’, says Berry.

The group is shooting for 100,000 signatures on the petition, and once that goal is reached, BWAR founder Denise Bitz will personally contact the leader of every rescue group nationwide and ask them to adopt a public vegan policy.

‘We’re reaching out to celebrities and other luminaries as well who understand this urgency, to encourage their favourite rescue groups to do the same’, adds Berry.

‘And we’ve created a Facebook page for the campaign that folks can like and follow for updates, as well as a community group with an Activist Toolkit and a downloadable database of contact info for all the nonprofit animal welfare groups in the country.

We’re hopeful that regular folks like us, who understand the urgency of all this will use the email templates we provide and email leaders of their favourite rescue groups to encourage them as well.’

‘I’m proud our team is taking this issue seriously - and I’m very hopeful’, says Berry. ‘Animal rescuers are the scrappiest, most effective folks I know in the work of social justice. We live our work 24-7. Most rescuers I know are relentless in their fight for the animals. If we have any real chance of turning these crises around, I believe it’ll be animal rescuers that lead the change.’

By Hannah Sentenac, Editor-in-Chief.

Latest Vegan News. latestvegannews.com/.

Photos by depositphotos.com.

ARTIFICIAL LIGHT IS USED TO ACCELERATE THE LAYING OF EGGS BY CREATING THE ILLUSION OF CONSTANT DAYLIGHT. HENS ARE LITERALLY PUSHED TO BREAKING POINT...

the big issue

THE BIG DEAL WITH EGGS For many vegetarians (and of course omnis) eating eggs is not a big deal. No one’s harming or eating an animal right? Hens lay eggs anyway right? So why are vegans abstaining from eggs? Apart from health, the biggest reason vegans don’t eat eggs is because of the inherent animal cruelty in the egg industry. By Sarah Williams.

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or those of you who don’t follow a vegan lifestyle, the idea of abstaining from eggs can seem a little bewildering. It’s just an egg, right? What’s the problem?

What you don’t see is what’s behind the egg. Behind the egg is a multi-million dollar industry that produces around 421 million eggs per year in Australia alone.

We’re now eating more eggs than ever before. The annual consumption rate for Australians has risen from 183 eggs per person in 2007-08 to 226 eggs per person in 2016. That’s a lot of eggs. And that’s a lot of hens.

A single egg might seem innocuous, but the reality behind how that egg made it to the supermarket is actually a grim tale.

Eggs are often sold to us with images of hens freely frolicking in lush green grass but the fact of the matter is that 70 per cent of the hens in Australia are kept in battery cages. That’s around 11 million hens being housed in tiny cages, stacked one above the other, in sheds where up to 100,000 hens can be kept at once. The term ‘battery farm’ comes from the idea that the arrangement of the cages look like the cell of a battery with rows and columns of identical cages all connected together.

It’s a shocking set up - a horribly cramped and dingy indoor existence that’s a far cry from the pictures of rolling meadows that are plastered on the outside of egg boxes.

Chickens are social and intelligent creatures that deserve a far better life than the one offered as part of an egg laying production line. They recognise each other by their facial features, and have 24 different cries that they use to communicate with one another. As with all animals, chickens have natural behaviours that they would freely pursue in the wild. In a farmed environment, these natural behaviours are quashed. The average space for a hen living in these conditions is just 550cm², which is less than the size of a sheet of A4 paper with each cage containing up to seven hens at a time. This means the hens can’t stretch, they can’t preen and they can’t groom. These birds will never get the opportunity to go outside and feel the grass under their feet or forage in the ground. They can’t bathe in the dust, and caged hens are unable to nest when they

want to lay an egg. These battery farm birds are literally confined to a tiny shared cell, laying eggs until they’re no longer of use to the industry.

Chickens that are kept in this unnatural battery farm environment can understandably become frustrated, and start exhibiting aggressive behaviour. A common issue is for the birds to start pecking at each other.

The industry’s solution to this problem is to debeak the birds. This involves the upper part of the bird’s beak being removed with a hot blade or laser, all of which is done without anaesthetic. This can then lead to neuromas (bundled nerve endings) at the tip of their beak, which makes eating very painful. The ACT is currently the only state in Australia that has banned this procedure.

life outside a cage is when they’re shoved into crates to be shipped off to the slaughterhouse. These chickens are not raised for meat - they’re bred specifically to be lighter than a traditional ‘broiler chicken’ - so will often end up being sent to pet food plants to be turned into chum.

But not all hens will make it to the slaughterhouse. The conditions that these birds are kept in cause injury and death.

The wire cages that house the hens cause damage to their feet, and in some cases, the bird’s claws will grow around the wire, essentially trapping them in place and preventing them from reaching any food.

These birds will die of starvation, and their bodies will be left among the remaining living hens for up to a few days before

A single egg might seem innocuous, but the reality behind how that egg made it to the supermarket is actually a grim tale.

Battery farm hens are bred to lay as many eggs as possible, and then the conditions they’re forced into are synthetically enhanced to encourage further production.

Artificial light is used to accelerate the laying of eggs by creating the illusion of constant daylight. Hens are literally pushed to breaking point with many suffering fractures due to the fact that their bones have been made brittle through overproduction of eggs, and lack of exercise.

Producing an egg depletes a hen’s calcium levels, and puts an immense amount of pressure on her body. A hen will sometimes eat her own eggs in order to replace the nutrients lost during this process but that’s obviously not possible for birds in farmed conditions. Animals Australia report that around one in six battery hens live with untreated broken bones.

Hens kept in battery farm conditions will see sunlight just once - on the day they’re sent to slaughter. A hen’s natural lifespan can reach up to 12 years but once a chicken can’t lay enough eggs - normally at around 18 months - and is unable to turn a profit, they’re deemed to be no longer of use to the industry. For these chickens, the first time they’ll breathe fresh air and experience

someone notices and comes to remove them.

It’s largely acknowledged that factory farming is cruel and unnecessary. The battery cage was actually banned in the EU at the beginning of 2012 with other countries such as India following suit, and New Zealand planning to end caged farming by 2022. Unfortunately, there is no such date in sight for Australia. That being said, consumers are becoming more aware of the plight of the caged hen, and some of the larger corporations are listening.

Woolworths are pledging to end the sale of cage eggs by 2025, and both McDonald’s and Hungry Jack’s have confirmed that they’ll stop using cage eggs in their products, with Hungry Jack’s announcing on their Facebook page that they plan to be cagefree by as soon as the end of this year.

Big business may wield a lot of power, but at the end of the day, they answer to us, the consumer. Because without our custom, there’s no money to be made.

It’s therefore imperative that we speak out against this kind of cruelty towards animals, and demand a better life for our feathered friends by not supporting the industry with our dollars. The egg industry the australian vegan magazine

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the big issue

Animals Australia report that around one in six battery hens live with untreated broken bones. doesn’t want the general public to know about the conditions that chickens are kept in, and will do anything to keep up the illusion of happy hens. It’s vital that we spread the word about the truth of factory farming so that awareness can be raised, and more people are able to make informed choices about what they’re consuming.

A 2014 study actually showed that 65 per cent of Australians were choosing to buy free range eggs over caged eggs with 68 per cent doing so for animal welfare reasons. It’s admirable that we as a nation are trying to make kinder choices, but does free range really mean cruelty-free?

There are conflicting standards for what free range actually means, so even though your eggs might be labelled as ‘free range’ that doesn’t offer any guarantee as to the treatment of the chickens that laid those eggs. The current national standard for free range certification has no requirement for chickens to actually go outside, and allows for hens to be kept in groups of up to 10,000 per hectare, which is one hen per square metre. This goes against CSIRO guidelines, which recommend free range status be given to farmers that allow no more than 1,500 hens per hectare. This also falls well short of international standards - in the UK the RSPCA recommends a density of 2,000 hens per hectare, and the EU standard is for no more than 2,500 hens per hectare. The Australian Consumer Law (Free Range Egg Labelling) Information Standard 2017 was only recently introduced, and while egg farmers have welcomed what they see as clearer guidelines, this broad definition for what free range actually encompasses has made it a lot harder for the consumer to be able to trust what a free range label actually means.

Living conditions aside, depending on the free range certification, hens can still be debeaked, and they’re still slaughtered at 18 months - well before their natural lifespan - once they stop laying eggs.

While the life of a free range chicken is certainly a step up from that of a battery hen, it certainly can’t be considered cruelty-free.

There’s also a by-product of the egg industry that isn’t talked about, and this occurs across the board regardless of whether hens are kept in cages, in barns, or are classified as free range. The byproduct of the egg industry is the male chicks.

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meat, and obviously male chicks don’t lay eggs. So male chicks born in the hatchery for egg-laying hens are immediately classified as a waste product. Literally as soon as they’re hatched, newborn chicks are sent down the production line to determine their sex and their health. The males, and the females that are deemed too sickly, are immediately killed and disposed of. The Model Code of Practice for the Welfare of Animals: Domestic Poultry requires all chicks to be disposed of humanely with guidelines that include the gassing or maceration of birds that are deemed surplus to requirement. These so-called humane guidelines see day-old chicks tumbling down the factory line to be ground up while still alive. It’s estimated that 12 million chicks are killed in Australia each year.

It’s argued that maceration is the most ‘welfare-appropriate destruction’ of unwanted chicks, but acknowledged that

someone can make an omelette. By constantly removing her eggs the hen is forced to continue laying as she attempts to form a brood. In more natural conditions, a hen would stop producing eggs until her chicks were hatched and able to fend for themselves. Under normal circumstances, a chicken would normally lay between 10 to 15 eggs per year, but under the intense conditions of farming they’re forced to produce somewhere in the region of 300.

The simple truth is that the egg industry is not cruelty free. Pictures of happy hens roaming in a field are just a smokescreen for the miserable reality of life on an egglaying production line. Birds are kept in crowded and unnatural conditions, and treated like machines rather than the living creatures they are. Hens are slaughtered when they’re no longer useful, and their offspring are culled and discarded by the millions. While eating an egg or consuming egg-based products might not involve

The wire cages that house the hens cause damage to their feet, and in some cases, the bird’s claws will grow around the wire, essentially trapping them in place and preventing them from reaching any food. the industry can’t confirm how much suffering the chick experiences before death. It’s certainly something that the egg industry don’t want their customers to know too much about. People like to think of fluffy chicks hanging out with the Easter Bunny, not being thrown face first into the spinning blades of a shredder.

The idea of baby birds being chopped up by the millions is horrific, but many people are simply not aware of this industry standard. There’s not enough transparency from these big farming businesses because if more people knew the truth, then less people would buy their eggs. As the old saying goes, if slaughterhouses had glass walls, the whole world would be vegetarian.

We’re a nation of animal lovers who need to see through the propaganda of big business and understand the pain, suffering, and death behind every box of eggs.

It’s also important to consider the ethical implications of taking eggs that don’t belong to us. A chicken is laying her eggs so that her chicks can hatch, not so that

ingesting actual animal flesh, it doesn’t mean that animals aren’t suffering and dying as a result.

Eggs are big business these days. It’s no longer small, family-owned farms producing a modest number of eggs for the community, but big industrialised systems that see profits siphoned off into major corporations. Our increasing appetite for eggs is the driving force behind these mass operations. We should be striving for a better world for every living creature on this planet, and this kind of intensive farming is a modern-day disgrace that would be better suited to the Dark Ages. In order for this kind of cruelty to end, we have to stop generating demand for these products. It’s not enough to choose free range over cage eggs because it still means death for millions of chicks, and a short life of pain and distress for the egg-laying hens. We need to be looking for truly cruelty-free alternatives, and the big food companies should be doing the same. It’s time to take egg off the menu for good.

Photos by depositphotos.com.

the big issue

FREE RANGE IS ALSO RIFE WITH CRUELTY AND ALL MALE CHICKS ARE GASSED OR CUT UP ALIVE.

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Be a shining example and be educated so that you can explain your position clearly to help them understand your choices better.

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All about “PLANTING SEEDS” Well-known animal rights / vegan activist James Aspey, best known for his one year vow of silence to bring awareness to the plight of farm animals, chats with TAVM about growing up, what he does in his spare time and ghosts.

You have inspired so many people to go cruelty-free through your more than 150 talks. What are some memorable moments for you or some situations/people that stand out for you?

My most memorable moments are when I spoke for the first time after a year, cycling 5,000 kilometres across Australia, getting tattooed for 24 hours with a bunch of legends, talking at the largest ever animal rights march to a crowd of over 20,000, having some of my vids go viral, and mainly just any time I’m influencing a lot of people. That’s usually how I judge my success. How many seeds am I planting?

Obviously, you don’t have a pet as you travel so much, but if you could have any pet what would you have?

If I could give a good home to a monkey and the monkey wanted to stay and chill, that’d be amazing.

What is your motto in life? Do you live by certain principles?

Treat others the way you would want to be treated. Speak up for others the way you would want to be spoken for.

What do you wish people would understand about animals?

Tell us about the Animal Justice Camp – what is it all about and how are you involved?

I wish people realised that animals have just as much right to live life as we do.

A team of us are fasting for five days in front of a slaughterhouse. Incredibly, the fact that thousands of animals will be murdered in the facility in one day isn’t newsworthy enough, so we have to do something else that might garner media interest.

What’s your advice to would-be animal or vegan activists?

[In fact over 200 animal activists from around Australia attended the Animal Justice Camp and fast in December last year in front of a Victorian abattoir to draw attention to the suffering in the industry.

In retaliation, the abattoir sounded their sirens during the night to prevent activists from sleeping, and opened water tanks at their marquee to try and flood them.

Heavy police presence was also on hand to escort the trucks carrying the animals to the slaughterhouse.]

You’ve been quite forward in sharing your personal struggles and journey into veganism. What is something that no one knows about you or that you haven’t shared before?

Ghost stuff.

Can you elaborate on that?

That’s all the elaboration I’m doing [laughs].

If you’re passionate about helping animals, the first step is to stop hurting them, which means go vegan. Watch what other activists and groups are doing and join them as much as possible. Always be clear and don’t sell out on the animals while simultaneously advocating with compassion and respect. It is the most powerful force we’ve got.

What’s your advice to vegans struggling to be accepted by their meat-eating family and friends?

Be a shining example and be educated so that you can explain your position clearly to help them understand your choices better.

It would also be great to encourage them to watch a documentary or two.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

Surf, skate, beach, party, snowboard, skydive, scuba, breakdance, eat, read, talk deep about the universe, stargaze, watch movies, meditate, chill with mates.

This really makes me wish I had more spare time!

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profile

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*G ZPV SF QBTTJPOBUF BCPVU IFMQJOH BOJNBMT UIF mSTU step is to stop hurting them, which means go vegan.

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What was life like growing up and how has it shaped you?

I always had more than I could ever need - a loving family and all the opportunity and countless things to be grateful for. I suffered through cancer when I was 17 which helped me have more empathy for the suffering of others.

I use the skills I learned through being a personal trainer to help educate, influence and inspire people to make changes in their life.

James Aspey speaking at a Farm Animal Rescue fundraiser organised by award-winning artist Carla Benzie and fashion stylist Simone Parker.

8IP IBT CFFO UIF CJHHFTU JOnVFODF JO your life?

Probably my mum who is a very compassionate person and who often puts others before herself.

Do you like to cook? If so, what’s your favourite meal to cook?

I don’t know if this is actually considered cooking but my favourite meal to make is also my favourite meal to eat - marinated tofu rice paper rolls.

What would you eat in a typical day?

Oats with frozen blueberries and maple syrup with chopped walnuts for breakfast.

Or a smoothie. Or avocado on toast. Or cereal with oat milk. Sometimes, pancakes or frozen bananas with tahini.

Lunch and dinner sometimes stir-fry with brown rice, avo and tofu sushi, smoothies, curry, black bean burritos, roast sweet potatoes with beans and greens, pastas, laksas - it varies a lot!

If we opened your fridge what would we see?

It’s been a while since I’ve seen it but I assume many expired things.

What’s a typical day like for you? Do you have a routine?

Every single day doing whatever is in my power to contribute to making this world a less violent, more peaceful place. Sometimes it’s speeches, protests, posting online, conversations, making vids; there’s always something that can be done and that is the most typical thing I try to achieve, besides the mundane, each and every day.

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James says animals have just as much right to live life as we do - at the FAR fundraiser last year.

Carol Slater Photography. www.c-s-p.com.au

hy.

Carol Slater Photograp www.c-s-p.com.au

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SPOTLIGHT ON VEGAN AUSTRALIA

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ype the word ‘vegan’ into Google and have fun trudging through a plethora of information, opinions, recipes, restaurant links and websites.

The internet can be a confusing place for new and existing vegans.

If you’re an Aussie vegan and you’re after any information, look no further than Vegan Australia.

With nearly 25,000 followers on Facebook, their mission is clear cut: ‘Vegan Australia will campaign for veganism as the basis of a just and ethical society and will promote its benefits to human health, the natural environment and social justice’. The ultimate goal being a reality all vegans want; ‘The end of production and consumption of animal products and the abolition of the use of animals for any purpose’.

It is clear when reading these statements that Vegan Australia holds animals in the highest regard and takes an abolitionist approach when explaining their considerations. ‘Animals have the right to be treated with respect and justice and not be treated as property.’

Vegan Australia actively implements this mission through campaigns, positive influencing, education and research, and provides a wide range of services for new and existing vegans.

The idea for Vegan Australia began in 2012 and soon after it became a registered charity. It has since become one of Australia’s leading go-to vegan organisations. ‘It is becoming a wellrecognised voice for veganism with the Australian media’, says Vegan Australia director Greg McFarlane.

There’s nothing typical about his work.

From helping businesses certify their vegan products to maintaining an active social media presence, Greg does it all. ‘We collate events from every state of Australia

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to list on our website and include in our weekly email newsletter’, he says.

The events directory must be the best feature of the Vegan Australia website.

Simply click on your state and all the vegan events in your chosen area are at your fingertips to explore.

The organisation’s original founders were from all different states across Australia, and this diversity in management is still somewhat maintained today. ‘Most people active within Vegan Australia are in the eastern states, so we would particularly like people from the west and north of Australia to get involved’, says Greg.

If you are looking to do more to contribute to the vegan movement, simply click on the ‘Get active’ link on the website. Vegan Australia is a volunteer-run organisation, so they are always welcoming of people that have a passion for advocating for animals and veganism. From writing for the website, to getting involved with campaigns or even just donating, there are many ways you can contribute.

Greg suggests vegans should look for

Greg McFarlane, director of Vegan Australia, says the organisation is becoming a wellrecognised voice for veganism in Australia. something that they can be passionate about and that they are good at. ‘Whether that be standing in a Cube of Truth, talking to people about veganism, writing articles, or making submissions to governments.’

‘The fact that currently the fastest growth in veganism is with young people is very positive. With their energy and creativity, we could easily have a vegan Australia within 50 years, and hopefully a vegan world.’

To find out more information or to contact Vegan Australia go to their website at veganaustralia.com.au.

By Sheila Hart

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ON A HIGHER PATH

with holistic healing

If you were handed a 10 to 15 per cent chance of survival, what would you do?

For Joel Grace it wasn’t a death sentence but rather the first step on a journey to health, vitality and even a new career. By Lisa Blair.

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orn and raised in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Joel Grace was raised like most Aussie kids in the 80s and 90s, eating ‘meat and three veg’, lots of processed and packaged meals, stir-fry sauces from a jar, everything microwaved and lots of sugar and preservatives. He was a high achiever at school and worked at various after school jobs in supermarkets, and even though he had an interest in natural health and was curious about kombucha and activated almonds and suchlike, he felt he had to ‘conform to the mainstream to fit in’ and so he repressed those interests and just ate the way everyone else was eating.

Joel studied a Bachelor of Business focusing on marketing and business management at university in Canberra, then commenced a career in marketing, moving from online marketing to digital marketing with travel companies, banks and even top tier law firms for 10 years, working in Melbourne and on the Gold Coast.

Joel’s weight ballooned to 115 kilograms and he was constantly sick.

‘I had recurring ear, nose, and throat infections for eight years every two weeks, so I was on antibiotics more than I was off them. I was also on a raft of different anti-anxiety meds’, Joel says.

‘I used to live the standard Australian lifestyle - plenty of junk food, heaps of meat and dairy, too much alcohol, hardly any physical activity and a reliance on prescription medicines for anxiety and chronic ENT infections. Looking back, it’s no wonder I was sick all the time!’

Joel started looking into quitting sugar or eating paleo as a means to get healthier.

The more he looked into it, the more it resonated with the parts of him that he had suppressed, and he became more and more plant-based.

‘Organic green smoothies became my life!

I was soaking my nuts. I quit all my meds and I started doing colonics to rebuild my immune system.’

With all the changes to his diet, Joel began to lose weight and felt great. That is until he was thrown a curve ball. In June 2013, he was diagnosed with an aggressive stage III metastatic melanoma that had spread to his lymph nodes, and he was

given a 10 to 15 per cent chance of survival.

‘My cancer diagnosis absolutely shattered me and those stats were terrifying’, Joel says.

‘I went home and between crying on the couch I came across an article about Jess Ainscough, nicknamed the Wellness Warrior, [an Australian cancer patient and advocate of alternative cancer treatments.

She chose to treat her illness with natural therapies but died from cancer in February 2015 at age 30] following an organic plant-based diet. I took that as a sign that this was the path I needed to follow.’

Joel had four tumours in his neck with the largest being 5cm, and ultimately chose to have them surgically removed, along with 44 lymph nodes.

‘I also reluctantly did a short At his heaviest, Joel tipped the course of radiotherapy, but was scales at 115 ki Below: A more los. healthier and ha steadfast against chemo because I’d ppier Joel today. already started taking an interest in alternative therapies’, he says.

‘Everything else I did was based on holistic healing.’

As part of his holistic healing, he changed his diet to comprise of only organic raw vegan foods. He did a lot of juice fasting, drank a lot of green smoothies, had two to four coffee enemas [colon cleanse that originated from German physicians searching for a cancer treatment in the early 1900s] a day for the first 18 months, many colonics for a deeper cleanse, took high-dose intravenous vitamin C and glutathione therapy as a natural chemo alternative, worked with an amazing holistic GP for blood work and supplements to get things in balance quickly, and he did a lot of gentle lymph work (rebounding, dry skin brushing etc).

Meditation, Joel says, also played a huge part.

‘It was as much a spiritual and emotional cancer as it was physical’, he says.

‘I believe that the treatments I had, both the conventional and integrated, played a big role in defeating the cancer, but it’s the way I continue to live my life that is the key factor in remaining cancer-free.’

‘

We all come to veganism at different times for different reasons. I’d rather do what I can to help and encourage people on their way, than punish a newbie for not being the perfect vegan...

’

profile ‘So much for my doctors telling me, “Don’t bother changing your diet, it won’t work”. Can you imagine being told at 31 not only that you’ve got cancer, but that the medical professionals you’re supposed to trust don’t believe that nutrition plays any part in restoring good health?’

‘Thankfully, I ignored their advice.’

Joel’s diet is still around 80 per cent organic raw vegan and he has much advice to share about how he manages to remain fit, healthy and cancer-free.

‘I see good nutrition as an investment in my health and longevity, so I don’t compromise on eating a mostly organic, refined sugar-free, plant-based, high raw, wholefoods diet. My brekky is usually some sort of smoothie bowl or seasonal fruit salad with nuts and coconut yoghurt.’

‘Lunch might be a quinoa salad, a green smoothie, or some sprouted bread with avocado, tomato, spices and heaps of leafy greens. And dinner is often a raw pad Thai, tempeh rice paper rolls or veggie burgers and a huge green salad with sweet potato.’

‘I also drink up to one litre of coldpressed juice daily, and at least three litres of fluoride-free alkaline water.’

Joel says that juice fasting is something that he has incorporated into his regular health regime, and he currently aims to fast for at least 40 cumulative days each year.

‘I usually break this up into smaller mini fasts of anything from three to 12 days every few months. When we eat, our body uses up to 70 per cent of our energy stores on digesting food. So when we fast, this extra energy that isn’t used digesting can be diverted to more important tasks like healing, regenerating and restoring our body so it can perform at its peak. People often expect to have no energy on a fast, but the reverse is true. I feel superhuman when I’m juicing, my sleep quality improves with less hours needed, my skin glows, and if anything, my energy only slumps once I resume eating again.’

Joel says one of the best things he did whilst healing from cancer was to have regular colonics and coffee enemas.

‘Considering that nearly 80 per cent of your immune system is in your gut, it made sense to me that I needed my digestive health to be as strong as possible for my body to have maximum chance at winning the battle. I believe in the healing power of colonics so much that only one year after being diagnosed I quit my old marketing job and opened a colonic clinic of my own!’

‘The average person walks around with up to seven kilograms of accumulated waste, toxins and mucus in the colon without even realising it - most of which simply does not pass when we go to the toilet. Think about it, we brush our teeth twice per day, but how often are you

brushing your insides? These days, I aim to have a colonic at least once per month to ensure my digestive system is always in tip top shape. I also listen to the feedback from my body and incorporate regular coffee enemas into my regime; sometimes weekly, sometimes daily. Coffee enemas are not just a fantastic way to cleanse your liver and gall bladder of bile toxins, but they also provide your body with a great antioxidant boost too - it’s like you’ve got six to seven livers working at peak capacity to cleanse your system.’

Joel says another very important part of his daily life is gratitude.

‘Every morning, as soon as I wake up, I do something that I borrowed from Louise Hay [American motivational author] - I jump straight out of bed and thank my bed for giving me a great night’s sleep. Starting my day with an attitude of gratitude really helps set me up for the day and helps me look for the positive in everything. I also like to spend some time meditating in the

Now aged 36, Joel has never been healthier, fitter or happier in his life and he loves nothing better than helping his clients with their journeys.

‘From a practical perspective, my digestion has never been better. I find that the vegan label can scare people off, so in the clinic, I’ll often tell people that I just eat for my digestive system, and because meat, wheat and dairy are hard to digest, I avoid eating them.’

‘I then encourage them to trial it for themselves. I have the best job for helping people listen to their body and make better changes for their health and the animals and environment.’

Sadly, becoming vegan led to Joel losing some friends and his partner. But on the upside, he says he has since welcomed ‘some even more beautiful people that vibe on my level’.

The best parts about being vegan?

‘Other vegans! Worst part is also other vegans’, he laughs.

‘The average person walks around with up to seven kilograms of accumulated waste, toxins and mucus in the colon without even realising it.’ morning. I’m the first to admit that my meditation experience is an often jolty haphazard one, but I do my best to calm my mind, breathe deeply and draw my balance back to centre. The world never looks more beautiful than those first moments when you open your eyes after meditating.’

As far as exercise goes, gentle is the way to go for Joel.

‘I take a really gentle approach to exercise these days. I no longer believe in punishing myself or pushing my body to its limits. I try to get up and do some form of exercise nearly every morning. This might be a 30 minute walk around the block, a short beach run or 10 minutes of rebounding on a mini-trampoline to really get my lymph system moving. I find I’ve got heaps more energy when I start my day with exercise instead of leaving it until the end of the day.’

‘Healing really does require a holistic approach. As important as living a plantbased lifestyle is for good health, we really do need to address the physical, emotional and spiritual connections of disease for true healing to take place. I’m just fortunate that I took the power into my own hands and figured out what worked for me.’

But he couldn’t have done it by himself.

Emotionally, during his cancer journey, Joel says his mum was his ‘rock’. He also had a cousin that went through her own cancer scare to lean on when the fear took its toll.

‘Passion is great, but it needs to be tempered with compassion for the different stages of people’s journeys. We all come to veganism at different times for different reasons. I’d rather do what I can to help and encourage people on their way, than punish a newbie for not being the perfect vegan or making a mistake.’

‘Love and kindness for all animals, including humans, is my motto.’

Joel says that living plant-based is a big part of what keeps him thriving. Although he began as a nutritional vegan, purely for health reasons, he says the longer he ate plant-based the more ethical vegan he became.

‘I’ve been known to have a bit of a cry if I see a trapped animal or an injured bird on the side of the road. And that’s a person I never thought I’d be, but compassion just creeps in with this way of life,’ he says.

What advice would he give to others?

‘If anyone has their own health issues, I’d always suggest taking a good hard look at what you’re putting into your body to see if it’s helping heal you or kill you. Death and suffering on your plate just puts death and suffering in your body.’

‘From a health perspective, the acidic digestive burden that animal proteins have are just not worth your taste buds. I suggest going plant-based, high raw, organic, and start getting back in touch with food as nutrition and fuel rather than eating for taste.’ the australian vegan magazine

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With her life changing in an instant while sitting in a lecture room, Instagram hit Ally Sheehan, now seeks to spread love and kindness into the world.

By Alexandra Karaoutsadis.

Ally loves to travel.

V

eganism was once something that Ally Sheehan never thought she would take up, even once thinking that the lifestyle change was radical and extreme. It wasn’t until she started to learn about the true impact of her choices that she decided on ‘being the change she wished to see in the world’.

It was in 2013 that her view of her impacts changed completely, and instantly, within the lecture hall at her university.

‘I learned that one kilogram of beef requires more than 15,000 litres of water to be produced, compared to just 1,300 for wheat or 2,000 for rice. These statistics blew my mind and certainly sparked my research into the environmental impact of what we eat’, Ally says.

At the time, Ally had already toyed with the idea of giving up dairy for a month to help cure the acne she had been struggling with since her teens. Veganism, however, was something that until that point she had ‘never considered for herself’.

‘In high school, I’m certain I would have mocked the idea and found it radical or extreme. Now, that makes me laugh, and I realise that this lifestyle change simply helped me align my actions with my pre-existing beliefs.’

‘It was essentially equal parts passion for the environment, for the animals, and for my health.’

The small university lecture sparked the

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interest of Ally, and she knew from there that she had to learn more about the true impact of the lifestyle she had been living. It was there that she discovered the popular documentary Earthlings, and as she states, ‘the rest was history’.

‘When I realised it was something that interested me, I watched things like Gary Yourofsky’s Best Speech Ever, 101 Reasons To Go Vegan, Forks Over Knives, and devoured the book The World Peace Diet by Dr. Will Tuttle.’

The benefits of her lifestyle choice started to present themselves in ways Ally could never imagine.

‘Besides the drastic improvement in my skin, I’ve experienced greater energy, and a deeper connection with the earth and world around me. I save money. I have so much more compassion and [am part of] an incredible community of kind human beings.’

Ally started to document the change on her already popular Tumblr blog, agirlnamedally, which she had created at the end of her high school years. Unbeknownst to her at the beginning of her blog, she quickly gained a large following, ‘receiving questions daily from people asking for advice, on anything from friends to body image, physical or mental health’.

Eventually Ally created her Instagram page, a platform which she continues to connect with her audience over, spreading the lessons she has learnt, the experiences she has had, and the kindness that she wishes to see in the world.

Her ability to inspire her multitude of followers to live a happier and healthier lifestyle is reflected in each post she creates, providing a sincere and compassionate voice on social media platforms that can sometimes be a breading place for toxicity.

‘I’ll say this: be kind. Be kind to yourself, be kind to your loved ones, and be kind to strangers on the street. It costs literally nothing to give a smile or a compliment, and I promise it will make you feel just as good as it does them. Let’s spark a revolution.’

Although kindness is something that Ally tries to exude in her everyday life, she struggles at times to handle the weight of human impact on the world around us.

‘Any time I’m faced with a struggle, I try to remind myself of how I can make a difference.’

‘Even with animal cruelty, after a while I realised that my heart was getting broken every day, and it wasn’t assisting me to help anyone; it was disabling me.’

‘I have a deep amount of respect for people like my friend James Aspey, whose passion and activism are neverending.

People who can turn pain into progress and fight through suffering are true heroes, and they are the ones creating real change.’

Ally continues to draw inspiration daily through both historical figures, as well as the people that she has met through her incredible journey.

‘I’m definitely inspired by Sophia Bush and Jane Goodall, two incredible women who are passionate in their fields, strong-headed and kind-hearted. Philip Wollen is my biggest vegan inspiration; he speaks from a place of such wisdom, level-headedness, intelligence and care.’

Over the years, Ally has continued to immerse herself in opportunities that fuel her passions and grow her knowledge.

‘I’m deeply passionate about self-love and helping young women feel empowered, both within their bodies and their minds.

I’m also passionate about our environment and protecting our beautiful mother earth.

I love spending time deep within nature, and I want future generations to experience that too.’

Also harbouring a deep love of travel, Ally actively continues to explore the offerings of the world. Through this, she has landed one of the most rewarding opportunities of her life.

‘The past two years I’ve worked overseas in America as a counsellor for young girls at a summer camp, which has brought me so much happiness, fulfilment and the best memories of my life.’

When she isn’t gallivanting around the world, or taking photos for her Instagram page, she is writing or making YouTube videos, going on walks or hikes, playing sport, listening to music, reading or watching Grey’s Anatomy.

In amongst all of this, Ally has some special projects in the works. Although she can’t disclose much information about it yet, she is enjoying the creative aspect of her YouTube channel and Instagram page.

As for the future, Ally wants to continue her travels throughout the world and to immerse herself in creative projects. More than that, she hopes to drive the simple message of kindness and compassion.

‘I just want to see more love and kindness in our world. I don’t think you can ever have too much of either, and it seems like we could all use a little more.’

‘

People who can turn pain JOUP QSPHSFTT BOE mHIU through suffering are true heroes, and they are the ones creating real change.

BECOMING THE CHANGE

She wished to see

’

profile

FROM EXHAUSTION TO BOUNCING

with energy

Riddled with pain and constant headaches and weighed down by exhaustion, Julia Naismith decided to ignore the professionals who told her it was all in her head and listen to her own body. This led her down a road of restoring her own health.

T

here is no cure tor fibromyalgia.

You will just need to manage it with a combination of pain medication and anti-depressants.’

The rheumatologist’s words rang in her mind for quite a while after the consultation - one of a number of GPs and specialists she had consulted in her quest to find answers to why her whole body was racked with pain and why she was so exhausted she didn’t have the strength to answer her phone by evening time.

‘But I’m a high achiever. I have always been a high achiever. I was dux of my high school, a high distinction earning business degree holder, a super successful young executive, ambitious, driven, endlessly energetic...What has gone wrong?’, Julia Naismith would ask herself.

‘It could be psychosomatic’, another doctor said.

‘There is

Julia with her 11 year old son Zavier soon after she moved to Australia.

nothing more nightmarish than being somewhat patronisingly told by your doctor that because they cannot find the cause of your chronic pain and unfathomable exhaustion that you must be imagining it’, the 48-year-old Melbourne-born mum of two now says.

‘I started to doubt myself after that. But even through the haze of my then very foggy thought patterns, I just knew in my heart that I wasn’t imaging my illness. I

imagining it all, how could I do anything except do my best to hide my symptoms and carry on as best I could?’

At her lowest points, Julia couldn’t see a future for herself. She felt that her life was over and that there was nothing to look forward to because she was always so mentally and physically drained.

‘I was literally running on empty’, she says.

The experts in New Zealand where she

‘I started to doubt myself after that. But even through the haze of my then very foggy thought patterns, I just knew in my heart that I wasn’t imaging my illness.’ had always been rather scathing of even my own colleagues and staff taking a day off from work. I was the bulletproof one. So why on earth would I suddenly decide that I wanted to be sickly and tired and weak?

That was the antithesis of everything I had been all my life.’

Julia’s joints ached endlessly and she had a neverending supply of Panadol on her desk to try to stave off her almost daily headaches.

When Julia woke up each morning her feet felt like concrete and she would hobble around for 20 minutes until they started to uncramp. During the night, her legs would twitch so much they would constantly wake her up, meanwhile, her memory and concentration were diminishing.

‘I was terrified and I couldn’t tell anyone because I felt ashamed and weak’, Julia says.

‘And when my own doctors told me I was

later lived said there was no ‘cure’ and she struggled for years with debilitating symptoms.

Julie struggled through the birth and care of her two beautiful children in New Zealand and then through her family’s move to live in Singapore, and endless investigations provided no answers, just more prescriptions.

Desperate not to give up on her quest for better health, Julia stopped seeking answers from others. Instead, she began to listen to her own body, her inner voice, and she became determined to trust her own intuition as to what was wrong with her and how to restore her health to at least a level somewhere approaching the positive and energetic person she once was.

Although Julia had always felt that her diet was relatively healthy, she began to question whether it could be at least part of the cause of her general unwellness.

She began to systematically exclude certain foods from her diet to see if it would make any difference and this led Julia along the path to veganism.

‘My first encounter with veganism was some eight years ago back in New Zealand, when some close friends hosted a dinner party and recounted how one of the guests announced that she was a vegan. There was a mad panic to deal with this “extremist” guest. What on earth could they possibly offer for dinner to a person that chose not to consume anything derived from an animal? The fact that our friends were beef and sheep farmers who

‘

There is nothing more nightmarish than being... told by your doctor that... you must be imagining it.

’

Once uncomfortable about her appearance, Julia is now proud of how she looks and feels.

profile

‘

* TFF TPNF JSPOZ JO EPJOH NZ mSTU QSPGFTTJPOBM QIPUP TIPPU BU UIF BHF of 48. It’s taken this long for me to feel good about the way I look and I know that my vegan diet has played a vital role in this turnaround. lived off their “home kills” made this veganism seem like anathema. Even I wondered at the logic of such “extremism”.’

Fast forward a couple of years and Julia’s next real life exposure to veganism was during a deep conversation with her niece. At the age of 14, after spending a few weeks living and working on the farm in north eastern Victoria which was owned by her school, as part of her mandatory curriculum, Julia’s niece Emma discovered that she had deep empathy for the animals she was caring for daily and was touched by the birthing of new life at the farm.

Emma began to form an opinion that humans were profoundly selfish in how they exuded their power to end the lives of animals for food; and for food that was causing us more harm than good.

‘She made the brave and ahead of her

pumpkin, hazelnut and quinoa salad, not even close. And I’m eating a dead bird, I thought. I had been finding that eating any kind of meat had become much more of a chore than a pleasure, and particularly red meat, I was finding so hard to digest. It felt like lead sitting in my system for days.

I spat out the rest of my chicken and chose never to eat meat again. It felt wrong, it tasted wrong and it was like the quintessential “light bulb” moment that I knew my body no longer wanted nor needed to eat animals’.

‘Having spent years in the farming world in New Zealand I had seen daily, firsthand, the ingrained fundamental cruelty of all forms of farming. Even the seemingly benign and sometimes romanticised dairy industry is underpinned by callous disregard for the lives of the animals.’

‘It felt wrong, it tasted wrong and it was like the quintessential “light bulb” moment that I knew my body no longer wanted nor needed to eat animals.’ time decision to follow a vegan diet and lifestyle’, recounts Julia.

‘I saw my niece change physically. I saw her look fresher, brighter, more energetic, even more athletic and alert than ever. And I had a deep respect for the values that she was living by.’

When Julia returned from many years living abroad to settle at the Gold Coast in 2016, with her children now aged eight and 11, to her delight, she found an abundance of fresh produce and a healthy lifestyle on her doorstep.

Soon after, she decided to hire a personal trainer to ‘reshape’ her body as she felt her body needed some toning and her passion for physical training grew. But her interest in something else also started to grow.

‘My fascination with attaining peak health through nutrition also grew exponentially.

The old school of “bodybuilding” said that I needed to be scoffing down massive amounts of “lean protein”, namely chicken breasts, beef and fish, and to top all that off, with about six eggs per day as well as a bucket of yoghurt as a treat.’

‘I distinctly remember the day, just over a year ago, in November 2016, I was at my kitchen bench chewing on some chicken and I stopped mid mouthful and said out loud, “Why am I eating this?”. I was not enjoying it. It tasted nowhere near as good as my side dish of cranberry, kale,

‘Anyone who has seen the one-day-old “bobby calves” being ripped from their mothers and literally thrown by a leg into a truck where it clambers and screams and panics amongst a sea of other flailing and dying baby calves...knows that there is nothing sweet or innocent about dairy farming.’

Within days of Julia’s light bulb moment, she felt a sense of what she describes as both physical and mental ‘lightness and pureness’, although she became secretive.

‘I felt self conscious about my new venture into veganism. I was concerned about how others would react, and yes, I had family and other “well meaning” friends express concern for my health and suggest that I would become weak, anaemic, and that my body would become frail. I’m now a little embarrassed to admit that I cared what others thought and that l would downplay or hide the fact that I was now a vegan. When I went out for lunch with friends, mostly mums from my children’s schools, I would just quietly try to find a vegan option on the menu. And given the venues we visited, usually I just had to settle for a side salad and hope it wasn’t full of cheese that I had to eat around.’

Julia’s self-consciousness about her new found love for all things vegan rapidly faded as her body morphed from being

’

‘okay, but a bit soft and chubby’ into the lean and muscular athletic shape she’s in today.

‘People ask me for before and after pictures, to see what I used to look like before my transition to strength and health and my current body shape. The reality is that I have virtually no photos from the past, and in honesty, I avoided photo sessions, because I was so deeply uncomfortable with my physical appearance. I would cringe when I saw photos of myself. I see some irony in doing my first professional photo shoot at the age of 48. It’s taken this long for me to feel good about the way I look and I know that my vegan diet has played a vital role in this turnaround.’

‘My gym program remained the same as before I became a vegan and yet my body was fast losing its excess fat, my muscles were developing size, definition, and symmetry. I began to feel great within myself, energetic, light, strong and the greatest goal of all, I felt so much healthier.’

One of Julia’s new joys in life since choosing to live a vegan lifestyle has been the passion she has found for creating super nutritious ‘but incredibly delicious’ vegan meals that she shares with family and friends, most of whom are not vegan.

‘Everyone’s been amazed and surprised by how much they enjoy my vegan food and how satisfying and exciting it can be.’

‘I am now so proud of being vegan and its manifold ethical and physical benefits, not only to us as individuals but to our global environment, that I love nothing more than a chance to help educate others about the profound positive effect that veganism can bring to our world.’

‘I feel deeply that veganism not only imbues a range of health benefits, but it is the ultimate expression of social and environmental care and responsibility. I have no doubt that a mass revolution to veganism is quite possibly the only chance we have to heal and halt the current fast track destruction and degradation of our planet.’

Julia is now planning to develop her own vegan food and fitness training business.

‘My ultimate goal is to open and own amazing vegan cafés and restaurants. I say restaurant because I find there are many cafés now moving into the vegan breakfast and brunch realm. But most vegans would concur with me I think, it is so hard to find a great vegan restaurant for evening dining.

We want to go out for amazing dinners too.’ the australian vegan magazine

43

Blissful Full of nutrition, enzymes and antioxidants

Buddha bowls

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australian vegan magazine

Nutritious,

CRUNCHY & tasty

RED SPROUTED SUPERFOOD SALAD

By Hannah Singleton & Jennifer Murrant @healthsynergy

IJT SFE TQSPVUFE TVQFSGPPE TBMBE JT QBDLFE XJUI nBWPVS T nutrients, enzymes and antioxidants. It can easily be served as a main dish or as a side. Unlike some salads, even the dressing adds to the nutritional value of this dish as it contains two superfood ingredients: pomegranates and acai. The pomegranate adds a subtle sweetness which perfectly balances the bitterness of the acai, while the maple-roasted walnuts add a delicious crunch.

MAKES 4 bowls

Salad 1 cup cooked red quinoa 1 tablespoon olive oil SFE POJPO mOFMZ TMJDFE 1 tablespoon ginger, grated 2 cups red cabbage, shredded 1 beetroot, peeled and spiralised 1 cup [spinach] leaves DVQ TVOnPXFS TQSPVUT TFF UJQ

1 cup bean sprouts 6 radishes, sliced 1 ripe avocado, sliced

Maple-roasted walnuts ½ cup walnuts 1 tablespoon maple syrup 1 teaspoon coconut oil

Dressing 1 tablespoon pomegranates 2 tablespoons olive oil ½ teaspoon acai powder Ÿ cup fresh lemon juice Ÿ teaspoon salt

The recipes, images and text are from Vegan Bowls by Vegan Souls, a Coconut Bowls Cookbook. Published

by Smudge Publishing.

Purchase at: au.coconutbowls.com/ products/vegan-bowlsfor-vegan-souls-bundle -pack.

1

Cook quinoa as per instructions of your chosen brand.

2 SautĂŠ onion in olive oil for a few minutes or until soft and slightly crispy, taking care not to burn.

3 Once the onion has softened,

add quinoa and grated ginger, stir and then allow to cool completely.

4

Meanwhile, prepare mapleroasted walnuts.

5

Combine all ingredients in a non-stick pan and cook over low heat for approximately five minutes, stirring constantly, and then set aside.

6

To make the dressing, simply combine all ingredients in a small dish and mix well.

7

Add cabbage, beetroot, [spinach] leaves, sprouts and radish to quinoa mixture and toss the salad in the dressing.

8

Transfer salad to a bowl and garnish with maple-roasted walnuts, avocado, your choice of additional sprouts (optional), salt and pepper.

TIP 4VOnPXFS TQSPVUT DBO be purchased at your local farmer’s market or online at places like doorsteporganics .com.au. Alternatively, you can grow your own - just Google ‘how to grow TVOnPXFS TFFE TQSPVUT the australian vegan magazine

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MOMO PÊCHE BENTO BOWL

By Sara Kiyo Popowa @shisodelicious

y g Tan T

dishes. In the Momo Pêche Bowl, soft grilled peach is best friends with tangy quick pickles, fragrant crushed sesame seed, bitter leaves and comforting beans. The dishes can be QSFQBSFE BIFBE TP FWFSZPOF DBO IBWF GVO mMMJOH UIFJS PXO bowls at lunch or dinner time.

MAKES 2 bowls

1 carrot, cut into long ribbons 1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar 150g cooked cannellini beans PS BOZ MBSHF XIJUF CFBO

½ cucumber, core removed and cut into bite-sized chunks 2 tablespoons light miso paste juice of ½ lemon, plus a little grated zest 4 tablespoons sesame seeds ½ teaspoon salt 1 peach, halved ½ avocado, sliced ½ red cabbage, thinly sliced 2 cups cooked brown rice QJODI DIJMMJ nBLFT UP HBSOJTI PQUJPOBM

1

Start by making quick pickled carrots, tossing the carrot with vinegar. Set aside. The longer they rest the better.

Quick pickle can be kept for a week or more in the fridge.

2 Make smashed beans by adding beans, cucumber, miso, lemon juice and zest to a large glass jar. Close tightly with a lid and give it a good shake. Taste test and add more miso paste or salt as needed. Leave to rest for at least 15 minutes.

Smashed beans last for up to two days in the fridge.

3 Prepare the gomashio (sesame salt). Toast sesame seeds in a dry pan until fragrant. Grind with a mortar and pestle, leaving some seeds whole. If you don’t have a pestle just crush them with the back of a wooden spoon against a cutting board.

4

Grill the peaches, without oil, in a grill pan or normal frying pan over a high heat, one to two minutes each side.

5 To serve, make a bed of grains in each bowl. Add the pickle, smashed beans, peach, avocado and cabbage in separate sections and finish with a couple of spoonfuls of sesame seeds in the middle and a sprinkling of chilli flakes, if using.

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australian vegan magazine

CAN BE PREPARED AHEAD OF TIME

IBSNPOJPVT FYQMPTJPO PG nBWPVST UFYUVSFT BOE nutrients. Momo means ‘peach’ in Japanese, and A bento is a packed lunch made up of rice and lots of small

R O F COMOOD F

The recipes, images and text are from Vegan Bowls by Vegan Souls, a Coconut Bowls Cookbook. Published

by Smudge Publishing.

Purchase at: au.coconutbowls.com/ products/vegan-bowlsfor-vegan-souls-bundle -pack.

Harmoni ous explo sion of Japanese avours

the australian vegan magazine

47

En

erg

y-

h t o o m S nd a y cream

By Nensi & Slaven Beram @alltheworldisgreen

sti

ng

The recipes, images and text are from Vegan Bowls by Vegan Souls, a Coconut Bowls Cookbook. Published

by Smudge Publishing.

Purchase at: au.coconutbowls.com/ products/vegan-bowlsfor-vegan-souls-bundle -pack.

HIGHLY NUTRITIOUS GREEN POWER SMOOTHIE BOWL

boo

Smoothie bowl 3 frozen bananas, chopped 1 small mango, diced and frozen ½ avocado 2 tablespoons hemp seeds 1 handful spinach ½ teaspoon spirulina powder

1 teaspoon maca powder

Toppings white sesame seeds chia seeds frozen berries FEJCMF nPXFST

1

A

simple combination of frozen bananas, mango, avocado and superfoods makes this smoothie a highly nutritious and energy-boosting breakfast. Avocado gives it a smooth and creamy texture and provides you with a daily dose of healthy fats.

5IJT TNPPUIJF XJMM LFFQ ZPV TBUJTmFE BOE GFFMJOH HPPE GPS IPVST MAKES 2 bowls 48 t h e

australian vegan magazine

Put frozen bananas and mango in the blender and blend on high speed until you get a creamy texture.

2 Add avocado, hemp seeds, spinach, spirulina and maca powder.

Blend on high speed until completely smooth and creamy.

3 Serve in bowls and top with a sprinkle of white sesame seeds and chia seeds, frozen berries and edible flowers.

COLO

URS

of the

rainbo WEALTH OF VITAMINS AND MINERALS

w

RAINBOW NOURISH BOWL

By Jessica Hoffman @choosingchia

2 cups spinach ½ cup corn kernels GSFTI GSPN B DPC JG QPTTJCMF

½ cup edamame beans ½ cup red cabbage, shredded ¼ cup carrots, sliced ½ cup quinoa, cooked

1 radish, sliced handful pea shoot sprouts PS CFBO TQSPVUT

½ avocado, sliced sesame seeds juice of ½ lemon or dressing of your choice

his rainbow bowl does exactly what the name suggests; T it nourishes your body with a bunch of delicious and colourful ingredients. Often ingredients of the same colour share

1 Start by filling the bottom of two bowls with spinach.

similar vitamins and nutrients, so a bowl with all the colours of the SBJOCPX XJMM BMXBZT GVFM ZPV XJUI B WBSJFUZ PG IFBMUI CFOFmUT 5IJT bowl looks so pretty, almost too beautiful to eat!

(cooked), radish, sprouts, and avocado in small piles on top of the bowls.

MAKES 2 bowls

2 Place the corn, edamame beans , cabbage, carrots, quinoa 3 Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Dress with some lemon juice if desired (or any dressing you like). the australian vegan magazine

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BEST of all

WORLDS The recipes, images and text are from Vegan Bowls by Vegan Souls, a Coconut Bowls Cookbook. Published

by Smudge Publishing.

Purchase at: au.coconutbowls.com/ products/vegan-bowlsfor-vegan-souls-bundle -pack.

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australian vegan magazine

GOOD SOURCE OF PROTEIN AND IRON

e om s e l o Wh n i ss e n d goo a bowl

ASIANINSPIRED BUDDHA BOWL Anthea Cheng @rainbownourishments

wholesome and colourful bowl A with the best of all worlds, combining lightly sweet tofu with hummus, a light slaw and quinoa.

MAKES 2 bowls H mSN UPGV DVU JOUP DVCFT ¼ cup vegan teriyaki sauce 1 ½ cups water ½ cup quinoa 1 cup cooked chickpeas juice of 1 lemon zest of 1 lemon 1 tablespoon miso paste ½ cup carrot, grated ½ cup red cabbage, shredded ¼ cup edamame beans sesame seeds, to garnish

1

Place tofu in a shallow dish. Cover with teriyaki sauce, then set aside.

2 Add water and quinoa to a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil for five minutes, then reduce to a medium heat, simmering for 15 minutes until the quinoa is cooked. Drain, then set aside.

3 In a high speed blender, blitz chickpeas with the lemon and miso until a smooth paste is formed.

4

Make the slaw by mixing together the carrot, cabbage and edamame beans in a small bowl.

5

Assemble all ingredients in two bowls as desired.

6 Sprinkle with sesame seeds, then serve. the australian vegan magazine

51

e c n a r F f o e t Tas

SUMMER VEGETABLE BOWL

R O T HO COLD

The recipes, images and text are from Vegan Bowls by Vegan Souls, a Coconut Bowls Cookbook. Published

by Smudge Publishing.

Purchase at: au.coconutbowls.com/ products/vegan-bowlsfor-vegan-souls-bundle -pack.

RATATOUILLE BOWL

By Eva Gaillot @thefrenchcoconut

here’s nothing more French than ratatouille. In the south of T France it’s a popular summer recipe and it’s often eaten hot or cold, served with pasta or rice. As a good ratatouille takes quite some time to prepare, this recipe will make a large quantity.

1

Pour olive oil into a large casserole pan. Add the onions and the capsicums and sauté over a high heat for 15 minutes. Add eggplant, garlic and zucchini. Stir with a wooden spoon and cook for another 10 minutes before adding the tomatoes.

2 Season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper and thyme. Add the sugar, adjusting according to the acidity of the tomatoes. Stir and lower the heat.

MAKES 6–8 BOWLS 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 white onions, thinly sliced 2 red capsicums, seeds removed, mOFMZ EJDFE 2 eggplants, cut lengthways then into half moons 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced WFSZ mSN [VDDIJOJT DVU MFOHUIways, then into half moons NFEJVN UPNBUPFT mOFMZ EJDFE 52 t h e

australian vegan magazine

salt and pepper ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 tablespoon thyme 4 teaspoons coconut sugar, plus extra to taste handful of basil leaves extra vegetables, to serve cooked quinoa, brown rice or wholemeal pasta

3 Simmer over a very low heat, without covering, for at least two and a half hours. At the end of cooking, add a few basil leaves and stir.

4

Wait until it cools down, then serve in a bowl with any veggies you like and a base of quinoa, rice or pasta.

Tip

Depending on the season, the vegetables may hold more or less water when simmering. If the vegetables give a lot of water during cooking, remove excess water with a spoon. Store extra ratatouille in an airtight container in the fridge for four to five days.

PERFE CT FIE STA D ISH

Mexican avours explosion The recipes, images and text are from Vegan Bowls by Vegan Souls, a Coconut Bowls Cookbook. Published

by Smudge Publishing.

Purchase at: au.coconutbowls.com/ products/vegan-bowlsfor-vegan-souls-bundle -pack.

Crispy and

MEXICAN FIESTA BOWL

CREAM

By Alexandra Andersson @ďŹ vesechealth

T

IJT JT B QFSGFDU mFTUB EJTI *U T BO FYQMPTJPO PG .FYJDBO nBWPVST BOE UFYUVSFT DSFBNZ HVBDBNPMF NFFUT TQJDZ CFBOT and crispy potatoes. Yum!

Y

MAKES 2 BOWLS

1

500g yellow potatoes, sliced

Salsa ĂĽ UPNBUP mOFMZ DIPQQFE Đ&#x;ШЗ DVQ GSFTI DPSJBOEFS mOFMZ chopped Đ&#x;ШЗ SFE POJPO mOFMZ DIPQQFE 1 avocado, mashed 1 tablespoon lime juice

Bean chilli 225g kidney beans, drained 400g crushed tomatoes 1 tablespoon cumin 1 teaspoon smoked paprika Đ&#x;Đ¨Đœ teaspoon cayenne

To serve ½ cup unsweetened coconut yoghurt fresh coriander

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place potatoes on an oven tray lined with baking paper. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

2 To make salsa, combine the tomato, coriander, onion, avocado and the lime juice in a large bowl. Set aside.

3 Make the bean chilli by putting the beans, crushed tomatoes, cumin, smoked paprika and cayenne in a pan. Simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture thickens.

4

Place the potatoes, salsa and bean chilli in two bowls and garnish with coconut yoghurt and coriander. the australian vegan magazine

53

d oo f t or f om c n a ic

Mex

The recipes, images and text are from Vegan Bowls by Vegan Souls, a Coconut Bowls Cookbook. Published

by Smudge Publishing.

Purchase at: au.coconutbowls.com/ products/vegan-bowlsfor-vegan-souls-bundle -pack.

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Fresh and SPICY

THE COOLEST CHILLI BUDDHA BOWL

By Mel Pampanin @absofruitlymel

FILLING ENOUGH TO MAKE AS MAIN DISH

hilli. It’s a classic comfort food. This one is C a twist on your typical version, made of only fruits and vegetables. It is the freshest, coolest chilli you’ll ever taste. Filling enough to make it the main dish, or saddle it up as a side to your favourite salad or Buddha bowl ingredients.

MAKES 2 bowls Tomato base ½ teaspoon chilli powder ½ teaspoon cumin powder 4 cloves garlic juice of 1 lemon ½ brown onion ПШМ teaspoon black pepper 3 tablespoons raisins 2 ½ cups cherry tomatoes 1 ½ cups sundried tomatoes

The veggies ½ cup capsicum, thinly sliced 1 carrot, julienned 2 cups celery, thinly chopped 6 mushrooms, diced ¼ red onion, thinly sliced ½ cup cherry tomato, diced 1 zucchini, peeled and diced

To serve 2 spring onion stalks, chopped ¼ jalapeño, thinly sliced ½ cup coriander, chopped

1

Place tomato base ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Divide veggie ingredients between two bowls.

2 Pour tomato base over veggies and thoroughly mix together.

3 Garnish with spring onion, jalapeño and coriander.

If you’re brave, and like it extra spicy, add a little more jalapeño. the australian vegan magazine

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BUDDHIST NOODLE BOWL

t c e f r e P D N BLE

ilky soba noodles combine perfectly with rich, salty broth, S aromatic ginger and crunchy fresh vegetables in this very satisfying main course dish.

Broth ĂĽ DVQ UBNBSJ TFF UJQT

½ cup water 2 tablespoons raw agave nectar UBCMFTQPPO EVMTF nBLFT TFF UJQT

1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar 1 tablespoon chopped peeled HJOHFS SPPU TFF UJQT

1 tablespoon seasoning mirin TXFFU SJDF XJOF TFF UJQT

Noodles QBDLBHF H TPCB OPPEMFT

immediately rinse under cold running water to remove excess starch. Set drained noodles aside.

3 Vegetables

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat grapeseed oil. Add ginger and cook until lightly golden, about 2 minutes. Add bok choy, mushrooms, cabbage and red capsicum. Cook until soft, two to three minutes (be careful not to overcook, as you want the vegetables to retain their colour).

Vegetables 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil 1 tablespoon minced peeled ginger root 1 cup thinly sliced baby bok choy ½ cup thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms ½ cup thinly sliced Chinese cabbage ½ cup thinly sliced red capsicum ½ cup cooked/canned red kidney CFBOT TFF UJQT

2 tablespoons thinly sliced spring onion 2 teaspoons raw white sesame seeds dash of toasted sesame oil

4 Pour noodles and broth into

1 Broth In blender, combine

• To remove the skin from fresh ginger root with the least amount of waste, use the edge of a teaspoon. With a brushing motion, scrape off the skin to reveal the yellow root.

tamari, water, agave nectar, dulse, vinegar, ginger and mirin. Blend at high speed until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until ready to use.

2 Noodles In a large saucepan of boiling water, cook noodles according to package instructions.

Using a colander, drain and 56 t h e

australian vegan magazine

individual serving bowls. Top with sautĂŠed vegetables, beans, green onion, sesame seeds and a drizzle of sesame oil, divided equally.

Serve immediately.

Tips • Dulse is a red seaweed. Look for it in your local health food store or online. It has a salty flavour and makes a great substitute for salt in soups and sauces. You can use salt instead if you wish.

• Seasoning mirin can be purchased at Woolworths. • When using canned beans that contain salt, be sure to rinse thoroughly under cold running water before adding.

SATISFYING MAIN COURSE DISH

MAKES 2 - 3 bowls

Aromati

c and cru

nchy

Courtesy of Vegan Everyday: 500 Delicious Recipes by Doug McNish, 2015 Š www.robertrose.ca.

Reprinted with publisher permission.

Available through Peribo Books. Image credit: Colin Erricson.

the australian vegan magazine

57

Get yo

Courtesy of Vegan Everyday: 500 Delicious Recipes by Doug McNish, 2015 © www.robertrose.ca.

Reprinted with publisher permission.

Available through Peribo Books. Image credit: Colin Erricson.

ANTIOXIDANT POWER

! n o d oo f r e p u ur s

t a Gre

G N I N R O M RTER STA

ACAI SUPERFOOD BOWL his breakfast bowl is perfect for beginning your day with its Tberries, chia seeds, acai powder, hemp seeds and cashews.

MAKES 2 bowls 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice å DVQ GSP[FO CMVFCFSSJFT TFF UJQT

¼ cup chia seeds 2 tablespoons freeze-dried acai powder ¼ teaspoon alcohol-free organic vanilla extract ½ cup chopped mango ¼ cup chopped apple 58 t h e

australian vegan magazine

¼ cup chopped raspberries ¼ cup chopped strawberries 2 tablespoons raw shelled hemp seeds 2 tablespoons raw cashews

1

In blender, at high speed, blend juice, blueberries, chia, acai powder and vanilla extract until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Top with remaining ingredients. Serve immediately.

Tips

Using frozen berries helps make the mixture thick and rich. You can substitute an equal quantity of frozen strawberries or raspberries for the blueberries.

Acai powder is available in well-stocked supermarkets, natural food stores and online specialty stores.

HEALTHY OILS, FIBRE AND VITAMINS

d oo l b e th or f d oo G t r a e h and Courtesy of Bowls of Goodness Vibrant Vegetarian Recipes Full of Nourishment

by Nina Olsson.

Photography Nina Olsson. Published

by Kyle Books. RRP $39.99. Reprinted with publisher permission.

F U EL F

OR YO BODYUR

THE GREEN BEAUTY BOWL his creamy green power bowl will fuel you with one of the T world’s most nutritious food, the blue-green algae spirulina.

"MUIPVHI 4QJSVMJOB OFFET UP CF TVQQPSUFE CZ PUIFS nBWPVST UIBU UBLF UIF FEHF BXBZ GSPN JUT TUSPOH nBWPVS .JYJOH JU XJUI GSVJU WBOJMMB and banana does the trick. This smoothie has avocado and spinach GPS BEEFE HSFFO HPPEOFTT QSPWJEJOH CPUI IFBMUIZ PJMT mCFS BOE vitamins.

MAKES 1 BOWL 1 avocado 1 tablespoon spirulina powder 1 small banana a handful of spinach 1 tablespoon almond butter

a drizzle olive oil a tiny pinch of salt ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract 100g mango or papaya, peeled, stoned and chopped

2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 tablespoon agave syrup PQUJPOBM

150ml nut or oat milk

strawberries, halved papaya, peeled and chopped coconut pieces sprinkles of dessicated or shredded coconut

Toppings (OPTIONAL) kiwi, peeled and sliced

1

Mix the smoothie ingredients in a blender and pour into a bowl.

Top with kiwi, strawberries, coconut, or your superfood and fruit and berries of choice.

TIPS The sweetness of banana and other fruit and berries are usually enough sweetness for a smoothie without bitter or strong ingredients like spirulina. How much sweetness a smoothie needs depends on individual taste and habits. Cut out the sweetener if you are used to it or keep it if you feel that you need it. the australian vegan magazine

59

WILL QUICKLY BECOME A FAVOURITE DISH

y l t c e f r e p s t n e i d e r g In e s i n o harm

60 t h e

australian vegan magazine

Courtesy of Bowls of Goodness Vibrant Vegetarian Recipes Full of Nourishment

by Nina Olsson.

Photography Nina Olsson. Published

by Kyle Books. RRP $39.99. Reprinted with publisher permission.

THE LOYAL LENTIL CHILLI

Flavou

DELIG

r

HT

o you have a dish that never fails you, like a loyal friend, who D keeps showing up and impresses you by always being top-notch?

This is one of those dishes. Lentils can come across as a bit dull sometimes, CVU OPU JO UIJT EJTI 8JUI nBWPVST UIBU SFBMMZ TJOH UPHFUIFS FBSUIZ DVNJO and cinnamon, tangy lime and coriander, hot chilli and garlic - it harmonises perfectly with sweet butternut squash and chewy lentils. Instead of butternut QVNQLJO ZPV DBO VTF DPPLFE FHHQMBOU PS BOZ PUIFS nFTIZ WFHFUBCMF ZPV have.

MAKES 4 bowls

For the chilli 250g lentils 1 tablespoon coconut or olive oil o TIBMMPUT mOFMZ DIPQQFE HBSMJD DMPWFT mOFMZ DIPQQFE UP B paste with 1 teaspoon salt 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground turmeric 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 red capsicum, halved, deseeded BOE mOFMZ DIPQQFE 1 - 2 red chillies, deseeded and mOFMZ DIPQQFE UPNBUPFT mOFMZ DIPQQFE 400g butternut pumpkin, cooked and chopped into small pieces 400ml coconut milk 1 tablespoon tahini 1 tablespoon agave syrup juice of 1 lime 3 tablespoons soy sauce salt and pepper drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Simple yoghurt sauce 200g soy or coconut yoghurt 1 teaspoon agave syrup

cooked brown rice or other whole grain lime wedges

1

Cook the lentils according to the packet instructions, rinse, drain and set aside.

2 Heat a frying pan over a mediumhigh heat. Add the oil and gently fry the shallots until transparent.

3 Add the garlic, spices, pepper, chilli and tomatoes and fry for a few minutes over a medium-low heat.

4 Stir in the lentils, pumpkin, tahini and agave syrup. Pour in the coconut milk and stir, then let the chilli simmer over a medium-low heat for five minutes, adding a little water if needed and stirring regularly.

5 Add the lime juice and soy, then let it simmer for a further few minutes while stirring. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.

6

Mix the ingredients for the yoghurt sauce.

7

Quickest cucumber salad

Make the cucumber salad by combining the shaved cucumber and rice vinegar.

½ cucumber, shaved into ribbons 4 tablespoons rice vinegar

8 Drizzle the chilli with extra virgin

To serve fresh coriander hot sauce, like sriracha

olive oil, top with freshly chopped coriander and serve with the cool yoghurt sauce and salad. Serve with a hot sauce, rice and lime as extras on the table. the australian vegan magazine

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JAPANESE RICE WITH EGGPLANT, SHIITAKE AND CABBAGE sauce is reminiscent of teriyaki sauce; it makes the perfect sweet and savoury union with the sautĂŠed eggplant and mushrooms. Plain freshly cooked rice is never as good as this, soaking up a sauce full of nBWPVS "EEJOH QJDLMFE DBCCBHF BOE GSFTI DBSSPU BOE DVDVNCFS makes a perfect balance of sour, sweet and savoury in this easy, scrumptious bowl.

MAKES 4 bowls 200g brown rice drizzle of rice vinegar drizzle of toasted sesame oil 1 teaspoon agave syrup 120g red or white cabbage, shredded drizzle of olive oil 1 eggplant, chopped small 200g shiitake or cremini mushrooms, chopped 4 shallots, chopped ½ cucumber, cut into sticks 2 carrots, julienned 1 avocado, halved, stoned, peeled and sliced

Donburi sauce 80ml soy sauce 50ml mirin 1 tablespoon maple syrup ½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger 1 garlic clove, pressed salt and pepper

toasted sesame oil and agave syrup in a small bowl and pour over the cabbage. Set aside to pickle.

2 Mix the ingredients for the donburi sauce together in a small bowl.

3 Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Fry the eggplant, mushrooms and shallots for five minutes, stirring. Add the donburi sauce and let it cook for a further five minutes, still stirring.

4 Divide the rice and the eggplant mix between four serving bowls. Add the pickled cabbage, cucumber, carrot and avocado.

5 Mix the nori and sesame sprinkle ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle over the donburis. It’s ready to serve!

nori and sesame sprinkle B IBOEGVM UPBTUFE OPSJ nBLFT 1 tablespoon shichimi togarashi TFF SJHIU

a handful black sesame seeds

1

Cook the rice according to instructions. Place the cabbage in a bowl. Mix the rice vinegar, 62 t h e

australian vegan magazine

Shichimi togarashi is a Japanese spice blend made of: zest of Âź orange UFBTQPPOT DIJMMJ nBLFT 2 teaspoons sesame seeds 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 teaspoon poppy seeds Âź teaspoon ground white pepper

RICE IS SOAKED FULL OF FLAVOUR

his dish is a loved everyday comfort bowl in Japan, and one T of the most common lunch dishes. It’s usually based on rice and meat or vegetables and loved as an easy comfort food. The

t e e Sw D A N ur o v a s

Courtesy of Bowls of Goodness Vibrant Vegetarian Recipes Full of Nourishment

by Nina Olsson.

Photography Nina Olsson. Published

by Kyle Books. RRP $39.99. Reprinted with publisher permission.

Japanese everyday comfort b owl

ry

the australian vegan magazine

63

The plant-based

Athlete e r b fi e l b u l o s th d wi

e k c a P

Recipe from The No Meat Athlete Cookbook: Whole Food, PlantBased Recipes to Fuel Your Workouts and the Rest of Your Life © Matt Frazier and Stepfanie Romine, 2017. Photographs copyright © Ken Carlson, Waterbury Publications Inc. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment.

Available wherever books are sold. theexperimentpublishing.com.

64 t h e a u s t r a l i a n v e g a n m a g a z i n e

Vary

TOPPINGS

SAVOURY OATMEAL

to suit

ho said oatmeal has to be sweet?

W Oatmeal is an incredibly popular breakfast among athletes and health

ADAPT RECIPE TO SUIT YOUR PALATE

foodies, but even if you vary the toppings, it’s easy to get bored with the same sweet nBWPVST FWFSZ NPSOJOH 5IJT TBWPVSZ SFDJQF lends itself well to customisation, so you can adapt it to suit your palate and vary it when you want something new.

MAKES 2 bowls

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 1 carrot or small beet, peeled and shredded 1 ½ cups water 1 cup stemmed and chopped kale or chopped spinach Ÿ cup salsa or marinara sauce 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast ½ avocado, chopped 2 tablespoons roasted pumpkin seeds Smoked paprika and/or crushed red pepper, optional salt and black pepper

1

Combine the oats and carrot in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the water. (Use more or less to achieve the consistency you prefer; one and a half cups of water yields a fairly thick oatmeal.)

2

Heat until simmering, then cook, stirring often, until everything is tender, about five minutes.

3 Stir in the kale, salsa, and nutritional yeast.

4

Pour into two bowls and top with the avocado and pumpkin seeds. Sprinkle with smoked paprika and crushed red pepper, if using. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Variation

Swap in different flavours of salsas or pasta sauces to turn this into a whole new dish.

the australian vegan magazine

65

y l p Sim

his healthy bowl of goodness will T quickly become a go-to recipe. To bulk it up add beans or chickpeas and serve over brown rice.

MAKES 2 - 4 serves

1 tablespoon coconut oil 1 yellow onion, diced 3 garlic cloves, chopped ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper 900g silverbeet, stems and leaves, chopped into 2.5 cm squares 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced 420g can red kidney beans or chickpeas, drained and rinsed 400g can diced tomatoes with juice å DVQT XBUFS TFF UJQ

½ cup light or full-fat coconut milk salt and black pepper

1

Melt the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and crushed red pepper. Cook over medium heat for three minutes, then stir in the silverbeet and sweet potato. Add the beans, tomatoes with their juice, water, and coconut milk.

2

Bring just to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook, covered, until the silverbeet and sweet potato are tender, about 30 minutes.

3 Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Tip Don’t waste the good stuff. Refill the tomato can, which holds about one and a half cups, and use that to measure the water needed for the recipe.

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WILL QUICKLY BECOME A GO-TO RECIPE

COCONUT SILVERBEET & SWEET POTATOES

E L O WH ME -SO

Easy to m a ke and bursting with nutr ition

Recipe from The No Meat Athlete Cookbook: Whole Food, PlantBased Recipes to Fuel Your Workouts and the Rest of Your Life Š Matt Frazier and Stepfanie Romine, 2017. Photographs copyright Š Ken Carlson, Waterbury Publications Inc. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment.

Available wherever books are sold. theexperimentpublishing.com. the australian vegan magazine

67

, n i e t o r p f o e c r u o s t a e e r r b G fi d n a , s e t a r d y h o b r ca

Recipe from The No Meat Athlete Cookbook: Whole Food, PlantBased Recipes to Fuel Your Workouts and the Rest of Your Life © Matt Frazier and Stepfanie Romine, 2017. Photographs copyright © Ken Carlson, Waterbury Publications Inc. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment.

Available wherever books are sold. theexperimentpublishing.com.

68 t h e

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IF YOU DON’T HAVE A WAFFLE-MAKER JUST COOK IT AS A PANCAKE!

Cook as

OLIVECHICKPEA WAFFLES

P A N C A K E!

MEDITERRANEAN AND MIDDLE-EASTERN ORIGINS

PDDBT BSF .FEJUFSSBOFBO nBUCSFBET S NBEF XJUI DIJDLQFB nPVS #VU although they are quick to make and full of nutrition from the chickpeas, they typically DBMM GPS RVJUF B CJU PG PMJWF PJM UP BEE nBWPVS and richness. Inspired by socca but seeking TPNFUIJOH MJHIUFS UIFTF TBWPVSZ XBGnFT were created.

MAKES XBGnFT

DVQT DIJDLQFB nPVS HBSCBO[P CFBO nPVS

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary or thyme 1 teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt Ð&#x;ШМ teaspoon black pepper ½ cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced UBCMFTQPPO PMJWF PJM PQUJPOBM

1 ½ cups hot water hummus

Topping avocado tomato

1 Preheat a waffle iron.

2 Combine the flour, rosemary, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.

Stir in the olives and sun-dried tomatoes, then whisk in the oil followed by the hot water. The batter should be thick but thoroughly combined.

3 Spread about half to a quarter cup batter onto the waffle iron, close the lid, and cook through, according to waffle iron directions, about six minutes.

4 Top with hummus and avocado and tomato or a topping of your choice.

Variation

Substitute half a cup of chopped flat-leaf parsley for the olives and fold in a quarter of a cup of chopped red onion. the australian vegan magazine

69

r o f t a e r G

witchel is the original sports drink S UIBU GBSNFST ESBOL JO UIF mFMET UP TUBZ hydrated during the summer. Maple syrup contains magnesium and potassium, which help to prevent cramps and the apple cider vinegar prevents nausea, stomach upset, and indigestion. When made with fruit juice, it tastes surprisingly like the convenience store sports drinks we grew up with. This recipe makes an entire pitcher; it’ll keep for a few days in the fridge.

MAKES 5 ½ cups 4 cups water DVQ KVJDF TFF TVHHFTUJPOT CFMPX

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 2 tablespoons maple syrup ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste

1

Shake all the ingredients together, refrigerate overnight and drink.

GRAPE 1 cup grape juice

FRUIT PUNCH 1 cup fruit punch

ORANGE ½ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice ½ cup white grape juice

VERY BERRY ½ cup white grape juice ½ cup cranberry, blueberry or raspberry juice blend.

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BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER WORKOUT

SWITCHEL SPORTS DRINKS WITH JUICE

SU

R E MM

Great for hydration and carb replenishment

Recipe from The No Meat Athlete Cookbook: Whole Food, PlantBased Recipes to Fuel Your Workouts and the Rest of Your Life Š Matt Frazier and Stepfanie Romine, 2017. Photographs copyright Š Ken Carlson, Waterbury Publications Inc. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment.

Available wherever books are sold. theexperimentpublishing.com. the australian vegan magazine

71

, n i e t o r p f o e c r u o s t a e r G m u i c l a c d n iron a

Courtesy of Vegan Everyday: 500 Delicious Recipes by Doug McNish, 2015 © www.robertrose.ca.

Reprinted with publisher permission.

Available through Peribo Books. Image credit: Colin Erricson.

72 t h e a u s t r a l i a n v e g a n m a g a z i n e

Try to

pre-freeze

QUICK SWEET AND SOUR TOFU STIR-FRY

TOFU

this dish on its own as a quick Enjoy lunch or as part of a larger meal.

MAKES 4 serves

GREAT FOR LUNCH OR DINNER

3 tablespoons grapeseed oil H mSN UPGV DVU JOUP DN DVCFT ½ cup thinly sliced red capsicum å DVQ CSPDDPMJ nPSFUT ¼ cup chopped pineapple ½ cup sweet and sour sauce

Sweet and sour sauce 1 ½ cups coconut sugar РШЗ cup rice wine vinegar ¼ cup tamarin 2 tablespoons tomato sauce UBCMFTQPPOT DPSOnPVS

1

In a large skillet over high heat, heat oil. Add tofu and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown on all sides, eight to 10 minutes.

2

Add capsicum, broccoli and pineapple; cook, stirring frequently, for three to four minutes, until capsicum and broccoli are tender. Add sweet and sour sauce and stir to combine. Serve immediately or let cool, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to five days.

Sweet and sour sauce

1

In a small saucepan, whisk together coconut sugar, vinegar, tamari, tomato sauce and cornflour. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer stirring constantly, for two minutes, until thickened.

2

Serve immediately or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to two weeks.

TIP Serve the sweet and sour sauce as a dip, in stir-fry dishes or simply drizzle over steamed brown rice. the australian vegan magazine

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nergy bars are a great item to keep E on hand for snacking on the go, or enjoy them as a quick breakfast with a cold glass of almond milk.

MAKES 8 large bars 20cm square glass baking dish, lined with baking paper DVQT QVGGFE RVJOPB DFSFBM TFF UJQT

1 cup puffed millet 2 tablespoons chia seeds 1 tablespoon raw shelled hemp seeds 1 cup brown rice syrup ¼ cup raw agave nectar ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom ¼ teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon ground allspice ¼ teaspoon organic vanilla powder ПШМ teaspoon ground cloves

1

In a large bowl, toss together quinoa, millet, chia seeds and hemp seeds. Add brown rice syrup and agave nectar and stir well. Stir in cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, allspice, vanilla and cloves.

2

Spread mixture evenly on baking paper in baking dish. Cover and refrigerate until set, about three hours.

GREAT AS A SNACK OR FOR BREAKFAST

VANILLA CHIA POWER BARS

3

Lift from the pan and with a sharp knife, cut into eight equal bars. Serve immediately or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to one month.

TIPS

Puffed quinoa and millet are available in most well-stocked supermarkets and natural food stores.

This recipe can easily be doubled, tripled or quadrupled. Just adjust the size of the baking dish or use multiple dishes. You can freeze extra bars for up to two months.

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Courtesy of Vegan Everyday: 500 Delicious Recipes by Doug McNish, 2015 © www.robertrose.ca.

Reprinted with publisher permission.

Available through Peribo Books. Image credit: Colin Erricson.

Instan

ENERG

t

Y

High in anti-inammatory phytonutrients and omega-3

the australian vegan magazine

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familyOLIHVW\OH

Empowering your kids WHEN YOU’RE NOT AROUND

By Tianna McCormick Co-Founder, Vegan Pregnancy and Parenting, www.raisevegan.com

M

ost vegans are uber proud of their lifestyle choices.

That meme that asks (and is supposed to be making fun of vegans), ‘how do you know if someone is vegan? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you’, can actually be true for a lot of us.

It isn’t that vegans really want to preach to everyone. It is just that we love the feeling that not eating animal products gives us. We love it so much that we want to share it and want others to feel how noble it feels to do something so right. This feeling of inner integrity is so strong that when we raise our children, the thought of them consuming animal products, even accidentally, is rather discomforting. After all, our children are a measure of our success and worthiness!

Ask any parent what they want for their children and they can probably rattle off a top five list in just a few seconds. Health, happiness, kindness, love, education. Easy enough. But when we really think about it, what most people want most for their children is good moral character and sound judgement. Basically, we want our kids to be good people. This could mean different things to different people. Overall though, having good character simply means doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do, not because someone is watching you or judging you. For anyone, instilling good character into your children is a monumental task. And for vegans, having good character and being a good person is strongly connected to animal compassion.

Us vegans have a profound belief in animal rights, which leads us to this compassion and ultimately a strong feeling of morality. It is a well-known fact of life however, that as children grow through adolescence and the teen years, defiance and self-control are traits that are often in competition with each other. Doing an internet search on how to have wellbehaved children who listen to their parents will provide an interesting menu of ‘tried and true’ methods. Ultimately, what all of them boil down to is education, honesty, anticipating reality and not setting kids up to fail.

Whether you are a parent who is raising your kids vegan since birth or if you started your vegan journey later, being honest with kids about what being vegan means will start the foundation of success. However,

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because the core of the animal product industry is an unsavory and rather violent one, it can be difficult to navigate just how honest parents should be with their kids. While the general consensus is that children shouldn’t be exposed to violence at young ages, age-appropriate honesty is subjective and should instead be based on the maturity of the child. While your fouryear-old doesn’t need to watch Earthlings, your seven- or eight-year-old may be much better equipped to handle the truth that it reveals.

Most children naturally have a love and curiosity for animals. Basing education on this natural love is a great place to start.

Kids of any age can have discussions about the beauty of all animals, even ones that aren’t as cute as a kitten. If you are able to, bring your kids to sanctuaries and let them

going to be faced with non-vegan choices.

Parents will bring cupcakes to school for birthdays, pizza will be provided at school events, and snacks will be available in the most random places. Discuss your lifestyle with your child’s school administration, with the teacher(s) and with other parents.

If their classes don’t have a parent contact list, enquire about creating one. Ask the teacher and other parents if they can notify you in advance of impending cupcakes or pizza or other events where food will be present. You can then provide vegan options in advance. Give the teacher a box with vegan cookies, chips and other items that have a longer shelf life. This can be used when an event happens last minute or one you didn’t know about. If you have already begun the foundation of honesty and education, your children will make vegan

We need to arm them with the information they need, help them to not fail in times of temptation and show them positive and supportive behaviors. interact with the animals. Some sanctuaries even have educational programs for kids so be sure to take advantage of them if you can. If this isn’t possible, there are books discussing the beauty of animals as well as numerous cartoon movies for kids that promote not eating animals. Compassion will grow from this love if it is nurtured.

Children that are under six years old generally have struggles with self-control.

In fact, they hardly understand what self-control is. The good news with this age group is that they are rarely outside of controlled environments. Either they are home with parents who will be making their food decisions for them or they are in some kind of daycare setting in which all of their food is provided for them.

Hopefully in these situations, the caregivers are willing to work with your desires.

Children who are over six years old, however, are often in social situations without their parents there to help guide decisions.

This is where anticipating reality and not setting your kids up to fail will come in.

The reality is that this is not the perfect vegan world we would like it to be. Unless you homeschool your children and not allow them to attend social events, they are

choices first, but only if they have them.

A final thought on the behavior of children. Kids will emulate their parents’ behaviour and actions. They watch every move their parents make and listen to every word they say (even though it seems like they ignore us constantly!). While a difficult thing to do and do honestly, parents should do some deep soul searching and admit to themselves what behaviours they do themselves that they wouldn’t want from their children. And let’s be real here, we all do things that we wish we could change. Perhaps knowing you don’t want that behaviour from your children would be a good enough motivator to make that positive change for yourself.

Ultimately, us parents will have to let go and hope that the work we have done was enough and that our shining stars will make the decisions we want them to make.

We need to arm them with the information they need, help them to not fail in times of temptation and show them positive and supportive behaviors. They may falter and they may slip up now and then, but as long as they are getting the loving support they need from us, they will eventually make the right decisions!

Most children naturally have a love and curiosity for animals. Basing education on this natural love is a great place to start.

motivationOLIHVW\OH

Tips to staying vegan IF YOU’RE STRUGGLING

By Liz Taylor

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hanging your lifestyle to improve your health can be a difficult task, but using simple tips can keep you on a plant-based diet. Even if you have tried before and failed, there is still hope of achieving a vegan lifestyle. Give it another shot with these tips, and you are sure to succeed!

Find a reason to be vegan If you are not passionate about being vegan, or have a doctor heavily advising it, chances are you won’t be successful.

These reasons can include lowering your risk of cancer, a doctor’s insistence, weight issues, or out of concern

for animals. Having a personal and powerful meaning behind the change will help you through the times you are tempted to veer from the vegan lifestyle.

Educate yourself about the health benefits of a plant-based diet, and about the cruelty in the meat, dairy and egg industries. Watch the many documentaries out there, such as What the Health or Earthlings and get motivated to change and stay that way for good. If you find yourself wanting to lapse put your favourite documentary on and watch it again to reinstate your feelings.

Try an assortment of foods Just because you do not enjoy soy milk does not mean you will not enjoy other plantbased milks.

There’s

always almond, rice and coconut milk.

Don’t be discouraged if you dislike the first few plant-based foods you try. Keep trying recipes until you discover some you really enjoy. You’ll even discover you can make vegan whipped cream, salad dressing, smoothies, and sour cream. Becoming fully plant-based will require an adventurous palate until you find seasonings you love.

Find recipes you really love When first starting out, it’s essential to try an array of foods to find a few recipes that you can eat often. Keep making those recipes and you’ll find you crave them just like you would a non-vegan dish. The more you begin craving plant-based recipes, the more you will be inspired to try other recipes.

Do not stock animal products in the house When going plant-based, you must throw out all dairy and meat products out of your house. If you don’t go cold turkey, you’ll find yourself continuing to buy items like dairy butter when you run out. You must switch out your refrigerator to house items like vegan mayonnaise, vegan butter, and vegan cheese.

Following this trick will also keep you from cheating on your vegan life late at night when your ice-cream is calling you to indulge. Instead, you’ll find yourself reaching for soy or coconut ice-cream.

Join a vegan support group

Join a vegan support group so you can chat with like-minded people and get the encouragement and support you need. Photo by depositphotos.com.

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Support groups are perfect for staying on track with a vegan lifestyle.

Look online for vegan support groups in your area. Facebook is a great example. That way, you’ll get to know people with the same desire to be vegan and you can share recipes, advice, and stories about your journey with each other. This will inspire you to stay loyal to your lifestyle challenge, and help others in the process too.

OLIHVW\OH health

SEVEN REASONS WHY

Quinoa is so healthy

By Carlton Ryan

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n recent years, quinoa has received a lot of press for its nutritional value. Quinoa, which originated in South America, is a crop similar to a grain and it’s generally consumed as a healthier alternative to rice, oats, wheat, and other starchy grains.

Quinoa, in fact, lives up to the hype: it really is extremely nutritious. But what, exactly, makes quinoa so good for you?

Read on to discover the seven qualities that make quinoa such a remarkably healthy food.

1 Quinoa is very high in protein. It contains an exceptional amount of protein - twice as much as rice, for example.

Cellular function depends upon protein, which means the entire body requires it.

Significant amounts of protein are also required to maintain or grow muscle. Filling up on protein, rather than fatty foods, can help a person stay at a healthy weight.

Luckily, quinoa itself is low in fat.

2 Quinoa is a complete protein. Protein is made up of compounds known as amino acids. While the body can produce some amino acids on its own, other necessary amino acids must be acquired from food.

These amino acids are termed essential amino acids, and a food that contains all of them is a complete protein. The fact that the body requires essential amino acids means that complete proteins like quinoa are very healthy.

3 Quinoa is high in fibre. Quinoa is

notable for its high fibre content, especially in comparison with other grains.

Consuming plenty of fibre is important since it is fibre that allows the digestive system to function properly. In addition, fibre promotes feelings of fullness, which can help a person control their eating.

Fibre can also help keep blood sugar levels in check. Quinoa is even more valuable in light of the fact that most people do not get enough fibre in their diets.

4 Quinoa is gluten-free. Gluten is a set of proteins found in wheat and some other grains. People with celiac disease experience inflammation in their intestines if they consume gluten, and so must seek out alternatives - of which quinoa is one of the best and healthiest. Many other people are sensitive to gluten to some degree or another, and so can also benefit from opting for gluten-free foods like quinoa.

5 Quinoa is rich in antioxidants.

Antioxidants are molecules that naturally fight against free radicals, dangerous molecules that play a key part in the genesis of many different kinds of disease.

Quinoa, happily, possesses an unusually large amount of antioxidants. Multiple types of flavonoids (a particular kind of antioxidant) are found in quinoa.

6 Quinoa is a healthy carbohydrate.

Certain popular diets have put carbs in a bad light, but in reality, they aren’t unhealthy - especially the sort found in

quinoa. While all carbohydrates are turned into glucose (which is used by the body for energy) after digestion, complex carbs are digested much more slowly. As opposed to simple carbs, which trigger a sharp short-term spike in blood sugar soon after consumption, complex carbs release energy slowly, thereby keeping hunger at bay for longer. This makes it easier to control eating and is why people who choose complex carbs over simple ones are less likely to become overweight.

7 Quinoa has plenty of important vitamins and minerals. Among the many vitamins and minerals contained in quinoa, magnesium, phosphorus, and manganese are found in particularly plentiful quantities.

Obtaining more magnesium can be important since many people suffer from a deficiency of this mineral. Smaller amounts of folate, iron, riboflavin, and even brain-friendly omega-3 fatty acids, among others nutrients, also exist in quinoa.

Quinoa can be consumed alone, as a cereal or in a porridge - though some find it a little bland on its own. Fortunately, quinoa is very versatile, and can easily be added into many different sorts of recipes.

For example, dishes that ordinarily call for rice or other grains will often accept quinoa as a substitute. This is just another reason to eat quinoa, a food that, as the list above shows, really is one of the healthiest foods in the world.

Quinoa is super nutritious and has many health CFOFmUT Photo by depositphotos.com. the australian vegan magazine

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Healing properties PART 1 OF KITCHEN HERBS

By Omanisa Ross ND Holistic Naturopath and Creative Therapist Plant-Based Medicine & Nutrition

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he first cookbook I ever fell in love with was a birthday gift from my sister: Kimberly Snyder’s The Beauty Detox Foods. Kimberly’s recipes worked around most of our family food sensitivities, and we loved the way she used leafy greens as wraps, and lettuce as a plate. Most of all, her approach reminded us of the food-as-medicine principles our mother had raised us with.

‘Remember how mum always gave us raw carrot, celery and apples before dinner?!’

Smart move, getting raw food into us while we were hungry. Like Kimberly, she knew this would stop us from overeating less nutrient dense food, while also stimulating our digestive enzymes.

Since then I’ve had two other love affairs with cookbooks, and each time it’s as though the author is standing beside me in the kitchen, introducing me to new foods, flavours and cooking styles.

spice and herb at a time, my pantry, palate and my cooking skills are expanding yet again. Every time Risha introduces me to a new ingredient, I find myself thinking about what I know about these foods from a herbal medicine perspective. A session in the kitchen starts with Risha’s cookbook, but it usually ends with my favourite phytochemistry book, Herbal Constituents: Foundations of Phytochemistry, written

by Lisa Ganora, who teaches me amazing things about the meal I’ve just prepared.

Recently my husband and I learned that the reason why the pepper in our meal was making our mouth tingle is because it contains the same alkamides as echinacea.

In herbal medicine, these tongue-tingling plant-foods are classed as ‘sialogogues’: a herb that stimulates saliva to improve digestion.

Kitchen herbs and spices are a highly valuable, underutilised health resource, and this isn’t just because they are full

Kitchen herbs and spices are a highly valuable, underutilised health resource, and this isn’t just because they are full of clever ingredients like tongue-tingling alkamides.

Rawsome Vegan Baking, by Emily von Euw, is fully responsible for my raw dessert obsession. After learning from Emily’s recipes, I began creating my own, using ingredients from my garden and my naturopathic clinic: chamomile and orange cake; slippery elm with rehmannia (Chinese herb for disorders of the kidneys and adrenal glands) and blueberries; calendula (healing, anti-inflammatory, antiviral herb) and carrot. My husband remembers the Emily von Euw year with fondness and longing. ‘I’d go to the freezer and there would be not one, but six different flavours of raw cake to choose from!’

My current favourite is Vegan Risha’s Indian Kitchen. Gone are the days of curry powders and pre-blended pastes. One new

of clever ingredients like tongue-tingling alkamides. Westerners tend to overuse refined salt, sugar and oil because our cooking (and palate) is made so bland by the lack of vibrant herbs and spices. Add the right spices to a meal and you won’t be so tempted to reach for the salt shaker, while generous bunches of herbs added to your salads can bring them to life in a way that completely eliminates the need for salad dressings. At the moment, I’m growing lemon thyme, mint, parsley, basil and rosemary in my garden. They don’t take up much room and they are incredibly nutrient dense, filled with an impressive array of phytochemicals.

The word phyto means plant, so phytochemicals are, quite simply, plant chemicals. A single plant can have

the australian vegan magazine

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OLIHVW\OH health Adding garlic to your grains and legumes, for example, can boost the availability of iron and zinc by 50 per cent. thousands of copies of up to 100,000 different kinds of phytochemicals, and when we consume them, these chemicals work synergistically together as a team to facilitate powerful medicinal actions. Some phytochemicals are powerful antioxidants that protect our cells and DNA from damage and ageing. Others balance our hormones, improve digestion or destroy bacteria. Then there are those that reduce inflammation, block tumour formation, and eradicate carcinogens. Plants produce these phytochemicals to create the different colours, fragrances, flavours, and textures which help them attract seed pollinators and dispersers, or protect them from pests, diseases and environmental stresses. Because of this, phytonutrient range and content is higher in foods that are organically grown, so I grow my own food and herbs where possible, and source my spices from organic wholefoods suppliers.

GARLIC Garlic has potent antibacterial properties, and long before my husband discovered the immune-boosting wonders of echinacea, he would traumatise all of us by eating an entire raw garlic clove at the first sign of any infection. It worked, but no one wanted to stand too close. Little did he know, he was also protecting himself from the risk of an enlarged prostate, cholesterol problems,

detoxification and inhibit the growth of unhelpful bacteria and fungi, the fibre in garlic functions as a prebiotic. Prebiotics (carbohydrates that cannot be digested by the human body and food for probiotics) stimulate the growth and activity of beneficial bacteria, usually by acting as their food supply.

Friendly bacteria produce antimicrobial substances that protect us from harmful bacteria. When there aren’t enough of them, the unhelpful bacteria multiply, producing toxins that injure the lining of the gut and confuse the immune system. This leads to chronic low-grade inflammation and infection, and a compromised metabolism that can contribute to weight problems.

By comparison, friendly gut bacteria help maintain our amino acid stores (our protein building blocks), protect us from colorectal cancer, balance carbohydrate and fat metabolism, support immune system function and protect us against food allergies and sensitivities. They boost our nutritional status by synthesising vitamins (biotin and vitamin K) and enhancing the absorption of various nutrients. Adding garlic to your grains and legumes, for example, can boost the availability of iron and zinc by 50 per cent.

GINGER Aside from its uses as an anti-nausea

Garlic has potent antibacterial properties, immune-boosting qualities, it protects against enlarged prostate, cholesterol problems, blood clots, high blood pressure, helps clear skin, QVSJmFT UIF CMPPETUSFBN IFMQT XJUI EJHFTUJPO blood clots and high blood pressure in the process. ‘Garlic purifies the bloodstream and enhances detoxification to help secure clear skin over the long haul’, writes Kimberly Snyder in The Beauty Detox Foods.

Kimberly says garlic has a beneficial effect on the lymphatic system, and it’s one of her favourite remedies for chronic acne.

Garlic, she says, ‘stimulates both secretion of digestive juices and peristalsis, the wavelike muscle contractions that move waste along through your digestive tract’.

Part of the happy-skin-and-bowel magic comes from the way garlic, like onions and leeks, modifies bowel flora. While the sulphur compounds improve liver

herb, ginger has an impressive range of therapeutic properties that makes it a family favourite, both in the clinic and the kitchen. I particularly love the way ginger can help people who are suffering from migraine-headaches and menstrual cramps. As Dr Greger points out in his bestselling book How Not to Die, some of the studies done on ginger have garnered some promising results. ‘Even just one eighth of a teaspoon of ginger powder three times a day dropped pain from an eight to a six on a scale of one to 10, and down further to a three in the second month.’ Upping the dose to one quarter of a teaspoon three times a day was found to decrease pain from a total of 19 hours

down to 15 hours. In studies comparing ginger to ibuprofen, ginger was found to be equally as effective in reducing menstrual cramping, but it has an edge that ibuprofen does not: reducing the amount of menstrual bleeding, from around 125ml per period down to 60ml.

My favourite personal medicinal use for ginger is as a peripheral circulatory stimulant to help warm up my cold hands.

In the herbal dispensary, I add it to herbal prescriptions when I need to calm and improve digestive function; reduce inflammation and food allergies and sensitivities; or treat infections, arthritis or poor circulation. Both ginger and turmeric, along with cayenne pepper, contain antiinflammatory phenylpropanoid derivatives (curcuminoids, shogaols and gingerols).

Another phytochemical ginger shares with turmeric is a sesquiterpene renowned for its herbal ‘carminative’ action. Carminative herbs are perfect for calming and soothing digestive troubles such as gas, cramping and bloating.

Ginger comes with some warnings though; like many ‘hot’ herbs, care needs to be taken when people have peptic ulcers, because they can be a bit irritating to raw tissue. Dose needs to be monitored very carefully in pregnancy, when there are gallstones, and when people are using blood thinners like warfarin. Like so many plant foods, ginger has an antiplatelet action, meaning it functions beautifully as a natural blood thinner, so the combination of warfarin with ginger put you at risk of bleeding due to your blood becoming too thin.

CILANTRO and CORIANDER As Vegan Risha explains in her book Vegan Risha’s Indian Kitchen, coriander is the whole or powdered seeds, whereas cilantro is referring to the leaves of the coriander plant. I adore Thai curries but don’t ask me to eat cilantro! I’m one of those people for whom cilantro tastes just the way you imagine cockroaches might taste. In his book How Not to Die, Dr Greger explains that there is a phytochemical in cilantro (and stink bugs) that you can only smell if you have a particular gene. ‘Coriander lovers may just be genetic mutants who have an inability to smell the unpleasant compound.’ ‘Twenty sprigs a day for two months reduced inflammation levels in arthritis sufferers and cut uric acid levels in half, so this is probably a good herb for people who suffer from gout’, says Dr Greger.

I personally prefer the seeds. Dried coriander seeds that is. The fresh seeds are said to smell just as awful as the leaves. the australian vegan magazine

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health OLIHVW\OH Coriander contains a sedative, antispasmodic phytochemical called linalool which is also found in lavender, being soothing for both the digestive and nervous systems.

I love crushing dried coriander seeds in my mortar and pestle and adding them to Indian potato-based dishes such as Aloo Gobi, also known as Indian cauliflower potatoes. Coriander seeds are also an important ingredient in garam masala, a well-known Indian spice blend that Risha describes as being like an all-purpose seasoning with a stronger, more complex flavour than curry powder. Curry powder, says Risha, is a British or Western spice blend ‘approximating the masala spice blends from north and south India’.

Coriander contains a sedative, antispasmodic phytochemical called linalool which is also found in lavender, being soothing for both the digestive and nervous systems. In the traditional healing system of India (Ayurvedic medicine) coriander is often combined with caraway and cardamom seeds for use as a digestive tonic.

CAYENNE PEPPER Cayenne pepper is hot, red chilli powder that has anti-carcinogenic properties, while also being anti-inflammatory and balancing for the immune system. Like ginger, cayenne improves circulation to our extremities, delivering extra blood and warm to cold hands and feet, and a better oxygen supply to our brain. Besides being a circulatory stimulant, cayenne is a metabolic stimulant that can assist weight loss programs, but what I find most interesting about cayenne is the way it can help treat painful conditions such as angina (heart pain), irritable bowel, and cluster headaches. ‘Within a month of taking one and a half teaspoons’ worth of cayenne pepper a day’, writes Dr Greger in How Not to Die, ‘stomach pain and nausea [associated with indigestion] improved’.

Cayenne pepper can also improve your stomach acid if it has become deficient.

Hydrochloric acid in the stomach is vital for the digestion of nutrients, and indigestion can just as readily be caused by not enough acid as too much. Did you know that antacids (heartburn medication) can reduce your ability to absorb certain nutrients? It’s frustrating to watch people using antacids as an excuse to keep over-eating and over-indulging in alcohol, refined sugar, fatty foods, over-salted foods and junk foods: the very excesses that so often cause indigestion in the first place.

In How Not to Die, Dr Greger tells a hilarious story about a group of researchers who were fascinated by the fact that if you rub hot chilli peppers inside your nostrils, your nose will start running and hurting, and you’ll start sneezing. Lucky for us, this 84 t h e

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seemingly pointless (and painful) research study led to the discovery that repeated exposure results in desensitisation. In other words, keep putting chilli up your nose and after a while your body gets used to it and stops complaining. ‘Exposed day after day, the nerves exhausted their stores and could no longer transmit [pain] messages until they made more neurotransmitters from scratch, which takes a couple of weeks.’ This then led to the discovery that up-thenose cayenne peppers can be used to treat cluster headaches, commonly nicknamed the ‘suicide headache’, and irritable bowel disease (IBS).

clots. Like garlic, it plays a role in protecting us from heart disease, because it lowers cholesterol and blood lipids, a property it shares with fenugreek (annual herb with light green leaves and small white flowers).

Turmeric is a choleretic herb, meaning it stimulates the production of bile, which functions as a natural laxative and helps the body release toxins. Along with rosemary and garlic, turmeric improves the liver’s ability to detoxify toxins and carcinogens. Your liver is a chemical factory that sorts, recycles or clears out past-their-use-by chemicals (like hormones) as well as identifying and clearing out

5VSNFSJD JT BOUJ JOnBNNBUPSZ BOUJ carcinogenic, antioxidant, and helpful for treating indigestion, arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Like ginger and garlic, it has antiplatelet properties, which helps keep the blood thin and prevents blood clots.

TURMERIC Why didn’t I list this spice first, you might be asking? After all, isn’t it the best spice in the world? Turmeric hype has saturated the internet, but to me, it’s just another herb, no more or less amazing than all the others. The reason you’ve heard so much about turmeric is because it’s been more intensively researched than most of the others, with researchers hoping to find an active ingredient (like curcumin) to isolate, concentrate, patent, and cash in on. It isn’t profitable to research the therapeutic action of whole herbs. Beside which, science takes a reductionist approach that doesn’t lend itself well to the study of whole herbs and the synergistic interactions of the thousands of phytonutrients they contain. While I’m happy to use turmeric in my cooking and to prescribe it in a liquid herbal blend, I point-blank refuse to use the isolated ‘curcumin’ as though this were the only active ingredient in turmeric and somehow superior to the whole herb, which it isn’t.

Like many of the other herbs we use in our kitchen, turmeric is anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, antioxidant, and helpful for treating indigestion, arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Like ginger and garlic, it has antiplatelet properties, which helps keep the blood thin and prevents blood

toxins you might ingest, breathe in or absorb from the world around you. Given we can turn yellow when our liver isn’t working properly, I find the colour of this herb quite apt.

As with ginger, it’s not a good idea to use turmeric if you are suffering from gallstones, but it’s excellent for helping prevent them in the first place, especially when these glorious spices are combined with a healthier diet. The worst thing you can do to cause gallstones is to have a high intake of saturated fat (highly unlikely on a vegan diet), trans-fatty acids (from animal products and junk foods), cholesterol (impossible on a vegan diet), and refined sugars/carbohydrates. The same things that protect us from gallstones (and liver problems) are the same things that protect us from heart disease: fibre from plant foods, vegetable and fruit consumption, unsaturated fats, and vegetable protein intake.

Many diseases share common underlying causes, and a diverse, wholefoods plant-based diet filled with scrumptious herbs and spices is the best prevention (and cure) for most chronic disease patterns.

In Part 2 of ‘The Healing Properties of Kitchen Herbs and Spices’ (next edition) we will be learning about fenugreek, parsley, thyme, rosemary, paprika, marjoram and oregano.

health OLIHVW\OH

Ageless beauty & health TO SLOW DOWN THAT CLOCK

By Roshni Sethuraman writer/blogger, health coach and vegan model

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ou can decide how you age. This statement can challenge what we have grown up seeing and believing, but the evidence is all around us.

There are numerous celebrities who seem to have just stopped ageing or look years younger, and not through the aid of nips and tucks; think Gwyneth Paltrow, Alicia Silverstone, Woody Harrelson and our home-grown Miranda Kerr, to name a few.

Some of us even have that one friend or relative who has quietly turned back time on their looks, energy and vitality - a natural ageless face, graceful youthfulness in their body that belies their age and an extension of their life span.

We all try to age gracefully, but if we are honest, we all wish we could look younger and that’s why some of us spend so much on anti-ageing cosmetics and procedures.

Before you consider going down that path, let’s examine some holistic anti-ageing methods that take mind, body, spirit and our entire health into account. These methods are affordable, some even free, require no fancy equipment, are easy to understand and totally in your control. They are ancient practices passed down through centuries but somehow lost to our modern world.

Vegan lifestyle It’s equally if not more important to be conscious of what we are putting in us than on us. A vegan lifestyle leaves all animal flesh and products from our diet. Such a lifestyle is known to boost immune function, balance hormones and reduce disease risk.

All these factors contribute to a long life.

When former meat eaters go vegan, their looks improve radically. Managing optimal weight becomes much easier due to the absence of animal fat. Eating animal protein is especially hard on the kidneys. Each area of the face reflects the condition of an internal organ. For instance, puffy bags under the eyes are an indication of a tired set of kidneys overburdened by animal protein.

Healthy vegan foods are high in fibre and help with efficient elimination. Done right, a vegan lifestyle will keep us youthful for years to come.

Raw food vegan lifestyle This is a diet of plant-based living foods not heated beyond 41 - 45 celsius. Raw vegans enjoy fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, sprouts, seaweed, cold-pressed oils, herbs,

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superfoods, nuts and seeds in a variety of creative combinations. Since the food is unheated and unprocessed, it is nutrient dense and enzyme rich. Raw foods being highly nourishing and easily assimilated unburden the body and help it heal years of damage. The result is that we will look far younger than our age and ooze vitality.

Cultured foods Food items like kefir, yoghurt, pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, and miso are all examples of cultured foods. These foods are a result of fermentation, a chemical process that breaks down complex foods to simpler forms. This can turn an already healthy food into a superfood by bumping up its nutritional value exponentially.

Fermented foods give us energy, great immunity, a vigorous body with healthy, glowing, youthful skin and keep the fine lines and age spots at bay.

Juice fasting One usually consumes two to three litres of vegetable and fruit juice each day while juice fasting. That’s high nutrition, in a concentrated form, without the body needing to activate the digestive process.

This frees up our body’s energy for healing, repair and rebuilding. As we are not going hungry, we can fast on juices for two to three days easily. With juice fasting, we’ll practically be turning back the clock.

Water fasting Water fasting is deeply cleansing. The idea is to drink pure water only and give our digestive system a complete rest. Fasting gives our body a chance to eliminate stored poisons and heal internal wounds. Waste and toxins get stored mostly in fatty and connective tissues. As our body uses up fat for energy, the toxins stored there get flushed into our bloodstream and the water we drink will flush them out of our system.

A weekly fast of one day will show surprising results on our face. Since salt gets eliminated first, puffiness around the face dissolves quickly. And that one day a week is enough to give us anti-ageing benefits. On both the juice and water fasts, colonic irrigation can help cleanse us faster.

Intermittent fasting The longer we fast between our last meal and the breakfast the next day, the better

for our body. That means eat your last meal earlier, as late night eating conflicts with the natural rhythms our organs follow. By eating early, we are incorporating a degree of fasting into our daily life, since we’ll be abstaining from food from afternoon or evening until morning. Our normally overworked organs will get a much-needed break from work every night. They will return the favour by keeping us healthy much longer, while ageing much slower.

Cold water therapy When we subject our body to the surprise of a brief, safe exposure to cold water, our body responds by immediate improved blood circulation that generates a pleasant warm sensation. This stimulates our body to locate and destroy diseased cells, helping to reverse degenerative diseases of the liver, kidneys, and heart. We can achieve this by swimming in the ocean or by having cold water showers at home.

Sauna/steam room Sweating is one of our body’s elimination mechanisms and saunas can help with that if we are backed up with toxins. In addition to detoxification, saunas can help restore energy. We may find that the persistent sniffles we had will clear right out.

Dry brushing Our skin needs to breathe. However, old, dry, dead skin cells clog up the skin, choking the process. This results in harsh looking skin with fine lines and wrinkles.

The best way to help our body grow younger is by making sure that our skin keeps breathing. Exfoliation via dry brushing gets rid of dead cells. It makes our skin more responsive to creams, oils, or moisturisers we apply. It increases skin cell turnover and promotes new skin. Dry brushing stimulates circulation, eliminates cellulite, helps our lymphatic system and is inexpensive. Look for a brush with natural bristles - neither too hard nor too soft for our face and body.

Yoga There’s a concept in yoga that a person’s age should be measured by the flexibility of their spine, not the years they have lived.

We are only as young as our connective tissues. It’s the suppleness of our joints that gives our body its litheness and lightness.

Old age stores its waste and toxins in the

connective tissues. To detox our connective tissues, we need daily stretching. Yoga can visibly help one become young again. It slows down the ageing process by providing elasticity to the spine, by removing tension from the body, increasing vitality and resistance to disease, better vision and hearing, along with other mental and emotional benefits.

Vital breathing Most of us are shallow, fast, mouthbreathers and may experience unexplained bouts of fatigue due to that. By performing breathing exercises daily that train us to breathe deeply into our belly, oxygenates us thoroughly. This increases our energy and vitality. Learn to breathe from the bottom up.

Take 10 power breaths three times a day in the following ration: • Inhale for a count of one.

• Hold for a count of four.

• Exhale for a count of two.

Living water Approximately 70 per cent of our body is made up of water. So it follows that 70 per cent of our diet should consist of water rich foods such as fresh vegetables and fruits. If we aim to drink three litres of pure water per day, we’ll find that we eliminate completely, feel energetic, and have skin that looks fresh, radiant and remains supple and wrinkle free for years to come.

Sunlight Soaking in the sun’s energy at sunrise and sunset when the sun’s brightness and radiation is less intense will have favourable effects on our body and mind. The benefits include, but are not limited to, improved general health, clearer thinking, a higher energy level, and an uptake of vitamins A and D. Meditation and gratitude It is well-known that meditation promotes anti-ageing. Even as little as 10 to 15 minutes a day of quietening your mind provides enormous value when practiced regularly. Five minutes of gratitude everyday can transform your health and bring to you harmonious experiences that are conducive to health, wellbeing and longevity.

Incorporate the above practices slowly into your life until they become habitual and show the clock who the boss is!

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Avoiding despair AT TRADITIONAL CELEBRATIONS

By Clare Mann Vegan Psychologist, author, co-founder of the Vegan Voices App

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egans often find it very difficult to attend traditional celebrations. For many social events, it doesn’t seem to matter if someone doesn’t attend. For example, turning down an invite to a soccer match or theatre outing is unlikely to cause too much of a problem other than someone being disappointed.

Widely celebrated events like Easter, Christmas or Australia Day often cause more problems, even for non-vegans. Many people go along with these events, saying they feel anxious about the cost or over-consumption, but say they feel guilty disappointing family and friends if they don’t attend. This type of social conformity is what I call the Group Myth (Mann 2005) - the unquestioned assumption that to be happy we must all conform to what the majority do.

Some people dislike these traditional celebrations because of their values about human and environmental suffering. For example, someone passionate about social equality becomes upset when they see minimum-wage workers forced to work over holiday periods or the environmental damage caused by over-consumption.

Another person may refuse to attend Melbourne Cup because they dislike what they see as the class-ridden culture behind the ownership and racing of thoroughbred horses. The vegan not only has to deal with family pressures and social justice values, they must also face the ubiquitous animal abuse they see at these times. Not only do they see their family eating animals to excess, but they see it encouraged at work, in the media and retail industry. At Melbourne Cup for example, they see the flogging of defenseless animals whilst revellers celebrate, oblivious to the suffering. At these times, the vegan experiences even greater amounts of mental anguish, known as vystopia.

Vystopia Vystopia (Mann 2017) is, the ‘existential crisis experienced by vegans which arises out of an awareness of the trance-like collusion with a dystopian world. It’s the awareness of the greed, ubiquitous animal exploitation and speciesism in a modern dystopia’.

A dystopia is an imagined place of darkness, greed, competition, cruelty and totalitarianism. It is the opposite of utopia in which there is joy, kindness, happiness, abundance and compassion.

Vystopia is a vegan dystopia and exists within the knowledge of the trance of society which makes people follow the crowd and resist change and be open to new ideas.

If you have the following symptoms, you’re likely to be suffering from vystopia: • Anger.

• Intense grief at the enormity of the ubiquitous animal abuse.

• Frustration at being unable to wake people up from the trance.

• Feelings of alienation from non-vegans.

• Loneliness within groups you previously felt part of.

• Despair and hopelessness that things will never change.

• Feelings that everything you believed to be true is lies.

• Powerlessness to effect change on a global level.

We’re reminded of our vystopia every time someone resists the vegan message, but this is intensified at times of social celebration.

People may openly discuss the merits of a plant-based diet but resist discussing the darker side of animal agriculture behind Easter or Christmas. We often think they don’t care when maybe it has more to do with their awareness that when they know the truth they’ll have to change their eating habits or lifestyle. If they change their habits they’ll face powerful social and family norms, and potential rejection from groups they value being part of.

Social norms - collective, allegedly shared, agreed ways of

We often think they don’t care when maybe it has more to do with their awareness that when they know the truth they’ll have to change their eating habits or lifestyle.

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DON’T ISOLATE YOURSELF FROM NON-VEGAN FAMILY AND FRIENDS. LEARN THE SKILLS TO DEAL WITH SUCH SITUATIONS.

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Offer them alternatives like preparing vegan food for everyone, visiting them after people have eaten or spending time with them before or after the events. behaving in a group - are very powerful in determining how someone behaves. Anyone who goes against these norms becomes subject to pressure to change their behavior. This might involve alienation, criticism and blame for spoiling the fun. The vegan finds themselves in mental anguish, torn between wanting to spend time with family and friends but distressed, not only at the related animal abuse but the trance-like collusion other people have with it. Thus the vegan lives in mental and emotional anguish except when around other vegans who understand their pain.

Traditional events remind the vegan that many people seem to go around in a trance, colluding with socially acceptable actions even if they complain to their friends about the cost and overconsumption involved.

The vegan is distressed because it reminds them that many people just conform and don’t question why they do things despite their actions resulting in debt, family arguments, hangovers and New Year diets. If you challenge someone to avoid such events, not spend as much money or avoid buying presents until the New Years’ sales etc. you are pilloried as mad or mean-spirited.

The vegan doesn’t see a family get-together but the killing of animals on sped-up production lines and the exploitation of animals through expensive gift-buying like leather handbags, wallets, cashmere jumpers or canapés. When such behavior is encouraged by the media, office parties, retail marketing etc. they feel there is no escape from the madness.

Events like Easter, Christmas, Australia Day, and Melbourne Cup are really a microcosm of a bigger problem where people don’t ask questions about what they do and why. The vegan is reminded at a deep level that few people appear to question social norms, let alone where their food comes from, the hidden costs of production or animal suffering.

Managing the vystopia roller coaster Here are some tips to help you manage during traditional celebrations.

say, ‘I love sharing time with everyone, especially over the holidays. However, I am a vegan and I find it very painful to be around people eating animals because I know what happens to them behind closed doors. It’s nothing to do with me not wanting to spend time with you. Please don’t see this as a rejection. I’d love to share more with you about where food comes from so you can understand more. Can we make a time to do this?’.

Surround yourself with others who understand Talk to other vegans who you know are facing similar challenges.

Social support, talking through better ways to communicate and deciding what your boundaries are, are enormously valuable. Make sure you don’t complain about these events without discussing creative ways to have the conversations that matter. In this way, you avoid becoming more distressed and offer non-vegans the opportunity to learn more about the benefits of veganism.

Practice exquisite self-care Being in a constant state of vystopia can take an enormous toll on your physical and emotional health. Ensure you put in places ways to nourish yourself both physically and emotionally. Maintain a good wholefood plant-based diet, have adequate sleep, exercise and take time out to relax and enjoy life. You will then not only enjoy your vegan lifestyle, you will become more resourced to be the best voice for veganism and animals, and other people will thank you for it.

Learn to communicate with other people effectively.

This involves creating rapport and having meaningful conversations with people, many of whom will resist or criticise hearing about animal social justice or veganism.

Decide where you stand Decide what you will do and what you won’t. For example, you may be able to join family and friends at events but take or order separate food or find it impossible to sit with other people who are eating animals. Be honest with yourself. It’s better to find ways to tell your family you can’t tolerate the smell or sight of animal foods than to suffer in silence and resent them or feel you have let yourself and the animals down.

Separate the issues Tell other people that you want to spend time with them but can’t be around them eating or celebrating, where animals are directly or indirectly abused. Offer them alternatives like preparing vegan food for everyone, visiting them after people have eaten or spending time with them before or after the events. These conversations can be tricky but here is the gist of what you might 90 t h e

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Become a great communicator Learn to communicate with other people effectively. This involves creating rapport and having meaningful conversations with people, many of whom will resist or criticise hearing about animal social justice or veganism. Learn to have challenging conversations with other people and communicate difficult information effectively without aggression or ‘backing down’. It often takes help and practice to challenge other people whilst maintaining rapport, especially when the material discussed is distressing, but make it your goal to be the best communicator you can be.

Keep sight of the bigger picture Always maintain a clear and powerful image of a compassionate, healthy, abundant and fair vegan world in which all sentient beings are respected. The decisions you make and the conversations you have are adding to the tipping point which will tip the balance and the new norm will be veganism. Many people will conform to veganism because everyone else is doing it, others will decide early on to go against the norm because the arguments and benefits for veganism are so great. Keep looking to the future and every day be the best example of a healthy, abundant, interesting and fair vegan and others will follow.

Clare Mann is a vegan psychologist, author and co-creator of the Vegan-Voices Smartphone App, a FREE app to help vegans communicate veganism more effectively.

LEARN TO COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE EFFECTIVELY AND BUILD A RAPPORT TO BETTER GET YOUR POINT ACROSS.

t reached s o m l a s a The sea h niamina e B f o t r a the he lands. s I n o m o l Island, So

Photos by Dr Simon Albert. Senior Research Fellow.

The University of Queensland.

This image of Tatoka Island, Solomon Islands, was taken in December 2016. By February 2017, this last remaining house had washed away.

OLIHVW\OH environment

Saving the planet with diet THE SCIENTISTS’ WARNING

By Dr Lea Merone Vegan doctor specialising in far north QLD

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ate last year, scientists from around the world published a second warning to humans advising that the planet is suffering irreparable damage and that unless behaviours change, the human and natural worlds are on a ‘collision course’.

The first warning, published in 1992 stated the causes of this as: air pollution and greenhouse gases leading to ozone depletion; decreasing water sources; destruction of the ocean including plastic pollution and over-fishing; loss of soil productivity owing to animal and nonanimal agricultural practices; and finally, deforestation and resultant loss of biodiversity.

Sadly, 20 years on, the situation, far from improving, has worsened ‘alarmingly’.

When we consider harm to the planet, we tend to think of large factories emitting smoke into the sky, aeroplanes shooting across the skyline, highrise buildings and cars; well-known relics and icons of the industrial world. However, often overlooked by environmentalists, governments and people alike, is the significant impact of the animal agriculture industry. Livestock production produces more emissions than every mode of transport; cars, trains, aeroplanes worldwide and alone contributes to 18 per cent of global warming. The famous greenhouse gas (GHG) most often talked about is carbon dioxide, and whilst livestock production contributes nine per cent to carbon emissions, contribution to emissions of other, equally harmful GHGs, methane and nitrous oxide, is far higher (37 per cent and 65 per cent, respectively).

The livestock industry occupies a whopping third of the world’s land and a whole third of all crop-producing land is dedicated to producing feed for animals destined for slaughter. With a growing human population, it is anticipated that demand for milk and meat will only increase over the next two decades, particularly in developing countries. Greater demand will lead to an increase in production, a rise in deforestation and further use of precious resources in addition to further GHG production.

In the past half century, beef and milk production have doubled, and pork and poultry production have increased five-fold; beef and dairy contribute significantly more GHGs than other areas of livestock production.

If these trends continue, there will be

significant intensification in GHG emissions, deforestation and loss of biodiversity; an important factor for a healthy planet and indeed, healthy people.

Studies have predicted that the projected 80 per cent increase in global GHGs can be avoided if human diets were to switch to vegetarian/Mediterranean from the largely meat-eating culture that exists within current societies.

Why do we worry about greenhouse gases?

What many people don’t realise is that the greenhouse effect is actually a natural process whereby gases in the atmosphere, including water vapour, prevent the sun’s heat from escaping, keeping the earth’s surface warm so that life can thrive.

Naturally, these gases are produced by volcanoes, or plant/animal respiration.

Sadly, since the industrial revolution, human actions such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation and animal agriculture have greatly increased this amount of gases in the atmosphere trapping heat and causing the phenomenon known as global warming, meaning the earth’s average temperature is increasing.

Ok, so the earth is getting warmer, but most of us like the warm weather, so what’s the issue? Well, the answer is wide-reaching.

Increasing earth temperatures is causing

different species around, which is particularly bad for ecosystems and the health of the planet.

Nitrogen oxide, a GHG predominantly produced by animal agriculture reacts with other chemicals in sunlight, creating ozone, a GHG that in itself is harmful to ecosystems.

Global warming, GHGs, land use change and climate change are also the leading causes of soil degradation, making growing food and other plants difficult and ocean acidification, leading to the death of coral reefs and other marine life.

The new Atlantis Developing countries, such as the Pacific Islands and Africa, contribute fewer GHGs than developed countries, yet these lower income countries are the most affected by global warming and climate change. Indeed, many of the Pacific Islands are sinking at a terrifying rate; Tuvalu is predicted to be uninhabitable by 2050. A total of five reef islands in the Solomon Islands have already been submerged. These Islands are becoming a real-life Atlantis, and populations are currently struggling to find places to relocate to.

Feed the world, go vegan An enormous problem related directly to global warming, is food security. This is the concept of all humans having access to

Livestock production produces more emissions than every mode of transport; cars, trains, aeroplanes worldwide and alone contributes to 18 per cent of global warming. melting of ice at the poles of the earth, leading to rising sea levels, which is understandably problematic for those living in coastal regions or on smaller islands such as the Pacific Islands.

In addition to this, global warming is causing a change in the climates across the earth at an alarming speed. As climate has changed over many millennia, the animal and plant species on the planet have had time to adapt, however manmade climate change is occurring at such a speed that species are becoming extinct 1,000 times faster than normal. This causes a loss in biodiversity; meaning there are fewer

adequate, nutritious food at all times. GHGs and changing of land use via deforestation both cause degradation of the soil, rendering it difficult to grow crops. This decreases availability of land on which to grow food.

Additionally, soil can act as a sink for GHGs and even produce GHGs if poorly maintained.

As we have seen, the land required for livestock grazing and feeding is vast. Worldwide, livestock in animal agriculture eat around 4.7 billion tons of biomass a year (year 2000); much of this is consumed by ruminants such as cows. This is land that may otherwise be used to grow crops for human consumption, an area that remains the australian vegan magazine

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‘

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that one JO OJOF QFPQMF XPSMEXJEF BSF TVGGFSJOH GSPN VOEFS OPVSJTINFOU IVOHFS 5IJT equates to 795 million people in a world housing 7.3 billion.

problematic for global public health.

World hunger is a challenging problem, particularly in the developing world owing to dry climates, poverty and poor soil quality.

Many developing countries are unable to grow enough food to feed their people. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that one in nine people world-wide are suffering from undernourishment; hunger. This equates to 795 million people in a world housing 7.3

oceans by a mile. Climate change is directly attributing to a loss of oxygen in oceans around the world, a total of a mammoth two to four per cent decrease has been noted in the last 50 years. Scientists state that even minute changes in oxygen levels can disrupt entire species.

Rising sea temperatures and levels directly affect the habitat, metabolism and life-cycle of marine species. Ocean acidification affects levels of dissolved oxygen in the water,

If the oceans die, we ALL die. The ocean is the planet’s life support, providing 50 per cent of the atmospheric oxygen we all breathe (the other 50 per cent comes from the forests we are rapidly cutting down). billion. The 1996 World Food Summit set a target to halve world hunger by 2015; this target was not met.

Important causes of hunger include poverty, a growing world population and low agricultural productivity. As we have observed, global warming adversely affects crop production, but the problem runs much deeper. The population of humans is growing rapidly, at current levels, there is enough food produced to feed six billion people per day; already a short-fall.

However, if all land used for animal agriculture were used for crops for human consumption; if the world were to be at least vegetarian, there would be enough food for at least 10 billion people, more than the projected population numbers for 2050. Thus, veganism has the potential to feed the world.

0WFS mTIJOH UIF TJDLOFTT PG UIF PDFBO The benefits of veganism on the planet are not limited to our land quality, crop production and production of GHGs. A pressing issue for our ever-suffering planet is the health of the oceans. Last month, reports of penguins starving to death alerted us to just how dire the situation with our oceans really is.

GHGs are a direct cause of ocean acidification; linking problems with our land-based activities directly to the seas.

This leads to coral bleaching of reefs, decreasing biodiversity and destroying natural barriers designed to protect the land. In many places, such as Australia (the Great Barrier Reef) this leads to the threat of declining tourism and subsequent unemployment surrounding the tourism industry in far north Queensland.

This is not the largest crisis faced by the

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making it difficult for marine species to ‘breathe’.

Waste disposal into the ocean is also hugely problematic, resulting in traces of plastic being discovered in even the deepestdwelling species. The health effects of human consumption of these micro-plastics are still being explored.

Ocean acidification from GHGs and plastic dumping are just part of this story.

Significant for vegans is the issue of fishing and over-fishing in our oceans. Over-fishing is the practice of removing fish from the ocean at a rate too high for the species to replenish. This is extremely disruptive to the food chain, removing the natural foods for many marine species. Chillingly, despite knowing this, the fishing industry is ever-expanding and is now preying upon a species crucial for many other species in the ocean; krill. In addition to the challenges in the ocean, those species who depend upon krill as their staple diet (penguins, whales, seals) are feeling the pressure. It is important to remember that every species is a link in a food chain. If one species is struggling to survive, many other species also become pressured.

Those who don’t care for other species may wonder what the big deal is? Well, the consequences are more wide-reaching than the death of marine life (an important issue for many vegans). If the oceans die, we ALL die. The ocean is the planet’s life support, providing 50 per cent of the atmospheric oxygen we all breathe (the other 50 per cent comes from the forests we are rapidly cutting down). The oceans also act as a pump, allowing us freshwater for drinking, an important part of the water-cycle. Most oxygen in the ocean is produced by plankton;

’

quite possibly the most important species on the planet.

Plankton populations have decreased by 40 per cent in the past 50 years, much of it extracted and converted to protein-rich animal feed for animal agriculture. Of all fish caught, 40 per cent are used for ‘fishmeal’ to feed pigs, domestic salmon and domestic cats. Now that fish populations are decreasing owing to over-fishing, this component is being replaced with plankton. Plankton are also vital for altering the acidity of the ocean, by removing carbon dioxide from sea water and releasing oxygen. Depletion of the plankton population will increase ocean acidification, in turn harming marine life and biodiversity, in itself impacting on the survival of plankton, resulting in a vicious and destructive cycle. With the current pace, and population growth, it is possible we could be looking at over an 80 per cent decrease in plankton over the next 50 years, meaning many of us, and all of our children may well be living in a proverbial ‘air-tight box’.

Antibiotic resistance: an emerging public health crisis Antibiotic resistance is the resistance of bacteria to life-saving antibiotics. This is an increasing threat to global human health, with increasing cases of humans dying from what were once treatable infections.

Antibiotics are widely used in animal agriculture to promote growth and prevent infection, given via either injection, oral medication or mixed with feed. Overuse of antibiotics is the root cause of bacteria becoming resistant. There is much evidence now that antibiotics given to animals are directly transferred to humans in the food chain. This essentially means that humans are also overusing antibiotics. Should this trend continue, more and more people (and animals) will likely die from infectious diseases.

Veganism and saving the planet In terms of saving the planet, vegans are clearly ahead of the game. But how can we do more? Advocacy! Spread the word! Don’t choose bacon over breathing. Explain the effects of animal agriculture to your friends, explain how people are suffering now across the world, particularly in already disadvantaged areas because of global warming. Consider the merits of a zero-waste lifestyle, cut down or eliminate plastic and disposable objects in your everyday life. Think about how your actions, every day, might be impacting the planet and work to decrease that impact; you’re already doing a great job but we can - and must - all do even more to save our planet from its critical illness.

We are slowly killing our planet both on land and in the ocean.

Photo by depositphotos.com.

travel

Sunset view of the city of Plovdiv from Nebet Tepe hill, Bulgaria.

Photo by depositphotos.com.

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Central street and fountain in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Photo by depositphotos.com.

omadlife.com’s Benjamin McCormick is back, and this time he spent a month in a country with absolutely no vegan options and thought it was absolutely wonderful. As told by Benjamin McCormick.

I’m writing this from one of the oldest cities on earth that is still inhabited and functioning.

We’re in Plovdiv, an 8,000-yearold city in Bulgaria, Eastern Europe.

And there is literally not one vegan restaurant in the whole thing.

And it’s awesome.

This place is easily the least vegan-friendly city I’ve ever lived in, and I find it very hard to imagine a place being less vegan-friendly.

There is a grand total of zero vegan restaurants, one vegetarian restaurant, and about six notable carnistic restaurants that have at least one decent vegan option, with most having only one or two appropriate meals.

Incredibly lame, I know.

But wait, there’s more.

The supermarkets have zero mock meats, zero tempeh and zero vegan cheeses.

About the only things that are labelled

OLIHVW\OH travel

Why no vegan options is a

By Benjamin McCormick, vomadlife.com

vegan in the supermarkets are bags of dried dates and plant-based milks. To their credit though, our local Lidl did start stocking tofu, almost two months into our stay. And there are some kebab shops that sell falafels.

Nutritional nightmare or vegan dream?

The good part of living among what some vegan slow travellers and plant-based digital-nomads would consider an ethical and nutritional nightmare, is that it actually makes us eat incredibly healthily, incredibly easily.

How? Because, well, there’s not really anything else for vegans to eat other than whole plant foods from supermarkets.

It seems that around every second corner in Plovdiv is a pop-up roadside fruit and vegetable stall. On our daily walk to a café to do some work, we pass about three of these, and another two proper supermarkets.

These conveniently common stalls generally have a larger range of fruit and vegetables than nearly any supermarket we’ve seen here, and usually much fresher produce too.

Just like the few vegans that were around 30 years ago were all undoubtedly very healthy - as there was no fake meats and vegan cheesecakes available anywhere - the only foods around back then were whole fruits and vegetables. The same is

Good thing

true for anyone living in current times in places like Plovdiv.

It sounds restricting, but in my experience, it was actually a great feeling knowing there is very minimal temptation to eat processed crap. Sure, there are a couple of kebab shops that sell deep fried falafels and chips, but basically, all I can eat as a vegan is whole plant foods, the healthiest stuff on earth.

Liberation through restraint Some people use the excuse ‘there’s nothing to eat’ not to stay vegan, especially when travelling, without realising that there’s actually quite a lot.

There’s just no processed ‘comfort’ foods high in fat, refined sugar and salt.

But I actually found the limitation to be liberating.

Just like in high school when the teacher says, ‘Okay class, write me an essay by next week, you can write it on anything you want’ and it instantly becomes much harder than if she had said, ‘Okay class, write me an essay on the social influence of 1960s soul music’.

Having your options restricted like that actually eases your mind because it dramatically reduces your own decisionmaking and lets you get immediately down to business, regardless of what your opinion is of amazingly funky music.

And so does only being able to eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds and legumes.

Most vegans know that these wholefoods should be the base of their diet if they want to take advantage of the range of incredible health benefits on offer once you give up meat and dairy. But, for most people, having so many delicious chocolates, ice creams and other processed goodies readily available in most Western countries, it doesn’t make it very easy.

These processed vegan treats (I’m including fake meats and cheeses in this definition too) are great for turning people vegan; they are necessary for most during the initial transition period. But they don’t serve you as well when consumed in high quantities (daily) in the long term.

The good news is that the healthier wholefood alternatives are actually way cheaper than almost anything processed, are always far more nutritious, and are available as standard issue supermarket products worldwide, regardless of that country’s current economy.

The healthiest foods are also the cheapest Eating healthy can save you money right now, and most likely in the future too through saved medical expenses.

As for the immediate financial benefits, in Australia right now, for example, chicken the australian vegan magazine

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Church of Assumption in Gornovoden, Asenovgrad, Plovdiv Region, Bulgaria.

Photo by depositphotos.com.

breast goes for somewhere from $12 to $15 per kilogram. Beans go for about $3.50 per kilo.

So, even considering that you need 48 per cent more beans (by weight) than chicken to get the same amount of calories, red kidney beans are still about 50 per cent of the price that chicken breast is.

And, when you also consider that wholemeal pasta is about $4 per kilo and one packet of 500g can keep you going for three or four meals, plus some frozen veggies are around $3 per kilo, no one can say eating healthy can’t be cheap and easy.

As for the future cost of eating healthy today, consider the following statistics from the Heart Foundation of Australia.

Heart disease affects one in six Australians, killing one every 12 minutes.

One in four people, or almost five million Australians are currently obese, putting them at high risk for heart disease. Which is not surprising considering 12 million Australians aged 15 and over are either sedentary or perform only low levels of exercise (which is actually slightly less than it was more than 10 years ago) and that last year, only five per cent of Australian adults had an ‘adequate’ daily intake of fruits and vegetables.

If you haven’t heard, if you live in the western world, you are more likely to die of heart disease than by any other means.

Which is quite sad when you realise that you will likely waste somewhere from $160,000 to $6.4 million in a lifetime on only temporarily useful major surgery and medications.

It’s even sadder when you realise that heart disease is 100 per cent preventable and reversible. And basically, all you have to do is eat the way we are currently being forced to by choosing to live in Bulgaria: unprocessed, whole plant foods.

Don’t use the perceived lack of vegan options as an excuse not to experience different cultures and still stay true to your ethics.

If your chosen destination doesn’t have many vegan restaurants, then get a hostel with a kitchen, an Airbnb, or an apartment if you’re staying longer term, and prepare your own meals. The extra 30 minutes it takes won’t ruin your trip, I promise. It will actually give you greater insight into how the locals live.

All the ‘limitations’ really just make you eat healthy by default, and force you to experiment with preparing these wholefood ingredients into different meals yourself. Two things that your future self will probably thank you for.

LIFE EXPECTANCY: 1 DAY

This is Chester. He only hatched a few hours ago, but he’s already on death row.

If he had been born with his mother, he’d be snuggling under her warm wing now, continuing the chirping ‘conversation’ they started while he was still in his shell.

But Chester was born in a factory that breeds laying hens for the Australian egg industry. Unable to produce eggs himself, he’s seen as nothing more than a ‘waste product’.

Sorted and discarded, he and his brothers will be tossed onto a conveyor belt and gassed or thrown into a mincing machine – alive.

Every year in Australia, some 3 million day-old male chicks share Chester’s grim fate. This is standard practice industry wide. In cage, barn, free range and organic egg laying businesses, this slaughter of male newborns is considered to be just a normal part of doing business. But you don’t have to accept that.

While it’s too late for Chester, you have the power to change the world for chicks just like him. Hope for these innocent animals rests with each and every one of us.

By reducing the demand for eggs, you can help prevent countless more chicks from being born – only to be killed on their first day of life.

Discover a world free from cruelty to animals like Chester at:

AnimalsAustralia.org/chicks