Anna Mckay shares a recipe perfect for celebrating Chinese New Year
Ding Huang demonstrates the art of paper cutting
A group of York students has won the opportunity to have their very own I-phone application developed after winning The App Challenge final, held at the Ron Cooke Hub on Wednesday, January 18.
Laura Reynolds looks at the habits of exam-weary students
One friend, rather amusingly, responded with: "You are a vegan? Does this mean you don't eat tuna? Or egg? Your staple foods? What? How? When? Why?"
I don't see what the issue is: I'm not starving myself, I'm just being selective about what I eat! Besides, I have never seen fish and eggs as being at the centre of my diet. By cutting out all animal products from my diet I have actually gained in so many more ways than I have lost out.
People assume that a vegan lifestyle is unhealthy, or even dangerous. What some don't realise is that what I eat is likely to be better for me than what meat-eaters are heaping onto their plate every day. I'm doing a better job of avoiding heart disease, colon cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure... the list goes on.
On more than one occasion I have been told the story of parents in such-and-such a country being jailed for the malnutrition of their children by forcing a vegan diet upon them. So, some parents aren’t very good at looking after their kids. How does that make my life choices wrong? I think such negative responses to veganism (or pure vegetarianism) come from a lack of understanding. If everyone understood the positives of the lifestyle I, perhaps naively, believe that more people would embrace it.
As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.
I realise many like the taste of meat but when the industry behind it is the biggest cause of environmental degradation worldwide surely it’s worth replacing the beef with a bit of tofu? Never mind recycling and getting a bus, veganism is your fast track to green living. Climate change aside, the inefficiency of feeding animals with precious foodstuffs while millions are starving should surely raise some alarm bells.
There may be holes in my diet - I might accidentally eat something that isn't labelled as well as I would want it to be or perhaps I just give into an urge to eat Cadbury’s (following a few failed attempts I have discovered non-dairy chocolate I actually like). However, I think I'll still be doing a better job than a meat-eater at protecting animals and looking after the planet in general.
To most there has to be a right and a wrong answer, and apparently vegans are the ones in the wrong. To me it should be about choice and the freedom to decide whether one feels comfortable consuming something they know has appeared in front of them as a direct result of animals suffering.
How can do people live without meat? Very easily; over 250,000 vegans in Britain do. And in all honesty, if you're right and I'm wrong and I am less healthy than you at least I'll die knowing I wasn't cruel for the entirety of my lifetime.
For more information on Veganism try The Vegan Society or PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
There doesn't have to be a right or wrong answer at all. People choose different lifestyles for different reasons. Holier-than-thou comments like that last paragraph aren't going to help your cause very much.
Vegetarianism has its benefits, it's cheaper, good for you and offers a wide range of choices. I'm not so convinced about veganism, I can't imagine it's affordable nor practical for those without much time on their hands.
As for the climate change issue, EVERYTHING we do contributes to climate change. We're being told not to drive, not to fly, not to eat meat, not to eat animal products, not to heat our houses in the winter, not to throw rubbish away, not to buy products that affect rainforests etc...
What is there left to do that won't harm the environment? How am i supposed to enrich my life if everything I do harms the environment somehow? Simply existing harms the environment. Having kids doubles that harm.
I'm concerned about global warming as much as the next left-leaning student activist, but I hate the way in which some environmentalists treat those with different lifestyles as pariahs. Some people like flying, some people like eating meat. Some people like hunger striking or writing angry columns or commenting on said angry columns.
Live and let live. A burger or two is small fry compared with power stations being erected every month across the globe.
I've been vegan for just over six months now. I have to say the decision did wonders for my diet, by virtue of the many unhealthy items it forced me to remove and the additional thought it required. With places like Alligator (Fulford Road), Kyi Po (Goodramgate) and El Piano (Grape Lane), York is also a pretty accomodating place for a vegan lifestyle.
In terms of anonymous' concerns, I have found it a little more expensive, but not hugely so. Also, while it does require a great deal more thought and effort than a vegetarian lifestyle, I believe it is completely worth that effort, for the ethical and physical benefits I believe a vegan lifestyle brings.
Being vegan as opposed to vegetarian is great in that it forces you to not be reliant on cheesy food and veggie ready meals. There's pretty much no such thing as lazy vegan eating.
Does make it difficult to eat out though!
I don't think that I could live without cheese, milk, eggs, yoghurt, meat or things that contain them. It illiminates most chocolates, pizza, most sandwiches... I respect vegans so much for their decision because I know that I could never give up cheese, let alone anything else! I'm not sure that it's completely healthy but it's a heck of a lot more healthy than my diet, at least..!
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