Ocean Sentry
(From sl.farmonline.com.au) – The widespread acceptance of vegetarianism has paved the way for veganism to emerge from the shadows as a more accepted alternative lifestyle. Vegans steer clear of all meat and also avoid animal byproducts such as milk, eggs, butter, cheese, gelatin, whey and honey. Vegan numbers are believed to have grown over the years, judging by the proliferation of vegan restaurants, cafes and bakeries. Animal cruelty in the meat, dairy and egg industries remains the prime motivation for many vegans.
The Vegetarian Network directory (vnv.org.au) lists nearly 50 vegetarian restaurants in Melbourne, some of which are exclusively vegan. Melbourne man Mark Doneddu has been organising World Vegan Day, an annual event that attracted up to 5000 people in Melbourne last year, since 2003.
“When we first started, it was a picnic in the park, with 200 people,” he says.
This year, the event will be held in Melbourne at the Abbotsford Convent on Sunday, October 26.
“I think more people are aware of animal treatment than ever before and the awareness of the environment has never been as intensive,” he says.
The cramped conditions in which chickens are kept, mulesing and slaughtering animals while they are still conscious are among their main concerns. Like many people who switch to veganism on environmental grounds, Donnedu easily rattles off statistics to support his arguments against meat production. Last year, more than 5 million pigs, 8 million cows, 33 million sheep and 460 million chickens were slaughtered in Australia, according to livestock figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Australia’s meat-products industry accounts for 91 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year, according to the report. This compares with the 80.4 megatonnes attributable to the nation’s transport industry. A vegan diet can dramatically reduce a person’s carbon footprint, but can it also erode the nutrients our bodies need to stay healthy?
“Vegans need to eat a wide range of foods. They need to eat legumes, nuts and a range of grains such as oats, wheat and rye every day,” says Hourigan, “If you don’t balance your diet well, you might find your appetite is not satisfied so then you go looking for more.”
Las Vegan’s Vandersant and Linden seem to have perfected the art of vegan cuisine. Such is their reputation that the couple fed the crew of the Sea Shepherd’s ship – the Steve Irwin – last February when it refuelled in Melbourne.
“Vegans are so grateful and people who aren’t vegan are surprised our food tastes so good,” says Vandersant, a former meat-eater.
Paul Watson, anti-whaling protester and Sea Shepherd captain, says: “Veganism is the most ecologically positive lifestyle we can adopt.”
He estimates half the 33-member crew are vegans and the other half generally convert after eating vegan meals on board. Watson has been vegetarian since 1979 but is limited by his wheat and soy allergies. He was raised in Friday Harbour fishing village in Washington and began sabotaging fishing trap lines at the age of 10.
“I used to witness the seal hunt when I was young and was appalled at the cruelty,” he says.
He says commercial fishing stocks would not be so depleted if livestock were fed a vegetarian diet, and says the pig is “the largest aquatic predator on the planet right now”.
Equally he rates meat production over cars as the biggest greenhouse gas emitter.
“A vegan riding a Hummer contributes less to greenhouse gas emissions than a meat eater riding a bicycle,” he says. “In 1980, no one knew what a vegan was – they thought they were from the planet Vega. It is the way of the future. If you watch Star Trek, they were all vegetarians.”
(By ANNIE LAWSON)
