This weekend, I got the chance to see Tim Burton's long-awaited Sweeny Todd movie. I was as impressed by Johnny Depp's singing and amused by Sacha Baron-Cohen's cameo as most, but it only occurred to me today that the film is having a curious impact on several of my carnivorous friends: none of them can touch red meat since seeing the film!
I have to say, this is something I approve of wholeheartedly, and hope that the abstention continues! The question is, will Sweeney Todd do for the red meat industry what Jamie Oliver did for chicken farming? Sales of organic and free range chicken are up by 50% this week following his campaign along with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I'd be interested to see if a similar 'Sweeney Todd effect' takes place in the steak counter...
The creators of vegan diet cookbook “Skinny Bitch” are back with another paean to the weight-loss potential of an animal-free diet. “Skinny Bitch in the Kitch” picks up where its predecessor left off, teaching readers to eschew meat and dairy on the grounds that both are hard to break down, and – you guessed it – make you fat. As someone who lost a significant amount of weight by going vegan, I’m obviously rather biased, but I’m aware that it’s not the same for everyone – and it’s a bit of a reductive statement to say “going vegan makes you thin”. That’s not what this book does, thankfully.
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Despite persistent poking from the Vegetarian Society, chocolate giant Mars is still putting animal rennet -- a substance derived from calves' stomachs -- in some of its top selling products, it was reported today.
All hell broke loose for Mars last year, when a decision to quietly add the ingredient to previously veggie-friendly products including Malteesers and Galaxy bars was rumbled and made public by unhappy vegetarians. Eventually, the company backed down and withdrew its decision. But it has since emerged that several products remain unsuitable for non meat eaters. The offending lines include Milky Way, Celebrations and Twix.
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What's the easiest way to piss off a vegetarian A-lister at Christmas? Celebrity skin care doctor, Neetu Nirdosh found out the answer pretty quickly this festive season, when he sent staunch veggie Victoria Beckham a load of skincare products -- presented in the carcass of a turkey.
It seems pretty unlikely that VB will be applying any of the products, which had presumably got quite intimate with giblets prior to the big day. Dr Nirdosh clearly did not do much in the way of reasearch, as while she doesn't make a big deal of the fact, it is well known Victoria is a strict veggie and -- unlike many of her fellow fashionistas -- refuses to wear fur.
[Via Ecorazzi]
Hollywood babe Natalie Portman is stepping elegantly into the vegan shoe market as she collaborates with chic New York label Te Casan.
The predictably-named Natalie Portman Collection for 2008 will arrive in the label's NYC boutique in February, and is available to pre-order on the website from 15th January. The only glimpse I've had so far is this sultry pic of Nat wearing patent red Mary-Janes, suggesting that the range will be right on the spot for current trends. Rumour has it that Nat is not, in fact, a vegan herself, but it's good to see she's doing her bit in style...
As well as being made without animal ingredientsl 15. 5% of all Natalie Portman shoe profits will be going to charity. At $200 they're not what you'd call cheap, but as Just Jared points out, they're still a heck of a lot cheaper than Stella McCartney's vegan heels!
If, like me, you're tired of having turkey and all-butter mince pies advertised to you everywhere you look, then you might want to pop along to Animal Aid's Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre on Sunday. There will more than 80 stalls there, from a range of organisations including Viva!, PETA, Plamil Foods and the Vegan Society.
I really enjoyed last year's event, chomping my way through such delights as vegan fudge, vegan trifle (positively orgasmic, for the record!) and, of course, vegan turkey. I also picked up a lovely selection of Christmas cards from different animal charities. It was definitely a very good antidote to the meat-obsessed mainstream Yuletide marketing we're all subjected to.
The fayre runs from 10am to 5pm in Kensington Town Hall.
Related: Green things to do this weekend: tree planting days, Fair Trade fair and more.
It's a well known fact that parents wanting to get their kids into the local church school will go to almost any length to bend the truth when it comes to getting their little darlings into a less-rough school than the local comp. But as a Hindu school in London becomes the first to enforce vegetarianism as a condition of entry, will we soon see parents pretending their kids are veggie and shopping others they've spied grabbing a sneaky happy meal at McDonalds?
The veggie entrance policy, the first of its kind to come into effect at the Krishna-Avanti school in north-west London is unpopular with Mainstream Hindus, who are claiming it favours the Hare Krishna movement - which is backing the school and whose members follow strict vegetarian diets. But with fierce competition expected for places, the rule may simply be in place as a handy selection policy.
While I'm very much in favour of encouraging children to go veggie, I'm not sure that making a rule of it is right in any circumstances. And it seems unfair to alienate a large percentage of a wider group that could otherwise benefit from living near this school. What do you think?
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