Vegetarian way of life a useful resolution

By Vlad Mazak

This has not been a good year for the meat, dairy, and egg industries.

In January, ABC News provided extensive coverage of cow abuse by the dairy industry. The BP oil spill in April called attention to an even-larger Gulf "dead zone" caused by the massive amounts of animal waste dumped every day by the Mississippi River. A month later, a UN report urged a global shift toward a vegan diet to reduce world hunger and climate change.

In June, FDA asked factory farms to stop routine use of antibiotics that lead to drug-resistant bacterial infections in humans.

August witnessed the largest-ever recall of more than a half-billion eggs harbouring salmonella.

Finally, this month, President Obama signed into law the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to replace fatty animal products and other junk foods in school lunches and vending machines.

According to the School Nutrition Association, 65 per cent of U.S. schools now offer vegetarian lunch options.

Vlad Mazak
Vancouver Sun

Root vegetables get chop from in-flight meals

By Lee Wen-yi

Monday, Jun 01, 2009,

In line with the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) new policy on special meals, starting today, the nation’s airlines will not include root vegetables in their in-flight Asian vegetarian meals.

According to new standards for in-flight dining set by IATA, airlines will no longer be allowed to include root vegetables such as potatoes and yams in such meals.

Liu Tsan-hsiung (劉燦雄), a chef for EVA Airways, said that airlines have set their own standards for special in-flight meals, and this was the first time that IATA had conducted a major overhaul of standard ingredients to be used in special meals.

Although the guidelines are not mandatory, each airline generally follows standards provided by IATA.

Liu said he did not understand why root vegetables had been prohibited from standard Asian vegetarian meals.

It is possible that the measure was intended to cater for Jains.

Jainism is an ancient Indian religion whose followers are strict vegetarians and are also forbidden from eating root vegetables.

Liu said that without root vegetables, “the traditional Taiwanese meal would lose its flavor.”

He said he would observe reaction to the new vegetarian meals to decide if he should recommend that IATA change its policy.