06/05/10 VeggieFair in Zagreb
Health food fair on the occasion of the World Environment Day
- Animal Friends invites to tasting of "green" food in the center of Zagreb
On King Tomislav Square in Zagreb on Saturday, June 5, starting from 10:00 A.M. Animal Friends organizes the health food VeggieFair in order to make residents acquainted with the offer and the advantages of healthy, meatless foods and products. On the VeggieFair ten exhibitors will be present with plenty of fruits, vegetables and legumes, and the visitors will also have the opportunity of tasting veggie products such as seitan (wheat meat), tofu (soy cheese), salamis, sausages, burgers, and many other delicious foods. Apart from food tasting and special offers, the citizens will get various free info and promotional materials. The petition for an introduction of vegetarian meals into public institutions can also be signed on the fair.
Every day we hear about the danger of the ecological crises. It is precisely on the occasion of the World Environment Day that the direct link between meatless nutrition and the protection of our environment shall be pointed out. According to a report from 2006 issued by the UN-FAO, the meat industry has more impact on global warming than the traffic on the entire planet. People are getting anxious about their personal carbon footprints thus cutting back on car journeys and so on; but they may not realize that changing what's on their plate could have an even bigger effect.
Last year a big event called "Less Meat = Less Heat" on global warming and sustainable nutrition policies took place in the European Parliament, where the president of the Intergovernmental Group on Climate Change Dr Rajendra K. Pachauri and environmental activist Sir Paul McCartney asked law makers and experts to focus on the consequences of the meat industry on climate change, and offered a solution, and that is eat less or no meat.
A vegetarian diet helps diminish world hunger. In the leading countries of the West, around 80% of produced grain is used to feed animals. Most of the poorest countries produce grains for export to the West, since it needs huge quantities of grain to feed farm animals, instead of feeding the starving people.
A meatless diet helps in the prevention of various diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity. Today, every second citizen of Croatia dies of cardiovascular diseases, which could be prevented by healthy nutrition in more than 90% of cases.
There is an increasing number of people who reject meat for reasons of compassion. According to the latest survey, there are more than 150,000 vegetarians in Croatia, and this number is steadily increasing. The basis of ethical vegetarianism is the understanding that all living beings have emotions and that these emotions are very similar to ours, as well as the irrefutable fact that meat is not a necessary part of human nutrition.
Mora info available at www.vegan.hr, hence for now only in Croatian language.
