SAVE ME

PLEASE KEEP ME OFF YOUR PLATE


Editor’s
note
A
ustralia, and in particular, New
South Wales, as well as north-
west Victoria and eastern South
Australia, have been experiencing
a lengthy, arduous drought this year
thanks to a warmer than usual autumn
with below average rainfall.
Heart-breaking images have been
painted in the media (and it’s usually a
farmer surrounded by baby farm animals
or the farmer’s children cuddling baby
farm animals) proclaiming despair at the
fact that due to the drought, the animals
may have to be shot to end their suffering.
And all to tug at the heartstrings of the
general public.
And yet they have no problems sending
them off to slaughter where they are
petrified, abused, tortured and killed in
the most unimaginably cruel way. Yet they
can’t shoot them because it’s cruel. Yes,
they have to feed their family and employ
millions of people, but what they should
be receiving funding for is to transition
into sustainable and cruelty-free industries.
Not to temporarily save their animals so
they can make money off them and then
send them off to suffer even more than
getting shot in the head.
When will people stop believing this
propaganda and realise it’s not the
animals that farmers care about, it’s the
money they will lose.
Their incomes are based on murdering
and torturing animals, plus providing
rotting flesh to the public that causes
cancer and a myriad of other diseases.
I went into my local CBA recently and
noticed flyers for cancer and a check list
on how to prevent cancer. I thought how
wonderful that my bank was educating
the public on a health issue. But then I
scanned my eye over the list and was
disappointed, although not surprised,
that meat and dairy were not listed. It’s
Michaela.G
ON THE COVER
Avocado smoothies.
Source: depositphotos.
such a shame that this information is still
being denied and hidden from the public.
Then I noticed a money tin asking people
to donate to farmers. Fantastic for those
who are growing healthy produce and fruit
and vegetables, but how paradoxical to be
on the one hand (half) educating people
about cancer and then encouraging them
to put their dollars into industries that
cause the cancer in the first place.
Over the last several months farmers
have been receiving an outpouring of money
from the community and the government,
with the catchphrase “Save A Farmer” now
a norm. But not all farm animals are being
looked after this way. Australia’s farm
animal sanctuaries are going without and
they need your help now more than ever
before (p12). Why isn’t the plight of the
farm animal sanctuaries also plastered all
over the media if it’s all about how the
drought is affecting animals? They are also
experiencing the same hardships as the
farmers in feeding their animals and
providing them with water. Which just
proves the financial assistance has nothing
to do with animal welfare and all to do
with business income interruption. Although
no other business sectors are afforded
this type of assistance. The agriculture
industry has infiltrated every sector of
society including the government which
is why the federal government has now
decided that they want to go to bat for
farmers to stop the use of words “milk”
and “meat” on plant-based foods. But
that’s another story entirely, so keep
a lookout for more on this in the
next issue... Enjoy!
EDITOR/GRAPHIC DESIGNER/SALES
Michaela Gainey
CONTRIBUTORS
Penny Rowe
Gemma Davies
Greg McFarlane
Mark Pearson
Anita Ahmadizadeh
Farshid Ahmadizadeh
Lisa Blair
Rebecca Burnett
Nadia Fragnito
Omanisa Ross
Dr Lea Merone
Amanda Rose
Roshni Sethuraman
Clare Mann
Yvonne O’Halloran
Dr Ash Nayate
PUBLISHER
The Australian Vegan Magazine
(ABN: 62 943 671 542)
COPY
The next copy deadline for contributors
is Monday, 19 November 2018
ADVERTISING
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Monday, 3 December 2018.
For advertising please email
sales@tavm.com.au.
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WARNERS BAY NSW 2282
editor@tavm.com.au.
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www.tavm.com.au
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information supplied to The
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in interviews and articles, is correct and
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the full extent of the law, for information
which proves inaccurate.
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The publisher takes no responsibility
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Vegan Magazine in Letters to the Editor.
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and opinions.
 Contents
NOV/DEC 2018
ON THE COVER
16 Making veganism the norm
Asking people to go vegan isn’t as easy
as you may think. This is due to our
“culture”. But we can change the culture
and normalise veganism instead.
30 20 The cost of hiding the truth
That hamburger will not only cost you
a few dollars. A frightening picture is
painted when we look at the REAL
value of your choices.
92 Are you a happy activist?
Fighting for animals can sometimes take its
toll. Learn how to be a happy and healthy
animal activist.
94 Plant-based pregnancy
A vegan diet is a great choice for mum and
growing baby, but a little nutritional
66 knowledge during this time goes a long way.
96 Talking to kids about animal cruelty
Your child’s readiness to learn about
animal cruelty will depend on their
personality, as well as their age.
WHAT’S ON WHERE
06 What’s on where
Animal Rights Vegan Outreach Unity
March; Dominion Screening with Guest
Speakers That Vegan Couple; Cruelty-Free
Festival; Queanbeyan VeganFest; Vegan
Affair Christmas; Vegan Christmas Market;
88 Ballarat Vegan Festival; Compassionate
Living Vegan Markets Summer Vibe.
CONVERSATION
08 But what about plants?
We’ve all heard that frustrating question
about plants having feelings. But have you
considered an appropriate response?
09 “Exotic” leathers: the ugly truth
Designer brands “exotic” leathers touted
as “cool and not cruel” perpetuate double
standards when it comes to animal cruelty.
96
IN THE NEWS
10 PETA’s hottest vegans crowned
Meet the 2018 winners of PETA Australia’s
hottest vegans competition.
12 These sanctuaries need your help
Farmers have received a windfall of money
from the community and the government.
But farm animal sanctuaries are going without. 
13 Quitting plastic is easy
BioPak Compost Service is leading the way
in helping communities reduce plastic waste.
POLITICS
14 Amendment to animal research bill
introduced
Animal Justice Party introduces
amendment to animal research bill as a
step in the right direction.
PROFILE
24 Fighting fires and animal cruelty
This vegan firefighter is also burning up
the athletic track.
28 Shining the light to inspire others
Loren Lembke has had a full and rich life,
albeit not one without struggles, and she
wants to share her wisdom with others
through her new book.
30
Proving vegans can be healthy
and strong
Veganism has given this bodybuilder
strength, happiness and good health.
32 It’s all in the family
From humble beginnings experimenting
in the kitchen, this family has grown to be
one of the biggest contenders in the vegan
market. And it’s all from the heart.
36 SBS serves up vegan
Italian vegan Nadia Fragnito was surprised
to find herself competing on The Chef’s
Line, and she enjoyed every bit of it.
ON THE MENU
34 Superfoods 4 super kids

 Backyard bugs.......................................34
Monster pasta........................................34
The little rascal burger............................35
The windmill...........................................35

38 Vegan on the go
Creamy berry-full polenta.......................38
Antipasto chop salad..............................40
Blueberry zucchini breakfast cookies.......41
Asparagus omelette in a bag...................42
Campfire banana splits...........................44
Coconut BLT + P.....................................45
Cauliflower curry grill with yoghurt..........46
Fried rice with cashew nuts.....................48
BBQ “pulled” jackfruit sandwich.............50
Broccoli cakes with avocado salad..........52
Andalucian asparagus salad...................54
Popsticker noodles.................................56

58 Can’t believe it’s vegan

“Egg” salad............................................58
Panzanella............................................60
“Beef” bourguignon...............................62
Ze German potato...................................64
“Beef” stroganoff...................................66
“Fish” and chips with tartare sauce........68
Nachos with spicy black beans...............70
Kentucky fried chick’n.............................72
Gluten-free mud cake cups.....................74

HEALTH Lifestyle
76 Modern day carbophobia
The amount of carbs in your diet matters

24
less than the type.

84 Pacific Island’s “climate refugeeism”

Switching your diet could avoid global
catastrophe.

88 Changing your habits and routine

Too many look for the “quick fix” rather
than changing their habits long term.

90 Fast your way to a vegan lifestyle

The best way to transition is with a good
old fast to rid your body of cravings and
addictions to unhealthy foods. Fighting fires & animal cruelty
 what’s on
what’s on
where
NOVEMBER
ANIMAL RIGHTS VEGAN
OUTREACH UNITY MARCH
Saturday, 17 November,
10.30am
Queens Gardens Brisbane, QLD
Coast To Coast Animal Friends
and Vegetarian and Vegan
Society of Queensland will unite
forces and invite the public
to rally in unity for animal
rights and vegan outreach
on Saturday, 17 November.
The march will be against all
forms of oppression with no
exceptions or excuses defined
by speciesism. All beings
deserve the right to be free
from exploitation, pain, fear
and suffering. All life should
be respected regardless of
species. All lives deserve more
and should not be defined as
just someone’s consumable or
for any form of entertainment.
The march will be advocating
against all forms of animal
cruelty for food, entertainment,
research, fashion and sport.
Come as a team wearing your
logo and sharing your message
or design your own campaign
6 the australian vegan magazine
and banner. Come in animal
onesies and be colourful, bold
and bright but be present.
The rally will include inspiring
guest speakers, a vegan lunch
and music. For details go
to facebook.com/events/
198708197404655./
DOMINION SCREENING
WITH GUEST SPEAKERS
THAT VEGAN COUPLE
Saturday, 17 November,
5pm - 8.30pm
Woodside Community Centre,
Discovery Dr & Gardenia Pde,
North Lakes, QLD
Dominion is an Australian
documentary recently filmed
exposing the dark underbelly
of modern animal agriculture
through drones, and hidden
and handheld cameras. The
feature-length film explores
the morality and validity of
our dominion over the animal
kingdom. There is no doubt
that your life will change for the
better after watching this film.
Please go along and see the
truth for yourself and encourage
others to join you. Natasha
and Luca also known as ‘That
CRUELTY-FREE FESTIVAL
Sunday, 11 November,
The Venue, Alexandria, NSW
The Cruelty-Free Festival
provides a full day of activities
and entertainment to delight
everyone who loves animals.
The festival showcases the
groups giving a voice to
animals, alongside inspiring
advocates and innovative
businesses creating inspiration
Vegan Couple’ have been kind
enough to agree to do a talk
and a Q & A at this event.
Duration: 120 minutes. Rating:
MA15+. Buy free tickets at
eventbrite.com.au.
QUEANBEYAN VEGANFEST
Sunday, 25 November,
10am - 5pm
Queanbeyan, ACT
Join in the fun, and festival
food and drinks, alongside a
curated ethical market at
the first annual VeganFest
in Queanbeyan. For more
information go to facebook.
com/VeganFestQBN/.
DECEMBER
VEGAN AFFAIR CHRISTMAS
Sunday, 2 December,
11am - 4pm
Serafino Wines, 39 Kangarilla
Rd, McLaren Vale, SA
and options for vegan and
cruelty-free living. There will
be a huge range of delicious
food and drink stalls, cruelty-
free merchandise, animal
advocacy and rescue groups,
film screenings, directors’
Q & A sessions, kids animal
activities corner, major raffle
prizes, DJs and more. Children
under 12 are free. For details
visit crueltyfreefestival.org.au.
This will be a great vegan
Christmas event with lots of
fantastic vegan businesses
to browse for gifts, cooking
demonstrations, workshops,
live music, wine, food trucks
and much more. Browse
through the market knowing
that everything is cruelty-free
and you can have a vegan
Christmas with ease.
VEGAN CHRISTMAS MARKET
Sunday, 9 December,
10am - 5pm
Deakin Edge, Federation
Square, 1 Flinders St,
Melbourne, VIC
Hosted by Boho Luxe Market,
this Christmas edition of the
markets will be also showcasing
everything ethical, sustainable,
upcycled and 100 per cent
vegan. You’ll also get to enjoy
the glamping display from
Happy Glamper and chat to
them about your next glamping
escape. There will be healings
 what’s on
All events are taken from
Vegan Australia’s events page
at veganaustralia.org.au/
events. See their website for
these and many more events
around Australia.

and readings on offer to look

after your mind, body and
soul through the crew from
Soul Star Events. You can also
visit the braid bar and massage
area in the Sacred Space. Just
remember to bring your own
shopping bags as the organisers
want to encourage cutting out
the use of all plastic bags. COMPASSIONATE LIVING Botanical, Chef Na’s Plant
VEGAN MARKETS SUMMER Based Kitchen, Cherry Jam’s
VIBES Coffee Van, Coco Joes Vegan
JANUARY in Ballarat, Victoria. The
Saturday, 15 December,
4.30pm - 8.30pm
Ice cream, Kind Choices,
Larrykin Dog Treats, Ru’s
aim is to raise awareness of Langwarrin Community Centre Veggie Kitchen, Scarlett Vegan
BALLARAT VEGAN FESTIVAL
compassionate choices through 2-6 Lang Rd, Langwarrin, VIC Bags, Sniffy Scents, Soul
Thursday, 10 January to
activities that promote kindness The Compassionate Living Quest Therapies, Taprobane
Sunday 13, January 2019
to all of the creatures we share Vegan Markets are back again Tea, That Vegan Hairdresser,
Ballarat, VIC
the planet with. For more to welcome summer and the The Fermented Mumma,
The Ballarat Vegan Festival
information go to facebook. festive season. Stalls already The Scent Dispenser, Velvety,
will be a week-long series of
com/ballaratveganfestival/. booked in are Aliki Veggie Bags, Wozwaste, Zero Foods, and
vegan-themed events based
AVS Organic Foods, Brodie Ziel Essence.

the australian vegan magazine 7

 conversation
BUT WHAT ABOUT
PLANTS?
W
hen non-vegans aren’t
worrying about your
protein intake or
hypothesising about the
planet being overrun by all
the animals that are no longer being eaten,
they may ask you about the welfare of the
plants being eaten in those animals’ stead.
You may be tempted to dismiss such
concerns as insincere, but this article seeks
to engage with those who raise it and offer
fellow vegans a suitable response when the
rights of plants are raised.
While controversial, the idea that plants
possess intelligence has inspired humanity
for eons. Animistic cultures from millennia
ago might well feel vindicated by the
scientists and philosophers cited in Richard
Mabey’s The Cabaret of Plants: Forty
Thousand Years of Plant Life and the
Human Imagination, a book dedicated to
celebrating the astonishing abilities of
these ‘autonomous organisms’. Some of
these abilities are truly enviable. For
example, body regeneration, long distance
sex, and harmonious symbiosis.
And in Brilliant Green: The Surprising
History and Science of Plant Intelligence
2nd Edition, Stefano Mancuso and
Alessandra Viola passionately argue that
plants’ intelligence is enormously
underestimated due to human hubris.
Neurobiologists contend that plants
process information, sleep,
8 the australian vegan magazine
remember and communicate. Not in the
way we do, of course, and herein may lie diet obviates this loss, as far
another form of “speciesism”. fewer plants need to be eaten directly to
Less controversial, although not always reach our nutritional and satiety needs.
apparent to everyone, is humanity’s So, the next time someone queries
absolute reliance on plants for survival. veganism’s claim to harmlessness, it
Our ecosystem could not support might be worth agreeing with them. We
mammalian life if it weren’t for the plants can all do more to reduce our impact on a
and algae that produce the oxygen we stressed environment, whether it’s in waste
breathe, and the calories we rely on to fuel prevention, sourcing more local, chemical-
our metabolism. While it may never be free and sustainably-grown produce, or
comprehensively demonstrated that plants in giving back by bush conservation,
have feelings, it can be convincingly argued planting programs, and composting our
that they are worthy of our conservation scraps to provide nutrition to our
and respect. herbaceous cousins.
Edgar’s Mission’s call to veganism, “If However, you can equally present the
we could live happy and healthy lives with- case for a vegan diet as being the only
out harming others...why wouldn’t we?” is legitimate way we can remain nourished,
an excellent tenet from which to explore while causing the least amount of
the idea of plant suffering. If plants do violence to plants.
experience something like sentience, how By Penny Rowe
can we best respond? We can neither live
happily nor healthily without eating them...
and here’s where the non-vegan objection
to a plant-based diet comes unstuck.
Meat and dairy eaters do not
recognise that their diet is also
plant-derived, albeit in a hugely
wasteful way, resulting in the
suffering of many more plants, as
well as animals.
The “feed to food loss” describes
the huge volume of plant lives lost
in the growth of one animal
destined for slaughter. Farmed
animals consume many
more plants than humans
in Australia, eating twice
as much grain. A vegan

“EXOTIC” LEATHERS: the ugly truth
H
ow we define beauty is a complex
issue we as a society come up
against at every corner. Curves or
skinny? Pale or dark? The confines
of what we’re told we should look like to
be beautiful are fickle but can invade
subconscious parts of us at all stages of
life and affect many aspects from our
self-worth to the clothes we choose to wear -
and inadvertently, the industries we
then choose to support.
As little girls we are raised with our
mother’s handbags and shoes being places
of never-ending discovery; we grow as
teenagers reading magazines littered with
advertisements with these accessories, and
then as adults we are influenced to feel
pretty and successful if we acquire the
most recent designer goods.
Yes, the leather goods.
We have equated leather with fashion
and luxury for so many years that it’s one
of those beliefs that seeps into our core
acceptances, one that we don’t question…
that is, until the day we do.
The day we realise that sporting the skin
of an animal killed against his or her will,
and most likely lived a life of suffering, isn’t
very kind. And suddenly, that leather
handbag doesn’t feel as uplifting anymore.
Suddenly, or perhaps gradually, we challenge
the status quo that someone’s flesh makes
for something pretty and wanted. What
was sort-after becomes revolting and
heart-breaking. What was a sign of cool
becomes a signal of cruelty.
Maybe before the point of seeing all leather
as unkind, we notice the slaughter of the
endangered, exotic animals as wrong. We
get fired up when we see the hunter posing
pridefully, but five minutes later pull on our
shoes that were also taken from a living
soul. Does this mean we only have the scope
to care about animals when they are limited
in number? If there were millions of lions
would we stop caring? Or is it because they
are “exotic” in nature that we care? If this
is the case, would wearing “exotic leather
goods” be more or less fashionable? Where
do we draw the line on what species we
are happy to slaughter and skin?
Then there are the animals that come
under the exotic leather bracket that are
apparently “cool and not cruel” and used
in luxury designer brands, with their hand-
bags worth tens of thousands of dollars
using the dead skins from; crocodiles,
snakes, lizards, and kangaroos… yet when
we look into their industries they are riddled
with suffering and animal right issues too.
These animals are forced to endure lives -
and deaths - that match that of the lions,
if not worse.
The Australian crocodile industry is worth
about $30 million a year with the skin of the
crocodiles worth up to $1,000 each when
not marked. We are killing approximately
65,000 per year in the 14 farms running,
many owned by designer brands such as
Hermès and Louis Vuitton.
To breed the crocodiles, the farms either
use captive breeding or ranching, also known
as wild harvesting, where they are taken
from the wild and then raised and killed in
captivity, but both mean raiding nests to
take the mother’s eggs.
Crocodiles are still classified as a
vulnerable species in Queensland after
the history of our mass slaughtering of
them, and their numbers are only at around
20,000 in the wild, and so no wild
harvesting is permitted. In the Northern
Territory, where croc numbers are estimated
at between 80,000 and 100,000, they’re
taking 25,000 to 30,000 eggs out of
the wild every year under a “licensed,
sustainable system”.
Any past history of “sustainable hunting
systems” within any species, apart from
when the hunting was done by Aboriginals
and not for profit, would indicate that they
are anything but sustainable in the long run.
And since the Northern Territory government
is set to increase the number of eggs to be
collected from the wild up to 100,000, it is
a good demonstration of what happens
when you put a dollar sign on an animal’s
head. As demand increases, so does the
number we are allowed to kill - and
therefore profit from.
Once hatched in the crocodile farms, they
are forced to extremely high density living, in
barren cages with little or no mud or grass
for them to hide in, normally concrete pens
lined with blue plastic so not to mark their
tummies (crocodiles in the wild live over 70
years, with a two kilometre radius from
each other). They are then isolated in single
pens for the last year of their life to avoid
blemishes. These pens are tiny and
extremely cruel.
There is also the issue of raising any
animal in captivity - that you need to feed
them. Crocodiles being carnivores means
you must kill animals to feed animals. Most
of the farms feed the crocs a mix of red
meat and chicken heads and some shoot
the “pest” animals on the Australian land
to feed them - pests such as camels, wild
pigs and horses. Both are detrimental to
the environment, whether it be by using the
resources to grow the livestock to feed the
crocs or if it is by hunting the wild animals
on the land.
The industry applauds itself for increasing
the number of crocodiles in Australia after
we almost killed them into extinction, like
many other species. Laura Weyman-Jones,
conversation
PETA Australia spokesperson disagrees.
“Catching and breeding native animals only
to slaughter them for their skin is hardly
conservation. The rise in the population of
saltwater crocodiles is thanks to the hunting
ban - not because people decided they could
profit from farming and skinning them.”
Kangaroos are another example of an
“accepted exotic leather”. While kangaroos
cannot be farmed as they die of a stress
myopathy disease, they are always killed in
the wild. Kangaroos are slaughtered in the
millions every year and sold for pet and
human food. Their skin is used in products
like sports shoes, cars and motorcycle
gloves. Gucci also continued its support of
using “exotic” animals with its popular
kangaroo-lined loafer in the last few years.
They are shot in the outback at night and
while the government claims the industry is
regulated, it is very hard to see what really
goes on when the hunts take place in such
isolated locations. The kangaroos that are
shot anywhere but the head can just be
left to die and no one is any the wiser. Any
female kangaroos that are killed will have
collateral damage in the form of joeys, whom
are then “disposed” of by being bashed over
the skull or left to die slowly in the elements.
So, the hunters aim to kill the big males,
who have the most skin, and can get the
hunters the bigger bucks, around $30 dollars.
While not common in Australia, snake
skins are the other obvious “acceptable”
exotic leather - specifically python skins.
Approximately 500,000 skins are now
imported legally from south-east Asia into
Europe each year, where they are turned into
designer accessories. Gucci has a python
farm in Thailand in an attempt to make it
a more sustainable, regulated industry. But
you have to question if using skins is the
way to do this and if marketing with the key
words such as ‘sustainable’ and ‘regulated’,
makes it so? Certainly, it is time as a society
that we challenge the idea of beauty - and
that something, and someone, is beautiful
because of more than just what the outer
looks like. Even a handbag can be ugly if its
exterior got the way it did through causing
pain and suffering.
Society sometimes has split personality
disorder when it comes to the murdering of
animals and choosing whose life we value
over whose skin we put a monetary value
on. It is hard to run from the photos we see
of the hunted wilder beasts, of the slumping
lifeless body, the blood, and the triumphant
look of the hunter. It is time to see the
leather handbag and shoes in the same
manner, no matter how polished the finished
product - exotic or not.
#Ethicalisthenewblack.
By Gemma Davis
the australian vegan magazine 9
in the news

PETA’s 2018 hottest Kelly

Vegans CROWNED Benson

O
ut of scores of entries came
eight finalists from across
the country, but there were
two who stood out with
their impressive combination
of charm, activism and compassion
for animals.
Kelly Benson, a semi-professional
rugby player hailing from Newcastle,
NSW, transformed his health and
appearance when he started eating vegan
to cure his sleep apnoea, inflammation,
and skin problems.
“[Eating vegan] has been vital for my
performance and recovery [while] playing
rugby league semi-professionally. But
primarily, it’s best for the animals, the
environment, and for people’s health ….
I’ve planted many seeds in minds of footy
mates in my team about [the] benefits
of a plant-based diet. I get asked a lot
of questions about what I consume to
maintain muscle and strength.”
He has received a three-month Vegan
Kaz
Mystery Box
Quinn
subscription
from The
Cruelty-Free
Shop, a
12-month
subscription to
The Australian
Vegan Magazine,
and a six-week online
vegan wellness course with
health coach Paige Renshaw of
The Whole Connection.
Veterinary nurse Kaz Quinn has made
a career out of caring for animals and
when she’s not befriending dogs at her
clinic in Townsville, QLD, she’s using her
many animal tattoos as “conversation
starters” to help people understand why
animals should be kept off our plates.
Kaz’s prize includes a three-month
Vegan Mystery Box subscription from
The Cruelty-Free Shop, a 12-month
subscription to The Australian Vegan
Magazine, a Luna
& Soul Active yoga set,
and a Holster shoe voucher.
Both Kelly and Kaz are living
proof that a clear conscience and a
compassionate heart are the hidden
ingredients of hotness. So many people
have been inspired by their integrity
and vitality to try vegan.
PETA is thrilled for their two wonderful
victors - but of course, to animals,
everyone who makes the compassionate
switch to eating vegan is a winner. If
Kelly and Kaz’s stories have inspired you,
try going vegan for yourself.
Laura Weyman-Jones, PETA Australia

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10 t h e australian vegan magazine

 in the news
Farm animal sanctuaries
NEED YOUR HELP
T
he drought in Australia is causing
widespread suffering in many
parts of the country. Nearly all
of New South Wales and most of
Queensland is in drought, with
other states also being affected. The many
farmed animal sanctuaries in Australia are
among those being hit hard by the lack of
water and grass.
Farmed animal sanctuaries can be found
in nearly all states of Australia. They are
run by incredibly hardworking and dedicated
people who care for animals rescued from
horrific conditions in the animal agriculture
industries, and who look after them for the
rest of their lives.
The sanctuaries give a home for life to
thousands of animals, including cows,
sheep, pigs, goats, chickens and turkeys.
They are also places where people can
become familiar with farmed animals as
individuals and to learn each animal’s
unique (and often traumatic) story. Some
sanctuaries have open days where you are
welcome to come and meet the animals
and enjoy some delicious vegan food.
Larger rescues care for hundreds of
animals, with some being bigger than the
average farming business in their area.
The drought is affecting them in a number
of ways: there is little or no grass in the
paddocks, dams are running dry, and
prices of hay, feed and water are increasing
dramatically. Hay is now becoming very
hard to find.
Queenie with her fo
rever friends at
Whisker Woods Sanc
tuary eating hay fro
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ught with donations
m as jus falo Greg w
. Menag iny calf - at rescued
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Bro w
James ry. He’s enjo ions.
a
Sanctu help of don
e
12 t h e australian vegan magazine with th
Although many sanctuaries
are struggling with the drought
conditions, they are unable to
access any of the over one billion
dollars of government drought
assistance, nor do they get help from
fundraising campaigns such as Buy A
Bale or Fiver for a Farmer. They miss out
because they are not raising the animals
for primary industry. But they still have
animals to feed. That’s why they need
help from people like you right now.
Vegan Australia has launched the Save
A Sanctuary Drought Appeal. Every dollar
raised is used to help animals with food,
water, vet fees and other essentials.
Response to the appeal has been
amazing, with over $10,000 raised in the
first week and almost $30,000 raised at
the time of writing. This is being distributed
to sanctuaries most in need.
Vegan Australia has been in touch with
many of these sanctuaries and all have
said they are being affected by the drought
either directly or by higher feed prices.
This is a difficult time for all, especially
those who have gone into personal debt
to make sure animals in their care are
fed and looked after. In some cases, the
drought has caused extreme financial
and emotional distress.
While the appeal has been very
successful so far, we need to keep on
helping. The drought is not over and no
one knows when it will break. Sanctuaries
Water
buf
tat
erie.
ak
Little O ught
b y
cu e d
as res g some hay
bo
yin
at
The land at Little Oak Sanctuary was
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suffering from
prolonged dry weather conditions
are running short of food and finding it
very hard to source due to shortages and
rising prices.
We estimate the extra costs to
sanctuaries caused by the drought is a
staggering $50,000 per month. The Save
A Sanctuary Appeal will remain open until
the rains come and the drought breaks.
You can help these sanctuaries get
through this difficult time by donating now.
All your money will go to help animals and
the funds will be distributed according to
the immediate needs of the sanctuaries.
We are also looking for major sponsors
to get behind this appeal. Please contact
us if you know of any businesses,
benefactors or philanthropists who would
like to help. While drought assistance is
well supported by the public, very little
is directed to sanctuaries who look after
their rescued animals for life.
Please donate now to saveasanctuary.
com.au.
Greg McFarlane, Vegan Australia
as
Marid
an's
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pre g n a d and
Bessie was S a n c tu a ry with Blesse
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y die
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A
recent War on Waste episode
broadcast by the ABC featured
BioPak compostable bioplastic
BioCups as a solution Kiama High
School canteen are implementing
to divert waste from landfill, and avoiding
the use of conventional plastic. What if more
institutions switched from conventional
plastic cups to compostable bioplastic cups?
Some alarming details are reported in
The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the
Future of Plastics, a report written by
Project MainStream. Among the more
notable points are:
• Today, 95 per cent of plastic packaging
material value, or $80 billion to $120
billion annually, is lost to the economy
after a short first use.
• An overwhelming 72 per cent of plastic
packaging is not recovered at all: 40
per cent is landfilled, and 32 per cent
leaks out of the collection system - that
is, either it’s not collected at all, or it’s
collected but then illegally dumped or
mismanaged.
Are you as vegan as
you think you are?
Your super could be
invested in animal cruelty.
crueltyfreesuper.com.au
Disclaimer: Interests in Cruelty Free Super are issued by Diversa Trustees Limited (ABN 49006421638, AFSL 235153)
as part of the Grosvenor Pirie Master Superannuation Fund – Series 2 (ABN 32367272075). Advertisement placed by
Future Super Asset Management (ABN 81002558956, AFSL 238184) as promoter of Cruelty Free Super fund.
• i ,
there may be more plastic
Cali Press and
than fish in the ocean, by
organic waste bi
weight, by 2050. Even by
2025, the ratio of plastic
to fish in the ocean is expected to be
one to three, with plastic in the ocean
forecast to grow to 250 million tonnes.
In the recent episode, host Craig
Reucassel investigated organics waste
collection as a viable solution for diverting
waste from landfill, reducing methane gas
emissions, recovering resources to generate Reucassel said, “I think it's a bit
economic value, and creating jobs.
The episode highlighted Kiama High
School’s efforts to reduce waste by
introducing BioPak compostable packaging
as a more sustainable option for single-use
disposables in the school canteen.
The BioPak Compost Service is available entrepreneurs alike are in the best position
in nine major cities in Australia and New
Zealand and diverted 90 tonnes of waste
from landfill in six months. It also prevents
167 tonnes of carbon emissions from
being created.
their food scraps
and
n. Photo by Bio
Pak.
War
On Waste has always
encouraged Australians to be conscious of
their consumption habits and take matters
into their own hands, rather than rely on
governments to clean up our act. In a
recent War On Waste Q & A episode, host
hypocritical to kind of go, ‘Government,
you sort it out. I won’t change until you
do it’”.
While public policymakers are still trying
to assess what’s wrong with recycling
programs, large corporations and small
to take the lead. The BioPak Compost
Service is an example of taking matters
into our own hands and proving the model
can work.
AAP
the australian vegan magazine 13
 I
n June, the
Animal Justice
Party introduced
the Animal
Research Amendment
(Reduction in Deaths of Dogs and Cats
Used for Research) Bill. If passed, it will
save the lives of approximately 1,000
dogs and cats that are routinely killed after
being used in non-lethal research each year
in New South Wales. At present, once
these animals are no longer required for
research purposes, they are killed with
with reforms made in other jurisdictions.
In the United States, New York, California,
Nevada, Connecticut, Minnesota and
Illinois have all passed legislation
providing that dogs and cats used in
research facilities must first be offered
to rescue centres before the option of
killing can be considered.
Experiments on animals are cruel,
expensive and represent an outdated 19th
century approach to science and medicine.
There are now far more sophisticated
predictors of human health outcomes. The
to live with us and to trust us with their
lives and wellbeing.
The object of this bill is to amend the
Animal Research Act 1985, requiring
research establishments to take all
reasonable steps to home a dog or a cat
that is no longer required for research
purposes unless a vet has determined that
the dog or cat is not suitable for homing.
Such reasonable steps include socialising
or training the dog or cat to ensure that
they are suitable for homing, and giving
animal rehoming groups the opportunity

POLITICS
an intravenous barbiturate overdose. alternatives include in vitro tests using to find homes for these cats and dogs.
Sadly, the effects of the experimentation human cells and tissues, in silico modelling Undoubtedly, some research is so
may mean that there is no alternative for using advanced computer modelling invasive and so traumatic to both body
these exploited animals other than to be techniques, and far more relevant studies and spirit that the dog or cat must be
put to death. However, if this is not the with actual human volunteers. euthanised. Humane Research Australia
case, the Animal Justice Party wants these Government statistics reveal that more has detailed experiments on greyhounds
companion animals to be afforded the than six million animals (mostly rats and where researchers deliberately asphyxiated
opportunity to be homed by animal rescue mice) are used every year in Australia for dogs for 30 minutes to cause the loss of
organisations. The bill uses the word medical research, experiments and surgical function of the heart and lungs. The hearts
“homed” rather than “rehomed” skills training. While the Animal Justice were then surgically removed and preserved
because the lives that Party would like to see all these animals for four hours, after which period heart
dogs and cats spared from invasive and cruel transplantation was performed and the
experience in these experimentation, this bill is only the dogs’ recovery was assessed. Those that
facilities cannot, beginning of a more enlightened recovered were then killed.
in any way, be approach to animal experimentation. Beagles are known for their placid natures
described as It is a welfare-focused approach to and are often bred for sale to research
homes. those animals that have facilities. They are used to test medical or
The bill been domesticated for pharmaceutical items, household products,
provides thousands of years cosmetics and for veterinary training. Not
a second all beagles die as a result of the experiments
chance at conducted on them, and they can languish
life for cats for years in sterile cages, waiting for the
and dogs next round of research to begin. Once their
held in usefulness comes to an end, they’re killed.
research The Animal Research Act was passed
establish- more than 30 years ago and was in
ments response to the first stirring of the animal
and rights movement in challenging the ethics
is in of keeping and using animals for medical
line and scientific research. This amendment
bill is another step forward in improving
animal wellbeing and protection.
Apart from ensuring that research
establishments assist in the homing
of cats and dogs after the non-lethal
research ends, there will also be time
limits placed on how long an animal
can be kept for research purposes.
This is a modest, uncontroversial
reform with a simple mechanism
that has the potential to save the
lives of thousands of otherwise
healthy companion animals.

14 t h e australian vegan magazine

WWW.NATURESCHARMVEGANPRODUCTS.COM NATURESCHARMVEGAN @NATURESCHARM
 the big issue
Food, culture and
socialisation
Asking your family and friends to become vegan may mean more to them than just giving up
“meat” and “dairy”. It’s the images of family Sunday roasts and a sense of belonging that is
attached to these foods that becomes the real challenge. But we can change the culture and
normalise veganism instead. By Anita Ahmadizadeh (BA(S.Sc). MS.Sc).
V
eganism is intrinsically linked
with identity, and when someone
identifies as vegan, it often forms
a crucial part of who they are.
We all have many ‘identity links’ that
join together to make us unique; things
such as gender, culture, sexuality, music
preference, interests, and dress style.
However, food is often overlooked when
talking about identity, and yet it is so
deeply embedded within us that the simple
act of becoming vegan can inspire a
complete overhaul of self-identity or even
an identity crisis.
Although veganism is about so much
more than just food, it is food choice that
is often seen as the primary marker of a
vegan, and it is the typical starting point.
We eat to live, to nourish our bodies and
to satisfy our hunger, but food is not merely
fuel for our body. It represents our culture,
our beliefs, our values and our sense of
belonging. Food is central to family, to
celebration and to community, and this is
why it is essential to understand it as
being more than a simple food choice.
In deepening our understanding of food,
we can start to create new meaning, shift
beliefs and make a lasting change towards
a peaceful world.
Early food socialisation
When parents begin to feed their
children, they start the process of food
socialisation, and they set their baby up for
a life-long relationship with food. ‘Cultural
construction’ is a term used in social
science to describe the way that meaning
is created through information sharing,
rather than something being a rock solid
fact. The beliefs we hold are not necessarily
true, or even right, but common beliefs will
be understood as the truth, and this feels
very real to the people who hold that belief.
Ideas such as “we need meat for protein” is
an example of such beliefs that have been
culturally-constructed, but not necessarily
true. And yet they are widely accepted as
the truth. This is a critical point in under-
standing why it can be so difficult to talk
to people about veganism. The cultural
construction of food beliefs begin in infancy
16 t h e australian vegan magazine
as parents start to teach meaning, and as
a baby grows, the teaching and learning
process ripples out to the extended family,
friendships and then into the broader
community. For a baby, food is symbolic of
love and nurturing from their parents; food
is comfort and excitement, and food is fun.
A baby has no concept that they need food
for their growth and development, they
just enjoy the process of eating, and this is
where their relationship with food begins.
Food as a symbol
No matter what religion or culture
you come from, food is central to family,
celebration and identity. The sharing of
food creates unity, and we are socially
rewarded when we participate in communal
eating. When food choice is so deeply
embedded within us, planted firmly in
our infancy and nurtured by our parents,
it becomes an almost unbreakable belief
system. When we start to think less about
food as mere fuel for the body and begin
to think about it as a symbol of love and
comfort and belonging, we get closer to the
What this can mean in practice is that
when you talk to someone about giving
up meat, they may not simply visualise
food, but everything it symbolises.
core of the human-food relationship, and
subsequently, how we can start to break
it down and create change. A symbol is a
simple representative of something bigger,
and it requires people to understand the
meaning without thinking about it. It is,
therefore, a very powerful way to manipulate
reality because meaning can be socially
constructed around the symbol. Modern
animal product consumption relies on a
symbolic understanding of food because it
requires people to separate from the animal
that they are consuming, or the animal
product they are consuming. Sausages
symbolise food, comfort and celebrations
such as community sausage sizzles or family
barbecues; this has been socially constructed
around them to ensure they don’t symbolise
a living animal, animals in slaughter, factory
farms or body parts. What this can mean in
practice is that when you talk to someone
about giving up meat, they may not simply
visualise food, but everything it symbolises.
Perhaps they think they would have to give
up their Saturday morning sausage sizzle
at the soccer game, or be left out of the
family barbecue, and subsequently fear
social isolation and hunger because they
experience satisfaction, connectedness and
love in that situation alongside their food.
Food, love and belonging
Food is central to culture and celebration;
it can unite communities, families and create
a sense of belonging and shared values.
The social aspect of food and eating forms
a positive feedback cycle where behaviours
are learned and reinforced, and beliefs are
transferred through interactions with others.
By eating with our family and friends we
are continuing the cycle of food beliefs.
Examining this from a new perspective,
when a vegan enters a group, or a group
member becomes vegan, and their views
are outside of the norm for that group, it
instantly creates a break in the cycle and
often results in negative feedback. The
other group members will try to bring back
the status quo and return to normality by
providing negative feedback in an attempt
to socialise their way back to security. This
is important to understand for two reasons.
Sadly, it’s often a point of feeling isolated
and abnormal for people who choose
veganism, but it also has a positive out-
come. By disrupting the feedback cycle,
we start a new process of socialisation.
A process where veganism becomes a 
Images of togetherness, family and belonging
have always been used in meat advertising.
Vegan products have to become part of every day life
and celebrations so we can create a new culture.

Advertising is part of the socialisation process, part of the
process of constructing and teaching meaning, and animal
agricultural products are heavily promoted to ensure that people
remain focused on their symbolic meaning and not the truth.
 possibility. It is empowering, it is morally
liberating, and it is socially acceptable. It
isn’t easy to stand firm against the process
of socialisation and to start a new normal,
but that is the task faced by every vegan
today. We are the pioneers making vegan the
new normal and demonstrating that vegan
food can still represent love and belonging.
Advertising happiness
Knowing that people need to belong,
food advertisements are often focused on
celebrations; parties, special occasions,
family mealtimes, and general happy scenes
of togetherness. Marketing specialists
know that food, family and happiness are
a package deal and they help to construct
this meaning around food by showing how
food can make people happy. Ever noticed
how no one advertises potatoes? The
humble potato is found in almost every
home around the world, a staple favourite,
full of protein and nutrients (potatoes are
so nutrient-dense, we could almost live on
them alone), yet we don’t see them
advertised on TV. We don’t see potatoes
featured at the centre of the family table,
or used as a symbol of togetherness. Why?
Because it doesn’t benefit the advertisers.
Advertising is not a public service. It doesn’t
exist to share valuable information or to
help people live better lives. Advertising
is part of the socialisation process, part of
the process of constructing and teaching
meaning, and animal agricultural products
are heavily promoted to ensure that people
remain focused on their symbolic meaning
and not the truth. Advertising aims to sell
something and has no other goal. It’s now
even using vegans and vegetarians as
the target of jokes in a cloaked way to
manipulate the way people think. That
veganism and vegetarianism isn’t normal.
That it doesn’t belong. And this plays on
the human insecurity of not belonging.
Jokes are often a method of permitting
people to laugh at the truth, but in their
sinister undertone, they are merely part of
the socialisation process, teaching people
what to think.
Happy highway farms
If you drive outside of the city, you will
find yourself surrounded by farmland. Not
by factory farms or by intensive farming
operations, but by pristine farms with
healthy cattle spread out over rolling green
hills. The happy farm myth grows in
many places, and highway farms help
to reinforce that belief. We all know the
saying “if slaughterhouses had glass walls
everyone would be vegetarian”, and in
the same spirit, you could also say that if
highways were built through factory farms,
everyone would be vegan. Everything we
hear or see is a part of the socialisation
process, and the vision of happy, peace-
ful farms helps to reinforce the idea that
animals live happy lives. A factory farm
will never be placed on a busy highway
and a factory farm will never feature in a
dairy milk advertisement. They will always
be hidden from sight, and small rural farms
will always exist to inspire the myth of
happiness. It is little things like these that
help to socialise people into conforming
to cultural norms, small, unnoticeable
drops of positive reinforcement, because
everything we see and hear form small
links in the normalisation process.
Creating a new culture around food
The mere existence of a vegan person
can trigger a defensive response in others
The mere existence of a vegan person
can trigger a defensive response in
others because by simply existing, we
challenge people’s beliefs.
because by simply existing, we challenge
people’s beliefs. When a person tells
themselves that they need to eat meat
to survive, and then someone appears in
front of them who doesn’t eat meat and
is healthy, without even having to say
a further word, their belief has already
been challenged. Just by saying the word
‘vegan’, you are creating a new possibility;
you are part of the socialisation process
to make vegan normal.
Veganism is a philosophy; it is not a
diet or a budget or a fashion. When people
become vegan, their core beliefs and values
change, and this ripples through into their
actions. Because when you learn about the
atrocities faced by animals every day, it is
not enough to change yourself; it suddenly
feels urgent to change everyone else.
Food, culture and the socialisation revolution
So, if vegans are right, then everyone
else must be wrong, right? Because how
could anyone harm an animal and why
would my parents feed me meat if it wasn’t
the big issue
healthy? And why would my government
sustain an industry that supports violence,
poverty and environmental destruction?
People don’t like to think of themselves
as being wrong; most people have a
desire to be good, kind, and law-abiding.
They want others’ approval; they want to
be thought of as good people and to be
accepted. So how can something they do
every day be so wrong?
It is hard to face this part of your
self-identity and of your life. Many of the
ideals that you hold have to crumble before
change can be created. It is crucial that
animal rights activists understand the role
of food as a cultural signifier, and that
they know that it’s symbolic and deeply
connected to identity and belonging. You
can take this knowledge into your activism
with a deeper understanding of how food
choices are made and how we can start to
create a new culture around food. It takes
more than just veggie sausages sitting on
the shelf at the supermarket to change a
culture; these products have to become
part of daily life, part of celebrations and
family, part of love and comfort. It is then
that people will understand that change
is possible, easy, and normal. Every time
you are vegan in public, you are part of the
socialisation revolution. When you order a
vegan meal, or you wear a vegan t-shirt,
or you refuse a shared platter because it
is not vegan, you are helping to create a
new belief system around food. And the
more we do this, the more momentum
veganism gathers, until one day, vegan is
normal, because when we socialise, we
also normalise.
Anita is a social scientist, researcher
and the founder of Gentle Heart
Publishing. She is an advocate for animal
rights, human rights and environmental
protection. If you would like further
information about this topic, or a list
of references, email Anita at
info@gentleheartpublishing.com.au.
the australian vegan magazine 19
 the big issue
THE TRUE COST OF
Animal agriculture
A hamburger may not cost much, but the agricultural industry is going to great lengths, and
spending enormous amounts of money to hide the REAL costs and catastrophic impacts, not
only to individuals, but to whole communities, and even the world. By Farshid Ahmadizadeh.
A
ustralia has now passed the
United States as the meat-eating
capital of the world, and this is
bad news for the animals, for
the people and for the planet.
Animal agricultural practice contributes
more toxic greenhouse gasses and air
pollution than all transport methods
combined, and these are damaging the
climate, the earth and the water.
According to the Organisation of Economic
Development and Co-operation, and the
UN Food and Agriculture Organisation,
Australians eat more than 90 kilos of meat
per person each year, with chicken being
the most commonly consumed flesh at this
point in time.
Meat consumption is associated with
socioeconomic status, and this can be
tracked around the world throughout
different countries. The wealthier a nation
is, the higher their meat consumption is,
and this determinant is scalable within
countries, with wealthier families consuming
more meat than low income families. Not
long ago, meat was a special occasion
food, a Sunday roast, or fish on a Friday,
...Australians eat
more than 90 kilos
of meat per person
each year, with
chicken being the
most commonly
DPOTVNFEnFTI
but now it seems that meat is part of
every meal. Thanks to modern technology,
the cost is lower, and many are now richer.
The link between wealth and meat
consumption seems logical; the more
money we have to spare, the more
expensive food we purchase, but what
many don’t think about is the hidden cost
of meat consumption and the impending
problems that this habit creates.
20 t h e australian vegan magazine
Can you imagine a time when we have
to pay a premium price for clean water?
Can you imagine what the cost of food
will be as climate change worsens and it
becomes harder to grow food? How much
is spent on advertising animal products to
ensure that the public remains disconnected
from their food source? Do you know what
the costs of cholesterol-lowering drugs are?
Or how much tax-payer money is spent on
treating people with heart disease every
year? A hamburger may only cost a few
dollars, but there is a cost that is hidden
and it has a far longer impact than a single
meal. If we were to add up the bill to fix
all the problems that have been created
by animal product consumption, we would
see an unimaginable sum of money, and
anyone with a keen eye for numbers would
quickly realise that animal agriculture is a
very bad investment.
MONEY CAN’T BUY YOU HEALTH
Can you imagine if your Medicare
contribution was scaled based on how risky
your diet was? What so many people in the
world, including healthcare professionals,
have failed to realise is that so many of the
big ticket health spends are linked directly
to the consumption of animal products.
Some of the most complex, crippling and
life-threatening conditions being faced
every day by people living in the developed
world include:
• Antibiotic resistance
• Food poisoning
• Heart disease, high cholesterol and
stroke
• Diabetes
• Cancer
• Obesity
A large percentage of these can be traced
back to animal product consumption. Big
illnesses, and big budgets. Sadly, this is
even more complicated by the conflict of
interest that exists when companies make
a profit from healthcare. If the healthcare
costs and lost wages from sick leave were
all added to the cost of animal food products,
the price would suddenly skyrocket.
In Australia, most healthcare costs are
absorbed by the government through tax-
payer money. There is little that has to be
self-funded, and many don’t have private
health insurance. Except for one thing. The
cost of being chronically ill can really only
be absorbed by the person experiencing it.
This includes things like loss of productivity,
a reduced capacity to work, feeling unwell,
spending money on possible cures such
as alternative treatments, and pharmacy
medicines. Healthcare has a dollar value,
but feeling healthy is priceless.
You can calculate the cost of treatment,
medicines, surgery, hospital care and
doctors visits, but you can never put a
price on human happiness and quality of
life. If we were to remove animal products
from our plates, healthcare costs would
plummet, and in the absence of many
cases of severe illness which are related
to animal products, humans would live a
much more comfortable life.
While the cost of animal products has
significantly fallen across the last century
in the western world inspiring a drastic
increase in the amount of meat, dairy and
eggs consumed, healthcare has become
a multi-billion dollar industry, that is now
in a deeply committed relationship with
animal agriculture. Across many industries,
including the accounting profession, this
would be considered a conflict of interest
and seen to be a very unethical business
practice, however, for some reason, this
relationship has thrived and has been
given the blessing of the government and
the regulators. This scenario is purely a
numbers game, with profit taking
precedence over the health and wellbeing
of people who trust that their best interests
are being protected.
DOES IT COST THE EARTH?
Water
Water is not a free resource, and it
should not be thought of as a free resource.
In fact, the scarcer clean water becomes,
the more expensive it will become. Farmers
who are raising animals, not only help
themselves to whatever water is around,
but they also truck water in from other
areas and pollute their surrounding
waterways, which often end up in the
ocean contributing to dead zones. Raising
animals requires an abundance of water,
but it also causes significant pollution to
any water that is nearby. The hotter it gets,
the more water animals need to survive.
Water is often taken for granted by many 
WITHOUT CLEAN WATER, THERE WILL
BE NO LIFE ON EARTH... WITH SOME
THEORISTS EVEN BELIEVING THAT
WATER WILL ONE DAY SOON BECOME
THE CAUSE OF WAR AND VIOLENCE.
ANY WATERWAY THAT IS CLOSE TO
LAND USED FOR ANIMAL AGRICULTURE
IS LIKELY TO BE CONTAMINATED BY
CHEMICAL AND ORGANIC WASTE AND
CONTAIN BACTERIA AND VIRUSES.

When so much money has to be invested in advertising
that hides the truth from people, this has to be built into
UIFQSPEVDUTPUIBUUIFDPNQBOZSFNBJOTQSPmUBCMF

people as a free resource; you turn on
the tap and it just flows out, the ocean
is full of it, the harbours and lakes and
rivers are there for the taking. Water, water
everywhere, but this is rapidly changing,
and animal agriculture is leading the way
in destroying the earth’s water supply.
Without clean water, there will be no
life on earth, and while this possibility was
never considered in the past, it is now a
problem that needs to be considered, with
some theorists even believing that water
will one day soon become the cause of war
and violence. Simply by abstaining from
animal products, a single person can save
830,000 litres of water in a year. This is
because animal products require a massive
amount of water to produce - 2,585 litres
of water are used to produce 3.8 litres of
milk, and 9,085 litres of water are used for
only around 450 grams of meat (estimate
based on the flesh of a cow).
It is not only the water use that is
damaging fresh water supply, but also
the runoff that is polluting the water. Any
waterway that is close to land used for
animal agriculture is likely to be
contaminated by chemical and organic
waste and contain bacteria and viruses. In
an attempt to fix this problem and avoid
polluting the water they need for their
operation, they will often spray waste into
the air as a mist. This way it is dispersed
across the land, air and water, rather than
being dumped directly into the water. Five
hundred million tonnes of manure is made
each year in the US, and this pollutes
the earth, the water and the air. It is not
healthy organic matter as many believe,
but sludge that sits in storage lagoons
festering in the sun and seeping into the
groundwater. In an attempt to avoid being
fined for water pollution, often this manure
gets loaded into spray guns and sprayed
into the air, creating a fine faecal mist over
the farm and the surrounding community.
THE EARTH, THE LAND, NATURAL HABITAT
AND ECOSYSTEMS
Land is not a free resource either, and
the cost of clearing, destroying, and then
cleaning up the mess is pricey. In Australia,
slightly over half of all land is used for animal
agriculture, and this has been steadily
increasing to meet consumer demands.
Queensland has the largest percentage of
animal agricultural land with 35 per cent
of all animal operations occurring there.
This number does not take into account
the area that is needed to grow food.
Raising animals to become food is a
terribly inefficient use of land, not because
of the space that animals take up, but
because of the amount of land that is
needed to grow food to feed them. People
often argue that if everyone were to
become vegan, we would require so much
more cleared land to produce the extra
vegetables that everyone needs. However,
this could not be further from the truth and
completely neglects the fact that animals
also eat, and they eat a lot.
More than 90 per cent of rainforest land
has been cleared from the Amazon, and it’s
now being used to grow soybeans that feed
farmed animals. If they were directly fed to
humans, we could end world hunger and
never see a person starve to death again,
plus, even after we fed everyone, most of
that land could be restored to rainforest.
While factory farms and intensive
livestock operations are destroying the
land, commercial fishing is destroying the
oceans and everything that lives in them.
The production of food doesn’t only kill the
animals who are eaten; fishing kills seals,
turtles, whales, sharks and dolphins, as
well as any other innocent creature that
...by abstaining
from animal
products, a single
person can save
830,000 litres of
water in a year.
gets caught up in the nets as they trawl the
ocean en masse. At the same time, on the
land, habitats are cleared to make way for
commercial farmland which means that
native animals are left without a home and
food and often die as a result. Fish farms
are often thought of as a better option and
are usually promoted as being sustainable,
but this is an excellent example of how
people are manipulated into believing
that animal product consumption can be
justified or environmentally friendly. Fish
farms destroy coastal habitats, damage
the big issue
the local ecosystem and still rely on fish
caught in the ocean to sustain the food
cycle within the farms. For example, to
produce one pound of farmed salmon
requires three pounds of ‘other fish’, which
are usually caught in trawlers.
THE COST OF HIDING THE TRUTH
When someone purchases meat, eggs
and dairy, there are many costs built into
that product; the cost of packaging, the
cost of transport and the cost of processing.
But additionally, these products are heavily
marketed, and this cost is built into the
product. It costs a lot to make sure that
public perception remains focused on
enjoying the food product and not thinking
about where it comes from.
Everyone knows that tomatoes come
from a plant, and we never see an
advertisement on TV that convinces people
to eat them or helps people remember
where they come from. Animal products
have a sinister origin, and many people
would not accept them if they could see
how they are produced. When so much
money has to be invested in advertising
that hides the truth from people, this has
to be built into the product so that the
company remains profitable. Essentially,
people are paying for their place in the
cone of silence so that they can continue to
participate in a system of violence, misery
and oppression without ever having to
come face to face with it.
The purchase price for animal products
is nowhere near the actual cost of these
items. We need to consider the cost of
greenhouse gases and how these need to
be managed. We need to consider the cost
impact of poisonous chemicals and waste
leaking into the soil, air and our water
sources. We need to consider how much
healthcare costs are because of our food
choices. If you can imagine what the price
of animal products might look like if people
were required to cover these costs upfront,
there would be a greater understanding of
how expensive meat, dairy and eggs really
are, and this knowledge would likely lead
people to eat less of them, or better still,
leave them off their plate permanently.
Farshid Ahmadizadeh holds a Bachelor
of Engineering and a Master’s Degree of
Professional Accounting. He is the founder
of Financial Philosophy, has an interest in
sustainability accounting, and encourages
business to take responsibility for their
environmental and community impact, as
well as considering their profits.
the australian vegan magazine 23
 profile
'JHIUJOHBHBJOTUmSFT &
ANIMAL CRUELTY
From ighting ires to burning up the athletic track, Arron Downes is smoking
hot and it’s all thanks to a plant-powered lifestyle. By LISA BLAIR.
B
orn and raised in a beef and dairy farming community
where milking, slaughtering and eating animals was
considered the norm, deep down, Arron Downes had an
inkling that what he was doing, seeing and growing up
around, just wasn’t right.
Life in Kyogle, a small NSW country town, was simple and
easy going. He attended Kyogle High School with around 500
students, and he and his older sister were raised on old school
country cooking and baking.
“There were lots of animal products,” he says.
Now aged 44, married to Marita and enjoying their furbaby,
Tyson, a rescue Staffy, things have changed dramatically.
Arron’s journey began when he decided to take a gap year after
finishing school which quickly turned into “a gap of eight years”
during which he played music professionally, touring Australia in
various bands. He lived and played music in the Whitsundays
and worked at pubs and clubs for four to five nights a week in
Melbourne.
After his longer than anticipated ‘break’, Arron studied
Information Technology and then worked in the IT industry for
more than a year but says with a laugh, “I then figured out that I
didn’t want to work in IT!”.
Some travel followed and he worked as a personal trainer in a
large sporting complex in Dubai, then returned to Australia to work
for Virgin Blue (now called Virgin Australia). After five and a half
years with Virgin, he applied and gained a position as a firefighter,
which he still does today, nearly 10 years on.
“Any profession where you are paid to help people is an amazing
privilege to have. I work with great people at my fire station, get
paid to learn and utilise lifesaving skills, have the opportunity to
operate state-of-the-art firefighting equipment, and to top it off, get
paid, as a compulsory part of my role as a firefighter, to train and
keep fit,” says Arron.
“What more could you ask for?”
Arron’s other great passion is track and field, something he
began from the age of seven.
“I toured and competed in the USA in 1989 as part of a
national development squad,” he says.
“I then took a break from athletics for about eight years, from
the age of 19 to 27, when I was playing and touring as a
professional musician. I wasn’t able to compete in a structured
sport because of the travelling, however, I always kept in shape
during this period.”
In 2000, when Arron was 27, he had an epiphany. “When I
met my first sprint coach as an adult at a gym I was working out
in, I decided that I wanted to start training for something, ‘for a
goal’, not just for aesthetics.”
“And thus, my foray into professional running began, and
I’ve been competing in the various professional running circuits
throughout the country ever since, as firstly a sprinter, then,
transforming into a middle-distance athlete,” he says.
24 t h e australian vegan magazine
One of his most memorable moments is during the 1989
USA trip where he met acclaimed athlete Carl Lewis who was
competing in one of the track meets he attended.
Rediscovering athletics at age 27, Arron has gone on to win
23 professional races, ranging from 100-metre sprints, to 1600-
metre distance races.
In 2017, he won his first competition as a vegan.
“The win was certainly the most relevant and
satisfying of recent wins, as it was the first race
that I won as a vegan, proving to myself and to
others, that a plant-based diet is an effective,
powerful, optimum way to fuel your body for
athletic success.”
His veganism came as another epiphany
a few years ago, leading him on a journey of
discovery of how cruel animals were treated
worldwide; even “happy farm animals”.
“I felt I had to take a stand and take the
step toward veganism, and, in doing so, I
feel I’m not only doing the right thing for the
animal kingdom, but for humanity on the
whole, as well as helping to take a small step
toward the improvement and longevity of our
planet,” Arron says.
“My passion for veganism was initially,
and is still, based around my abhorrence
toward any form of animal cruelty.”
“I’ve always said that I’d happily
consume a vegan diet even if it wasn’t
the healthiest option; such is my
dedication and passion towards a stance
against animal cruelty.”
“However, after much study and
research, I began to discover the over-
whelming health benefits, as well as the
positive effects on the environment.”
In the last three years since becoming
vegan, Arron says he has seen a massive
shift in the perception, availability and
enthusiasm of a plant-based diet and
vegan lifestyle within the broader
community across the globe.
“The number of vegan products,
vegan restaurants and online presence
has grown exponentially,” he says.
“The number of places that now offer
vegan options has grown to the point
that it is becoming unusual that a
venue doesn’t offer a vegan option.”
Arron has full support from his
“wonderful wife” Marita, so much so, 
 ÏXXXmSFmHIUFSTDBMFOEBSDPNBV

“ANY
PROFESSION
WHERE YOU
ARE PAID
TO HELP
PEOPLE IS
AN AMAZING
PRIVILEGE
TO HAVE.”
ÏXXXmSFmHIUFSTDBMFOEBSDPNBV

“I’M SURE THAT

ALL ON A PLANT-
BASED DIET
WOULD AGREE
THAT THEIR FOOD
CHOICES AND
OPPORTUNITIES
HAVE GROWN
EXPONENTIALLY.”


that she is now a proud “card carrying vegan” herself.
“Marita has never been anything but encouraging with anything
I have done, and, as I made the decision to go plant-based before
she did, I never once pressured her to do the same thing as me,
and she slowly made the transition to a full plant-based diet at her
own pace.”
“I don’t really have many close family or friends that are vegan,
but every day I am encouraged and motivated by the online
vegan community that give me motivation that my decision to
be vegan is the best lifestyle to support health, animal cruelty,
environmental degradation, and humanity.”
And since he is a firefighter and athlete, just where does Arron
get his protein?
“Whenever I get asked this question, I always start my answer
with ‘Everywhere, in everything!’”.
“Then, if the person asking wants to pursue this answer, and
gain further info, I’m more than happy to impart my knowledge
of nutrition to provide the most accurate information as I’m able,
so the person asking can take on board unbiased information, in
order to make an educated decision toward their future dietary,
nutrition path.”
“As a firefighter and a competitive professional track runner, my
days are filled with constant moderate to intense physical activity.
Living a vegan lifestyle has produced everything to further improve
my health, the intensity of my athletic performance as well as
improve my recovery.”
“Competing in the professional running leagues throughout
the country, the 2016/17 season culminated with a victory in
the 400 metres at the legendary Stawell Gift carnival at Easter.”
“This was my third victory in races at the Stawell Easter
carnival, and my 23rd professional career win. It was a race that
I had set for myself to win from the beginning of the season, and,
as a 43-year-old athlete racing
against athletes that are half
my age, I am really proud and
Arron with his furbaby Tyson encouraged to know that my
vegan lifestyle was a major
factor toward my current and
future sporting success.”
“This previous season
- the 2017/18 season - I
came third in the race at the
Stawell Gift, the 550 metres,
after an injury-riddled
season, so, I sincerely believe
that it’s a testament to my
plant-based lifestyle that
allowed me to place third
at the biggest carnival of
our sport, after such an
interrupted year.”
“In addition, I have the
privilege along the way, to
speak to, and educate my
fellow athletes, as well as
work colleagues, the
overwhelming athletic
benefits of a plant-based
lifestyle, in addition to
the humanitarian, compas-
sionate and environmental
benefits that this lifestyle
represents and allows.”
What advice would
Arron give to anyone
contemplating a change to
a plant-based lifestyle?
profile
“Firstly, to possibly alleviate any anxiety about exploring
veganism, I’d make them aware that there are tonnes of foods that
are already ‘accidentally’ vegan.”
“Fruits, veggies, rice, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds, lots
of different chips, crackers and dips, peanut butter, marmite,
vegemite, jams and marmalades, baked beans, most dried pasta,
almost all bread, many types of gravy granules, vegetable stock
cubes, chopped tomatoes, oven chips, coconut milk, lots of curry
pastes, herbs, spices, tomato ketchup and HP sauce, mustard and
pickles, sugars and sweeteners, olive oil and vegetable oils, soy
sauce, teas, and of course, coffee. Not a bad start, eh?”
“I’d also encourage anybody contemplating changing, or just
wanting to try a plant-based diet, to make their choices and their
possible transition to a plant-based diet at their own pace, and not
“ONE TO CHANGE A FEW. A FEW TO
CHANGE MANY. MANY TO CHANGE THE
WORLD. STARTS WITH ONE.” Anonymous
to feel pressured or forced to make a decision that isn’t based on
your ‘reason’, whatever that is, to make or try the change.”
“As Dale Carnegie once said; ‘A person convinced against their
will is of the same opinion still’.”
“Finally, embrace and enjoy your decision, for whatever reason
you have made it, and enjoy the food. Without bias, the most
amazing food I’ve eaten has been in the last four years of being
vegan, and I’ve eaten amazing food that I would never have been
exposed to previously.”
“Uneducated people suggest that a vegan diet is so restrictive,
however, I’m sure that all on a plant-based diet would agree that
their food choices and opportunities have grown exponentially.”
As far as the future goes, Arron’s plans are to continue to live
as much of a vegan lifestyle as he possibly can, continuing to do
all he can for the fight against animal cruelty, to reduce his carbon
footprint, and provide himself the healthiest nutritional therapy
as available.
He is currently undertaking a Bachelor of Nutrition and plans
to set up a consulting business in plant-based nutrition to educate
people on the health benefits, as well as the overwhelming
peripheral benefits, that assist in forming a balance in the way
we live with ourselves, with others, and fit within the planet.
“My future goal is to work and consult as a plant-based
nutritionist, in conjunction with my role as a firefighter.”
“Keeping fit, and training as a middle distance athlete takes up
a six-day-a-week training regimen. Watching and playing sport is a
definite passion.”
“Spending quality time with my wife and hanging with Tyson
is always awesome. I’m also an avid reader, and I love nonfiction,
especially biographies.”
Two favourite quotes that Arron is inspired by are:
“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do
evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” Albert
Einstein; and “One to change a few. A few to change many. Many
to change the world. Starts with one.” Anonymous.
“I’m only one person, but I’m hopefully a person with great
intentions and a good heart. But every day I live with the joy that
my soul is becoming deeper, and my heart is growing stronger with
my ‘only one person’ actions.”
“I also know that me, as only ‘one person’, is the single of a
rapidly-growing mindset of many, that have hearts and souls as
big, if not bigger than mine, and that in itself, grows my heart and
soul even bigger and deeper.”
To view footage from Andrew’s 400 metre win go to https://m.
youtube.com/watch?v=twdueXz2I4E.
the australian vegan magazine 27
 profile
Shining the light to
INSPIRE OTHERS
C
arefree, naïve and with a habit
of “throwing caution to the wind”,
a much younger Loren Lembke
tore through life’s experiences
like a tornado, ‘patience’ a
foreign concept.
The Chicago-born “rebel” was making
damaging personal choices in her life, while
exceeding in her professional one, and
brushing shoulders with celebrities during
the nights. At the time, like many others
who have suffered traumatic events in their
lives, she couldn’t have foreseen what she
would be compelled to face. Or survive.
In her darkest hour, what she perceived to
be at death’s door, through a cloud of pain,
weakness, and fever, she was preparing to
leave behind a husband and precious
newborn daughter.
Fast forward to the present, and Loren
exhumes beauty and wisdom, both from
the inside and out. Her passion is uplifting
others, or as she likes to put it, “shine this
light into the darkness”.
“My intention is to inspire people to
learn life’s lessons and move forward in
consciousness, with the ability to transcend
apparent limitations, whether mental,
emotional or physical,” Loren says.
It all began with a trip to Australia after
Loren escaped a violent relationship. It
wasn’t long before she made the move here
permanently, after falling in love with the
beauty of the northern beaches of Sydney
and getting an epiphany.
Introduced to her husband through
friends, she fondly remembers the early days
when her husband was booking bands at
Sydney Cove Tavern.
“I’d be backstage closely watching all the
talent…”
Loren quickly settled into her life in
Sydney and by the mid 80s was ready to
welcome a child into the world.
She recalls how the anaesthetist had to
insert the epidural injection a second time,
and a few hours after her daughter was
born, she began to experience a growing
headache, which quickly turned into a
migraine. The doctor had also mentioned
that her left eye was drooping. When her
migraine didn’t subside, the doctors drew
blood from her arm and injected it into her
spine to stop the spinal fluid from leaking.
This seemed to help and she was allowed
to go home. Loren thrived on being a new
mum and everything that came with it until
her daughter was about four and a half
months old. Loren started feeling unwell,
28 t h e australian vegan magazine
had a strange sensation in her neck, wasn’t
able to urinate and her knees buckled under-
neath her. She was admitted into a hospital
and what followed was one misdiagnoses
after another.
Every time she woke up she seemed to
have less use of her body and she had blurry
vision. At one point, Loren says she even
called her mother to say goodbye because
she was convinced she was going to die.
Much later, when she did her own
research, she discovered that what she
actually had at the time was an abscess on
the site of the epidural - an infection in her
spinal fluid.
However, the doctors put it down to “polio
syndrome” because they didn’t actually
know the cause, although they dismissed
Loren’s “input about the complications of the
epidural”.
Loren was transported to another hospital
where she was shown techniques for living
in a wheelchair and given physiotherapy.
After more than four months she was
allowed to go home. In a wheelchair.
At her lowest point, she says, she was
still adjusting to living her life in a wheel-
chair while she was experiencing being a
mother for the first time, and her marriage
was crumbling around her.
Her story is detailed in her newly-written
book Falling Awake After Hitting The
Ground which she was inspired to write
after seeing a clairvoyant counsellor who
she credits with for waking her up both
mentally and spiritually.
“In my case, I very much needed to
wake up; to live more consciously and stop
throwing caution to the wind. Yes, it would
have been preferable to have recognised
earlier signs, but as long as we arrive, that
is the real point,” she says with a smile.
“It occurred to me that we can fall down
- and hard - before we actually have an
epiphany; a wakeup call. I believe it starts
more subtly, but if we don’t get the lesson
early on, then it’s served up more
dramatically. Life definitely hands us lessons,
that if we don’t take notice of, will become
more severe the next time around.”
“That is how I perceive my own
transformation - falling awake - as opposed
to falling down, or falling in love, or falling
asleep.”
Part of her transformation was also
changing her diet, which in turn changed
her outlook on life and shifted her energy. A
passionate vegan today, Loren first became
vegetarian 30 years ago as a determined
move to never feel so unwell again, or to be
at the mercy of doctors.
“I first noticed the shift of energy when I
went vegetarian. My mood was lighter and
I didn’t feel irrational every month, but felt
more peaceful. My whole demeanour was
much brighter.”
“When I went vegan, I really didn’t expect
to feel any different - and yet I did. I felt
leaner, lighter and more energised.”
“When we are ingesting animal products
from beings who have only suffered and
were mistreated, how can we expect to feel
anything but depressed and/or angry? We
are absorbing that heavy energy into our
emotional bodies, our energy fields. Just as
you can’t get blood from a stone, you can’t
expect to feel joy when consuming misery.”
“Without animal fats and proteins, we
produce bacteria in our digestive tracts that
impact our psyches in a positive way. And,
of course, our physical bodies are inflamed
in the struggle to digest animal fats and
proteins, causing disease.”
“We habitually hand down our toxic diets
from one generation to the next - as well as
our ancestral baggage. It’s no wonder that
depression and violence are endemic around
the world.”
Loren says her diet has continued to
evolve over time. “I’m now about 75 per
cent raw and I undercook when doing
stir-frys, leaving all the nutrients intact. I
buy only organic food when I shop - it tastes
so much better and has higher levels of
nutrition. While it’s a bit pricier, I see it as
an investment in my health.”
“With all this good energy, I enjoy
exercising and keeping strong and fit. Last
year, I went to a gym and the physiotherapist
told me that I’m ‘formidable’. I just feel
such good energy that I can do more than
expected. I still like to shop, cook, clean,
drive and travel.”
Loren’s vegan journey began when she
met a friend who was on the Vegan Society
NSW committee and she started going to
vegan events. “I joined the Vegan Society
NSW committee and quickly learned the
truth about the cruel industries as well as
the environmental impact. As a passionate
new vegan, my intention was to starve these
cruelty industries right out of business by
creating more vegans - and that’s exactly
what we’re seeing today - the demise of the
cruelty industries. We knew back then that
the momentum would continue to snowball.
Veganism is now a global mainstream trend,
which will rapidly become the norm.”
 VSNSW meetup at Bondi (Funky Pies)
the day prior to the 2016 Sydney Vegan
Expo: Loren is with keynote speakers
(from left) VSNSW member Kramer
Thompson, Nathan Runkle (Mercy for
Animals), and Dr. Jeffrey Masson.
Bottom left: Loren’s inspiring book.
Bottom right. Loren likes to shine a
light to inspire others.

Loren went on to serve on the Vegan
Society NSW committee for around 20 years
and was also the president for seven years.
In 2006, she organised the first Sydney
Vegan Expo.
“I’ve done six expos altogether, a few were
organised by other committee members.
This was at a time when there was very little
happening in the vegan community. We also
organised social gatherings at the few vegan
restaurants that were around.”
Loren sees her life as being full and rich,
both before the epidural incident and
afterwards, and nothing seems to slow her
down. She even started up a pre-cooked soy
burgers business called Bounty Burgers
in 2008.
“I developed Bounty Burgers because
I’m hypoglycemic and must always ensure
I have enough protein in my diet. In fact,
when I was a meat-eater, meat was an
important part of my diet. So, I tell people,
if I can go vegan, anyone can.”
This year, Loren was a speaker at the
Plant-Powered Women’s Leadership
Conference in Sydney. “It was a wonderful
day and I’m keen to do more public speak-
ing, addressing veganism and discussing
rising above personal hardships.”
With all her successes, all whilst raising
a child as a single parent in a wheelchair,
she says her greatest success is her beautiful
daughter Nicole.
“Yes, I raised my daughter as a single
mother in a wheelchair – and consider her to
be the best production of my life.”
“She saw me as a positive influence in her
life, and as a result, is a very successful and
confident young woman today. I believe your
child will be more impacted by your example
and your attitude than your words. I really
wanted for her to have a normal and happy
existence, that wasn’t impacted by my issues.”
The most important message she wants
to get across to others is to be the best
version of yourself as you can be.
“I have learned to focus on what I want
and resist wasting time and energy on what
I don’t want. I believe that faith and fear
cannot coexist.”
“If something serious occurs, I look at
the big picture and find a way to quickly
transcend it rather than stressing and over-
thinking. It’s better to use that energy to find
a solution.”
“Another important thing to do is realise
that, compared to many on this planet, my
problems are small, not life-threatening, and
I count all my blessings and give thanks
for them.”
“I have learned that whatever we choose
to change to may be a challenge initially, but
it is human nature to become addicted to
the new regime. All the positive choices I’ve
made have served me well and I would do it
all over again.”
Loren is available as a speaker regarding:
thriving with a vegan lifestyle, coping with
disabilities and transcending all obstacles
along the course of life’s journey. You can
contact Loren by email - lorenl@optusnet.
com.au. Falling Awake can be purchased at
www.facebook.com/Falling-Awake.
the australian vegan magazine 29
 profile
Once depressed and unhealthy, Simone Collins is
now a happy, healthy and strong bodybuilder
spreading the vegan message. By Rebecca Burnett.
Proving vegans can
BE HEALTHY
and strong
S
uffering from stress, anxiety and
depression, coupled with being
skinny, weak and unhealthy,
Simone Collins set out to improve
her health, and established a goal
to eat better and build some muscle.
In 2010, Simone started training at a
gym but was confronted by people telling her
that she needed a high intake of protein, in
particular animal protein, to build muscles.
This was initially a bit concerning to Simone,
as she had not eaten animals since 1999
when she became a vegetarian.
“I knew I would never go back to eating
meat,” she says. Instead, she “made double
sure to get in plenty of free range eggs,
yoghurt, and whey protein.”
Simone was born and raised in Melbourne,
and up until she was 13 years old, she had
eaten a pretty standard Australian diet. Her
immense love of animals had always made
her feel uncomfortable about eating them,
but she had always accepted that was just
the way of the world. After all, she thought,
30 t h e australian vegan magazine
animals eat other animals to survive. It was
only when she became best friends with a
vegetarian girl that Simone discovered that
you can be fit and healthy without meat.
Like many, Simone didn’t know about the
extent of the cruelty inflicted on cows and
chickens in the dairy and egg industry.
“I had never thought to look any further
into my food choices,” she says.
Believing that dairy and free-range egg
farms were happy, blissful places for the
animals, Simone remained a vegetarian for
10 years.
It was also in 2010, not long after she
had set her goal to get fit and healthy,
that Simone saw a campaign by Animal
Liberation Victoria exposing her to the truth
of the cruelty that exists in the dairy and egg
industries. With this new awareness, Simone
knew she had to make some changes to her
diet but wasn’t sure how this would work
with her new goal.
Simone recalls, “I had just started my
training, and at first, was worried how I
would be able to build muscle without meat,
let alone without animal products at all”.
However, after some research, she
discovered an entire online community of
vegan athletes and bodybuilders who were
all busting myths and breaking stereotypes
in the fitness world. Seeing other people
clearly thriving on a plant-based diet and
achieving incredible fitness levels and
muscle mass, Simone decided to join them.
After realising that she could combine
her love for animals and her health goal,
Simone became inspired to use training and
competing in bodybuilding as her own form
of activism - to educate people, and to prove
what’s possible and achievable as a natural
vegan athlete.
Simone quickly fell in love with body-
building after being inspired by other people
at her gym who were competitors. She started
off by watching and volunteering at
competitions. Meanwhile, she kept training
to build muscle until she felt ready to
compete herself.
“Being committed to your training
and seeing the consequent results
gives you a huge sense of
achievement...”

In 2013, Simone placed fourth at the place at

International Federation of Bodybuilding and the 2017
Fitness (IFBB) Australian Amateur Grand Naturally
Prix, and third in IFBB Victorian State Titles. Fit Games
In the same year, bodybuilding.com in Austin,
awarded her the title 2013 International Texas.
Transformation of the Year. Thankfully,
When asked what she loves about Simone hasn’t
the sport, Simone says, “I love the had to face e
Simon
challenge. I love that it’s some- any ridicule or t i n g
compe e
thing you can do for yourself, to negative reactions at t h
improve your health, wellbeing to being a vegan r a lly Fit
Natu in
and mental state”. athlete in a largely Games .
Having a healthy non-vegan sport, and Texas
mindset as well as a has found that it’s a great
healthy body is way to spread a positive
important to Simone, message about veganism.
and it’s another She’s found that most people are
reason why she loves genuinely intrigued and interested.
the sport so much. “They want to know more about being
“I love that vegan and what I do.”
bodybuilding puts When asked what her typical
importance on workout routine is, Simone says she
building muscle, usually trains one to two body parts
not losing weight or a day, five to six times a week for
getting skinny.” about an hour. In the lead up to
Simone says that competitions, Simone says her
bodybuilding’s focus routine is “usually the same for the
on building muscle weight training, but I add in cardio
helped her develop a four to five times a week”.
healthy body image. In Simone compliments her training
fact, she now sees body- with a largely whole food plant-
building almost as an art based diet.
form, where you sculpt your “I always encourage others to
body the way you want it to be. try a few approaches with diet and
“Anyone can be a bodybuilder - it’s stick to what works for you, rather
a very accessible sport,” she says. than think one way of eating is
“You don’t need any special skills or better than another.”
fancy equipment. You don’t have to be the “The best diet is the one...
fastest runner, the sharpest shooter, or the that you can stick to.”
best at anything; you just need ambition.” For anyone wanting to become
Simone sees the sport as open and a bodybuilder, Simone has some
very welcoming. advice.
“There’s heaps of different divisions to “You need to be relentless.
suit all kinds of body types, which means Building muscle is tough and it
anyone who wants to try bodybuilding can takes a long time, so you need
work towards competing.” to work hard, have consistency,
Simone loves being part of the global and a lot of patience.”
bodybuilding community and has even But Simone knows first hand
joined the Plantbuilt Vegan Muscle Team. that it is worth the hard work
“They were created by bringing the online and patience.
community of vegan bodybuilders and “Being committed to your
strength athletes together to compete [every training and seeing the
two years] en masse against non-vegan consequent results gives
competitors,” she says. you a huge sense of
Vegan bodybuilders continue to grow in achievement, not to
numbers and Simone hopes to see more in mention the endorphins.”
competitions, especially at the higher levels If you would like to
and on the professional scene. reach out to
Currently in a building phase, Simone has Simone contact
her sights set on competing with Plantbuilt her via her
again or at the Naturally Fit Super Show in website
the USA next year. Simone has already simicollins.
competed in the USA before and won first com.
 profile
IT’S ALL IN THE FAMILY
From humble beginnings in the family kitchen experimenting with
meat alternatives after waking up to the cruelty in the agriculture
industries, this family business, built on passion for animals, now
employs 400 people; but the Fry’s values remain the same.
T
he Fry Family Food Company
co-founder and CEO, Wally Fry, was
born in South Africa. He grew up on a
sugar cane farm in the 50s and then had a
stint as a livestock agent, selling goats he
and his wife Debbie owned on their small
farm. Debbie was a vegetarian and would
get attached to the goats, even giving them
names, while their daughter Tammy was
born a vegetarian.
Over time, their love and respect for
animals reached Wally’s heart, but it
wasn’t until he sold the farm and started a
small construction company that he ‘woke
up’. He went to inspect a piggery he had
built and witnessed how badly the animals
were treated. Something inside of him
broke, and with the piglet he had just
rescued by his side, he decided he could no
longer sacrifice the life of another animal.
Wally become a vegetarian and started
experimenting in his kitchen with meat
alternatives that were high in protein “and
had the same texture and taste as meat”.
Not long after, he launched The Fry Family
Food Company.
Today, 27 years later, the family-owned
business has expanded its range of
products to more than 35. It produces
35 tonnes of food a day in the company’s
custom-built facility in Durban, South
Africa, which employs more than 400
people. Products are sold in approximately
12,000 stores in more than 30 countries,
including supermarket giants Coles and
Woolworths in Australia where the
company has been headquartered (in
Noosa, Queensland) since 2014.
TAVM talks to Fry’s international marketing
director, Tammy Fry, the very girl that
helped change her dad’s heart.
Recently, you launched in Costco stores
around Australia. Are there any other products
or developments in the pipeline?
It is such an exciting time for veganism, so
yes, our kitchen is working hard on new,
delicious and healthy plant-based foods.
Look out for our new Quarter Pound Burger,
the best plant-based burger in the world,
Creamy Coconut Ice Cream, and our
Breakfast Smoothie Mix called Kasha.
34 t h e
32 australian vegan magazine
Where else are your products currently
available in Australia?
Costco and many other independent stores.
We also supply Lord of the Fries, Hogs
Breath and a number of other popular
restaurant chains and food service outlets.
What has been the annual growth of the
demand for vegan products?
The Fry Family Food Co has doubled its
sales in Australia in the last two years, so
the growth is significant. When we look back
27 years, our journey has been incredible.
Our first manufacturing facility was Wally’s
construction office. It was very basic and
rudimentary. We were excited when we
received an order for a box of products. We
had one staff member, but the rest of the
work was done by Debbie and Wally. As a
child, I spent my weekends helping to pack
products. We grew organically and rapidly,
expanding our facility, buying new equipment
and larger quantities of raw materials. Our
factory is now 5,000 square metres and
we employ over 400 people in the
manufacturing plant alone.
What have been some of the major victories?
Our success is measured in the number of
animals’ lives we save each year. Last year
that number roughly translated to 20 million
chickens, 18,000 cows and 75,000 pigs
from slaughter. This is how we measure our
true success. These are our victories.
What have been some of the major hurdles?
I would say the greatest challenge is facing
up to the large corporates that are starting
to produce their own vegan products. They
have far more resources, people and money,
available to support their products.
We have remained family-owned as we
feel that once we bring investors on board,
we may lose the values and ethos of the
company. We are a little unorthodox in that
we are driven by purpose and passion as
opposed to dollars.
We are not “jumping on the bandwagon”
of the vegan trend. We have been around
for 28 years. Our story is true, our passion
is real and our desire to change the world
for the better and through great tasting
plant-based foods remains our core focus.
Our products are innovative, of
exceptional quality and delicious. Nearly
every product we make uses a different
technology or process, so not one product
tastes or has the texture similar to another.
For example, our Smoked Hot Dogs are
very different to our Gluten-Free Nuggets
and so on.
What is the Fry’s Family Foundation?
We partner with many non-profits, charities
and campaign organisations and donate
food and funds for animals, people and the
planet and we initiated Meat-Free Monday
in South Africa and Australia. We believe in
authenticity and putting your money where
your mouth is.
Some of the more prominent charities
we work with include, Animals Asia,
Animals Australia, Animal Equality UK,
Edgar’s Mission, Veganuary and the Sea
Shepherds. We also support feeding
schemes in South Africa and provide
shipping containers for various small
business projects in the community in
Durban where our factory is based. We all
have the same vision and dream, so why
not collaborate to achieve this - many
hands make light work.
What are some of the principles the
company is built upon?
Principles before profits is the principle on
which we have built Fry’s - do what’s right
and inflict as little harm as possible,
wherever possible.
What do you wish people would understand
about animals?
Every animal, despite their outward
appearance, is equal. We cannot love some,
protect some and murder some.
What do you wish you knew 20 years ago?
I think the ‘not knowing’ has made us what
we are today - an authentic company built
on a strong set of values. The hard work,
the dedication to veganism, the failures and
the wins have made us grow as people, as a
family and as a company.
Are we heading towards a vegan world?
Yes (drop the mic).
 profile

ie and Wally Fry.

Compa ny co-founders Debb
The Fry Family Food

One of Tammy’s favourite things to do is to hang out with her two sons Josh and Kai.
the australian vegan magazine 33
 BACKYARD BUGS
Serves: 2 | Prep: 30 mins
| Cook: 10 mins
For the hot dog centipede
3 Fry’s Hot Dogs
dollop of tomato sauce
dollop of vegan mayonnaise
black sesame seeds
For the nugget bug
½ box Fry’s Rice Protein
FOR THE NUGGET BUG
1 Cook the nuggets according
to the box. To make the legs,
slice the carrot in thin strips.
Use a toothpick to make two
small holes in the side of the
nugget, and push the slices in.
Repeat to make more nuggets.
2 For the feelers, cut thin slices
of cucumber. Use a toothpick to
make two small holes on the top
of the nugget and insert the
MONSTER PASTA
Serves: 4 | Prep: 35 mins
| Cook: 35 mins
250g whole-wheat spaghetti pasta
For the no-meatballs
½ box Fry’s Meat-Free Mince,
defrosted
1 cup cooked lentils
½ cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
and nutritional yeast. Blitz a
few times. Add herbs and vegan
egg mixture and blend until
everything is mixed.
2 Scoop some of the mixture
and roll it around until it forms
a round shape. Continue until
mixture is finished. Place on a
baking tray, lined with baking
paper and put in oven and cook
for about 10 minutes. Rotate
pan and then let them cook for
another five minutes, then take
and Chia Nuggets
10 baby carrots
6 slices of cucumber
4 Peppadews®
For pop the snail
½ box Fry’s Pops
handful of celery sticks
2 tablespoons hummus
handful cherry tomatoes
carrot, thinly sliced
mircoherbs and fresh
basil, for garnish
FOR THE HOT DOG CENTIPEDE
1 Cook the hot dogs according
to the packaging instructions.
Slice into tenths and place onto
a plate. Dipping a toothpick into
the tomato sauce, “paint” the
legs. Use mayonnaise and
black sesame seeds to make
the eyes.
34 t h e australian vegan magazine
feelers. Cut off small circles of
Peppadews® for the eyes, and
top off with mayo and black
sesame seeds.
FOR POP THE SNAIL
1 Cook the Pops according to
the packaging instructions. Slice
the bottom of the Pop so that
is has a flat surface. Cut your
celery into slices. Spread some
hummus into the middle of the
celery stick, and stack a few
Pops to form the snail’s shell.
2 Add a cherry tomato to make
the head. Make two holes in the
tomato with a toothpick and insert
two slivers of carrots to form the
tentacles. Garnish with Pop
Sprinkles. Arrange bugs together
on a plate and garnish with tops
of radishes and carrots. You can
also use basil leaves, parsley or
microherbs to create the grass.
UBCMFTQPPOHSPVOEnBYTFFE
3 tablespoons warm water
ПШЗ cup cashews (raw and unsalted)
1 tablespoon mix of Italian herbs
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
For the tomato sauce
¼ cup onion, sliced
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can tinned tomatoes
salt, to taste
For the eyes
black olives, pitted (or use
black sesame seeds)
vegan mayonnaise
1 Preheat oven to 180°C.
Mix together ground flaxseed
and warm water. Let sit for 10
minutes. Break up the “mince”
and put in food processor. Add
lentils, onion, garlic, cashews
out of the oven and cool.
3 For the tomato pasta sauce,
turn on stove, and add a little
bit of olive oil in a pot. Add the
onion with a pinch of salt and
cook until it soft. Add garlic and
cook for another two minutes.
Add can of tomatoes and stir.
When sauce starts to bubble,
lower heat and cover the pot.
Continue cooking for about
15 minutes. Gently add the
No-Meatballs to the simmering
pasta sauce. Let everything
cook for about five minutes
until heated through.
4 Cook pasta according to
instructions. Decorate pasta into
shape of a monster’s body. Add
two No-Meatballs to the body.
To complete the monster eyes,
add a dollop of mayonnaise
topped with a sliced olive,
or sesame seed.
 All images / recipes courtesy
of Fry’s from their ebook
YUMMY PLANT-BASED
RECIPES TO INSPIRE
LITTLE AND BIG COOKS.

SUPERFOOD
4 SUPER KIDS
THE LITTLE 1 Prepare Fry’s Chicken-Style THE WINDMILL Country Roast before cooking.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
RASCAL BURGER Burger using pack instructions
and set aside.
Serves: 4 | Prep: 15 mins
2 To make the sweet tomato
| Cook: 45 mins
Serves: 2 | Prep: 20 mins glaze, mix tomato sauce, brown
| Cook: 10 mins
2 Place avocado in a bowl. Add 1 Fry’s Soy and Quinoa Country Roast
sugar and mustard together.
lemon juice, season with salt Pour half of it over the roast.
2 Fry’s Chicken-Style Burgers Place the Country Roast, still in
and pepper and mash with a For the sweet tomato glaze:
1 small ripe avocado fork until smooth. Spread the its foil, on a baking tray and
1 teaspoon lemon juice ПШЗ cup tomato sauce cook in oven for 30 - 35 minutes.
avocado mixture on the burger
salt and ground black pepper, to bun slices. Top with lettuce, 1 tablespoon brown sugar For extra crispiness, keep the
taste then the beetroot, followed by 1 tablespoon yellow mustard Country Roast in the oven for a
a Fry’s Chicken-Style Burger, few more minutes. When it’s
2 burger buns, sliced in half
two slices of capsicum and two For the sandwich ready, cut into slices. Toast bread
(toasted, optional)
slices of tomatoes. slices. Spread some vegan mayo
lettuce leaves 4 slices of bread of choice
on them and the remaining
1 small beetroot, washed and crispy lettuce tomato sauce. Top with pickles,
grated 3 Add one pickle to form the red onion, thinly sliced tomato, onions, lettuce and
4 slices of tomato “tongue”. Using two tooth- tomato, thinly sliced slices of roast. Cut sandwich into
4 slices capsicum picks, secure an olive on each the windmill shape. Assemble
pickles (about 3 - 5 per sandwich)
of them to make the “eyes”. pretzels around the top of the
2 pickles vegan mayonnaise and pretzels
Secure the eyes on the burger sandwich to form the blades.
4 olives, pitted bun. Repeat the same process Add a dollop of mayonnaise
toothpicks, for assembling eyes with the second burger. 1 Defrost Soy and Quinoa for the wheel hub and window.
the australian vegan magazine 35
 Courtesy of The Chefs' Line - SBS.
V
egan cooks, sharpen your knives
and plug in your blenders, it’s
time to get the cameras rolling.
Mainstream media is becoming
increasingly open to veganism,
and cooking programs such as The Chefs’
Line are paving the way for the rest of
Australian television to follow suit. Could an
all-vegan cooking show be on the horizon?
When Nadia Fragnito, a vegan cook and
teacher from Melbourne, auditioned for
Season 2 of the SBS reality cooking show
The Chefs’ Line, she made it clear to the
television producers just how passionate
she was about vegan Italian cuisine. To her
surprise, the producers were intrigued by
her approach. Despite the
onna” (grandma)
Nadia Fragnito with her “n
who’s in her mid 90s.
36 t h e australian vegan magazine
SBS
VHUYHVX
VEGAN
To her surprise, Nadia Fragnito was selected as a contestant on the SBS’s The Chefs’ Line.
tough competition, she was selected onto
the mainstream show where she would
battle it out against three home cooks and
the chefs’ line of a top Italian restaurant.
Each night they were to create their own
version of a chosen dish from Italian cuisine.
The SBS television network has always
aimed to reflect Australia’s multicultural
diversity. This time, it seems SBS is proving
true to its values by opening the door to
another minority group: vegans.
“They were interested in my unique story.
It was refreshing to be able to share why I
was vegan and why cooking vegan Italian
was important to me,” Fragnito says.
If SBS are offering opportunities to vegan
cooks, perhaps next season’s The Chefs’
Line could feature its very own Vegan Week.
Slowly but surely, veganism has crept onto
screens around the globe. In 2010, chef
Chloe Coscarelli won first prize with her
vegan cupcakes on the Food Network’s
Cupcake Wars. In June this year, celebrity
chef Gordon Ramsay hosted a special ‘first
ever’ Vegan MasterChef with actress
Madelaine Petsch. Ramsay also made
waves back in April by tweeting, “Going to
give this #vegan thing a try ... Yes guys
you heard that right”. Having spent years
mocking vegans and vegetarians, Ramsay’s
announcement puzzled his social media
followers. In another tweet several hours
later, the intention behind his tweet was
revealed. Ramsay was opening a new pizza
restaurant with vegan options. His publicity
grab was certainly sneaky but nevertheless
created a conversation by putting the ‘vegan
thing’ once again in the spotlight.
Fragnito first tried the ‘vegan thing’ 17
years ago. During this time, she developed
S
a love affair with recreating her favourite
childhood dishes into vegan versions. For the
past four years she has shared her love of
vegan cuisine on her blog and social media
pages The Vegan Italian Kitchen and offers
demonstrations and cooking classes where
she demystifies Italian vegan cooking by
sharing easy recipes such as tofu ricotta,
cashew parmesan cheese, walnut meatballs
(polpette) and desserts such as custard
cream horns (cannoncini) and tiramisu.
“It was a natural progression to try out
for The Chefs’ Line. It felt like the right time
to share my passion with a larger audience.
I wanted people to know that you can be
vegan and honour your food heritage at the
same time,” says Fragnito.
In August this year, Season 2 kicked
off with Italian Week and the first cooking
challenge was to create an eggplant
parmigiana, a dish made traditionally with
layers of mozzarella cheese. To veganise
the dish, Fragnito created her own cashew
parmesan and béchamel sauce instead of
using pre-made vegan cheese.
“I don’t know if it worked against me but
I thought it would be more educational to
show the audience how to make cheese
using simple ingredients and cooking
methods,” she says.
It is no secret to the average vegan cook
just how creative plant-based cooking can
be. With websites and social media pages
dedicated to veganising food from bacon to
aged brie cheese, home cooks and chefs are
inspiring each other with their inventiveness.
The genius discovery of aquafaba (chickpea
brine that whips into egg whites) was only
made more innovative by the recipes
adapted by thousands of dedicated cooks.
 Unfortunately, Fragnito didn’t get to share
her full range of vegan cooking skills on The
Chefs’ Line. She was eliminated after the
first round.
“It was disappointing. I really wanted to
show how creative vegan food could be.
But in the end, I was so grateful for the
opportunity. There was a lot of praise for my
dish too. Judge Dan Hong said, ‘The tomato
sauce has lots of flavour and the cashew
cheese is interesting. It was a really great
take on this classic dish. A delicious vegan
eggplant parmigiana.’”
While filming in the Sydney studio with
Eureka Productions, Fragnito was pleased
with the conversations that occurred on
and off camera with the production team,
judges, her fellow contestants and head
chef Alessandro Pavoni (who once went
vegan himself).
“It was so heartening that almost everyone
involved in the show was curious about vegan
cooking. We were able to have an open and
lively discussion. If we connect through the
love of food, that’s a great start,’ Fragnito says.
Growing up in an Italian family, you could
say Fragnito’s passion for food is in her
blood. Her father emigrated to Australia from
southern Italy when he was only nine.
“My dad grew vegetables in glasshouses
for a living. We always had loads of fresh
produce. I was raised with a healthy
obsession for flavourful tomatoes,” she says.
This is where Fragnito learned the
foundation of good cooking. Her fondest
memories of food were not of meat or dairy
dishes but of pasta and vegetables.
“One of my favourite dishes was my
nonna’s stuffed artichokes. And her tomato
sauce was heavenly. There was something
secret in the sauce. I used to think it was
love, but maybe it was just lots of olive oil
and salt,” she laughs.
When Fragnito recreates her favourite
childhood dishes, she uses sensory memory
to recall the various elements. The sense of
smell, which is linked to taste, is a powerful
way of recalling memories and experiences.
According to Moss and Johnson (2017),
in their article The Strange Science of
Odour Memory this occurrence is known
as ‘Proustian memory’ whereby “exposure
to a stimulus can automatically trigger a
strong memory from the past. For Proust, it
was tea-soaked madeleine that activated a
detailed memory of his aunt’s house”.
And in Fragnito’s case, it’s the rich earthy
scent of her family’s glasshouses that comes
flooding back whenever she breathes into a
freshly grown tomato. This process happens
within the limbic system of the brain, an
area fundamental to emotion.
The emotional significance of food and
identity is celebrated through shows such
as The Chefs’ Line. With its aim to show-
case a diversity of stories and food heritage,
perhaps there will be an increase in vegan
TV cooks in the near future. Food creates
connection. But vegan food goes one step
further by doing so without the cruelty. It’s
time to switch the channel.
CLASSIC
TIRAMISU
brine from 1 can chickpeas
1 ½ (200g) packets Leda Arrowroot biscuits
½ cup icing sugar
1 ½ cups strong espresso coffee
¼ cup coffee liqueur
2 cups soy milk
½ cup vegan margarine
½ cup raw sugar
ПШЗDVQDPSOnPVS
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash turmeric powder Nadia Fragnito
250g tub vegan cream cheese
½ cup cocoa powder (garnish)
dark chocolate (optional garnish)
2 Gradually sift the icing sugar into the
aquafaba and continue to beat until glossy.
CUSTARD Gently fold the aquafaba into the custard
cream until the mixture is combined and
1 Into a medium saucepan, add the soy smooth.
milk, cornflour, sugar, margarine, vanilla
and turmeric and whisk to combine. Heat
over a medium heat, stirring occasionally. ASSEMBLY
Once the custard thickens, reduce heat
and continue to stir for a further one to 1 Combine the coffee and liqueur into a
two minutes. Take off the heat and pour bowl. Dip the biscuits in one at a time for
into a bowl. Beat the custard by hand for a three to five seconds to allow the coffee to
couple of minutes to cool. soak into the biscuits. The denser the
biscuit, the longer you should soak it. But
you don't want the biscuit to disintegrate.
2 Scoop the cream cheese into the cool
custard and beat with a hand mixer or
stand mixer on low for one minute or until 2 Line a deep dish with a layer of the
dipped biscuits, placing the biscuits side
combined and smooth.
by side. Scoop the custard cream over the
biscuits, creating a thick layer. Repeat with
3 Set aside. another layer of dipped biscuits and the
custard cream.
AQUAFABA “EGG” WHITES
3 Garnish with a generous dusting of
1 Pour the chickpea brine into a clean cocoa power and/or grated dark chocolate.
bowl. Beat with a hand beater or stand Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of two
mixer on high until stiff peaks form. This hours to overnight. Leaving the tiramisu
may take approximately five to 10 minutes. overnight allows the flavours to develop
To check if it is ready, carefully invert the and the layers to set.
bowl of aquafaba. If the aquafaba doesn't
slide down the bowl, then it is ready. RECIPE BY NADIA FRAGNITO
Photo by Nadia Fragnito
the australian vegan magazine 37
 Vegan Yack Attack On
The Go! © 2018 Quarto
Publishing Group USA Inc.
Text © 2018 Jackie Sobon.
First published in 2018
by Fair Winds Press, an
imprint of The Quarto
Group, 100 Cummings
Center, Suite 265-D,
Beverly, MA 01915, USA.

38 t h e australian vegan magazine

Extra
CREAMY

CREAMY BERRY-FULL
POLENTA
MAKES 4 serves PREP 30 mins
Under 10 ingredients | Gluten-free | Soy-free option | Nut-free option | Oil-free

A re you sick of oats? Wouldn’t it be nice to switch up your grains in the morning?
Polenta cooked with non-dairy milk is extra creamy and goes wonderfully with
warmed berries. Extra points for keeping some simple cashew cream (below) on hand to
dollop onto this delicious breakfast.

2 cups (470ml) unsweetened dairy-free milk a simmer, adjust the heat to medium-low,
1 cup (250ml) water and cook until the berries start to break
down, about 10 minutes. Lightly mash the
1 cup (140g) polenta berries if they are not breaking apart.
¼ cup (60ml) maple syrup
pinch of salt 3 Divide the creamy polenta between
four bowls, and top each with some berry
mixture. Dollop one tablespoon (15ml) of
FOR THE TOPPING simple cashew cream on top of each bowl
1 cup (140g) fresh or frozen blueberries and serve warm.

1 cup (140g) fresh or frozen blackberries

2 tablespoons (30ml) water
¼ cup (60ml) simple cashew cream (right)
1 In a large pot over medium-high heat,
bring the dairy-free milk and water to a
boil. Stir in the polenta, and adjust the heat
to medium-low. Cook covered but vented,
stirring occasionally for 18 to 20 minutes,
or until the polenta is creamy. Stir in the
maple syrup, and add salt to taste. Keep
warm until ready to serve.
SIMPLE CASHEW CREAM
1 cup (140g) raw cashews
ПШЗ to ½ cup (80ml to 120 ml) water
pinch of salt
1 Soak the cashews in boiling hot water
for 15 minutes. Drain and rinse the
cashews, then place them in a blender
with ПШЗ cup (80ml) water, to start, plus salt.
Blend until completely smooth, adding
more water if your blender is struggling.

2 While the polenta is cooking, warm the 2 Refrigerate until ready to use; it will
blueberries, blackberries, and water in a continue to thicken as it cools. Keeps for
small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to seven to 10 days in the refrigerator.
the australian vegan magazine 39
 E D
CK
PA WITH
R S
A V OU
FL
ANTIPASTO
CHOP
SALAD
n s
MAKES 4 serves PREP 30 mins

t a m i
Make ahead | Portable | Nut-free

Fu l o f v i FOR THE DRESSING

a l s !
6 tablespoons (90ml) olive oil

m i n e r
2 tablespoons (30ml) white vinegar

a n d
1 tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon Italian herb blend
½ teaspoon salt
ПШМ teaspoon sugar
pinch pepper

FOR THE SALAD

1 can (425g) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
225g chopped tomatoes
½ cup (60g) chopped black or green olives
1 can (400g) quartered artichoke hearts
225g cubed store bought seitan
200g cubed vegan white cheese
6 cups (345g) chopped romaine

1 In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, white

Vegan Yack Attack On
The Go! © 2018 Quarto
Publishing Group USA Inc.
Text © 2018 Jackie Sobon.
First published in 2018
by Fair Winds Press, an
imprint of The Quarto
Group, 100 Cummings
Center, Suite 265-D,
Beverly, MA 01915, USA.
40 t h e australian vegan magazine
vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, Italian herbs,
salt, sugar, and pepper together until
emulsified and creamy-looking.
2 Divide the dressing between four 710ml
jars, then layer the salad ingredients in the
jars, in the order listed, finishing with the
romaine. Close each jar with a tight-fitting
lid. When ready to serve, gently shake the
jar to coat everything with dressing, then
empty into a bowl. Serve chilled. Salad jars
will last up to one week in the refrigerator.
 Wih a serve
of vegies!
EASY
Vegan Yack Attack On
The Go! © 2018 Quarto
Publishing Group USA Inc.
Text © 2018 Jackie Sobon.
First published in 2018
MAK T O
E
by Fair Winds Press, an
imprint of The Quarto
Group, 100 Cummings
Center, Suite 265-D,
Beverly, MA 01915, USA.

BLUEBERRY ½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda
2 In a large mixing bowl, whisk together
the oats, all-purpose flour, baking powder,
baking soda, and salt. In a medium mixing

ZUCCHINI
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (115ml) orange juice
½ cup (72g) coconut sugar
bowl, whisk together the orange juice,
coconut sugar, zucchini, coconut oil,
flaxseed, vanilla, orange zest, and molasses

BREAKFAST
½ cup (60g) shredded zucchini
¼ cup (60ml) melted coconut oil
until combined. Create a well in the dry
ingredients, then pour the wet ingredients
into it. Fold the dough together until there
are no dry spots in the mixture. Add the

COOKIES UBCMFTQPPO H
HSPVOEnBYTFFE
2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
2 teaspoons (4g) orange zest
blueberries and pecans to the dough, and
fold together until incorporated evenly.

MAKES 12 cookies PREP 30 mins

Make ahead | Portable | Soy-free
| Sugar-free | Gluten-free option
1 ½ cups (120g) rolled oats
DVQ H
VOCMFBDIFEBMMQVSQPTFnPVS
PS and line two large baking sheets with
HMVUFOGSFFnPVSXJUIåUFBTQPPOYBOUIBOHVN
1 teaspoon molasses
½ cup (75g) blueberries
½ cup (100g) chopped pecans
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F),
be soft. Leave the sheets on cooling racks
baking paper.
3 Place ¼-cup-sized (roughly 90g) scoops,
5cm apart on the baking sheets. Press
down gently to flatten the cookies slightly.
4 Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, switching the
baking sheet positions halfway through.
When the cookies are done baking they will
for 15 to 20 minutes before serving them.
the australian vegan magazine 41
 YOU CAN STORE THESE FOR ONE WEEK!
p a r a g u s i s
As
a n u t r i e n t
o w e r h o u s e !
p

Vegan Yack Attack On

The Go! © 2018 Quarto
Publishing Group USA Inc.
Text © 2018 Jackie Sobon.
First published in 2018
by Fair Winds Press, an
imprint of The Quarto
Group, 100 Cummings
Center, Suite 265-D,
Beverly, MA 01915, USA.

42 t h e australian vegan magazine

Make
AHEAD

ASPARAGUS
OMELETTE IN
A BAG
MAKES 4 serves PREP 30 mins
Under 10 ingredients | Make ahead | Gluten-free | Soy-free | Nut-free
| Oil-free | Sugar-free

A n omelette may not seem like an inherently vegan dish, but this
asparagus spinach omelette with a chickpea base is quite
outstanding. Make this omelette-in-a-bag recipe for your next camping trip or
PWFSOJHIUTUBZ TPUIBUZPVEPOUIBWFUPTBDSJmDFRVBMJUZGPSDPOWFOJFODF

DVQ H
DIJDLQFBnPVS ¼ cup (10g) of spinach, two
3 tablespoons (15g) nutritional yeast
2 tablespoons (15g) cornstarch
1 ½ teaspoons Indian black salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 ¾ cups (415ml) vegetable broth
2 cups (250g) chopped asparagus,
woody ends trimmed
1 cup (40g) packed baby spinach
½ cup (55g) vegan Cheddar shreds
(optional)
¼ cup (30g) diced shallots
cooking oil spray
1 In a mixing bowl, whisk together
the chickpea flour, nutritional yeast,
cornstarch, Indian black salt, and
black pepper until combined. Pour
vegetable broth into the flour and
whisk until smooth, then divide the
mixture between four sealable
sandwich bags.
2 Place ½ cup (75g) of asparagus,
tablespoons (15g) of Cheddar shreds
(if using), and one tablespoon (7g)
of shallots into each bag. Store in the
refrigerator or an iced cooler for
up to one week, or move on to
preparing it.
3 When you are ready to prepare
an omelette, warm a pan or well-
seasoned cast-iron pot over medium
heat. Spray the pan with a thin layer
of cooking oil. Once it is hot, shake
the omelette bag vigorously. Pour
the mixture into the pan and cook on
one side for five to seven minutes,
or until the edges start to brown. Flip
one half over onto the other half and
cook for another two minutes. Repeat
with remaining bags, when ready,
and serve hot.
TIP: If you have the space and
aren’t worried about weight, you
can bottle these omelettes up in
355ml jars.
the australian vegan magazine 43
 K I D -
i e n d l y
Fr
Gre a t f r
p i n g w i h
cam l y
h e f a m i
Vegan Yack Attack On
The Go! © 2018 Quarto
Publishing Group USA Inc.
Text © 2018 Jackie Sobon.
First published in 2018
by Fair Winds Press, an
imprint of The Quarto
Group, 100 Cummings
Center, Suite 265-D,
Beverly, MA 01915, USA.
44 t h e australian vegan magazine
CAMPFIRE
BANANA
SPLITS
MAKES 4 serves PREP 15 mins
Under 10 ingredients | Portable | Make
ahead | Gluten-free | Nut-free | Oil-free
4 bananas
¾ cup (70g) vegan mini-marshmallows
ПШЗ cup (55g) vegan chocolate chips
1 cup (120g) sweet cherries, pitted and halved
1 teaspoon vegan sprinkles (optional)
1 Preheat the grill to 190°C (375°F), or
make a campfire with an area for indirect
flame, over hot coals. Keeping the banana
peels on, slice halfway through each
banana, lengthwise. Next, stuff each
banana with vegan marshmallows,
chocolate chips, and sweet cherries. Wrap
each banana in foil and cook for eight to
10 minutes, allowing them to cool for two
minutes before unwrapping them.
2 Garnish with sprinkles, and serve.
TIP: If you don’t like cherries, you can
make this recipe with raspberries or
chopped strawberries instead. These aren’t
your average banana splits. Think warm,
melty, sweet, and maybe even a little gooey
- if that adjective doesn’t put you off too
much. These sweet treats are kid-friendly
and great for cooking in a little campfire.
 Pe r f e c t f r
lu n c h
COCONUT
#-51
MAKES 4 serves PREP 15 mins
Under 10 ingredients | Portable | Make
ahead | Gluten-free option | Soy-free
option | Nut-free | Oil-free

8 slices sourdough bread (or use gluten-free)

5 tablespoons (70g) vegan mayonnaise, (or use
soy-free)
8 leaves green leaf lettuce
8 thin slices large tomato
1 cup (160g) sliced peaches
¾ cup (50g) coconut bacon
ПШМ teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 Lay out the eight pieces of bread, and

spread roughly two teaspoons (9g) of vegan
mayonnaise on one side of each slice. Layer
two leaves of lettuce, two slices of tomato,

PEACHY
¼ cup (40g) peach slices, three table-
spoons (4g) coconut bacon, and a pinch of
black pepper on four of the slices. Then top
with the remaining slices of bread.

2 Serve, or wrap up for your lunch box!

Surpris
Vegan Yack Attack On
The Go! © 2018 Quarto
Publishing Group USA Inc.
Text © 2018 Jackie Sobon.
e
First published in 2018
by Fair Winds Press, an
imprint of The Quarto
Group, 100 Cummings
Center, Suite 265-D,
Beverly, MA 01915, USA.

the australian vegan magazine 45

 WITH A COOL, HERBY YOGHURT SAUCE

f e c t f r B B
P e r
fa m i l y a nd

i c k &
Qu Y
TA ST

Vegan Yack Attack On

The Go! © 2018 Quarto
Publishing Group USA Inc.
Text © 2018 Jackie Sobon.
First published in 2018
by Fair Winds Press, an
imprint of The Quarto
Group, 100 Cummings
Center, Suite 265-D,
Beverly, MA 01915, USA.

46 t h e australian vegan magazine

B Q ’ s w i h
fri e n d s CAULIFLOWER
CURRY GRILL
PACKETS WITH
YOGHURT
MAKES 4 serves PREP 30 mins
Make ahead | Portable | Gluten-free | Soy-free | Nut-free
| Sugar- free
FOR THE YOGHURT SAUCE
1 cup (235ml) plain dairy-free
yoghurt
2 tablespoons (5g) chopped
coriander
2 tablespoons (5g) thinly sliced
spring onion
1 tablespoon (15ml) lime juice
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon lime zest
¼ teaspoon salt
FOR THE CURRY CAULIFLOWER
HDBVMJnPXFSnPSFUT
DIPQQFE between the four sheets. Place
into bite-sized pieces
455g russet potatoes, diced
1 cup (140g) chopped white onion
1 cup (150g) halved cherry
tomatoes
1 cup (150g) green peas
1 can (455g) chickpeas, drained
and rinsed
1 ½ tablespoons (25ml) melted
coconut oil
1 ½ tablespoons (10g) curry powder
pinch of salt
dash of pepper
1 tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice
1 Place all the yoghurt sauce
ingredients in a small mixing
bowl, and stir until combined.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
2 Preheat the grill to roughly
200°C (400°F). In a very
large mixing bowl, place the
cauliflower, potatoes, white
onions, tomatoes, peas, and
chickpeas. Drizzle coconut oil
over the top of the veggies, and
stir until coated. Add the curry
powder and a pinch of salt and
pepper, and stir again until
evenly coated.
3 Tear out four pieces of
aluminium foil around 30 x
46cm, and lay them out. Divide
the curry cauliflower mixture
it in the middle, fold the two
long sides in toward the middle,
and fold the seam together until
it hits the filling. Fold the two
short sides in, twice, to seal the
ends. Place each packet on the
grill and cook for seven minutes,
flip them over and grill for an
additional seven minutes.
4 Carefully, open one packet
slightly, and poke the cauliflower
and potatoes to see if they are
tender. If not, cook until they
are. Once cooked through,
place the packets on a cooling
rack for five minutes before
opening and serving. When
the packets are open, squeeze
lemon juice over each one, and
top with salt and pepper.
5 Serve packets alongside
yoghurt sauce and enjoy.
the australian vegan magazine 47

FRIED RICE WITH
PINEAPPLE AND
CASHEW NUTS
MAKES 1 serve PREP 35 mins
F ruity pineapple, sweetcorn, and golden brown toasted cashew
nuts give this delicately bronzed jasmine rice everything it needs
to be a truly memorable culinary experience.
100g jasmine rice
sea salt
60g cashew nuts
2 canned pineapple rings
2 tablespoons vegan margarine
1 small red pepper
1 carrot
80g canned sweetcorn
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra if
needed
good pinch of freshly ground white
pepper
1 ½ teaspoons hot paprika, plus extra
for sprinkling
2 spring onions, green sections only
1 Cook rice in salted water
according to packet instructions.
Drain in a sieve and leave to cool.
Toast cashews in a small dry frying
pan until golden brown, remove
from the heat and set aside.
2 Chop the pineapple rings into
bite-sized pieces. Melt the vegan
margarine in the pan over a
medium heat, then sauté the
pineapple, and set aside.
48 t h e australian vegan magazine
p e a
r e c i
h e
T t wih
r e
g fla a k e
3 Halve the pepper, remove
the seeds, then chop into small
chunks. Peel the carrot and slice
thinly using a vegetable peeler.
4 Drain the sweetcorn in a sieve.
Heat two tablespoons of oil in
a wok or frying pan. Sauté the
pepper and carrot over a high heat,
then continue to cook over a
medium heat until golden brown
and al dente. If the carrot browns
too much before it is cooked, add
R
O
a little water (any added liquid
ARM
should evaporate completely).
Season the vegetables with salt,
pepper, and paprika.
W
5 Add the remaining two
tablespoons of oil and increase
the heat. Stir in the rice and sauté
briefly over a high heat until crisp,
then continue to brown over a
medium heat. If the mixture dries
out too much, add a little more oil.
C O L D
Fold in the sweetcorn, pineapple,
and cashews and heat through.
Transfer the rice dish to a lunch-
box. Wash and slice the spring
onions and scatter them over the
rice. Sprinkle with paprika.
 s t e s

GREAT AS LEFTOVERS THE NEXT DAY

s o t a n d
l
a oli a
o c
br onds
a l m
ed

Images / recipes
from Vegan On
The Go by
Jérôme Eckmeier
and Daniela
Lais. Penguin
Random House.
RRP $29.99.
Photography by
Brigitte Sporrer.

the australian vegan magazine 49

 CLASSIC STREET FOOD SANDWICH

Jackfru
in vitam i t i s rich
ins, min
and diet erals,
ary fibr
e

50 t h e australian vegan magazine

 SPICY
Veggies

BBQ “PULLED”
JACKFRUIT
SANDWICH
MAKES 2 sandwiches PREP 20 mins COOK 1 hour
INFUSION 12 hours

T he classic street food sandwich, with spicy veggies and

barbecue sauce, makes a delicious, healthy lunch. The
role of “pulled pork” is played by jackfruit - a popular ingredient in
Asian cuisine.

560g can of green jackfruit in water a low heat for one hour. Give it
or brine a stir regularly, and if necessary,
2 tablespoons olive oil splash in some water. Season
to taste with salt and pepper,
sea salt remove from heat and leave to
2 garlic cloves infuse for 12 hours.
150g vegan barbecue sauce, plus
extra for the sandwich 2 Briefly toast the sliced bread
freshly ground black pepper under the grill or in the toaster
then spread with a little bit of
4 slices of bread
barbecue sauce. Top two pieces
4 lettuce leaves of bread with one lettuce leaf
1 tomato, sliced each. Arrange the tomato,
onion, and some jackfruit on
TNBMMSFEPOJPO mOFMZTMJDFE
top, then drizzle with barbecue
sauce. Top with the remaining
1 Put the jackfruit into a sieve, lettuce leaves and cover with
let it drain well, then rinse the other slices of bread. Wrap
under cold water and let it drain the sandwiches in cling wrap to
Images / recipes once again. Carefully shred into take with you.
from Vegan On rough pieces. Heat the oil in a
The Go by pan and sauté the jackfruit for
Jérôme Eckmeier
and Daniela three to four minutes over a TIP: You can buy canned
Lais. Penguin medium heat, then season with jackfruit in Asian stores. It’s
Random House. salt. Peel and crush the garlic really important for this recipe
RRP $29.99. and sauté this briefly too. Add to get young, green jackfruit
Photography by the barbecue sauce, stir, then in water or brine, and not
Brigitte Sporrer.
cover and leave to simmer over preserved in syrup.
the australian vegan magazine 51
 O R
WARM
BROCCOLI
CAKES WITH C O L D
MANGO AND
AVOCADO
SALSA
MAKES 8 cakes PREP 30 mins INFUSION 12 hours

FOR THE SALSA 1 Halve the tomatoes, remove

the stalks and seeds, and chop
2 tomatoes
finely. Peel the mango and
½ small mango avocado and remove the
stones, then chop finely. Slice
½ small avocado the chilli lengthways, remove
1 small red chilli the seeds, and slice into short,
thin strips. Peel the onion and
1 small red onion chop finely. Mix the prepared
UBCMFTQPPOmOFMZDIPQQFE ingredients in a bowl with the
coriander leaves coriander. Add the lime juice,
agave syrup, and salt to taste.
1 tablespoon lime juice Leave the salsa to infuse in the
1 teaspoon agave syrup fridge for 12 hours.

½ teaspoon sea salt 2 For the cakes, wash and chop

FOR THE CAKES
HCSPDDPMJnPSFUT
1 small red onion
UBCMFTQPPOmOFMZDIPQQFE
coriander leaves
UBCMFTQPPOTDIJDLQFBnPVS
pinch of curry powder
pinch of ground cumin
pinch of ground ginger
pinch of chilli powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
pinch of freshly ground black
pepper
1 tablespoon ground linseed
5 tablespoons olive oil
the broccoli florets, and peel
and chop the onion. Put in a
food processor with the coriander
leaves, purée until smooth,
then gradually pour into a bowl.
3 Use a balloon whisk to
combine the chickpea flour with
the spices, salt, pepper, and
linseed in a bowl. Add the dry
mixture to the broccoli mixture
and work everything together
with your hands until you have
a firm consistency. Divide the
mix into eight portions and shape
each into a small, flat cake.
4 Heat the oil in a pan and fry
the cakes on both sides over
a medium heat until golden
brown. Package up the broccoli
cakes and the salsa separately.

52 t h e australian vegan magazine

 G r e a t t o t a k e t o
r o n a p i c n i c
wrk

Images / recipes
from Vegan On
The Go by
Jérôme Eckmeier
and Daniela
Lais. Penguin
Random House.
RRP $29.99.
Photography by
Brigitte Sporrer.

HEALTHY AND DELICIOUS the australian vegan magazine 53

TWO VARIETIES OF ASPARAGUS

Rich in vit
coper, sel
B1 and B
and vi

Images / recipes
from Vegan On
The Go by
Jérôme Eckmeier
and Daniela
Lais. Penguin
Random House.
RRP $29.99.
Photography by
Brigitte Sporrer.

54 t h e australian vegan magazine

 WARM
OR
COLD
ANDALUCIAN
ASPARAGUS
SALAD
tamin K, f MAKES 1 - 2 serves PREP 25 mins

lenium, vit o l a t e , T wo varieties of regal asparagus spears are found in this

Andalucian salad: an unusual combination with zesty

a
oranges, sweet dates, and delicately bitter olives. This is a fruity

m i n
and piquant salad, which makes for a tasty, interesting, and

B2, vitami
aesthetically pleasing lunchbox meal.

n C,
100g store bought seitan Peel the lower ПШЗ of the stem of
each green asparagus spear.
250g white asparagus spears

itamin E
250g green asparagus spears
5 pitted dates
2 small unwaxed oranges
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
50g pitted black olives
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon hot paprika
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
½ teaspoon sea salt
pinch of freshly ground black
pepper
pinch of ground allspice
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 Chop the seitan into 1cm
pieces. Remove the woody ends
from all the asparagus spears.
Slice all the asparagus spears
diagonally to make 4cm long
pieces. Set the asparagus
tips aside.
2 Finely chop the dates. Finely
grate one orange, or use a zester
to make fine strips. Cut both
oranges in half and squeeze
the juice into a bowl.
3 Heat the oil in a pan and
sauté the seitan and the
asparagus pieces (not the tips)
for a short while over a medium
heat. Stir in the olives and
orange zest. Add the vinegar,
soy sauce, and orange juice.
Mix in both types of paprika,
the salt, pepper, allspice, and
finally the lime juice. Let cook
over a low heat for five minutes.
Fold in the asparagus tips and
dates and cook briefly. The salad
tastes great warm or cold.
the australian vegan magazine 55
 Goodness
OF G R E E N S

POTSTICKER
NOODLES
One c u p o
o f e
MAKES 1 serve PREP 25 mins

S o simple, so good: rice noodles, pak choi, and deliciously

b r o c o l i
a
aromatic ginger, curry paste, and sesame oil all mingled

vitami n C
splendidly in this Asian concoction. Broccoli joins the assembled
ranks of delicious ingredients to add a nice crunch - and a little
green goodness - to the noodles.

FOR THE SAUCE

5 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 To make the sauce, add all
the ingredients to a screw-top
jar. Close the lid firmly and
shake vigorously until the
A n d 1 0 0 g h a
d a i l y
ingredients are well combined.

u r
1 tablespoon red curry paste

y o
Set aside.

½ teaspoon sesame oil
pinch of chilli powder
UBCMFTQPPOTmOFMZDIPQQFE
spring
onion greens
o f
2 Finely chop the pak choi.
Heat the oil in a pan and
sauté the broccoli until it is just
cooked. Season with salt and
pepper and set aside.

FOR THE NOODLES

½ small pak choi, about 80g
1 tablespoon coconut oil
HCSPDDPMJnPSFUT
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
80g broad rice noodles
(from an Asian supermarket)
åUFBTQPPOmOFMZHSBUFEGSFTI
root ginger
56 t h e australian vegan magazine
3 Cook the noodles in salted
water according to the packet
instructions. Add the pak
choi shortly before the end of Images / recipes
from Vegan On
the cooking time. Drain the
The Go by
noodles and pak choi in a Jérôme Eckmeier
sieve, plunge into cold water, and Daniela
then drain again, and return Lais. Penguin
to the pan. Add the sauce and Random House.
heat everything through again. RRP $29.99.
Photography by
Fold in the broccoli and ginger, Brigitte Sporrer.
then transfer to your lunchbox.
 SO SIMPLE TO MAKE; AND SO GOOD
of c o k e d
ers as m u c h
as a n r a n g e .
as 1 4 8 p e r c e n t
y r e q u i r e m e n t !

the australian vegan magazine 57

 Can’t believ
ADD CURRY POWDER FOR A CURRY “EGG” SANDWICH

IT’S VEGAN!

58 t h e australian vegan magazine

ve D
SAN
E L I DWICH

Try ad “EGG”
“bacon i n g vegan SALAD
” r veg MAKES 4 - 6 serves

cream c an
hese!
HNFEJVNmSNUPGV /05TJMLFOPS
FYUSBmSNUPGV

DFMFSZTUBMLT mOFMZEJDFE
TQSJOHPOJPOT mOFMZTMJDFE
250g (1 cup) vegan mayonnaise
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 teaspoon celery seeds
¼ bunch of dill, chopped
æCVODIPGnBUMFBG *UBMJBO

parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon black salt
pepper, to taste

1 First, press the tofu between sheets of

paper towel to remove excess moisture;
no one likes a sloppy sandwich. To do this,
place a couple of paper towels above and
below the tofu and sandwich between two
plates. Place a heavy can or bag of flour on
top and leave to drain while you prepare
the vegetables.

This is an edited
extract from Smith &
2 Once drained, mash the tofu in a bowl
DELI-cious by Shannon
and add the celery and spring onions. Don’t
Martinez & Mo Wyse mix it up too much.
published by Hardie
Grant Books. RRP $50
and is available in 3 Mix all the remaining ingredients in a
stores nationally. separate bowl, then add the tofu mixture.
Photographer: ©Bonnie Stir well, until the tofu is evenly coated,
Savage (Food only)
then refrigerate for at least one hour.
the australian vegan magazine 59
 PANZANELLA Ad c u c u mb
MAKES 4 - 6 serves

r ditch
T
s e a s
his very clever dish lets you serve fried bread and still call it

and u
a salad. Health aside, this is such a beautiful, simple-is-best
salad. It uses minimal ingredients, keeping the focus on the fresh
tomatoes. Only make this salad in the summer when tomatoes are
at their best. Made right, this is the most perfect picnic salad. This
is also a great way to use up any stale bread in the house. There are
lots of versions of panzanella out there. Some people like cucumber,
some like capsicum. You can also ditch the bread and use the rest as
a sauce over pasta.

olive oil, for coating and drizzling

1 large garlic clove
150g day-old bread
800g - 1kg tomatoes (any variety)
½ red onion or 1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt
½ fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced (optional)
MBSHFIBOEGVMPGnBUMFBG *UBMJBO
QBSTMFZMFBWFT
large handful of basil leaves

DRESSING
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped capers
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

1 Prepare your bread first. Cut your bread into any shape you
want. Coat the base of a large frying pan with a generous amount
of olive oil. Chop up the garlic clove and add it to the oil.

2 Set the pan over a medium heat and allow the garlic to sizzle a
little. Add the bread to the pan with the oil. (If all your bread fits in
the pan at once, great. If not, work in batches.) Lightly drizzle olive
oil on the bread to coat. (We aren’t deep-frying the bread here, just
toasting it.) Toast, flipping over regularly, until golden and crispy
on all sides. Remove and leave to cool while you prep the tomatoes.

3 Chop the tomatoes and combine with chopped onion in a bowl

with the salt. Mix well and set aside to allow the salt to draw some
of the moisture out of the tomatoes. This will help the dressing
adhere.

4 For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together in a small

GREAT FOR A
bowl. Transfer the bread to a salad bowl and mix with the tomatoes,
fennel and herbs. Pour over the dressing and toss to coat, then
check the seasoning before serving.
60 t h e australian vegan magazine
ber r c a p s i c u m
hh e b r e a d S E
U LE
U P
s pasta s a u c e ! S T A
A D
B R E

This is an edited
extract from Smith &
DELI-cious by Shannon
Martinez & Mo Wyse
published by Hardie
Grant Books. RRP $50
and is available in
stores nationally.

A SUMMER PICNIC Photographer: ©Bonnie

Savage (Food only)

the australian vegan magazine 61

 H a s a r i c h
u h f e l w i h o u t
mo
OR PUT FILLING INTO A PIE!

e ch ol e st e r o l r
h n g
h e s u f e r i

This is an edited
extract from Smith &
DELI-cious by Shannon
Martinez & Mo Wyse
published by Hardie
Grant Books. RRP $50
and is available in
stores nationally.
Photographer: ©Bonnie
Savage (Food only)

62 t h e australian vegan magazine

A QU I C K
U R I T E
FAVO

“BEEF”
BOURGUIGNON
MAKES 4 - 6 serves

M ost wouldn’t dream of replacing the main component of this classic French stew
with a veggie substitute, but this recipe has the same beautiful, rich mouthfeel,
but without cholesterol. Serve this up with traditional accompaniments - creamy (vegan)
mash and green beans - or fill a pie with it. A warning: no matter how much you make,
it’s virtually impossible to ‘save some for later’. Whatever brand of vegan meat
replacement you prefer/can get, use it. If vegan beef isn’t available, bulk it out with the
same quantity of mushrooms. It won’t be the same, but it will still be super yum.

80ml (ПШЗ cup) extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 large brown onion, diced 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 carrot, diced salt and pepper
220g (2 cups) button mushrooms, whole or
halved 1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan over
2 celery stalks, diced a medium heat and fry the onion, carrot,
mushroom and celery until soft and
2 garlic cloves, minced
slightly golden.
10g (1 cup) mixed dried mushrooms, soaked
(reserve 250 ml/1 cup soaking liquid)
2 Add the garlic and cook for one
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary leaves minute, then add the rehydrated
1 tablespoon chopped thyme leaves mushrooms, herbs, tomato paste, vegan
margarine and flour. Cook out the flour
IBOEGVMPGnBUMFBG *UBMJBO
QBSTMFZ  for one minute, then deglaze the pan
roughly chopped with the wine.
1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon vegan margarine 3 Mix in the remaining ingredients and
bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to
UBCMFTQPPOTQMBJO BMMQVSQPTF
nPVS
low and simmer for 45 minutes.
375ml (1 ½ cups) red wine
250g vegan “beef” pieces 4 Season with salt and pepper.
the australian vegan magazine 63
 s o u r c e o f v i t a m
God
a n e s e , p h o s p h
mang
E O F
ZE GERMAN T A S T
POTATO A N Y
G E R M
MAKES 4 - 6 serves

1kg baby potatoes (but you can use any variety)

1 tablespoon salt, plus extra to taste
150g (1 cup) sauerkraut, chopped
6 vegan bacon slices, diced and cooked
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
145g (½ cup) dill pickles, chopped
DFMFSZTUBMLT mOFMZEJDFE
åCSPXOPOJPO mOFMZEJDFE
large handful of dill, chopped
pepper, to taste

DRESSING
250g (1 cup) vegan mayonnaise
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons dill pickle juice

1 Put the potatoes in a large saucepan

and cover with cold water. Add the salt and
bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to
medium and simmer until the potatoes are
just soft when pierced with a sharp knife.
Drain and rinse under cold running
water, then set aside. This is an edited
extract from Smith &
2 To make the dressing, combine all the DELI-cious by Shannon
Martinez & Mo Wyse
ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
published by Hardie
Grant Books. RRP $50
3 Halve or quarter the potatoes depending and is available in
on how you like them. Combine with the stores nationally.
remaining ingredients in a salad bowl, add Photographer: ©Bonnie
Savage (Food only)
the dressing and toss to coat. Season well.
64 t h e australian vegan magazine
 3 , B 5 , B 6 , K ,
mins C , B
i r o n , a n d c o p e r
h r u s ,

WITH VEGAN “BACON” AND SAUERKRAUT

the australian vegan magazine 65

 n g b u t
h i
IMPRESS YOUR DINNER GUESTS

E v e r y n f o d
” v e g a
v o u r l e s
“fl a

66 t h e australian vegan magazine

Childhood
FAVOURITE

“BEEF”
STROGANOFF
MAKES 4 - 6 serves

B eef stroganoff was made popular by mothers all around the world as a dinner
party staple in the 80s. It may seem dated, but it’s popular for a reason. Stick with
the original recipe and serve this on hot pasta or white rice. The best thing about dishes like
stroganoff is that it’s a real winner with your meat-eating dinner guests who are sceptical
BCPVUZPVSinBWPVSMFTTwWFHBOMJGFTUZMF"MTPHSFBUMZSFDFJWFECZUIPTFGSJFOETXIPBSFSFBMMZ
missing the carnivorous childhood favourites their mums and grans used to make.

60g (¼ cup) vegan butter handful of dill, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil salt and pepper
1 brown onion, sliced
250g mushrooms (Swiss are best), sliced 1 Heat the vegan butter and oil in a large
1 teaspoon caraway seeds saucepan over a medium heat and fry the
onion, mushrooms and caraway seeds until
3 garlic cloves, minced slightly coloured. Add the garlic and cook
1 tablespoon smoked paprika for one minute, then add the paprikas and
tomato paste. Cook for a further minute,
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
then toss in the vegan “beef”.
1 tablespoon tomato paste
250g vegan “beef” pieces 2 Add the flour and cook for one minute
This is an edited åUBCMFTQPPOTQMBJO BMMQVSQPTF
nPVS before adding the stock, worcestershire
extract from Smith & sauce, vinegar and mustard.
DELI-cious by Shannon 500ml (2 cups) vegan “beef” or vegetable stock
Martinez & Mo Wyse
published by Hardie
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce 3 Simmer for about 20 minutes, then stir
Grant Books. RRP $50 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar in the vegan sour cream and dill. Stir over
and is available in a low heat for about five minutes, or until
stores nationally. 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard the sour cream has melted. (Don’t boil the
Photographer: ©Bonnie 125g (½ cup) vegan sour cream or vegan cream mixture or the sour cream might split.)
Savage (Food only)
cheese Season to taste.
the australian vegan magazine 67

“FISH” AND CHIPS WITH
TARTARE SAUCE AND
MUSHY MINTED PEAS
MAKES 4 - 5 serves
FOR THE CHIPS
5 medium potatoes
UBCMFTQPPOTQMBJOnPVS
4 tablespoons olive oil
pinch sea salt and pepper
FOR THE “FISH”
MJUSF DVQT
TVOnPXFSPJM
mSNCMPDLPGUPGV
ESBJOFEBOE 1 Combine the soy milk, vinegar
excess water removed
1 large (20 x 18 cm) sheet of nori
juice of 1 lemon
H æDVQ
QMBJOnPVS
H æDVQ
DPSOnPVS can be stored in sealed containers
75ml (ПШЗ cup) vegan beer
75ml (ПШЗ cup) soda water
pinch sea salt
FOR THE MUSHY MINTED PEAS
olive oil, for frying
TIBMMPUT
mOFMZDIPQQFE the chips with water in a large
300g (2 cups) frozen peas
235ml (1 cup) vegetable stock
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
UBCMFTQPPOmOFMZDIPQQFEGSFTINJOU
pinch salt and pepper
FOR THE TARTARE SAUCE
250g (1 cup) mayonnaise (next)
3 tablespoons capers, drained and
roughly chopped
3 tablespoons roughly chopped
gherkins
TNBMMTIBMMPU
mOFMZDIPQQFE (350˚F). If using a saucepan, only
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
pinch sea salt and pepper
68 t h e australian vegan magazine
CREAMY MAYONNAISE
(MAKES a 227g jar)
120ml (½ cup) unsweetened soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
240ml (1 cup) rapeseed oil
pinch sea salt and white pepper
and water. Mix together with a
and lemon juice in a tall jug. While
blending, gradually drizzle in the
oil. Keep blending until you’ve
added all the oil and you have a
creamy mayo-like consistency. Add
seasoning to taste. This mayonnaise
soft. Add the peas, stock and lemon
in the fridge for around a week.
2 Preheat the oven to 180˚C
(350˚F) and line a large baking tray
with greaseproof paper.
3 Wash and slice the potatoes into
chip shapes of your choice. Cover
for the tartare sauce in a mixing
saucepan, add a pinch of salt, then
place over a medium heat. Bring to
the boil, boil for two minutes, then
drain. Par-boiling the chips helps
create a super-soft inside. Spread
the par-boiled chips on the baking
tray and sprinkle with the plain
flour, making sure each chip is lightly
covered. Drizzle over the olive oil
and season with salt and pepper,
then bake for around 25 to 30
minutes, or until golden and crispy.
4 While your chips are cooking,
pour the sunflower oil into a large
saucepan set over a medium heat,
or a deep-fat fryer set to 180˚C
Sprinkle with salt.
half fill it to prevent it overflowing
when you put the tofu in. Cut the
tofu block into rectangles or fillet
shapes. Using scissors, cut the nori
FOOL YOUR NON-VEGAN FRIENDS WITH THIS ONE!
sheet into pieces the same shape
and size as the tofu fillets. The nori
resembles fish skin and also has a
great taste-of-the-sea flavour. Lay
the nori onto the tofu and squeeze
over some of the lemon juice to help
it stick. Set aside while you quickly
whisk up your beer batter.
5 Combine the flours and salt in a
mixing bowl, then pour in the beer
wooden spoon until it forms a thick
batter. Set aside for a few minutes.
6 Meanwhile, make the mushy
minted peas. Sauté the shallots in a
saucepan with a little olive oil, until
juice, and cook over a medium
heat until piping hot. Use a hand
stick blender to blitz until mushy,
then stir in the mint and a pinch of
seasoning. Keep warm until ready
to serve.
7 Combine all the ingredients
bowl, then set aside until ready
to serve.
8 The oil should be hot enough to
cook the tofu. You should be able to
see a light haze coming off the top
of the oil in the saucepan but, to be
sure, drop a cube of bread into the
oil - if it floats to the top quickly and
turns golden, your oil is hot enough.
Dip each piece of nori-lined tofu
into the batter individually and then
lower into the oil very carefully.
Cook until the batter is golden, for This
extra
approximately four minutes, then
by G
transfer to a plate lined with paper by Q
towels to drain off excess oil. $29.
in st
Phot
Simo
9 Remove the chips from the oven, imag
serve with the tofu fish, mushy peas (Port
and tartare sauce.
 GREAT
TREAT

You w o n ’ t
belie v e i t ’ s v e g a n

is an edited
act from Vegan 100
az Oakley published
Quadrille. RRP
.99 and is available
tores nationally.
tographer: ©
on Smith (food
ges) & Adam Laycock
trait photography).

the australian vegan magazine 69

 YOU’LL BE COMING BACK FOR MORE

u t r i e n t s
Lot s o f n
a m i n E ,
li k e v i t c , A
i u m , z i n H E
ma g n e s t e
u m , f o l a d
ca l c i r
d c o p e
a n
This is an edited
extract from Vegan 100
by Gaz Oakley published
by Quadrille. RRP
$29.99 and is available
in stores nationally.
Photographer: ©
Simon Smith (food
images) & Adam Laycock
(Portrait photography).

70 t h e australian vegan magazine

 NACHOS WITH SPICY
BLACK BEANS, “CHEESE”
SAUCE AND SALSA
MAKES 4 serves
Even though you’ll crave these nachos they are SO good, there are loads of nutrients in this dish,
which makes them an even bigger treat.
ALT H Y FOR THE CRISPY BAKED
NACHOS
5 tortillas, cut into triangles
&
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
h
FOR THE NACHO “CHEESE”
i s
l
SAUCE
e
d
75g (½ cup) raw cashew nuts,
soaked in boiling water for 10
minutes
180ml (¾ cup) almond milk
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
¼ teaspoon mustard powder
æUFBTQPPOESJFEDIJMMJnBLFT
pinch garlic powder
FOR THE RED PEPPER AND
TOMATO SALSA
1 red capsicum
handful of cherry tomatoes
TNBMMSFEPOJPO
mOFMZDIPQQFE and crisp.
IBOEGVMPGGSFTIDPSJBOEFS
mOFMZ
chopped
juice of 1 lime
pinch salt and pepper
FOR THE SPICY BLACK BEANS
1 tablespoon coconut oil
400g can black beans, drained
and rinsed
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
TOPPINGS
avocado
pickled jalapeños
fresh coriander
1 Preheat the oven to 180˚C
(350˚F) and line a couple of
baking trays with greaseproof
paper.
2 Add the tortilla triangles to
a mixing bowl, pour over the
oil and give them a mix, making
sure they’re all coated. Spread
the triangles over the prepared
baking trays and bake for
10 minutes, or until golden
spices, and the Tabasco. Stir
over a low heat until piping hot.
3 To make the nacho “cheese”
sauce, drain the soaked
cashews and add to a blender
with the rest of the ingredients.
Blend until smooth. Cover with
cling wrap and place in the
fridge until ready to serve.
4 For the salsa, hold the
capsicum directly over the
flame of a gas hob to char the
skin, turning it around using
tongs until it’s completely
charred. Put the capsicum in
a bowl quickly and cover with
cling wrap. If you don’t have a
gas hob, grill or roast the
capsicum. Meanwhile, prepare
the rest of the salsa ingredients:
quarter the cherry tomatoes
and add to a bowl with the red
onion, fresh coriander and lime
juice. Remove the cling wrap
from the capsicum. Cut into four
pieces and remove the seeds
and stalk. Then, using the back
of a small knife, scrape away
the charred skin from the flesh.
Cube the peeled capsicum
flesh, then add it to the salsa
bowl. Mix well and season,
then set aside until you’re
ready to serve.
5 Melt the coconut oil in a
small saucepan, then add the
beans with all the herbs and
6 To serve, fill a serving bowl
with the crispy baked nachos,
then the black beans, followed
by the salsa.
7 Finally, drizzle the “cheesy”
nacho sauce all over and top
with fresh avocado, pickled
jalapeños and fresh coriander.
the australian vegan magazine 71
 KENTUCKY FRIED CHICK’N
MAKES 4 serves
These seitan chick’n pieces are tender as hell and coated with a wonderful spicy batter that will rival
any. They become super-crispy if fried but you can also bake them. If you are short of time you can also
VTFUIFTBNFCBUUFSUFDIOJRVFXJUIDBVMJnPXFSnPSFUT
FOR THE CHICK’N - WET
H DVQ
mSNUPGV H DVQ
DIJDLQFBnPVS the seitan pieces from the broth
120ml (½ cup) soy milk
1 teaspoon miso paste
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon dried sage
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
FOR THE CHICK’N - DRY
115g (1 cup) store bought seitan
H æDVQ
DIJDLQFBnPVS
FOR THE BROTH
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 onion, quartered
pinch sea salt and pepper
FOR THE KENTUCKY COATING
120g (1 cup) plain (all-purpose)
nPVS
60g (1 cup) vegan breadcrumbs
UBCMFTQPPOTVOSFmOFEDBTUFS
TVQFSmOF
TVHBS
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
UBCMFTQPPOESJFEDIJMMJnBLFT
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon dried sage
1 teaspoon ground allspice
72 t h e australian vegan magazine
FOR THE BATTER
240ml (1 cup) water
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable oil, for
frying
1 Combine all the wet
ingredients of the chick’n
pieces in a blender and blitz
until smooth.
2 Put the dry ingredients in a
large mixing bowl and mix well.
Add the wet mix to the bowl and
to individually dip the seitan
stir until the mixture forms a
dough. Turn the dough out onto
a clean work surface lightly
floured with chickpea flour.
Knead the dough for at least
eight minutes. This is the most
important part of the recipe.
If you don’t knead it properly,
you will be left with horrible,
spongy seitan.
3 Once kneaded, the dough
will be quite firm and elastic.
Form it into a rectangle around
1cm thick and cut it into four.
Set aside to rest for 10 minutes
whilst you prepare the cooking
broth.
top straight away, the oil is
4 Add all the broth ingredients
to a large, lidded saucepan and
bring to a boil, then turn the
heat down so that the broth is
just lightly simmering. Add the
seitan pieces to the broth and
pop the lid on. Simmer the
seitan pieces for 35 minutes in
the simmering broth (do not let
it boil). Flip the seitan pieces
over halfway through cooking.
SU P E
CR I S
5 After the 35 minutes, remove
and set aside to cool. They
should have almost doubled
in size and feel quite meaty.
Once cool, tear or cut them
into smaller pieces ready to
be covered in the Kentucky
coating. For the Kentucky
coating, stir all the ingredients
together in a mixing bowl.
6 For the batter, mix the chick-
pea flour and water together in
a separate bowl. Now it’s time
pieces - first into the chickpea
batter then into the coating.
Double dip them to make sure
they have a nice thick coating.
7 Once you’ve coated all of the
pieces, put them on a plate in
the fridge while you heat the
oil. If you’re using a deep-fat
fryer, set it to 180˚C (350˚F).
Alternatively, pour the oil into a
large saucepan but don’t fill it
more than half full. To test if
the oil is hot enough in the
saucepan, drop a cube of bread
into the oil - if it floats to the
ready. Carefully fry the chick’n
pieces for three to four minutes,
or until golden and crisp. If
you’d prefer to bake the chick’n
pieces, bake for 25 minutes in
an oven set at 180˚C (350˚F).
8 Once cooked, transfer to a
plate lined with greaseproof
paper to soak up any excess
oil. Serve immediately.
 USE CAULIFLOWER FLORETS INSTEAD
ER
S P Y

o u r m n i f r i e n d s
Show y
a n s d o n ’ t j u s t e a t
ve g
o t a n d l e tt u c e
car
This is an edited
extract from Vegan 100
by Gaz Oakley published
by Quadrille. RRP
$29.99 and is available
in stores nationally.
Photographer: ©
Simon Smith (food
images) & Adam Laycock
(Portrait photography).

the australian vegan magazine 73

 a k e h e s e w i h o u t h e
M
o c o l a t e c u p s i f y o u ’ r e
ch

ORIGINAL RECIPE FOR TAVM READERS

a f t e r a s i m p l e r r e c i p e

I V E
EXC LUS
E !
RE CIP

Original Recipe by Sara Kidd

www.sarakidd.com
sara@sarakidd.com

74 t h e australian vegan magazine

GLUTEN-FREE MUD CAKE
CUPS WITH POACHED PEAR
MAKES 9 cupcakes PREP 1 hour COOK 2 hours
POACHED PEAR POACHED PEAR
9 small ripe pears peeled with stems attached 1 Place all ingredients in a large pot and
1 litre ginger beer bring to boil on the stove. Turn down heat
to a simmer and cook for 1 to 1 ПШЖ hours;
1 tablespoon crushed cardamom pods keep an eye on the pears and gently turn
4 cinnamon sticks them over once the liquid levels become
low. Once pears are soft, remove and
60g grated ginger
let drain.
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1 lemon cut in half 2 Turn up heat slightly and allow
remaining liquid to bubble and become a
CAKE runny toffee-like liquid. Remove from heat
and drain, then coat pears in remaining
liquid and let them drain again; set aside.
DRY
åDVQCVDLXIFBUnPVS CAKE
¼ cup walnut meal
1 Preheat conventional oven 165°C (330°F).
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon 2 Grease small muffin tin with nine to 12
½ teaspoon baking powder
holes.
¼ teaspoon salt 3 Melt shortening in small pot on stove,
then take off heat.
MIX
60g vegetable shortening 4 In a blender, add shortening, coffee,
cocoa, molasses, vanilla, milk/vinegar,
1 cup soy milk mixed with 1 tablespoon and blend together on low until completely
white vinegar combined and smooth.
½ cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
5 In bowl of stand mixer with a paddle
attachment, sieve flour, sugar, baking
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder, salt, cinnamon and stir until evenly
½ tablespoon molasses mixed. Add liquid from blender to this bowl
and mix on very low speed until combined.
ПШЗ cup boiling water Slowly trickle in boiling water along the
side of the bowl while still mixing on very
CHOCOLATE SAUCE FILLING low speed. Once water is mixed, scrape
down the sides and mix again on low for a
60g melted dark chocolate
few seconds.
½ cup thick coconut cream
½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste 6 Pour into muffin cups filling only halfway
and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Check with
pinch of sea salt a toothpick through centre; if it comes out
CHOCOLATE CUPS
almost clean it's ready but be careful not to
over bake, even if you slightly under bake
375g good quality dark chocolate it’s better for gluten-free baking.
vegan gold dust 7 Cool in tin for 20 minutes, then flip on
lemon essence cake rack and let completely cool.
CHOCOLATE SAUCE
1 Melt chocolate (don’t heat above
32°C/89°F).
2 Pour coconut cream into a bowl and then
pour chocolate and vanilla into cream and
stir until combined. Add salt to taste and
set aside.
CHOCOLATE CUPS (OPTIONAL)
1 To make cups, use a chocolate ball mould
30 x 18cm, and a small circle mould for
the base approx 4.5cm wide - large button
moulds are great for this.
2 Temper chocolate and pour into nine
moulds, saving a small amount of chocolate
for later and let set.
3 Once it’s set, remove from mould by
gently tapping on work bench. Melt a tiny
bit of chocolate and glue the half balls to
the buttons to create a cup.
4 Mix a tiny amount of gold dust with a tiny
amount of lemon essence to make a paint.
Brush cups with paint and set aside.
HOW TO ASSEMBLE YOUR CUPS
1 Trim the lids off the top of the cakes and
set aside, cut them in one clean piece and
keep.
2 Carve a small amount of cake out of the
middle of the bottom pieces to create a
well. Pour a small amount of sauce into the
bottom of the cups. Press cake into cups to
make sure they fit and trim if needed. Pour
sauce into the well and then cover with
the lids and very gently push down into
cups as far as they will go.
3 Place a pear on top of each cup and
serve.
the australian vegan magazine 75
 health OLIHVW\OH

The modern day

Carbophobia
By Omanisa Ross ND holistic naturopath - plant-based medicine and nutrition.
Omanisa is an Australian holistic healer and naturopath who specialises in
Aura Colour Therapy and mindfulness training.

flour products (for example, pastry, pasta,
cakes, doughnuts, and white bread), lollies,
sweeteners and soft drinks are unhealthy
carb sources.
WHAT ARE CARBOHYDRATES?
extracted from whole foods for use as
sweeteners, both the sweeteners and the
foods they are added to are unhealthy
sources of simple carbohydrates, especially
when consumed regularly.

C
arbohydrates are found in a
wide array of both healthy and
unhealthy foods, ranging from
soft drink and cake all the way
through to lettuce and avocados.
As the Australian Government’s National
Health and Medical Research Council
points out, “many epidemiological and
dietary intervention studies refer to ‘high
carbohydrate’ or ‘low carbohydrate’ diets
with little or no description of the nature
of the carbohydrate”.
Harvard University has a very sensible
take on the carbohydrate issue: rather than
follow a “strict diet limiting or counting
the number of grams of carbohydrates
consumed”, they advise simply eating
“carbohydrates from healthy foods”.
The amount of carbohydrates in your diet
matters less than the type of carbohydrates
in your diet, or where you are sourcing
it from. In much the same way that the
word ‘carbs’ was originally ‘carbohydrates’
before it had most of its letters removed,
unhealthy ‘carbs’ sources were once
nutritious whole foods before they had
most of their nutrients removed. Fruits,
vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and
whole grains like brown rice are extremely
healthy carb choices. White rice, white
Carbohydrates are a macronutrient vital MONOSACCHARIDES
for health and found in whole plant foods. The smallest, simplest carbohydrates
As a plant is photosynthesising, it takes with the least number of atoms are called
carbon out of the atmosphere (from carbon monosaccharides. ‘Mono’ means one, so
dioxide) and combines it with oxygen and these are single sugar molecules. Single
hydrogen (from water) to create basic sugar sugar molecules, such as glucose, fructose
molecules (Cn(H20)n) called saccharides. and galactose, provide a fast source of
These little packages of solar power provide energy that can be absorbed directly into
all the energy a plant needs to support the bloodstream rather than needing to
growth and metabolism. Plants bind single be further broken down in the intestinal
The amount of carbohydrates in your diet
matters less than the type of carbohydrates in
your diet, or where you are sourcing it from.
sugar molecules together to form larger tract. This is vital, because we need ‘fast’
carbohydrates for various purposes, such sources of energy to quickly fuel our brain,
as energy storage and building cell walls. blood cells and cellular respiration.
SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES Plants use glucose as a basic building
Simple carbohydrates, commonly block to create thousands of other
referred to as simple sugars, are found compounds, including vitamin C and other
in fruits, vegetables and breast milk. kinds of carbohydrates. The small amounts
Unrefined whole foods containing simple of glucose found naturally occurring in plant
carbohydrates are healthy sources of foods are vital for human life. In the human
simple carbohydrates. When sugars are body, glucose becomes blood sugar, 

76 t h e australian vegan magazine

CHOOSING HEALTHY CARBS
.BLFTVSFUIFCVMLPGZPVSDBSCTDPNFTGSPNVOSFmOFE
whole foods.
BEST SOURCES
Your best sources are unprocessed or only lightly processed
(cut into large pieces or cooked).
• Whole fruit, fruit salads
• Legumes (whole, cooked/sprouted) eg chickpeas, beans
• Whole grains eg brown rice, quinoa, whole oats, barley,
wheat berries, millet, corn on the cob etc
• Vegetables (unpeeled and raw or lightly cooked)
• Nuts and seeds (whole, unhulled, raw, unsalted)
• Fresh herbs

HEALTHY SOURCES
The best sources become slightly less healthy the more they
are processed eg blended, split, mashed, or peeled.
• 4NPPUIJFTBOEWFHFUBCMFKVJDFT mCSFLFQU

• Split legumes (cooked/tinned/mashed) eg split peas,

traditional hummus
• Broken, rolled or shredded whole grains eg rolled oats,
shredded wheat
• Vegetables peeled, grated, mashed, blended, boiled,
roasted, etc
• Lightly processed, unsalted, raw nuts and seeds (chopped,
crushed, cooked, unhulled pastes, raw butters, nut meals)
eg unhulled tahini paste
• Dried herbs

LESS HEALTHY SOURCES

Better than unhealthy sources but not as good as healthy
sources.
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these (eg wholemeal bread/pasta)
• Nut milks, hulled seed pastes, blanched/skinless nut
meals
• Vegetables (powdered, or cooked at high
temperatures and/or with oil)

UNHEALTHY SOURCES
For optimum health avoid these completely, or enjoy them
as special treats for occasional use (avoid daily use). Dense
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• Added sugars
• Junk and packaged foods containing large
quantities of added sugar eg lollies or chocolates
• Beverages containing added sugar eg fruit drinks, milk-
shakes, alcohol, soft drinks, energy drinks etc
• Canned/packaged/highly processed legumes rich with
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rice, white bread etc
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• Deep fried vegetables eg hot chips
• Highly processed foods made from vegetables eg
packaged potato chips

the australian vegan magazine 77

 Pasta made from
100% whole wheat is
IJHIJOmCSF 
WJUBNJOT NJOFSBMT 
and antioxidants.

78 t h e australian vegan magazine


Many ingredients in whole plant foods have medicinal
properties that protect us from the very same diseases that are
caused by excessive consumption of added sugars.

functioning as the primary fuel source
for the brain, blood cells, and for cellular
energy production. And just like plants,
human bodies use glucose as the starting
point for biosynthesising countless of other
compounds, including fibre.
The second most common
monosaccharide after glucose, is fructose,
also known as fruit sugar. Fructose is found
in fruit and agave nectar. Fructose and
galactose are both converted by the liver
into glucose for immediate energy. If we
don’t need energy immediately, the liver
converts glucose into a short-term storage
carbohydrate called glycogen. When we run
out of storage space for glycogen, excess
glucose is converted into fatty acids for
long-term storage as fat.
DISACCHARIDES
Single sugar molecules can bond
together to create double sugar molecules
called disaccharides. ‘Di’ means two.
Double sugar molecules include sucrose,
made from one unit of glucose bonded to
one unit of fructose; lactose, made from
one unit of galactose bonded to one unit
glucose; and maltose, made from two
units of glucose. The bond between the
two sugars has to be broken down when
we digest disaccharides, in order for the
Researchers have found that you can cut
your calorie intake by 10 per cent just by
BEEJOHBOFYUSBHSBNTPGmCSFFBDIEBZ
individual sugars to be absorbed and used
for energy. The enzyme sucrase breaks
sucrose bonds, while maltase takes care of
maltose and lactase breaks lactose bonds.
Sucrose is the main ingredient in cane sugar
and maple syrup, but it’s also found in the
sap of all green plants, where it transports
energy throughout the plant’s body.
REFINED SOURCES OF SIMPLE
CARBOHYDRATES - ADDED SUGARS
Food manufacturers extract simple sugars
from whole plant foods and concentrate
them to create sweeteners that can be
added to processed foods or sold directly
to consumers who add them to their foods
and beverages. Good examples of these
added sugars include common table sugar
made from sucrose that has been isolated
from cane sugar, and High Fructose Corn
Syrup (HFCS), commonly used in sweet
sugary drinks and processed foods.
Added sugars are ‘empty calories’ or
‘empty carbs’ because they are extremely
calorie-dense while providing few (if any)
other nutrients. If you took a can of soft
drink and then piled up alongside it all
the whole plant foods you would need to
eat to consume the equivalent quantity of
naturally occurring sugar, you would be
astonished by the mound of food before
you. Unfortunately, when calories are
consumed in a liquid form, the body’s
appetite control centre struggles to register
them. The average 180ml serving of soft
drink or fruit drink provides about 150
calories from sugar, close to 10 teaspoons
(50ml) of sugar per serving. One serving of
soft drink added to the daily diet can cause
a weight gain of about 6.8kg per year.
In small doses, added sugars add
fun and variety to our diet, but they are
addictive and it’s very easy to overdose on
refined simple carbohydrates. While small
quantities added to prepared nutritious
foods don’t pose a health risk, the average
Australian’s added sugar consumption
exceeds the recommended upper limit,
which the World Health Organisation
(WHO) sets at 10 per cent of calories.
Happily, our consumption as a nation
appears to be decreasing. When comparing
current trends with those 30 years prior,
children especially, are consuming fewer
soft drinks, cordial, energy/electrolyte
drinks and fruit juices/drinks.
This decline has been inspired by a
growing public awareness of the negative
health consequences of added sugars,
especially when it comes to HFCS. Excess
calories from added sugars such as HFCS
have been implicated in the development
of type II diabetes, insulin resistance,
metabolic syndrome (abdominal obesity,
high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high
serum triglycerides and low high-density
lipoprotein [HDL] levels), and tooth decay.
There is some evidence to suggest
excess HFCS consumption may be slightly
more damaging than that of excess
sucrose consumption. In sucrose, the
bond between glucose and fructose is still
intact. By comparison, HFCS contains the
OLIHVW\OH health
free, unbonded monosaccharide forms,
and this faster absorption seems to result
in slightly higher blood levels of fructose.
Although, the differences between these
popular sweeteners are relatively small,
with sucrose being 50 per cent glucose and
50 per cent fructose, while HFCS ranges
from 42 to 55 per cent fructose and 42
to 53 per cent glucose. When compared
with popular sweeteners such as agave
syrup, though, HFCS isn’t especially high in
fructose; it’s just higher than regular corn
syrup, which is mostly glucose.
UNREFINED SOURCES OF SIMPLE
CARBOHYDRATES - NATURAL SUGARS
People not only get confused about what
constitutes an added sugar, they also make
the mistake of thinking that whole foods rich
in simple sugars (such as fruit) should be
avoided because they will cause the same
health problems caused by excess added
sugars. This isn’t true, because simple sugars
are one of many ingredients in whole foods,
rather than being the only ingredient.
Fruits and vegetables are full to over-
flowing with hundreds, if not thousands,
of nutrients. This includes many different
kinds of carbohydrates and amino
acids, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals,
antioxidants and phytonutrients (natural
compounds produced by plants, such as
anthocyanins). Some of these ingredients
help us properly process simple sugars.
Fermentable fibre, for example, is a vital
food source for helpful bacteria living in
our colon, and this bacteria improves our
metabolism of sugar. Many ingredients
in whole plant foods have medicinal
properties that protect us from the very
same diseases that are caused by excessive
consumption of added sugars. The human
body, having evolved alongside whole
plants in their original, unprocessed forms,
can easily and expertly recognise and make
use of these complex nutritional blends.
While it’s all too easy to overdose on
simple sugars in the form of added sugar,
it’s almost impossible to do this when
consuming unprocessed whole foods,
because we feel satisfied and stop eating
long before we come anywhere close to
consuming excess. This is mostly due to
the presence of fibre. Researchers have
found that you can cut your calorie intake
by 10 per cent just by adding an extra 14
grams of fibre each day. High fibre foods
require more chewing, which can slow
the rate of eating, giving us more time to
register the feeling of fullness before over-
eating. Meanwhile, water-absorbing viscous
fibres in whole foods swell to many times 
the australian vegan magazine 79
77
 health OLIHVW\OH
...fruit intake is associated with a reduced risk of
chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, obesity,
high blood pressure and dementia.

their original size, pressing on the walls
of the stomach to activate sensors that
register fullness. These viscous fibres also
help delay stomach emptying, making us
feel full for longer. Whole foods rich in fibre
reduce food cravings and overeating by
slowing digestion, helping us feel full, and
keeping our blood sugar steady.
Most Australians only eat about half
the recommended quantity of fruit, which
is unfortunate because fruit intake is
associated with a reduced risk of chronic
diseases such as cancer, heart disease,
obesity, high blood pressure and dementia.
A large Australian cohort study found that
increased fruit and vegetable consumption
is associated with a significant reduction in
all causes of death.
COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES
Complex carbohydrates are found in
all plant foods, in every part of the plant.
Unrefined whole foods are healthy sources
of complex carbohydrates, with some of
the richest sources including legumes; raw
vegetables; fruits such as avocado, berries,
coconut flesh and paw paw; potatoes;
whole grains; nuts; and seeds. When the
complex carbohydrates in these plant foods
are completely or partially removed, or the
food is processed in a way that breaks
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resistant starch, which may in part be why we
are experiencing more gut problems, particularly
pain, bloating and bowel disturbances.
the fibre down, these ‘refined’ foods can
become unhealthy carbohydrate sources,
especially when consumed regularly.
OLIGOSACCHARIDES
Short-chained complex carbohydrates
containing three to nine sugar molecules
are called oligosaccharides. The word
‘oligo’ is a Greek word meaning ‘few’.
Oligosaccharides include inulins, which
are short strings of fructose units. These
are also referred to as fructans. Short
inulins are called fructooligosaccharides
(FOS). Humans don’t have the enzymes
needed to break the beta-glycosidic bonds
between fructose units so we can’t digest
inulins ourselves, but our gut flora can.
These prebiotic carbohydrates are a food
source for beneficial intestinal microflora,
primarily the bifidobacterial strains. When
our good bacteria feeds on inulins, several
82 t h e
80 australian vegan magazine
byproducts are produced, such as short-
chain fatty acids (SCFA), including butyrate,
which reduces triglyceride synthesis in the
liver. These byproducts nourish cells in the
colon and help maintain a healthy pH
level, hence discouraging the growth of
bacterial and fungal pathogens (disease-
causing microbes).
Rich inulin sources include foods such
as onions, leeks, garlic, asparagus,
artichoke, and medicinal herbs such as
the roots of dandelion, chicory, elecampane
and burdock.
POLYSACCHARIDES
Poly is the Greek word for ‘many’,
reflecting the fact that polysaccharides
are long chained complex carbohydrates
containing anywhere from 10 to thousands
of glucose molecules. At a very basic level,
polysaccharides are loosely categorised as
either starch or non-starch polysaccharides
(NSP), but it’s worth keeping in mind that
words such as fibre and starch are often
used interchangeably.
Starches
Plants can store energy for later use
by stringing multiple glucose molecules
together as starches that are mostly stored
in seeds and roots. When plants need to
access this stored energy for growth and
(Standard Australian Diet) intake. A whole
metabolism, they convert stored starches
back into simple sugars. This conversion
process also occurs during ripening, which
adds sweetness to fruits and vegetables.
When we chop, blend, grate, juice or cook
plant foods, plant cells are broken down
and this activates starch-digesting enzymes
within the plants. Our digestive system
uses digestive enzymes to break the bonds
stringing the glucose molecules together,
giving us a ready source of vital energy.
Non-starch Polysaccharides (NSP)
Also known as fibre, these
polysaccharides are made by plants for
structural purposes such as building cell
walls, and they can’t be broken down by
our digestive enzymes. Surviving small
intestinal enzymatic digestion intact, these
plant fibres travel on into the colon where
they either function as ‘prebiotic’ (food) for
healthy gut microbes in the large bowel,
or they add to the bulk of the stool. NSP’s
are classified as more- or less-fermentable
fibre, depending on how easily our gut flora
can break them down.
More-fermentable NSP’s, such as
beta-glucans, pectins, guar gum, and
hemicellulose, nourish our gut bacteria
in the same way that nondigestible
oligosaccharides do, as well as contributing
to stool softening and bulk. With every
100g of fermentable fibre we consume, a
whopping 30g of extra bacteria is produced
and added to our stool. Less-fermentable
NSP’s, such as cellulose and resistant
starch, function as ‘nature’s laxative’,
helping to lower the risk of constipation
and diverticulitis.
Australians are eating less fibre,
especially resistant starch, which may in
part be why we are experiencing more gut
problems, particularly pain, bloating and
bowel disturbances. People most at risk of
this reduced intake are those following the
paleo/atkins movement, people avoiding
potatoes because they are concerned about
high GI, and people on gluten free or low
FODMAP diets. An expert panel on diet and
bowel health conferred in Australia in 2011
and produced a report recommending
an intake of 20g of resistant starch per
day which is four times the current SAD
foods plant-based diet provides two to
three times as much total dietary fibre as
this, and as long as you are including whole
grains, legumes and potatoes, a significant
amount of this intake will be resistant starch.
Another way to classify NSP’s is to say
they are viscous (gel-like when mixed with
water) or non-viscous. Viscosity accounts
for some of fibre’s most impressive health
benefits, such as delaying stomach
emptying, increasing fullness after
eating, stabilising blood glucose levels,
and reducing cholesterol. This kind of
fibre delays the absorption of fats and
carbohydrates from the small intestine,
effectively stabilising blood sugar and
curbing appetite, which can reduce over-
eating and weight gain. Good examples of
viscous fibre include gums and mucilages,
often found in seeds.
REFINED SOURCES OF COMPLEX
CARBOHYDRATES
When plant foods are refined or
processed, their fibre content is reduced
or broken down. This has a significantly
negative impact on the nutritional value of
our foods, because the discarded fibre is 
 8IPMF
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sprouted legumes
are the best source of
healthy carbs.

the australian vegan magazine 81

 ND
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Raw or slightly cooked

fruit and vegetables
are the best source of
healthy carbohydrates.

86 tthhee aauussttrraalliiaann vveeggaann mmaaggaazziinnee

82

0UIFSFYBNQMFTPGmCSFSFNPWBMJODMVEFQFFMJOHBOEEJTDBSEJOHUIF
skins of fruits and vegetables. Most of the complex carbohydrates in
fruits and vegetables are concentrated in, or just under, the skin.

tangled up with many other nutrients that
are lost along with it.
White rice (being the refined, processed
version of brown rice) contains less than
a quarter of the original fibre content. By
taking the fibre out of brown rice, we also
lose 67 per cent of the vitamin B3 content,
80 per cent of vitamin B1, 90 per cent of
vitamin B6, half the manganese, half the
phosphorus, 60 per cent of the iron, all
of the essential fatty acids and an untold
number of valuable phytonutrients (plant
nutrients). Grains often have their fibre
removed. Other examples of fibre removal
include peeling and discarding the skins of
fruits and vegetables. Most of the complex
carbohydrates in fruits and vegetables are
concentrated in, or just under, the skin.
When whole wheat berries are turned
into white flour, we lose approximately
80 per cent of the vitamin, mineral and
fibre content, along with a 200- to 300-
fold loss of phytochemicals. The loss of
these naturally occurring plant chemicals
is tragic, because many of them have
potent medicinal properties, such as being
anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic.
We then use this nutrient-stripped flour to
create a myriad of processed foods rich in
added sugars, refined oil, and salt (cakes,
doughnuts, biscuits, and pastry).
Sadly, the metabolic processes in the
body that transform starches and sugars
into usable energy require many of the
nutrients lost in the refining process, and if
we don’t have the full nutrient spectrum to
metabolise sugar properly, we end up with
the very same range of health problems
experienced by those who consume
excessive added sugars (refined simple
sugars), namely, diabetes, heart disease,
obesity, metabolic syndrome etc.
The mistake that people sometimes
make though, is in thinking that all foods
rich in carbohydrates are damaging to
our health. Promoters of low-carb diets
don’t take the time to properly distinguish
between, or explain the difference between,
refined versus unrefined whole foods.
UNREFINED SOURCES OF COMPLEX
CARBOHYDRATES
Plant foods, in their original forms as
produced by nature (or as close to this
as we can get) are unrefined sources of
healthy complex carbohydrates. In this
form, carbohydrate-rich foods fight
disease, rather than create it, but in
2014/15, only seven per cent of Australians
reported meeting the guidelines for daily
vegetable intake.
LOW-CARB DIETS
The reductionist argument about which
macronutrients are bad or good, or worse
or better, for your health is one that can be
puzzling. Carbohydrates, fats and proteins
are all important in their own unique ways,
and they are all good for us, so long as we
source them from whole plant foods.
Consider Blue Zones, the five places
around the world where a large portion
of the population live healthy and active
lives well into their 90s, with some living
even longer. All five zones base their diets
on whole, unrefined plants. They don’t
eat much, if any, processed fast foods or
packaged convenience foods. One of these
groups doesn’t consume meat at all and
the others save it for special occasions.
As Blue Zone researcher Dan Buettner
says, “Beans, wholegrains, and garden
vegetables are the cornerstone of all
these longevity diets”.
People on low-carb diets generally
consume 20 to 70 grams of carbohydrates
per day, which is far below the
recommended daily intake. Many studies
have shown that low carb diets are
associated with an increase in all-cause
mortality. A classic example is a Harvard
study that tracked 130,000 participants,
where low-carb diets were linked with
a 12 per cent increase in all-cause
... a Harvard study... tracked 130,000 participants,
where low-carb diets were linked with a 12 per
cent increase in all-cause mortality.
mortality. Those consuming animal-rich,
carbohydrate-poor diets had a 23 per cent
higher all-cause mortality, a 14 per cent
higher mortality from heart disease, and a
28 per cent higher cancer mortality. Those
consuming low-carbohydrate diets rich
in whole plant foods (that is, less refined
carbohydrates but plenty of unrefined
carbohydrates), had a 20 per cent lower
all-cause mortality and a 23 per cent lower
mortality from heart disease.
The emphasis on macronutrients, and
the correct ratios between them, detracts
from more important conversations about
the wholistic value of whole foods rich in
macronutrients, micronutrients (vitamins
and minerals) and phytonutrients, working
together in dynamic ways to support
OLIHVW\OH health
health. Whole foods are more than the sum
of their individual parts, with individual
nutrients collaborating to accomplish
what they cannot do alone. This is called
synergy. If, for example, the potency of
one anti-inflammatory phytonutrient has a
power of five and the potency of another
has a power of three, the synergistic
interaction of these two nutrients
working as a team, can result in an anti-
inflammatory effect that has a power of 30,
because they are enhancing one another.
Synergy is the reason why whole foods
don’t have the damaging effects on health
that refined foods have.
Speaking at the Unite to Cure Fourth
International Vatican Conference, Professor
David Jenkins, who is credited with
developing the glycemic index (a way
of measuring how carbohydrates affect
blood sugar), said that the benefits of
vegetarianism have been “undersold”. Dr
Jenkin’s team have been studying the diets
of lowland gorillas who eat stems, leaves,
vines and fruits rather than a caveman or
paleo-type diet. They then tested this diet
on humans. After 63 servings of fruit and
vegetables a day for two weeks, they found
a 35 per cent fall in cholesterol, which is
on par with the effect of statins, without
the side effects. At the same conference,
Dr Willett, professor of epidemiology
and nutrition at Harvard Medical School,
agreed, saying that the benefits of a plant-
based diet had been vastly underestimated
and could prevent one third of early deaths.
When people avoid whole plant foods
such as fruit, vegetables and grains
because they think of them as ‘carbs’
which should be reduced, they are starving
themselves of hundreds, if not thousands,
of medicinal nutrients that are only found
in whole plant foods. By all means, avoid
processed, refined carbohydrates, but
please, for the sake of your health, don’t
stop eating healthy, unrefined, whole
plant foods.
the australian vegan magazine 83
 Rising sea levels are threatening to shrink
Kiribati’s land area. Alamy Stock Photo.

84 t h e australian vegan magazine

 health

1BDJmD*TMBOET
“climate refugeeism”
#Z%S-FB.FSPOF WFHBOEPDUPSTQFDJBMJTJOHJOGBSOPSUI2-%Public Health Registrar
in Cairns, with interests in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, nutrition in
chronic disease and the health impacts of climate change.

increase over the next two decades,
particularly in developing countries. Greater
demand will, of course, lead to an increase
in production, a rise in deforestation
and further use of precious resources in
displaced from their home and voluntary
migration as a result of climate change.
“Climate refugeeism”: the scale of the issue
Approximately 9.5 million people inhabit
the Pacific Islands, where populations are

A
s outlined in a previous issue of
The Australian Vegan Magazine,
recently, scientists from around
the world published a second
warning to humans advising that
the planet is suffering irreparable damage,
and that unless behaviours change,
the human and natural worlds are on a
“collision course”.
When we consider harm to the planet, we
tend to think of large factories, aeroplanes,
high rise buildings and cars. However, often
overlooked by environmentalists, governments
and people alike, is the significant impact
of the animal agriculture industry.
Livestock production produces more
emissions than every mode of transport
and alone contributes to 18 per cent of
global warming. Carbon dioxide is the
greenhouse gas (GHG) most often talked
about, and whilst livestock production
contributes nine per cent to carbon
emissions, contribution to emissions of
other, equally harmful GHGs (methane
and nitrous oxide) is far higher.
The livestock industry occupies a
whopping third of the world’s land and a
whole third of all crop-producing land is
dedicated to producing feed for animals
destined for slaughter. With a growing
human population, it is anticipated that
demand for milk and meat will only
addition to further GHG production. Studies
have predicted that the projected 80
per cent increase in global GHGs can be
avoided if human diets were to switch to
vegetarian/Mediterranean from the largely
Studies have predicted that the projected 80 per cent
increase in global GHGs can be avoided if human
diets were to switch to vegetarian/Mediterranean...
meat-eating culture that exists within
current global societies.
The effects of global warming are
enormous, and perhaps most significantly,
the melting of the polar ice is actively
leading to rising sea levels. This is potentially
catastrophic for those living in coastal
regions or on smaller islands such as the
Pacific Islands, many of which are sinking
at a terrifying rate. Tuvalu, for example is
(alarmingly) predicted to be uninhabitable
by 2050. Kiribati isn’t too far behind. Five
reef islands in the Solomon Islands have
already been submerged. These islands
are becoming real-life Atlantises, and
populations are struggling to find places
to resettle. There is currently no agreed
distinction between those who are forcibly
growing and emigration rates are already
high. Climate issues specifically affecting
the Pacific Islands include: coral bleaching,
coastal erosion, adverse weather events
and rising sea levels. Coral bleaching
significantly impacts on not only the
tourist industry (an important economic
resource) but also on food security and
protection from storm surges. Whilst there
are many measures in place to adapt to
climate change in the Pacific Islands, little
discussion is held over relocation of those
whose homes are in jeopardy due to rising
sea levels and food insecurity. Tuvalu and
Kiribati are predicted to be uninhabitable
by 2050; home to 10,000 and 100,000
people, respectively. Where will these
thousands of people go?
A refugee is any person who has been
forced to leave their country because
of persecution, war, or natural disaster.
Globally, there are currently the highest
numbers of forced displacement on 

Tuvalu and Kiribati are predicted to be uninhabitable by 2050;

IPNFUP BOE QFPQMF SFTQFDUJWFMZDepositphotos.

the australian vegan magazine 85

 health OLIHVW\OH
/FX;FBMBOEJTTFUUPCFDPNFUIFmSTUDPVOUSZUPBDLOPXMFEHF
climate disruption as a cause of refugeeism and formulate a
plan to welcome some of those who face displacement.

record; 65.6 million people, although
only 22.5 million are legally recognised
as refugees. This is because, to be legally
recognised as a refugee, certain criteria
must be fulfilled, and if it is a not, a person
may still be displaced but will not have the
legal rights or access to services that a
refugee has. The problem is only growing.
A staggering 28,300 people are forced to
flee their home every day, largely owing
to conflict and persecution, such as that
observed in Syria.
Climate change is currently not an
accepted reason for seeking asylum,
however, hunger - often related to drought
(as a result of climate change) - is. Current
projections estimate that climate disruption
will cause several million coastal dwellers
in certain regions of the world to become
displaced in the next 83 years. The Pacific
Islands are set to be in the first wave of
climate refugees as sea levels are rising
at four times the global average - a huge
12mm a year. A study from the United
Nations University estimates that there
will be 200 million climate migrants (both
forced to flee and choosing to) by 2050.
The UN Refugee Agency and the UN
Veganism may help save the planet
and millions of lives alongside it.
Development Program agree the term
“climate refugee” should not be used to
describe those displaced for environmental
reasons. Indeed, those at the centre
of this - Pacific Island residents - have
resisted that label, preferring to “migrate
with dignity”. Yet, despite this, New
Zealand is set to become the first country
to acknowledge climate disruption as
a cause of refugeeism and formulate a
plan to welcome some of those who
face displacement.
But with so many people set to lose
their home to climate change, how we
name them appears somewhat moot.
Where will these people go? How will they
eat? Who will care for their medical and
social needs? Climate change will affect
everyone on the planet to some extent,
however, it is well known that those who
contribute least to global warming will
be disproportionately affected.
The health impacts of displacement
Those displaced from their country
86 t h e australian vegan magazine
suffer a myriad of health, social and
psychological issues which are often
worsened by separation from family and
friends, difficulty with integration and
social isolation. These issues are often
compounded by language barriers and a
lack of access to health services.
Within refugee camps, health problems
are even more pronounced and infectious
diseases are problematic. Nutrition is
noted to be poor, bringing with it a new
set of health problems. Micronutrient
deficiencies remain problematic within
refugee populations; these deficiencies
are associated with decreased work
productivity, increased disease, poor
pregnancy outcomes, growth stunting in
children, and cognitive developmental
delay. Problems include: anaemia due to
iron deficiency, blindness due to insufficient
vitamin A, scurvy from a lack of vitamin
C, and neuro-psychiatric disease (beriberi)
caused by thiamine deficiency.
The refugee diet in camps is highly
dependent on plain rice and beans. Lack of
fresh fruit and vegetables place an already
vulnerable population at even greater risk
of developing other chronic diseases.
The harms of the refugee diet do not end
there. Eating is a shared and social event.
Humans are the only animal that prepare
food, combine flavours and share these
with others. Food and social interaction
are entwined and linked with mood and
emotions. Food choices are impacted
by our social networks, cultures and
availability of food. A unifying feature of
celebrations from cultures the whole world
over is the presence of food. Refugees
are known for suffering psychological
ill-health and their poor diet can only
serve to exacerbate this.
How can we help?
The issue of refugeeism is complex,
and there are seemingly few solutions to
conflict and persecution. However, climate
disruption is potentially a preventable cause
- or at least one that can be mitigated to
a great extent. Greenhouse gases are the
central cause of climate disruption. Carbon
dioxide is the single biggest contributor
to human-driven climate disruption. The
largest sources of greenhouse gases are:
coal-fired power stations, transport, coal
mines and animal agriculture.
To reduce your greenhouse gases: cut
down on using your car, turning lights off
when leaving a room and - if possible -
invest in solar panels. However, the single
biggest change any individual can make
is eliminating their consumption of animal
products. Cutting out animal product
consumption is a small change in lifestyle
compared to forced displacement and the
associated health issues. If we act now
to mitigate climate change we may spare
millions from becoming refugees. Veganism
may help save the planet and millions of
lives alongside it. But don’t stop there.
As compassionate vegans, consider the
impacts our actions have on other humans.
Become an advocate. We need to advocate
for action and acknowledgment of this
pending crisis now. As those displaced
by climate disruption are not legally
considered refugees, they are afforded no
legal protection. There have been historic
efforts to create a climate displacement
co-ordination facility, however, Australia
has not deemed this a priority or necessary
issue. It is time to raise our voices and ask
where those displaced by climate will go,
and how we can help.
Finally, we must consider those who
are already displaced, no matter what the
reason, be it conflict or climate. For those,
consider supporting (and maybe joining)
the Act For Peace Ration Challenge and
earn sponsorship for living off the same
rations as a Syrian refugee. It is undeniably
difficult; but it is only for one week.
Awareness of the plight of refugees
is one that remains largely unpromoted,
with many people failing to appreciate
the trauma and suffering of refugee
populations. This is why the ‘ration
challenge’ is so important; whilst raising
money to improve nutrition in refugee
camps, it allows ordinary people to
experience a small taste (pun intended)
of the extreme hardships experienced by
refugees. For millions of people, this diet
extends infinitely beyond a week; there is
no end. Let’s show refugees that we are
with them, not against them.
Dr Lea Merone is a Public Health
Registrar practising in Far North
Queensland. This article is not intended
as medical advice and anyone concerned
about their health should consult their
own doctor.
5VWBMVJTMBOEJOUIFQBDJmDPDFBOUISFBUFOTUPEJTBQQFBSJO
the next 50 years due to sea level rise. Alamy Stock Photo.

the australian vegan magazine 87

 health OLIHVW\OH
Changing your
Habits and routine
QMBOUCBTFEBUIMFUF
E
very little thing you do, day in, day
out, comes down to your habits.
You wake up, have a shower, brush
your teeth, and get ready for work.
All of these are a ‘routine’ - habits
to get you to where you want to go on time.
It’s great to have a routine and to create
habits as they save time on having to make
conscious decisions on every little thing that
you do every day.
Habits can turn bad though, when they
don’t align with what you want anymore.
For example, you want to lose a couple of
kilos and have more energy, but your habit
is to get takeaway on the way home every
evening.
There’s a disconnect between your habits
and the reality you want. Your habits are
Too many people just look for the
ARVJDLmYBOEBSFOPUDPODFSOFEXJUI
changing their habits long term.
making your problem worse, taking you
further away from the reality you want, and
not supporting the outcomes you desire.
So how do you change this?
Be patient
First, you have to realise that it is going
to take time and patience to change your
habits. These habits obviously served you
at one point, that’s why you created them.
If you’ve been in the routine of doing the
same things for months, or even years,
you’ll need some time to undo them.
Don’t be hard on yourself while you’re in
the process of creating new habits. Some
habits are much easier than others to break.
Embrace the learning process; ask
questions of experts or people who are
88 t h e australian vegan magazine
#Z"NBOEB3PTF
Amanda specialises in helping ladies transition to a
whole food plant-based vegan lifestyle. Social media -
becomeaplantbasedbabe.com; instagram.com/
amandaroseofficial; twitter.com/plantbasedbabes.
knowledgeable in the area you are wanting
to create change in. The more involved in
the process you are, the more likely you are
to create the right habits for you, and stick
with your new habits indefinitely.
This is especially relevant when we are
talking about diet and exercise. Too many
people just look for the ‘quick fix’ and are
not concerned with changing their habits
long term. They’re then shocked after
their diet ends and they go back to eating
‘normal’, that kilos start to creep on again.
Your habits support your goals, so be
patient and embrace the process of learning
about what is right for you.
Create a plan
The next step would be to create a plan.
Failure to plan, is planning to fail. When
you get things out of your head and onto a
piece of paper, you get clarity around what
you are trying to achieve. For example, if
you are trying to create the habit of daily
exercise, taking the time to do a weekly plan
and breaking your day up into one hour
increments can help you establish what you
are usually doing at any particular hour, and
when you might be able to fit exercise in.
You might end up looking at your week
and seeing that you can only reasonably fit
exercise in on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
and Sunday. Whereas, if you had just
aimed for every day, without making a plan,
you would have been overwhelmed, and
constantly fell short of your target because it
wasn’t realistic that you could exercise every
day right now. This doesn’t mean you won’t
be able to add more days in down the track.
In fact, when you adapt to your new habit
of exercising four days per week, it might
help you feel so good and full of energy that
it is then easier to add in a fifth or sixth day
during some weeks.
Doing a meal plan for the week can also
help you create new habits. You know what
to buy from the shops, so you aren’t buying
extras, and you know what you’re cooking
so you can be better organised, and you can
also prepare some of the foods early to save
yourself time during the week.
Having a plan helps you support yourself
while you are creating new habits.
Review
Reviewing your plan is also an important
step in habit creation. Assessing at the end
of the week what worked and what didn’t
can help you determine patterns or areas
you need to focus on a little more. Plans are
not ‘set and forget’, you need to review what
works and what isn’t serving you any longer.
Things to watch out for - the backslide
It can happen to anyone. You’ve been in
a routine for a while and something throws
you. Either you get sick, work gets flat out,
you move house, or go on a holiday. All of
a sudden, you’re all out of whack and you
find yourself sliding back into really old,
unproductive habits.
It can happen to anybody.
The most important thing is to get on
top of it relatively quickly. Go back to the
planning stage and write yourself a new plan.
Again, remember to be patient with your-
self while you get back in control of your
habits. It might take a week, it might take
a month, but if you have done it once, you
can do it again. Our habits are what makes
us, so if you want to make a change to your
health, your diet or fitness, start by focusing
on creating healthier habits and you’ll see
profound changes.
the australian vegan magazine 89
 health OLIHVW\OH
Fast your way to a
Vegan lifestyle
DFSUJmFEOVUSJUJPOBOEIFBMUIDPBDIRoshni is also a
M
any of us have made
successful transitions from
a traditional meat and dairy
diet to a healthy and ethical
plant-based lifestyle and are
thriving. However, there are a lot of us who
are still struggling despite being aware of
the cruelty to animals, health aspects and
the destruction of our environment due to
the meat and dairy industries.
Those slip-ups at get togethers and the
accompanying guilt is a familiar feeling
during the early days. However, some are
unable to progress past those mishaps, get
caught in the vicious cycle and ultimately
give up. Self-discipline and willpower alone
are not sufficient to overcome the addiction
to meat and dairy. Being privy to what
goes on in our bodies when we consume
dairy and meat reveals why, for some, it’s
a hard habit to break.
It’s no longer a question whether meat
and dairy cause sickness. There is enough
evidence to show the direct link between
consumption of animal fat and preventable
chronic diseases. Diseases thrive in an
environment or terrain that has a lot of
poison build-up. But what causes poisons
to build up in the blood stream?
• Taking in more than you can eliminate
• Bio-chemical additives (substances that
the body cannot use)
• An overly acidic diet
Acid is synonymous with pain. Disease
is caused by over-acidification of the blood
and tissue due to an inverted way of living
and eating. The poisons that make our
internal environment acidic are animal flesh,
dairy products, processed fats and acid like
sugar, nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, and drugs.
This acidic internal terrain becomes a
breeding ground for diseases such as
heart disease, cancer, diabetes, allergies,
migraines and many other conditions.
90 t h e australian vegan magazine
#Z3PTIOJ4FUIVSBNBO
writer/blogger and vegan model.
Purely from a health perspective,
meat is not required for energy. The body
utilises sugar as a primary source and then
carbohydrates as a secondary source for
producing energy. Protein is the last resort.
Excess protein creates excessive nitrogen
in the system which leads to fatigue. How
much protein does one really need?
Research shows that 16g to 23g of
protein is a tremendous amount for
most cultures around the world. Protein
needs are the greatest for an infant and
a mother’s milk contains 1.2 to 1.6 per
cent protein - about the same as fruit.
The highest incidences of osteoporosis are in
countries where dairy products and calcium
supplements are consumed in the greatest quantities.
You also don’t need to combine proteins
to get a complete protein. The body will
adjust to whatever protein intake we offer
it. As your body becomes more efficient,
it reuses and recycles protein within
the system.
Meat also contains lots of uric acid and
that leaches calcium from the system.
People who eat meat tend to have the
weakest bones. Uric acid is the acid from
the urine of the animal. It is what gives
meat its taste. Uric acid in the bloodstream
creates arthritis - it irritates the tendons
and joints. Additionally, when an animal
dies, putrefactive germs from the colon
saturate all the cells of the meat. It’s
putrefactive germs that tenderise the meat.
When it comes to dairy, approximately
20 per cent of the population does not
produce lactase in their bodies, which is
needed to digest lactose, the sugar in dairy
milk. Dairy products create large amounts
of mucus in the system and are extremely
fatty. In addition, the extra mucus in the
intestines hardens and forms a coating on
the inner lining that is relatively impermeable
to nutrients. This means poor absorption
and increased fatigue.
According to Dr. William Ellis in
the Healthview Newsletter, No. 14,
“Thousands and thousands of blood tests
I’ve conducted show that people who drink
three to four glasses a milk a day invariably
had the lowest levels of blood calcium”.
Adults who drink milk do not absorb
nutrients as well. The highest incidences of
osteoporosis are in countries where dairy
products and calcium supplements are
consumed in the greatest quantities. The
lowest incidences are in countries where
the smallest amounts of dairy products are
consumed. Osteoporosis is unique to the
human species; the only exceptions are
animals under the care of humans. In Dr
T. Colin Campbell’s protein Study, it was
even found that cancer was consistently
promoted by casein which makes up to
87 per cent of cow’s milk protein.
Another culprit that causes acid build
up in the body is processed or trans fatty
acids. They are manmade or processed
fats made from a liquid oil. When you add
hydrogen to liquid vegetable oil and then
add pressure, the result is a stiffer fat.
Trans fats are also called hydrogenated
fats. In clinical studies, trans fatty acids
or hydrogenated fats tend to raise total
blood cholesterol levels and LDL (“bad”)
cholesterol, while lowering HDL (“good”)
cholesterol, when used instead of naturally
occurring fatty acids or natural oils such
as essential omega 3 fatty acids and cold-
pressed coconut oil. Trans fats increase
the risk of heart attacks in men and heart
diseases in women. Additional dangers of
processed fats include poor circulation,

poor elimination, excess congestion and
toxicity (acidic terrain) in the body.
Other sneaky offenders are substances
such as sugar, common table salt, caffeine,
nicotine, alcohol, and drugs that promote
over-acidification of the blood and tissues
allowing for a terrain that encourages the
growth of virus, bacteria, yeast and fungus.
It’s clear that acid-producing foods such
as meat, dairy products, processed fats
and acid addictions cause the internal
environment to go acidic and a thriving
bed for diseases. When the internal
biochemistry is acidic, it can feel almost
impossible to make healthier, plant-based
choices as when you are acidic inside,
you feel like eating the same acidic foods,
or you crave for it, making staying vegan
extremely tough. Instead of relying on
willpower alone, change the biochemistry
of your body to be more alkaline. Then,
automatically, your palate will transform
too, and you start enjoying alkalising plant-
based foods without the need for intense
willpower. You will automatically be drawn
to plant-based foods as they will start to
taste good due to the change in your inner
terrain. You will want to eat more alkaline
foods and make healthier whole foods
plant-based choices.
So how does one change the bio-
chemistry of the body to be more alkaline?
Depending upon how acidic your diet has
been, it is useful to embark on a fast for
five to seven days. Digestion sucks the
most amount of energy from the body, and
the more acidic your diet, the longer the
digestive process, and the more fatigued
one feels. Fasting allows your body a break
from digesting all solid foods and giving
the body an opportunity to rid, repair,
rejuvenate and alkalise.
Fasting has existed since the beginning
of life on earth. It has been practised as
a ritual and protocol for preventing and
healing diseases for thousands of years by
various cultures. Fasting purifies the body
of accumulated acids and toxins, helps
rewire the body’s immune system and
taste buds by alkalising the body, and it
paves the way for greater capacity of the
body to absorb nutrients from the food
that is eaten. Animals instinctively know
that healing will be much faster and more
effective when they stop eating. Knowing
that eating will only place an extra burden
on their body when they are sick, an ill or
injured animal’s first instinct is to abstain
from solid food until it is healthy again.
It’s a good idea to fast immediately
following the colder months at the beginning
of spring (hence the term, “spring
cleaning”). It’s also advisable to fast for
seven days with every change of season.
However, any time you experience the below,
it’s a sign that you may need to fast:
• Acidic food cravings and unable to make
healthier choices
OLIHVW\OH health
• Constantly dependent on medication get attracted to plant-based foods
• Experiencing frequent sluggishness or effortlessly.
low energy There are several communities for juice
• Having infrequent bowel movements or fasting where there are discussion forums,
digestive issues recipes that you can print, frequently
• Excessively overweight asked questions, daily rituals, support
• Regularly suffering from anxiety or groups, exercises, and fasting protocols all
emotional stress provided free of charge to help you have
There are a few ways to fast - dry the best possible juice fast experience.
fasting, water fasting and juice fasting. Joe Cross has a free online community at
Juice fasting is perhaps the simpler of community.rebootwith joe.com/ or you can
the three, that is, consuming only fresh try tylertolman.com/online-juice-fast.
vegetable and fruit juice, plus water, herbal Fasting may seem extreme at first, but
teas, fresh coconut water and no solid in ancient times, periods of fasting were
food. It is very effective in changing the built into normal life. In our supercharged
biochemistry of the body and correct the world, where often balance is hard to
cravings for meat and dairy. All you come by, we need fasting more than ever
need is a good juicer and access to before. Let your body be your guide and
fresh fruits and vegetables. Prepare your give fasting a go. As Arthur Schopenhauer,
body in the two to three days prior to a German philosopher said, “All truth goes
the commencement of the juice fast by through three steps: First it is ridiculed;
eliminating all meat, dairy, processed Second it is violently opposed; Finally, it
food and alcohol. The first few days of is accepted as self-evident”. Give yourself
the fast are usually the hardest due to the gift of fasting to sustain a plant-based
the body detoxifying. The body dispels lifestyle successfully, improve your health
a lot of acid and toxic waste into the and live in kindness.
bloodstream during a fast. The released
toxins circulating in the blood causes
discomfort and detox symptoms such
as headaches, and cold and flu like
symptoms.
Drinking a minimum of five
litres of water each day of the
fast is a must to help the
body eliminate the toxins.
Depending on the level of
acid and toxicity in your body,
doing a colon cleanse, colon
hydrotherapy and deep
exhalation exercises
can help eliminate
the waste faster. The
discomforts tend to
pass after a few days.
Most people usually
find that their energy
is boosted significantly
after a few days on the
fast. When you are ready
to break your fast, do it
mindfully with lighter
foods like smoothies,
fruits, salads and
soups to allow
your digestive
system to
adapt after its
period of rest
and repair.
You will find
that due to the
change in the
biochemistry
of the body,
your palate
has changed,
and you
naturally
the australian vegan magazine 91
 health OLIHVW\OH

Can you be a happy

Animal activist?
#Z$MBSF.BOO WFHBOQTZDIPMPHJTU BVUIPS BOEDPNNVOJDBUJPOTUSBJOFS
Clare is the co-founder of Vegan Voices, the FREE app to help you communicate
veganism more effectively. http://vegan-voices.com.

animal exploitation and one where we
can live healthy and happy lives with a
low footprint. We meet others who share
our values, and we’re inspired by the
achievements of a wide range of initiatives.
the second, boys from one of the most
disadvantaged areas of Boston. Every
two years since 1938, through in-depth
interviews, medical examinations, and
observation of their social networks, their

T
he recent 2018 Animal Rights
Conference in Los Angeles
attracted over 1,300 people and
had a vast array of speakers,
workshops, stalls, and live music.
The event was well catered for, with
vegans enjoying the luxury of not having
to check every meal for ingredients. The
premiere of the Australian documentary,
Dominion, was screened to over 600
people, and although challenging, resulted
in people strategising about how they could
share this film with the world.
In short, it was like living in a little vegan
bubble for four days. As everyone neared
the end, there was a sense of sadness as
people faced re-entering a world which is
not yet vegan, with its everyday triggers
about animal use.
What is it about these large, vegan,
communal events that we find so
rewarding, and yet are accompanied by a
sense of sadness and depression as they
draw to a close? As we re-enter the non-
vegan world, our hearts sink as sometimes
even our families don’t understand, and
resist the vegan message.
These events remind us of the world
we want to create; one where there is no
We feel part of a growing community of lives were tracked over the decades. The
people who remind us that we belong, and enduring finding, regardless of social
together are creating a kinder world. background, wealth, or life circumstance, is
But this sense of belonging and mutual that “good relationships keep us healthier
understanding is not only reserved for and happier”. The results indicate that
vegans. Religious, sports, or interest groups loneliness is not only crippling for the
can feel a similar sense of community sufferer, but directly impacts physical
and shared identity over time. What are health and brain function. Happiness is
The results indicate that loneliness is not
only crippling for the sufferer, but directly
impacts physical health and brain function.
the qualities of these social encounters directly related to the quality of our social
that make us feel so good? If we can find networks, and being around people we
out what the ingredients are, perhaps we feel understand and care for us is essential
can create them outside of festivals and for wellbeing.
conferences? Good relationships depend on the quality
LESSONS FROM THE HAPPINESS STUDIES of our interpersonal communication and a
The longest-standing research into self-awareness of how we impact others.
adult development has gathered data This requires sophisticated skills which may
for over 75 years, and is known as the be hard to draw upon when we are highly
Happiness Studies (2008). It selected distressed. For example, our knowledge
724 young men from two groups; the about animal cruelty can make certain
first, Harvard University students and conversations very challenging.

92 t h e australian vegan magazine


The frustration isn’t limited to
conversations with non-vegans. When we
join the animal rights movement we feel
that we belong and have a shared purpose.
So, it is demoralising when we come across
infighting since it’s not only our sense of
belonging and happiness at stake, but
something that binds us all together - the
welfare of animals.
STEPS TOWARDS BEING A HAPPY ACTIVIST
1. The importance of self-care
Self-care is a term well-known in
animal advocacy, not only for those in
frontline animal protection, but because
daily reminders of systematised animal
cruelty is confronting for us all. Seeing
daily reminders of live sheep trade, the
Lakesland chicken rescue, the culling of
kangaroos, or watching documentaries like
Dominion or Earthlings has a cumulative
negative impact on our wellbeing.
Without the tools to process our grief
and despair, we can easily become angry
and negative, believing the world to
be a very dark place. Many advocates
under these circumstances withdraw
from the world, further adding to their
sense of desperation and alienation. We
then withdraw from the very things that
contribute to our happiness and wellbeing
- being part of a community of people we
value and feel valued by.
Some self-care things that animal
activists can do to help with negative
feelings are:
1. Practise good nutrition
2. Exercise regularly
3. Relax and have fun
4. Develop a positive mindset
5. Learn to meditate
6. Minimise stress
7. Gather support
There is also a support sheet you can
access where a team of psychologists
have shared tools and techniques to help
you deal with the anguish of knowing
about the content of films like Dominion.
It is also valuable for anyone who is
feeling traumatised about animal cruelty,
and finding it hard to process their grief
and trauma. You can find it at www.
dominionmovement.com/self-care.
2. Effective communication
To be good at relationships we must
get our own house in order. We have to
become acutely aware of the effect we
have on other people and their needs, as
well as setting boundaries with people and
educating them on how to treat us. This
requires us to:
• Listen carefully to other’s comments and
objections
• Ask questions to clarify their comments
• Focus on the conversation, not the
person - blaming or shaming aren’t
productive towards changing someone’s
mind
• Be aware that people’s reactiveness
may be a response to new information,
shame, or guilt
• Learn where your own boundaries are,
and know it’s okay to step away and
continue the conversation another time
3. Become part of a community
If our happiness is linked to our sense
of belonging and shared identity, then it’s
important that we join groups we feel we
can contribute to. Whilst online groups
can be supportive, real connections are
made when people get together and share
a common purpose. This is known as a
superordinate goal and the concept is
well known in sociology. A superordinate
goal transcends the individual goals of
those involved, but brings them together
to achieve something essential for their
survival. Many vegans would argue that the
only way to survive in a not yet vegan world
is to work towards it becoming vegan.
To benefit from and contribute to group
endeavours, you must have exquisite
self-care. So much of the infighting occurs
because people are in pain, and have
set beliefs around what must happen for
us to free animals. By investing in your
self-care, improving the quality of your
OLIHVW\OH health
communication, and understanding others,
you go a long way to becoming a welcomed
member in the community and add to
others’ wellbeing.
WILL WE SEE A VEGAN WORLD IN OUR
LIFETIME?
When we attend animal rights events
we often feel inspired that the movement is
growing, and we are seeing real change. To
keep that positive energy, resource yourself
daily with the knowledge that the vegan
movement is gathering momentum. Every
day we hear about new ranges of vegan
produce popping up in supermarkets,
and industries realising the unsustainable
nature of animal farming. Elmhurst Dairy in
Queens, New York, a 90-year-old dairy has
switched to plant-based milk production,
and this is a reflection of changing demand.
WeWork, who have banned meat being
eaten in the workplace, is another example
of veganism growing, and it’s these
stories we need to share and rejoice in.
A vegan world is coming and we must
all play our part in ushering it in. Despite
all the horrors we read about, it is still
possible to be a happy advocate, and
the chances of this happening are greatly
enhanced when we become part of a
community of people we value and feel
part of. The Happiness Studies have much
to teach our movement as well as the world
at large. Happiness comes from something
beyond ourselves, and it’s to be found in
communities of people all working towards
something they collectively value, and
which benefits everyone.
Clare Mann is an Australian-based vegan
psychologist, best-selling author, and passionate
animal advocate. She is the co-founder of the
Vegan Voices Smartphone App (vegan-voices.
com), co-contributor to the Sydney Vegan Club
30-Day Vegan Challenge and contributor to
Plant-Powered Women and Everyday Vegans.
Clare provides skills training to help vegans and
animal advocates communicate more effectively,
and animal welfare organisations to collaborate
for increased effectiveness. Access her free
video program via veganpsychologist.com.
the australian vegan magazine 93
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Plant-based diet
And your pregnancy
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P
regnancy, without a doubt, is an
amazing time and it puts your body
through some incredible changes in
just a few short months. A whole
food balanced vegan diet is an
excellent choice for mum and growing baby
because it helps women avoid some nasty
symptoms such as constipation, blood sugar
issues (gestational diabetes) excess weight
gain and hypertension.
According to both the American and
Australian Dietetic Associations, well-
planned vegan diets are safe through all life
stages, including pregnancy. And with proper
planning and a little nutritional knowledge,
it’s quite easy to achieve all the required
intakes throughout. The most important
nutrients during pregnancy include iron,
folate, zinc, protein, B12, calcium, vitamin D
and omega 3 fatty acids. You have no extra
calorie requirements in the first trimester,
however, by the second trimester you need
an extra 340 calories (1400kj) per day,
and in the final trimester you require 452
calories (1900kj) per day.
Gaining appropriate weight during pregnancy
A whole food vegan diet is very
nutritionally-dense. It’s also easy to add
extra calories to your diet without choosing
unhealthy high fats (especially saturated and
trans fats). Adding nuts, seeds, nut pastes,
legumes, dried fruit, avocados, and plant
milks, and staying away from takeaways,
fried foods and pastries as much as possible,
is a great way to achieve this.
In the first trimester, expect to gain about
one to two kilos, and in the second and third
trimester, about 300g to 500g per week,
depending on what your pre-pregnancy BMI
was. Overall, if you were in the healthy BMI
range, you should gain between 11.5 to
16kg throughout your whole pregnancy.
Nutritional requirements during pregnancy
CALCIUM: It’s important you meet your
requirements of 1,000mg a day, otherwise
#Z:WPOOF0)BMMPSBO
Yvonne graduated from Griffith University on the Gold Coast in 2012 with a Masters
in Nutrition & Dietetics. She now works in her own practice.
the calcium is leached from your bones
to provide for your growing baby. Calcium
absorption from plant foods is actually much
easier than from dairy products. Include
foods such as calcium-set tofu, soybeans,
dark green leafy vegetables, figs, sunflower
seeds, calcium-enriched plant milks,
cereals and juices.
FOLATE: Folate (or folic acid) prevents
neural tube defects and serves other
important functions. Your requirements go
from 400mcg up to 600mcg per day during
pregnancy. Include foods such as leafy
greens and legumes. It’s also important
for women of childbearing age to take a
supplement containing folate as the spine
With proper planning and a little nutritional
knowledge, it’s quite easy to achieve
all the required intakes throughout.
forms very early in pregnancy and usually
before mum even knows she is pregnant.
ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS: Alpha-linolenic
(ALA) acid is an essential fatty acid which
converts into omega 3 fatty acids in the
body. The requirement for ALA increases
from 1.1g to 1.4g per day during pregnancy.
Flaxseeds and flaxmeal contain ALA along
with foods such as walnuts, soybeans,
canola and flaxseed oils.
IRON: Iron requirements during pregnancy
increase quite a bit due to the increased
demands on mum’s body to grow a placenta
that will nourish baby and maintain increased
maternal blood volume. Requirements go
from 18mg to 27mg per day during pregnancy.
Vegans should take special care to eat plenty
of iron-rich foods like legumes, grains, nuts
and seeds, fortified cereals, dark green
vegetables and dried fruit. Including vitamin
C rich foods at the same time increases
absorption. The iron in plant-based foods
is not as easily taken up by the body as the
iron from animal foods so you should cook
them, soak them (for example legumes) or
OLIHVW\OH family
eat them with foods high in vitamin C to
increase absorption. Most women will take
a multivitamin containing iron during their
pregnancy to ensure they are having adequate
intakes. Iron supplements should be taken
away from tea, coffee or calcium supplements
as these compete for absorption.
PROTEIN: Generally, most women require
about 46g of protein per day. This increases
by about 25g during pregnancy bringing your
daily requirements to 71g in the second and
third trimesters. Great plant-based protein
sources include whole grains, legumes, peas,
brown rice, quinoa, hemp seeds, flaxmeal,
tofu, seitan, edamame, nuts and seeds.
VITAMIN B12: Your B12 requirements
increase slightly in pregnancy from 2.4 mcg
to 2.6 mcg. You will find B12 in fortified
foods such as meat substitutes, fortified
plant milks, nutritional yeast, and fortified
cereals. B12 supplementation is essential
during a vegan pregnancy to ensure the
healthy development of your baby.
VITAMIN D: Your requirements for this
vitamin remain unchanged during pregnancy,
however, you must ensure you are getting
adequate sunlight, so you can be sure you
are absorbing enough. It’s recommended
you get five to 15 minutes of sunlight daily
on the hands, face and arms between 10am
and 3pm. If you are pregnant during the
winter months, or are not getting enough sun
exposure, your multivitamin should supply
you with adequate amounts (5mcg).
ZINC: Your requirements for zinc increase
from 8mg to 11mg per day during pregnancy
and may be even higher on a vegan diet (zinc
is not as well absorbed on a plant-based
diet). Include foods such as whole grain
cereals, nuts and legumes, and if taking
prenatal multivitamins it usually contains zinc.
the australian vegan magazine 95

OFVSPQTZDIPMPHJTU. Ash is a neuropsychologist and author of Staying
W
hether raised vegan or not,
many children inevitably
ask questions about
animal use. Even if animal
cruelty is not mentioned
in the home, children are perceptive
and insightful, and eventually they start
making connections between their daily
experiences and what they know about
animals. A young child may look at a plate
Many children are misled, either
directly or indirectly, about the ways in which
animal products reach their plates.
of chicken nuggets, and ask “are these
made from chickens?”.
It’s not easy having conversations about
animal cruelty, especially with children.
As adults, our instinct is often to shield
children from the horrors of the world. This
may be particularly relevant with vegan
children - since their actions aren’t directly
contributing to animal suffering, why
broach an upsetting subject?
In the modern world, it’s easy to avoid
thinking about animal cruelty. In fact,
the animal industries seem to rely on it.
Through deceptive marketing that aims
to reconcile the cognitive dissonance
(the state of discomfort caused when our
actions contradict our beliefs and values),
the animal industries strive to generate a
steady stream of consumers. Many children
are misled, either directly or indirectly,
about the ways in which animal products
reach their plates. Like adults, children
can be deceived by the social narrative of
animals willingly giving up their flesh, milk,
96 t h e australian vegan magazine
#Z%S"TI/BZBUF
Positive in a F*cked Up World. She has been a vegan for 10 years and works in private
practice as well as major hospitals in Melbourne.
eggs, fur, feathers, and skin for human use.
Consider, for example, the portrayal of “happy
cows” who “give” their milk to humans, or
pigs and cows who live carefree until the
day of their “humane” and painless death.
It is a testament to children’s insatiable
curiosity that they continue to question
animal use in their daily lives. It is often
with shock, disgust, and sadness that
they learn the horrible truth.
It is a strange irony that so many adults
celebrate the burgeoning maturity and
independence of their children as they
understand increasingly complex ideas
about their world, and yet are quick to
ward off open discussions about topics
like animal cruelty. It’s all too common for
children’s questions about animal products
to be met with distraction or hollow
platitudes that shut down conversation.
In a further twist, caregivers’ discomfort
around certain conversation topics
becomes as enticing as the topic itself, and
often proves irresistible to kids’ curious
nature. When adults avoid conversation
topics, kids become even more determined
to find out why. And they will find a way.
Navigating difficult conversation topics
(such as animal cruelty) is not as simple
as “just tell the truth”. While honest
and open communication is vital, it’s
also important to respect kids’ ability to
comprehend and cope with the information
that’s being discussed. And while the
ultimate responsibility rests with parents
and caregivers, all adults have a duty to
be positive role models for young people,
and to ensure that their actions do not
jeopardise the wellbeing of others.
For parents, who know their children
best and can gauge how and when difficult
conversations should occur, it’s important
to be aware of personal biases that impede
genuine opportunities to share, connect
with, and teach their children. An extreme
example might be a 12-year-old student
who is forbidden to read any biology
textbooks mentioning evolution, because
her parents strictly believe in creationism.
As parents, we must ensure that we don’t
simply shut down conversation topics for
our own comfort or convenience.
Determining a child’s readiness to
learn about animal cruelty depends on
their intellectual/cognitive capacity to
understand the conversation, as well as
their emotional intelligence to process and
deal with their own reactions.
Children’s cognitive and emotional
development rarely occur linearly or even in
parallel, which means that some children
may be highly advanced in their cognitive
understanding of complex concepts
but may take some time to develop the
emotional intelligence to cope with that
information.
Young children (below the age of
around seven to eight years), have a
fundamentally different way of viewing the
world compared to older children. Three
important differences to note are:
• Young children tend to interpret their
world at face value, in a literal way,
which makes it hard for them to
understand how the animals they learn
about and love, could end up breaded
and deep fried in a bucket.
• Young children generally haven’t adopted
the same categorised thinking as adults
that leads to speciesist (or racist, or
classist) behaviour. Hearing about a
chicken being killed might instil fears
that someone will come after the family’s
companion chicken (or the family dog, or
even the child’s siblings and parents).
• Young children often do not have the
language skills or self-awareness to
articulate their feelings, so they tend 
the australian vegan magazine 97
 family OLIHVW\OH

As children become more emotionally and cognitively mature,

they become better equipped to cope with graphic imagery.
 to express themselves through their patience. Children respond well to brief graphic stories that conjure up images of
actions and behaviour, including play. conversations that happen casually, in horrific violence. However, even this needs
For children who have been exposed to response to daily events. Just as we might to be exercised with caution, because
graphic imagery, becoming traumatised tell children “let’s put garbage in the bin mental images (even those derived from
is a real risk - and this trauma can so that we keep our streets clean”, we written or spoken stories) can be difficult
manifest through violent, aggressive, or might add “and so the garbage doesn’t to handle emotionally. It is important that
harmful behaviour towards themselves wash into the ocean and harm the sea children and parents make the decision
or others (including animals). animals”. Even simple messages of anti- together about observing graphic images,
As children become older, they become speciesism, justice, fairness, and equality and for adults to provide the appropriate
increasingly able to separate themselves can (and often are) taught incidentally, support and monitoring in case children
become traumatised. Some symptoms of
trauma in children include: nightmares,
Exposing children to concepts that intrusive thoughts, difficulty concentrating,
hypervigilance, anxiousness or irritability,
they’re not cognitively or emotionally or unexplained physical ailments like
headaches or stomach aches.
ready to hear can lead to confusion, Like most things in life, children
learn best when learning occurs at their
distress, trauma, or even violence. pace, with ample time to process new
information and ideas. Exposing children
to concepts that they are not cognitively
or emotionally ready to hear can lead
from the events around them, and they simply through living life. For example, to confusion, distress, trauma, or even
can think more abstractly about concepts by watching his mother breastfeeding a violence.
that are beyond their personal experiences. younger sibling, a child might learn that While the ultimate decision and
Many children who are nine to 10 years mothers’ milk is exquisitely designed for responsibility rests with parents in
or older, start to muse on philosophical or their babies. answering difficult questions, as animal
existential ideas such as the purpose of life As children become more emotionally activists, we also have a social duty of
or the existence of an afterlife. and cognitively mature, they become better care to young people, to ensure that we
Discussions around animal cruelty are equipped to cope with graphic imagery. don’t inflict psychological harm on the
often multi-faceted, requiring time and This includes photos and videos, as well as next generations.

98 t h e australian vegan magazine

SAVE US
PLEASE KEEP US OFF YOUR PLATE