Until and unless all faiths around the world acknowledge the unique diversity and the rainbow of different cultures and faiths that God has given us and which so enrich our lives, religions will create strife instead of the peace that is the main purpose of religion.
Faiths that originated in India have a long history of toleration and openness to new ideas by Nitin Mehta, founder of the Indian Cultural Centre in Croydon and founder of the Indian Vegetarian Society
Not gourmet, not pretty and certainly not good for you, but there are times when only a bacon sandwich will do. As soon as you sniff the greasy, salty smell wafting from the pan everything else slips away into a happy haze. With or without sauce, a butty laced with rashers provides welcome affirmation of the simpler side of life. The coarse pleasures of fatty wonderfulness will, of course, be lost on herbivores conscientiously upholding National Vegetarian Week, which starts today. But ¬during this seven-day stretch no meaty item will tempt more would-be veggies back to the dark side than the bacon sarnie. That is not their fault, say scientists, who last month isolated the chemical changes that trigger aromatic magic when the meat is heated, the very magic that makes the sarnies so hard to resist. No animal’s reputation is as low as the pig right now, with the World Health Organisation regularly reporting new cases in the potential swine flu pandemic. Note, eating bacon will not give you the virus. In fact bacon sarnies will make you feel better, while you worry whether that cold you have acquired will turn into something more serious. This should be a time to support (free-range) British pig farmers. So don’t punish yourself by abstaining; eat your bacon sandwich with pride. According to the food boffins, the most tantalising variety involves slightly fatty, grilled bacon between two thick slices of white bread. But even if it is fried and on brown, it will still taste pretty damn good.
Times may be tough, the recession may be biting deep, but shoppers haven’t cracked. Not when it comes to eggs, at least.
The number of free-range eggs sold is expected to rise to 2bn a year by October to match declining battery farm sales, according to the market research firm TNS.
Terrorists attacking our food supply is a nightmare scenario that has been given new life during the recent swine flu outbreak. Although it seems easy to do, understanding why it hasn’t happened is important. GR Dalziel, at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, has written a report chronicling every confirmed case of malicious food contamination in the world since 1950: 365 cases in all, plus 126 additional unconfirmed cases. What he found demonstrates the reality of terrorist food attacks.
It turns out 72% of the food poisonings occurred at the end of the food supply chain – at home – typically by a friend, relative, neighbour, or co-worker trying to kill or injure a specific person. A characteristic example is Heather Mook of York, who in 2007 tried to kill her husband by putting rat poison in his spaghetti.
We shouldn’t poison our minds with fear of bioterrorism
But, the Grumpy Vegan wonders, aren’t animal foods, because of their adverse impact on human health, bioterrorism?
There’s so much turmoil happening in politics in the US and UK that it’s difficult to know how to keep up. One way that the Grumpy Vegan has found is to follow these two columnists, Frank Rich of The New York Times and Andrew Rawnsley of The Observer. Here’s a link to their most recent columns: Rich and Rawnsley.
