FG is Charlie - September-October 2015
FRIENDS’ GAZETTEYour articles look at moral reasons for beingvegetarian or vegan which is a veryinteresting mix and unique . . .
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2015 - ISSN 2053-4426 London and Avignon - e-mail: [email protected]
Tim Barford - founder VegFestUK
VEGAN SHADOWSECRETARYWANTS TO‘SWAP IDEAS’
LUCKY FGREADERSGET INTOVEGFEST
FOR FREE
Find out which sixFriends’ Gazettereaders scoopedcomplimentarytickets toVegFestUK London,October 2015Go to page 7
Special report by Stephen WardKerry McCarthy
JEREMY CORBYN’S newly-
appointed shadow environment
supremo, Kerry McCarthy, has
cemented Labour’s new consul-
tative governmental approach
offering to visit voters and swap
ideas with them.
McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol
East, is the new shadow secretary
for environment, food and rural
affairs, appointed by Corbyn days
after he was voted in this month as
new Labour leader by a thumping
majority.
In a press statement issued to
Friends’ Gazette McCarthy said:
“I have been contacted by so
many individuals, organisations
and campaigns over the past few
days, and would like to thank
everyone who has congratulated
me on my new role.
“I hope that I will get to swap
ideas with you, campaign with
you, visit you and talk to you over
the coming months.
“Feel free to pass on your
specific questions and I will get
answers to them for you as soon
as possible.”
Corbyn’s own first prime
minister’s question time to David
Cameron recently was a
revelation in consultative politics.
He told a packed House of
Commons: “I thought at my first
PMQs, I would do it in a slightly
different way.
“So I sent out an email to
thousands of people and asked
them what questions they would like
to put to the prime minister and I
received 40,000 replies."
As a member of the shadow
cabinet McCarthy will be at the heart
of Labour’s decision-making process.
But she pointed out that although
she has been a vegan for many
years: “This will not affect Labour
policy in relation to the farming
industry.”
Among topics on McCarthy’s ‘to do’
list are:
l Protecting the environment
l Biodiversity
l Promoting sustainablity
l Marine conservation, and
l Animal welfare.
McCarthy has given talks on
veganism and was a presenter at theContinues on page 13
1
FG is Charlie - September-October 2015
2
IKEA SET TO DISH UP
‘FULLY VEGAN’ MEAL
SALES MANAGERw a n t e d
Can you sell?Are you friendly?Can you think out-the-box?Then you may be just the person we are looking
for. Friends’ Gazette is seeking a consummate
professional to build up its advertising sales
department. Salary negotiable with good
commission. Experience essential, preferably with
contacts in the vegan/vegetarian world. Send CV
with covering letter to [email protected]
Informal interviews will be held on Monday, 12
October at the Olympia Hilton, Kensington High
Street, round the corner from the exhibition centre.
IKEA's move to capture the veggie/vegan
market is set to grow, the FG can reveal.
The store which turned over £1.4b last
year launched GRÖNSAKSBULLAR (literally
vegetable balls) in the spring, welcomed and
approved by the Vegan Society in June and
snapped up by customers ever since.
Now the Swedish store known for its
flat pack 'affordable' designer furniture is
set to introduce a 'fully vegan meal' in its
self-service, in-store restaurants
incorporating the balls.
To be offered at IKEA UK and Ireland
this entirely vegan meal will consist of the
veggie balls, a tomato sauce, bulgur wheat and
rice. Customers will be able to add other items
as they please.
A spokesman told FG this month: "The IKEA
food teams have been working on a fully vegan
meal and I am awaiting confirmation that this
has been rolled out to all stores."
The 'fully vegan meal' will mean vegans will
not have to wonder what to choose to go with
their veggie balls and can rest assured their
whole meal is safe.
IKEA’s fully vegan meal as currentlyserved up in its Toronto store.
HILTON Olympia is to ‘go vegan’ for two
days in October to coincide with VegFestUK,
taking place just up the road.
Chef Rohan Mehta will be serving up
vegetarian and vegan dishes in the hotel
restaurant on 10/11th October.
A spokesperson told FG: “We usually
have one or two vegetarian meals available
but our chef says he will prepare even more
during that weekend.”
The restaurant in Kensington High Street
uses sustainably sourced ingredients and is
offering two courses and a glass of wine for
£20. (See coupon on page 9)
HILTON OLYMPIA
TO GO VEGAN
FG is Charlie - September-October 2015
CORBYN‘TOOBUSY’FOR FALAFEL NUSH
THE JEWISH-Iraqi owner of an iconic
West End eating haunt is hoping regular
customer Jeremy Corbyn will soon be
dropping in for a late night supper but
admits he may now be "a bit busy".
Left wing rebel and vegetarian, Corbyn,
who has appointed a vegan to be a
shadow secretary of state (see our lead
story on page 1), rocketed into the political
stratosphere this month (September) when
he scored a spectacular win in the battle to
become Labour Party leader.
The landslide victory took his political
opponents both within and outside his
party by surprise and sent shock waves
through the British political establishment.
His leadership triumph has been
attributed to new young members of the
party who flocked to support him under the
Obamaesque slogan "Jez we can".
Asked if he's expecting the new leader
round any time soon Gaby Elyahou,
proprietor of Gaby’s Delhi just off Leicester
Square told FG: "No. Not now, he's too
busy." And he revealed what Corbyn, a
committed vegetarian, tucks into when he
does come in.
"He eats vegetarian. He has falafel,
moussaka, salads, all that. He comes once
a month, every two weeks, something like
that," Gaby said.
A vegetarian since 1969, Corbyn usually
pops into the eatery, frequented by both
politicians and actors from nearby theatres,
late at night after a session in the House -
just a short cycle ride away at the other
end of Whitehall.
Corbyn who wished his Jewish contacts
a Happy New Year in an email this
September, has a tough hand to play as
Labour leader over the Israeli/Palestinian
conflict which continues to plague Middle
eastern politics.
He is a member of the Palestine
Solidarity Campaign and has called for the
starting of a political process to
decommission Israel's nuclear weapons.
Corbyn, 66, has been vegetarian since
the age of 20, following a period working
on a pig farm.
Earlier this year he called for a ban on
the import into the UK of pate de foie gras,
a French delicacy made out of the liver of
force-fed geese.
Gaby Elyahou, (above) a Jewish-Iraqi emigre is the proprietor of Gaby's Deli. He spoke to
FG in the wake of regular customer Jeremy Corbyn’s spectacular rise to Labour’s top job.
AKIVA GETSON HIS BIKE
A NORTH-London man has raised thousands of
pounds for charity by biking nearly 3,000 miles
across the US.
Akiva Lipkin, 20, who lives in Hampstead in a
veggie-friendly household, was one of 14 men and
nine women in the Bike4Friendship challenge which
raised just over $74,000 (£47,000 ) of which Akiva
netted $3,145 (£2,001) - just by pedal power.
He said: "It was a good way of keeping fit and
helping a good cause at the same time."
The bike tour raises sponsorship funds to benefit
the Friendship Circle an international non-profit
organisation that provides programmes and support
to the families of individuals with special needs.
Bikers were able to keep the Sabbath (Friday
sunset to Saturday sunset) and eat kosher thanks to
a specially designed schedule.
The men rode from San Diego to New York,
approximately 3,100 miles, in six weeks. The women
from just outside Detroit also rode to New York, a
total of 614.2 miles, in ten days.
While it is neither required nor prohibited for Jews
to eat meat, a number of medieval scholars of
Judaism, such as Joseph Albo and Isaac Arama,
saw vegetarianism as a moral ideal, not just out of a
concern for animal welfare but also the slaughterer.
Jewish vegetarians also cite health and
environmental reasons for adopting a plant-based
diet.
Akiva Lipkin crosses thefinishing line in the Big Apple
Pic
cou
rtesy
Ale
x Le
ntat
i
Jeremy Corbyn
3
FG is Charlie - September-October 2015
6
FRIE
ND
LY F
EED
BACK
Dear Ed,
It’s interesting to hear of a French chef who
actually cares enough to go out of his way to
provide thoughtful, well-prepared vegetarian and
vegan meals for his customers.
On my travels across the water I’ve yet to find
a French chef who actually makes an effort to
cater for us.
It must be because vegetarians and vegans
are still like hens teeth over there but it also
belies the principle that a master chef, master
musician or master painter would regard
something out of the ordinary as a challenge not
a threat!
Well done Monsieur Bolis for breaking the
mould, hopefully not literally, and coming up with
a vegetarian and vegan menu.
I look forward to coming along to Earls Court to
see him. Thank you once again for your
magazine which I find interesting and inspiring.
Dorothy Fitzgerald
Kentish Town
Dear Ed
I’m really looking forward to coming along to your
cooking demonstration at the VegFest in
October.
Well, I know it’s not your demonstration as
such but one of your contacts.
I read your article about Mr Bolis last month
and was impressed.
I’ll definitely be there. I wish I could reserve a
place by email, but I’m happy to come along and
pick up a ticket from your stand.
Sam Palmer
Hounslow
Dear Ed,
I’m knocked out by the thought that I can come
along to see a real French chef at work at the
VegFest next month. Please save me a ticket!
Sue Stockwell
Virginia Water
Dear readers,
We’re happy to welcome Christophe to London.
We’re only too glad he has seen fit to
demonstrate his skills. I’m sure we will all give
him a great welcome. ED
Think we’ve got it wrong or just want to sound off about something. Feel free! Write to [email protected]
COOKING DEMONSTRATIONTop French chef
Christophe Bolis
will be sharing his culinary skills with
you at the VegFestUK 2015 London
on Sunday, 11th August at 3pm
book your seat at stand VA6 (level 3).
Places are limited.
5
FG is Charlie - September-October 2015
6
HALF A CENTURY OF THE
HARE KRISHNASTHE HARE KRISHNA movement celebrates it’s 50th anniversary
this month (September) with talks, festivals, parades and of
course – plenty of food.
While the troupes of dancing saffron clothed devotees stopping
traffic in Oxford Street may have gone, the group itself is still
going strong. But now, instead of pounding the street barefoot,
three London buses were booked for the day to travel through
central London “to spread the holy name”.
The movement began in 1965 when an Indian holy man called
Srila Prabhupada sailed to the US on a cargo ship to preach
Krishna Consciousness. Since then the International Society for
Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has built a network of more
than 100 temples, schools, institutes and farm communities. In
London the face of ISKCON is most easily visible at the
Govinda’s
restaurant in
Soho Street,
London which
also houses a
Radha Krishna
temple behind
the scenes.
Devotees get up early for group chanting, stick to a strict lacto-
vegetarian diet and aim to lead a simple, uncluttered life.
The cult shot to fame in the 60s when late Beatle, George
Harrison, joined up and donated his country mansion in Watford.
The sprawling Tudor building is now known as Bhaktivedanta
Manor and plays a vital role in the group’s UK activities.
FG is Charlie - September-October 2015
“BRILLIANT”, “Thanks a lot”, “Made my
day” and “Looking forward to it!”
These were some of the reactions
from lucky FG readers who scooped
free entrance to the London VegFest
next month (October 10 and 11).
Now there are Scottish tickets up for
grabs (see page 9).
For when it comes to FG
competitions you not only have to test
your brains but you have to rely on
lady luck to actually scoop the prizes.
Fortune smiled on the following
whose entries were the first correct
answers out of the hat this time round!
Saturday winners were: RobynCaffel, Rosalind Eccles and JessicaFletcher. Sunday winners were:
Nimrod Agasi, Tom Lusty andKairen Newman.
To those who didn’t make it this
time FG wishes better luck next time.
VegFest Glasgow takes place on
December 5 and 6 in hall three of the
Scottish Exhibition and Conference
Centre (SECC).
It is the culmination of a week long
festival called The Only Way Is Ethics a
pun on the hit TV show The Only Way is
Essex (TOWIE).
Ethics festival organiser Craig
Tannock told the BBC recently: "It is not
just a vegan event but about using all
sorts of entertainment and media to
celebrate ethical choices.
"From the Monday to Friday, there will
be a city-wide programme involving
anything that celebrates the theme."
Mr Tannock said this would include
art, music, cinema, schools and
workshop events, with everyone from
businesses, campaigning groups,
charities, the general public and political
organisations being invited to take part.
And the luckywinners are . . .
Easy to make snack or mealRecipe and picture - courtesy Men's Journal
Ingredients
· 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
· 1 cup chopped yellow onion
· 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
· ½ cup corn
· ½ cup chopped red bell peppers
· 1 cup packed kale
· ½ cup sunflower seeds
· 1 cup cooked or canned black beans, rinsed,
drained and divided
· 2 teaspoons dried organic basil
· 2 teaspoons dried organic oregano
· 1 cup frozen organic brown rice, thawed
Directions1 In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.
2 Add onion and garlic and cook until tender,
about 5 minutes. Stir in peppers, corn, and
kale. Cover and cook until peppers are
tender and the kale wilts, about 5 minutes.
3 In the bowl of a food processor, pulse
sunflower seeds until coarsely ground. Add
cooked vegetable mixture, half the beans,
basil and oregano. Pulse until mixture is just
coming together.
4 In a large bowl, combine puréed mixture,
remaining beans and rice. Stir until
combined.
5 Preheat oven to 350°F. Form mixture into
1½-inch balls and transfer to a lightly oiled
baking sheet.
6 Bake meatballs 30 minutes or until heated
through and crisp on the outside.
VEGAN Tuck Box is relaunching this
month with a 'slick' new look as
business grows and competition
intensifies, the FG can reveal.
And the go-ahead enterprise is
continuing the hunt for tasty new
products to tempt the palates of its
snack-head client list.
Spending close on £10,000 the
facelift will mean catchy new designs
on all aspects of its business which
kicked off two years ago and has
grown steadily since.
Marketing manager Kelly Slade said:
"We're just at the point where we want
to grow further."
Slade is hoping the new branding
will give "a more professional look."
And she added: "To make it look a
bit more slick, I suppose, a bit more
professional and up to the standard
with some of the other boxes that are
out there.
"We have got a direct competitor,
and then there are other boxes which
have vegan options. People are
choosing between all of us so we need
to look the part."
Asked how much was being spent
on the new look Slade was tight-lipped
but admitted the final figure would be
"not much less" than £10,000.
The planned re-launch is for the
VegFestUK show at Olympia in
October. She added that the company
was always on the lookout for new
100% vegan products for its box.
"It's mainly just snack and treat food,
things people can eat straight from the
packet. We do occasionally put the odd
cooking ingredient in. "And they have
to be quite small things not massive
packets of anything," she explained.
Chocolate bars, cereal bars, small
drinks and other small-sized 100%
vegan snacks are the types of items
she'd be looking for.
VTB GETS A SLICK
NEW FACELIFT
7
WANT to learn how to cook delicious vegan
meals from a top French chef and brush up
on your language skills at the same time?
The Flavour of France week-long courses
will include cooking tuition in a working
kitchen, language classes in an established
school taught by professional tutors and a
choice of accommodation for an unbeatable,
value-for-money price - well below similar
programmes in the UK.
The setting for the course will be the historic
city of Avignon, Provence with the cooking
instruction taking place in a nearby village.
Accommodation too can be either in the city
itself or nearby, the choice is yours..
Classes will be kept small so that delegates
can enjoy individual attention both at language
and cuisine in order to achieve the best from
this unique course.
Christophe Bolis will be the chef-de-cuisine
for the cooking element which will take place in
his restaurant, the Café de Paris in
picturesque Caderousse, in the Vaucluse.
A dedicated chef who has adapted
traditional French cuisine to a vegan palate he
will train delegates to prepare Provencal and
other dishes with no compromise on taste.
To catch a glimpse of what’s on offer visit
his cooking demo at VegFestUK in Olympia,
London at 3pm on Sunday, 11th October.
Full details of the Flavour of France course
are set to be announced there.
Please make sure you book your place
ahead of
time at the
Friends’
Gazette
stall on
pitch VA6
on level
three.
THE FLAVOUR OF FRANCE: unique course offerscuisine and language for an unbeatable price
Chickpea ratatouille
8
Avignon by night - viewed from across the Rhone
Get in fornothing!
Where’s it beingheld? Edinburgh?
or Glasgow?Send in your answers to:
[email protected] date 16 November, 2015
First SIX correct answers drawn win one ticket eachState preferred date - 5 or 6 December
Editor’s decision is final
FG is Charlie - September-October 2015
Special vegetarian and vegan options available.
9
FG is Charlie - September-October 2015
THE VICTORIANVEGETARIANS
"...in years yet to come there will be a recognition of brotherhoodbetween man and man, nation and nation, human and subhuman,which will transform a state of semi-savagery, as we have it, intoone of civilisation, when there will be no such barbarity ofwarfare, or the robbery of the poor by the rich, or the ill-usage ofthe lower animals by mankind." Henry Stephens Salt 1851-1939
When Henry Stephens Salt ‘came out’ as
a vegetarian the first electric trams began
running in London, Karl Marx died and the
Boys Brigade was founded!
That was in 1883.
Queen Victoria was on the throne and
married women had just won the right to
own their own property.
On Salt’s contemporaries’ dinner tables
a selection of roast meats would normally
be found; pork, mutton, beef and game.
Servants and lower classes often relied
on left-overs from their masters’ tables,
especially the fat from a joint of beef or
pork, known as dripping which could be
spread on bread or a biscuit as a meal.
In Salt’s book ‘A Plea for Vegetarianism’
he ‘confesses’ that he is a vegetarian.
Here Friends’ Gazette prints some
fascinating extracts.
To read the book in full click on the
book cover in the middle of page 12. uHenry Stephens Salt
FG is Charlie - September-October 2015
11
‘LITTLE BETTERTHAN A MADMAN’
“I must preface this essay by the con-
fession that I am myself a vegetarian and
that I mean to say all the good I can of the
principles of vegetarianism. This is rather
a formidable admission to make for a veg-
etarian is still regarded in ordinary society
as little better than a madman and may
consider himself lucky if he has no worse
epithets applied to him than humanitarian,
sentimentalist, crotchet-monger, (pedantic
and silly person) fanatic and the like.
“A man who leaves off eating flesh will
soon find that his friends and acquain-
tances look on him with strange and won-
dering eyes; his life is invested with a
mysterious interest; his death is an event
which is regarded as by no means distant
or improbable.
“Some of his friends who take a graver
view of such dietetic vagaries, feel it to be
their duty to warn him boldly and explicitly
that he will undoubtedly die in a short time
unless he amends his ways.
“Others content themselves with the
more cautious assertion that he is under-
mining his health by slow degrees, and
will inevitable fall a victim to the first se-
vere attack of illness that may befall him.
“Others, again are of opinion that
though his bodily health may not suffer,
yet his mental powers will be sapped by a
fleshless diet and he will soon sink into a
state of hopeless idiocy and imbecility.
“On the other hand, there are some
who readily admit the possibility of living
without meat but profess themselves with
a pitying smile of superior intelligence,
utterly unable to imagine any reason for
such abstinence.”
The son of a British
army colonel, Salt was
born in India in 1851,
but returned with his
family to England in
1852 while still an in-
fant. He studied at
Eton College and
graduated from Cam-
bridge in 1875.
After Cambridge,
Salt returned to Eton
as an assistant
schoolmaster to teach
classics. Four years
later, in 1879, he mar-
ried Catherine (Kate)
Joynes, the daughter
of a fellow master at
Eton. He remained at
Eton until 1884, when,
inspired by classic ide-
als and disgusted by
his fellow masters'
meat-eating habits and reliance on ser-
vants, he and Kate moved to a small
cottage at Tilford, Surrey where they grew
their own vegetables and lived very sim-
ply, sustained by a small pension Salt had
built up. Salt engrossed himself in writing
and began work on the pioneering
Humanitarian League.
He goes on: “The greatest and most
unerring argument in favour of vegetarian-
ism is, to my mind, the utter absence of
‘good taste’ in flesh-eating which is
revolting to all the higher instincts of the
human mind.”
He believes that a vegetarian diet is
‘less stimulating’ and vegetarians are
THE VICTORIAN . . . from previous page
See us atVegFestUK
LondonOct 10/11
uKate Salt
FG is Charlie - September-October 2015
12
therefore less prone to ‘vice and violence’,
something which accords with his friend
Mohandas Gandhi, later to become Indian
spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi, who
reputedly claimed: “If the world was
vegetarian there would be no war.”
The book continues: “The fact that the
structure of the human body is wholly un-
like that of the carnivore and that the apes
who are nearest akin to us in the animal
world are frugivorous is a somewhat strong
indication that flesh is not the natural food
of mankind. And if it be said that man, un-
like other creatures, is omnivorous and has
therefore to seek not what is ‘natural’, but
what is best, then I readily accept the chal-
lenge and reply that there is a strong con-
currence of proof on economic, moral and
physical grounds that a vegetarian diet is
the most suitable and beneficial.
“Among various advantages it has one
inestimable blessing; it is less stimulating
than flesh-food, while it is equally nutritious.
If people could only realise how much vice
and violence is caused by over-stimulating
food they would soon recognize the impor-
tance of a non-stimulating [veggie] diet.”
In 1890 the young Mohandas K. Gandhi,
then a law student in London and as a
Hindu, a vegetarian from birth, picked up
Salt’s book, and many years later he wrote
in his autobiography that he had made a
slightly reluctant vow to his mother not to
eat meat whilst away but: “I read Salt's
book from cover to cover and was very
much impressed by it. From the date of
reading this book, I may claim to have be-
come a vegetarian by choice.” Both Salt
and Gandhi were prominent members of
the London Vegetarian Society.
Salt, like many of his ‘food reform’ con-
temporaries of the day, was teetotal and
didn’t smoke.
He writes: “In 99 cases out of 100 the
vegetarian will be a total abstainee, not
merely because the desire of stimulating
drink dies a natural death in the absence of
stimulating food, but also because those
who have learnt the charm of simplicity in
diet are not likely to care for drinks which
are unnecessary and expensive.”
And he pointed out that vegetarians also
ate moderately. “Let flesh-eaters relish their
delights; but as the food of the vegetarian
will be moderate in quantity, so in quality it
will be fresh and simple and pure.”
To turn the virtual pages of this fascinat-
ing book click on the photo (above left).
‘THE CAUSE OFVICE, VIOLENCE’THE VICTORIAN . . . from previous page
Sketch by Henry Salt of the cottage in Tilford, Surrey where he livedwith his wife Kate after resigning his post at Eton.
FRIENDLY COMMENT
HUNDREDS of music lovers flocked to a tiny French
village recently to get an earful of some of the best
male voice-only singing in southern France and be
transported to a famous Mediterranean island.
You could literally FEEL the awe as Maxime
Merlandi, Andre Dominici, Jean Pierre Marchetti and
Jean Philippe Guissani together known as Barbara
Furtuna, crooned some classic Corsican songs in
tight polyphonic harmony at the village church in
Valliguières, Gard; within a stone’s throw of an
ancient fountain.
The quartet which usually sings acapella with the
occasional guitar, is steeped in the history and
culture of Corsica where they’re from and which is
also the place of birth of French emperor, Napoleon.
Their repertoire included such soulful numbers as
‘Si vita si’ as well as more up-beat songs like ‘I
verani’ and the Corsican anthem ‘Dio vi Salvi
Regina’. The audience was held spellbound and
demanded an encore which was gladly provided.
The quartet is set to make a tour of the USA later
this year including the Old Town School of Folk
Music in Chicago and Alverno College in Milwaukee.
VEGAN SHADOW SECRETARY . . . cont. from p1
Nothing to fear but
ourselvesIT takes guts to don orange robes,
shave your head, mark your forehead
with a strange sign and then go dancing
down the streets of London or any other
capital chanting the name of some
Indian deity over and over again.
Yet the winding processions of Hare
Krishna devotees blocking the traffic in
Oxford Street or coming jogging round
the corner at Marble Arch somehow
encapsulated the 60s.
A time when we thought we’d put
atrocities like the Vietnam war behind us
and looked forward to the dawning of the
age of Aquarius with its ‘progressive’
music, philosophy and, yes, plenty of
drugs to fuel it along.
These were the days that spawned
many of the human rights we now take
for granted.
So it’s nice to see in the 21st century
that despite the sombre shadow of
religious wars and the human
devastation they can cause, there are
still plenty of ‘reasons to be cheerful’.
The 50th anniversary of the Hare
Krishna’s, a vegetarian leader of the
Labour party and a vegan shadow
secretary of state are just three.
But there’s plenty more to do!
Not until we establish a society truly
open to change, truly willing to listen and
truly aware that it may not have all the
answers can we ever think the dark
forces of prejudice, intolerance and
injustice are being held at bay.
So it’s with a warm welcome that this
magazine greets the efforts of people
like Tim Barford and his team in
spreading the word through VegFest.
It’s a brave move to take the vegan
message up to Scotland, though coming
as it does as the culmination of The Only
Way Is Ethics event, it could be just
what’s needed to get the message
home.
Friends’ Gazette, as always, will be
there doing our bit!
Feel free to pop by.
God’s blue and he
plays a bamboo fluteThere was a time when being a devoted
spiritual follower meant leaving your
children in the care of others.
For many groups the responsibility of
parenthood was seen as surplus to
requirements, in the search for a higher
truth.
This led to one Hare Krishna
youngster who had only ever worn saris
in her north Australian ashram, not
knowing what a pair of socks was or
even a common-or-garden sandwich.
Yet now Chandra Emma is a
successful fashion designer with her
own shop and thriving clothes business.
She looks back on those halcyon days
with a sense of relief but also with much
fond nostalgia. Inevitably steeped in
fundamentalist Indian culture she still
‘gets a thrill’ when she visits, though
firmly keeping one foot in both camps.
With her daughter Kalyani following in
her footsteps, but without the fanatical,
isolationist approach, Chandra herself
admits: “I cannot imagine being without
it. I can’t. It would be empty.
“For me Krishna is god. He just is.
“You’ve asked me what god’s like,
god’s blue and he plays a bamboo flute.”
13
u
Barbara Furtuna - click to view
Vegan Society’s 2005 annual awards. She is vice-
president of the League Against Cruel Sports.
She is currently co-chair of the all-party
parliamentary agro-ecology group for sustainable
food and farming, chair of the all-party food waste
group and vice-chair of the agriculture and food for
development APPG.
“I will have to step down from these roles given my
new frontbench position, but will continue to do what
I can to support their work,” she said.
She can be contacted on:
l at: Kerry McCarthy MP, 326a Church Road, St
George, Bristol BS5 8AJ
l Phone on: 0117 939 9901 (Monday to Friday
10am to 1pm)
l On Twitter: www.twitter.com/kerrymp
She holds regular surgeries across her
constituency of east Bristol.
ChandraEmma
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