Thinking Vegetarian

 

This upcoming Saturday is October 1 - a date when we globally observe World Vegetarian Day.

It is a day of celebration "to promote the joy, compassion and life - enhancing possibilities of vegetarianism". World Vegetarian Day brings awareness to ethical, environmental, health and humanitarian benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle.

Even if you are not a vegetarian, there are ways to get involved:

•	Eat meat-free for the day or throughout the month
•	Learn how a vegetarian diet can benefit you personally
•	Try the meatless options available at local restaurants and eateries
•	Discuss vegetarianism with your interested friends, family and co-workers
•	Host a meatless meal or potluck for your friends
•	Eat meatless meals on a regular basis

World Vegetarian Day initiates the month of October as a Vegetarian Awareness Month, which ends with November 1st - World Vegan Day.

Throughout October we will be discussing and sharing information about food, asking you to share your views and stories: How much does the food affect our lives? How healthy is the food we consume? To which extent are we aware (and how much do we care) about severe lack of food and famine people in Africa and elsewhere have to endure? How does it affect us and the global society we are all a part of?  Share your thoughts, ideas and photos - email us (or send links) to food@nektarinanonprofit.com

This May we e-published a Mediterranean low carbon cook book "Low Carbon and Delicious" - How Changing Your Diet Can Help You Have a Healthier Life and Reduce Your Carbon Footprint, sharing 50 recipes from all Mediterranean countries.  If  you haven't tried any of the recipes yet, this October is the great time to start! Most of the recipes are vegetarian (some are even vegan), and besides trying some new tastes, get a glimpse of culture and heritage of Mediterranean nations. The e-book is free for browsing and download.

Do you blog? Our intern Jessica, a green thinking British Arts graduate (as she describes herself) does a superb job writing our Nektarina Daily Blog and just recently she blogged about choosing food that has a low(er) carbon footprint and what is actually The  Low Carbon Diet .

We invite all bloggers to blog throughout October about food, vegetarianism, famine, food prices, low carbon diet and any other relevant food related topic - share your blog posts with us - email us the link at food@nektarinanonprofit.com , and we will feature the best ones in the upcoming issue of Nektarina (S)pace magazine.

This October we will also mark World Food Day (October 16), by discussing food prices across our region, and by sharing some practices and ideas on sustainable food and agriculture. Join us.

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World Vegetarian Day poster can be downloaded in PDF for free at www.worldvegetarianday.org

For more information on Vegetarianism : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism