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Vegetables, or a vegetarian diet, usually bring up images of leafy green salads, and perhaps the ingredients you find in dishes like chopsuey or pinakbet. While the vegetables here are no doubt good for you and can be part of your diet, there are other exciting ways to eat healthy – and indulge, too.
VegFest Pilipinas brings to life these possibilities. With cakes, ice cream, burgers, pizza, Pinoy dishes like lechon paksiw, and even spreads like cheese and butter, and flavorings like bagoong and oyster sauce – all meat-free, dairy-free, and egg-free – VegFest is a dream for vegans and health buffs looking for guiltless indulgences. But with all the scrumptious, mouthwatering treats, VegFest is a feast for everyone, regardless of diet.
VegFest Pilipinas brings together local businesses – usually small, home-based businesses – selling vegan products in one venue. The items sold are not just food, but also personal care products like soaps, oils, and makeup. There are also activities like health talks, recipe demonstrations, yoga, quiz shows, and more.
Now on its second year, VegFest Pilipinas’ first leg was held from November 18 to 19 in Eastwood and its last leg is this weekend, November 25 to 26.
Below is a video showing some of the funfare – with the different treats being sampled – the festival in Eastwood.
“We have a growing [vegan] community in the country and it’s about time to take it to the next level…meaning, take veganism to mainstream,” Lakapati Basa, one of VegFest’s organizers, said, recounting on how the festival began. “We also wanted to prove that the market is ready and it is.”
Basa encourages everyone to know more about the vegan diet and lifestyle, and to try it. There are also helpful resources online, like getting the right nutrition, delicious Filipino recipes and finding vegan-friendly restaurants near you whenever you travel. She also encourages watching films that reveal some realities about the meat industry.
For support for those who want to try a vegan diet, Basa urges people to join the Manila Vegans group, where members can go on a 30-Day Vegan Challenge, with the help of a vegan mentor.
Shifting to a plant-based or vegan diet, or at least cutting down on meat, is also good for the environment. Giving up beef, for example, would reduce your carbon footprint more than giving up your car. Also, meat releases more greenhouse gases and carbon in production, with beef in particular requiring 160 times more land and producing 11 times more greenhouse gases than farm staples like rice and potatoes.
Consciously eating a more plant-based diet is not a bad idea, considering the recent “warning to humanity” issued by scientists around the world, that the threats on the planet are worsening, which may be “catastrophic” in the future. The scientists strongly encouraged actions like shifting to a plant-based diet. (READ: 15,000 scientists say threats to planet now ‘far worse’)
Eating vegan treats at VegFest Pilipinas and buying from their partner businesses long after the festival is over, is a fun way to try the plant-based diet. Below are more photos from the festival.
– Rappler.com
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