World Vegetarian Day was established by the North American Vegetarian Society (NAVS) in 1977 to help promote the vegetarian way of life and educate people on the health and social benefits of making a move to eliminate meat from their diets. From then people celebrate this annually on 1 October. Today, a lot of lifestyle influencers, journalists, and vegetarians are busy promoting and spreading the message about the benefits of veggie diets all year-round.
It is true that more and more people are making the move to a healthier, more socially responsible way of living. Going veggie offers numerous benefits in terms of the environment that we should not miss. Not only does this spare animals, but it conserves fossil fuel and reduces carbon emission too since the production of meat and poultry farming is one major source of carbon emission.
PolyU recognises the need to promote the benefits of eliminating meat and animal products from our diet and live a more conscientious life. A large-scale veggie-promotion event, the VeggieLicious, has been held annually on campus since 2015. It promotes awareness for sustainable living and green dining in the University community through staging a pool of inspiring and engaging activities such as a lunch carnival, seminars on vegetarianism, and workshops on vegan coffee tasting, plant-based meals, or creating plant-made accessories. It has become the hottest and unmissable veggie activity on campus.
In the year 2020, the physical VeggieLicious is transformed into an online experience and is a carefully planned virtual engagement opportunity that creates a memorable experience for the campus community in a few digital events worthy of their time and attention. Taking note of the trend that veggie diets have become more attractive to people during the pandemic, the Campus Sustainability Office staged a special online sharing session on getting veggie ingredients for making meals. The invited speaker, Mrs. Kishimoto, talked about how plant-based food can add more nutrients that support the immune system to our diet. She also shared valuable tips about buying and keeping ingredients like onion, pumpkin, and leafy vegetables that people need for a week since we tend to cut back on the number of trips we make to the markets nowadays.
It is now the moment to learn that adopting a veggie diet is a way of tackling the climate crisis and showing compassion for nature. And with more time at home and fewer restaurants open for business during the pandemic, it is easy to realise that veggie ingredients are the perfect choices for our meals since they are affordable, convenient to store, and they help to boost our nutrient intake.
