Vegetarianism has officially taken root among celebrities around the world. Stars are embracing broccoli and giving beef the boot faster than you can say “tofu.” Pamela Anderson, ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, country music siren Shania Twain, and Hollywood heartthrob Joaquin Phoenix are just a handful of stars who have committed to vegetarian diets. Celebrities such as Faye Wong (王菲), Maggie Q and Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛, also known as Big S, 大S) have all embraced vegetarianism — and the list is growing.
Fresh off her roles in Three Kingdoms, Die Hard 4.0 and Mission: Impossible III, Maggie Q can only be described as hot. So it’s fitting that for her latest “role,” Maggie posed nearly nude in a bed of crimson chili peppers to spread the word that going vegetarian is the best way to “spice up your life” as well as help animals, your health and the environment.
Grammy winner Outkast’s dapper rapper Andre 3000, when asked how he would spend his last day on Earth, said: “I’d probably go for a great meal — some broccoli probably, because I’m a vegetarian.”
Eating green is much more than a treat for your taste buds. Name one vegetarian who misses the heart-stopping fat and cholesterol found in meat, eggs and dairy products.
“[I]f you are vegetarian,” vegan rocker Morrissey quipped, “you can look incredibly healthy, and if you eat animals, you can look as if you are dying.”
“I first went vegetarian when I realized I wouldn’t eat my dog,” said Hsu, a proud vegetarian. “I now feel reborn, stronger and healthier — and I became calmer inside.”
She has also said: “All animals should be respected, no matter how big or small, as the right to live is equal for everyone. Eating animal flesh means eating cadavers, and just the thought of this makes me feel sick. I’ll insist on vegetarianism.”
Tobey Maguire, a vegetarian, bulked up for his role in Spider-Man 2 by eating tons of tofu. When new mom Uma Thurman needed to stay energetic enough to breast-feed her son and train for her martial-arts movie Kill Bill, she refueled with tasty vegan foods such as soy lasagne, tofu and light peanut butter on whole-grain bread.
When vegetables get the red-carpet treatment, they reward their famous fans with unlimited versatility and verve.
Country music legend Willie Nelson credits his wife for introducing him to the joy of soy milk: “[S]he got me into rice milk and now soy milk, which I greatly enjoy. A soy mocha’s a fine thing.”
When Gwyneth Paltrow packs lunches for her vegetarian husband, rocker Chris Martin of the band Coldplay, she pops a bottle of soy milk into his lunch box. Pamela Anderson’s new Las Vegas nightclub, Lachapamela, will serve scrumptious soy-milk cocktails.
Actor Casey Affleck, a longtime vegan, has said: “When people ask me why I don’t eat meat or any other animal products, I say: ‘Because they’re unhealthy, and they’re the product of a violent and inhumane industry.’”
Ready to give vegetarian recipes a try? Start by “vegging up” meals that you already like to cook. Instead of using meat, make curry with tofu or pasta with tomato sauce. Replace the meat in your favorite recipes with beans, lentils, vegetables or tofu. Enjoy pizza — just chuck the cheese and sausage and pile it high with animal-friendly toppings such as peppers, mushrooms, artichokes and pineapple instead. The vegetarian recipes at GoVeg.com are a great source of inspiration. In time, you may grow to feel the same way that Morrissey does about eating green: “I’m never struggling at all, I’m never confused about food — how could I be after all this time?”
Jason Baker is the director of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Asia-Pacific.
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry