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.
The White House’s decision to take a 9.9 percent stake in Intel Corp is looking like very shrewd business indeed. Since the government bought in at US$20.47 a share last August, the US chipmaker’s surging stock price has delivered the US a US$43 billion return. One of the reasons the investment has so far proved so sound is that the White House has made sure of it. According to The Wall Street Journal, Howard personally pushed deals on Intel’s behalf with some of the most lucrative clients imaginable. They include Nvidia Corp, the company at the heart of the AI
A single photograph can cut through a lot of noise, but it can also be used to misrepresent the truth. At the very least, it can concentrate the mind on something that requires further investigation. On Monday last week, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation CEO Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) and former National Security Council secretary-general King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) held a news conference in which they showed a photograph of former foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑), now Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) deputy chairman. In the image Hsiao is seated next to Xiamen Taiwan Businessmen Association chairman Han Ying-huan (韓螢煥). The two men were holding
I first met Professor Ray Jiing (井迎瑞) as a film and documentary student at Shih Hsin University’s (SHU) Department of Radio Television and Film in 1988. The following year, he went on to become the director of the Chinese Taipei Film Archive — forerunner of the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI). Over his eight-year tenure, Jiing rescued and restored over 200 classic Taiwanese films. In 1997, he established the Graduate Institute of Studies in Documentary and Film Archiving at Tainan National University of the Arts (TNNUA), and I joined the program in his third cohort of students. Beyond a
A recent report concerning a student who is suing his teacher posed the question in its headline: Does failing a student in two subjects constitute bullying? The college student in Chiayi County apparently sought NT$2 million (US$63,603) in state compensation, but a court dismissed the case. The first reaction of many might have been to ask: What has happened to students nowadays? Some say that teachers have lost their authority, while others say students are overindulged. Some even start reminiscing over the days when “whatever the teacher says goes.” However, the real issue might be overlooked if emotional reactions like that are the
RSS