Carnivores beware: there will be no meat found on Tiger Mountain tomorrow as the Taipei Veggie Fest (台北素食生活節) returns for the third year with an extravaganza of live music, art performances, workshops and vegetarian / vegan food and drinks.
“Climate change, the pandemic, monkeypox, are we getting the message?” organizer Sean Scanlan says. “The best thing we can do for the planet is to change our diet. I’m not saying do it forever, just try it for one day.”
The eclectic music lineup will be rocking the two stages until late at night, featuring many familiar faces from last year. More than 20 food and beverage vendors will provide Indian, Mexican, Malaysian and Middle Eastern offerings as well as pizza, hand-crafted steamed buns, kombucha and of course desserts. Stalls will also offer a variety of crafts, clothes and other eco-friendly products.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Veggie Fest
Many of the performers are vegetarian too. Rock trio Mudskipper’s (彈塗人) lead singer and guitarist Billy Walshaw has been meat-free for 15 years, ever since he heard the 1985 album Meat is Murder by The Smiths.
“I’m against factory farming and the unnecessary suffering of animals,” he says. “We can all think about the journey of our food and new ways to live a more natural life that causes less harm to the Earth.”
Be kind to the earth and bring your own plates and utensils. There will be reusable cups for rent for a NT$50 deposit, but single-use tableware is not allowed. Scanlan says he’s been using the same ropes and decorations for nearly a decade.
■ Tomorrow at 2pm, Tiger Mountain (微遠虎山), 186-1, Ln 221, Fude St, Taipei City (台北市福德街221巷186-1號)
■ NT$500 in advance, NT$$600 at the door, free entry for those under 12
■ For more information, visit: bit.ly/3Qmew2v
The depressing numbers continue to pile up, like casualty lists after a lost battle. This week, after the government announced the 19th straight month of population decline, the Ministry of the Interior said that Taiwan is expected to lose 6.67 million workers in two waves of retirement over the next 15 years. According to the Ministry of Labor (MOL), Taiwan has a workforce of 11.6 million (as of July). The over-15 population was 20.244 million last year. EARLY RETIREMENT Early retirement is going to make these waves a tsunami. According to the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), the
Last week the story of the giant illegal crater dug in Kaohsiung’s Meinong District (美濃) emerged into the public consciousness. The site was used for sand and gravel extraction, and then filled with construction waste. Locals referred to it sardonically as the “Meinong Grand Canyon,” according to media reports, because it was 2 hectares in length and 10 meters deep. The land involved included both state-owned and local farm land. Local media said that the site had generated NT$300 million in profits, against fines of a few million and the loss of some excavators. OFFICIAL CORRUPTION? The site had been seized
Next week, candidates will officially register to run for chair of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). By the end of Friday, we will know who has registered for the Oct. 18 election. The number of declared candidates has been fluctuating daily. Some candidates registering may be disqualified, so the final list may be in flux for weeks. The list of likely candidates ranges from deep blue to deeper blue to deepest blue, bordering on red (pro-Chinese Communist Party, CCP). Unless current Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) can be convinced to run for re-election, the party looks likely to shift towards more hardline
Sept. 15 to Sept. 21 A Bhutanese princess caught at Taoyuan Airport with 22 rhino horns — worth about NT$31 million today — might have been just another curious front-page story. But the Sept. 17, 1993 incident came at a sensitive moment. Taiwan, dubbed “Die-wan” by the British conservationist group Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), was under international fire for being a major hub for rhino horn. Just 10 days earlier, US secretary of the interior Bruce Babbitt had recommended sanctions against Taiwan for its “failure to end its participation in rhinoceros horn trade.” Even though Taiwan had restricted imports since 1985 and enacted