The Dispensary, a zero-waste shop in Walkden, is holding an event on November 1 for World Vegan Day – with some celebrity backing.
World Vegan Day is designed to celebrate the benefits of veganism to the human body and the environment.
Fay Watts, who owns The Dispensary and is also a vegan, believes veganism is important and even the slightest lifestyle adjustment can help.
Image Credit: Anna Dugdale
“There’s so many elements as to why I think veganism is important. Mainly, for me, it’s the sustainability element which is generally not spoke about (sic). There’s a lot that’s not said about it, like the carbon emissions from transport is less than the carbon emissions for animal agriculture,” she said.
“Everyone speaks about the climate crisis and climate change, but no one wants to speak about veganism and what it can do. We can all make a little difference.”
The event has many supporters, including the city mayor, Rebecca Long-Bailey and a number of other councillors.
“It’s really good sign that we have got some of the councillors showing interest. It’s just them acknowledging it and saying, ‘we understand, we want to learn’.
“There’s also an actress named Maxine Peake, an actress who lives in Salford. I don’t know if she’ll be able to make it on the day but I spoke to her and she’s up for the challenge and will take part.”
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There will be plenty going on at the event and Fay Watts hopes to educate those who come.
“One of my friends is like a spoken word poet. He’s written something, filled with facts for them. I don’t want to bore them to death. I’m going to do them a quiz and make them up some vegan food parcels,” she said.
“Hopefully we can get them to try some of our vegan sweets and snacks. We want to educate them in a non-patronising way on certain things. There’s stuff that I didn’t know before I worked here like, a lot of fabric conditioners have animal fat in them. I didn’t know until a customer told me.”
Image Credit: Anna Dugdale
Another purpose of the event is to tackle some of the misconceptions some people may have about veganism.
“I think people think its going to be more expensive and they have to buy all the meat substitutes and the cheese which doesn’t taste right.
“I think people shouldn’t worry too much about it, just try it for one meal a day. Eventually, as you get into it and you learn more, especially as the education side is so important, you can research and read more into it and be in control of it yourself.
“I think we’ll look back in 100 years and think ‘what were we doing’, just like we did with keeping orcas in tiny tanks.”
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