Vegan Lifestyle Blog

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A Private Oasis

In the hustle and bustle of the urban life all of us long for a spot of green. Vegetation is good for mind body and soul. Who among us has not looked at a beautiful flower or fruit on the tree and felt at peace with nature. The concrete jungles that we live in and lack of space, leaves this need in us to nurture and grow unfulfilled. The good news here is that acres and acres of land and a gardener is not required to maintain a satisfying and helpful kitchen herb garden. Ever looked at supermarket basil and cilantro and felt like just picking some up fresh from a planter near you, well it is not so difficult. People looking for Healthy food choices and most Vegans eat a lot of greens in their regular diet. It is a great idea to connect with your food by growing it, liven up your balcony and get fresh ingredients to perk up your cooking. Herbs are among the easiest plants to grow.  Fresh herbs are one of the greatest ways to jazz up the taste of vegan food without adding harmful spices.  One of the great perks of growing your own herb is that you know what goes into it and it can be organic and chemical free. Also you can use as much of it as you like at one go and don’t have to buy bunches of herbs and store them in your fridge.

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Healthy eating and Vegan lifestyle involves eating a lot of nutrient dense whole foods. Leafy greens are a great source of healthy food. Greens like spinach, lettuce, and arugula grow similarly as the herbs. You can buy them as seedlings, plant them, and use them as and when required. They can be harvested more than once. This is a particularly good time of the year to get started on your herb garden.

All you need are a few basic materials like some pots or planters, some potting soil that is specially used for pots and is easily available at any farmers markets (visit vegalyfe.com to know about one in Gurgaon), some seedlings to get you started again available at farmers markets, some natural fertilizers to reenergize your soil regularly, a trowel and a watering can but that is entirely optional. For me I love those cute little watering cans and cannot resist them. Buying seedlings is always a better option as they are more likely to grow up as healthy plants rather than if you try to do it all by yourself.

Make sure that your pots have proper holes for drainage so that your herbs don’t get waterlogged. The herbs should be properly spaced and not crowded together. Herbs like mint and oregano grow savagely and take over their surroundings. Make sure to give these kinds of plants their individual pot.

Basil is a great starter herb. It grows sturdily, requires little attention and produces handsomely. It can be used in various vegan food preparations as well. Herbs are different from other houseplants such that they require regular attention. Watering regularly keeping track of sunlight and wind conditions is an important part of growing an herb garden. Some other herbs that are easy to grow in home gardens are rosemary, cilantro and mint. Dill, Sage and Chives are also a good choice for your herb garden.

Scallions are easy to grow through their bulbs and can be used to liven up Chinese vegan food (stir fries); mushroom and scallion pasta sauce is also one of my favorites. You can trim the greens as required and the bulbs will go on producing.

Pruning also plays an important role in growing a healthy herb. Prune often to grow a sturdier plant. Be sure to prune wisely from the top, also leave the larger leaves at the bottom intact as they provide the required sunlight to your herb.

Growing a garden at home can be a very rewarding experience, if it does not take well this can turn into a frustrating experience in no time. The trick is to approach your herb garden in a planned manner. Get your equipment ready, read up on the herbs you want to grow, what kind of conditions do they require to be healthy and then shower them with love and affection. As a person with healthy and/ or vegan food choices this will be an enriching experience that will connect you to Mother Nature in no small way.

 Eating the Environment Away

Cattle farms pose a great yet ignored threat to our way of life. Its environmental effects are devastating to contemplate. The milk, eggs and meat that we human beings consume accounts for 40% of all agricultural produce in the world. The food grains that are used to directly feed the human beings form a relatively small portion of the agricultural products of the world. This small chunk includes all grains, vegetables and fruits. Vegan lifestyle supports eating food grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. The idea is to not use animals as produce. Cattle farming as the name suggests is exactly the opposite. The animal farming sector employs 1.3 billion people globally and uses up 1/3 of all the worlds fresh water. There is no other single human activity that has such a huge environmental impact that is ignored so blatantly both by its consumers and by its producers.

The numbers are simply daunting.  The fact that the vast majority of land about 30% of the word’s total ice-free surface is used not to raise grains, fruits and vegetables that are directly fed to human beings, but to support the chickens, pigs and cattle that humans eventually eat is simply breathtaking. Not only is all this meat eating cruel to animals it is also cruel to humans. It promotes an unhealthy eating pattern based on myths. Research has proven again and again that Vegan lifestyle promotes eating habits that are good for health and are natural. Natural products as opposed to man-made foods like cattle are the best for one’s health. The growth of the meat industry echoes the rise in global population, and also higher standards of living in developing economies. A sustained effort to educate people on the harmful impacts of consuming and rearing industrial farm animals is required.  These industrial farm animals are kept in deplorable conditions are fed on food spiked with pesticides and antibiotics and then culled mercilessly for their flesh. They are often disease riddled and full of unnatural hormones. Humans who consume them are bound to be affected by such factors. Vegan lifestyle is a compassionate lifestyle that focuses on healthy living. There are many vegan stores that stock products that enable healthy eating habits.

Whereas meat or chicken used to be cooked once a week it is now a part of every meal in many households. To meet the rising global demand for cheap protein, livestock production has grown increasingly more industrialized. Vegan lifestyle is alternative lifestyle that promotes healthy eating and a cruelty free society.

If people exist on food grains and other cruelty free sources of food the food scarcity problem of world could me mitigated. Vegan food is a great compassionate and healthier source of sustenance. Tropical and rainforests are being cut down constantly to provide more land for animal farming. In Brazil, soybean, a feed for pigs is one the largest cash crops causing huge scale deforestation.

Livestock production also is one of the biggest users of the world’s water supply accounting for more than 8 % of global water use mainly for the irrigation of feed crops.  It is also a major source for polluting both surface and ground water through animal wastes, antibiotics, hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides used for feed crops. It is our duty as compassionate and thinking human beings to increase awareness about the dangers that exist both to humans and the environment as a direct result of consuming these animal products. It is also a mission of the vegan lifestyle.

Originally Posted here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/eating-environment-away-vegan-lifestyles-vegalyfe-india