Fair Trade Croydon National Vegetarian Week Vs National BBQ Week 2008

In a National vegetarian Week that included Oprah Winfrey embarking on a vegan diet we look at some of the other events that demonstrated to the general public just how healthy, ethical, kinder to the environment, delicious and how much fun a vegan lifestyle can be.

Two worlds collide: Is it ironic or simply bad planning that National Vegetarian Week and National BBQ Week clashed this year? As national awareness weeks go it’s hard to think of anything more distinctly at opposite sides of a consumer arena. Picture a pot bellied Australian with a can of Fosters and a forkful of BBQ cow’s buttock on one side and a slim celebrity supermodel with a slice of tofu and a green seaweed and algae salad on the other.

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston disagrees. “There’s no reason why you can’t enjoy a healthy vegetarian version of the traditional barbeque. There is a huge array of saturated animal fat free sausages and burgers available these days that are delicious barbequed! If you like the taste of meat you can even buy vegan chicken and vegan prawns from Chinese food wholesalers”

Her husband Tony author of a new vegan cookbook says “If you get the right marinade a barbequed vegetable, mushroom and tofu kebab can make a welcome change from a cremated slice of cow or chicken’s limb. Bananas and aubergines are also both delicious cooked over charcoal.”

The entrepreneurial organiser of the 6th Bristol Vegan Fayre has embraced the clash. “We think these two awareness weeks were made for each other. We merged our National Vegetarian Week celebration with a National BBQ Week event and organised the ultimate Vegan Hog Roast and BBQ” says Tim Barford from Yaoh Hemp foods.

A giant hog sized 20 kilo Vegan roast was barbequed at The Bristol Vegan Fayre. The roast is made from a new Italian made plant based protein which is made from rare breeds of ancient wheat and lentils. The result is a very meaty protein that has many more nutritional advantages than meat.

The world’s biggest vegan festival and biggest vegan BBQ event was visited by nearly 10,000 people in 2007 in 2008 it was nearer 15,000. This year with cookery demos, speakers, vegan ice creams, dairy free milkshakes, therapies, family fun and live bands including Aswad, Misty in Roots, Dreadzone and Bad Manners it proved a bigger than ever crowd puller.

In Croydon it was a much lower key affair with hundreds rather than thousands of people celebrating National Vegetarian Week but it still outshon most of the other London boroughs if not everywhere else apart from Bristol.

National Vegetarian Week kicked off in London with a world film premiere of Meat The Truth at the Odeon Leicester Square. Full of some great facts and statistics on how even if everyone just went vegetarian or vegan for just one day there could be dramatic benefits to the environment.

Monday night and Paul Merton and his improvisation comic friends gave a hilarious nod to National Vegetarian Week by improvising Shakespeare's 12th Night into '12th vegan'

On Tuesday Natural wholefood healthfood store Oasis, Croydon offered tastings of tofu and vegan chocolate.

Wednesday in Croydon , back to Oasis for the 'Battle of the Bangers BBQ' - a challenge to Londoners to taste test and judge the best of the best vegan sausages - meat free alternative for a barbecue.

On Thursday in Croydon it was Lush's turn to throw a party. Lush cosmetics threw a pamper party for Croydon Vegetarians with food, free therapy tasters, free gifts, a 7ft dancing Vegan Milkshake, massages, a booksigning and a chance to be interviewed by Supreme TV that is broadcast on satellite stations around the globe.

On Friday in Croydon Peppertons vegetarian restaurant and art centre in Selhurst offered a free glass of wine and a vegan cheeseboard to complement their art exhibition with art from local vegetarian artists.

Saturday in Croydon's National Vegetarian week was celebrated by Fair Enough the Fair Trade Shop in Croydon organised a vegetarian Tea Party by the Parish Church in Church Street Croydon.

With Oprah Winfrey exploring a vegan diet National Vegetarian Week 2008 could be the event in history where we see things dramatically change and see critical mass tip the balance towards reason, logic and ethical vegan living.