January 23, 2020
CAFOD Climate Champion Emma Gallagher says going vegan for a month is a great start, but we need to take the longer view
Continue reading “The solution to the climate crisis isn’t just Veganuary”January 22, 2020
Alicia is a CAFOD Climate Champion. She is participating in Veganuary to explore how she can reduce the impact of her food consumption on the planet.
Be part of the change: Sign up to be a Climate Champion
Continue reading “What’s going vegan got to do with climate change?”March 3, 2018
Since 13 February Susy, who works in our theology team, has been vegan. She was already a pescatarian but is now not eating fish, milk or eggs. She tells us what’s been tough so far, and what has been a surprising discovery.
It has been a few weeks now since I decided to go vegan for Lent and I would like to share with you some reflections on how it has been so far. I have had a mix of reactions from people. They range from from very supportive and offering practical advice, to incomprehension and defensiveness.
On the supportive side, one friend suggested I should try Oatly barista ‘milk’. This was after I complained that I was not enjoying my morning Earl Grey tea as so many milk-substitutes just tasted watery. It was a good suggestion and my tea does now taste better! Another friend suggested I make my own cashew milk by buying a nut bag, but I have yet to follow that recommendation.
Watch Susy’s vlog about her vegan Lent and share your vegan recipe suggestions with her:
Susy assures us her vegan lunch is tastier than it looks…would you try a soy fish finger?Got any recipes she could try to make her vegan Lent challenge more exciting?
Posted by CAFOD on Wednesday, 28 February 2018
February 22, 2018
Susy works in the CAFOD Theology team. Although she hasn’t always looked forward to fasting, this year she is going vegan for Lent. Here she tells us how she thinks fasting for Lent can transform her, and her relationships.
Fasting. The word doesn’t fill most people with joy. I know for me there has often been a slight dread about fasting. It is not something to look forward to, is it? Eating less, maybe giving something up that we enjoy. A sacrifice – surely it will be painful?
Follow CAFOD on twitter for tips on how to keep going with your Lenten fast.
I think though, like anything else, how we view fasting, how we approach it, makes an awful lot of difference to the experience. When I was much younger there was a short time in my life when I fasted on bread and water once a week. I would get splitting headaches and I was always very relieved when the day was over. I saw it as perhaps helping in my relationship with God, but I don’t remember making any connections with those who struggle to have bread and water every day.
Having worked at CAFOD for fifteen years now, I see fasting in a different light. I also have a much more positive attitude towards it – it is actually something I can look forward to! Why? For four main reasons. I feel fasting can help transform me in four areas – in my relationship with God, in my relationship with others, with creation and with myself. Here’s how I see it:
Continue reading “Fast to go slow: how fasting can transform you this Lent”
February 12, 2018
Susy works in the Theology team at CAFOD. This Lent, inspired in part by Laudato Si’, she will be going vegan. She tells us more about her reasons for abstaining from animal products and what she’s going to miss the most.
Thirty years ago my brother showed me a video (yes, it was a video in those days!) of a factory farm and from that day on I have been vegetarian. Or, to be more accurate, pescatarian.
I decided that there was so much choice in terms of available food, that there was no need to eat meat. I didn’t find it hard to be honest and I do not miss meat at all. However, when I spent a year in Chile, I think I must have been one of only two vegetarians in the whole country and I was viewed as somewhat suspect!
Thirty years on, I am now preparing to go vegan for Lent and hoping that I will start getting into habits that may last a life-time.
Have you decided what to give up for Lent yet? Tell us on Twitter or take our Lent quiz for inspiration.
March 13, 2015
Having passed the half way point in Lent 2015 earlier this week, our Web Editor Ffion Dean updates us on how she and other CAFOD staff are coping with their Lent challenges.
When I realised we were only half way through Lent my heart sank a little. It feels like ages since the beginning of Lent. Does that mean it will feel like a long time until Easter for me and my colleagues who have taken on Lent challenges? I’ve heard office rumours of a few Lent set-backs but everyone is putting a lot of time, thought and effort into their challenges.
Watch our first Lenten journey video to find out what some CAFOD staff have been cutting out and doubling up this Lent:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4yBjrQCjxs&w=560&h=315]
Burned cakes and new inventions
I’ve been doubling my baking to raise money for the CAFOD Lent Appeal. I was a bit nervous and pressed for time in my first week so I made something simple – a Lemon Drizzle Cake. It came out well and all twelve slices were sold for a pound each by mid-afternoon the following day. Continue reading “Lent 2015: half way reflections on our Lent challenges”
March 11, 2015
Mark Chamberlain is a writer with CAFOD. Already a vegetarian, this Lent he is going vegan by giving up eggs, dairy and honey. He will donate the money he saves to CAFOD and is hoping that his Lenten food choices will help him to reaffirm his belief in non-violence.
I dreamed of an egg last night. A single poached egg, lightly salted on a slice of toast. And as I went to pick up my knife and fork…I woke.
A few years back, when I became vegetarian, I had a similar dream about a giant slice of ham. The ham was huge and was draped over me. I realised the only way to escape was to eat my way out of it. And as I opened my mouth to start feasting…I woke.
I told the ham story to a friend. He had spent time in the Himalayas when he was younger and said when he trekked through the range, his group had run very low on food. After a week or so, he had a dream that his group were all lambs and that the only way to escape starvation was to carry them in his stomach to the nearest town. The good news is, he’s alive and being the lovely chap he is, he didn’t resort to cannibalism.
Every £1 you donate this Lent to the CAFOD Lent Appeal, the UK government will match Continue reading “Lent 2015 appeal: What matters?”
