The power of collectively working together
When I was five, my parents took my brother and me on our first overseas adventure, travelling to South Africa, England and Singapore. The experience of these three very different cultures opened up my eyes early on to the diversity of the world we are part of, and instilled in me a love of travel and different cultures.
So, I could hardly contain my excitement when I was invited to travel to Japan for Good magazine (see my story on pages 57-62).
Japan, as everyone promised me, is like no other place on Earth, and the way the Japanese people are so respectful of one another enchanted and intrigued me.
If they are sick or suffering from hayfever, they cover up with a face mask out of consideration for others. Litter is absent on the streets, despite the fact there are hardly any rubbish bins, because people carry it home with them, and if you’ve left your wallet or bag on the train it’s highly likely you will be reunited with it.
It got me thinking about the collective power of people when there is a common unity of purpose, and how that relates to everything we do; from recycling, to what we put in our mouths. What if, for example, we all reduced our meat consumption to just one meal a week and mostly ate a plant-based diet instead? And how would this serve us and the planet for the better? Delving into this question in this issue, Good profiles leading New Zealand food producers in this field (page 36-41) and looks into why more people are turning to plants – see ‘The Future of Food’ feature (pages 32-35). As writer Lindy Davis discovered at Queenstown’s Aro Hā Wellness Retreat, vegan dishes can be utterly delicious if prepared the right way. It also doesn’t have to be hard. To help you expand your repertoire, Sarah Tanner has developed seven comforting and nourishing vegan recipes especially for Good (pages 89-94). Writer Jai Breitnauer proves it’s possible to do a gastronomic vegan tour of Paris, too (pages 64-65).
Delving into plant-based cuisine is an exciting adventure with the promise of better health too. At the recent Splore Festival my partner and I chose to only eat vegan and vegetarian food truck fare for four days, and felt better for it.
To borrow the words of filmmaker James Cameron, “reconsidering how we eat offers us hope, empowering us with choice over what our future planet will look like”.
I’m certainly giving it a go.