|
|
|
| My Year as President of the
University of Bristol Vegetarian and Vegan Society - by Jyoti Mehta Holding a stall at Freshers’ Fair in October can be considered as being thrown in at the deep end as far as running a society is concerned. After two long days on the Freshers’ stall, I was very proud to have recruited 70 members to the VegSoc. From then on, VegSoc hosted regular socials at key vegetarian establishments in Bristol, such as the famous One Stop Thali Café, Blue Juice and Royce Rolls. Taking our cue from the excellent Vegan Guide to Bristol produced by the Bristolbased vegan company Yaoh, we made it our duty to support businesses and venues that cater well for Bristol’s very large vegetarian and vegan population. It was important for me in my year as President to demonstrate the ethical and moral significance of a vegetarian diet. This is why a central feature of our year was to host, in collaboration with Young Jain Students, a lecture entitled ‘Save the Planet – With Your Knife and Fork!’ The excellent lecture was given by Justin Kerswell, a campaigner for the Bristol-based group  Viva! Justin
talked about the environmental and humanitarian benefits of a vegetarian
diet. This lecture was widely advertised throughout the university with an
eye-catching poster featuring none other than my personal childhood hero –
Captain Planet!The significance of this poster campaign was to highlight VegSoc’s status as a campaigning society which concerns itself with wider issues. The lecture was also important in strengthening our relationship with Viva! I believe it is of utmost importance for organisations with common goals and aims to work together. It is also for this reason that VegSoc are proud to support the annual Vegan Fayre in Bristol organised by Yaoh, to be held on Saturday 29th October this year. A particular highlight of the year for me was the VegSoc stall at a Global Fiesta held in our Union. The aim of the day was to celebrate all the various cultures represented within our university, and VegSoc held a stall advertising vegetarianism as ‘A Culture that Transcends Geographical and Historical Barriers’. To entice people to our stall, we offered free vegan chocolate cake. The 300 people who sampled it all left with their negative stereotypes of vegan food challenged! In addition to this accomplishment, many people who would not otherwise have considered vegetarianism left with leaflets about vegetarian nutrition and other literature. It has been a fantastic year for VegSoc and I have thoroughly enjoyed being President. For me personally, the highlight of the year was meeting so many interesting, supportive and dedicated people. Their individual stories about how they became vegetarian or vegan are fascinating and I am filled with humility when I hear about the challenges that they overcame. Check out our website: www.bristol.ac.uk/Depts/Union/VegSoc
Young and proud veggies and vegans.
|
|
|
