Vegans from Space

Most people have a couple of vegetarian friends, and fewer have vegan friends. Vegetarians do not consume any form of meat, sometimes including fish. Vegans eat and buy essentially animal-free products. This means no dairy, no meat, no fish, and definitely no bad ass leather jackets. For the average, steak-a-day American, veganism sounds entirely outlandish. No meat? Okay. But no animal products whatsoever? That's insane.

I consider myself a mostly vegetarian--merely environmentally friendly. I eat meat once, maybe twice, a week for two reasons: the health benefits and lessening my individual impact on the environment. Would I ever go total vegetarian? Eventually, maybe. After talking to a friend who recently went vegan and watching this awesome documentary (it's called Vegucated. I suggest watching it purely out of curiosity), I took a second look at my quasi-vegetarianism and realized something. I wasn't the total veggie junkie I'd been working to be since January. While my (now vegan) friend ate lots of cheese as a vegetarian, I ate lots of starch. All this inspired a vegan recipe-Google search and taking a step further into kitchen. Most of the starchy foods in my diet were bread, and thus contained animal products. What would my options be if I were vegan? Hint: more variety of veggies.

But enough about why I'm slowly building a more vegetable-intensive food supply. Why should you attempt to go vegetarian, vegan, or simply eat less meat? Perhaps the most popular proposal is the health benefits. By adopting a plant-based diet, risks for diabetes, cancer, and other diseases decrease significantly. Some people argue that without meat, a person can't get enough protein. The reality--there are plenty of alternatives, such as beans. These alternatives can easily replace how you can get your protein. The average American eats about three pounds of meat per week, which is definitely more than necessary. Add this to the growing population of people in the world, and we create a bit of a demand crisis.

If you are a bit of a 'green freak' like me, the environmental impacts of the farming industry would be of concern to you as well. If not, the environmental impact can easily translate into economical terms, and issues with resource depletion. The farming industry demands lots of resources, primarily fuel and water. About 3,515 liters of water is needed for every eight ounce steak. Tons of of farmland is needed to even just haphazardly raise animals. Then when you think about how much energy it takes to run a farm and slaughterhouse, it all adds up. If every American were to eat significantly less meat, about 1.49 tons of carbon dioxide would be saved every year. 

And then for the fellow animal rights activist, farm conditions for animals are quite less than ideal. I shiver just thinking about it. But that is something I will leave the reader to research on their own, as it is still a fresh topic for me (and one I am not too fond of writing about. For now).

A lot of people raised with a hearty meat-loving childhood might see veganism as totally alien. You were raised with milk and eggs for breakfast, grilled chicken for lunch, and good 'ole steak for dinner. Eliminate all that? No way. Then again, being vegan doesn't have to mean strictly animal product-free. It's easy enough to be mostly vegan. Either way, decreasing meat and dairy consumption is not only beneficial to the individual, but does wonders for our world. So... will you take the challenge?

The Fandom Life

You're crying silently in front of the television. Part two of the final Harry Potter movie is playing. In hand, there's a pint of your favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor, being slowly and messily shoveled into your mouth. There are chunks of chocolate--chocolate really does make you feel better. Remus Lupin gave Harry chocolate every time a dementor attacked so that he could recover. A wave of depression hits as you think, Lupin is dead now. This is perhaps the tenth time you have watched this film and it gets you every time. Every. Single. Time. Why do you put yourself through this if all it does is make you sad? Why do we become so attached to fictional characters in our books and TV shows?

In general, people really like stories. People love getting swept away by the excitement of a plot and escaping into a new world. But then there are the 'nerds', the absolute epitome of enthusiasm for a story or idea. To quote John Green, "Nerd are allowed to love stuff--like jump-up-and-down-in-your-chair-can't-control-yourself-love it." So when coming across someone who stands by their opinion that bow ties are cool, or believes that every child should have access to a messenger owl, or thinks that Through the Wormhole is the most fascinating show on the planet, you have found one of the 'nerds'. And most of the nerds with access to the Internet are part of inter-galactic communities of fans called fandoms, where there are other nerds just like them in terms of enthusiasm for a particular story or idea.

Some fandoms are experiencing a form of 'shock', being held in a state of total anticipation. Due to this, Tumblr, a blogging site that is home to most, if not all, Internet fandoms, is buzzing with excitement. In the Harry Potter fandom, there are constant posts of the fandom's revival with the announcement of J.K. Rowling writing the screenplay for the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (a story taking place in the Potter-verse). Just this week, the Hunger Games fandom received the second movie installment of the series. This weekend, Whovians are looking forward to the season eight premiere and fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who. Not to mention Part II of The Hobbit being released in December.

Again, why are there thousands, maybe even millions, of people all over the world that are practically obsessed with these stories? For some, it's purely the fascination of the story itself. But stories make a much larger impact than we give them credit. Stories are an escape, yes. When the world is far too much to handle, there are these little safe havens made of words or cinematography. Oh, the escape is easy to make, and we find ourselves part of a second family, a home away from home. The escape, the adventure across pages and scenes, often brings us right back to our reality. And everything is alright again.

Economic Inequality

Some days, it really does feel like money makes the world go 'round. Need something to fill up the fridge? Go to the grocery store, spend some cash. A visit to the doctor's office? Get ready to pay what is due. Some of the most basic necessities in life cannot be had without envied paper notes and rounded metallic chunks. However, not everyone can afford the basics, which unfortunately has been a reality throughout most of human history. Distribution of wealth is unequal, and bam, economic inequality (to simplify this concept to an extreme).

Economic inequality affects many aspects of life. Provisions of clothing, for example, can be hard to come by. Access to heat is difficult as well. Lack of clothes or a place to stay can place a person in a spot of danger. What's worse, when you can't stay warm, you lose something most dear: hope. Hope for a better future, hope for employment to provide for oneself or a family. My thinking is that by keeping people warm, you kindle the fire of hope that, in essence, keeps them alive. In order to tackle this issue, a group of friends and I are running a winter clothing drive at my school.
Educational opportunities become scant if you live in a neighborhood with low funding. In these parts of town, you've got the hardly maintained public schools, or an unaffordable private school in another city. Unequal distribution of wealth equates unequal access to education. What's more, libraries with plenty of resources are hard to come by, and thus literacy levels go down. And without education, you set up yet another generation to end up stuck in the same kind of neighborhood they began in.
Food--the most basic necessity to live. Humans require nutrients in order to survive. And we all know what happens when we go too many days without food, or unhealthy food. Without basic amounts of nutritional food, people can't work or go to school, let alone fight off sickness. The fact that anyone lacks access to food simply because they don't have money to pay for it is ridiculous. It happens, everyday.
Fortunately, the human race is filled with all sorts of amazing people. One example? The Harry Potter Alliance. Their next campaign is oriented around The Hunger Games, and attacks many of the side effects of economic inequality. There are twelve categories, delineated by the twelve districts present in The Hunger Games series. There are districts specific to the homeless and housing, literacy and education, and food security (clothing, food, and book drives fall into these categories). While not everyone has sufficient wealth right now, there are ways we can help decrease the plight of the poor, without money, locally and globally.

PS I will posting more often (or so I hope). As it happens, college applications and running a magazine at school is crazier than I had previously anticipated.