Every little Action counts-a 30 day Vegan Challenge and Moist, Vegan, Pumpkin Scones

Over the past few years, I have had several snippets of conversation regarding global warming. Nothing deep, however, comments about the snow capped mountains in the tropics, or tropical heat waves in the north and other ?erratic? environmental patters have come up quite frequently.

We all read about it, hear it in the news, shake our heads, and bury our heads right back into the daily routines of our lives. How many of us honestly take time to really consider what this all really means, how it may have impacted and can continue to impact our lives and more importantly, what we can do to to change the direction of its current path.

I hardly have, well..at least not to any great degree that would inspire me to change my lifestyle. That is….until now.

Despite my utmost enjoyment with my truffle and chocolate indulgence-weekend, what most inspired and clung to my memories was quite honestly not the food, but rather what I read about food.

While meandering through the streets in search of chocolate, I accidentally stumbled upon an outdoor exhibit. I noticed a large photographic display of a variety of potatoes.

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Next to that photo was another photo, and then another one, each more intriguing that the previous one. I must have spent over an hour looking at the photographs and reading the text which was written underneath.

My attention was entirely absorbed as I took in the facts and figures which were revealed. And as if a lightbulb was turned on within my consciousness, something made sense all of a sudden. The facts were brought home to me-in a manner which related to me-my habits, my daily lifestyle.

I read that farm animals and their produce contribute towards more than 30 billion tons of CO2 emission per year, which is over 50 percent of the worlds? ?human-caused CO2? emission.  By reducing our meat consumption, we can actually reverse these effects and reduce CO2 emission- drastically.

In my typical manner of eagerly engaging people into conversations about newly discovered facts, I had countless talk with friends and others about this issue. By the end of the week, I realised that the majority of my discussions elicited a wave of skeptical comments, the essence of which can be summed up as: ?well, anything we do will and can never make a difference, as there are always more out there who will not change. So, it makes no sense?.

As these comments sank in, I could not help but to think that it is rather easy to look away, or to claim such a consequence of no action. Does this reaction stem from a fear that we have of changing our habits? A fear of changing our lifestyle, a fear of possibly having to step outside outside of our comfort zone?

It really occurred to me just how much some of us (I), take for granted, ignoring the inextricable link between each and every thing and being on this planet. I realised how little most of us (I) think about what we do, and how un-conscious we (I) are in our daily habits.

Some time ago, a dear friend of mine presented me with his grand idea of embarking a movement-which he refers to as ?The Green Path?. ?The Green Path inspires people to take action against climate change and spreads the word about what these individuals are doing?.

His premise is that ” we need to increase our knowledge and work on solutions together” by making a commitment, acting on it and inspiring others to do the same.

Every action counts is his motto and mantra.

I must admit that the real essence of the Green Path had remained somewhat intangible for me initially. It was not until I had stumbled across the exhibit that I finally grasped its powerful essence and understood its power. As part of my contribution along the Green Path, I have decided to undertake a couple of actions towards changing my lifestyle and habits. Some of my conscious actions include:

To fulfill the latter, I have decided to embark upon a 30 day vegan challenge, as a vegan (plant-based diet) is in fact the most ecologically friendly diet, when considering CO2 emission.

I realise that the term vegan, or plant-based diet elicits (most often than not), looks of incredibility, plain perplexity and comments (after I have explained that it means no animal produce what-so-ever) such as: ?how could something completely plant-based, no butter, no eggs, no dairy..possibly taste of anything?!

I shall begin to respond by presenting a variety of plant-based vegan recipes within the next 30 days that are easy to make, and are just as tasty (and at times), even better than their non-vegan counterparts.

So, since it is pumpkin season here and I simply cannot get enough of them, I shall start off with a recipe for pumpkin scones…vegan pumpkin scones! Each weekend I purchase a variety of pumpkin, roast them, and make puree out of them to easily and readily be incorporated and transformed into the most delicious foods. Stay tuned!

So, today I shall offer you my favourite (since last week) breakfast pumpkin scones infused with ginger. These are moist, satisfyingly delicious and very versatile. You can add all sorts of spices, nutmeg, cinnamon, anything you desire to enhance the warm, rich and comforting flavour of these scones. Enjoy!

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