A successful vegan party that included a vegan hotdog eating competition in the country's agriculture capital, and a free vegan BBQ in the garden city, were among the events celebrating World Vegan Day.
SAFE Hamilton held a stall at the Gaura Good Food, a vegan restaurant at the University of Waikato. Other vegetarian, environmental and animal groups were also in attendance. There was even a vegan hotdog-eating competition! One of the organisers said the good-sized crowd demonstrated that there is a strong vegan community, even in the midst of the agricultural capital of New Zealand. Christchurch SAFE organised another vegan food giveaway, thanks to vegan food company Fry's generous donation of an array of delicious schnitzel, burgers, sausages, nuggets and wok strips. Volunteers giving away the free food were astounded to discover that the majority of people had seen SAFE's television advert on intensive pig farming, many commenting that the ad was "very sad to watch."  TEAM VEGAN MARATHON
SAFE representatives took part in the recent Auckland Marathon, running for Team Vegan, appropriately enough on the day after World Vegan Day. SAFE volunteer coordinators for West Auckland, Mel Sharman and partner Polly, took on the marathon and the half marathon respectively. Polly says that the experience was amazing and that although she probably won't do it again she was "on a great big high" once she'd completed it. "I did feel truly amazing about myself afterwards - that I'd achieved something," she says.
She says she wouldn't have done it if it wasn't as part of Team Vegan, which gave her a purpose to get through the time spent training, up the hills and over the harbour bridge. "So much for all my family's negatives about our vegan diet when they came to stay!" Campaign officer Eliot did the quarter marathon and likewise found the experience rewarding. "I wanted to stop at about the 8km mark but wearing the team t-shirt made me think twice, knowing I was representing more than just myself," he says. Team Vegan results were:
Marathon
Mel 4:43:13 (956th) Half marathon
Michael 1:38:09 (357th)
Aaron 1:53:17 (1397th)
Polly 1:59:05 (2818th)
David 2:14:02 (3597th) Quarter marathon
Eliot 48:53 (108th)
Nichola 1:32:06 (2128th)
12 November 2008
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