Go Vegan for Christmas and beyond?

The suffering of billions of animals worldwide every year who are used and abused for human gain counts as one of the major moral issues of our time.

University Preacher at the University of St Andrews is urging Christians to adopt a vegan diet for the sake of animals and the environment.

Preaching on Animal Welfare Sunday, Dr Clair Linzey argues humans should move to a plant-based diet as envisaged in the first chapter of Genesis. “God blesses humans and gives them a vegetarian, actually plant-based diet, ‘every plant yielding seed’ to eat (v. 29).”

She argues: “We must ask ourselves what kind of relationship to the world is envisioned in a plant-based dominion? The answer, I suggest, is one of service and responsibility. We are to care for the world as God would care for the world.”

Recalling how scientific research has shown animals experience both pain and suffering, Dr Linzey maintains we should live without violence wherever we can.

“Seeing the world for animals involves facing the reality of suffering and pain of billions of animals worldwide for human gain. Over seventy three billion cows, sheep, pigs and chicken are killed every year for human consumption. Seventy three billion animals, for just 7.8 billion humans. And this is not all the animals killed for food, nor does it include all the fish and birds killed.”

“The suffering of billions of animals worldwide every year who are used and abused for human gain counts as one of the major moral issues of our time.”

The suffering we inflict on animals has harmful effects on ourselves, argues Dr Linzey, not least of all on the environment. “The primary emission from animal agriculture is methane, which is four times more potent than carbon dioxide. Researchers have concluded that becoming vegan is the single most effective thing you can do personally to combat climate change. What we choose to consume will determine whether we are able to address the climate crisis. Climate change truly begins on our plate.”

Dr Linzey is Deputy Director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and was preaching St Salvator’s Chapel in the University of St Andrews, Scotland.

Other Christian preachers have different views on this matter. What do you think?

Ideal family Christmas project? Charities urge people to volunteer for the UK’s biggest winter food drive

As food banks and frontline charities face their most difficult Christmas ever, people are urged to give the gift of their time to take part in the UK’s biggest food donation drive. 

And it's something you and your family can get involved with.

The Tesco Food Collection is taking place in all Tesco stores from December 1 to 3 and the Trussell Trust and FareShare are urging volunteers to sign-up to support the event in store.

It comes as both charities face an unprecedented level of demand for food. The Trussell Trust, which has the biggest foodbank network in the UK, has seen a 46% increase in the number of food parcels distributed in recent months, while FareShare has a growing list of thousands of other frontline charities seeking food.

During the collection Tesco customers are to be encouraged to donate long-life food to support the charities in their work. Donations for the Trussell Trust will help its network of food banks provide emergency food parcels to people in crisis, while donations to FareShare will support its food deliveries to thousands of frontline charities. Tesco, which has been partnering with the charities over the past decade, will once again top up the customer donations by 20% in cash.

Volunteers are needed to staff collection points, because, when volunteers are present, they collect a greater amount of food. The fact one in five food parcels given out by the Trussell Trust come from donations from Tesco and its customers underlines how much the donations made in Tesco stores are needed.

Trussell Trust CEO Emma Revie is urging people to volunteer. “As winter sets in, even more people will be pushed deeper into poverty and we're expecting hundreds of thousands of people to be forced to use a food bank in the coming months,” she said.

She went on to point out: “This increase in need means the winter Tesco Food Collection will be more important than ever as food banks work tirelessly to help everyone who needs their support.”

Lindsay Boswell, the CEO at FareShare added: “The cost-of-living crisis is forcing more and more people to turn to their local charities for support with food and other services, meaning the demand for FareShare food has skyrocketed.

“The Tesco Food Collection is a vital event for FareShare, helping to bring in much needed long-life food that will help us continue our support of the people most in need this winter. Volunteering at the Tesco Food Collection this December will make a huge difference during this increasingly difficult time.”

You can sign up to volunteer with FareShare at https://fareshare.org.uk/foodcollection/ or with the Trussell Trust at https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-involved/tesco-food-collection/volunteer/

Christmas Gastronomic Gifts from Gosnells: Mead Must-Haves

Developed by Tom in 2021, this giftbox explores the honeys from four different postcodes in London, Oxfordshire and Bishops Stortford. 

It highlights the nuances between different postcodes, and the contrasts of urban (a wide variety of nutrients) against rural (bigger areas with just one or two crops). Wine says that a vineyard's 'terroir'  soil, altitude, weather etc, has a major impact on flavour. 

But as honey's flavour derives from each flower or bush or tree, this gives mead fanciers the opportunity for terroir on steroids. The sweet shop flavours of Oxfordshire honey; the lighter more perfumed flavours of Bishops Stortford; and the more consistent flavours of E15 and W5.

Says Tom Gosnell: “Brewing these four Postcode Meads has demonstrated the awe-inspiring brilliance of the bee, and the differences in flavour between urban and rural honeys. 

"It's my belief we have demonstrated both the terroir of each location and the nectars they contain. The flora available, on which the bees foraged, created significant nuances in all four of the meads."

He went on to explain: "While rural apiaries often gather a springtime honey harvest from agricultural crops with a summer harvest in addition, urban apiaries tend to have only a single summer harvest. 

"Urban apiaries can benefit from a wider variety of nutrients from their parks, municipal plantings, allotments and residential gardens, while rural apiaries exposed to modern monoculture farming can experience extremes of feast and famine, and limited alternative forage. However pollinators are in steep decline as the variety and accessibility of flowers on which they can forage has decreased with the use of pesticides and herbicides, though hopefully this may now change.

The four 50cl bottles with sample pots of their relevant honeys and an elegantly penned brochure are available at £39 from www.gosnells.co.uk.

These are ideal for Christmas gifts for the Mead and honey lovers in your life. Or for a nifty example of self-gifting? You decide! Or why not buy for others and for yourself? 

Tom Gosnell developed the recipe for his sparkling classic Gosnells of London 5.5% in 2013. His aim was to take mead away from its dark colour, strong sweet flavours and high strength past. He did this by creating a mead which was much lower in alcohol (5.5%) and with characteristics closer to an elegant white wine. Using honey from Spanish Orange groves as its base, along with a zesty yeast, gave Gosnells of London a light, crisp citrus flavour. It is made from just honey, water and time. It contains no added sugar, sulphites, artificial flavours or colourings.

Gosnells of London has the elegance of a Chardonnay-rich sparkling wine. It is gluten free, and best served chilled in Champagne flutes or tall white wine glasses.

Founder Tom Gosnell, London's only mead maker, goes on to say: “'Gosnells of London' is gluten free and just 5.5% against the 12% of most sparkling wines. Just think how many people would prefer that gentler flavour profile and lower alcohol levels of meads at Christmas. And there is so much subtlety in the flavours produced by those under-appreciated bees. 

"Our five brightly coloured 4% abv canned meads, including our new Wildflower Mead, are all flying. They are purposefully modern and challenge old perceptions that mead needs to be high in alcohol and conservative. But for Christmas we feel that our original bottled mead's time has come. We're aiming to build on its earlier success to drive sales in the UK and abroad”

Gosnells of London benefits from a consistent flavour profile, combining elements of tart sourdough bread, a smooth richness and an edge of gentle orange. This is a perfect gift for Christmas, and it will make a great replacement for Champagne or Prosecco, and with the Xmas meal. It is ace with all manner of cheeses, and with that turkey, fish, and especially smoked salmon.

The gently sparkling 5.5% ABV mead will be available in a smart gift box, the 75cl bottle retailing at £12.50 a bottle from https://www.gosnells.co.uk. This natural product has already been dubbed Peckham's answer to Prosecco – by its SE15 fans.

That's Food and Drink: Devon Hampers and Salcombe Distilling Co. Combine ...

That's Food and Drink: Devon Hampers and Salcombe Distilling Co. Combine ...: Devon Hampers and Salcombe Distilling Co.  have joined forces in an exciting new collaboration between the two top West Country businesses. ...

New Gin for Christmas Feasting. And it's from the Historic Goodwood Estate

This year you can  give the Christmas gift of a new Levin Down Goodwood Gin from one of England's most historic stately homes and sporting estates.  

Goodwood Gin uniquely employs genuine English wild juniper and aromatic gorse flowers which flourishes in the Levin Down nature reserve.  

Levin Down, derived from 'Leave-Alone-Hill', is an ancient hill on the Goodwood Estate and is located just north of Goodwood Racecourse and Goodwood House. 

The gin has already begun winning awards, including London Dry Gold and Contemporary Gold at The Gin Masters 2022 blind tasting from over 500 entries.  

Fans of unusual gins will enjoy its distinctive nature.  It is a small batch London Dry style, distilled with mineral water which is naturally chalk-filtered through the South Downs. 

The 43.6% abv strength and depth of flavour from 12 separate botanicals creates a classic and elegant gin. 

Served with tonic and exhilarating long serves to evoke the heady freshness of the countryside and sociable sporting activities of the estate. 

Buy it online from www.Goodwood.com/goodwood-gin at £40 for a 70cl bottle.  The last date for online orders is Tuesday 20 December (currently UK mainland only).  Or visit the Goodwood Farm Shop and be tempted by estate produce, organic meats, award-winning cheeses, craft beers and local treats to complement your festive feasting. 

For those of us who like to learn things, Goodwood is a unique sporting estate set in 11,000 acres of beautiful West Sussex countryside. Owned by the Dukes of Richmond since 1697, it is renowned for its thrilling motorsport events and spectacular horse racing.  

The Duke of Richmond and Gordon has been closely involved in the creation of the gin which reflects the estate's organic farming heritage and gives a proud sense of terroir.  Goodwood Home Farm is one of the largest lowland organic farms in Europe.

 

DIY Editable Santa in Sleigh Christmas Photo Card

This instant download DIY Editable Santa in Sleigh Christmas Photo Card, with its cute Santa scene design, is the perfect way you can pass on your season's greetings and festive best wishes to friends, family, neighbours, colleagues etc. 

You can also add your favourite photo to this Christmas card, too! This is a Christmas card template for you to edit with your own details and send by email or message, whatever you choose! 

You can change the details to suit personal purposes either to send one photo card design to all your friends and family or to create individual cards for Grandma Jean or Uncle Peter, for example.

These Christmas photo cards are also ideal for businesses to send out to their clients, you can change all the text to include a Christmas message to your clients, details of a special offer or a charitable donation, whatever you wish. You can add a company photo, product photo or company logo.

You can also print this card to send to those who will enjoy getting a personalised Christmas card in the post! This card is 7"x5".

Please note the graphics aren't editable, but that all the text is editable. You change text, font style, font colour, resize, move, add or delete text. 

https://www.diypartyworld.com/collections/christmas-cards/products/diy-editable-santa-in-sleigh-christmas-photo-card-c1004

Raspberry red art adds bold on-trend 2023 colour to walls Claude & Leighton

Just right for Christmas gifting, Claude & Leighton® has launched Seize the Day, a new fine art print by British artist Jayne Leighton Herd. 

This striking abstract art offers an easy way to bring rich colour and dramatic interest to home and office walls.

The custom-made art print is from an original mixed media artwork by Jayne, who is also a co-founder of Claude & Leighton.

With warm raspberry reds and peach, accents in turquoise and black, and layers and layers of details, the artwork is bold and really makes an impression. Whilst inviting you to take a closer look into its depths.

Seize the Day is available in 3 sizes, and prices start at £30 for an unframed A4 open edition print.

The art is printed with high quality, fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free, archival quality, heavyweight 100% cotton rag paper, to ensure it will last you, or the fortunate recipient, a lifetime.

A spokesperson said: "Claude & Leighton is proud of its British design credentials. All art prints are created and custom-produced to the highest quality from its Berkshire art studio, and carefully packed in gift-ready, British-made, eco-friendly, reusable packaging."

Claude & Leighton® is the online home of high-quality, contemporary fine art prints by British artist Jayne Leighton Herd. Stunning abstracts, beautiful landscapes and gorgeous seascapes, and intriguing figurative art are available in either open or limited editions. It's art to enable people to enhance their homes and offices with expressions of emotion, style and joy.

Founded in 2020 by Jayne and her husband Laurent Stadelmann, Claude & Leighton is based in Berkshire. 

Jayne is a professional artist and designer with over 17 years of experience in selling her statement original paintings, and Laurent is an experienced businessman. Together, they created Claude & Leighton to be the online art destination for reproductions of Jayne’s original fine art, as well as her original digital artwork.

Proud of its “made in Britain” credentials, all art prints are created and custom-produced to the highest quality from Claude & Leighton’s own Berkshire print studio. Then carefully packed in gift-ready, British-made, eco-friendly packaging.

www.claudeandleighton.com