Independent Advises Christians to Go Vegan for Lent

UK-based media outlet The Independent published a feature on the first day of Lent promoting giving up animal products for the Christian observance of Lent—40 days of abstinence from vices. Writer Mimi Bekhechi advised readers looking for a vice to abstain from, to consider going vegan. She asked, “What if there was something you could give up that could not only improve your own health but also help combat climate change and save lives?” Bekhechi laid out that going vegan is easier than ever with new products, restaurant options, and social media resources. “Veganism also goes hand in hand with Christian values of compassion and respect for all creation,” Bekhechi writes. “After all, the Garden of Eden was vegan.” A similar feature was published in the University of Southern California school paper The Daily Trojan last year during Jewish holiday Chanukah that urged all observants to go vegan as a logical outgrowth of their religious beliefs.