Non-dairy and meat-free foods sales such as tofu are rising fast, supermarkets report. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the Guardian

How about slapping an avocado and peanut burger on the barbecue this weekend?

If youre sticking with steaks, you are missing a trend in which rising numbers of Brits are joining famous names such as Jeremy Corbyn, former president Bill Clinton and Brad Pitt and choosing to go meat-free.

Tesco says demand for vegetarian and vegan readymeals and snacks has soared 40% in the past year, prompting the UKs biggest supermarket to introduce new labelling to flag up all its vegan products.

The Tesco move comes a few months after rival grocer Asda became the first UK supermarket to use the Vegan Society trademark on its products, starting with vegan vodka.

With growing awareness of the environmental impact of meat eating and the trend for plant-based clean eating, the market research firm Mintel says 11% of Brits say they have at least tried to follow a vegan diet cutting out all animal products from their diet, including meat, fish, milk, cheese, eggs and honey.

Even those who cant cut out the burgers or bolognese do appear to be trying to cut down on meat consumption.

The number of light meat-eaters, consuming animal flesh only about three times a week, is up 8% in the last two years. Meanwhile the number of serious carnivores those who put part of an animal on their plate about 10 times a week is down 14%..

While once vegans were viewed as largely Guardian-reading sandal-wearers, they have now gone almost mainstream. A decade ago there were just 150,000 UK vegans, but the Vegan Society says there are more than half a million.

There are also plenty of glossy celebrities shunning all animal products, from Pamela Anderson and Miley Cyrus to Spiderman star Tobey Maguire and boxer David Haye.Tennis star Novak Djokovic has his own vegan restaurant.

Nearly 5% of the UK population now consider themselves vegetarian up from around 4% three years ago. And many more people are choosing to be flexitarians opting for veggie or vegan options a few times a week .

Tesco has teamed up with a tech company, called Spoon Guru, to help vegetarians and vegans find suitable foods on its website and the grocers development director Kate Ewart said it was developing new products for customers to impress their vegetarian and vegan guests at parties and barbecues.

Retailers and food producers are racing to meet demand: vegan foods accounted for 9% of all new food products launched in the UKlast year, up from 3% in 2012, according to Mintel.

According to Sainsburys the trend is clear: sales of frozen meat-free products are up almost a quarter year-on-year, lentils are up by 18%, chickpeas by 14% and canned beans such as kidney beans and black beans are flying off the shelves the latter has risen 39% in the last 12 months. Sales of plant-based milk are up 29% over the past two years. Susi Richards, Sainsburys head of product development, said: Plant-based eating is taking the health-world by storm and theres a fundamental shift in how people are looking at their plates.

Pret a Manger, the London-based coffee shop chain, has just opened its second veggie-only outlet after double-digit percentage rises in sales of vegetarian food. Clive Schlee, chief executive, said the chain had introduced 20 new products including a vegan macaroni cheese and a vegan brownie in response to customer demand.

Schlee, who admitted he is also trying to eat less meat, said: Of course there are good reasons to eat less meat. Aside from the animal welfare arguments, the UN says that the single most important step an individual can take to reduce global warming is to adopt a meat and dairy-free diet.

Emma Clifford, senior food and drink analyst at Mintel, said committed vegans still made up a tiny proportion of the population. But she added: The appeal of vegan products has extended far beyond the limited pool of steadfast vegans. They have carved a place within overall healthy and varied diets. The powerful plant-based message makes these products increasingly attractive to health-oriented consumers, with benefits linked to animal ethics and the environment enabling consumers to feel holistically virtuous in their choice.

The influence of trendy clean-eating proponents such as Ella Woodward, of the Deliciously Ella blog, and actor Gwyneth Paltrow is partly behind that trend, and particularly prevalent among young people. Nearly a third of under-35s say they want to try a vegan diet .

The pressure on meat-eaters is likely to be raised later this year when The Game Changers documentary is released. The movie, co-produced by Titanic and Avatar director James Cameron and mixed martial arts fighter James Wilks both vegans is understood to focus on athletes, soldiers, scientists and cultural figures who want to change the way the world lives and eats.

Well-promoted efforts such as Veganuary and the Vegan Societys Vegan Pledge, in which people attempt not to eat animal products for 30 days have also helped raise interest. In 2014, just 3,656 signed the pledge; in 2016 it rose to 17,411, with even more expected this year.

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More tofu? Supermarkets flesh out their vegan credentials as clean eating grows - The Guardian

Includes unlimited pours of beer, wine, and cider

May 26, 2017 Steffi Victorioso Drinking, Food

The seventh annual Eat Drink Vegan is the beer and food fest that we can all get excited for, both vegans and non-vegans alike. This Saturday May 27 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena more than 100 food vendors will be serving up vegan food good enough to flip a non-vegan. To wash it down, there will be unlimited pours of beer, wine, cider, kombucha, cold brew, craft sodas, and tea.

You can purchase tickets here. General admission is $60, and entry is at 2 p.m. VIP tickets are $120 and will get you early entrance at noon and access to a shaded VIP lounge area, which has some exclusive pours and food vendors. Last pour is 7:30 p.m.

RELATED: This Sandwich Will Completely Change How You Feel About Vegan Food

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Eat Drink Vegan Is Saturday, Because Big Meat Has Dominated Memorial Day Weekend for Far Too Long - LA Magazine (blog)

Vegetarians sometimes called ahead at certain restaurants to ensure there would be something for them to eat. Otherwise, the chef might sautee some veggies in oil and call it good. Vegans were doubly S.O.L. Many chefs just didnt take vegetarian eating all that seriously.

Now we all take vegetarian eating for granted in restaurants and elsewhere, but vegans still have reason to be wary. Pro kitchens very often make all of that food so tasty with ladles of cream and finishing knobs of butter.

When I interviewed Tamara Brown of Sassy Spoon, the Twin Cities only all gluten-free restaurant, she told me that parents of children who suffer from Celiac disease sometimes weep tears of joy when they realize nothing in her restaurant is off limits. Judging by the lines at J. Selbys all plant-based restaurant, a few tears of joy have likely been shed here as well.

You may recall that the restaurants initial grand opening was quickly followed by a swift shuttering. J. Selbys was unable to keep up with initial crowds, which they reported were about four to five times larger than they were prepared to serve. And theyre still shuttering between daytime service and night to regroup, not all that unusual for popular spots.

J. Selbys isnt long on comfort. The layout feels a lot like a workaday cafeteria, not as glamorous as one in an art museum, and not as stark as one in a hospital, but something in between. The school lunchroom comes to mind.

Order at the counter, and take delivery of your lunch a few minutes later in the crowded dining room. If you dont happen to be vegan but are eating at J. Selbys anyway, it can be an amusing experience.

For instance, when a stack of pancakes hits the table with a pat of melting butter, its easy to forget where you are. When my dining companion mentioned offhandedly that he prefers a fluffier pancake, I reminded him that no eggs or milk were used in the making of these.

Theyre vegan, remember?

Well, whered that butter come from, then?

The butter substitute was a bit more bitter than unctuous old-fashioned butter, but I was on the lookout. Any way you butter it, these are very good pancakes.

Mecca Bos

When my spicy breakfast hash arrived, I remembered it would be sans the eggs Im so emotionally attached to on my breakfast plate. But I didnt wind up missing them at all, thanks to the Herbivorous Butchers excellent breakfast sausage and a generous portion of garlic tahini sauce. This latter genius move adds a rich creaminess where eggs left off. Add in breakfast potatoes, onions, and green peppers, and I was pleasantly satiated by the time I reached a final bite, with none of the familiar meat and dairy-induced post-brunch brain drain. (J. Selbys does not serve Bloody Marys, which could also have had something to do with it, but they do offer mimosas.)

Mecca Bos

My meat-eating boyfriend relished the biscuits and gravy, swimming in a vegan bchamel sauce that had a light, fruity, spice cabinet note to it. With Herbivorous Butcher breakfast sausage and a side of breakfast potatoes, it was a meal fit for a big guy, who had no complaints and said he would happily do it all again.

Instead of the trip home for a nose dive back into bed, we bounced around town feeling light, lively, and well brunched.

The staff at J. Selbys is still suffering from a bit of deer-in-headlights opening jitters, and I suppose several hundred customers a day might do that to a person. Still, theyre making valiant efforts and in spite of crowds, things went relatively swiftly.

The restaurants somewhat decadent point of view -- allowing animal product eschewers to have buttery pancakes, gravied-up biscuits, quesadillas, and buffalo wings -- will likely get them far in this world. Vegan eating shouldnt have to mean only quinoa and brown rice. (Theyve got those too, if youre of that mindset.)

Kids can even have chicken nuggets and corn dogs, the way all kids everywhere must, a surefire meal for drying up any wayward tears.

169 N. Victoria St., St. Paul 651-222-3263 jselbys.com

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Meatless mornings at J. Selby's weekend vegan brunch - City Pages

The next generation of vegan burgers, which promises to bleed and sizzle like real ground beef, is taking another step toward the mainstream.

Beyond Meat, whose investors include billionaire Bill Gates and food giants General Mills Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc., will begin distributing its plant-based vegan burgers in more than 280 Safeway supermarkets in California, Hawaii and Nevada, according to the company.

Source: Beyond Meat

The Beyond Burger, as the product is known, hit the market last year, but to this point its only been available at Whole Foods locations and a handful of restaurants. At Safeway, the burgers will appear in the meat case, an attempt to go directly after traditional beef eaters.

Beyond Meat and competitor Impossible Foods have created buzz in foodie circles with vegan burgers that they argue will help wean average Americans off meat. Vegan eating -- once the province of strict dieters and animals-rights activists -- has been gaining broader acceptance in recent years, helped by endorsements from celebrities such as Bill Clinton and Beyonce. A growing number of consumers are now seeking out plant-based products for both health and environmental reasons.

While the Beyond Burger has sold well at Whole Foods over the last several months, getting into a conventional grocery chain marks a turning point, said Ethan Brown, the chief executive officer of Beyond Meat.

Its a really important step in terms of reframing how we think about meat, the 45-year-old said in an interview. We assume that an animal has to be used for meat, and thats just false.

Beyond Meat patties sit at a Safeway supermarket.

Photographer: Craig Giammona/Bloomberg

Beyond Meat, based in El Segundo, California, was founded in 2009 and initially focused on a frozen-chicken substitute. The business drew the attention of both Gates and 301 Inc., the venture arm of General Mills. After its new vegan burger was released last year, Tyson Foods, the largest U.S. meat producer, announced it had purchased a 5 percent stake in the company. Beyond Meat also is backed by Don Thompson, the former CEO of McDonalds Corp.

The Beyond Burger, which is made from pea protein, isnt the only game in town when it comes to vegan burgers with culinary distinction. Impossible Foods, founded by Stanford biochemist Pat Brown, is touting its own plant-based patties as an alternative to meat. But the company has focused more on distribution at high-end restaurants.

In addition to pushing into conventional grocery stores, Beyond Meat is also available at roughly 30 restaurants on the West Coast. And the product was recently introduced in the dining halls at Yale University.

In stores, the burger is sold in packs of two patties for $5.99. And while Brown thinks the taste and sizzle of the vegan burgers stand up against traditional beef, he acknowledges that price could be an issue for mainstream shoppers. He thinks hell be able to undercut beef within the next five years, as Beyond Meat increases its scale and pays less for ingredients.

Thats when things will really get interesting, he said.

More here:

Bill Gates-Backed Vegan Burgers Hit Mainstream With Safeway ... - Bloomberg

As the joke goes, how do you know someone is vegan? Don't worry, they'll never stop telling you. Vegans often get knocked with the stereotype that their diet makes them act holier-than-thou, more righteous and pure than anyone who eats animal proteins or products. Now, a few vegan bloggers and influencers are telling their followers that a vegan diet will make their periods lighter or even eliminate them altogether, and it's understandably causing an uproar.

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It appears the madness began with a vlogger named Freelee the Banana Girl, who posted a video in 2013 explaining that starting a raw, vegan diet allowed her to stop getting her period. "When I took out the meat and dairy and the junk food, my body finally had the energy, the vitality, to start cleaning house," she explained. Then Miliany Bonet, the blogger behind RawVeganLiving, told Broadly that she believes "a non-menstruating body indicates the body is clean."

Typically, a non-menstruating woman's body indicates the woman is pregnant, or past menopause, or ill. In fact, the disappearance of a woman's period is called amenorrhea, which is a symptom of some eating disorders.

"Amenorrhea related to an extreme dietary restriction is an example of how terrifyingly influential non-credentialed "vloggers" can be and nothing more than that," says Jaclyn London, RD, CDN, the nutrition director of the Good Housekeeping Institute. "Any drastic reduction in daily calorie intake can stop your period, and since a raw, vegan diet is inherently restrictive, it's no surprise that this was the end result."

"But what concerns me the most is that teens who are still growing are losing their period due to malnutrition, and have a platform by which to glorify this completely backwards perspective on the matter. Not only is amenorrhea due to inadequate calorie and protein intake an immediate concern for teens (with devastating effects on academic and athletic performance, to name a few), but it can lead to severe complications down the line, including metabolic complications and osteoporosis," London says.

If you're a woman who does suffer during her period, London does have some dietary suggestions. "I'm keen on drinking an adequate amount of caffeine about least 300-400mg/day which can help with alertness and that 'fog' we often feel during this time of the month," she says. "Eating lots of leafy greens, legumes, nuts, seeds, eggs, and 100% whole-grains can also help you meet iron needs, which are extra important during this time of the month."

Some other advice? Maybe don't listen to people who call themselves Freelee the Banana Girl.

Follow Delish on Instagram.

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Vegan Bloggers Think Women's Periods Are Due to Eating Animals - Delish.com

Investopedia

Bill Gates Bullish on 'Bleeding' Vegan Burgers as They Hit ... Investopedia Beyond Meats' next-gen meatless burger is soon to appear in the meat case at Safeway stores. Vegan Burgers Are Taking Over the Meat Case in 280 New Grocery ...One Green Planet Beyond Burger Expands to 280 Safeway Stores - VegNews MagazineVegNews all 11 news articles »

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Bill Gates Bullish on 'Bleeding' Vegan Burgers as They Hit ... - Investopedia

Begin Slideshow 8

Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle

From right: Cassandra Love Lambert touches up Jenny Malek's makeup at C-Love inside the spa area during BottleRock.

From right: Cassandra Love Lambert touches up Jenny Malek's makeup at C-Love inside the spa area during BottleRock.

Cassandra Love Lambert at her makeup booth C-Love inside the spa area during BottleRock.

Cassandra Love Lambert at her makeup booth C-Love inside the spa area during BottleRock.

The spa at BottleRock on Saturday, May 27, 2017, in Napa, Calif.

The spa at BottleRock on Saturday, May 27, 2017, in Napa, Calif.

From left: Massage therapists Bianca Pee and Aileen Graves attend to festival-goers during BottleRock on Saturday, May 27, 2017, in Napa, Calif.

From left: Massage therapists Bianca Pee and Aileen Graves attend to festival-goers during BottleRock on Saturday, May 27, 2017, in Napa, Calif.

Mackenzey Bard touches up the makeup of Copper Dallas, who travelled from Dallas, Texas for BottleRock on Saturday, May 27, 2017, in Napa, Calif.

Mackenzey Bard touches up the makeup of Copper Dallas, who travelled from Dallas, Texas for BottleRock on Saturday, May 27, 2017, in Napa, Calif.

Michelle Frank of Suisun gets her makeup done by cosmetologist Erika Myers during BottleRock on Saturday, May 27, 2017, in Napa, Calif.

Michelle Frank of Suisun gets her makeup done by cosmetologist Erika Myers during BottleRock on Saturday, May 27, 2017, in Napa, Calif.

BottleRock, now in its fifth year, debuted an onsite spa.

BottleRock, now in its fifth year, debuted an onsite spa.

BottleRock 2017 adds pop-up spa for all festivalgoers

Music festivals arent known for their relaxing properties, but then again, theyre not exactly known for high-end wine pours or celebrity cooking demonstrations, either. So perhaps its only fitting that BottleRock, now in its fifth year, debuted an onsite spa.

Youd think in a festival-type environment you might not be able to relax, said Lisa Michaelis, CEO of Live Love Spa, which produced the pop-up spa. But youd be wrong.

Available to all attendees, the Sutter Health Wellness Spa features not only your run-of-the-mill hairstylists, makeup artists and massage therapists, but also a vitamin IV drip to help with hangovers, a slime sensory experience, oxygen inhalation contraptions and aromatherapy. Festivalgoers can also get their hair braided, complete with flashing colored lights tucked into ponytails, and their face rhinestoned.

The spas ceiling is draped with hand-tied white silk, and at its center is a DJ playing house remixes of pop songs and a bubble bar, where guests can purchase sparkling wine (ranging from $9 for a glass of Menage a Trois Prosecco to $25 for 2008 Schramsberg J. Schram) or sparkling yerba mate ($4).

Sutter Health has given the spa a theme: the healing power of music, which Mac Tillman, Sutters vice president of brand marketing, says goes hand in hand with the organizations long-term vision of bringing together Eastern and Western medicine.

Treatments are offered on a first-come, first-serve basis, though appointments can be made in advance. Some of the most popular treatments, such as Carneros Resort & Spas revitalizing legs and feet treatment ($40 for 30 minutes) are booked up 6 hours in advance as of Saturday, May 27, the second day of the festival.

This marks Live Love Spas second music festival spa pop-up its first was last year, at Kaaboo in San Diego County and Michaelis says it wont be its last.

For as much as youd pay for a burger and chips at the festival, you can get a spa treatment, Michaelis said.

Heres a sampling of the many ways BottleRock festivalgoers can treat themselves this year:

Rapid Recovery Hydration Solutions: Energy vitamin B12 injection ($25), and rejuvenating IV drips ($140-$200)

The Preserve Spa at the Napa Valley Marriott: Aromatherapy massages ($25), hair feather extensions or glitter and metallic tattoos ($10), nail treatment ($30), tech candy (accessories for your phone, $8-$35)

Intraceuticals with Meritage Resort & Spa: O2 boost (oxygen inhalation with collagen eye masks and mini massage; $25 for 20 minutes)

Foreo: Digital facial, with one of their vibrating contraptions (free), anti-aging and oral care digital treatments ($49-$199)

Carneros Resort & Spa: Revitalizing legs and feet treatment ($40 for 30 minutes), Comfort zone tranquility discovery kit: aromatic nourishing bath and body system ($39), Carneros lavender grape hyrosol ($16)

C-Love: Festival-themed hair and makeup treatment (think braids and glitter), $30-$50.

Esther Mobley is a Chronicle staff writer. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley Instagram:@esthermob

Keep up with the latest at BottleRock 2017 at http://www.sfchronicle.com/bottlerock

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BottleRock 2017 adds pop-up spa for all festivalgoers - SFGate

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The ever-growing U.S. organic sector saw much success in 2016, according to this monthsOrganic Trade Associations 2017 Organic Industry Survey, which was released at their Annual Policy Conference.

More specifically, the organic food industry is booming. Especially when considering that the $47 billion industry sales total from 2016a remarkable difference from just ten years agowhen the sales total failed to reach the $20 billion mark.

The organic industry continues to be a real bright spot in the food and ag economy both at the farm-gate and check-out counter, said Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director of the Organic Trade Association.

The Success of Organic Produce Currently, organic food represents 5.3 percent of total food sales in the U.S., and

according to the Organic Trade Association, fruits and vegetables remain the largest contributor to this organic food sales growthbringing in a reported $15.6 billion last year.

Fruits and vegetables continue serving as the gateway to organic products for the majority of shoppers, accounting for nearly 40 percent of organic food sales growth.

In the produce aisle the benefits of organic are probably the easiest to understand, the report said.

We touch the fruit or vegetable, smell it, and immediately make that connection between that carrot, for example, growing in clean healthy soils and putting it into our bodies.The Rise of Organic Protein and Condiments Theres been a growing amount of U.S. consumers choosing to go organic due to its all encompassing benefits. Particularly, people have become more aware of the health benefits of consuming meat and poultry when its natural, hormone-free, or grass-fed.

In 2016, this led to an organic food sales growth in meat and poultry in the United States of over 17 percenttotal salesof $991 million. The organic food sales growth trend indicates that organic protein sales could reach over $1 billion this year.

While condiments dont get as much of the hype as their counterparts in the organic food industry, the category is also experiencing an organic food sales growth.

For example, organic dip sales have sizably increasedleading to asurge of 41 percent in sales for 2016. That meant an impressive total of $57 million in sales of organic dips alone for that year. Additionally, sales of organic spices also increased in 2016 by 35 percent to $193 million.

Organic Products Beyond the Food Aisle In their survey, The Organic Trade Association indicated that consumers are no longer simply interested in organic food, but in products that encompass all household needs. Demand for organic products mean goods for bedrooms, wardrobes, bathrooms, and all throughout consumers homes.

Organic products outside the food category experienced a reported surge in sales by almost nine percent, leading to a total of $3.9 billion in the U.S. last year. This is due in large part to the increased sales of organic supplements, fiber, and personal care products. The organic fiber market has experienced some supply concerns, suffering from a lack of organic textiles.

However, U.S. organic cotton farmers produced a reported all-time high of 17,000-plus bales in 2016, which should offset the aforementioned supply shortage.Lack of Supply and Rising Demand According to Batcha, the widespread popularity of organic products has lead to some challenges. There is a lack of organic U.S. farmers to match organic food sales growth and its demands.

[T]he organic sector needs to have the necessary tools to grow and compete on a level playing field. That means federal, state and local programs that help support organic research, and provide the organic farmer with a fully equipped toolkit to be successful, explained Batcha.

Finding more organic U.S. farmers should come with ease thanks to the upward trajectory the sector is currently experiencing.

The booming attraction to all things organic is opening pathways of business opportunities in many areas that deal with the supply chain process of these products. As Batcha noted:

Organic farmers are not just staying in business, theyre often expanding. Organic handling, manufacturing, and processing facilities are being opened, enlarged and retooled. Organic farms, suppliers, and handlers are creating jobs across the country, and the organic sector is growing and creating the kinds of healthy, environmentally friendly products that consumers are increasingly demanding.

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BOSS Magazine | U.S. Organic Food Sales Growth Booming and ... - BOSS Magazine

DELWYN DICKEY

Last updated10:45, May 28 2017

LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff.co.nz

The Vipassana Meditation retreat north of Auckland has concerns that a new pistol range being built nearby will disrupt the peace and tranquility of the area.

The Vipassana Meditation Centre north of Auckland is heading to the High Court in an attempt tostop a proposed gun club from disrupting its tranquility.

The centre's efforts to overturn a certificate of compliance through the courtnext month, which is seeing agun club opening in its quiet neighbourhood, could be a serious stumbling block to the project.

Last year Raymond O'Brien and Victoria Pichler were issued a certificate of compliance from Auckland Council for two pistol areas comprising a six-bay shooting range they planned to develop on their newly acquired lifestyle block in rural Makarau.

LAWRENCE SMITH/FAIRFAX NZ

Kirsty McKay from the Vipassana Meditation Centre north of Auckland is heading to court to stop a new pistol range from being built nearby.

Auckland council's manager of resource consenting, Ian Dobson, said under the council's district plan this is a permitted recreational pursuit in rural areas.

READ MORE: *Country's largest gun club to be built *Police allowed to use gun range *Police Association alarmed at gun club's ban

LAWRENCE SMITH/FAIRFAX NZ

Pistol shooter Raymond O'Brien is upbeat about the court hearing and is confident the range's certification will stand.

O'Brien and Pichler had plans to quickly expand the range from six bays to 30, including two shotgun ranges and a rifle range, with the backing of the Auckland Shooting Club which would make it one of the biggest facilities of its kind in the country.

Meanwhile, down the road between rolling hillsandsurrounded by native bush,up to 1500meditators a year hand in their cellphones, sit cross-legged and suspendall connection with the outside world for 10 days while they observe their breathingin silence.

Vipassana meditators are not the only ones upset with the plansother neighbours to the Tuhirangi Rd property were angry they weren'tconsulted. Many had only found out about the plans by accident on the club's website.

LAWRENCE SMITH/FAIRFAX NZ

The meditation centre isn't alone in its concerns about O'Brien's plans.

Auckland Council maintains neighbours don't need to beconsulted for a certificate of complianceand the bigger plan didn't need to be taken into account, as resource consentswould have been needed for parts of it.

"Without having received a resource consent application to assess, we cannot determine what parts of their proposals would require a resource consent," Dobson said.

While not a direct neighbour, theVipassanaMeditation Centre had serious concerns that noise from the gun club would be a serious distraction formeditators who have been coming to their nearby property forquiet contemplationfor over 30 years.

LAWRENCE SMITH/FAIRFAX NZ

Vipassana's clients have been coming to the centre for quiet contemplation for over 30 years.

The VipassanaTrust started legal proceedings in Decemberlast year, challenging the Auckland Council's granting of the compliance certificate. The case will be heard in the Auckland High Court in mid-June.

"The Certificate of Compliance could only have been properly issued by the Auckland Council if the proposed shooting range complied in all respects with the relevant district and regional plans and did not need resource consent," trustee Kirsty McKay said.

Auckland Council could not have been satisfied the activity did not require resource consent under the Resource Management Act,the trust alleges.

Auckland Council says it will abide by the court's decision.

O'Brien is upbeat about the court hearing and is confident the certification will stand.

"Even if it is voided, we still have a valid application. We would simply fix the things that need doing," he said.

But despitethe optimism,if the court maintains thecertificate shouldn't have been issued, therecouldbe some serious issues forO'BrienandPichler.

If certification is out, the gun club may not be able to operateon the site until a resourceconsent is granted.

The club is planning to openon July 1 for general membership.It has been confirmed Deputy Prime MinisterPaula Bennettwill officially openthe Auckland Shooting Club and Range Facilities on July 7.

Given the level of animosity from neighbours and some in the community, it seems unlikely Auckland Council wouldgrant aresourceconsentnow without eitherconsulting immediate neighbours or publicly notifyinga consent application.

-Sunday Star Times

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Meditation centre heads to court to stop pistol range from disrupting its tranquility - Stuff.co.nz

Meditation couldn't be hotter these days, so there's no doubt you've heard about its many benefits. But getting these benefits requires you not just to read articles about mindfulness or swear up and down to yourself that you're going to start a practice, but actually sit there and meditate each day.

For some people that's way easier said than done. Despite expert reassurances that getting started with meditation is probably easier than you think and only requires a few minutes a day, plenty of folks struggle to commit to a regular meditation practice.

Sociologist and author Christine Carter is among them. A highly strung type-A achiever, she's suffered from acute stress since girlhood. And for nearly as long, people have been suggesting meditation to her.

As a scientist, she fully understands the solid science supporting meditation, but in a recent blog post she admits that "despite all my training, and despite knowing all the benefits, I have never one single time meditated twice daily for six days in a row, as I was originally instructed."

Why? That's the subject of the long, personal post. It's well worth a read in its entirety if you're in the same boat as Carter, but her bottom line explanation is fear.

"Whenever we are faced with a behavior that defies both logic and desire (e.g., I both know why it is in my best interest to meditate, and I want a regular practice), the hard truth is that usually fear is the roadblock," she believes. Meditation is simply sitting still and paying attention to the present, so what's to be afraid of?

"I'm a recovering perfectionist," Carter says. "Just the thought of not working, not accomplishing, not striving feels uncomfortable. And when I really dig deep, I can see that there's more: I'm a smidge terrified of that void that, for some, is the whole point of meditation. Here's what I'm afraid of: What if I don't get enough done today? ... What if I am not good enough? What if I am simply not enough?"

So if you, like Carter, keep dreaming of starting to meditate but struggle to make the idea a reality, are you condemned to stress and failure at the very activity that's supposed to insulate you from stress and failure? Not necessarily, claims Carter, who offers a straightforward three-step process to help you finally kick-start the habit you've been putting off for so long. Here it is, in her own words:

Do you, like Carter, struggle to meditate despite being fully on board with its benefits?

See the article here:

How to Finally Start Meditating (When You've Tried Before and Failed) - Inc.com