In order for seniors to stay in their homes longer, we need to address four big health issues: social isolation, physical exercise, nutrition and access to information; or, put simply, getting out, moving those creaky bones, eating at least one good meal a day and finding resources. Isolation can lead to depression and possibly dementia. Lack of exercise can lead to falls and hospitalization. Not eating properly can lead to malnutrition.

Personally, Im fine on three out of four, and a bit too good on the nutrition part, but I fail on moving these old bones. I sit too much in front of a computer and this is starting to take its toll. The brain may be holding up, but the body rebels.

A gentleman by the name of Greg Edwards wrote to me about Winskill staff putting a kibosh on seniors exercise sessions. He wrote letters to the municipality and theDelta Optimist, and sent copies to our politicians. He is upset that two out of three weekly Fit & Functional class sessions, which use chairs for frail individuals, were cancelled due to fluctuating attendance.

Edwards lamented the cancellations, saying it was a class meant to serve the needs of our most frail who have a hard time standing, they cant walk far, they suffer from poor balance, arthritis, osteoporosis.

Hes right. These are the very folks we need to help to get out and to move. These sessions should not be based on attendance stats which can vary from one to 12 depending on weather, driving assistance and various ailments that might prevent someone from attending. If the instructor is only working with one individual on any day, that should be okay. There may be 12 next time. Edwards rightfully suggests that those transporting the senior could also be counted.

Our seniors centres fall under Delta Parks and Recreation, which does a pretty good job overall, at least for those who are relatively spry. There are six recreation centres in Delta, plus three seniors centres (counting Kin Village). The latter also serve hot lunches. A gap is occurring in the frail seniors programming. These residents need a reliable drop-in, chair-based, movement program which does not depend on numbers registered.

Delta might consider North Burnabys SAIL program (Seniors Active in Living). It offers advocacy, socializing, exercise and nutrition for $2 or by donation. They have a coordinator co-sponsored by Burnaby and a private retirement centre.

Every week the members 55+ drop-in to hear a wellness speaker, participate in gentle chair exercises, maybe have a massage (shoulders, hands or feet) then convene for a reasonably priced hot lunch. Volunteers run the various massage and therapeutic touch stations. A nurse from Fraser Health does blood pressure checks and once-a-month a podiatrist runs a foot clinic for an extra fee. The centre staff also get to know the folks who may need more help.

The clientele are regulars and rely on this program to maintain their health, which results in them being able to stay longer in their homes. The SAIL program addresses all four concerns of advocacy, exercise, nutrition and social engagement. Its a win-win for the senior and the system.

ML Burke retired from the health sector to work on issues such as affordable housing. She sits on the Delta Seniors Planning Team and the BC Seniors Advocates Council of Advisors.

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COLUMN: Excercise key to seniors' quality of life - North Delta Reporter

While growing up in the 1960s and '70s in Gary, ice cream seemed to be at the center of our lives.

I am not kidding you. It was there at every birthday party, of course, but it was also one of the more coveted items in our home of four children.

It was right up there with the various Hostess treats my mom had taken to freezing in a futile attempt to keep us from inhaling them before they could be packed away in our lunch boxes.

Ice cream was one of the few foods in the house we were not supposed to partake of on our own. Rather, we were supposed to wait for those glorious evenings when, unannounced, my mom would reach into the freezer and gift us each with a carefully sliced portion of the frozen wonder.

It was served sliced, of course, because the type of ice cream my mom typically bought was Neapolitan, which featured even rows of vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. Each of us was to share in equal portions of all three flavors.

Yet someone in our family was clearly violating this policy, as was made clear by the frequent breaches into the coveted chocolate row. But I digress.

All these memories came flooding back to me last week when while I came across the new Breyers non-dairy (almond milk) ice cream at the Meijer store in Michigan City.

What a find. Sure, there have been other brands of tasty non-dairy ice cream available for many years. But I have come to pass over them as they are served up in small pints at prices that surpass the more familiar and heart-warming quart-and-a-half sizes.

I grabbed one of the Oreo-flavored Breyers and then grabbed a second carton just in case this was a fluke that would never be repeated. I do live in Indiana, after all.

Racing home, I dug deep with a scoop, breaking with family tradition of cutting with a knife. I then topped it off with a vegan caramel sauce and savored the moment and memories.

I also reflected on how it just gets easier and easier to eat and otherwise live as a vegan, even here in Indiana.

The best part? Those little vegan chunks of Oreo cookies were scattered freely throughout the ice cream. No more having to put up with strawberry and vanilla to get at the chocolate.

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Vegan in the Region: Ice cream memories come alive - nwitimes.com (blog)

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If you want it, someone is going to make it happen. These vegan sex toy accessory companies will make your sex life a whole lot more guilt-free and more animal-friendly.

According to Meika Hollender of Sustain Natural Condoms, Everyone is thinking about the ingredients in their food and their makeup, she told The New York Times, but no one is thinking about the ingredients that go in the products they put in the most intimate parts of our body.

More: BDSM sex tips for "vanilla" couples, no red room needed

Vegan options for sexual accessories are becoming rapidly more popular, especially for people who have already adopted a vegan lifestyle. Companies like Sustain want to make sure that consumers are putting healthy products into their bodies, and that means a more environmentally friendly list of ingredients. How do we know what is friendly and what isnt? Phthalate-free and cruelty-free are what you should look for when shopping for items, sexual or not. Phthalates disrupt hormones, and are a type of chemical used in plastic.

As we know, vegan sex toys and vegan condoms are on the market, but what about BDSM or kink accessories? The BDSM community is inherently connected to leather, latex and rubber where can customers seek out alternatives as vegans?

Peace activists run the show at The Vegan Sex Shop, which strives to bring veganism to the mainstream. Cuffs, floggers, collars and other fetish items can be found at this shop, with 6 percent of the profit going toward a charity of your choice. A favorite item is the gorgeous Rapture five-piece stainless steel restraint set($199) with a locking neck collar, wrist cuffs, and ankle shackles. Gags, silicone rope, hoods and paddles can all be found in the shop. The best part is that you dont need to read over the ingredients or materials used you already know its all vegan.

More:Dating Apps May Not Be the Best Way to Safely Start Practicing BDSM

Kink and BDSM involve a great deal of communication and trust between partners. Ethical Kink provides dialogue, articles and information about having a risk-aware and consensual experience. They believe that kink gear that is made with animal products is anything but consensual and have set out to provide alternative products. How consenting are people working 80+ hours for below-the-poverty-line wages? How consenting are the cows in the leather industry? they say on their website. Most of their products are made from recycled or reclaimed materials. A favorite is the Pocket Flogger(9.99), which you can keep stored in your bag, pocket or even on your key chain for a quick session with your sub.

Stockroom initiated their own vegan BDSM line called Vondage in 2016, which includes collars, leashes, cuffs and lingerie. The lines products are made up of vegan microfiber which is free of animal products, yet retains the sensual feeling of traditional leather. Stockroom has been around since 1990, making this a 27-year-old business with quality toys and accessories. The Vondage head harness with muzzle($64) is made from 100 percent vegan leather and is absolutely stunning a definite buy for kinksters looking for reinforcements.

More:BDSM Is a Form of Therapy for Me

Being vegan isnt only about your diet. Its a complete lifestyle alteration. You mind where everything from how your clothing to your deodorant is made, so it makes sense to want to have vegan options in the sex toy department.

By S. Nicole Lane

Originally published on HelloFlo.

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These BDSM Companies Will Help You Keep to Your Vegan Lifestyle - SheKnows.com

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Baby gets a classical introduction to the world Pittsburgh Post-Gazette I asked her about the sorts of things she might be looking for in her playlist: themes, relative familiarity of the music, her favorite composers and genres, and so on. In her birth class, Heather was told to have a relaxing visualization she could ...

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Baby gets a classical introduction to the world - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Michael Ray Taylor and Chapter16.org, Special to the News Sentinel 10:03 a.m. ET May 14, 2017

Peter Cooper(Photo: Submitted)

In fact, he showed up in 2000, less than two decades ago, after beginning his writing career in Spartanburg, S.C. At age 22, he filled in for an English professor who had been assigned to review a Guy Clark show. So off I went to write about whether or not Guy Clark already a legendary songwriter in his fifties, known for remarkable emotional specificity and clarity of language was any good, Cooper recalls in his new book, "Johnnys Cash & Charleys Pride: Lasting Legends and Untold Adventures in Country Music." Hey, free ticket.

Halfway through the show, an overcome fan shouted, not once but three times, I wish Guy Clark was my daddy. In writing his review, Cooper decided to lead with that fan: I was writing about connection, longing, regret, and pain, he writes. I was doing so with a chuckle line, but it was a chuckle line that got to something deeper.

Cooper has followed that strategy ever since, with pretty much anyone who is anyone in country music. Stories of his meeting with Johnny Cash, visits with Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn, and writing the message on George Joness gravestone in 2013 make "Johnnys Cash & Charleys Pride" resonate with humor and depth. The writing is often so funny it could be catalogued simply as humor, but Coopers delivery is reminiscent of Mark Twains: at just the moment youre laughing so hard you spill a little beer on the bar, he slips in a phrase or word that freezes you in place.

In that first piece on Guy Clark, Cooper described an artist who could stand on a stage, sing a song called Desperadoes Waiting on a Train, and make grown men weep over the tyranny of lineage. Through countless articles since then, Cooper has become for country what Lester Bangs was for rock: not only a critic but also a storyteller of events both witnessed and experienced. He is on the scene for the rest of us, serving as touchstone for what is real and what is nonsense.

Heres Cooper on Taylor Swift bringing him home-baked cookies as he interviewed her early in her rise to stardom: Taylor Swift had become a resounding commercial force simply by doing what no one else had done, which was, simply, being Taylor Swift. To sit down face-to-face with a 19-year-old Swift was to comprehend that she was someone of uncommon intellect, palpable presence, and perfectly risen cookies.

The book contains more than tales of recent superstars: Cooper also personalizes the history of country music by finding its echoes in contemporary music. The Carter scratch a guitar method first recorded in Bristol, Tenn., in 1927 he says, is the basis for the way most acoustic guitarists today approach the instrument, whether or not theyve ever heard of Mother Maybelle Carter. He explains how a tonsillectomy early in Ernest Tubbs career ruined his ability to do a Jimmie Rodgers yodel but gave Tubb a gravelly voice which, when combined with electrically amplified instruments, produced what later generations think of as country music.

Johnny's Cash & Charley's Pride(Photo: Submitted)

"Johnnys Cash & Charleys Pride" includes the rules for songwriters created by Cowboy Jack Clement (who wrote the lyrics from which the books title is taken): Remember, boys, were in the fun business. If were not having fun, were not doing our jobs.

While such gems appear on practically every page, the book is not entirely about music. Some of Coopers most quotable lessons pertain to other kinds of writing. Let me tell you what I learned in journalism school, he begins a chapter on storytelling. Nothing. Didnt go. Didnt take a class. But Im told part of what is taught, and Ive heard editors mention this, is that we must be objective. Objectivity did not take with Peter Cooper. Objectivity is dispassionate, he writes, but we are in the passion business. Then he delivers wisdom for any writer seeking to leave a mark:

If you write exactly what you feel, you have written an exclusive.

If you write something objective, you have most likely written a measured mediocrity.

Peter Cooper writes on the same level as a good country song. He makes you feel that you have not only seen the legends he writes about relaxing backstage, but had drinks and cookies with them, too, and laughed at life with them, and cried and cried and cried.

For more local book coverage, please visit http://chapter16.org/, an online publication of Humanities Tennessee.

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Funny Business: Peter Cooper writes of country music secrets, legends, laughs - Knoxville News Sentinel

The lawn of the Koi Pond Brewing Co. was filled with dozens of people Saturday as men, women and families came out to support the local craft brewerys third annual Pondapalooza event, which had craft beer, food trucks, live music and activities for the children.

Eric Ghiloni, co-owner of Koi Pond Brewing Co., said the Pondapalooza concept comes from the annual popular music festival called Lollapalooza, which features several music genre performances.

We wanted to do something that sounded familar, and this is all about fun, community, music and food, Ghiloni said.The turnout was great. In addition, to the people here locally, we had several people coming from places like Greenville, Raleigh and Durham.

Instead of rain, the day turned out to have overcast skies with temperatures in the high 60s and a little breeze. People were relaxing in folding chairs in groups, sitting at picnic tables or standing and talking on the outside porch of Koi Pond, while eating and having a cup or can of beer from Koi Pond Brewing, Tarboro Brewing Co. West: Tacos & Taproom or Bull Durham Beer Co.

People also were seen going across the Rocky Mount Mills campus to Ramblers Beer and Wine. Visitors looking for a bite to eat had a selection to choose from vendors such as Angelos Pizza, Cut Bait Cafe, Zekes Meats and Bills Kettle Corn.

In addition to food and beer, people were treated to several live band performances. Ghiloni, who is known to play guitar, played with one of the bands on stage. Joey Stultz, who plays the drums, performed during the first act with Chet Nichols and the Repeat Offenders.

Im from Wilson and this was the first time that Ive been to Koi Pond and the Rocky Mount Mills, Stultz said.This is amazing and even though I dont drink, this is a nice environment. I loved the diversity of the crowd seeing a mix of older and younger people and families out here.

While waiting for his chicken sausage sandwich, he ordered from Zekes Meats, John Wade said he has been a regular visitor of Koi Pond since it became the first tenant to open at the Mills in 2015. Wade loves the variety of craft beer served at Koi Pond. Wade said he enjoyed the music and having some good beer at Pondapalooza.

Wade is looking forward to the continuing development of the Rocky Mount Mills as two new restaurants under local ownership are set to open this summer.

I think its fabulous about the plans for the future so far, Wade said.Im curious what theyre going to do in the big mill building because I heard the possibility of retail and office space. It would be great to see that come to fruition.

While coming to Pondapalooza with some old friends, Shelly Johnson, who lives in New Mexico and was visiting her parents, said this was the first time she had been back in Rocky Mount in eight years. People close to her recommended she come to Koi Pond for the Pondapalooza event and check out what is happening at the ongoing development of the Rocky Mount Mills.

My last image of the Mills was it being an old cotton mill, and to see what it has become and the construction taking place is really cool, Johnson said.

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Pondapalooza gives folks chance to enjoy food, music and fun - Rocky Mount Telegram

May is National Meditation month, and that seems to be the topic on everyones mind.

On the Money reports that supermodel Gisele Bundchen told a crowd at the David Lynch Foundations Women of Vision Humanitarian Awards that she meditates whenever she can, even in the back seat of a New York City taxi.

Robin Roberts, a co-anchor of ABCs Good Morning America, also told emcee Rosanna Scotto that she now gets up at 3:15 a.m. instead of 4 a.m. to meditate. Her co-host George Stephanopoulos also practices transcendental meditation, or TM.

Roberts and Bundchen were among the honorees at the awards dinner.

Meditation may even have helped actor Leonardo DiCaprio win his first Oscar a prize that had long eluded him as he meditated with Montreal-based expert Lynne Goldberg while he was filming The Revenant in Calgary.

Goldberg is in town to spread the meditation mantra and her app, OMG. I Can Meditate!

While the transcendental meditation taught through the Lynch Foundation, which also uses meditation as a tool to help veterans and victims of sexual and domestic abuse, touts 20 minutes twice a day, Goldberg has an app for 1-, 2- and 5-minute meditation options.

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Meditation is the key to these stars' success - New York Post

Two Helena residents are launching an interactive platform called GuideFul to provide tutorials and guided meditation with a community focus.

Justin Whitaker, one of the co-founders, was raised in Helena before moving to Missoula for college. He was studying business when he took a Buddhism class with a meditation lab. It addressed his anxiety and depression unlike prescription drugs or therapy did. Whitaker changed his major from business to philosophy and took all the Buddhism classes available at the University of Montana. He has since received a Ph.D in Buddhist Ethics and heard teachings from the Dalai Lama.

After teaching for more than a decade, Whitaker said he understood the necessity of connecting people during their meditation practice and noticed it deterred people from sticking with the practice. During a meditation class at Merlin CCC in January, Whitaker and classmate Bob Funk talked about launching a website and app for mindfulness and meditation with the ability to foster interaction.

Whitaker said most existing apps dont provide any interaction among users, which causes them to burn out after a few weeks.

Mindfulness can be a very lonely practice, he said. You need people there to support you.

To provide that support, the app and website will include video tutorials by meditation teachers from around the world, guided and live meditation, community forums and podcasts. Users will have a chance to ask questions and guides will provide answers and feedback. The app will go through beta testing in July and launch in September. The app will be available on iPhones and Android phones for free to download, but with a $9.99 a month paywall to access full services.

Whitaker said theres research that shows meditation can combat anxiety and depression as well as physical ailments like high blood pressure.

Meditation can be a wonderful adjunct or add on to medicine or therapy, he said. But its not going to work for everybody.

Whitaker said after he gives his personal story and talks about research, most people are willing to try it.

Whitaker has been teaching since 2003 and will lead the teaching effort for GuideFul. Hes leading a four week mindfulness and meditation class at Dancing Lotus and has previously taught at the University of Montana, Carroll College, Hot Yoga Helena and Merlin CCC.

Funk, his co-founder, also has a background in mental health care and is developing the platform. He started Awareness Network, a Helena nonprofit covering out-of-pockets costs for mental health treatment.

While GuideFul plans to launch this fall, Whitaker and Funk are crowdfunding on IndieGoGo to raise $5,000 for startup costs and offering 50 percent off a year long membership to anyone who donates.

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Helena residents to launch meditation, mindfulness platform - Helena Independent Record

Some vegan and raw food bloggers believe that menstruation is unclean and a curseand that we'd be better off without periods at all.

"If it's so unhealthy for me to go through a period of not having my period, then why did I feel so amazing?" In a YouTube video called "How I lost my period on a RAW VEGAN Diet," vlogger Freelee the Banana Girl tells her 700,000 followers about something occasionally experienced by women who've made a big change to their eating habits: the disappearance of her period.

She says that within a month of starting a "100 percent raw vegan diet," her periods stopped and only returned after nine months, but much more lightly. But instead of being a little worried, as we might expect, she was stoked.

"I still believe that, largely, menstruation is toxicity leaving the body," she explains in her controversial video, which saw heavy criticism from some viewers and eating disorder charity Beat. "So a lot of people are having these heavy, heavy periods and painful periods because they have a toxic body or have a toxic diet."

Instead, Freelee believes a light periodor "mega light," in her wordsis a healthy one, and that uncomfortable periods are "not natural," and down to a fatty or "toxic" diet.

"At the end of the day if you're having a heavy period, if you're having a painful period, then get on a 100 percent high carb raw vegan diet as soon as you can." Her video has attracted over 395,000 views since it was uploaded.

Watch: The History of Birth Control

Missing your period oncelet alone for nine monthsis rarely considered a good thing by doctors unless you're looking to get pregnant. Stress, polycystic ovary syndrome, obesity, and sudden weight loss are among the assortment of cited reasons that a woman might stop experiencing what's usually considered a normal reproductive process.

But a handful of vegan, raw, and clean eating bloggers claim that using your diet to achieve a sporadic and light periodor one that's completely nonexistentis healthier and more natural.

"Many girls who lose their period often worry and try numerous things to get it back," writes Miliany on her blog, RawVeganLiving."It's often advised that to get your period back, you should stop exercising and eat more calories and incorporate more plant-based fats in your diet.

"What if I told you that everything you were taught about menstrual cycles was a complete LIE?!"

Read more: The Strange History of the Extremely Low-Carb Diet Fad

Through Freelee and Miliany espouse different theories, they both come to the same conclusion: that modern society has sold women the idea that menstruation is healthy and that periods are better lighter or halted altogether by adopting raw and vegan diets.

I reached out to Miliany, who told me that she believes "a non-menstruating body indicates the body is clean."

"If a woman or young girl decided she wanted to stop menstruating or lighten up her heavy periods, then I would recommend a raw foods diet to help them with that," she says. "The industry has done a great job of brainwashing too many women into thinking that if they do not get their periods on a monthly basis, that something is wrong with their body and hormones."

However, Dr Jackie Maybin, a clinical lecturer in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Edinburgh, warns against changing your diet in an attempt to alter your menstrual cycle.

"It's difficult to recommend a strict vegan diet without investigating hormone levels and endometrial health in these women," she says of bloggers like Freelee and Milliany. "It's likely that the complete absence of periodsamenorrheaindicates that ovulation is not occurring and could have a significant negative impact on reproductive health."

In comments reported by the Daily Mail, eating disorder charity Beat said of Freelee's video: "Although taken out of the new diagnostic criteria for anorexia as it excludes men, amenorrhea has in the past been used to diagnose anorexia nervosa. Being at a low weight and restricting intake for a significant lengths of time can have other serious side effectslow blood pressure, osteoporosis, organ failure, infertility, restricted growth among others."

Freelee the Banana Girl in her video about losing her period on a raw vegan diet. Screenshot via YouTube

For other bloggers, there is an almost quasi-religious connection between periods and clean eating, the diet turned lifestyle that can sometimes tip over into a form of disordered eating known as orthorexia.

A raw food blog titled RawforLife exemplifies this attitude, asking: "If we were all living natural [sic], in a 'Garden of Eden', without pads, tampons, tissues (or even clothes?), would we all be running around dripping blood all over the place for a few days a month?"

Despite being posted eight years ago, a post called "Periodsthey may be normal but are they healthy?" continues to be one of the site's most shared and commented on pieces today.

"The main aim of this article has been to challenge the prevailing view of periods as 'healthy,'" a raw food blogger called Debbie writes. She claims that menstruation could be a symptom of living a non-raw vegan lifestyle: "Perhaps periodsthe pain, the blood flow, PMT were rightly named a 'curse'a curse on us for falling short of living how we are meant to live physically and psychologically."

This idea comes up regularly among these bloggers: that women hundreds of years agoand animalshad or have lighter periods thanks to a plant-based diet.

Maybin, however, says that these claims have little basis in medical fact. "It's true that women previously had fewer periods; approximately 40 in their lifetime, versus about 400 for modern women in developed countries," she says. "However, I think this is unlikely to be due to a vegan or plant-based diet, but because these women were either pregnant or lactating for most of their lives."

Freelee and Debbie did not respond to comment (Freelee started a new ASMR-themed YouTube channel in April). But when asked directly by followers, they both refute the claim they're encouraging women to stop their periodsthough regardless of their intentions, their influence is clear.

While Debbie's comment section is packed with breastfeeding mothers and those on the cusp of the menopause deliberating these ideas, Freelee's is dominated by young peoplesome teenagers as young as 13thanking her for inspiring them to change their diet.

"The medical industry certainly doesn't tell us the truth," writes one under the "How I lost my period on a RAW VEGAN Diet" video. "Trust your fellow humans, not outdated tradition, disease and corporations who spread lies."

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But Maybin warns that a very restrictive diet or excessive exercise can also lead to a condition called hypothalamic hypogonadism. "In menstruating women, the brain sends signals to the ovaries to produce hormones to regulate the endometrium. This results in ovulation and, if pregnancy does not occur, menstruation.

"In hypothalamic hypogonadism, the body assumes a state of stress and shuts off the signal from the brain to the ovaries. This reverts the body to a pre-pubescent like state, where pregnancy is not possible as the ovaries temporarily shut down and menstruation does not occur.

"If this state is maintained long term, women can have problems due to low estrogen levels, e.g. risk of loss of bone mineral density and osteoporosis."

While she says that not enough research has been done to know exactly what effects diet can have on menstruation, it makes sense that a "healthy balanced diet"i.e. one that does not excessively restrict certain food groupsis good for all women and their periods.

Despite the risks, these blogs remain popular, including a new video uploaded by Freelee in September: "If you've got heavy periods, that's not normal," she says in the clip, which has been viewed almost 250,000 times. "That is not as healthy as you can be."

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The Vegan Diet Bloggers Who Think Periods Are 'Not Natural' - Broadly

Published time: 13 May, 2017 17:33

UK-based car manufacturer Bentley is looking into innovative custom-made non-animal materials for its interiors, to try and satisfy peak trend vegan customers, the companys design director revealed.

You cant sell an animal-containing product like a Bentley, with 20 leather hides, to someone with a vegan lifestyle, Bentleys Director of Design Stefan Sielaff said at the Future of the Car Summit in London this week, according to Auto Express.

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Weve been talking to these customers, in California especially, and theyre asking us what we can give them. We do a lot of custom-made and coach-built solutions, in conjunction with our colleagues at [coachbuilder] Mulliner, and therefore we want to satisfy these customers because they are the peak of a trend.

The Crewe-headquartered company, which has been a subsidiary of German conglomerate Volkswagen AG since 1998, plans to utilize several materials that have not yet entered the mass market.

We will shortly present a Bentley with a vegan interior; itll give you a luxury sensation but with a different way protein leather, mushroom leather, jellyfish material, said Sielaff.

While protein leather, or pleather, is already commonly used for upholstery particularly by cheaper car brands mushroom leather, made from caps of the fungi, and reportedly soft and possessed of anti-bacterial qualities, is only being produced by several start-ups. Translucent jellyfish leather has only been to manufacture several individual pieces as proof of concept, though technologically there are few impediments to producing more.

Bentley is one of the most expensive car brands in the world, with the cheapest model in the 2017 range retailing for upwards of $180,000, with interior and technical customizations capable of shooting up the price up by tens of thousands of dollars.

The company, founded in 1919, is not the first to trumpet vegan-friendly models. Last year, the upstart US electric car manufacturer Tesla earned the PETA seal of approval with its first vegan interior, though it restricted itself to using only synthetic leather. Several of the German car giants also offer similar options.

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Mushroom & jellyfish leather interior: Bentley eyes producing Vegan-friendly cars - RT