原文：https://www.vegansociety.org.nz/its-never-too-late-to-go-vegan/
注：译文谨供参考。

It’s Never Too Late To Go Vegan
成为纯素食者什么时候都不算晚

5th November 2021
2021年11月5日

Kiwi actor Thomasin McKenzie, comedian Tom Sainsbury, All Black TJ Pereana, entertainer Miss Geena, musician Tom Bailey, fire fighter Maaka McKinnie, soldier Apollo Taito, businesswoman Alice Shopland, racing driver Jono Lester, MP Chloe Swarbrick and the ex-Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy.
新西兰演员Thomasin McKenzie、喜剧明星Tom Sainsbury、全黑队球员TJ Pereana、表演艺术家Miss Geena、音乐家Tom Bailey、消防员Maaka McKinnie、士兵Apollo Taito、女企业家Alice Shopland、赛车手Jono Lester、国会议员Chloe Swarbrick和前总督Dame Patsy Reddy。

What do they all have in common?
他们都有什么共同点？

Answer: They are all vegan and we are challenging all Kiwis to join them and give going vegan a try this World Vegan Month. There has never been a better time than now, with the world’s leaders currently attending COP talks to advocate for the world we live in. We even challenged the Prime Minister to try vegan to help fight the climate crisis.
答案：他们都是纯素食者（vegan），而我们正在激励所有新西兰人向他们学习，在这个世界纯素月（World Vegan Month）尝试成为一名纯素食者。现在是前所未有的大好时机，而且各国领导人目前正在出席COP26会谈，为改善我们生活的世界出谋划策。我们甚至还斗胆邀请总理践行纯素生活方式，以帮助应对气候危机。

People of all ages, race, gender, sexuality, political viewpoint or religion are choosing veganism. The most recent estimate is 14% of the world’s population are vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian. People are choosing to eschew meat and dairy as they see improvements to their health, to improve their athletic performance, for a more sustainable future for their children, to lower their impact on global resources, because they have compassion for all animals and they wish to be part of a brave new future for humanity.
不同年龄、种族、性别、性取向、政治观点和宗教信仰的人们都在采纳纯素食主义/纯素生活方式（veganism）。据最新估计，纯素食者、素食者和弹性素食者占据了全世界人口的14%。人们纷纷决定戒除肉类和乳制品，是因为他们看到（新生活方式可以）改善身心健康，提高本人的运动成绩，为自己的孩子创造更可持续发展的未来，降低个人对全球资源的影响，同时也是因为他们慈悲对待所有动物，并希望共同缔造人类美好的新未来。

The current COP26 climate talks in Glasgow are vital to ensure world leaders, businesses, corporations and individuals can all work together to combat the damage done by our use of fossil fuels. With emissions still rising, the need to act fast is paramount. Changing what is eaten is a much easier solution than any others currently out there. By switching to a plant-based diet, it is possible to reduce emissions due to food by up to 75%. Animal agriculture is a leading cause of climate change, and the emissions from meat production alone is 60% of all food production emissions. New Zealand’s emissions are still rising and we are unlikely to meet our Paris Agreement unless we change what we are currently doing.
当前在格拉斯哥（Glasgow）召开的COP26气候会谈至关重要，旨在确保世界领导者、企业、公司和个人能够齐心协力对抗使用化石燃料造成的破坏后果。由于（温室气体）排放量仍在不断上升，当务之急是迅速采取行动。与现有的其他任何解决办法相比，改变饮食方式无疑是更加轻松容易的。通过采用植物性饮食，就可以减少因食物造成的75%的温室气体排放量。动物农业是导致气候变化的首要原因，而仅肉类生产所造成的温室气体排放量就占据了所有食物生产排放量的60%。新西兰的温室气体排放量也在不断上升，看来我们不太可能遵守《巴黎协定》（Paris Agreement），除非我们改变自己目前的行为。

There is more than enough land and water to feed 10 billion people on a plant-based diet unlike raising 80 billion animals, which is not sustainable for our planet, there is simply not enough land and water to supply 8 billion people with meat and dairy. Much of the current infertile and poor land could be rewilded and used for carbon sequestration. The animals produce a lot of methane, a more dangerous greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, but as it is one that is short-lived, humanity can quickly combat emissions by reducing methane, if action is taken now.
如果采纳植物性饮食方式，地球上的土地和水用来养活100亿人是绰绰有余的，而要想饲养800亿只动物则无法维持下去，也就是说根本没有足够的土地和水能够为80亿人生产供应肉类和乳制品。目前许多贫瘠的不毛之地都可以重新野化并用于实现碳封存（carbon sequestration）。那些养殖的动物产生大量的甲烷──这是一种比二氧化碳更危险的温室气体，但由于其寿命短（在大气中存留时间相对较短），如果人类现在采取措施减少甲烷，就能够快速对治温室气体排放问题。

As the world continues to battle with Covid, the circumstances that produced it are still inherent in the animal food system. Without changes to reduce overcrowding of animals, the likelihood of another pandemic remains. Reducing the demand for animal products will mean less animals bred into captive existence. Eating a whole food plant-based diet is key to improving the immune system’s ability to fight disease, something that could make a difference to survival rates and severity of infection.
全世界仍在继续对抗新冠疫情，然而产生疫情的条件依旧存在于动物性食品系统之中。如果不改变现状并减少大量密集养殖的动物，那么还是有可能爆发另一场大流行病（pandemic）。降低动物制品的需求意味着圈养动物的数量减少。遵循全食植物性饮食（WFPB）是提高免疫系统抗病能力的关键，这也有助于改善（病人的）生存率和感染严重度。

Every day more people are making the commitment to eating less animal products. It is easy to find alternative proteins in the supermarkets, and growing your own is always an option too. Supermarkets report a 33% increase in demand for plant-based products, giving New Zealand farmers a very real reason to diversify.
每天都有更多的人下定决心减少食用动物制品。在各家超市里很容易找到替代蛋白产品，此外，各人当然还可以种植自己的食物。据超市反映，植物性产品的需求增加了33%，因此新西兰的农民有着非常真实的理由去开展多元化经营。

“My aim initially was to help make vegan food mainstream. That has definitely happened, so now I have my sights set on helping to reduce Aotearoa’s dependence on animal agriculture,” said Alice Shopland of Angel Food. “If Aotearoa doesn’t pivot to focusing on plant-based foods, we will be left behind as other countries are investing huge resources into alternative proteins, and the food industry landscape is changing very rapidly.”
“我最初的目标是帮助发展纯素食品成为主流产品。这一点确实已经做到了，所以现在我着眼于帮助新西兰减少对动物农业的依赖，”天使食品公司（Angel Food）的爱丽丝·肖普兰（Alice Shopland）表示。“如果新西兰不转向注重发展植物性食品，我们将被别人抛在后面，因为其他国家正在将大量资源投入到替代蛋白领域，而且食品行业的形势变化非常快。”

Covid has shown New Zealand that the more self-sufficient we can be as a country, the stronger and healthier we will be as a nation. Want to give it a go? Try the 21 Day Easy Vegan Challenge at www.tryvegan.org.nz.
新冠疫情向新西兰揭示了，我们国家增强自给自足的能力，才能变得更加强大和健康。想来试一下吗？请到www.tryvegan.org.nz网站，参加“21天容易纯素挑战”（21 Day Easy Vegan Challenge）活动。