WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2002
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 5A
NEWS
Vegans hunt for animal-free fare
By Mike Gilligan Kansan staff writer
Joseph Holcomb has a hard time finding something to eat on a menu.
Holeomb, Fayetteville, Ark. sophomore, has been a vegan for about two years.
"Whenever I order a meal at a restaurant, I have to ask the waiter how it is prepared to make sure it doesn't contain any animal products," he said.
He said he often ate at restaurants, such as Aladdin's Cafe, 1021 Massachusetts St. and Rudy's Pizzeria, 704 Massachusetts St., where he knew he could order food that didn't contain animal products.
"I eat at Rudy's a lot, but I order my food without cheese," Holcomb said.
According to the Vegan Action Web site, www.veganaction.com, a vegan is someone who doesn't consume animal products. To consume includes eating, wearing or using products that come
from animals, such as dairy foods,
eggs, fur and leather.
Nancy O'Connor, nutrition educator at the Community Mercantile Co-op, 901 Iowa St., said vegans chose how closely to follow a vegan diet.
"Some vegans choose not to eat honey because it's an insect by-product," she said. "Others don't wear any leather or fur."
Holeomb's favorite foods include rice, green vegetables and bread.
Holcomb said he ate honey and yeast, foods some vegans didn't eat.
"If I go to the grocery store and see something on the label that I don't know what it is, I just don't buv it." Holcomb said.
He said he cooked often so he knew exactly what he was putting into his body.
He said many foods contained animal parts people might not have expected.
"Vegans aren't supposed to eat anything with gelatin in it," he said. "Lots of candy, like gummy
O'Connor said gelatin was protein extracted from cows' bones.
worms, have gelatin, as well as
jell-O."
She also said most capsules for vitamins and medicines contain some gelatin.
Whey, a dairy product that is used to break down carbohydrates, is another ingredient some vegans watch for when shopping. Erica Ochoa, Lawrence resident, said animal products such as whey were present in many foods.
"You can find it in salad dressings, breads, and other foods," Ochoa said.
She said some olives were soaked in lactic acid, which contains lactose from milk, so vegans shouldn't eat those either.
Holcomb, like Ochoa, was a vegetarian before he became a vegan.
"I读 a lot of literature on veganism and animal rights," he said. "I also found out I was lactose intolerant, so that helped me decide to become a vegan."
Holcomb said he shopped at
the Merc because he liked to eat organic and locally-grown foods.
O'Connor said interest in vegetarian and vegan diets had increased in the last five years.
"All you have to do is go to a grocery store checkout line," she said. "There are always magazines that have tips on how to prepare meatless meals."
O'Connor said that if people become vegetarian or vegan they should replace protein from meat and calcium from dairy products with supplements or high-protein vegetables.
Though she said a vegan diet could be a healthy alternative to eating meat and dairy products, O'Connor said people had to pay attention to their diets if they wanted to become a vegan.
Contact Ginger at mgilligan@kansan.com. This story was edited by Joanna Miller.
"You can't cut out meat, eggs, and dairy products and just eat everything else," she said.
Contact Gilligan at
State revenue $25 million less than expected
TOPEKA — Budget planners received yet another dose of unwelcome news yesterday, with a preliminary report the state's March revenue collections were $25 million less than expected.
The Associated Press
Economists and state officials had estimated March 8, that revenue for the month would total $305 million.
The preliminary figures indicate total revenue of $280 million, due to shortfalls of $10.8 million in individual income tax payments and $14.3 million in sales tax collections, said Duane Goossen, budget director.
"We may not have hit the bottom on our revenue collections
yet," Goosen said. "The effects of the economy may still be coming toward us."
"We'll have a better idea in the end of April, but this is not a good sign." Goossen said.
Goosen cautioned, however,
that the new numbers don't necessarily mean the state's budget gap has grown to $725 million from the $700 million reported in mid-March. Lower-thanexpected receipts in one month are sometimes followed by revenues exceeding the official estimate the next month.
Still, the March shortfall was disconcerting because the estimates were prepared less than one month ago.
Senate Ways and Means Chairman Steve Morris, said the latest report would not affect his committee's work on the state budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. But the number cannot be ignored.
He said the budget committee and the Senate Taxation and Assessment Committee were hoping to finish a budget and revenue package this week.
"It's not encouraging," said Morris, R-Huoton.
Last week, a Senate working group produced a plan to save $257.2 million by cutting spending and transferring money from special funds while tapping $171 million from the state's "rainy day" reserve accounts. That plan would leave about $272 million to
be covered by higher taxes or fees.
The House, meanwhile, has passed its own budget bill — a plan that leaves a $128 million difference between spending and expected revenues and does not propose any new revenue.
"That would be our goal, to have a balanced budget," he said.
Morris has no intention of following the House lead.
One option being considered is lowering the rainy day reserve, also known as the ending balance, enough to free up $104 million.
By law, legislators must approve a budget that reserves 7.5 percent of total state general fund expenditures for cash flow and emergency purposes.
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