【Lotus Root Pancakes】Eliza Cheung | The Possibilities Between Belief and Action

【Lotus Root Pancakes】Eliza Cheung | The Possibilities Between Belief and Action

A bit about yourself:

I am Eliza, a practicing clinical psychologist. My clinical work and research focus is on disaster mental health and psychological first aid. I have visited various disaster stricken areas to respond to natural disasters, disease outbreaks, conflicts, and population movement.

1 / When did you start eating vegetarian?

The gift I gave myself upon turning 18 was to become vegetarian. I started exploring animal rights issues at that time, and found myself struggling because I thought it was wrong to bring suffering upon others simply for our palate's pleasure. After making the decision and telling family and friends, I felt much calmer. So becoming vegetarian was a gift for myself that year.

(And it’s a gift that keeps on giving. The photos below were taken in Kyoto in 2019. Meandering through the old city with family at that time, we tasted various vegan delicacies, and experienced trees of over 800 years old on Mount Koya. I was amazed by how the environment and mankind could co-exist in such a harmonious way.)

2 / Having been vegetarian for so many years, have you noticed any factors that prompt people to change their diets?

Observing friends around me, I think curiosity is one thing. Perhaps with the advances in food technology, options have increased. They would want to try the taste of vegan luncheon meat, or find out what vegan eggs are about.

Also, there is increasing concern over climate change, and meat-eating has a great impact on the environment. It seems like a lot of people are flexitarians, mostly aiming to cut down on meat consumption.

Miss Lee @ Central: Contemporary Chinese vegetarian eats

3 / What do you think about the budding meatless culture in Hong Kong?

There is a term in psychology called "cognitive dissonance". This means there is a discrepancy between what I believe in and what I do. Normally, we would want the discrepancy to be as small as possible, i.e. my beliefs and behaviour are aligned.

I think Hong Kong is going through this process now. Many people do care about climate change; they do believe that a meatless diet can alleviate the issue and improve animal rights. So they are slowly pulling their beliefs and behaviour closer.

However, this process cannot go overboard. If a person finds that there is great distance between their beliefs and actions, they could change how they act, but they could also turn around and shift their beliefs. What follows would be an attempt to use different ways to justify their behaviour.

When we eat meatless, or explain why we do so, we inevitably become an inconvenient truth. We only hope to be able to inspire those at our table to start grappling with these issues. If we start preaching, we might lead those with significant dissonance to shift their beliefs instead.

4 / You work abroad quite often. Does it affect your daily diet much?

Eating meatless when abroad is actually not as hard as you think. The locals tend to respect your choice. That being said, I usually try to "compensate" by eating more, or making sure I don’t have leftovers on my plate. The point is to still express that you appreciate their food.

Also, I don't do that much research - I just ask restaurants directly what their meatless options are. The act of asking can encourage restaurants to realise there is such a demand.

5 / What’s your mantra?

"Do no harm" - whether in my professional or in diet, I hope I won't bring suffering.

6 / Share your meatless recipe.