Latest news with #MaxLaManna
Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Glastonbury Festival hits out at luxury trend they ‘absolutely don't condone'
The Pop Up Hotel is a luxury accommodation provider that sits close to the main Glastonbury Festival site, offering a far fancier standard of stay than on Worthy Farm The organisers of Glastonbury Festival have criticised a luxury travel firm that is whisking deep-pocketed revellers to the famously eco-conscious event via helicopter. Last week 'Glastonbury insiders' go-to luxury glamping retreat, The Pop-Up Hotel ' revealed its new plans for the summer bash. Opening up on June 25, the off-festival campsite claims it will "deliver the perfect balance of relaxing rejuvenation", "an array of luxurious upgrades and carefully curated wellness experiences designed to pamper guests like never before." Walk ten minutes from the Festival's Gate D and you'll find yourself on a paddock style campsite among the country's elite, who say 'no' to portaloos and mud, and 'yes' to 24-hour hot showers, flushing toilets, a spa, a Sephora beauty salon, pool parties, award winning chef Max La Manna, samples from Korean skincare brand Beauty of Joseon, vitamin IV drips and luxury accommodation. The most luxurious of the lodgings is a Tipi Tenthouse Suite, which costs £28,999 for six guests. Between the lanterns, plush furnishings and en-suites, there is room for another four to sleep, but it will cost you extra. READ MORE: 'I tried the UK's new high-tech £200million trains with underfloor heating' This year the Pop Up Hotel has introduced yet another way to splash the cash. "Hotel guests can beat the worst of the traffic and fly into Glastonbury like rock royalty. By parking at easily-accessible and conveniently-located Hartham Park Estate or Homewood House Hotel, guests can hop on a 15-minute helicopter transfer for the final 30 miles to Glastonbury, bypassing the gridlocked traffic below. Heli-Hop return flights start from £1,399 per person," the Pop Up Hotel announced last week. Although there are very few helicopters in the air compared to other aircraft, they can be a significant source of local air and noise pollution, particularly when hovering and landing. Some can emit 500kg of CO2 in just a one-hour flight. Glastonbury Festival, which has a long association with eco-campaigns and groups such as Water Aid and Greenpeace, has criticised the helicopter offering. "This offsite accommodation provider has no relationship to us, so we cannot control how people arrive there. We absolutely do not condone the use of helicopters. Here at Glastonbury Festival, we encourage people to arrive by public transport or to lift share if they do decide to drive," a spokesperson for the festival said. Since first welcoming in a small band of hippy punters to their dairy farm just over 50 years ago, the Eavis family have seen Glastonbury grow into the biggest in Europe in terms of cultural impact, with around 200,000 punters slipping on their wellies and heading for the Somerset site each year. It has also come in for criticism from environmental campaigners, who argue that the mass movement of attendees and acts from across the world to a remote patch of English countryside that invariably gets trampled and strewn with litter is hard to square with Glastonbury's environmentalist message. Similarly, many of the seasoned festival goers who remember when entrance to the hippy-gathering could be secured for a £1 and a bag of crisp apples have found issue with ever-rising ticket prices (£378 this year, up from £265 in 2019), and the rise of offsite luxury lodgings. The Festival has no control over accommodation providers such as the Pop Up Hotel that tend to charge many times the price of admission for a comfortable place to stay while not securing their guests a ticket. A spokesperson for The Pop-Up Hotel told the Mirror: "Helicopter transfers are offered as part of our lineup of services for hotel guests. Every year, we have a very small proportion of guests who arrive by helicopter. The majority come by car, coach or train."
Daily Mirror
23-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Chef in hunger strike for Palestine says 'food used as a weapon is inhumane'
Max La Manna, chef turned activist, went viral for his hunger strike, in which he is calling on social media viewers and UK supermarkets to boycott Israeli produce - now he reflects on his journey TikTok chef Max La Manna went viral after he stood in front of a Sainsbury's on May 13 with a sign reading: 'Day Two Of My Hunger Strike', with demands to boycott Israeli produce and end Israel's humanitarian blockade in Gaza. But after hunger striking for seven days, he had to break his fast. In a video posted to Instagram, he said: "Feeding people is part of my job, so after witnessing desperate children and families in Gaza who were being forcibly starved by Israel, I had to do something. I didn't do much planning or strategising, I didn't call a doctor. I just called my Palestinian friend - he gave me the go ahead and I went for it." Max said that going hunger strike meant that Palestinians were constantly on his mind. He described his mood swings as "intense", adding: "Eating no food for 166 hours started to take its toll. I had no energy, intense headaches and even engaging in conversation felt difficult." He said he broke his hunger strike in the "only way that felt appropriate" which was with Palestinian hummus and his friend by his side. Max admitted: "In all honesty, I'm a little bit disappointed in myself. For me, deciding when not to eat is a choice.. This is not a choice for Palestinians in Gaza." But he emphasised that his plans for activism aren't over. "I need to get myself back to full health, and then I think I'm going to go again, but this time with a proper strategy in place." Speaking to The Mirror during his hunger strike, Max said: 'As a human, but also as a chef, seeing food being used as a weapon is inhumane. No food or aid has entered Gaza in over 70 days. I've decided to stop eating to raise awareness about the forced famine happening in Palestine.' The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement is working to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians. They have put together a list of companies and products to boycott which support Israel. Max continued: 'I'm targeting all supermarkets that sell Israeli goods and products... This is in support of calls from the Palestinian led BDS campaign.' He hoped his videos would inspire people to use their consumer power to boycott these items and demand supermarkets remove them from shelves. He also hoped that there are people working on the inside at these businesses to support this. Max admitted that he was finding the hunger strike 'difficult'. While protesting, he only consumed water, rehydration salts, black coffee and herbal tea. However, he said it was a constant reminder of the starvation that Palestinians are enduring 'without a choice'. For him, the fight isn't over. On March 2, Israel stopped any form of aid, including food, water and medicine, from entering the region, as reported by Human Rights Watch. Israel announced that it will now allow a "basic amount of food" to enter Gaza to ensure that "no starvation crisis develops" on May 18. This comes after 10 weeks of blockade, as reported by the BBC. However, Max still plans on continuing his strike. According to a report by the UN, Palestinians are still struggling to find food and water due to Israel's continued blockade on all humanitarian and commercial access. On 22 May, the Palestinian Red Crescent told reporters that no Palestinians in Gaza had yet received aid deliveries that had crossed over the border, as reported by The Guardian. They added that sending so few trucks was an 'invitation for killing' because of the risk of mobs. Meanwhile, Israel's previous policies have created a starvation risk for millions. On 12 May, the UN World Food Programme warned that 470,000 Gazans "are facing catastrophic hunger" because of Israel's action to shut down aid. It's also claimed that over 116,000 metric tons of food aid was being blocked. While Max said he received some death threats, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. 'I have appreciated seeing support from some prominent chefs and food creators and hope this continues,' he said. "I think more and more people are feeling empowered to speak up and take action." On May 19, Co-op board members voted to stop selling Israeli products on their shelves – a vote which could come into effect during the summer, as reported by The Telegraph. The advocacy group Palestine Solidarity UK said the decision showed Co-op members would not support Israel's 'apartheid economy'. Max has since posted on his social media celebrating the news, which he said is "a huge victory for the Palestinian-led BDS movement." The hunger striker has also called on politicians to act. In the end of his Instagram video, Max called on David Lammy, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, to "take action" by calling for an end to the blockade of humanitarian aid in Gaza. David has previously lobbied for Israel to restore humanitarian access to Gaza, according to the UK Parliament.
Buzz Feed
15-05-2025
- General
- Buzz Feed
This 'Passive' Pasta-Cooking Hack Saves Energy
These days, I cook for one (not as sad as it sounds), and pasta is my absolute go-to for nights when I want something comforting, quick, and easy to make. And while boiling pasta isn't difficult to begin with, I've started using a new method for cooking pasta that has absolutely made pasta nights (read: pretty much every weeknight) better. Lately, I've been doing something that not only makes my pasta come out perfectly al dente every time, but also saves me money and keeps my kitchen cooler. Yes, I am now a full-time member of the passive pasta cooking fan club. I got this trick from Max La Manna, chef, author, and advocate for low-waste, low-impact cooking. He's been cooking pasta using a more sustainable method for years, and at first, I didn't believe it could work... until I tried it for myself. Here's the deal: Instead of boiling pasta the traditional way, boil the pasta for just two minutes, give it a good stir to make sure nothing's sticking, turn off the heat, cover the pot with a lid, and then let it sit. Set a timer for the amount of time listed on the box for 'al dente.' And by then it should be perfectly cooked. That's it. No boiling over. No babysitting. No sweaty stovetop. When time's up, I'll taste test a noodle just to make sure it's cooked how I want it, and then I drain as usual. Boom: perfectly cooked pasta. Every. Single. Time. No mushy noodles. No undercooked bite. Just the springy-chew of perfect "to the tooth" pasta. This method is called passive cooking, and it's already pretty popular in energy-conscious kitchens. It uses way less gas or electricity than keeping water boiling for 8–12 minutes. That means lower utility bills. Heck ya. And, if you like a cool home (I know I do in the summertime), you'll seriously appreciate not having a pot of bubbling steam releasing heat into your kitchen on the stove. The method works for pretty much all types of dried pasta: spaghetti, orrechiette, racchette, whatever you've got in the pantry. Just follow the same steps: boil two minutes, stir, cover, sit for the listed cooking time for "al dente." Will I still boil pasta the traditional way if I'm in a wild rush or doing a big dinner party? Maybe. Will Italian culinary purists call me a heretic? Almost certainly. But for my everyday meals, this method is my new go-to. It's low effort, low energy, and high reward. I made a quick, no-cook feta, pea, and mint sauce to go on my spaghetti. YUM. If you want the recipe, let me know in the comments! So the next time you're craving some noods without a kitchen full of steam, try this. You might just become a passive pasta enthusiast, too. For hundreds of pasta recipes to try, and thousands of other weeknight meal ideas, download the free Tasty app to access 7,500+ recipes without a subscription.
