Table of Contents

42nd IVU World Vegfest a Success
New Book on Vegan Advocacy Communication Strategies
Dr Greger's Latest Offerings for Free
Liberating Lolita
If Vanity Motivates You

42nd IVU World Vegfest a Success

Although the Vegfest co-hosted in Chennai and Dubai was a last-minute scramble of sorts, the event was well received and the delegates and participants thoroughly enjoyed the conference.

The Middle East Vegetarian Group (MEVEG) hosted the Dubai leg of the conference from 25-27 November 2014 at the Dubai International Exhibition and Conferences Centre in conjunction with the Middle East Natural and Organic Products Exhibition (MENOPE). Over 500 global food industry experts, medical and environment experts, students, teachers, women and chefs exchanged ideas on the pressing topics relevant to the present times. Six organizations across UAE were awarded the 'Nabati' awards, meaning vegetarian in Arabic, for their commitment to being 100% Vegetarian. With a main aim of promoting healthier standards of vegan living in the Middle East, all 3 days were filled with talks and seminars on the benefits of supporting natural, organic, raw, local, slow and gluten- free foods, and also animal welfare and healthy living. A group of Grade 12 students were also engaged in a mindful debate on the topic entitled 'to be or not to be –vegetarian', and it was heartwarming to see them cite interesting facts from the Middle East environment to strengthen their stand on the pros and cons of vegetarianism.

The Chennai stop of the 2014 IVU World Vegfest on 29 and 30 November was equally successful. Among the highlights of the event were the presence of Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Mr Prakash Javadekar, as the guest of honour and Mr Surendra Mehta, who attended the first IVU Congress in India in the mid-50s and was a key IVU leader during the 80s and 90s. Vegetarian awards were given to some notable members of the veg community in Chennai, classical dance was performed and a global food journey was presented at the conference by new vegan restaurant VeganeR.

The launch of the International Tamil Vegetarian Union (ITVU) was heralded as a great development since Tamil is both a language, the main language of Tamil Nadu and an ethnic group whose members are spread all over the world. ITVU aims to consolidate 1 million members by 2016. The official launch of the Nepal Vegetarian Association also added significance to the event, with the association already having gathered 10,000 members.

About 22 speakers in English and 30 speakers in Tamil delivered speeches during the two days, including Hiren Kara of PETA India who described the campaign to win the release of Sundur, the elephant. Aris Latham, the well-known raw-food advocate performed a food demo and everyone took a vegan pledge at the close of the conference. The entire event was extensively photographed and videotaped, including a live streaming broadcast as well.

More information on the event is available at http://www.worldvegfest.org.

New Book on Vegan Advocacy Communication Strategies

A new resource has been published on animal and environmental studies for activists and scholars called "Framing Farming: Communication Strategies for Animal Rights" (ISBN: 978-90-420-3892-9). Through an analysis of "go veg" messages from five major animal rights organizations, and interviews with their leaders, Professor Carrie Freeman examines the role that animal rights ideology actually plays in animal advocacy campaign messages. In support of ideological authenticity, she provides strategic recommendations for basing activist appeals on values such as justice, life, liberty, and sustainability, and identification with our own animality. Professor Carrie Freeman is an Associate Professor of Communication at GSU in Atlanta, USA.

Please consider asking your university librarian to order it, or you may consider adopting it for an undergraduate or graduate course. More details are available at www.framingfarming.com.

Dr Greger's Latest Offerings for Free

Dr. Michael Greger has just released the 22nd volume of the Latest in Clinical Nutrition which can be downloaded by visiting http://www.drgreger.org/downloads/latest-in-clinical-nutrition-volume-22-digital. You are also welcome to use the code "FREE4VIP22" on the left side of the shopping cart screen before you click "checkout" to enjoy the video compilation as a free download. Do remember to give thanks by sharing the knowledge throughout your circles!

Michael Greger, M.D., is a physician, author, and internationally recognized professional speaker on a number of important public health issues. Dr. Greger has lectured at the Conference on World Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the International Bird Flu Summit, testified before the U.S. Congress, appeared on The Dr. Oz Show and The Colbert Report, and was invited as an expert witness in defense of Oprah Winfrey at the infamous "meat defamation" trial. Currently, Dr.Greger proudly serves as the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States.

Liberating Lolita

A stand to free Lolita, a captured Orca who has been in captivity for 44 years. On 17th January, a worldwide gathering to show that there are strong numbers that are willing to be a voice for the voiceless. The movement includes a reintegration plan for the whale who is in remarkable health – all others captured during the siege on the Puget Sound in Washington have all died. The organisers of this movement believe Lolita (Tokitae) is in this world to teach humanity a lesson on kindness, love, tolerance and respect for all species and their domains. All are welcome to join this history-making event and more information is available at http://www.orcanetwork.org/captivity/lolitacapture.html.

If Vanity Motivates You

Be Vegan But Remain Sensible

Conspiracy Theories

That Question Every Time

Book News 1 - Rice: A Global History

Rice is everywhere.  It supplies one-fifth of global food energy intake (a similar proportion to wheat) and as much as two-thirds of daily calorie intake in some countries.  China and India are both the largest producers and consumers of rice, although the people of Brunei, a small country on the north west coast of Borneo, top the world rice consumption table, chomping their way through a staggering 245 kilograms per person per year (more than 20 times the amount consumed by US citizens).  Such is the importance of this staple food that in many cultures a meal is not considered to be a meal at all if it does not include rice.  Perhaps this is nowhere more so than in Japan, where the word gohan means both 'cooked rice' and 'meal', and with added prefixes gives Japanese their words for breakfast (asagohan), lunch (hirugohan) and dinner (bangohan).  Rice may be boiled or steamed or used to make a wide variety of foods such as noodles, flour, puffed cereals, rice cakes, rice paper, vinegar and alcoholic drinks such as sake.

In Rice: A Global History, former chef Renee Marton takes the reader on a whistle-stop global tour of rice production and consumption, describing some of the most popular varieties of rice such as Basmati, Uncle Ben's (the brand name of 'converted' rice in which 80 per cent of the nutrients in the whole grain are retained through a process of parboiling), and brown rice, the most nutritious form of the cereal (but less popular than white rice, from which the bran, germ and most of the nutrients have been removed, which is both easier to store and quicker to cook).  Popular rice dishes and ready meals are also described, as are various rice festivals and customs around the world.  Like other titles in the Edible series, the book is profusely illustrated and includes a short, omnivorous recipe section, select bibliography and a list of relevant websites and associations.

Surprisingly, the author does not mention Golden Rice, a beta-carotene rich genetically engineered variety developed to help combat vitamin A deficiency in developing countries.  Indeed, the nutritional qualities of rice, including its suitability for a gluten-free diet, are barely mentioned, and the environmental consequences of wet rice production are too readily dismissed (studies indicate that rice paddies may contribute up to 20 per cent of global methane emissions, a greenhouse gas 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide).  In summary, as food books go Rice: A Global History makes an interesting side dish rather than a substantial main course.

Book News 2 - Figs: A Global History

Figs are peculiar fruit.  In fact, they are not a fruit at all but an 'inflorescence' - a cluster of inward-growing flowers that ripen to produce a sweet and succulent package of tiny seeds.  There are two main types of fig tree: Adriatic figs are self-pollinating, whereas Smyrna figs depend on the extraordinary fig wasp for pollination.  Some species of fig will give two or even three crops of fruit each year, but only about 3 per cent of figs are eaten fresh, the vast majority being dried for later consumption.  Turkey and Egypt are comfortably the leading fig-producing nations, but figs are also widely grown in other Mediterranean countries, the Middle East, California, and Mexico.

In Figs: A Global History, David Sutton, Director of Research Projects at the University of Reading, describes the cultivation of the fig, a practice dating back at least 5,000 years, from its origins in Arabia and Mesopotamia, through Ancient Greece and Rome to Medieval Europe and the New World.  In a final chapter the author traces the literature and folklore of the fig.  The common complaint that something is 'not worth a fig' reflects the abundance of a fruit that has served as both a staple food of the poor and a luxury food of the rich when eaten fresh.  Comprising little more than 100 attractively illustrated pages, including a selection of mostly vegetarian recipes, bibliography and list of relevant websites and associations, Figs: A Global History is like its subject matter: short and sweet.

Figs: A Global History (ISBN 978-1-78023-349-9) by David Sutton (2014) is published in hardcover by Reaktion Books and is 128pp in length with 55 illustrations (52 in colour), retailing at £10.99.

National Bird Day – 5 January, 2015 – worldwide –
http://www.nationalbirdday.com

Arizona Vegetarian Festival – 10 January, 2015 – Scottsdale, Arizona –
https://www.facebook.com/AZVegFoodFest

Minding Animals 3 Conference – 13-20 January, 2015 – New Delhi, India –
http://mindinganimalsconf3.in/

SF Vegan Drinks – 22 January, 2015 – San Francisco, USA –
http://www.yelp.com/biz/martunis-san-francisco