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IVU Online
News – June 2008 Table of Contents
------------------ Jashu Shah, Vegetarian Leader, Passes Away Jashu Shah was a pioneering figure for vegetarianism, particularly in Asia. A native of India, he attended his first IVU congress in 1957 in India and gradually became more involved, eventually becoming a member of the IVU International Council in 1982, the Asia Regional Coordinator for 20 years from 1986 until 2006, when he retired during the IVU Congress which he helped organise in Goa. Jashu was also the first president of the Asian Vegetarian Union in 1999, continuing in that role until he retired last year, and Secretary of the Vegetarian Society (Reverence for Life) in Mumbai for many years. For more on Jashu’s devotion to the vegetarian movement, including photos, please visit www.ivu.org/members/council/jashu-shah.html ------------------ Important Meetings to Attend at IVU World Veg Congress One session will be for delegates and society leaders from all over the world, chaired by Annette Pinner, CEO of Vegetarian Society UK (Thurs, 31 Jul, 2pm). The other meeting will be principally for European delegates and society leaders to deal with a special aim of this congress: to encourage and integrate/incorporate societies of the former Eastern European block in Central and Eastern Europe. This session will be chaired by IVU Manager, John Davis (Tues, 29 Jul, 2pm). Three other pieces of good news from Dresden are:
------------------ Interview with the Chair of VEBU (Vegetarian Society of Germany) What made you decide to become a vegetarian? When did that happen? How old were you at the time?
You are a leader of a member society of IVU. How long have you been a leader of this organisation?
What made you decide to become active in promoting vegetarianism?
What is it that sustains your desire to be active?
What is an obstacle that you face in remaining active in promoting vegetarianism? How do you overcome this obstacle?
What is one of your organisation’s accomplishments that makes you especially proud?
How do you try to maintain good relations and enthusiasm amongst your organisation’s members?
What is one way that your organisation cooperates with other veg organisations?
Do you have any fundraising tips for other organisations
What is one thing that other veg organisations might be able to learn from your organisation?
How does your organisation reach out to people who are trying to become veg or who are newly veg?
------------------ Recent Scientific Research on Vegetarianism and Health Abstracts of the articles listed on this webpage are usually available free, but to read an entire article, some form of payment or subscription is often required: www.unboundmedicine.com/. . . /vegetarian ------------------ Facebook Group for Vegetarian Dogs and Their Human Friends Here’s what Ms Vegemight has to say about this new group: “Many vegetarians who live with pets feel that feeding meat to their companions is a contradiction to their beliefs. In my case, I adopted my dog 7 years ago when he was five, so changing his diet seemed drastic and harsh. Dogs are apparently omnivorous, just like us. I only wished I had learnt about vegetarian pet nutrition back in 2001 when my darling dog came into my life, but I’m glad to have chanced upon a vegan dog product recently. It’s still too early to see what long-term effects it has on my four-legged friend’s health, but my now 12-year old canine co-habitant is definitely loving his new diet, and cleaning up after him is no longer an offensive smelling task! I’m so proud of him for going veg that I’m making him a T-shirt that says: “I Am Vegetarian”! There are numerous on-line claims that a vegetarian diet boosts the health and longevity of pets, but as with any new exercise regime or change in diet, it is best to do some serious research, consult your vet and monitor your dog’s health regularly. I'd love to share about all this with anyone with a dog as a companion, anyone things about bringing a dog into their life and anyone else interested in this topic over an open Facebook Group I just created, ‘Vegetarian Dogs Singapore’. To view anything on Facebook, you'll first need to join it. Joining is free, fast and easy - you just need to get onto www.facebook.com and enter some personal particulars like you're setting up an email account. Thereafter, to search for any interest groups, you just need to type in the "search" box that always appears on the left hand side of the screen. If you have difficulty finding the group "Vegetarian Dogs Singapore", please contact me at a_pauline_m@hotmail.com with your Facebook name and the email address you used to register Facebook with. Let’s be conscientious and informed consumers – let our demand direct the supply.” --Pauline Vegemight ------------------ Online Footprint Counters That Include Meat Here are a several (some are more fun than others):
------------------ Even the US Government Says Veg Is Healthy Here’s a quote from that page: “Protein needs can easily be met by eating a variety of plant-based foods. Combining different protein sources in the same meal is not necessary. Sources of protein for vegetarians include beans, nuts, nut butters, peas, and soy products (tofu, tempeh, veggie burgers).” ------------------ (a) Even if many of these events are far from where you live, you might be inspired by the idea and want to organise a similar event nearer to home. (b) Please use IVU Online News as a way to spread the word about your event. 1. The Unhuggables, Storytelling – Jun (various dates) Public Eye: Artists for Animals’ "The Unhuggables": Stories Teaching Empathy & Respect For Local Wildlife. A storytelling performance about less-than-cuddly animals to foster empathy and respect for local wildlife. Professional storytellers, puppeteers and musicians will perform for family audiences at local libraries--free and open to the public. Sun, 8 Jun, 2-3pm, Free Library of Philadelphia, USA, Central Library, Skyline Rm 4th Fl, 1901 Vine St, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Sat, 14 Jun, 2-3pm, Chestnut Hill Library, 8711 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia; Sat, 21 Jun, 2-3pm, Falls-Schuylkill Library, 3501 Midvale Ave, Philadelphia. For information, call 1-215-620-2130 or email lisa@publiceyephilly.org 2. Vegetarian Summerfest – 18-22 Jun 34th Annual Vegetarian Summerfest, Wed, 18 Jun to Sun, 22 Jun, Conference Center at University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown campus, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA. Sessions on health, nutrition, fitness, compassionate living, animal rights, earth stewardship; with doctors, dietitians, other experts. Vegan meals and social activities. For more info contact: North American Vegetarian Society, PO Box 72, Dolgeville New York, USA 13329, Ph: 1-518-568-7970, www.vegetariansummerfest.org 3. World Peace Diet Retreat – 18-20 Jul Dr. Will Tuttle will lead a weekend retreat with intensive exploration of the "benevolent revolution" discussed in his book, The World Peace Diet. Organic, vegan meals will be prepared by Deer and Justice Fields who have taught vegan cooking throughout the world along with their experiences in their own restaurants. Suggested donation for the weekend is $150 which includes all meals from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon and camping on the sanctuary land. WHEN: 18-20 Jul 4. World Animal Day – 4 October
Worth-A-Look Books “The Marriage of True Minds” by Stephen Evans is, according to the publisher, a quick and fun read about love - love for people and love for our fellow animals. Animal rescue is an important theme in the book, and the author is a vegetarian who is donating a portion of his proceeds to Best Friends Animal Society and other animal rescue groups. In response to the question, "How did this story start for you?", Stephen responded: "When I learned about the issue of euthanasia in animal shelters. There are millions of dogs and cats every year who are perfectly healthy and don't have homes, and they are euthanized after just a few days of being there. I had not known about that problem, and I wanted to write something about it. I knew that if I wrote a non-fiction book about it, it would be a very difficult thing to read and wouldn't have the reach that it would have if I wrote it a different way, so that was the genesis of trying to imbed the issue within in a different kind of story that would be a little more uplifting." You can read the first two chapters, read reviews, listen to an interview with the Stephen Evans, etc. at unbridledbooks.com/trueminds.html ------------------ Maneka Gandhi on Excuses for Not Being Veg Here are her views on her interactions with non-vegetarians ------------------ Top 10 Reasons Why It’s Green to Go Veg And, from the Swiss Vegetarian Union comes a fact-filled report covering much of the same meat-blighted landscape: www.vegetarismus.ch/info/eoeko.htm ------------------ Two Reports Condemn Factory Farming 1. Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, a project of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, conducted a 2.5-year study of American animal agriculture. The report condemns factory farming as hazardous to our fellow animals, to humans and to the environment. Read the report or an executive summary at www.ncifap.org 2. According to a new Union of Concerned Scientists report, the true cost of meat and milk produced in massive CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) includes billions in unaccounted-for taxpayer dollars that pay for the economic, health, and environmental problems CAFOs create. The report, "CAFOs Uncovered: The Untold Costs of Confined Animal Feeding ------------------ The Animal Inside To listen, you will need Real Player. If you don’t have Real Player, you will be given directions for a free download. ------------------ Who Is Inside Our Circle of Compassion? ------------------ Welcome to Organizations That Have Recently Registered with IVU AUSTRALIA CANADA CYPRUS GERMANY NETHERLANDS SOUTH KOREA SPAIN UK USA ------------------ Dear Veg Activist Please use this newsletter as a way to share your knowledge, ideas and experiences with fellow veg activists. Thx. -–george jacobs – george@vegetarian-society.org ------------------ IVU Online News is non-copyright. Readers are encouraged to share the contents elsewhere. If you do so, please consider including a link to www.ivu.org/news as others may wish to subscribe to this free publication. |
