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In this edition...
Health |
| Free range IS more nutritious! |
| Put down the bacon! Report emphasizes cancer-fat links |
| Study: Wild-caught fish contain elevated levels of toxins |
| Troubling meaty 'estrogen' |
| You can't judge a piece of meat by its reddish-pink cover |
Environment |
| UN panel gives dire warming forecast |
| Growing demand for meat will contribute to prolonged food shortages |
| Factory farm antibiotics far from healthy for humans |
| U.S.: Protections for threatened sea turtles rescinded |
| Fish species in Europe threatened |
Lifestyles and Trends |
| U.S. survey: Teen vegetarians on the rise |
| Developing countries increase fat consumption - and disease |
| 72-year-old former 'Mr. America' still going strong - and buff - on veggies |
| Is veganism the new vegetarianism? UK veggie group launches Vegan Month |
Animal Issues and Advocacy |
| Out of the mouth of babes: Animals are not 'things'
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| Thailand saves pangolins bound for China restaurants |
| Activists comfort dying dolphins |
| A Thanksgiving prayer for mercy |
Books, Movies and Perspectives |
| Get healthy - by eating chocolate! |
| An ocean without sharks? Scary |
Of Note |
Please help support VegE-News!
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(Excerpts are included from current news stories. Click on the "Full story" link to read the full article.)
Health
Free range IS more nutritious!
Full story: Supermarket GuruOne of the biggest factors in buying organic or free-range is that it costs more and if you're on a budget it can be daunting, but a new study shows the superior nutritional value of buying truly free-range eggs in comparison to conventionally produced supermarket eggs. This is the result of tests conducted for Mother Earth's News magazine: true free-range eggs are shown to contain significantly less cholesterol - one third less - and one forth less saturated fat than commercially produced eggs! [And more nutrients.] So now it's clear that spending that little bit extra is well worth it in the long run for those watching their cholesterol and fat intake and for overall health and nutrition for everyone else - and not to mention the huge factor that the animals are far more humanely treated - and the fact that while the majority continue to purchase the cheapest eggs the industrial production system... will continue to dominate. Three great reasons for making the switch!
Supermarket Guru - October 29, 2007
Related:
Meet real free-range eggs Mother Earth News (October/November, 2007)
Organic food really is better for you ThisIsLondon.co.uk (Evening Standard) (October 29, 2007) Fruit, veg antioxidant profile increases with time FoodNavigator.com (October 12, 2007)
Organic milk may help babies beat allergies The Guardian, UK (November 9, 2007)
Put down the bacon! Report emphasizes cancer-fat links
Full story: USA TodayThere is more evidence than ever that a person who weighs too much is more likely to develop cancer, a landmark report said. And forget eating bacon, sausage and lunchmeat. No amount is considered completely safe, according to the analysis from the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund. An international panel of experts reviewed more than 7,000 large-scale studies and spent five years developing the report. Excess body fat increases the risk of cancer of the colon, kidney, pancreas, esophagus and uterus as well as postmenopausal breast cancer, the report says. "This was a much larger impact than even the researchers expected," says Karen Collins, a cancer institute nutrition adviser... A separate survey of 1,022 adults, also released by the cancer institute, showed that 39 per cent say cancer is their top health concern and 49 per cent say it's highly unlikely they can do anything to prevent cancer. "Let's not be afraid anymore," Collins says. "There is something you can do about it."
USA Today - November 1, 2007
Study: Wild-caught fish contain elevated levels of toxins
Full story: Environmental News NetworkWhite bass wild-caught and sold commercially contained significantly higher levels of mercury, arsenic and selenium than fish caught near former industrial areas. A University of Pittsburgh study, presented at a special session on "Contaminants in Freshwater Fish: Toxicity, Sources and Risk Communication," expressed study results that mercury levels in freshwater fish were 2.2 to 4.8 times higher in fish caught in the Canadian Lake Erie than in those caught near former iron and steel mills on the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in Pittsburgh... "We were surprised by our results since we had hypothesized that levels of contaminants in fish would be higher in specimens caught near once heavily polluted sites," said [the study's] principal investigator. "These results indicate to us that purchasing fish from a local market cannot guarantee food safety."
Environmental News Network - November 7, 2007
Troubling meaty 'estrogen'
Full story: Science NewsWomen take note. Researchers find that a chemical that forms in overcooked meat, especially charred portions, is a potent mimic of estrogen, the primary female sex hormone. That's anything but appetizing, since studies have linked a higher lifetime cumulative exposure to estrogen in women with an elevated risk of breast cancer. Indeed, the new finding offers a "biologically plausible" explanation for why diets rich in red meats might elevate breast-cancer risk, notes Nigel J. Gooderham of Imperial College London. "[The chemical formed] causes breast cancer in female rats, prostate cancer in male rats, and colon cancer in both." These are the same cancers that in people are associated with eating a lot of cooked meats. [Note that the chemical also forms in chicken.]
Science News - October 20, 2007
You can't judge a piece of meat by its reddish-pink cover
Full story: ABC News, USFor many meat eaters the proof is in the pink. They use the meat's color as a guideline to determine the food's freshness. But, many meat manufacturers actually inject the food with carbon monoxide to give it that fresh, reddish-pink look. Japan and Canada along with many other countries in Europe, have banned the use of carbon monoxide in meat. Lawmakers are debating whether the producers should be allowed to continue the process in the United States. While the Food and Drug Administration has said the practice isn't dangerous, some consumers disagree. "At worst, it's dangerous. At best, it's a consumer rip-off," said Wenonah Hauter, of Food and Water Watch.
ABC News, US - November 14, 2007
Related:
Meat treatment got approval despite safety concerns Washington Post (November 14, 2007)
Major retailer and suppliers seek to add meat color warning labels To mollify safety concerns about carbon monoxide treated meat - and keep right on selling it! Environmental News Network/AP (November 13,2007)
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Environment
UN panel gives dire warming forecast
Full story: Hinesberg Journal, BC, Canada/APGlobal warming is "unequivocal" and carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere commits the world to sea levels rising an average of up to 4.6 feet, the world's top climate experts warned in their most authoritative report to date. Climate change imperils "the most precious treasures of our planet," [UN head Ban Ki-Moon] said, and the effects are "so severe and so sweeping that only urgent global action will do. We are all in this together. We must work together." As early as 2020, 75 million to 250 million people in Africa will suffer water shortages, residents of Asia's large cities will be at great risk of river and coastal flooding, according to the report... "These scenes are as frightening as a science fiction movie," said Ban. "But they are even more terrifying because they are real."
Hinesberg Journal, BC, Canada/AP - November 17, 2007
Related:
Everyone is fiddling as California burns
Dr. John McDougall connects animal-based diets to the devastating increase in wildfires
Resources on the link between the meat we eat and global warming
International Vegetarian Union
Growing demand for meat will contribute to prolonged food shortages
Full story: Reuters, AfricaShortages of basic foodstuffs and rising food price inflation will last for years because of growing demand for biofuels and meat and record energy prices, a senior analyst with the U.N. world food body said on [November 7]. The current tightness will last longer than previous periods of food supply shortages such as the 1974 oil crisis, said Ali Arslan Gurkan, chief of commodity markets and policy analysis at the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)... The international community's goal to halve extreme poverty by 2015 was now further out of reach, he added. "For most cereals, supplies are much tighter than in recent years while demand is rising for food as well as feed and industrial uses," the FAO said, referring to increased Chinese demand for grains to fuel rapidly growing demand for meat. Rising incomes in China are enabling larger chunks of the population to increase their meat consumption.
Reuters, Africa - November 7, 2007
Related:
Alarm is growing about rising food prices The Economist (November 3, 2007)
Factory farm antibiotics far from healthy for humans
Full story: New York TimesOne of the persistent problems of industrial agriculture is the inappropriate use of antibiotics. It's one thing to give antibiotics to individual animals, case by case, the way we treat humans. But it's a common practice in the confinement hog industry to give antibiotics to the whole herd, to enhance growth and to fight off the risk of disease, which is increased by keeping so many animals in such close quarters. This is an ideal way to create organisms resistant to the drugs. That poses a risk to us all... The trouble with factory farms is that they are raising more than pigs. They are raising drug-resistant bugs as well.
New York Times - September 18, 2007
U.S.: Protections for threatened sea turtles rescinded
Full story: Environmental News NetworkThe New England Fishery Management Council voted to rescind protections for threatened and endangered sea turtles, many of which are caught in scallop dredges in New England and mid-Atlantic waters. The Council voted to remove seasonal restrictions on scallop dredging in the [area]. These restrictions were established to keep loggerhead and other turtles from being entangled, crushed and drowned when they are swept up by industrial-sized scallop dredges. Loggerhead turtle populations are declining in large part due to injury or death in fisheries. It is time for the federal government to step up and take control of sea turtle bycatch in the scallop dredge fishery," said Elizabeth Griffin, [ocean conservation group] Oceana's marine wildlife scientist.
Environmental News Network - October 26, 2007
Fish species in Europe threatened
Full story: Environmental News Network/ReutersMore than a third of freshwater fish species in Europe face extinction due to overfishing, pollution and dams which have caused rivers to dry up, a scientific study said on [November 1]. The continent's 522 freshwater fish species are under a much higher level of threat than birds or mammals, according to the study "Handbook of European Freshwater Fishes," published in collaboration with the World Conservation Union (IUCN).
Environmental News Network/Reuters - November 1, 2007
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Lifestyles and Trends
U.S. survey: Teen vegetarians on the rise
Full story: ABC NewsA recent survey shows the number of teen vegetarians is rising. In fact, it's tripled in the last ten years. But experts say if kids think going "veggie" is a simple as just giving up meat, they are making a mistake. According to the latest Harris poll, three percent of teens are vegetarians, up from one percent in 1997. Meaghan Smith was 11 when she decided not to eat meat. She said, "I just decided to stop, decided it wasn't my thing anymore and kind of gross and probably not as healthy as I thought it was." [The article provides a good list of online resources for veggie kids.]
ABC News - November 6, 2007
Developing countries increase fat consumption - and disease
Full story: Environmental News NetworkOver the next decade, India's burgeoning consumer class is likely headed for an onslaught of chronic diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and HIV/AIDS. A new report from the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that the proportion of deaths nationwide from long-term maladies will skyrocket from 53 per cent in 2005 to nearly 67 per cent by 2020. Diets high in fats and sugars and a lack of exercise - two lifestyle trends that increasingly afflict people in developing countries - are major factors behind the rise in certain chronic diseases, according to medical experts... Rapidly developing economies like India are now struggling with the twin challenges of struggling to feed their populations while also dealing with a growing epidemic of obesity.
Environmental News Network - October 15, 2007
72-year-old former 'Mr. America' still going strong - and buff - on veggies
Full story: KABC-TV, Los AngelesWhen it comes to staying healthy into old age, one man seems to have the answer. He's 72 years old and buff as a 20-something. Jim Morris is a former Mr. America, and still going strong. But how does he keep the physique? He still works out for an hour a day, six days a week. And his diet is made up of nuts, beans, fruits, and vegetables. That means no meat, no chicken, no fish, and according to Jim, cheese is the worst. He shares more of the mind behind his muscle in [September's] "Iron Man" magazine. He's the oldest man ever to be featured. "People say you look so good for your age. I don't think so. I think this is the way 70 should look," said Jim. [You can also watch video coverage at the link.]
KABC-TV, Los Angeles - September 11, 2007
More veggie experiences:
Dr. Tom Gross: Vegetarian by choice
Marin Independent Journal, CA, US (November 19, 2007)
Spreading the good word with soul food Washington Post (October 10, 2007)
Chrissie Hynde's got a beef with meat eaters
Miami Herald (September 2, 2007)
Why veg? Fifteen good reasons to go veggie.
Vegetarian Times (July, 2007)
Is veganism the new vegetarianism? UK veggie group launches Vegan Month
Full story: Guardian Unlimited Comment, UKTwenty years ago, if you told a colleague that you were a vegetarian, he might have prodded and tugged at you to make sure you were real. Then would come the generous advice about getting sufficient protein and vitamins because it was a well-known fact that vegetarians are self-harming, pasty-faced weaklings. These days if the subject comes up, people will tend to say something like "I eat much less meat than I used to, and mostly free range or organic." We are now a nation of "meat reducers," with only National Farmers' Union regional reps prepared to argue in public that you need meat to stay alive; that the livestock industry does not place a heavy burden on the environment; and that chickens, cows, sheep and pigs - nearly 1,000 million of them every year - are content in their stinking sheds and in the killing factories. Since vegetarianism has lost much of its capacity to provoke, is veganism the new vegetarianism? Animal Aid believes so. That is why - on November 1 - we launched what we believe to be the world's first ever Vegan Month.
Guardian Unlimited Comment, UK - November 2, 2007
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Animal Issues and Advocacy
Out of the mouth of babes: Animals are not 'things'
Full story: Hartford Courant, CT, USRecently, my son Noah ran afoul of his school's curriculum when he refused to classify an animal as a "thing" during a grammar lesson. Thing, as in "person, place or thing," a time-worn method of identifying whether something is a noun. Noah, being 7 and an animal lover, would not back down and "correct" his classification of animals, which he felt should be regarded as "beings," and he was less than fully cordial when his teacher gently insisted he change his response. Noah felt that, rather than "persons, places and things," the classification system should be "Beings, Places and Things." As Noah's mother, it is my responsibility to instill in Noah the proper habit of cordiality and respect when disagreeing with others. I encouraged him to show greater respect for his teacher in the style of his response, but I also told him I was proud of him for speaking up on behalf of beings who cannot speak up on behalf of themselves.
Hartford Courant, CT, US - November 11, 2007
Related:
Animal lives matter, so let's stop eating them now Lessons from Babe and Bubbles By Author Marc Becoff, posted on European Vegetarian Union website
4-legged friends get boost from 15 religious leaders Deseret Morning News, UT, US (November 8, 2007) Quote: The Religious Proclamation of Animal Compassion declares that the authors from the various religious backgrounds are "united in our belief that animals have intrinsic value as part of God's creation and are entitled to live lives free of cruelty and exploitation."
Thailand saves pangolins bound for China restaurants
Full story: Yahoo News!Thai Customs officers said [November 10] they have rescued more than 100 pangolins and arrested three men attempting to smuggle the endangered animals to China, where they were destined for the cooking pot. Customs officers intercepted three pick-up trucks of pangolins, or scaly anteaters, which were to be smuggled across Laos to southwest China. The pangolins, worth an estimated one million baht (29,400 dollars), were trapped in the Indonesian jungle and smuggled via Malaysia and southern Thailand. All trade in Asian pangolins has been illegal since 2000. Their meat is regarded as a delicacy in China and their scales are believed to cure a wide range of ailments. The pangolins, which were all alive despite being hidden under layers of coconuts, would be handed over to the Royal Forest Department to be nursed back to health before being released into an appropriate habitat in Thailand. [Check out the photo - those pangolins are cute!]
Yahoo News! - November 10, 2007
Activists comfort dying dolphins
Full story: Japan TimesOpponents of Japan's annual dolphin slaughter have taken their campaign to a new level of confrontation by paddling into the bloody waters off a western killing cove to comfort animals moments before their deaths. Dave Rastovich, a champion pro surfer from Australia, led a group of fellow antiwhaling activists into the waters off Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, where 30 or so captured pilot whales - adults and calves - were being held in a netted enclosure for butchering, according to Richard O'Barry, of the United States, who helped coordinate the event. Pilot whales are a variety of dolphin.
Japan Times - November 3, 2007
A Thanksgiving prayer for mercy
Full story: American Chronicle, CA, USI have seen it all before but it still shocks me. The Humane Farming Association recently shot undercover video at an Ohio pig farm which shows animals living and dying in conditions far more horrifying than one finds in any torture camp. And what I am about to describe in this article is typical of the lives of the 10 billion 'food' animals raised for slaughter in America [and around the world] each year. Pigs with broken legs and broken backs; pigs with prolapsed vaginas and abscessed tumors; pigs crowded so closely together they cannot move or turn around, living in their own excrement... Like all other animals, pigs feel. Pigs are extremely aware, intelligent, conscious of their surroundings. This pile of what humans would call 'near dead meat' has watched what the men just did to one of their kind...
I want to end this piece with another undercover video, this one shot by Mercy for Animals in a North Carolina turkey slaughterhouse... From the unbearable condition under which they were raised, we see turkeys arriving at the slaughterhouse with bloody open wounds and huge infected tumors. Most don't even look like turkeys, but like grotesque monsters since they have been genetically engineered to grow too fast. Some of the birds have broken feet and wings and they desperately thrash around in blood on the floor... and when they are upside down, heading toward the blade that will slice off their heads, they struggle and struggle, for one last breath of life. No where in the slaughterhouse is there a moment of kindness, or a gentle touch, for these birds who feel so much as they die.
American Chronicle, CA, US - November 18, 2007
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Books, Movies and Perspectives
Get healthy - by eating chocolate!
Full story: Edmonton Journal, CanadaChocolate has come to be demonized as the key ingredient in sinful desserts such as devil's food cake. But for 95 per cent of its 3,000 year history, chocolate was considered a health food. It's actually very good for you and there's a growing body of research to back that up, says holistic nutrition practitioner Victoria Laine. Laine, who teaches healthy food preparation at NAIT [Northern Alberta Institute of Technology], has written a book Health By Chocolate, which shows how to get the benefits of raw cacao, or raw chocolate and the benefits of whole food ingredients, foods closest to their natural state... Laine is trying to improve chocolate's street cred by mixing it up with natural healthful sweeteners such as dried fruit - dates, prunes, apricots and avocados - that provide vitamins and minerals and fibre, a little maple syrup or honey, whole grain flours, nuts and seeds. And it still tastes good? "Oooooooh yes!" she says.
Edmonton Journal, Canada - November 18, 2007
An ocean without sharks? Scary
Full story: The Denver PostIt takes a few minutes - OK, the whole movie - to get over that first image we have of diver-filmmaker Rob Stewart in his inspiring and eye-opening documentary, " Sharkwater." The man is in his wetsuit, hugging a 10-foot-long shark. And the shark seems to like it. Not to worry, Stewart's film says. When they bite us, "it's a mistake." They think we're a seal, or a bait fish in the surf. And if we don't stop trying to wipe them out, we're going to pay the piper, as a planet, and soon. "Sharkwater" takes us to the last remaining refuges for sharks in the world, onto fishing boats where "shark finning" is practiced, providing billions of Chinese the gory ingredient for Shark's Fin Soup. We travel on board a Greenpeace ship as Stewart and a Sea Shepherd crew try to stop this wasteful butchery of the top predator in the ocean's food chain... Thanks to his sometimes gruesome, sometimes harrowing and often exuberant film, you will never look at sharks the same way again.
The Denver Post - November 1, 2007
Related:
Shark's fin de siècle Globe and Mail, Canada (November 17, 2007)
SavingSharks.com
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Of Note
Welcome to our sweet new sponsor!
Nutritionist Victoria Laine has written an amazing book that will endear her to chocolate lovers everywhere. HEALTH BY CHOCOLATE: radical new recipes and nutrition know-how features 40 mouth-watering recipes that are actually good for you - and easy to make. The photos alone have us licking our lips. Now that's a sponsor it's sweet to have!
Health by Chocolate
"What do you eat?"
The next time somebody asks you that question, tell them to check out the scrumptious menu for the Thanksgiving feast put on by the Triangle Vegetarian Society of North Carolina.
Triangle Vegetarian Society Thanksgiving 2007
Adopt a turkey
Celebrate the holidays a different way - adopt a turkey. Find out more about these gentle, inquisitive creatures at Farm Sanctuary. Choose your adoptee from the gallery of cuties on the website.
Adopt-A-Turkey Project
Inspiring documentary - A SACRED DUTY: Applying Jewish Values to Heal the World
Jewish Vegetarians of North America has produced a major documentary about how Jewish teachings can help address current environmental crises. Its universal message makes it appropriate for those of all beliefs. A SACRED DUTY speaks to people everywhere about the ethics of our relationship to our natural world and why it is imperative that we respond quickly to help shift our imperiled planet to a sustainable path.
A SACRED DUTY
Sharing friendship and views over a veggie meal
Three friends share their reflections and observations on vegetarianism and veganism over breakfast in A Veggie meal, a charming and informative documentary film by Stéphane Groleau, Sonia Delisle et Mathieu St-Jean, from Vegan Quebec. Their discussion is intercut with interviews with dieticians, celebrities and ordinary folks who share their experiences and advice. The website below includes a link to a YouTube excerpt.
A Veggie meal
Last, but not least: Happy third anniversary - to us!
To celebrate our third anniversary issue, we are pleased to introduce several new features. You can now easily find archive issues by clicking the "archives" tab at the top of each issue. We've added going veggie tips and delicious recipes, including many from celebrated chefs, to our website - just click the "recipes" tab. We're also pleased to introduce beautiful winter note cards, with seasonal vegan recipes on the back, as a thank you for contributions in support of VegE-News. Please take a look at the link below - they're perfect for holiday greetings.
VegE-News note cards
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