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In this edition...
Health |
 | High dairy in childhood linked with cancer risk |
| | We are what we eat |
| | Vegans seek grilled meat warning |
| | Legumes linked to lower diabetes risk |
| | Bird flu may be spread indirectly, WHO says |
Environment |
| | Lifestyle changes can curb climate change: UN science panel chief |
| | World Bank backs cattle ranching, helps cut down Amazon forest. |
| | Empty seas: Europe's appetite for seafood propels illegal trade
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| | Update: Rescued pademelons reach home
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Lifestyles and Trends |
| | Why not give a vegetarian diet a try for the New Year? |
| | Cutting down on meat is on an upswing |
| | It's healthy! Shhh ... Don't tell the kids |
| | US approves animal clones as food |
Animal Issues and Advocacy |
| | Animal rights group targets KFC |
| | Taiwan law takes bite out of dog meat sales |
| | Peter Singer on Japanese whaling: Harpooned by hypocrisy |
| | UK film reveals the true cost of cheap chicken |
| | Chefs' new goal: Looking dinner in the eye |
Books, Movies and Perspectives |
| | Still skinny, but now they can cook |
| | An interview with the force behind thought-provoking film "A Sacred Duty" |
| | Learning to eat, and like, his veggies |
Of Note |
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(Excerpts are included from current news stories. Click on the "Full story" link to read the full article.)
Health 
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High dairy in childhood linked with cancer risk
Full story: Reuters
Children who consume high levels of diary products may have a greater risk of developing colorectal cancer in adulthood, study findings suggest. Among nearly 5,000 individuals followed for an average of 65 years, those who grew up in families reporting the highest levels of dairy consumption - nearly 2 cups per day - had close to three-times the risk of colorectal cancer compared with those from families reporting the lowest intake. Nearly all, 94 per cent, of the dairy products came from drinking milk, they report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. An increased risk of colorectal cancer among those who consumed the highest amounts of dairy during childhood was still seen after the investigators adjusted the data for potentially influential factors such as meat, fruit, and vegetable consumption; and socioeconomic status.
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Reuters - December 20, 2007
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Related:
Meta-analysis adds weight to soy's bone benefits
NutraIngredients, Europe (December 19, 2007)
Young women's bones also benefit from soy: study
NutraIngredients, Europe (January 18, 2008)
Soy's cholesterol-lowering mechanism identified
NutraIngredients, Europe (January 17, 2008)
We are what we eat
Full story: The Western Star, NF, Canada
It brings me great amusement when I receive commendations from people when I tell them that I haven't eaten at McDonalds in the last year. I think it speaks volumes about the regard that we, as a society, have for ourselves. "Hey! I haven't swallowed any spare change in the last year!" "Great job! Keep up the good work!" Initially I stopped eating there because of corporate disgust and distrust and that I stopped eating meat - McDonalds being the world's most notorious leader in both beef consumption and dodgy corporate practices. The aversion to the peer franchises of McDonald's quickly followed. A few months ago, I made the miserable but healthy and successful transition from vegetarian to vegan. Turns out I'm doing myself a world of good. My colon has never felt better... Now I'm starting to understand some of the long-terms benefits of avoiding these products that, by a valuable coincidence, contain most of the ingredients that kill people, but not before making them obese.
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The Western Star, NF, Canada - December 8, 2007
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Vegans seek grilled meat warning
Full story: Reuters
A vegan group is trying to force U.S. restaurant chains to warn California consumers about a cancer-causing chemical that forms in grilled meat, using a state law designed to protect consumers from toxins in drinking water. The state's restaurant lobby said the legal consequences of the suit are "dire" and fears a defeat could endanger consumers or force restaurants to take chicken off the menu... "Every day when a parent ... cooks chicken at home for their children they are trying to be health conscious," [Dan Kinburn, attorney for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine] said. "We think if people knew there were carcinogens in grilled chicken they would not choose it as a healthy alternative."
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Reuters - January 17, 2008
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Legumes linked to lower diabetes risk
Full story: NutraIngredients, Europe
An increased intake of legumes like peanuts and soybeans could reduce the risk of developing type-2 diabetes by over 40 per cent, suggests a new study. The dietary habits of over 64,000 women were assessed and correlated with the development of type-2 diabetes over about five years, and a high intake of all legumes was associated with a 38 per cent reduction in risk of developing the disease, report researchers in [January's] American Journal of Clinical Nutrition... while a high intake of soybeans was associated with a 47 per cent reduction in risk... Late last year, researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst reported that soy yoghurts could play an important role in the management of type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure.
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NutraIngredients, Europe - January 8, 2008
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Related:
Vegan diet to control diabetes
The Hindu, India (January 12, 2008) (November 22, 2007)
Doctors say drug warning label should tout vegan diet
Diabetes Health (January 15, 2008)
Bird flu may be spread indirectly, WHO says
Full story: Yahoo! News
The H5N1 bird flu virus may sometimes stick to surfaces or get kicked up in fertilizer dust to infect people, according to a World Health Organization report published on [January 16]. The WHO team reviewed all known human cases of avian influenza, which has infected 350 people in 14 countries and killed 217 of them since 2003, and found that 25 per cent of cases have no explanation. Most are passed directly from bird to people, they noted in their report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. And very rarely one person can infect another - always close relatives via intimate physical contact.
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Yahoo! News - January 17, 2008
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Related:
India: WHO says bird flu crisis very serious
Times Now TV, India (January 17, 2008)
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| Environment
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Lifestyle changes can curb climate change: UN science panel chief
Full story: AFP
Don't eat meat, ride a bike, and be a frugal shopper - that's how you can help brake global warming, the head of the United Nation's Nobel Prize-winning scientific panel on climate change said [January 15]. The 2007 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), issued last year, highlights "the importance of lifestyle changes," said Rajendra Pachauri at a press conference in Paris. "This is something that the IPCC was afraid to say earlier, but now we have said it." A vegetarian, the Indian economist made a plea for people around the world to tame their carnivorous impulses. "Please eat less meat - meat is a very carbon intensive commodity," he said, adding that consuming large quantities was also bad for one's health.
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World Bank backs cattle ranching, helps cut down Amazon forest.
Full story: Independent, UK
The World Bank has emerged as one of the key backers behind an explosion of cattle ranching in the Amazon, which new research has identified as the greatest threat to the survival of the rainforest. Ranching has grown by half in the last three years, driven by new industrial slaughterhouses which are being constructed in the Amazon basin with the help of the World Bank. The revelation flies in the face of claims from the bank that it is funding efforts to halt deforestation and reduce the massive greenhouse gas emissions it causes.
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Independent, UK - January 13, 2008
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Empty seas: Europe's appetite for seafood propels illegal trade
Full story: New York Times
Walking at the Brixton market among the parrotfish, doctorfish and butterfish, Effa Edusie is surrounded by pieces of her childhood in Ghana. Caught the day before far off the coast of West Africa, they have been airfreighted to London for dinner. Ms. Edusie's relatives used to be fishermen. But no more. These fish are no longer caught by Africans. On the underside of the waterlogged brown cardboard box that holds the snapper is the improbable red logo of the China National Fisheries Corporation, one of the largest suppliers of West African fish to Europe. Europe's dinner tables are increasingly supplied by global fishing fleets, which are depleting the world's oceans to feed the ravenous consumers who have become the most effective predators of fish... "We've acted as if the supply of fish was limitless and it's not," said Steve Trent, executive director of the Environmental Justice Foundation.
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New York Times - January 15, 2008
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Update: Rescued pademelons reach home
Full story: IPS
Papua, Indonesia - When Hendrik and Hesty flew into the local airport here, they were given a ceremonial welcome with Papuan warriors in full battle regalia hopping about to the tune of traditional martial music... the cynosure of all eyes was Hendrik and Hesty, rescued from the clutches of wildlife traders four years ago, and their extended family of 21 Papuan dusky pademelon, being returned to their natural habitat on Indonesian Papua... Trade in wild animals is a serious threat to Indonesia's biodiversity. The total value of Indonesia's illegal animal trade is unknown, but animal activists say hundreds of creatures are sold each month despite protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
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More good news:
Congress guarantees sanctuary for retired medical research chimps
Environmental News Network/Jane Goodall Institute (January 1, 2008)
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| Lifestyles and Trends
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Why not give a vegetarian diet a try for the New Year?
Full story: Huffington Post
The New Year is upon us, and at PETA, we're encouraging people to, for their new year's resolution, give a healthy vegetarian diet a try... Of course, a vegetarian diet is also the best diet for the environment and animals. I grew up in Minnesota and Oklahoma, and when I was first presented with the idea of not eating meat, it sounded to me about as plausible as not breathing oxygen. But upon further examination, I came to see that my progressive ideology requires of me an openness to new and challenging ideas, even if they strike at the foundation of my existence - what I eat.
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Huffington Post - December 30, 2007
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Related:
I think; therefore, I don't eat meat
OpEdNews (January 3, 2008)
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Cutting down on meat is on an upswing
Full story: Toronto Star, Canada
If there's one sure sign that vegetarianism has moved from the margins to the mainstream in Toronto, it must surely be the arrival of offal-free haggis... Kathleen Farley, a vegetarian since 1991 and executive director of the Toronto Vegetarian Association, estimates there are at least 100,000 vegetarians in the city. She figures that number is probably rising due to a herbivore synergy that goes something like: the more ubiquitous vegetarian products and dining become, the more people will be open to trying them, and the more people who embrace the lifestyle, the more demand for products and meals. "Our organization has grown exponentially over the last 60 years," says Farley. "The public face of vegetarianism - hippies from the 1970s - doesn't work any more. The reality is that vegetarianism is on a world scale; it's hugely prevalent, especially in a diverse city like Toronto."
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Toronto Star, Canada - January 13, 2008
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It's healthy! Shhh ... Don't tell the kids
Full story: Longmont Times-Call, CO, US
When Amy Bonfiglio serves Thai Peanut Noodles to preschool children, no one complains. "They love it," said Bonfiglio, chef for The BellaVita School, a private preschool in Longmont. What's unusual, Bonfiglio said, is that even picky kids will eat it, even though the recipe includes what parents think of as "non kid-friendly foods," such as broccoli, tofu and black sesame seeds. The trick is to introduce unusual foods to kids slowly, make it fun and use familiar names for the foods, she said. All of Bonfiglio's school lunches are heavy on vegetables. The school serves only vegan foods, and most of the food served is organic, she said.
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Longmont Times-Call, CO, US - December 12, 2007
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Related:
Fast food in schools fuels the obesity epidemic
Press & Sun-Bulletin, NY (December 17, 2007)
US approves animal clones as food
Full story: BBC
The US government has given the green light to the production and marketing of foods derived from cloned animals. After six years of study, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that meat and milk from cloned pigs, cattle and goats and their offspring is safe. The agency was criticised by activist groups and by US politicians who were not convinced that enough scientific data was available to justify a decision... The EU has indicated that if products from cloned animals were approved, they would have to be labelled.
This contrasts directly with the US position.
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Related:
EU food-safety agency backs products from cloned animals
Wall Street Journal (January 12, 2008)
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| Animal Issues and Advocacy
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Animal rights group targets KFC
Full story: McGill Daily, Montreal, Canada
Flanked by animal rights activists, a Concordia Animal Rights' Association (CARA) organizer dressed as a chicken vied against Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Lucas Solowey, who represents CARA, claims that the factory farms and slaughterhouses that supply KFC with poultry often subject the birds to sadistic and unnecessary cruelty. "KFC suppliers cram birds into huge waste-filled factories, breed and drug them to grow so large that they can't even walk, and often break their wings and legs," Solowey said. "At slaughter, the birds' throats are slit and they are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water - often while they are still conscious." Solowey said that now is the appropriate time to pressure KFC; it is reported that the company is considering conforming to industry standards by gassing their chickens before putting them into scalding water. KFC has 11,000 restaurants in 80 countries around the world. It serves over 850 million chickens each year.
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McGill Daily, Montreal, Canada - December 3, 2007
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Taiwan law takes bite out of dog meat sales
Full story: Reuters
Taiwan legislators passed a law that calls for fines of up to $250,000 (3,825 pounds) on sellers of dog meat, a winter staple once popular in military units, as part of a broader animal rights push. Under growing pressure from animal rights groups concerned about cruelty to pets and government inaction, parliament approved the fines as part of its Animal Protection Act, according to media and a supportive legislator. "We think eating dog is a brutal act," said legislator Chang Hsien-yao, policy director with People First Party. "Animal abuse cases have sparked concern from rights groups, and protection of animals hasn't been done adequately."
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Reuters - December 15, 2007
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Related:
Sri Lanka: Buddhist monks' party tables Animal Welfare Bill
Asian Tribune (November 3, 2007)
Zimbabwe unveils plans to slaughter excess elephants for dried meat
Earthtimes.org (January 4, 2009)
Peter Singer on Japanese whaling: Harpooned by hypocrisy
Full story: Guardian, UK
Until western states treat all animals ethically, the case against the whalers will always be weakened. Whales cannot be humanely killed: they are too large - even with explosive harpoons it is difficult to hit the right spot. And because whalers are reluctant to use large amounts of explosive, which would destroy valuable oil or flesh, harpooned whales typically die slowly and painfully. If there were some life-or-death need that humans could meet only by killing whales, perhaps the ethical case could be countered. But everything we get from whales can be obtained without cruelty elsewhere. Thus, whaling is unethical... [Japan has] one argument that is not easily dismissed. They claim that western countries are just trying to impose their cultural beliefs on the Japanese. But western nations are in a weak position to [respond], because they inflict so much unnecessary suffering on animals - through culling (the Australian slaughter of kangaroos), hunting and factory farms. The west will have little defence against the charge of cultural bias until it addresses needless animal suffering in its own back yard.
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Guardian, UK - January 19, 2008
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UK film reveals the true cost of cheap chicken
Full story: Independent, UK
A covertly filmed video of factory-farmed chickens struggling to walk and enduring distressing and unnatural conditions is set to ignite a growing campaign to improve the lives of Britain's 800 million "broiler" chickens. The animal welfare group Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) shot the film at a farm which supplies meat to the country's leading supermarkets to illustrate the grim life inside chicken "coops" designed for 25,000 to 50,000 birds. The RSPCA called on supermarkets to stop selling mass-produced standard chickens, whose lives are short, featureless and often racked with pain. [Watch the CIWF video at the full story link.]
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Independent, UK - January 4, 2008
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Chefs' new goal: Looking dinner in the eye
Full story: New York Times
Last Friday [January 12], in front of 4 million television viewers and a studio audience, the chef Jamie Oliver killed a chicken. Having recently obtained a United Kingdom slaughterman's license, Mr. Oliver staged a "gala dinner," in fact a kind of avian snuff film, to awaken British consumers to the high costs of cheap chicken. "A chicken is a living thing, an animal with a life cycle, and we shouldn't expect it will cost less than a pint of beer in a pub," he said in an interview. Mr. Oliver said that he wanted people to confront the reality that eating any kind of meat involves killing an animal, even if it is done with a minimum of pain. How far will chefs go to display their empathy and respect for the animals they cook? All the way, it seems, to the barnyard and the slaughterhouse.
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New York Times - January 16, 2008
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Related:
Why can't James just tell us to eat less meat?
Daily Mail, UK (January 12, 2008)
Quote: According to the ethical farming champions, we should all spend more for better-cared-for animals. Yet isn't the answer to encourage us to eat fewer of these foul fowl in the first place? Which saintly chef is going to do that? Or are they all too chicken?
UK poultry farmers hit out at battery hen ban
NutraIngredients, Europe (January 11, 2008)
McDonald's seeks improved animal welfare in UK
Environmental News Network (January 4, 2008)
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| Books, Movies and Perspectives
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Still skinny, but now they can cook
Full story: New York Times
Skinny Bitch, a diet book that is political, profane, passionately pro-animal rights - and hard-core vegan to boot - was published in 2005 and sold more than 850,000 copies. With its drawing of a svelte "Sex and the City" type on the cover, Skinny Bitch looked like a beach read, but it read like boot camp. The authors, Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman, dressed readers down for following low-fat and low-carb diets, drinking diet soda, entrusting their health to the [government], and most of all for ignoring the miserable realities of the American meat and dairy industries. Now, the book's peculiar combination of girl power, tough love and gross-out tales from the slaughterhouse has been translated to the kitchen [in their new cookbook] Skinny Bitch in the Kitch. They [hired a consultant to create the recipes but] say they came up with the list of just over 100 recipes and wrote the headnotes, such as: "'Chicken' Noodle Soup: Just like Mom used to make - minus the pieces of decomposing, rotting chicken carcass." [Find it at the VegE-Store.]
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New York Times - January 2, 2008
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An interview with the force behind thought-provoking film "A Sacred Duty"
Full story: IVU/EVANA
[Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, President of Jewish Vegetarians of North America, is an author of several books and the associate producer of the documentary "A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Help Heal the World."] Interviewer: Does the film address mainly the Jewish community or does it offer vibrant messages to everyone of good will? Answer: Although it has a Jewish perspective, "A Sacred Duty" speaks to people everywhere about the ethics of our relationship to the natural world in which we live. The movie's universal message will appeal to anyone interested in such topics as religion, vegetarianism, the environment, health, nutrition, hunger, resource usage and collaboration to help heal our planet. The movie may be said to be like Levy's Jewish Rye bread - you do not have to be Jewish to appreciate it. [Read the whole interview to experience the passion of Rabbi Schwartz and watch the film on You Tube - click on the link at www.asacredduy.com. Find books by Dr. Schwartz at the VegE-Store.]
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IVU/EVANA - January, 2008
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Learning to eat, and like, his veggies
Full story: Philadelphia Inquirer
In this winter of discontent, the ice caps melting, the campaigning permanent, an odd epilogue arises in the kitchen, late the scene of a glistening holiday pork roast, neatly tied on the ribs, succulent and reassuring at the table. It is as if some saturation point has been reached - weeks of consuming gravy-dipped sandwiches of prime beef sliced from a bar's mammoth steamship round, and tender filet at a wedding buffet, and pork loin with the weinkraut that the butcher, imports in big, yellow cans from Germany. So I turn resolutely to a virgin cookbook on my shelf, Veganomicon by name. And in it, past the paeans to veganism and right-living and self-congratulation, I find a recipe for walnut-mushroom pate, which is introduced thus: "Our friend Paula brought this classy pate to a New Year's Eve party and we seriously couldn't stop freaking out due to its lush texture and complex, savory flavor..." For the new year, it dawns, why not give it a whirl. [Find it at the VegE-Store.]
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Philadelphia Inquirer - January 20, 2008
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| Of Note
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Vegging in Mexico
Luxury and respect for the environment go hand in hand at Balamku Inn on the Beach, located in an unspoiled part of the Mayan Riviera. We've heard the breakfasts - vegan on request - are amazing! Veggie meals are also available at the restaurants in nearby Mahahual.
www.balamku.com
New traditional Québecois recipes on VegE-News
We recently had the fun of working with a group from the Montreal Vegetarain Tasters to veganize traditional Quebecois cuisine for a group of seniors, who were pleasantly surprised by the tasty results. Type "French-Canadian" into the search box to find the recipes!
www.vege-news.com
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Note:
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