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The Vegan Lifestyle --- It's For Real!
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Monday, 6/2/08, 7p, McNail-Riley House, 601 W. 13th (at Jefferson), Eugene FREE - Map
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Martin Luther King taught us all nonviolence. I was told to extend nonviolence to the mother and her calf. - Dick Gregory
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The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. - Mohandas Gandhi
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2008 Animal Rights National Conference
8/14-18/08 -- Hilton Mark Center, Alexandria VA
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The 2008 Animal Rights National Conference is the world's oldest animal rights conference and this year will be the best yet! Highlights include 100 speakers, 60+ organizations, 80+ exhibits, 60+ videos, networking receptions, vegan food, and much more.
NW Animal Rights Conference
6/27-29/08
"Let Live" NW Animal Rights Conference
Portland State University
Animals belong to themselves, not to us. They should not suffer in our systems of food, science, entertainment and fashion. Instead, they should live free of the tyranny we put upon them. But they cannot claim this freedom alone. “Let Live”is a grassroots forum for people who want to help. Through an open, respectful, and friendly environment this conference will provide an opportunity for attendees to learn skills and strategies to become better advocates for the animals, no matter ones experience level in activism.
This conference is for first-timers, experienced activists, and anybody in between who hopes to make a real difference for animals and build a stronger, more effective community and animal liberation movement. This conference is for anybody who wants to live and let live.
“Let Live”is taking place in Portland, Oregon, June 27th-29th, 2008. It will be held this year on the campus of Portland State University. It is being organized by Vegans for Animal Advocacy, with support from No Compromise, Herbivore Magazine, and Food Fight Grocery. Much more info to come soon, please check back at their site often and subscribe to their blog to stay up to date. Any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with VAA. The hope to see you in June.
Vegetarian Summerfest 2008
6/18-22/08 - 2008 Vegetarian Summerfest - 34th Annual Conference of the North American Vegetarian Society
The event to fill you up:
Classes, cuisine, conversation and community for enlightened eaters!
Cutting Edge Educational Sessions on Health & Nutrition, Lifestyle Issues, Cooking, Recipes, Exercise, Fitness, Animal Rights, Compassionate Living, and Earth Stewardship.
Great Natural-Food, Vegan Meals prepared under the direction of International Gold Medal-winning chef Ken Bergeron.
Meet Others of Like Mind - Hundreds of attendees---all ages---and social gatherings for everyone---singles, couples and families.
www.vegetariansummerfest.org or 518-568-7970 to register or for more information.
The event vegetarians look forward to all year!
Eight Belles' Death Should Sound the End to Racing Cruelty
5/3/08 - In the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, Eight Belles ran for her life and was fiercely whipped as she came down the final stretch, when she was no doubt already in a great deal of pain. Like 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, she was destroyed because of her racing injuries, caused by the greed that motivates this dirty "sport."
No horse—and no animal—should suffer for the sake of someone's amusement.
Thoroughbreds: Drugged, Whipped, and Run to Death--Join PETA's Call for Congressional Hearings
Eight Belles' breakdown and euthanasia at the Kentucky Derby on May 3 has put the spotlight back on an industry that puts speed and profit first and leaves the horses in last place. In pursuit of cash prizes and hefty stud fees, some trainers and owners run horses too young, dose them with large quantities of drugs, order jockeys to whip them mercilessly, race horses when they're exhausted and lame, and sell them for slaughter when they can no longer turn a profit.
Farm Sanctuary Action Alert
Winning Update on the Trader Joe's Campaign
National grocery chain Trader Joe's took a step towards compassion this week, reducing their complicity in the cruel confinement of hens by a corporation Farm Sanctuary has targeted since 2005. After investigative footage obtained by Farm Sanctuary and the most recent undercover investigation by Mercy for Animals that exposed abhorrent and inexcusable cruelty administered by the egg farm Gemperle, Trader Joe's has finally decided to end the sale of eggs produced by this company. The retailer had previously cut Gemperle as a supplier for its own brand of eggs, but continued to offer eggs produced by Gemperle to its customers under other labels.
While this is a victory against one of the worst producers in agriculture, millions of other hens still suffer in cramped, barren wire battery cages, their conditions hidden behind closed doors. Now, we need to encourage Trader Joe's to take another, larger step forward and live up to their public image of a hip, responsible retailer. Please thank Trader Joe's for their recent decision to end purchases from Gemperle, and urge them to end all sales of eggs produced from battery caged hens.
You Can Help
Concerned consumers can let Trader Joe's know that selling eggs from battery-caged hens under any label supports animal cruelty. Ask Trader Joe's to continue to build upon its commitment to customer concerns by ceasing sales of all battery-cage eggs. Remind Trader Joe's that banning battery cage eggs puts them in the good company of almost 800,000 Californians who have signed petitions to place the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act on the California state ballot to ban some of the worst abuses in animal agriculture. Write to:
Dane Bane, CEO
Trader Joe's Company
800 South Shamrock Av
Monrovia, CA 91016
Phone: 626-599-3700
Fax: 626-301-4431
Or send an email to Trader Joe's.
Stopping all sales of eggs from caged chickens is the only way Trader Joe's can stop its complicity in battery cage cruelty and truly live up to its image as a supplier of wholesome food products.
Meat the Truth New Documentary
Meat the Truth world premiere, May 19, 2008, 10 am, Odeon West End cinema, London, Leicester Square.
See the massive impact of livestock farming on climate change.
Meat the Truth presented by Marianne Thieme, the world's very first Member of Parliament for the Party for the Animals in the Netherlands, has already been described by a Dutch newspaper as being better than Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. It is the very first documentary to address the relationship between livestock farming and climate change. The film is based on authoritative and influential scientific sources, which demonstrate that livestock farming is one of the most important causes of global warming. The conclusions reached by this Dutch production have already generated more societal debate than the underlying reports upon which it is based.
The livestock farming industry is responsible for the emission of more greenhouse gasses worldwide than all the cars, trains, boats and planes added together. The calculations used in the film derive from and have been verified by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the World Watch Institute and the Institute for Environmental Studies, Free University Amsterdam, and numerous other reliable scientific sources.
An Alalena production commissioned by the Nicolaas G. Pierson Foundation, the Foundation hopes that this film will make a valuable contribution to the societal discussion about the transition to a more plant-based diet and thus also a more humane society. Moreover, the Foundation also hopes that the film will provide a showcase for the important reports on livestock farming and climate change, which have thus far proved inaccessible to the general public.
Livestock farming creates major environmental problems: A reduction in meat consumption is inevitable.
Starring: Pamela Anderson, Bill Maher, James Cromwell, Emily Deschanel, Tony Denison, Esai Morales, Megan Blake, Debra Wilson Skelton, Elaine Hendrix, Kate Flannery, Carol Leifer, Joy Lauren, Hal Sparks, Constance Marie, Kristina Klebe, Skyler Gisondo, Graham Patrick Martin, Greg Vaughan, Touriya Haoud Vaughan, Wayne Pacelle, Howard Lyman, Henning Steinfeld, Matt Prescott, Harry Aiking, Danielle Nierenberg, David Davies, John Powles and many others!
Visit www.meatthetruth.com for more information.
Community Supported Agriculture
5/20/07 - Supporting Community and Local Agriculture
by Hilliard Gastfriend
For decades the United States has shifted away from traditional, sustainable agriculture and moved towards high-energy, artificially-fertilized, and petrochemical pesticide-based farming, primarily to allow for mega farms and other corporate farming practices. With the advent of industrial organic chemistry that mushroomed after WWII, many farmers embraced, or were encouraged to forgo, a number of traditional farming practices. Where farmers once rotated crops, left portions of fields fallow for a season, and depended upon natural fertilizers, they now plant mono crops and use herbicides and chemical fertilizers to increase their yields and artificially enrich their soil. But this gain of crop yields comes at a severe price: the erosion of topsoil and the increased risk of more powerful insect pests that requires increasingly large doses of herbicides in a never ending cycle.
SETA Brings San Jose Professor Dan Brook to UO
4/16/07 - Adopting a vegetarian diet is better at preventing global warming than driving a fuel-efficient car, said San Jose State University sociology professor Dan Brook in a lecture Monday.
Speaking as a guest invited by Students for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Brook stressed that the practices of the international meat and dairy industry are the leading cause of greenhouse gases, which consequently result in global warming. He also cited a few sketchy statistics, the Emerald has found. To prevent these greenhouse gases, Brook said that individual consumers can make a huge difference where government and industry have not.
"Every time you buy something, you're saying 'I support this process; I vote for it,'" he said. "Every time you purchase a hamburger, you're saying 'I support the meat industry, I support global warming,'"
Global Warming May Put U.S. in Hot Water
4/16/07 - As the world warms, water - either too little or too much of it - is going to be the major problem for the United States, scientists and military experts said Monday. It will be a domestic problem, with states clashing over controls of rivers, and a national security problem as water shortages and floods worsen conflicts and terrorism elsewhere in the world, they said.
Tofu Haiku Poetry Contest
NEW TOFU HAIKU POETRY CONTEST IS DELICIOUS!
TORONTO: Hungry poets/ a new challenge sprouts/ in the spring grass.
The Tofu Haiku poetry contest is a celebration of the classical
poetic form of haiku, and the ancient culinary marvel known as tofu. Hosted by the Toronto Vegetarian Association, the contest will be judged by some well-known members of North America's literary and
vegetarian communities.
Deadline for entries is May 21, 2007. Winning submissions will receive tofu-related clothing, publications, and food products. The best Tofu Haiku will be published on tofuhaiku.com.
Founded in 1945, the Toronto Vegetarian Association is the largest city-based vegetarian organization in North America. Its mission is to inspire people to choose a healthier, greener, more peaceful lifestyle. For more information visit www.tofuhaiku.com or call 416-544-9800.
Morningstar Cruelty
3-21-07 - Ask Morningstar to Cut Out Cruelty
Use of eggs from battery hens in vegetarian foods sparks national campaign
Too often, the dark side of vegetarian foods is that some contain ingredients like dairy or eggs that cause animals to suffer. Advocacy groups are calling on consumers nationwide to urge vegetarian food maker Morningstar Farms to remove battery cage raised hen eggs from its foods, bringing ethical integrity to products often seen as a cruelty-free substitutes to meat. Read More at: www.idausa.org/vegandays/feature_070321.html
Wolfgang Puck Campaign Victory
3-22-07 - Farm Sanctuary campaigns woke Wolfgang Puck to the cruelty in his restaurants, and the renowned chef responded. Off the list are crated veal and foie gras; on the list are fine vegetarian options.
After being alerted to the cruelty involved in several of his offerings, Wolfgang Puck removed foie gras and crated veal from the menus of all of his businesses, including his fine dining restaurants; catering and events services; franchises; and store shelf products. The chef is also implementing a series of other animal welfare improvements to be completed by the end of 2007, and expanding his offerings of animal-free meals.
Farm Sanctuary is very pleased that a chef of Wolfgang Puck's stature has taken such important steps away from factory farming by refusing to purchase or offer products derived from several egregious practices. His decision reflects a growing wave of concern about the way farm animals are treated. More at www.wolfgangpuckcruelty.org/alert_3-21.htm
Help Prevent Horse Slaughter
The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S. 311) was recently reintroduced to both chambers of Congress. There is strong support for this bill, which came very close to success last year thanks to your efforts. Please act now to help renew the momentum for this legislation and ensure that it is enacted in 2007.
Your calls and letters are currently needed to your U.S. Representative and your two U.S. Senators to ensure that this important bill achieves victory, and America’s horses are finally afforded the protection they deserve.
Please contact your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators today! We are closer than ever to ending this abuse of our nation’s horses. Your actions will help make history and save their lives.
UO-Cage-free Eggs
At UO, new eggs buy freedom
By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard
Published: Sunday, February 4, 2007
The chicken liberation front landed squarely in Eugene on Saturday when advocates pushed University of Oregon students to pay a 20 percent premium on their dining hall omelettes - all in the name of freeing chickens from cage-bound lives.
The dorm-based Fire n' Spice food service began this term offering students a $1 upgrade for meals made with eggs from a speciality supplier that allows chickens room to roam, preen and do other chickenlike things.
They deserve better lives, said Monica Kerslake, a second-year law student and founder of the Student Animal Defense Fund. The group hopes to encourage students to opt for the more expensive eggs.
"All beings on this Earth have feelings, feel pain and suffer," she said. "Chickens are highly intelligent animals and they don't want to suffer or feel pain or die - just as much as we don't want to."
Marcho Farms to Phase Out Veal Crates
Last week, Smithfield, the world’s largest pig farming operation, announced plans to phase out gestation crates. This week, Marcho Farms, one of the largest U.S. veal companies announced plans to phase out veal crates. In 2002, Farm Sanctuary investigated and exposed conditions at Marcho Farms, and pressured the company to make changes.
It is significant that Smithfield and Marcho Farms have now changed course. Previously, they were both strong proponents of keeping animals in narrow crates. The industry’s back flip on these confinement issues begs the question: what else are pigs, calves and other farm animals rightfully entitled to? Deadpile at Marcho Farms, 2002.
These changes show that as citizens, restaurants and other businesses become aware of agribusiness’s cruelties, they will demand reforms. This was apparent last November when citizens in the state of Arizona voted overwhelming on Proposition 204 to ban veal and gestation crates.
PCRM Takes Action on MCW's Dog Lab
PCRM Takes Action as Medical College of Wisconsin's Dog Lab Draws Near
PCRM has stepped up our efforts to stop the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) from killing 60 dogs in a first-year physiology course later this month and end the use of animals in this course for good. PCRM sponsored a billboard in Milwaukee that gained the attention of local residents and the press, and held a protest along with the Wisconsin Humane Society outside the school.
“Don’t put man’s best friend under the knife.” That was the message of the billboard erected above Milwaukee’s Zoo Freeway urging motorists to help save the 60 dogs slated to be killed by MCW. The billboard also directed passersby to a new PCRM Web site–www.SaveMCWAnimals.org–that has complete information about the class and humane alternatives.
Vegetarian Lunch Line
High school opens vegetarian lunch line
ATLANTA (Associated Press) - Miriam Archibong remembers the food offerings her high school cafeteria used to serve for vegetarians: bland salads and greasy cheese pizza.
But salads are “not sufficient to survive,” she says. “Cheese pizza — that’s not healthy because of all that grease.”
Archibong often brought her own food, lunching on applesauce, carrots and water. Finally, she and other vegetarians at Grady High School demanded — and won — some changes two years ago.
Today, Grady High has a separate vegetarian lunch line with a menu as varied as veggie eggrolls, pasta salad, vegetarian pizza and sloppy joes made of tofu.
“My favorite thing was the veggie burger. It was so good,” said Archibong, who graduated in 2005 and now is pursuing more vegetarian options at her new school — Spelman College, an all-girls and historically black school, also in Atlanta.
For years, school cafeterias have tried to please students with vegetarian offerings. The American School Food Service Association says more than a third of U.S. high schools have meatless items that include salads and cheese pizza.
Stop Cruel Dog Lab!
Dear PCRM supporter,
PCRM urgently needs your help to stop a cruel and unnecessary live dog lab scheduled to take place the week of January 29 at the New York Medical College. First-year medical students who participate in this physiology lab will use dogs purchased from Class B animal dealers, who often acquire animals through theft and deception and are known to sell lost and stolen cats and dogs to researchers.
Please make polite phone calls to Ralph A. OConnell, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine at 914-594-4900 and Gabor Kaley, Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Physiology, at 914-594-4087 and ask them to immediately cancel this course and implement humane alternatives. You can also automatically send them an e-mail or fax them at the numbers below:
CONTACT:
Ralph A. O' Connell, M.D.
Dean, School of Medicine
Administrative Building
New York Medical College
Valhalla, N Y 10595
Phone: 914-594-4900
Fax: 914-594-4145
oconnell@nymc.edu
Gabor Kaley, Ph.D.
Chairman, Department of Physiology
Basic Sciences Building
New York Medical College
Valhalla, NY 10595
Phone: 914-594-4087
Fax: 914-594-4018
Gabor_Kaley@nymc.edu
Please forward the e-mail to your friends and family and ask them to contact the school as well.
Twenty years ago, live dogs were commonly used in physiology, pharmacology, and surgery classes at medical schools. A standard lab involved anesthetizing the dogs, followed by injecting pharmaceuticals or practicing surgical techniques. After the class, the dogs were killed.
Today, the New York Medical College is one of just two medical schools that continue to use live dogs in physiology courses. Fortunately, more than 85 percent of U.S. medical schools have recognized that there is no need for students to train on live animals to beco me successful physicians and have eliminated live animal labs from their curriculum altogether. Innovations in medical simulation technology, availability of alternatives, increased awareness of ethical concerns, and a growing acknowledgement that medical training must be human-focused have facilitated this shift.
Learn more about live animal labs and what you can do to help end them. If you have any questions, please contact me at rmerkley@pcrm.org or 202-686-2210, ext 336. Thank you so much for your help.
Best regards,
Ryan Merkley
Research Program Coordinator
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary - Salem, Oregon
All of us at the Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary have some very exciting news to share. We are in the process of securing our own permanent home. After just 4 1/2 years, your generous support has put us into the position of being the only non-profit farm animal sanctuary in Oregon to have the land capable of providing immediate comfort and care for farm animals. Unfortunately, we have to ask for your help once again. The financial institution wants us to better demonstrate our income stream or long term income. Please contact us at: www.lighthousefarmsanctuary.org. We don't want any of you to possibly miss this opportunity to support the Sanctuary.
We probably don't say this enough, but we are very grateful for your support and appreciate all you do for us. Your generosity tells us you want us to continue to the next level of expanding our current or new programs and services. Now is the time!
Thanks to all who have responded so far!
Warmest regards,
Wayne S. Geiger, President
Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary
P.O. Box 5415
Salem, OR 97304
503-581-0122
Proposition 204
Victory! Voters pass proposition 204 - ABUSIVE FACTORY FARMING PRACTICES BANNED IN ARIZONA. On November 7, 2006, Arizonans voted overwhelmingly, by 62 percent, in favor of Proposition 204, to ban the cruel and intensive confinement of veal calves and pregnant pigs on industrialized factory farms. This new law will finally allow these animals enough room to turn around and stretch their limbs.
www.farmsanctuary.org/actionalerts/alert_AZ_initiative.htm
Foie Gras
Foie gras - Chicago has become the first U.S. city to ban the sale of foie gras, the fatty liver of ducks and geese produced by force feeding. The city council passed the measure with a 48:1 vote. Effective in 90 days, food dispensing establishments, retail outlets and restaurants selling foie gras will be subject to a fine of up to $500 per day. In 2004, California became the first state to ban the sale and production of foie gras, but it will not go into effective until 2012. Other states considering legislation against foie gras are Illinois, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon. Countries that have taken action against foie gras include the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. France, however, claims it to be part of its "cultural and gastronomic partimony." The Sun Times article tells of the politics involved in the Chicago ban. April 2006 – United Poultry Concerns
www.upc-online.org/ducks/42806foiegras.html
Make a New Year’s Resolution to join the Say No to Foie Gras Campaign!
Activists have helped make great strides in 2006 by educating the public about the extreme cruelty involved in foie gras production, as well as making legislative history in Chicago. However, the powerful and wealthy foie gras industry and their supporters are fighting back hard. Please renew your commitment to ending this cruel and unnecessary animal product by making 2007 the year that gets foie gras off more menus and into more laws!
www.nofoiegras.org/FGhelp.htm
Reversing Diabetes
Reversing Diabetes with a Low-Fat Diet – Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
The first session of Food for Life Diabetes online series has been completed. This exciting new series offers education on diet and diabetes, along with group support. The classes feature lectures by PCRM president Dr. Neal Barnard and cooking demonstrations by PCRM nutritionist Dulcie Ward, R.D. You can view the entire session via video archives and download PowerPoint presentations of all the classes at http://diabetes.pcrm.org
Victory Against Animal Testing
PCRM Scores New Victory Against Animal Testing – Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
PCRM toxicologists are working to stop the cruel deaths of millions of animals who are poisoned, dissected, and killed each year in government-sanctioned tests on industrial chemicals…Recently, the team was able to persuade Rhodia, a French chemical company, to forgo a series of cruel reproductive and genetic toxicity tests it had planned for 1,340 rats. In one test, the company proposed to force-feed the animals a chemical mixture used in the production of agricultural chemicals and then kill and dissect the animals after they’d each had one litter of pups—to look for damages to the animals’ reproductive organs. Megha Even, M.S., was able to convince the company and the EPA that existing data provided enough information about the potential effects the chemical mixture has on reproductive parameters. It took nearly a year of public comments and phone calls, but the company finally agreed to forgo the tests. By pushing chemical manufacturers and government regulators, the PCRM team blocks many such tests.
Without PCRM providing the scientific scrutiny necessary to monitor the EPA and the chemical industry, thousands of animals would die unnecessarily each year.
www.pcrm.org/newsletter/nov05/animal_testing.html