It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. Do what you can.
Sidney Smith
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In this edition...
Health |
 More fruit, more veggies, more happy |
| The chronic disease food remedy - how plants work |
| Eating meat/dairy products linked to early puberty |
| Increased flavonoid intake reduced risk for aggressive prostate cancer |
Environment and World Hunger |
| Irreversible warming will cause sea levels to rise for thousands of years to come: New research |
| How the world's oceans could be running out of fish |
| Eat less meat, tread more lightly on the Earth |
| Would you eat lab-grown burgers? |
Lifestyles and Trends |
| Veg experiences: A deli owner's vegan journey |
| Aussie restaurants embrace meat-free |
| Disease and drought curb meat production and consumption |
| Veg celebs: One on on with actor and animal activist Bob Barker |
| New age vegetarians in China |
Animal Issues and Advocacy |
| What's wrong with dairy? Undercover video shows cows beaten at dairy farm |
| What does 'free range' really mean for your eggs? |
| Costa Rica fully bans shark fin trade |
| EU puts foie gras controversy back on the table |
| Animal sentience: Whale learns to mimic human speech |
Books and Perspectives |
| The book that changed the world |
| Animal cruelty makes 'a morally unsafe world for human beings' |
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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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More fruit, more veggies, more happy
Full story: Everyday Health
Feeling blue? Perhaps you need more reds, greens, and yellows in your diet. According to a new study from the University of Warwick and Dartmouth College, upping your fruit and veggie intake to seven servings daily from the typically recommended five servings promotes happiness and improved mental health. Researchers studied the dietary habits of 80,000 people in Britain and surveyed participants on life satisfaction, mental well-being, history or presence of mental disorders, nervousness, feelings of depression, and personal self-reported health and happiness. As subjects' daily intake of fruits and vegetables increased, so did their sense of happiness and well-being. The dose-dependent pattern peaked at seven servings per day; eating more yielded no additional mood enhancement.
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Everyday Health - October 11
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The chronic disease food remedy - how plants work
Full story: Food Technology Magazine
Thousands of years ago, Greek physician Hippocrates concluded that good health was inextricably linked to the types of food humans consumed: "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." Diets high in saturated fats and added sugars, low in fiber, high in refined grains and animal products, and low in plant foods are contributing factors to many noncommunicable chronic diseases - in particular, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Cultures that have resisted the lure of unhealthy dietary habits, however, have low or no incidence of disease and disability. But why is the interaction between the bioactive compounds in plant foods and the genes embedded within human cells so advantageous and what do they do?
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Food Technology Magazine - October
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Eating meat/dairy products linked to early puberty
Full story: FoodConsumer
Parents need to worry about this: early puberty in their children, which can not only negatively affect their social life, but also their health. Among other things, early puberty is associated with high risk of hormone-related cancers like prostate cancer and breast cancer. A new study in Journal of Nutrition suggests that eating too much meat and dairy product or in other words, high animal protein promotes early puberty while eating vegetable protein may promote late puberty.
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FoodConsumer - October 20
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Increased flavonoid intake reduced risk for aggressive prostate cancer
Full story: Examiner.com
Attention men: Your diet may play a role in protection from prostate cancer. Studies have shown adopting a vegetarian, low-fat diet may lower the risk for a highly aggressive form of the disease. Susan Steck PhD MPH RD, of the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina and colleagues studied data collected from 920 African-American men and 977 white men in the North Carolina-Louisiana Prostate Cancer Project who were newly diagnosed with prostate cancer. Men who consumed the highest intake of flavonoid-containing foods (ie, fruits, vegetables, herbs and tea) had a 25% lower risk for aggressive prostate cancer compared with men who consumed the lowest amount of the plant-based compounds. The consumption of plants even protected men who were smokers, another risk factor for many types of cancer.
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Examiner.com - October 22
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| Environment and World Hunger
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Irreversible warming will cause sea levels to rise for thousands of years to come: New research
Full story: Science Daily
Greenhouse gas emissions up to now have triggered an irreversible warming of Earth that will cause sea levels to rise for thousands of years to come, new research has shown. The results come from a study which sought to model sea-level changes over millennial timescales, taking into account all of Earth's land ice and the warming of the oceans - something which has not been done before.
Read more... |
Science Daily - October 2
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How the world's oceans could be running out of fish
Full story: BBC, UK
It has been some time since most humans lived as hunter-gatherers - with one important exception. Fish are the last wild animal that we hunt in large numbers. And yet, we may be the last generation to do so. Entire species of marine life will never be seen in the Anthropocene (the Age of Man), let alone tasted, if we do not curb our insatiable voracity for fish. Last year, global fish consumption hit a record high of 17 kg (37 pounds) per person per year, even though global fish stocks have continued to decline. On average, people eat four times as much fish now than they did in 1950.
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Eat less meat, tread more lightly on the Earth
Full story: Vancouver Sun Blogs
I don't recommend the buffalo spring rolls in Kathmandu. I probably should have given them a miss after I walked by the nearby butcher shop, easily recognizable by the pile of bloody severed buffalo legs stacked outside the front door. Needless to say, I didn't own the spring rolls very long and the experience put me off meat for more than a year. A second and third bout of food-borne illness in the months that followed - along with my temporary vegetarianism - had me treading lightly on the planet. More than fifty pounds lighter, in fact.
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Vancouver Sun Blogs - October 10
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Would you eat lab-grown burgers?
Full story: The Ecologist
Lab-grown meat could help reduce the environmental footprint of intensive farming. But will it ever appeal to vegetarians or even more eco-conscious consumers? Before the end of the year, Dutch scientists are promising a high-profile debut for a burger made from meat grown not on a farm but in their laboratory. As well as saving an animal, lab-grown meat also reduces the negative environmental impact of modern-day intensive meat production, including land use, animal feed and greenhouse gas emissions. [An update on where the technology stands...]
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The Ecologist - October 3
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| Lifestyles and Trends
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Veg experiences: A deli owner's vegan journey
Full story: Jewish Weekly, U.S.
His Shabbat table used to host an impressive array of roast beef, pastrami, turkey, breaded chicken and cholent, the traditional Jewish stew, teeming with meat. Today, nearly two years after swearing off meat and Jewish soul food, that same table features freshly tossed green salads (adorned with cubes of non-dairy feta cheese), multigrain water challah and vegetarian lasagna, artfully layered with imitation meat and vegetables. Michael Klein, a 35-year-old chef from Connecticut, is a former deli owner and meat lover turned vegan. He's lost over 150 pounds since his lifestyle revolution, going from 350 pounds to less than 200.
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Jewish Weekly, U.S. - October 16
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Aussie restaurants embrace meat-free
Full story: News.com, Australia
It was once thought to be a diet choice reserved for tree-hugging hippies and wafer thin models. But vegetarian and vegan trends are swiftly becoming mainstream and Aussie restaurants are catching on. The number of Australians who claim to be vegetarian has jumped to 10 per cent in the last few years, according to a Newspoll survey, and the number continues to rise with more Australians making a conscious effort to eat less meat. Out of almost 500 restaurants scored in this year's Good Food Guide, a massive 200 eateries offer customers what is considered a significant vegetarian menu. It seems greens are no longer being served as a side dish, and diners are digging it.
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News.com, Australia - September 14
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Disease and drought curb meat production and consumption
Full story: WorldWatch Institute
Bucking a decades-long trend, meat consumption decreased slightly worldwide in 2011, from 42.5 kilograms (kg) per person in 2010 to 42.3 kg. Since 1995, however, per capita meat consumption has increased 15 per cent overall; in developing countries, it increased 25 per cent during this time, whereas in industrialized countries it increased just 2 percent. Although the disparity between meat consumption in developing and industrialized countries is shrinking, it remains high: the average person in a developing country ate 32.3 kg of meat in 2011, whereas in industrialized countries people ate 78.9 kg on average. [Rate of growth in production also slowed.]
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WorldWatch Institute - October 23
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Veg celebs: One on on with actor and animal activist Bob Barker
Full story: Vegetarian Times
Q When and why did you go veg? A I've been a vegetarian for about 35 years. I became a vegetarian out of concern for animals, and I was a vegetarian for a very long time before I realized that many people become vegetarians out of concern for their health. I think they are absolutely right. I recommend that you become a vegetarian and exercise if you want to enjoy the golden years. Q When and why did you become an animal rights advocate? A That all happened around 35 years ago too. I had always loved animals. I think there are millions of us that are just born with a love for animals from the first day they can remember. You don't have to learn to love animals; you don't have to have something special happen to make you love animals. It's just like the way some people are right handed or left handed. I have sympathy for people who do not enjoy animals. They don't know how much of life they are missing.
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Vegetarian Times - October 22
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New age vegetarians in China
Full story: China Daily
A new eating trend is popping up on the doorstep of the Peking duck, and it has nothing to do with meat, but plenty to do with a generation of young, rich, health-conscious consumers. About 15 years ago there were one or two vegetarian cafes in Beijing but now there are nearly 100 and competition is fierce.
Read more... |
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| Animal Issues and Advocacy
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What's wrong with dairy? Undercover video shows cows beaten at dairy farm
Full story: ABC News, CA, U.S.
 Shocking new video of alleged animal abuse at a dairy farm in Idaho: Some workers have been arrested on animal-cruelty charges. A Los Angeles-based animal-rights group released the video. Warning: the video is graphic. The video is disturbing. Workers are seen kicking, shoving and jumping on cows. Others use canes to beat them repeatedly. The hidden-camera video was secretly recorded during an undercover investigation conducted by Mercy For Animals, a non-profit animal-protection organization based in Los Angeles.
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ABC News, CA, U.S. - October 11
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What does 'free range' really mean for your eggs?
Full story: Care2
Would you prefer to buy eggs from hens who lived a pleasant life, with access to the outdoors and the chance to play, instead of eggs from factory-farmed, intensively confined hens? That's nice, but good luck trying. The claims egg producers make on their packages, like "free-range," mean nothing, and more specific claims about happy chickens may be false. Given the absence of regulation and the routine cruel practices on egg farms, Animal Legal Defence Fund asserts that "the best way to ensure your choices don't harm animals is to reduce or eliminate eggs from your diet."
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Costa Rica fully bans shark fin trade
Full story: Huffington Post
Costa Rica on October 10 passed a blanket ban on shark finning, in which the fins are sliced off sharks, often while they are alive, before the fish are thrown back into the ocean to die. President Laura Chinchilla signed an executive order banning shark finning in the Central American nation's coastal waters, closing loopholes in an existing law passed in 2001. "Costa Rica may set an example to the world when it comes to environmental protection, but it must be noted that we had a significant lag when it comes to protecting the oceans," Chinchilla told reporters at a signing ceremony in Manuel Antonio National Park on the country's Pacific coast.
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Huffington Post - October 10
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EU puts foie gras controversy back on the table
Full story: France24
A group of European lawmakers has joined animal rights campaigners in a bid to ban the production and sale of foie gras across the 27-nation European Union to halt the "torture" of ducks and geese. Animal Equity, part of an international campaign to "raise awareness on the torture of thousands of ducks and geese on foie gras farms in five EU countries," welcomed the move by eight prominent MEPs. Currently, farming of animals to produce foie gras is banned in 22 EU nations - excepting Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Hungary and Spain - but not the import or sale.
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Animal sentience: Whale learns to mimic human speech
Full story: Telegraph, UK
A mysterious voice telling divers to get out of the water at a marine life centre has been identified as that of a 15-year-old white whale. Researchers at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in California had often heard the sound of people talking near the whale and dolphin enclosure, but had never managed to catch the culprits or get close enough to tell what they were saying. It was only when a diver surfaced from the pen and asked colleagues why they had told him to exit the tank - when in fact no such command had been issued - that the penny dropped... The researchers insisted the behaviour was a clear attempt to mimic humans, and suggested the whale may even have been trying to make contact with them.
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Telegraph, UK - October 22
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| Books and Perspectives
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The book that changed the world
Full story: E/The Environmental Magazine
Silent Spring is half a century old, and despite the environmental protections ushered in by Rachel Carson's call to arms, reminds us how far we have left to go to bring chemicals under control... Silent Spring is credited with blueprinting the environmental movement, and the reasons are clear: Carson dared to challenge "progress" at a time of technological zeal. What sets the book apart from a research paper or legal document is Carson's singular eloquence, published in the New Yorker's pages: "Why should we tolerate a diet of weak poisons, a home of insipid surroundings, a circle of acquaintances who are not quite our enemies, the noise of motors with just enough relief to prevent insanity?" she asks. "Who would want to live in a world which is just not quite fatal?"
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E/The Environmental Magazine - September/October
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Animal cruelty makes 'a morally unsafe world for human beings'
Full story: Ekklesia
"Almost without exception, the perpetrators of animal cruelty crimes are the same individuals who carry out aggressive and violent acts including assault, partner and child abuse. Thus, animal cruelty crimes should be treated with the same seriousness as crimes against humans. Moreover, the punishments should reflect their severity," declares leading psychologist Professor Eleonora Gullone, Associate Professor in Psychology at Monash University, Australia. The controversial claim is made in Professor Gullone's pioneering new book Animal Cruelty, Antisocial Behaviour, and Aggression: More Than A Link.
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