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Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace. - Albert Schweitzer
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In this edition...
Special Note |
 Dedication |
Health, Environment, World Hunger |
| Video: Dr. Neal Barnard on the diabetic dilemma |
| Many new vegetarians change for health |
| A vegan diet (hugely) helpful against cancer |
| How to feed the future |
| Video: Preventing Alzheimer's |
Lifestyles and Trends |
| Video: Compassionate gift giving |
| Top 12 vegan recipes of 2012 |
| The sex secret vegans know |
| Plant-based foods predicted to take center stage in 2013 |
Animal Issues and Advocacy |
| Video: Odd couple - love knows no boundaries |
| Cruelty at pig farm considered humane by 'independent' panel |
| EU eliminates 'special permits' for shark finning |
| Cattle from Australia mistreated in Israeli abattoir: Report |
| More chickens may be boiled alive under USDA's new proposed rule |
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(Excerpts are included from current news stories. Click on the "Full story" link to read the full article.)
Special Note 
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Dedication
With great sadness, I dedicate this issue to my beloved Pete, one half of the VegE-News team who passed away earlier this month. His technical expertise and moral support made VegE-News possible, but I will try to carry on the best I can. Struck by a terrible illness, he was an inspiration with his grace, dignity, fortitude and, perhaps most importantly, unfailing sense of humour. This issue celebrates his gentleness, kindness, and compassion. On his behalf, I wish you a joyful holiday season, shared with family and friends, and with thoughtfulness for all earth's creatures that, just like us, so want to live and enjoy life's simple pleasures.
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| Health, Environment, World Hunger
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Many new vegetarians change for health
Full story: Toronto Star
Kathy Rayner is a Seventh Day Adventist and an emergency-room nurse. "Good health is not a coincidence," she insists. "It's a choice. You have to be intentional about it." Rayner and her husband, Gord, 70, have been vegan for 12 years. The London couple were part of a vast study of Seventh Day Adventists - ideal subjects for research on the health benefits of a meatless diet because most Adventists are either vegetarian or vegan. The survey has revealed startling connections between plant-based diets and good health and longevity. Adventist men live to an average age of 83.3 years, nine-and-a-half years longer than the average male. Adventist women live an average 85.7 years - about 6.1 years longer than average. Studies like this are changing the conversation about vegetarianism. As the vegetarian movement gains more converts from those who care about the environment and about their health, the lifestyle choice is experiencing less push back from meat eaters. "When you explain things in terms of the environment or your health, people don't see it as a value judgment," says David Alexander, executive director of the Toronto Vegetarian Association.
Read more... |
Video: Dr. Neal Barnard on the diabetic dilemma
Video source: TedxTalks
 Dr. Neal Barnard, clinical researcher and founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), identifies the causes of the diabetic epidemic and advises how we can fight these statistics.
Watch video... |
Toronto Star - December 5
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A vegan diet (hugely) helpful against cancer
Full story: Huffington Post
Research suggests you can improve your odds of never getting cancer and/or improve your chances of recovering from it. Not with a drug or surgery, although those methods might be quite effective. This is all about the power on your plate, and it's seriously powerful. A 2012 analysis of all the best studies done to date concluded vegetarians have significantly lower cancer rates. A new study just out of Loma Linda University funded by the National Cancer Institute reported that vegans have lower rates of cancer than both meat-eaters and vegetarians.
Read more... |
Huffington Post - December 9
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How to feed the future
Full story: IRIN
Scientists anticipate there will be nine billion people in the world to feed by 2050. As this number rises, so will the earth's temperature, which is expected to increase four degrees Celsius by the end of the century, wreaking havoc on the world's food production. Agriculturalists, scientists, businessmen, lobbyists and policymakers convened in London's Chatham House [recently] to debate how to feed the planet's growing population without degrading the earth's resources - if such a thing is even possible. Diets containing a lot of meat are notoriously demanding of resources, with large amounts of grains and farmlands dedicated to raising livestock rather than growing food crops. One speaker at Chatham House went so far as to call cows and sheep "inefficient, obsolete technologies" for converting feed into meat.
Read more... |
Video: Preventing Alzheimer's
Video source: VegSource
Listen as Dr. Barnard tells what research clearly shows about the decline of the brain - and most importantly, how you can dramatically reduce your chances of becoming an Alzheimer's statistic with a vegan diet.
Read more/Watch video... |
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| Lifestyles and Trends
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Colleen Patrick-Goudreau - December
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Top 12 vegan recipes of 2012
Full story: VegNews
This year, we've never been fuller-and more happy to be vegan. Vegan food went above and beyond our wildest expectations this year, and we're pretty excited to celebrate. In honor of 2012, here's the 12 most popular recipes on VegNews.com [including mac & cheese and meatballs!] We can't wait to see what's on the menu in 2013....
Read more... |
The sex secret vegans know
Full story: Men's Health
Want to boost your sexual stamina? Just cut out meat, fish, and dairy from your diet. According this eye-popping video from PETA, you'll be a total stud in the sack if you go vegan. We're sorry we had to show you that, guys. But for as cringeworthy as the clip is, the folks at PETA may be on to something. As you probably know, junky diets typically lead to heart disease. And men often fail to remember that heart disease doesn't just affect your ticker - it impacts the blood flow to other areas of the body too. You can absolutely learn a few things from vegans when it comes to nutrition, like making sure your daily diet always consists of sex-savvy foods-starting with these...
Read more... |
Men's Health - November 13
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Plant-based foods predicted to take center stage in 2013
Full story: Mercy for Animals Blog
Given the well-documented decline in U.S. meat consumption and overall reduction in demand for meat, it is no surprise that several publications that analyze food trends are predicting the increased consumption of vegetarian and vegan products as a top food trend for 2013. In its "Top Ten Food Trend Predictions for 2013," Supermarket News magazine predicts the rise of "new proteins," stating that "a major shift is anticipated in the nation's protein food supply away from meat-based proteins and shifting to meatless proteins." The meatless proteins specifically named include tofu, nut butters, legumes, and beans.
Read more... |
Mercy for Animals Blog - December 10
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| Animal Issues and Advocacy
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Video: Odd couple - love knows no boundaries
Video Source: Nature
 After being abandoned by her mother, a baby fawn, Pippin, was adopted by a Great Dane, Kate, and they have been best friends ever since.
Watch video... |
Cruelty at pig farm considered humane by 'independent' panel
Full story: Care2
Horrific abuse of pigs has once again been exposed by Mercy for Animals Canada in an undercover investigation of a Puratone Corp. farm in Alborg, Manitoba, which was chosen at random. The footage shows multiple problems ranging from downer pigs being kicked and pulled by their ears to get them to walk and piglets being slammed into the ground and being left to die slowly to pregnant sows being left with untreated prolapses and open wounds and pressure sores caused by rubbing against the bars of their gestation crates. The U.S. based Center for Food Integrity had an independent Animal Care Review Panel, comprised of three experts, review the footage at the request of the Canadian pork council. The panel concluded that, "while some of the animal handling practices shown are improper, most of what is seen are widely considered acceptable and humane."
[Also: CTV coverage]
Read more... |
EU eliminates 'special permits' for shark finning
Full story: BBC
At long last, shark finning is on its way to becoming truly illegal in the European Union. Although the EU passed a law banning the cruel practice of de-finning sharks at sea in 2003, the issuing of Special Fishing Permits (SFPs) was a loophole that allowed it to continue in many areas. In late November, members of the European Parliament voted to pass a European Commission proposal that would close these dangerous loopholes by discontinuing the issuance of the special permits.
Read more... |
Cattle from Australia mistreated in Israeli abattoir: Report
Full story: Sydney Morning Herald
Yet another overseas abattoir that kills Australian cattle has been filmed breaching animal treatment standards. Footage captured by Israeli journalist Ronen Bar shows cows in Israel's largest abattoir repeatedly being stung with electric prods in the eyes, genitals and anus. It also shows an injured cow being dragged along a floor by a rope tied to its leg, and other cattle being moved as they bleed to death.
Read more... |
Sydney Morning Herald - December 12
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More chickens may be boiled alive under USDA's new proposed rule
Full story: Care2
At poultry slaughterhouses, chickens whiz past workers at the rate of 35 per minute per inspector, getting various parts cut off. At one of the early stations their throats are cut, so it wouldn't seem to make any difference to the chicken how fast the rest of the production line goes, except for this: some of them are still conscious. Now the USDA is preparing to implement a rule that would increase that speed to 175 per minute per inspector. Inspectors would have less time to examine birds, meaning that "plant employees [would] replace federal government inspectors for certain inspection activities." In other words, slaughterhouses would, to a significant extent, police themselves. United Poultry Concerns describes the slaughter process [not for the faint of heart - but, please, if you are not already vegan, don't turn away this time.]
Read more... |
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