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'Nothing we can do can change the past, but everything we do changes the future.' - Ashleigh Brilliant
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In this edition...
Featured video |
 The power of love over hate |
Health |
| The genetically modified 'frankenfish' salmon soon in a plate near you |
| Fast-food 'linked to childhood asthma and eczema' |
| Frankensteer |
| Video: PhIP - the three strikes breast cooked meat carcinogen |
Environment |
| Mark Bittman: Fixing our food problem |
| Experts fear collapse of global civilisation |
| The tour de stench |
| China's taste for pork serves up a pollution problem |
Lifestyles and Trends |
| Q&A with The Cooking Channel's Jason Wrobel |
| Is veganism a religion? Court considers claim |
| Vegan cheese replaces lingering brie craving |
| A cut above: The making of a meat-free butcher |
Animal Issues and Advocacy |
| Fish feel fear and pain and stress |
| Lobsters and crabs feel pain when you cook them |
| New figures expose shortfall in EU sow stall ban compliance |
| Paul Watson resigns as leader of anti-whaling organisation Sea Shepherd |
Books and Perspectives |
| Shaping your vegan life: An interview with plant-based fitness expert and author Lani Muelrath |
| How to stop the next pandemic: End factory farming |
| The science underminers |
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(Excerpts are included from current news stories. Click on the "Full story" link to read the full article.)
Featured video 
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The power of love over hate
Video source: TedTalks
 Although this isn't about vegetarianism, it is a good reminder of the power of being positive and hopeful. When war between Israel and Iran seemed imminent, Israeli graphic designer Ronny Edry shared a poster on Facebook of himself and his daughter with a simple message: "Iranians ... we [heart] you." Other Israelis quickly created their own posters with the same message - and Iranians responded in kind. The simple act of communication inspired surprising Facebook communities like "Israel loves Iran," "Iran loves Israel" and even "Palestine loves Israel."
Watch video... |
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| Health
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The genetically modified 'frankenfish' salmon soon in a plate near you
Full story: EcoToaD
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has partially approved the AquAdvantage Salmon, a genetically engineered salmon that grows twice as fast as normal. The FDA states that the GM salmon is "safe and unlikely to harm the health of the consumers or the environment." The FDA has opened its report for public comment and will review the situation before making a final decision. The consultation will finalize at the end of February 2013, so now its the time for the public to state any concerns here.
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Fast-food 'linked to childhood asthma and eczema'
Full story: BBC
Eating fast food three times a week may lead to asthma and eczema in children, say researchers who have looked at global disease and dietary patterns. Data from more than 500,000 children in more than 50 countries suggests poor diet may be to blame for rising levels of these allergy-related conditions. Those who ate fast food, such as take-away burgers, risked severe asthma, eczema and itchy, watery eyes. Eating plenty of fruit [and vegetables] appears to be protective.
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Frankensteer
Video source: Vimeo/Bullfrog Films
 FRANKENSTEER is a disturbing yet compelling documentary that reveals how the ordinary cow is being transformed into an antibiotic dependent, hormone-laced potential carrier of toxic bacteria, all in the name of cheaper food. And consumers, by and large, are totally unaware of the dangers lurking in their beloved steaks, ribs and, most especially, hamburgers. [44:46 - Aired on CBC, Canada Passionate Eye.]
Watch video... |
Vimeo/Bullfrog Films - December
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Video: PhIP - the three strikes breast cooked meat carcinogen
Video source: NutritionFacts.org
The cooked meat carcinogen PhIP found in fried bacon, fish, and chicken may not only trigger cancer and promote tumor growth, but also increase its metastatic potential by increasing its invasiveness.
Read more/Watch video... |
NutritionFacts.org - January 18
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| Environment
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Mark Bittman: Fixing our food problem
Full story: New York Times
We must figure out a way to un-invent this [hyper-industrial] food system. It's been a major contributor to climate change, spawned the obesity crisis, poisoned countless volumes of land and water, wasted energy, tortured billions of animals... I could go on. The point is that "sustainability" is not only possible but essential: only by saving the earth can we save ourselves, and vice versa. How do we do that? This seems like a good day to step back a bit and suggest something that's sometimes difficult to accept. Patience.
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New York Times - January 1
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Experts fear collapse of global civilisation
Full story: IPS
Experts on the health of our planet are terrified of the future. They can clearly see the coming collapse of global civilisation from an array of interconnected environmental problems. "We're all scared," said Paul Ehrlich, president of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University. "But we must tell the truth about what's happening and challenge people to do something to prevent it," Ehrlich told IPS. This collapse will take the form of a "...gradual breakdown because famines, epidemics and resource shortages cause a disintegration of central control within nations, in concert with disruptions of trade and conflicts over increasingly scarce necessities", write Ehrlich and his partner Anne Ehrlich in the prestigious science journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society.
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The tour de stench
Full story: E-The Environmental Magazine
Packed cozily inside a pickup, six of us are heading through a Western Kentucky landscape blanketed in snow. We're on what our tour organizer, Aloma Dew, calls a "Tour de Stench," exploring one of the United States' increasing number of animal factory hotspots... I am left thinking that it really matters whose side you are on in these seemingly intractable battles. I am on the side of the farmers and the animals and healthy farm communities, even if our food ultimately costs a bit more. We don't need this kind of agriculture to feed the world as is so often claimed to justify the concentration of filth and misery these systems embody. I believe the collective wisdom and desire for change is out there among us.
Read more... |
E-The Environmental Magazine - January 28
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China's taste for pork serves up a pollution problem
Full story: Guardian, UK
Fan Jianjun points to a concrete pipe jutting from the lake bank. Sludge spews from its mouth and arcs across the water, the surface bubbling with the bodies of flies. Fan has lived in Houtonglong village all his 31 years. The water was clear, he says, before the pig farm was built and people's health began to suffer. Pork is China's favourite meat: last year the country produced 50m tonnes - more than half the world's total - and as the disposable incomes of China's 1.3 billion people rise, their appetite is growing. The growth of industrial pig farming in China has implications for the rest of the planet. [Related video.]
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| Lifestyles and Trends
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Q&A with The Cooking Channel's Jason Wrobel
Full story: VegNews
The new vegan cooking show, How to Live to 100, [recently debuted] on The Cooking Channel - the first-ever veg program on the mainstream cable network. Hosted by the illustrious, vivacious, and hysterical Jason Wrobel, his expertise in making healthy food fun and accessible will have you clamoring for more. In this exclusive interview, he dishes on his new cooking show, what it's like working with celebrities, and his top tips for getting healthy.
Read more... |
Is veganism a religion? Court considers claim
Full story: Care2
A federal court in [the U.S. state of] Ohio seems willing to consider the argument that veganism is a religion worthy of legal protections. The claim comes in the context of a religious accommodation claim brought by a customer service representative at a Cincinnati children's hospital. The plaintiff was fired after she refused to get a flu shot on the grounds that chicken eggs are used in preparation of flu vaccines and she was a vegan. In refusing to dismiss the case, the judge said that it was possible that the plaintiff's veganism could be a "moral or ethical belief" adhered to with the force of a religious belief.
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Vegan cheese replaces lingering brie craving
Full story: Chicago Tribune
I've been a vegetarian for many years, gradually transitioning to veganism - with one exception. I couldn't resist the free samples of brie offered at the grocery store. It got so that I knew exactly where they were offered and looked toward that spot as soon as I entered the store. No longer. I recently watched Miyoko Schinner, author of Artisan Vegan Cheese, make several kinds of cheese at a local vegetarian festival. I loved her results and decided to try making her vegan brie at home. The result was scrumptious. [Recipe included in the article.] Read more... |
Chicago Tribune - January 16
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A cut above: The making of a meat-free butcher
Full story: Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
There can't be too many people who can say it was actor Tobey Maguire who inspired them to open a business. But the vegan actor's liking for the cooking of vegetarian chef Suzy Spoon was the catalyst for her opening [Australia's only] vegetarian butcher shop. Spoon was Maguire's personal chef when he was recently in Australia filming The Great Gatsby. After Maguire said he preferred her products to other well-known brands, Spoon was inspired to start Spoon's Vegetarian Butcher, with co-founder Chris Moses. "I decided that there would be a lot of people cooking for Tobey so if he really liked my food then that meant other people would like my products as well," the Sydney chef says. She is encouraged by the number of orders arriving from all over Australia.
Read more... |
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - January 30
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| Animal Issues and Advocacy
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Fish feel fear and pain and stress
Full story: Care2
The jury's verdict is in, and it is unanimous: fish feel pain. "In the scientific community, the question of whether fish are capable of experiencing stress, pain and fear is nearly undisputed," the Food Empowerment Project states. [One] group that won't like this scientific consensus is "vegetarians" who eat fish. Those who base that exception on the belief that fishing doesn't hurt fish are now on notice. Whether by capturing them for recreation or commerce or raising them for food, humans subject fish to fear, pain, and stress all the time. It's time to stop kidding ourselves that they don't mind.
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Lobsters and crabs feel pain when you cook them
Full story: News.com, Australia
Chefs may have to think twice before plunging live lobsters into a simmering pot. Scientists have proven that crabs and other crustaceans do feel pain. Shore crabs given small electric shocks while hiding in dark shelters tried to escape being zapped again by opting to migrate to another hideout. [Also - from Care2: Lead researcher Professor Bob Elwood, of Queen's University Belfast, said "You have the most extraordinary treatment of these animals. Even if there's a slight chance they feel pain, I feel we should start attending to that now. You have lobsters being processed, prawns that are being processed live by the front end, the head and the thorax being torn off. And the head with the brain will carry on being a viable nervous system and will continue to go on like that for an hour or so."]
Read more... |
News.com, Australia - January 18
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New figures expose shortfall in EU sow stall ban compliance
Full story: Farmers Guardian, UK
Only a handful of member states look set to comply with new pig animal welfare regulations which [came] into force across the EU on January 1, shocking new figures reveal. Member states have had since 2001 to comply with the partial ban on sow stalls. But the latest figures on member states' readiness for the ban reveal just five member states are already fully compliant, including the UK which banned sow stalls in 1999. A further six reported compliance in excess of 90 per cent.
Read more... |
Farmers Guardian, UK - December 20
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Paul Watson resigns as leader of anti-whaling organisation Sea Shepherd
Full story: Globe and Mail, Canada
Paul Watson issued a statement saying he has stepped down as leader of Sea Shepherd in order to comply with a U.S. court order. He says campaigns against Japanese fleets will continue under the leadership of former Australian senator Bob Brown.
Read more... |
Globe and Mail, Canada - January 8
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| Books and Perspectives
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Shaping your vegan life: An interview with plant-based fitness expert and author Lani Muelrath
Full story: Vegan Mainstream
 Q Vegan Mainstream: So, give us a teaser; what is this new book [Fit Quickies: 5 Minute Targeted Body-Shaping Workouts] about? A Lani Muelrath: This is really a Trojan horse book because it is essentially 3 books in one. The exercise is there, yes. And so is the all-important whole food plant-based diet and attention to mindset mastery. I call these the 3 pillars of success and you need them all. So, the title of the book doesn't tell the whole story. [Editor's note: I am a great fan of Lani's and can personally attest to the effectiveness of her quickies. Visit Lani's website for more info.]
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Vegan Mainstream - January 2
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How to stop the next pandemic: End factory farming
Full story: TheBigPicture TV
Is our national habit of eating dead animals dragging us closer and closer to a flu pandemic that could kill tens of millions of Americans? Dr. Michael Greger believes so. He's the author of the book, Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching, and he recently came on our show, The Big Picture, to ring the alarm bell. He added that the single factor that was most likely to cause this is factory farming. [Also see related article on Truthout.org.]
Read more... |
TheBigPicture TV - January 15
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The science underminers
Full story: E-The Environmental Magazine
The climate change quagmire illuminates the violent intersection of politics and science. James Lawrence Powell's book The Inquisition of Climate Science (Columbia University Press) addresses the question "Why, when the scientific evidence for global warming is unequivocal, does only half the public accept the evidence?"
Read more... |
E-The Environmental Magazine - January 1
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