IVU Online News
2014-04 IVU News
on 08 June 2014.
Posted in IVU Online News
Table of Contents
Register Now for Oct, 2014 IVU World Vegfest - Ghana
Remote Support for the Ghana 2104 IVU World Vegfest
Vegan Foods African Style
Vegan Lunch with the President of Uruguay
Combining Paleo and Vegan Diets
Great Visuals
Book News 1: Hedgehog
Book News 2: How To Be Vegan
Book News 3: The Kind Mama
Book News 4: Vegetarianismo en el Debate Politico
Upcoming Events
Other Online Sources of Veg News
Register Now for Oct, 2014 IVU World Vegfest - Ghana
Regular readers of this eNewsletter have seen the beautiful Vegfest 2014 logo, heard about the spectacular Vegfest program and read some of the reasons Ghana will be the place to be for veg activists this October. Now that the anticipation has built, here is the final information you need to attend this first (but not last)-time-in-Africa event.
Everything you need to know to register, book your accommodation, etc. is conveniently located at www.vegghana.org. After visiting that website, any remaining questions can be addressed to .
Hope to see you there!
Remote Support for the Ghana 2104 IVU World Vegfest
Can’t make it to Ghana this October for the historic first-time-in-Africa IVU World Vegfest? Never fear, your contribution can help the event reach more people in Ghana. Indeed, instead of spending all our time in a conference hall, vegfest participants will be taking to the streets of Accra, Ghana’s capital, to spread the word and to spread veg food to people from all walks of Ghanaian society, including the poor.
For instance, we will be going to an orphanage to donate vegan food. (The full Vegfest program is available at http://www.vegghana.org.)
Your donation can empower these outreach efforts to shine light on the lives of more people. Details on sending donations will be available by 20 June at https://www.facebook.com/events/595768793773435/
Vegan Foods African Style
Foods from many cultures offer a wide range of vegan options. A case in point are the African dishes prepared by Chef Bryant Terry: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/bryant-terry-marries-vegan-cooking-and-african-food-traditions-with-delicious-results/2014/05/05/68092bea-d13a-11e3-937f-d3026234b51c_story.html
Of course, even better than reading about vegan African foods and looking at photos on the web is to go to Africa and try the foods yourself, as we’ll be doing for the 2014 IVU World Vegfest, 1-6 October, in Ghana, with later trips to other African countries.
Vegan Lunch with the President of Uruguay
As reported by former IVU International Council member, Paul Rodney Turner, earlier this year, the vegan charity, Food for Life Global, prepared a vegan meal for Uruguay’s very change-oriented president. Details are here: http://www.paulrodneyturner.com/2014/04/we-cooked-vegan-lunch-for-president-of.html,
Maybe President Jose "Pepe" Mujica (pictured here) will decide to attend the 2015 IVU World Vegfest to be held in nearby Buenos Aires, Argentina. By the way, Pepe is known as the world’s poorest president.
Combining Paleo and Vegan Diets
Paleo diets, based supposedly on the diets of prehistoric humans, have been characterised as very anti-veg. However, one vegan marathoner explains how to combine principles of both diets:
http://www.examiner.com/article/vegan-marathoner-says-you-can-be-paleo-and-vegan-at-the-same-time.
Please note that some veg health professionals advise against paleo diets. Here is an example: http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2012nl/jun/paleo2.htm
Great Visuals
Here are 18 photos that show that farmed animals are ‘someones’, not ‘somethings’. These photos urge us to get to know farmed animals in their entirety, as they live in nature, rather than see them only in the post-slaughter pieces.
You can view all the photos at:
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/18-photos-that-prove-farm-animals-are-someones-not-somethings/
Plus, here are ‘150 Vegan Signs of the Times’: http://thevegantruth.blogspot.sg/2014/05/150-vegan-signs-of-times.html
Book Review 1: Hedgehog
Review of Hedgehog by Hugh Warwick, Reaktion Books, 224 pp, pbk, 101 illustrations, 77 in colour; ISBN 978-1-78023-275-1, £9-99
There can be few animals more recognisable and yet as elusive as the hedgehog. We all know what they look like - the pointed snout and coat of spines (actually modified hairs) - are unmistakable, but how many of us have actually seen one in the flesh? Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals that generally hibernate for several months of the year, so for most people they have never been a familiar sight, but habitat loss caused by changing agricultural practices and the spread of roads, which present a frequently lethal and often impenetrable barrier, have combined to make sightings rarer still. In Britain alone, the hedgehog population is estimated to have plummeted from around 30 million animals in 1950 to less than 1.5 million today, a 95 per cent reduction.
Worldwide, there are 14 species of hedgehog spread across Africa, Europe and Asia. African hedgehogs have also been exported to North America, where they have become popular if surprising pets, featuring in such bizarre events as the International Hedgehog Association’s Conformation Show and the International Hedgehog Olympic Games! If hedgehogs make unlikely athletes, two myths about them can be firmly dismissed. Unlike humans, hedgehogs do not steal milk from a cow’s udder; indeed, milk is an unsuitable food for them. Neither do they collect fallen fruit on their spines: hedgehogs are carnivores whose favourite foods include beetles, earthworms, caterpillars and (to every gardener’s delight) slugs.
Like other books in Reaktion’s Animal series, Hedgehog profiles the cultural significance of the animal as much as its natural history. Thus, the book’s nine chapters include ones covering hedgehogs in art, literature, folklore, commerce, and even in philosophy, where the animal has given its name to Schopenhauer’s “hedgehog’s dilemma”, whereby the closer you become to someone the more likely you are to get hurt. This is all very interesting, but the reviewer would have liked rather more about the lives of real hedgehogs (popular though he may be, Sonic the Hedgehog is a cartoon character, not a hedgehog). For this, readers might be better advised to seek out A Prickly Affair: The Charm of the Hedgehog, the author’s previous book on the subject.
Nevertheless, there is much in Hedgehog to fascinate and entertain the reader, and anything that Oxford-based ecologist and author Hugh Warwick doesn’t tell us about hedgehogs probably isn’t worth knowing. The book is liberally and attractively illustrated, and makes satisfying, undemanding reading. Sadly, it might also prove to be the closest that many readers will get to these endearing but increasingly rare mammals.
Paul Appleby
May 2014
Book News 2: How To Be Vegan
From the book’s blurb:
Author Elizabeth Castoria, the former editorial director of VegNews, offers a useful, friendly introduction to the vegan lifestyle for those who want to dabble or for those already committed to living animal-product-free. She shows how simple it is to be vegan, from the food (plants, fruits, nuts, and grains all explained) and nutrition (which supplements are needed), to the etiquette (what to do at an omnivore’s dinner party), travel (where to find the best vegan airport food in the United States), fashion (there's no need to swear off designer duds), and more. To close the book, there are 50 recipes for the beginner vegan. With familiar ingredients and straightforward instructions, and with options from Tofu Scramble and Cheesy Kale Chips to Pasta with Artichoke Alfredo and Fabulous Fudge Brownies, there is no missing meat or dairy with this satisfying vegan food.
Book News 3: The Kind Mama
Media celebrity and vegan activist, Alicia Silverstone, has a new book, inspired by her experiences with parenthood. Read an interview with her at
http://www.ecorazzi.com/2014/04/14/alicia-silverstone-talks-vegan-pregnancy-in-new-book/
http://thekindlife.com/the-kind-mama/
Book News 4: Vegetarianismo en el Debate Politico
Is it just a matter of taste?
Apparently not. Production (and consumption) of foods of animal origin is strongly related to the deterioration of public health, food insecurity and the major environmental issues of the day: deforestation, soil erosion, watershed degradation, reduced biodiversity, climate change, freshwater scarcity and pollution. Therefore, the reduction of meat consumption and the adoption of vegetarian diets is a topic that should be discussed in all seriousness using evidence-based arguments.
Such a discussion is the goal of Ezekiel Arrieta in his book, ‘Vegetarianism in the political debate’, published 28 May in Argentina. Arrieta is a doctor, scientific researcher and professor of Human Physiology at the National University of Córdoba (Argentina). His book has earned endorsements from renowned professors and scientists.
Prominent topics in the book range from the use of land and livestock feed, to major environmental problems, to research on the history of vegetarian nutrition, current scientific attitudes and myths about vegetarianism. Arrieta attempts to provide a current overview from a scientific perspective on the problems that meat poses for the economy, environment and health, particularly in the future, given the continuous increase in meat consumption and livestock production.
Available in Spanish and English. For more information: http://ezequielarrieta.com.ar
Taking Action for Animals – 27-30 June, 2014 - Washington, DC, USA - https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1297443
Animal Rights Conference – 10-13 July, 2014 - Los Angeles, USA - http://www.arconference.org
14th International Vegan Festival - 1-8 June, 2014 - Varna, Bulgaria - http://www.facebook.com/events/237967006374622
Reading Animals: An International English Studies Conference - 17-20 July, 2014, School of English, University of Sheffield, UK.
The Oxford Summer School on Animal Ethics - 21-23 July, 2014 - Oxford, England - www.oxfordanimalethics.com/what-we-do/summer-school-2014/
Satvik Indian Vegan Festival – 15-17 August, 2014 - Sthitaprajna Vegan Centre, Udupi District, Karnataka, India - http://www.indianvegansociety.com/vegan-festival.html or
IVU World Vegfest 2014 - 1-6 October, 2014 - Accra, Ghana - http://worldvegfest.org
Other Online Sources of Veg News
In addition to IVU Online News, there are many other places to go online for general veg-related news, rather than news mostly about one country or one organisation. Here are some.
1. Meatout Mondays www.meatoutmondays.org
2. Vegan Outreach www.veganoutreach.org/enewsletter
3. VegE-News www.vege-news.com
4. VegNews www.vegnews.com
5. VegSource www.vegsource.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi
6. AnimalConcerns.org doesn't have a newsletter, but they post stories daily at www.animalconcerns.org/categories.html?do=shownews
7. Vegan.com www.vegan.com
8. IVU-Veg-News E-Mail List www.ivu.org/news/veg-news
9. Vegetarianism in the News www.vegsoc.org/page.aspx?pid=928
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