IVU Online News
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2013-01 News
Vegfest Hopping
The Indian Vegan Society will be organising the India International Vegan Festival from 27-29 Sep, 2013 just before the 41st IVU World Vegfest in Malaysia, scheduled to begin on 3 Oct in Kuala Lumpur, before moving to Penang, on 8 Oct.
Thus, all those attending the Malaysia event are invited to being their veg travels in India and to take this opportunity to experience rural India and to meet like minded people. Details are at www.indianvegansociety.com
Famous Indian movie star Amala Akkineni (a vegan herself) has confirmed her participation in the India festival.
The Vegfest website, below, also has links to info about California and Australia for more before/after hopping.
IVU Congress Email Group Is Now ‘ivu-vegfest’
IVU runs a number of email groups in order to share information among vegetarians with interest in specific topics or specific regions of the world. One of these email groups focuses on the international events that IVU helps to organise on what is now an annual basis. These events, which started in 1908, used to be called ‘congresses’ but are now called ‘vegfests’ to reflect an increased focus on fun and food in order to attract the general public, who might be less interested in events where talking predominates.
In keeping with this name change, the ivu-congress email group has now been renamed ivu-vegfest - and changed to 'news only' - we are simply getting too many subscribers for it to continue as a discussion forum. Any replies to news about the Vegfests will go to the moderators, and will either be dealt with individually, or forwarded to everyone if they are of general interest.
Sign up at: groups.yahoo.com/group/ivu-vegfest
The new website has Comments boxes, linked to Facebook. For info on all IVU World Vegfests see: www.worldvegfest.org - and more on Facebook:
The event page for Malaysia: www.facebook.com/events/438459709549857
IVU Members and Supporters group: www.facebook.com/groups/IVUMembers
the public IVU page: www.facebook.com/InternationalVegUnion
Mid-East Veg Seminar Reaches Out to All
Meveg Seminar 2012 - For Better Health & Environment - hosted by volunteers of Middle East Veg Group alongside the 10th Middle East Natural and Organic Products Exhibition, held on 27th and 28th November at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, was a resounding success. [The accompanying photo shows some of the event’s speakers.]
The Meveg Seminar 2012 was spread over two days and featured interactive talks, panel discussions, a poster exhibition and the launch of a sample vegetarian marketplace - Souq Al Nabati. The panel of speakers consisted of expert doctors, environmentalists, chefs, food sustainability experts and alternative health practitioners. The Meveg Seminar was attended by people from all walks of life, including organic farmers, people from the food industry, students, teachers and residents of various other countries in the Middle East.
In his message to the third Meveg Seminar 2012 organizers, John Davis, IVU Manager, said, “The rest of the world is ready to work with our friends in the Middle East, and we look forward to holding the IVU World Vegfest in your region in 2016. That will be another first - IVU was founded in 1908, but after 104 years we have still never held a global event in the Middle East. The time has come to correct that.”
More details and photos: www.worldvegfest.org/report-from-the-middle-east
This Month’s HCYKTASEM
This month’s How Can You Know This And Still Eat Meat (HCYKTASEM) piece comes from Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) - www.pcrm.org/search/?cid=1290 - and from the 26 Nov, 2012 issue of the newsletter of Meatout Monday - www.meatoutmondays.org.
Some people claim to be addicted to animal based food. There is actually some scientific basis for this. For instance, cheese has addictive properties. If you are hooked on sugar, chocolate, cheese, or meat, what do you do about it?
The good news is we can change our eating habits, just as was done by the many vegetarians who were meat eaters for years before moving to our healthier, greener, kinder diets. Eating healthy foods can help people change. If you start your day with a good breakfast, hunger is less likely to fuel cravings. And if your lunch, dinner, and snacks include foods that keep your blood sugar steady throughout the day—beans, green vegetables, unprocessed grains, and fruits, for example, instead of sugary foods or white bread—you’ll be less likely to dip into unhealthy foods later on.
And there’s nothing like taking a three-week break from unhealthy foods. A low-fat, vegan diet skips the worst of the food seductions. And if, for even a few weeks, you set aside whatever foods are leading you astray, you’ll find your resolve is much stronger than if you had eaten them yesterday.
Read This If You Doubt That Veg Is Growing
From the Meatout Mondays newsletter (scroll down to ‘Inspiration’) comes a great story about someone (Nikki Benoit, pictured here) getting arrested in the US for handing out veg flyers on a university campus and returning to that campus a year later and being welcomed by the campus security officer who had arrested her and learning that he is now veg, too:
meatoutmondays.org/emails/12-12-03.html
The Many Benefits of Beans
Of the many plant sources of protein and other nutrients, beans are among the best. As the following article explains, beans are loaded with benefits including protection against cognitive decline. [Also, please check out the slide show at the bottom of the article.]
www.huffingtonpost.com/beans-blood-pressure-legumes-heart-disease-glycemic-index-diabetes
Going Veg Is Good for All
Some people accuse vegetarians of only being concerned about non-human animals and of neglecting human animals. This accusation is massively misguided. Firstly, moving towards plant powered diets boosts human health. Secondly, plant based diets reduce environmental damage, such as climate change. Thirdly, humans who work on factory farms and in slaughterhouses suffer from higher accident rates, not to mention the emotional toll from participating in the enslavement and killing of innocent sentient beings.
The following article catalogues some of the downside of working in industries that produce animal foods:
www.newint.org/factory-farms-are-new-sweatshops
One of the more horrific examples of the mistreatment of workers in the meat, dairy and egg industries comes from Brazil:
In August 1010, Brazil’s High Labour Court declared that a company running a number of [cattle] ranches had been keeping 180 workers in slavery and making them work up to 24 hours a day. There were even teenagers as young as 14 among the slaves.
Race Car Driver Goes Veg
Vegans seem to be almost everywhere, even in the world of race cars. It seems strange that someone in an eco-unfriendly business, such as motor racing, would adopt a vegan diet which is so eco-friendly. But, that is the reality of Leilani Munter: www.vrg.org/blog/2012/11/12/arca-driver-leilani-munter-hopes-to-drive-vegan-themed-racecar
Maybe Leilani’s case is a demonstration of the many reasons to go veg, just like the people who smoke cigarettes and eat veg. Check out Leilani’s racing suit, with an advert for the film 'The Cove', about the slaughter of dolphins.
Veg Powered at 60+:
- 365 marathons in 365 days
In the year 2013, to inspire and motivate conscious lifestyle choices, to promote kindness and compassion for all living beings and to raise environmental awareness for a sustainable future, veteran raw vegan athletes Janette and Alan are running around Australia, 15,500km (approximately), 365 marathons in 365 days, beyond 60 years of age! Learn more at www.runningrawaroundaustralia.com
India Vegan Festival 27-29 September, 2013 -.Details of the venue and programs will be soon available at www.indianvegansociety.com
6th Asian Vegetarian Congress and 41st IVU World Vegfest – October 2013, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - www.worldvegfest.org/index.php/blogs/congress-vegfest-updates/71-41st-ivu-congess-vegfest-malaysia-october-2013
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.
- European Vegetarian Union www.evana.org
- Meatout Mondays www.meatoutmondays.org
- Vegan Outreach www.veganoutreach.org/enewsletter
- VegE-News www.vege-news.com
- VegNews www.vegnews.com
- VegSource www.vegsource.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi
- AnimalConcerns.org doesn't have a newsletter, but they post stories daily at www.animalconcerns.org/categories.html?do=shownews
- Vegan.com www.vegan.com
- IVU-Veg-News E-Mail List www.ivu.org/news/veg-news
- Vegetarianism in the New www.vegsoc.org/page.aspx?pid=928