IVU ONLINE NEWS - MAY 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2ND WEST AFRICA VEGETARIAN CONGRESS - 29 OCT-1 NOV
JAPAN VEG SOC PRESIDENT PUBLISHES ARTICLE IN LEADING NUTRITION JOURNAL
INTERVIEW WITH IVU INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL MEMBER SAURABH DALAL
VIDEO SOURCE FROM VEGSOURCE
WELCOME TO NEW IVU FULL AND ASSOCIATE MEMBER SOCIETIES
ANIMAL PROTECTION PETITION IN BOLIVIA
REASONS TO BE VEGETARIAN - HEALTH OR KINDNESS?
THE ANIMAL ACTIVIST'S HANDBOOK
VEGAN DIETS AND BUDDHIST NUNS IN VIETNAM
GLOBAL WARMING DEBATE - THE RISK MANAGEMENT VIEW
ONE-MINUTE VIDEO ON THE AMAZON RAINFOREST AND MEAT
'THE QUESTION IS NOT CAN THEY REASON NOR CAN THEY TALK BUT CAN THEY
SUFFER'
WELCOME TO ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE RECENTLY REGISTERED WITH IVU
UPCOMING EVENTS
OTHER ONLINE SOURCES OF VEG NEWS
PLEASE WRITE FOR IVU ONLINE NEWS

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2ND WEST AFRICA VEGETARIAN CONGRESS - 29 OCT-1 NOV

Emmanuel Eyoh, IVU Africa Regional Coordinator, has announced that the
2nd West Africa Vegetarian Congress will take place in Accra, Ghana, 29
Oct-1 Nov. Mr Korblah Wisdom an IVU Africa member from Ghana is
coordinating the Congress in Ghana. Food and accommodation will be free
for Congress participants. On 1 Nov, World Vegan Day, there will be a
large Vegetarian Parade in Accra town. For more information:
www.ivu.org/africa

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JAPAN VEG SOC PRESIDENT PUBLISHES ARTICLE IN LEADING NUTRITION JOURNAL

The president of the Japan Vegetarian Society -
http://www.jpvs.org/Eng/ep1/index-eng.html - Prof/Dr Mitsuru Kakimoto's
research paper, 'Vegetarianism and Vegetarian Diets - History and
Types', has appeared in The Japanese Journal of Clinical Nutrition, No.
4 (2009), the most prestigious academic journal in this field in Japan.
Below is a short summary.

Considering that nowadays almost all the international airlines that
arrive at and depart from Japan's airports offer vegetarian options for
the airline meals, one can say that vegetarian food is world food. This
article covers the history of vegetarianism, from its origin in India
and Greece, to the modern vegetarian movement in Britain in 19th
Century, to the foundation of IVU in 1908 as a global network of
vegetarian organizations. The author further discusses the various types
of vegetarians and explains that IVU's definition of vegetarian includes
vegans, lacto vegetarians and lacto-ovo vegetarians. Reasons for
becoming a vegetarian and trends in the U.S. and Japan are also
discussed, by pointing out that many health conscious people in the U.S.
have turned to vegetarianism because of the American Dietetic
Association's 1997 recognition of the preventative effects of vegetarian
diets. People are also moving towards vegetarian for global reasons,
such as environmental protection, assistance to developing countries and
animal rights. The journal's next issue will carry an article by another
leader of the Japan Vegetarian Society on vegetarian diets in hospitals.

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INTERVIEW WITH IVU INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL MEMBER SAURABH DALAL

Saurabh Dalal has served on the IVU International Council for many
years. Currently, he is the Council's Deputy Chair. Saurabh kindly
agreed to be interviewed for 'IVU Online News'.

1. What made you decide to become a vegetarian?

Becoming vegetarian was a decision that was made for me by my parents
since birth. The decision to become vegan was my choice and that
happened in Dec 1991. The latter helped me realize something of the
difficult process in order to make such an immense lifestyle change.

2. What made you decide to become active in promoting vegetarianism?

Since my family has followed the Jain religion whose foremost principle
is Ahinsa (non-violence), I had been raised with a strong respect for
all living beings. I naturally grew up feeling that non-human animals
never wanted to suffer, no different than what we humans would want.
Since I felt so strongly from an early age that eating animals wasn't
right, that they suffered and were killed even when there were
alternatives that did not require such large-scale injustice, I wanted
others to "see" what my family saw. I felt that it was my duty and
responsibility to do so which is l why I still do it today.

3. When and how did you first hear about IVU?

I first heard about IVU around 1991, after I became active in the local
Vegetarian Society of DC (VSDC, Washington DC) through one of its most
important figures, Madge Darneille. Madge had also been active as a
founder of the Vegetarian Union of North America (VUNA) and the
Assistant General Secretary for IVU. She recruited me to get involved in
VUNA shortly thereafter and then also in IVU over the years. Meeting
then Honorary General Secretary Maxwell Lee a couple of years later at a
continental Jain convention sparked my interest further in IVU.

4. In addition to your role with IVU, you are also active in promoting
vegetarianism in the Washington, DC area and in North America generally.
Please tell us about that?

I started volunteering with VSDC in early 1991 and immediately met some
wonderful people that inspired me to go vegan. Over the years, I became
more involved in VSDC because I felt strongly about change happening at
the local level as part of grass roots awareness and community-building.
I was also asked to get involved with VUNA because it needed people who
were energized to do something beyond the local level to get groups to
share ideas and strategies to become more effective. Working in
numerous, different roles in VSDC has helped me become a better activist
and also see the importance of a group like VUNA.

5. Is promoting vegetarianism a full-time job for you, or do you have
another job too?

Promoting vegetarianism isn't a "full-time job" for me but since it is
such an important part of who I am, I feel I am always involved in
promoting the idea. Currently, I work in the telecom industry in the
area of fiber optic communication systems, allowing me to combine two
fields I'm fascinated with: Physics and Mathematics. I'm fortunate to
have been able to choose my jobs so that I'm not overwhelmed by work and
can be involved in other non-profit activities. My job provides me with
stability so I can volunteer my time in the areas that are most
meaningful to me.

6. What is an obstacle that you face in remaining active in promoting
vegetarianism? How do you overcome this obstacle?

The world desperately needs help in so many areas that I feel it's less
a question of remaining active but more of where to focus. With great
support from my family, I am really fortunate to be involved in many
related activities but do find it hard to determine how to optimize my
time and energy for greatest impact.

7. What is a recent veg-related event that you particularly enjoyed?

One of my favorite activities is outreach/tabling, i.e. grass roots
dissemination of information directly to people. VSDC had such a table
for the huge Earth Day celebration on the National Mall in Washington DC
on Sunday 19 April 2009. It's an adrenaline rush when you see first-hand
the idea of being vegan register with many people you don't know. It's
also a welcome challenge to find the right few words to say to make a
person stop and think, even if only for a moment, and take information.

8. What is one thing about yourself that most or all of your IVU friends
do not know?

I was very shy growing up and it has taken a lot for me to overcome that
over the years, especially when speaking to larger groups. I'm motivated
because we all can have an impact on those around us and the more each
of us is ready to stand up for ideas that are important, the more the
world can change.

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VIDEO SOURCE FROM VEGSOURCE

VegSource, the organisation that hosts the IVU website, has started a
new video feature. Twice a week, they add short video clips of notable
vegans and vegetarians, who share personal stories and perspectives
about being veg.

If you want to see these videos as they come out, you can subscribe to
the VegSource Newsletter. Every time they post a new video, they'll send
you a notice by email.

To subscribe to these alerts:
http://www.vegsource.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi?f=list&l=news

Recent clips include:

John Robbins: Wrong to eat animals?
http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/media_robbins1.htm

John McDougall MD: My health awakening
http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/media_mcdougall1.htm

Jeffrey Masson PhD: On his new book, "The Face on Your Plate: The Truth
About Food":
http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/masson_booksoup.htm

Jay Gordon MD: Defeating the culture of obesity
http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/media_gordon1.htm

Joel Fuhrman MD: Curing with the vegan diet:
http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/media_fuhrman1.htm

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WELCOME TO NEW IVU FULL MEMBER SOCIETIES

Following the decision last year to offer free membership of IVU to all
Full Member Societies of EVU (European Vegetarian Union), we have now
updated the IVU database to include many new societies and we are
delighted to welcome them to IVU. As a result of this agreement IVU now
includes 63 European organisations in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo,
Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and Ukraine.

For details on these societies, go to http://www.ivu.org and then:

- select any European country from the drop-down menu

- select the appropriate language at the bottom, many Euro groups only
have a website in their own language and will not appear if you search
in English

- select 'Vegetarian & Vegan organisations' on the right.

Member Societies will appear near the top with a * in front of the name.

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ANIMAL PROTECTION PETITION IN BOLIVIA

IVU received the following petition.

Dear Friends, Friends of Friends and Animal Rights Defenders,

We are pushing to exceed the 5,000 signatures goal to demand a proper
Animal Protection Law in Bolivia. Why is there a need for such a law?
Basically, because there is none. In the name of the suffering
voiceless,

You can read the petition in Spanish, Portuguese and English and sign it
at
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ley-de-proteccin-animal-en-boliviaanimal-protec\
tion-law-in-bolivia


REASONS TO BE VEGETARIAN - HEALTH OR KINDNESS?

Virginia Messina is a well-known vegan dietician. Here, from her blog -
http://veggiedietitian.blogspot.com/2009/03/vegan-for-health-of-it.html
- are some thoughts on reasons for our dietary choices:

I've been resisting the urge to write about last week's big news story
concerning meat and mortality. The study made a case against high
intakes of meat and got lots of press. It reinforced the idea that red
meat is bad for us, so that's a good thing for anyone who promotes a
plant-based diet.

Like all epidemiologic studies, it had its share of weaknesses, but the
large number of subjects helps to counteract some of that. Furthermore,
the results are supported to some extent by other research about the
dangers associated with red meat consumption.

But the study also found that eating more white meat, like chicken, was
linked to a lower risk of mortality. The take home message, according to
many of the articles I read, was "Eat less red meat and more chicken and
fish." It's the same message we've been hearing for decades, ever since
people started talking about cholesterol and heart disease. And it's a
message that really sticks. Most health conscious people don't eat less
meat; they eat different meat. And even among those who have cut back on
meat for health reasons, most haven't cut it out.

The same goes for dairy. Whole milk may be taboo on many menus, but it's
simply been replaced with nonfat yogurt.

We have piles of good data about the benefits of eating more whole plant
foods and a largely plant-based diet. What we don't have (yet) are
studies showing that vegans have significantly better health than those
who eat mostly plant foods but still include some small amounts of
animal foods in their diets.

That's just one of the reasons I've never been a big fan of the "health
argument" for vegan diet. If we are going to rely on the scientific data
in a way that is smart and responsible-as all good vegan health
professionals should-then the argument falls short of convincing.

The best advocacy is based on arguments that are rooted in solid
fact-the ones that focus on the suffering of farm animals. When it comes
to health, I'm not convinced that a few bites of chicken would hurt me.
But I know beyond a doubt that those few bites would contribute to
animal suffering.

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THE ANIMAL ACTIVIST'S HANDBOOK

Here's a new book by two people active in promoting animal welfare:
The Animal Activist's Handbook: Maximizing Our Positive Impact in
Today's World by Matt Ball (of Vegan Outreach) and Bruce Friedrich (of
PETA).

Here is a review from Compassion Over Killing:
http://www.cok.net/lit/handbookreview

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VEGAN DIETS AND BUDDHIST NUNS IN VIETNAM

The following research abstract was sent by Dr Michael Gregor:
http://www.drgreger.org

Osteoporos Int. 2009 Apr 7. [Epub ahead of print]

Title: Veganism, bone mineral density, and body composition: a study in
Buddhist nuns.

Authors: Ho-Pham LT, Nguyen PL, Le TT, Doan TA, Tran NT, Le TA, Nguyen
TV.
Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

This cross-sectional study showed that, although vegans had lower
dietary calcium and protein intakes than omnivores, veganism did not
have adverse effect on bone mineral density and did not alter body
composition.

Introduction: Whether a lifelong vegetarian diet has any negative effect
on bone health is a contentious issue. We undertook this study to
examine the association between lifelong vegetarian diet and bone
mineral density and body composition in a group of postmenopausal women.

Methods: One hundred and five Mahayana Buddhist nuns and 105 omnivorous
women (average age = 62, range = 50-85) were randomly sampled from
monasteries in Ho Chi Minh City and invited to participate in the study.
By religious rule, the nuns do not eat meat or seafood (i.e., vegans).
Bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine (LS), femoral neck (FN),
and whole body (WB) was measured by DXA (Hologic QDR 4500). Lean mass,
fat mass, and percent fat mass were also obtained from the DXA whole
body scan. Dietary calcium and protein intakes were estimated from a
validated food frequency questionnaire.

Results: There was no significant difference between vegans and
omnivores in LSBMD (0.74 +/- 0.14 vs. 0.77 +/- 0.14 g/ cm(2); mean +/-
SD; P = 0.18), FNBMD (0.62 +/- 0.11 vs. 0.63 +/- 0.11 g/cm(2); P =
0.35), WBBMD (0.88 +/- 0.11 vs. 0.90 +/- 0.12 g/cm(2); P = 0.31), lean
mass (32 +/- 5 vs. 33 +/- 4 kg; P = 0.47), and fat mass (19 +/- 5 vs. 19
+/- 5 kg; P = 0.77) either before or after adjusting
for age. The prevalence of osteoporosis (T scores </= -2.5) at the
femoral neck in vegans and omnivores was 17.1% and 14.3% (P = 0.57),
respectively. The median intake of dietary calcium was lower in vegans
compared to omnivores (330 +/- 205 vs. 682 +/- 417 mg/day, P < 0.001);
however, there was no significant correlation between dietary calcium
and BMD. Further analysis suggested that whole body BMD, but not lumbar
spine or femoral neck BMD, was positively correlated with the ratio of
animal protein to vegetable protein.

Conclusion: These results suggest that, although vegans have much lower
intakes of dietary calcium and protein than omnivores, veganism does not
have adverse effect on bone mineral density and does not alter body
composition.

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GLOBAL WARMING DEBATE - THE RISK MANAGEMENT VIEW

Meat production is strongly implicated in Global Warming, but some
people maintain that we still don't know for sure whether global warming
will indeed happen. A reader sent the following link to a video that
says we shouldn't take the risk and that we need to act now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_anaVcCXg

The video is about nine mins long and uses a few tricks to keep us
entertained while pushing us to think more about this important issue.

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ONE-MINUTE VIDEO ON THE AMAZON RAINFOREST AND MEAT

Here's a 1-minute Greenpeace video making the clear connection between
cattle ranching/meat eating and Amazon Rainforest destruction/global
warming:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNx51WqBBgM

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'THE QUESTION IS NOT CAN THEY REASON NOR CAN THEY TALK BUT CAN THEY
SUFFER'

Here's a piece by a New York Times columnist about the ascendance of the
idea that the welfare of our fellow animals deserves consideration.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/opinion/09kristof.html?_r=1&em


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WELCOME TO ORGANIzATIONS THAT HAVE RECENTLY REGISTERED WITH IVU

ARGENTINA
Gusto Superior - http://www.ricosanosabio.ar.gd

CHINA and ECUADOR
Ceres Journey - veg travel in Ecuador and China -
http://www.ceresjourney.com

INDIA
veg-recipes.com - http://www.veg-recipes.com

ITALY
Azienda Agricola TERRA LIBERA / Natural Cure Centre -
http://www.terralibera.it

PORTUGAL
Alvorecer - Centro de Cura Natural (Natural Cure Centre),
(Portuguese/English) - http://www.alvorecer.org

PUERTO RICO
Encantos Ecotours - http://www.ecotourspr.com

UK
Jinga Shoe Retailers - http://www.jingashop.com
MuLondon - Natural Organic Skincare - http://www.MuLondon.com
The Best Vegetarian Recipes - http://www.the-best-vegetarian-recipes.com
Wessex Tales Vegetarian Vegan Restaurant, Bournemouth -
http://members.lycos.co.uk/wessextales

USA
Central Jersey Vegetarian Group (CJVG) - http://cjvg.org
Cruelty-Free.org | Animal Defense Team - http://www.cruelty-free.org
National Institute of Ayurvedic Medicine - http://www.niam.com
New Jersey Vegetarian Resources - http://njveg.com
Shop Vegan Raw - http://www.ShopVeganRaw.com
Vegetarian Society of South Jersey - http://vssj.com

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UPCOMING EVENTS

To view a listing of international upcoming events online, visit
http://www.ivu.org/congress


1. Veggie Pride events - 16 May, 2009 - Lyon, Milan and Prague; 17 May
2009 - New York
http://www.veggiepride.org/en.html

2. NAVS (North American Vegetarian Society) Summerfest - 8-12 Jul,
2009 - Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA
http://vegetariansummerfest.org

3. Minding Animals Conference 13-18 July, 2009, Newcastle, Australia
www.mindinganimals.com

4. FARM Animal Rights Conference - 16-20 Jul, 2009 - Los Angeles -
http://www.arconference.org

5. 12th International Vegan Festival - 22-25 Jul, 2009, Rio de Janeiro
http://www.svb.org.br/12veganfestival/english

The world longs for peace, respect and dignity. The Environment is being
mercilessly destroyed and gives back its answer. Natural resources are
being exhausted by the unsustainable exploitation imposed by a wasteful
mode of life. We lose species diversity without even knowing it.
Diseases, obesity, suffering and hunger abound.

After so many years of ideals of 'peace and love', 'gender and ethnic
equality', 'freedom of speech' and 'respect for nature' we still crawl
on, delegating to others the task of bringing about lasting, real
changes. By changing our life style we can play a vital role in the
construction of the better world we all want, where the white dove of
peace can rest her tired feet.

6. 2009 Healthy Lifestyle Expo - 16-18 October, 2009, Burbank,
California
https://secure2.vegsource.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=75

7. West African Vegetarian Congress - 29 Oct-1 Nov, 2009, Accra, Ghana
www.ivu.org/africa

8. Asian Vegetarian Congress - 6-10 Nov, 2009. Batam, Indonesia
www.avc2009.org

The 4th Asian Vegetarian Congress, organised by the Asian Vegetarian
Union and the Indonesia Vegetarian Society, will be held on Batam
Island, Indonesia, near Singapore from 6-10 Nov. People from everyone in
the world are warmly welcome to enjoy delicious Indonesian vegetarian
food.

Among those who have agreed to speak are 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
Laureate, R.K. Pachauri, well-known vegetarian crusader Maneka Gandhi,
and IVU Regional Coordinators for India and for Asia-Pacific, Shankar
Narayan and Susianto Tseng.

9. China Xiamen International Vegetarian Food Fair - 12-15 Nov, 2009
www.vffair.com

10. IVU World Vegetarian Congress - 1-7 Oct, 2010, Jakarta and Bali
http://www.ivu.org/congress/2010/index.html

The 39th IVU World Vegetarian Congress will be held in Indonesia in two
places, Jakarta, the capital (and the economic centre of the country)
and Bali, the country's most famous tourist destination. The Congress
starts in Jakarta and then moves to Bali. An outline of the programme is
available.

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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. Dawn Watch
http://www.dawnwatch.com/alerts.htm
2. European Vegetarian Union
http://www.euroveg.eu/lang/en/news/newsletter.php
3. Farmed Animal Net
http://www.farmedanimal.net
4. Vegan Outreach
http://www.veganoutreach.org/enewsletter
5. VegE-News
http://www.vege-news.com
6. AnimalConcerns.org doesn't have a newsletter, but they post stories
daily at http://www.animalconcerns.org/categories.html?do=shownews



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PLEASE WRITE FOR IVU ONLINE NEWS

Dear Veg Activist

Please use this newsletter as a way to share your knowledge, ideas and
experiences with fellow veg activists.

Thx. --george jacobs - george@...

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