the latest IVU Online News is now available in our new database format:

http://www.ivu.org/news/magazine/article/archives/110

you can now leave comments at the end of any article

and check out all the other features....

john
-------
john davis
manager@...
http://www.ivu.org

The Shropshire Veggies and Vegans group is to hold its Christmas Party on 12
December 2009 from 3pm to 6pm at the Coalbrookdale Community Centre.

The Christmas party is one of the highlights of the year and should not be
missed.  There are lashings of food and drink brought by the members and all
of it is vegan, so that most people don't have to check what's in it.

It's a time to relax, have a chat, eat and drink in true traditional style.

Everyone is welcome and you may bring a friend.

The venue and times are confirmed.

Address: 2 Wellington Road, Coalbrookdale, Shropshire TF8 7DX

Directions: The Community Centre is opposite the Hiscocks Store which is now
a vacant building and opposite to the road leading to the Enginuity Museum.
Plenty of parking spaces in the Community Centre grounds at the back.

If you let us know what you are bringing, we'll put it on the list.  So far
on the list there are:

Home-made mince pies
Home-made sausage rolls
Christmas pudding
Garlic bread

I have not been to your events before but will be coming along to this, after
meeting a few of you at the recent Wolves Vegan Fayre.

I plan to bring bread rolls filled with vegan roast Turkey or Beef, and some
filled with one of the Cheezly's; also Tyrrells crisps.

Julie

the latest collection of articles from IVU Online News is now online.

Some of these are now being added during the month, instead of waiting until
the end, so you can go to http://www.ivu.org/news at time to see what's new.

If you prefer your news in one long text file at the end of the month then
simply add your name/email to the 'newsletter' box on the left and you will
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To see all the most recent articles click on 'All News' or go direct to:
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john
-------
john davis
manager@...
http://www.ivu.org

SVV Christmas Party
12 December 2009 from 3pm to 6pm

The Coalbrookdale Community Centre is booked and the stewards appointed.  As
usual, there will be a raffle to help cover the cost of hiring the rooms.

To ensure everything is planned for, please check that you have told Malcolm
or Dave that you are coming by 7th Dec.  Everyone is welcome and you are
invited to bring friends, but please make sure that they understand that all
the consumables will be vegan at this event.

So far we have the following items on the menu

Home-made mince pies
Home-made sausage rolls
Christmas pudding
Garlic bread
Bread rolls filled with vegan roast turkey or beef
Bread rolls filled with one of the Cheezly's
Tyrrells crisps
Grapes
Cheesecake
Salad

If you would like alcoholic drinks, please bring your own.

If you have contacted either Dave or Malcolm already and have since decided
what to bring, please send Dave david.whalley@... a list so that we
can add it to the menu above.

*The Next World Day for the Abolition of Meat will be held on 30th January
2010.*

The World Day for the Abolition of Meat is intended as a means of promoting
the idea of *abolishing the murder of animals for food*. Worldwide six
million sentient beings are killed for their flesh every hour! That figure
doesn't even count the fish and other sea animals, which of course are
included in the demand for the abolition of meat. Meat consumption causes
more suffering and death than any other human activity and is completely
unnecessary.

Many groups will mobilize to promote the abolition of meat (and other animal
products). They will not only advocate vegetarianism and veganism to
individuals but will call for society to abandon the practice of killing
animals for food. We hope that this initiative will strengthen the animal
rights movement over the years. It is important to address people not only
as consumers but also as citizens like the anti-slavery activists who,
although only a small minority, not only sought a boycott of sugar produced
by slaves but also *clearly expressed the idea that slavery should be banned
*. It is important today to question society as a whole about the murder of
animals for food so that it can no longer avoid a public debate on the
legitimacy of this practice.

On 30 January conferences, street actions, leafleting and information stands
will be organized to spread the idea that the consumption of meat cannot be
justified ethically and *should therefore be abolished* just as human
slavery was in its time.

Here is the video of an original action that can be used for the world day,
made by Swiss activists in 2007 (other groups are welcome to use the same
format):


  http://youtube.com/watch?v=z-iUs0kaDB0


  Your actions can be reported on this website:
http://www.nomoremeat.org/

Send us an email if you plan something in your town: meat.abo.day(at)
gmail.com



  And for more information:

I recommend you this great article explaining why it is important to demand
the abolition of meat:
http://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/spip.php?article369

A FAQ about the movement for the abolition of meat:
http://en.m-eat.org/wiki/FAQ

A Yahoo group to organize actions for the abolition of meat:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/meatabolition/



  Anushavan Sarukhanyan, from Switzerland




--
    Because meat production involves killing the animals that are eaten,

    because their living conditions and slaughter cause many of them to
suffer,

    because eating meat isn't necessary,

    because sentient beings shouldn't be mistreated or killed unnecessarily,

    therefore,

    farming, fishing and hunting animals for their flesh, as well as selling
and eating animal flesh, should be abolished.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A skittles afternoon has been organised by Hannah and Kevin at the
Shakespeare Inn at Bridgnorth for Sunday 31 January 2010.  We will meet from
3.00 to 5.00pm.

Please bring something for the refreshments.

The total cost is £40 for the group, so the individual cost depends on the
numbers attending.  As usual, please let Dave or Malcolm know if you are
coming to the event.

This notice would also be on the S V V web site, but access is not possible
at present for some unknown reason.

Dave Whalley

Hi Richard

Great to hear you can make the skittles on Sunday.  We usually stick to
snacks.  I guess too much food will make it harder to bowl!

I have managed to get the details on the Shropveg web site at last.

Dave

THE ELECTRONIC NETWORK NEWS

February/March 2010

(Based on Network News, the newsletter sent out to the Local Contacts of The
Vegetarian Society UK.  Edited by Bronwen Humphreys.)

The Vegetarian Society, Parkdale, Dunham Road, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14
4QG.

Tel: 0161 925 2000     Fax: 0161 926 9182   Email: bron@...

All prices are in pounds sterling unless otherwise stated. Some products and
services mentioned may only be available in Great Britain, others may only
be available to members of the Society or our registered local contacts. You
may make this newsletter available to members of your group, including via
your local e-list if it is managed by your group, but please don't post it
wholesale to other lists.


ACTION POINTS - We need you to help with the following please:

- Distribute some copies of the new pregnancy and baby booklet to local
health centres and doctors' surgeries.  Please ask if it would be welcome at
yours, and send us the contact details so we can post a batch to them.

- Help us to recruit more members by requesting our special leaflets to give
out on your stalls - more details further on

-If you wrote to your MEPs about food policy and climate change, as we asked
you to last year (the request was on our website and an alert was sent via
Vegnet), we would be very interested to hear what sort of response you got.
Please forward any information to Annette Pinner at Annette@....

- Contact your local media about National Vegetarian Week - now's the time.
More details further on


INTRO

Happy New Year everyone, if it isn't all forgotten by now!  We certainly had
a white Christmas with a vengeance in Altrincham, so I hope you weren't all
snowed in.  It was very pretty for a few days, but by the end of the first
week in January, we were beginning to find the travel difficulties it caused
less than funny.  Some members of staff elected to work from home now that
it is possible to log on remotely, others of us braved the cold, well
wrapped up in fleeces and scarves, and enjoyed the sight of Parkdale's
garden completely buried under a pristine snow drift.  The resemblance to
the famous scene of Narnia in Winter was enhanced by the fact we have our
own old-fashioned lamp post in the drive!  Well, things are very much back
to normal now, the sky a uniform "Manchester" grey, but spring is round the
corner and with it our busiest time of the year - the run up to National
Vegetarian Week.

There's one thing I have to do in this issue which I don't think I've ever
had to do before, and that is introduce my own new manager!  The former head
of my team, Chris Olivant, had been working for Parkdale a very long time so
the situation has never arisen.  Jen, my new manager, arrived a few weeks
before Christmas just in time for our festive lunch!  She's been busy since
then getting to know us and our work.  You can read what Jen has to say to
introduce herself further on.

As usual at this time of year, I've been chasing up all the local groups and
info centres who have missed the deadline for the 2010 annual registration.
I can understand how this happens, we all live busy lives and sometimes a
job slips below the horizon even though you make a note in your diary or on
your to-do list.  The occasional late registration isn't a problem.  The
situation that I find really difficult is when we don't hear from a group
for a long time and there's no response to all my reminders.  In those
cases, we don't know if the group is still active or not; if something has
happened that means you need help, or if you've closed down completely.  We
don't know if the contact details we are publishing to our members and the
world in general are still accurate but we don't know either, if your entry
should be removed.

So, please, do respond to a registration reminder, even if it is to tell us
that your group is going through a difficult phase.  You can be sure we will
help if we can. At the very least we can remove inaccurate contact details
and save someone from being bothered by unwanted emails and phone calls.

Quite a number of jokes about long gestation periods have been flying round
our office in connection with the revamp of our booklet on pregnancy and
baby feeding, but the wait has been worthwhile, we hope. Not only does the
booklet have a bright new look, with photos of real veggie parents and their
children, the nutritional advice has been reviewed by the British Nutrition
Foundation. It can be ordered from us in the usual way, or downloaded from
our website - go to www.vegsoc.org/info and click on "pregnancy".

Finally, I must just draw your attention to the new Chef of the Future
competition outlined further on.  This was very successful last year so
please help this year's along by spreading the word!


Bronwen Humphreys
Local Network Co-ordinator


VEG SOC ACTION

National Vegetarian Week

24th to 30th May

It seems like it's still quite far away, but National Vegetarian Week is
creeping ever-closer and we want NVW 2010 to be bigger and better than ever!
We'll soon have our free promotional materials and we'll be able to send
them out to local groups, and the public, from the beginning of March. We
found that the 'pack' format we used last year (a set number of items in an
envelope) worked really well, but, of course, if you wish to order more or
higher amounts of individual items you're very welcome to do so. The packs
will consist of:

2 x A3 posters
1 x A3 'belly' poster (middle section is blank for writing in
offers/specials etc)
1 x landscape banner poster
1 x booklet holder
25 x A6 booklets

We don't actually have any finalised artwork for NVW materials yet but it's
almost ready.

For the last couple of years, as you're probably aware, we've also had a
small number of t-shirts made up for the Week and local groups holding a
stall or event for the public have been sent these to further promote NVW.
We'll hopefully be doing the same again this year and will have men's and
ladies' t-shirts in a few different sizes.

With NVW 2010 comes a brand new website too! For this first time National
Vegetarian Week will have its own separate website, which can be found at
www.nationalvegetarianweek.org. As well as the usual features, such as the
ability to order our free promotional materials and find out the latest NVW
news, the new site will have a new and improved Events Diary so you'll find
it easier to add your own event and find out exactly what's happening in
your local area. The website is not online yet but we're hoping it will be
finished and online for the middle of February.

I will be keeping you updated with NVW through Network News, but it's worth
signing up to the NVW e-newsletter to get updates as they happen. If you're
not already signed up to the NVW e-newsletter, please go to
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/newsletters.html

Thanks!
~Graham Drummond
Communications & Events Officer

Can I just add that you will be sent the usual sample pack of the materials,
with your special order form for local contacts that allows you to pick
specific amounts of individual items - so don't rush to order on the
website!  ~ Bron


MEDIA FOCUS

Keep up to date with veggie news

If you would like to be aware of veggie/vegan news stories then there are a
few ways you can do this. We update these areas with news about food,
animals, green issues and Vegsoc. Follow us on Twitter/vegsoc
or visit www.vegsoc.org/news


Dates you can get involved with

If you like writing letters to your papers or contacting your local radio
about issues then here are a few environmental dates that you may be
interested in. The Vegsoc press office will be producing info relating to
the following:
March - Earth Day 20, World Water Day 22
June - World Environment Day 5, World Ocean Day 8


Planning for National Vegetarian Week 24-30 May 2010

The week may be in May but now is the time to make plans, contact your local
radio station/paper and mention that the week is coming up. You could offer
to go in and chat about being veggie/vegan, perhaps take some food in to
taste or read a recipe out. The Vegsoc press office has lots of info to
offer you, guidelines on chatting to the media, tips and hints and ideas for
topics. If you are approaching a local paper then we have lots of images,
recipes and feature ideas they can use. If you would like to get updates
from the press office   then Su would be really happy to send them out to
you just email su@... her or drop her a line at Parkdale.


Feedback requested

On Thursday 3 December, Sir Paul McCartney and Dr Rajendra Pachuri addressed
members of the European Parliament in a special hearing titled 'Global
Warming and Food Policy: Less Meat = Less Heat'. The world famous musician,
vegetarian and environmentalist and the Chairman of the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change set out how everyone can reduce their contribution
to climate change by consuming less meat.

The Vegetarian Society believes that MEPs need to be aware of the
environmental impact of livestock production so that they can contribute
fully to the debate on climate change.  We therefore encouraged everyone
with an interest in this issue to write to their MEPs to ask them to attend
the hearing.  Going forward, we would like to assess how much interest and
support there is among MEPs on this issue so if you wrote to your MEPs we
would be very interested to hear what sort of response you got.  Please
forward any information to Annette Pinner at Annette@....



VEG SOC NEWS


Appeal Update

Thank you if you gave us a gift towards our Christmas appeal which
concentrated on a campaign looking at the True Cost of Christmas, the report
we produced revealing the real facts and figures about Christmas.  The
appeal raised 3,566 pounds to date, which is fantastic.
Thanks also to our supporters who raised 4,626 pounds recently from our
pregnancy and baby appeal. We were able to update and re-print 50,000 copies
of our popular 'Vegetarian pregnancy, vegetarian babies' booklet and we have
already sent out hundreds of copies to our members, enquirers and health
professionals. The booklet provides useful nutritional advice to veggie
parents wishing to raise their children as vegetarians too.


Can you help us?

We would really appreciate it if you were able to help us recruit more
members. If you hold any stalls or events this year, please request our A5
membership leaflets to have on display. Membership has something to offer
for long-standing veggies as well as those who have recently, or perhaps not
quite, made the move to vegetarianism. But whoever comes to speak to you at
your stall must certainly have some interest in the issue, so please do
mention the Vegetarian Society and give them a leaflet which explains all
the benefits of being a member!
This would not only help us get more members but, we hope, engage them in
the work your local group is doing and so get more interaction between your
work and our members. If you are able to display our membership leaflets
then please contact alice@... with how many you would like and she
will send you some.


Can we help you?

We would be really happy to help you promote your group in our members'
e-newsletter. This goes out every two months to around 6,000 recipients! So
whether you wish to promote an event, social gathering or meeting, or
include a short announcement asking for more veggies in your area to get
involved, please email alice@... at any time over the course of the
year and she can include this in the next members' e-newsletter. Please
direct any other questions to Alice at the above email or on 0161 925 2000.


Thank you

To Croydon Vegetarians for a donation of 38 pounds, raised at the Kensington
Animal Charities Fair in November.

To SAVeggies (Southend Area Veggies) for a donation of 15.00 pounds as a
contribution towards supplies of leaflets.

To BEVEG (Bromley and Environs Vegetarians) for a donation of 35 pounds.
This was raised from the sale of pumpkins so we also must thank Mr Ian
Darragh who grew the pumpkins, and Mr and Mrs J Hague, who helped Kathy Silk
(BEVEG organiser) to do the selling!

To Milton Keynes Vegetarians and Vegans for a collecting box return of 23.12
pounds.

Thank you to everyone who helps support the Society by fundraising, your
efforts are appreciated very much. As you can see from Alice's article on
the left, it really does help us to publish more leaflets and fact sheets.


Annette's newsround

Annette, our Chief Executive,  has had a couple of really interesting trips.
The first was to a European Vegetarian Union meeting in Berlin, which is
where leaders of many of the vegetarian organisations across Europe get
together.  She ran a session on sharing experience and challenges and one of
the outcomes is that we are now working together to try and push forward
meat-free days across Europe.  The second trip was to the European
Parliament in Brussels to hear Paul McCartney and Dr Pachauri (Chairman of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) speak at a hearing on climate
change and livestock production.  She reports:  "It was amazing to hear the
President of the Parliament, Jerry Buzek, open the hearing by declaring that
'Everyone can give up meat for one day a week' - I think this would have
been unimaginable two years ago".  She also took part in the Food Standard
Agency's consultation on iron and health, which has provided some very
helpful evidence for vegetarianism.

Back at Parkdale there's been all the usual stuff - preparing for Council
and Sub-committee meetings etc - as well as moving on the business planning
and inducting the new trustees. And then of course there has been recruiting
a  new Head of Research and Information!


Staff Update

Hi
I'm Jen Elford, the new Head of Research and Information Services at
Parkdale.  I took over in December from the long serving head of R&I, Chris
Olivant. Previously I've worked with Oxfam and the charity WRVS managing
research and coming to work for Vegsoc comes as a really exciting challenge.
My background is in philosophy, ethics and biological sciences and in
particular nutrition. I'm really excited to be joining the Vegetarian
Society at a point in time when as the debate on how we will feed ourselves
in the future is really hotting up. Giving vegetarians all the right tools
to shout about the importance of vegetarianism is high on my priorities and
that is what the team here at Parkdale is all about. As we approach our
plans for this coming year we're looking at some exciting big new projects
such as a national survey of vegetarian lifestyles and attitudes - which
means you! - and a whole new Vegsoc Archive project which, with the help of
volunteers, aims to create a properly curated research resource which will
be open to the public. But our local outreach is vital and we will also be
reviewing the materials and literature we produce for you our local groups
and speakers, and how we can make them work better for you. I'm always
interested in your feedback and ideas so please get in touch and I'll be
happy to listen.
~Jen


Obituary

We were very sorry to hear that Jean Booth died on 7th December last year.
She was a local contact for several years, running an info centre in
Oxfordshire.  Paul Appleby, our former local contact for the Oxford
Vegetarians group, has sent in his recollections:

I must have first met Jean about 20 years ago when she ran a Vegetarian
Information Centre in her then home village of Shrivenham, near Swindon. She
ran this for some years, but it was always a struggle to keep it going and
she eventually wound it up.  Looking through my records it seems that she
first joined OxVeg (or Oxford Vegetarians as it then was) in January 1990
and she remained a member for the rest of her life.  Soon afterwards Jean
moved to Wantage, first to 8 Rolls Court and, after her husband Walter's
death, to Betjeman Court.  By this time Jean had given up driving which,
because of the limited bus service between Wantage and Oxford, meant that
she no longer attended OxVeg meetings, although she was always very
apologetic to me about this.  Walter and Jean had two daughters, one of whom
lives locally and the other in France.  As far as I know both are
vegetarians, although Walter was not (indeed he was chain smoker, making
meetings with Jean in her home a rather unhealthy experience!).

I will remember Jean as a thoughtful, well educated and intelligent woman (I
believe that she had been a teacher by profession) and a committed
vegetarian who encouraged others to follow her example.
~ Paul Appleby


Awards 2010

Our Corporate Affairs Team are already planning the next round of VegSoc
Approved Awards for best vegetarian products and services. They are asking
if we have forgotten any categories, as they want to cover absolutely
everything. If you can spot an area where you think we might need to
introduce a new category for the Awards, please contact
vegsocapproved@... to let us know.


YOUTH MATTERS

This column isn't just for Youth Contacts!  Please feel welcome to pass on
information to your young members, to parents and teachers in your area.


Last Chance for Student Survival Guides

We know student life is not all parties and sleeping until noon. There's
also the churning out of endless essays and living on little more than beans
on toast. But we are here to help! If you are a student aged over 16, now's
your last chance to grab one of our Student Survival Packs that include
recipes, useful information, money-off vouchers and free samples. Log onto
www.youngveggie.org/students to request your free pack. You have until the
end of February, whilst stocks last.


Chip Chip Hooray

Whether they are chunky, curly, crinkle-cut or doused in vinegar, chips are
a big hit in the UK. In fact, they are so beloved that they have their own
week; National Chips Week will be held from 15th-21st February 2010. For
your chance to vote for your favourite chip shop, log on to
http://www.lovechips.co.uk/. There, you'll also find all manner of
chip-related facts, games and recipes. There is even a chip song and a
national chip shop-locator!


Earth Hour

On Sunday 27th March at 8.30 pm, you can show you care about climate change
by switching off your lights! That's right, it is nearly time for WWF's
Earth Hour 2010 and the aim is for a billion people around the world to join
in. In case you didn't take part last year, Earth Hour exists to raise
awareness about climate change and highlight how we can all help to fight it
by making changes to the way we live. Using less electricity is a great
start. It is easy to switch off the light as you leave a room, use your
kettle to boil only the amount of water you need and to turn off computer
and tv screens rather than leaving them on standby. During Earth Hour,
supporters will leave all their lights off for a full 60 minutes. But that
doesn't mean you just have to sit there in the dark! Here are some ideas to
make your Earth Hour fun and memorable:
-play hide and seek by torch-light
-invite friends over to watch a film in the dark
-host a shadow puppet show
-have a candle-lit disco (take care with flames)
-write in light! You'll need a torch and a camera. Take a look at WWF's site
for instructions.


Most Vegetarian - Friendly City

Veggies living in London should be feeling very happy because their fine
city has been named Most Vegetarian-Friendly city by Peta (People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals). London was victorious because of its wealth
of veggie restaurants and cafes. Vegetarian food is also widely available in
grocery stores and supermarkets in the capital. Well done London!


National Vegetarian Week 2010: 24th-30th May

Write in your diary! It may be a few months away but it's time to start
thinking about that most veg-tastic of times, National Vegetarian Week (or
NVW as it is nicknamed). NVW is a time to celebrate all things veggie and we
hope that there will be events all across the UK. The 2009 NVW was a huge
success with many schools, businesses, community groups and individuals
doing their bit to promote vegetarian living.

So what can you do? At school, you could give a talk about vegetarianism,
offer veggie food for other students to sample or encourage your canteen to
serve more veggie food. At home, why not throw a vegetarian party so that
your non-veggie friends or family can see how tasty meat-free food can be?
Contact us for free posters, leaflets and other resources for you and your
school. For more information, log on to www.youngveggie.org or call us on
0161 9252000.


Why I went veggie...

The very latest addition to the Young Veggie website (www.youngveggie.org)
is a collection of musings from young people that explain why they have
chosen a vegetarian lifestyle. To find out more please follow the link from
the "What's New?" section on the home page.


And...

Do you know your lactose from your lemon grass? Your lassi from listeria?
Are you interested in finding out what a ladies finger is? Look no further
than the new "L" section of our A-Z on the Young Veggie website. And, as
always, if you think that we've missed anything out please let us know!


Pancake Day!

Here's a slightly-fiddly-but-so-worth-it recipe from Stephen who works here
at the Vegetarian Society. It will make an interesting change from the usual
Shrove Tuesday pancakes. Labne is a bit like cream cheese and is made by
straining yoghurt.

PANCAKE OCTOPUS FILLED WITH FRUITY LABNE

Serves 4

Ingredients

500g low fat natural yogurt
200g mixed berries (chopped if bigger than raspberry size)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 orange zest
200g plain white flour
2 medium eggs, beaten
500ml milk
pinch salt
sprinkle Demerara sugar
1 tbsp oil

Method

1. In a sieve lined with muslin pour in the yogurt with the berries, vanilla
extract and orange zest. Leave this to strain for a few hours to drain off
the excess water from the yogurt (alternatively you can leave this overnight
to make the next day).

2. Place the next four ingredients into a liquidiser and mix into a smooth
batter.

3. Heat a 24cm non-stick frying pan and brush it with a little oil with a
silicon pastry brush.

4. Pour in enough of the mixture to make a nice big pancake, turning it over
to cook on the other side. When you've made the first pancake put it on some
baking parchment to cool a little while you make the rest - you can sprinkle
some Demerara sugar onto it at this point if you like.

5. When the pancakes have cooled slightly and can be handled, place the
right hand side of it into a small round bowl so that the left side of the
pancake is hanging over (the pancake inside the bowl will be the head and
the rest the tentacles.) Fill the head part up with the fruit labne.

6. Turn the octopus out onto a plate so your labne is now on the bottom.
Make 8 slashes in the pancake to make its tentacles - now twist them into
twirls.

7. Continue for the remaining three pancakes.



Vegan Ventures workshop

Last summer, on an sunny August afternoon, nine young vegetarians and vegans
sat in the beautiful grounds of Parkdale in the Manchester sunshine and
enjoyed tasting the fruits of their labours. The lucky nine had spent the
day on the fourth annual Vegan Venture cookery course, organised by the
Vegetarian Charity in memory of its founder Maxwell Lee.

On the course, the students, under the tutorship of the Vegetarian Society's
chef Mo, learned about vegan nutrition, tried out some new cooking
techniques and recipes and cooked up a fantastic meal which they tucked into
afterwards. They were then presented with certificates and a vegan cookery
book.

Students came from all over the country and we paid their travel expenses
plus overnight accommodation at Parkdale for those that wanted it. One
student described the course as 'better than I could ever have imagined.'
The course was oversubscribed last year and so the next course on 21 August
2010 is partially full, but we do still have a few places and would love to
hear from you if you would like to attend. Please visit our website at
www.vegetariancharity.org.uk for details of how to apply, please note this
course is only open to under-26s who are vegetarian or vegan. Good luck!
~ Margaret Chatfield, Vegetarian Charity


Gelatine: a bone of contention!

The following article has been written by 12 year old Lucy Fellows. Lucy is
a proud vegetarian and keen writer. We have reprinted it here to encourage
other young vegetarians to try their hand at writing for Young Veggie

Gelatine is a see-through product made from the tissues inside animal's skin
and bones, mainly from cows and pigs. It is used in some foods, drinks,
medicines and also in beauty products like shampoos and creams (sometimes
listed as animal collagen). You find it in "gummy" sweets, marshmallows,
jelly, some low-fat yoghurt and also desserts.

I have been a vegetarian all of my life and find that most people do not
understand what gelatine is and that I do not want to eat it. I find it
especially hard at Guides and also my Nature group. In both of these groups
we go camping and have marshmallows around the campfire. Also, at school
they often give unsuitable sweets out as prizes or treats and at parties in
goody bags too. One big problem is at Halloween when I go trick or treating.
I always come back with half the amount because I can't take the gummy
sweets. In the summer I watch out for ice creams and lollies which often
have gelatine in them. Tablets from the doctor and many vitamin supplements
can come in gelatine capsules as well.

Don't be disheartened; you can still get round this problem without it being
too difficult. First you should explain the problem to all of your friends.
For example, I used to receive lots of tubes of gelatine sweets for
Christmas. After telling my friends, they respected that I didn't eat gummy
sweets and gave me chocolate instead. You will usually find that your
friends will stick up for you!

Even better news there are vegetarian substitutes for gelatine:
Agar Agar comes from a red sea vegetable.
Carrageen is from a reddish purple seaweed.
"Vege-Gel" is also available.

These can be substituted in recipes where gelatine is needed. They can be
bought from health food shops and also some supermarkets.

At campfires a good alternative to marshmallows is something called
"dampers"?. This is just flour and water made into dough and rolled in a
little bit of sugar. Then, wrap round a skewer or stick and toasted over the
fire! Yum, they are delicious!

Also look out for vegetarian versions of yoghurts, jelly and supplements and
other products that  usually contain gelatine.
I hope I've helped young veggies avoid this sneaky meat product!
~Lucy Fellows


Clubs for young veggies

Don't forget about our youth clubs, the Twiggy Club for ages 10 and under,
and Team Veggie, our exclusive club for veggies aged 11-16. The clubs are
growing from strength to strength and have doubled in size in the last six
months!
We are really keen for more young vegetarians to become a part of our
growing network and really hope that the veggies who are a part of Team
Veggie, or who soon will be, will want to become Youth Contacts or even set
up their own veggie group at school. You never know, they might be running
their own local group one day!
We are offering 25% off membership to both youth clubs until 28th Feb so
please spread the word to all the young veggies out there that you know. You
can join over the phone or online. Simply quote 'young veggie 2010' to pay
just 7.50 pounds(usual price 10 pounds) for a year's membership.


NOTICEBOARD

London Veggie calendar

With the proliferation of vegetarian and vegan groups in and around London,
Richard Molyneux thought it makes sense to have a shared calendar and a way
of messaging everyone with relevant info, so he started a Yahoo group
VEG-GreaterLondon.  This group is NOT designed to replace existing groups,
but to complement them, allowing members to see at a glance all Greater
London events.  Members of all vegetarian and vegan groups in the London
area, are invited to join  and post details of their events so there is a
single calendar for the region.  You can find it at:
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/VEG-GreaterLondon/


Fair Trade Fortnight

Is on the horizon, 22nd Feb to 7th March.  The Fairtrade Foundation are
planning a Big Swap this year because they want people to swap as much of
their normal stuff as possible for Fair Trade versions. There's a lot of
help on their website regarding how to find the alternatives and they would
like you to register you swaps because they are aiming for a million and
one!  www.fairtrade.org.uk for more information.
During the same week, Traidcraft's campaign is called the Big Brew - because
they want you to host a fair-trade tea party. This is something which should
make a good group activity. More information on http://www.traidcraft.co.uk/
(click on news and events)


The following two events involve the Vegetarian Society's Nottingham Group,
Veggies Catering Campaign, who welcome the support of other members who
might like to develop their cooking or campaigning skills.

National Animal Rights Spring Gathering

Friday 12th to Sunday 14th March. Details from
http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=1251
A weekend of networking, workshops, discussions, actions and social
activities to be held at the Sumac Centre in Nottingham, with catering by
Veggies. The Animal Rights Coalition is an informal network which exists to
promote cooperation and to spread information between the various groups and
individuals working throughout the UK to stop animal abuse. ARC gatherings
are a great opportunity to meet up with other activists from all over the
country, to catch up on the latest news about the current campaigns, and to
swap ideas, tactics, skills and information.


Vegan Beer Festival

Saturday 5th to Sunday 6th June
Did you know that many beers, including most 'real' ales are made using
isinglass, an a additive made from the swim bladders of sturgeons? Wines
often use dried blood or egg albumen as finings.
Finings are used to speed up the settling of sediment, a process that works
perfectly well with the addition instead of a little more time!
So, Roll Up Roll Up for the Great Vegan Beer Festival at the Sumac Centre in
Nottingham!
Loads of vegan beers. Our beers contain no fish!'
Details from http://www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=1441


Brighton Eco Fair

20 March, 11am-6pm at The Hove Centre, Norton Road, BN3 4AH. Entrance 3/1
pounds.


World Rat Day

Sunday 4th April 2010
Details from Cavy Rescue www.cavyrescue.co.uk


UK Aware - Ideas for greener living

16th - 17th April 2010
London Olympia Two
10am-6pm
www.ukaware.com


World Week for Laboratory Animals

Saturday 17th to 24th April 2010
Details from National Anti-vivisection Society (NAVS) on 0207 630 3340 or
see www.navs.org.uk


Ealing Animal Welfare Bazaar

Saturday 6th March 2010    10.30 am - 4 pm.   Hanwell Methodist Church,
Church Road, London W7 1DJ.  Numerous participating societies.  Admission
FREE.  Details 020 8567 6739.  www.animalwelfarebazaar.info



CORDON VERT UPDATE

Courses for All Seasons

New for 2010 are our Seasonal, Sensational and Sustainable Workshops.

More people are looking at cooking with seasonal produce, but sometimes you
worry that your dishes may be limited or you think that they will be missing
certain flavours. Well, you needn't worry as this year we are running the
Seasonal, Sensational and Sustainable workshop several times throughout the
year.

This brand new course for 2010 focuses on using seasonal foods current to
the particular month the course runs and shows you how to flavour them
imaginatively using a wide range of dried and preserved ingredients from
previous seasons.  Some examples of dishes from this course include fresh
Brussels sprouts baked in an egg custard tart flavoured with preserved
horseradish, garlic and vegetarian Parmesan-style cheese. Or when beetroot
is in abundance, beetroot roasted in pomegranate molasses, combined with
rosemary and goat's cheese to make pretty pate quenelles. Or even when
courgettes are plentiful, making them the key ingredient in a beautiful gem
green risotto using preserved caper buds and fresh herbs.

The list of fresh and seasonal combined with dried or preserved ingredients
is endless, and you can be sure this course will show you how to think
seasonally without sacrificing imagination. Once the workshop is over and
dining has commenced you will be rewarded with a glass of crisp English
white wine to continue the theme of Seasonal, Sensational and Sustainable -
what could be better?

Following on from our popular foraging for mushrooms Wild about Mushrooms
course we are running a Food for Free course. This brand new course  begins
with a fascinating presentation by Dr Patrick Harding before the group heads
off into the local Cheshire countryside to find what nature has to offer in
May.  You can expect to find ramsons, cow parsley, hawthorn (bread and
cheese), garlic mustard, burdock, nettles, ground elder, comfrey, shepherd's
purse and much much more.  But it's not just about what is available in the
month of May as along the way Patrick will point out to you wild foods that
will be available in the coming months.  After your walk of discovery you
will be treated to a four course wild food lunch cooked by the Cordon Vert
team (menu depending on what's available) which will be enjoyed with a glass
of dandelion wine, followed by dandelion coffee, a sweet rosehip syrup treat
and a shot of sloe gin (or a sip if you're driving).  After lunch Principle
Tutor, Christina, will demonstrate how to make some simple wild food dishes
and together with Patrick, will be available to answer questions.

Here's to a healthy 2010

In response to your requests for how to follow a good vegetarian diet and
demystify some of the media advice surrounding healthy eating, we are very
excited to now be able to offer this brand new 'Listen. Learn and Taste'
course at Cordon Vert. Designed jointly by one of our senior tutors who has
a BSc in Nutritional Medicine and a fellow nutritional therapist, it will
provide you with all the key elements required for a healthy vegetarian
diet.
Included in the evening will be a series of mini-talks covering protein
power, carbohydrate confusion, friendly fats and missing minerals, as well
as a discussion looking at how hormonal and digestive imbalances can impede
long term optimum health. There will also be the opportunity to explore the
role of anti-nutrients in your diet and outline your own action programme
for improved nutrition.  And last but not least, we look forward to serving
a delicious buffet based on easy to prepare recipes to get you started on
your new lifestyle!

Check out our exciting schedule for early 2010. Check out the website
www.cordonvert.co.uk for courses from April onwards.

February

26th - Kids in the Kitchen Workshop
27th - Around the World Workshop
27th - Fragrant Lebanese Workshop - held in London
28th - Dairy Free and Delicious Workshop

March

3rd - Healthy Eating
5th - Seasonal, Sensational and Sustainable Workshop
7th - 20 Minute Meals Workshop
13th- 14th - Far Eastern Workshop
18th - Luxurious Lunch While you Learn
20th - Modern Indian
21st - Casablanca Workshop
23rd- 24th - Level One - Catering for Vegetarians - Course for Chefs
25th - Kids in the Kitchen
26th - Table for Two Workshop
27th - Italian Workshop
28th - Basque, Provence and The Loire Valley Workshop - held in London
31st - Vegetarian Inspiration Day - Course for Chefs

Our exciting brand new schedule from April onwards will be available on
www.cordonvert.co.uk from early February, or you can contact Jane on 0161
925 2014 for a brochure.

Cordon Vert Open Day for Chefs

For over a year now, we have been running Open Days for catering students,
which have been successful and a great opportunity for catering students to
see what we do here at the Cordon Vert School and also educate them about a
vegetarian diet.

As well as running further open days for colleges, we are running an open
day for chefs on Tuesday 30th March. There will be cookery demos, a chance
for the chefs to have a look around our kitchen, and a presentation about
the work we do here at the Vegetarian Society. We will be also telling them
about the courses we run for chefs, and the chefs we have trained in the
past from various universities and catering establishments.
~Jane O'Leary


The °Cordon Vert Vegetarian chef of the future 2010.

We are delighted to announce the return of our very own culinary competition
designed to challenge and inspire creators of cuisine.

We're on the hunt for enthusiastic and talented individuals to take part.
You can be a professional chef or a total amateur, a meat eater or a
vegetarian - so long as you are prepared to take our challenge we don't
mind!

The first stage of the competition is to complete our entry form, which will
include creating a three course menu.

The closing date for all entries is Friday 23rd April 2010.

The final will take place at Parkdale, the home of the Vegetarian Society
during National Vegetarian Week.

The Awards
The winner of the award will receive:
  Personalised Chefs Jacket
  One year's membership to the Vegetarian Society
  Vegetarian Hamper donated by our Vegsoc clients
  Fully funded °Cordon Vert Diploma (worth in excess of 1500 pounds)
  Mentorship from Cordon Vert Principle Tutor

Visit our website www.cordonvert.co.uk for more details and to download an
application form.


Food and Drink Guild - new approvals

Inspiral - Camden, London
The Gate - Hammersmith, London
Veggie Planet - At an event near you
Itadaki Zen - Kings Cross, London
La Roane - France
L'Artichaut - Edinburgh
Gillams Tea Room - Cumbria
For many more services and products approved by the Vegetarian Society
please see www.vegsocapproved.com


ON THE SPOT - LOCAL GROUPS NEWS

Christmas in Croydon

On 6th December we held our annual Christmas lunch in Croydon. We have been
organising this event for over 25 years. The event promotes friendship
between the Indian community and the host community. It also promotes
vegetarianism. This year we had Croydon North MP Malcolm Wicks and Croydon
Central MP Andrew Pelling. Around 120 people enjoyed the lunch. An idea that
was floated was that Monday should be declared a Vegetarian Day by Croydon
Council. Tony Newman the leader of the Labour group promised to put this on
the Council  agenda!
~Nitin Mehta, Young Indian Vegetarians

Nitin also had a letter published in the Independent, 30th December:

Lisa Markwell says this is no time to make New Year resolutions (26
December). One that all of us can make, which is not difficult but of great
value to our future and the future of our ailing planet, would be to go
vegetarian every Monday. If everyone in the UK abstained from meat one day a
week it would result in more carbon savings than taking five million cars
off the road.
Nitin Mehta
Croydon, Surrey

Fabulous food in Louth

Here follows some updates regarding our Group's activities:-

October
Once again, we had a stunningly warm and sunny day for our walk in the
Lincolnshire countryside (see above), which was followed by a fabulous meal
at the Coach & Horses pub in Hemingby.  There were so many of us, that we
actually took the pub over for the afternoon, and they did us a great meal
which was incredibly good value - 7.50 pounds for three courses!!

November
Again we were lucky with the weather for our Bonfire/Pumpkin party, which
started with 'quiet' fireworks in our garden, and was followed by hearty
pumpkin stew and various delicious puddings, not to mention being washed
down by warming punch!!

December
Twenty six of our Group had a fabulous evening at The King's Head in
Theddlethorpe for our Christmas Party.  The pub really went out of their way
to accommodate all our various dietary requirements, and the menu was the
best I've ever seen for a pub, and indeed tasted - so refreshing to be
offered such varied and thoughtful dishes, and to be so well looked after!
All credit must be given to the landlady Jackie Hutton, who worked
incredibly hard to make sure our party was so successful, which it certainly
was!!  She went out of her way to source all the various vegan ingredients -
the flavours in each course were immense, and there was more than enough to
keep even the biggest  eater happy!!  Definitely a place to go out of your
way to visit!!

AGM
This will be held on Saturday 7th February at a member's house in
Grimoldby. Contact us for further details.
~Sally Taylor, Louth Veggies


Southend Successes

World Vegan Day/Vegan Month
To celebrate and promote World Vegan Day  (1st of November) and Animal Aid's
Vegan Month,
Southend Animal Aid held taster sessions in Southend-on-sea Central Library.
There were lots of free samples of vegan food on offer, which were kindly
donated by vegan and vegan friendly companies, such as Scheese's Vegan
'cheese', vegan truffles from Booja Booja, chocolate from Plamil, vegan
sausages, chicken style pieces and chorizo style chunks from Redwoods, pates
and a selection of snacks from Granovita and Clearspring.

Venture Foods kindly donated a selection of their vegan products including
their mouthwatering chocolate such as their vegan white chocolate and their
chutneys.
We also made some vegan pizza's using Redwood's melting 'mozzarella' and
vegan pesto which were very popular with the public. The recipe was one of
many on the Vegan Society leaflets which we were handing out to very curious
members of the public, as well as Animal Aid's 'I can't believe it's vegan'
recipe booklet.
It was very enjoyable speaking to members of the public who were asking
questions about vegan food and to hear their feedback on how delicious they
thought the food tasted.

It was a very positive day of promoting vegan food and proved that it's not
just a load of old lentils.


Christmas Vegan Indian Buffet Charity Meal
Our yearly vegan Indian Buffet meal was yet again a resounding success.
Thanks to all those that attended and enjoyed the mouth watering Indian
dishes, we successfully raised  265.00 pounds!
This total will help to go towards the money we have fundraised over the
past year for our two chosen charities for 2009, Tower Hill Animal Sanctuary
www.towerhillstables.com
and Hopefield Animal Sanctuary www.hopefield.org.uk
~ Lauren Hollas, Southend AA


Capital gains....

Dave Harrington took over as local contact for our Edinburgh Info Centre in
September, and since then he has been working hard to establish an active
group in Scotland's capital city! Here's his report:

The last few months have been very busy and successful.
On the 22nd of October, we were lucky enough to be asked to attend a free
tasting at the Engine Shed, a social enterprise providing employment
training in a vegetarian café and food preparation for people with learning
difficulties. The hot selection was vegan stir fry or chilli, and there was
a wonderful selection of other foods made by the trainees. This included
bread, hummus, oatcakes, tofu (including tofu cottage cheese) and cakes and
flapjacks (predominantly vegan). This was an excellent networking
opportunity as well as representatives were present from various
organisations.

The social at Henderson's on the 14th November was well attended with new
members coming along. As always, thanks to Henderson's for their assistance.
Christmas did not pass unnoticed. A celebratory meal at David Banns' had a
good response, without a turkey or nut roast in sight. The service and food
were excellent as always.

In the near future we will continue to meet for informal socials every two
months, at noon at Henderson's on the second Saturday of odd months eg March
and May. We also hope to have a vegan wine tasting and an Easter meal. We
are also exploring the option of holding ad hoc meetings for those who
regularly can not make Saturdays.
~Dave Harrington, Edinburgh Vegetarians and Vegans


Worth it at Wetherspoons

On Saturday 5th December, 11 members of Tees Veg (Tees Valley Veggies &
Vegans) met for their Xmas meal at The Plimsoll Line, Redcar (a Wetherspoons
Pub). This staff were amazing and bent over backwards to accommodate the
four vegans in the group by ensuring we could have a choice of starters,
i.e. offering to split a vegan pasta main course between two people.  We had
a wonderful time at about 7 pounds a head (including a drink) which was one
of the deciding factors in choosing the venue in the first place (another
reason was the ease of location). It was also the perfect venue for those
wanting to carry on partying and a few of us were there until closing time!
It was good to know that Wetherspoons have separate deep fat fryers for
meat, fish and vegetarian items (chips, poppadums etc) and it is worth
asking about their 'intolerance menu' as there a couple more things on there
than are listed on their regular menu (only the Sweet Potato, Chickpea and
Spinach curry currently states suitable for vegans).  We also put extra
money in to donate to Hillside Sanctuary. We have a new venue for our
monthly meetings after Borders Bookshop closed at Xmas. We will now meet
upstairs at Dosa Houze Indian Restaurant in Middlesbrough, just around the
corner from Teesside University. We're hoping the central location, better
transport links or maybe just the excuse of food will attract more people to
come and join us.
~Manda Richards, Tees Veg


INTERESTED IN HELPING WITH OUR WORK?

The Society needs local contacts, youth and adult, all over the UK.  We also
always need new contacts for our UK List of Speakers and Cookery
Demonstrators and our Volunteers Register.  If you are interested in
becoming a Local Contact, Youth Contact or a speaker, please contact Bronwen
on bron@...

Check out your nearest local contact plus details of local events, e-groups
etc on:  www.vegsoc.org/network



Ends/

Bronwen Humphreys
Local Network Co-ordinator
bron@...


The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom Limited, Parkdale, Dunham Road,
Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 4QG

Registered Charity Number 259358 Registered Company Number 959115

Check out www.vegsoc.org/network to find our nearest local contact and
events in your area of the UK! And www.vegsoc.org/speakers if you need a
veggie speaker



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the latest IVU Online News is now at:

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----- Original Message -----
From: "Jane Easton" <jane.easton@...>
To: <david.whalley@...>
Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2010 2:44 PM
Subject: Compassion in the Kitchen


Dear David
Could you and all at Shropshire Veggies and Vegans help us promote
Compassion in the Kitchen, an ethical, animal and planet-friendly cooking
weekend - Malvern, 14-16 May?

I used to work for Viva! and the Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation full-time,
and am still their Food and Cookery Consultant. It would be great to have
some local assistance!

Anyone is welcome: open-minded meat-eaters, meat reducers, veggies, wannabe
or new vegans...

So if you can put up a poster and or flyer, just email or phone me and I'll
post out to you. Or just email a veg-curious friend or two!

I've also put a promo on Malvern Transition Town site so feel free to
circulate that too.
http://transitionmalvernhills.org.uk/transition/node/121

Hope you can help

Kind regards
Jane Easton
0786 751 4118

COMPASSION IN THE KITCHEN
ethical eating weekends supporting your care for our world

Scroll to the bottom of this page:
http://www.vegsoc.org/network/heartofengland.html#shrop and click on 'Find out
how to start one!'
to help advertise the group! Hope this is of interest.