The Vegan Autumn 2008

CHECK OUT OUR NEW RECIPE LEAFLET (ENCLOSED) BRINGING UP A VEGAN BABY THE IMPORTANCE OF VITAMIN D AUSTRIAN EMBASSY PROTEST ISSN 0307−4811 03

9 770307 481000

in this issue Our new theme for 2008/9 is ‘Improving the quality and availability of vegan food in the UK’. So why not help us to create demand for food in restaurants, work canteens, schools, etc. by asking for vegan food, giving out our new Vegan Catering for All guide and leaving one of our feedback cards on the table?

It was very distressing to read about the vegan girl with rickets recently. Although rickets (usually caused by a vitamin D deficiency) occurs in the non-vegan population, vegans and dark skinned people in the UK need to be extra careful and make sure that they either consume food that is fortified with vitamin D or take a supplement, especially in winter months when sun exposure is limited. Check out our Nutrition pages for more on vitamin D. There were also media reports of a woman who claimed that her two children failed to thrive on a raw-food diet. We stated on page 19 of the Autumn 2007 Vegan magazine that “A raw-food diet would not be recommended for infants and children, who need to ensure adequate calories for growth and development.” This still stands, and we would also add that there is no evidence to suggest that for adult health a 100% raw-food diet is better than a diet that includes both cooked and raw foods and that it is important that all vegans (including raw-food vegans) get vitamin B12 and (unless sun exposure is good) vitamin D from fortified foods or supplements.

Finally it is great that The Vegan magazine has won the Best Vegan Publication award in the Vegan Environmental Awards 2008. I would like to say a big thank you to all the people who have contributed to the magazine and enabled this to happen; please keep sending articles in!

Rosamund Raha Editor

The Vegan Society

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Donald Watson House

Local rate 0845 45 88244 Editor Rosamund Raha Proofreaders Philippa Lennox, Patricia Tricker and John Davis Information Consultant George Rodger Design www.doughnutdesign.co.uk YOUth pages Design Johanna Best Front cover photo Butterflies Katz, www.veganpoet.com Printed by Cambrian Printers on Recycled paper

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SUMMER 2008 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE BRISTOL VEGAN FAYRE THE SUNSHINE VITAMIN BRINGING UP A VEGAN BABY A HAPPINESS OF HENS CURIOUS VEGETABLES / MEGAN THE VEGAN RECIPE LEAFLET LAUNCH JAIN VEGANS INTERNATIONAL NEWS LOCAL NEWS NEWS AND INFORMATION DARK DAYS IN AUSTRIA RECIPES MY SWEET VEGAN MYSTICAL TRANSFORMATION REVIEWS LOVELY FRUIT SALAD VEGAN SOCIETY TRADEMARK BEULAH CHARITY TRUST

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GROW VEGAN

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YOUTH PAGES

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POSTBAG

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SHOPAROUND EVENTS LOCAL CONTACTS AND GROUPS CLASSIFIEDS CROSSWORD COMPETITION

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Tel. 0121 523 1730

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e-mail: info@vegansociety.com

© The Vegan Society Registered Charity no. 279228 The views expressed in The Vegan do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or of the Vegan Society Council.

Nothing printed should be construed to be Vegan Society policy unless so stated. The Society accepts no liability for any matter in the magazine. The acceptance of advertisements (including inserts) does not imply endorsement.

The inclusion of product information should not be construed as constituting official Vegan Society approval for the product, its intended use, or its manufacturer/distributor. Contributions intended for publication are welcomed, but unsolicited materials will not be returned unless accompanied by a SAE. Contributions will usually be edited.

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VEGAN SOCIETY

SUMMER 2008 HIGHLIGHTS It’s been an incredibly busy time, so we thought that you might like to hear what we’ve been up to.

FARMING TODAY Vegan Society Chief Executive, Nigel Winter, recorded a piece on the eco-impact of meat for the BBC Radio 4 Farming Today programme. It was broadcast at 05:45am on Thursday 8 May. They asked him some tricky questions but Nigel managed to get across his message about the methane and nitrous oxide produced by livestock. The programme also featured a representative from the poultry industry and one from the Soil Association.

CARE HOMES We have continued to contact care homes and care home associations: many have asked for booklets. The National Association of Care Caterers and the Hospital Caterers Association have also helped circulate our booklet and put our information on their websites.

MEALS ON WHEELS We’ve contacted some Meals on Wheels groups and it appears that Apetito have a large share of the market via Wiltshire Farm Foods, which offer 17 vegan main meals.

Work in this area continues.

WESTMINSTER FOOD AND NUTRITION FORUM Head of Information, Rosamund Raha, and International Coordinator, Vanessa Clarke, attended the Westminster Food and Nutrition Forum on 4 June. They took the opportunity to raise the issue of the dietary needs of minority groups such as vegans. Several people wanted more information about catering for vegans. Roz also got a few paragraphs about veganism and what support The Vegan Society can offer to hospitals and care homes into the report that will go to government departments and participants.

LETTERS Vegan Society Chair of Council, George Rodger, had a letter published in The Herald (which describes itself as “Scotland’s leading quality daily newspaper”) with the headline ‘Breeding animals is inefficient use of land.’

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ARTICLE We coordinated the publication of a lovely article about Vegan Society member Ann Wright in the latest edition of Telford 24/7 magazine.

It looks at how her vegan diet may be helping with her rheumatoid arthritis.

VEGAN SOCIETY CHAIR OF COUNCIL GEORGE RODGER’S 15 MINUTES OF FAME On 4 May the magazine section of Scotland on Sunday ran a large feature on health and wellbeing in different adult age groups and featured George as the example of a male in the over-65 age group. In the piece George credited his vegan diet with his healthily low blood-cholesterol level.

WE WON! The Vegan magazine has won the Best Vegan Publication award in the Vegan Environmental Awards 2008. For more details check out http://www.bristolveganfayre.co.uk/results.html.

INTERVIEWS Our Media Officer, Amanda Baker, has been busy with live radio interviews: On 17 June she did a live radio interview on BBC Radio Tees on the Alex Hall mid-morning show on the topic ‘Feeding children on restrictive diets’. She made it absolutely clear that with careful planning a vegan diet is perfectly healthy for children.

On 16 June she did a live interview on LBC Radio on the Nick Ferrari Breakfast Show. He set it up by asking “Is feeding your child a vegan diet a form of child abuse?” Both Amanda and Tom Sanders, Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at King’s College London, agreed that a vegan diet that follows nutrition guidelines is adequate for children.

On 5 June she did a live interview on BBC Radio Newcastle to discuss whether Going veg*n can solve the global food crisis. Prof. David Harvey, Chair of Agriculture and Farming at Newcastle University, also took part.

On 31 May Vegan Society Chair of Council, George Rodger, spoke on the Weekend Breakfast Show on Talk 107 FM. This was inspired by Oprah Winfrey going ‘vegan for a 21-day detox’. Guest presenter Bruce Devlin asked about how shops can support vegans and other general questions.

On 15 May Local Group Contact Martin Doyle of Birmingham Vegetarians and Vegans was on local radio. He was on BBC Radio West Midlands on the Ed Doolan Show (which focuses on consumer affairs) to give a local angle to their National Vegetarian Week coverage.

Consulate in Birmingham calling for justice and freedom for our Austrian friends. Four members of Vegan Society staff joined the demonstration. A copy of the Vegan Society statement on the arrests was delivered to the Consulate. Many passing motorists and pedestrians showed their support, with drivers sounding their horns and people waving and taking information leaflets.

More information is available from http://www.vgt.at/index_en.php, the website of the Austrian Association Against Animal Factories, including how to send personal messages of support to the prisoners.

Another protest took place in London: see page 21 for details.

EDUCATION ADVERTS

Our Education Officer, Rob Jackson, ran a training day for new school speakers.

20 people turned up and the day was very successful.

PRISONERS 2 July 2008 was an international day of solidarity with the Austrian Vegan Society internees. A group of around 25 peaceful protestors gathered outside the Austrian

Vegan Society ‘Are Your Meals Costing the Earth?’ adverts went in the February Ecologist magazine and the Spring Friends of the Earth Earth Matters magazine.

FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE Nigel Winter

People often say that eating out with friends, family and business colleagues is difficult when you are vegan. Certainly the major catering outlets are not very vegan-friendly, and so from July 1st our theme will be: ‘improving the quality and availability of vegan food in the UK’. We will focus our attention on national restaurant chains, hotels, contract caterers, railway caterers and motorway services.

Office staff will be contacting the head offices of these organisations and encouraging them to provide at least one good quality vegan option. We will offer support, and advise on menus, sourcing ingredients and training staff. We will be attending major catering exhibitions and placing adverts in catering magazines.

It is important that the next generation of chefs understand vegan catering, and so we will be providing information and offering talks to catering colleges. Our new booklet Vegan Catering for All is already proving very popular. Good quality, nutritious, tasty vegan food can be enjoyed by everyone, not just vegans, so it makes good business sense for restaurants to provide vegan options. And it is of course also more environmentally-friendly than serving meat and dairy.

Really committed restaurateurs can also register for our trademark so as to impress their customers. The office staff don’t have the time to contact thousands of caterers, but individual members can also help by visiting local restaurants, suggesting they adapt some of their recipes to make them vegan-friendly, and giving them a copy of our booklet.

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Anyone who is worth their Himalayan rock salt knows that the world’s BIGGEST Vegan event is at the Waterfront Square in Bristol.

2008 saw 11,000 party-people pass through the gates.

The occasion did not fail in its quest to provide a funpacked, food-filled, friendly, festive two days.

By Fiona Sylva

w w w. b r i s t o l v e g a n f a y r e . c o . u k A

celebration of all things vegan, revellers could choose to be educated by Vegan Society Nutrition Spokesperson, Stephen Walsh on Nutrition or on the rights of animals by other groups or enjoy cookery demos and tasters. We were blessed with vegan food at every turn including the world’s largest vegan BBQ hosted by Vegan Pirate, Long John Tofu!

It is hard not to be impressed by the smooth organisation and BIG effort that goes into Bristol VF. The energy and passion of Tim Barford (founder of YAOH) and his team are echoed by the stall holders who all deserve a round of applause for their commitment to celebrating the vegan lifestyle.

Do remember that you don’t have to be vegan or even interested in veganism to enjoy the weekend (though it helps).

It is a great showcase for families and friends of vegans who can explore the subject at their own pace. What more could you ask for? Well the answer is… sunshine – which was also in abundance all weekend. Even the fact that our car got a flat battery and had to wait to be ‘rescued’ couldn’t dampen our spirits.

Bristol is a lively, friendly city that plays the perfect host to the annual hordes of veg*ns.

If education, ethics and talks weren’t your thing, there was a ‘healing area’ where you could receive a massage or learn how to meditate. If relaxing was the last thing on your mind then you were in luck as there were Sikh swordfighters, stilt walkers, dancers, magicians, a contortionist, an escapologist and much more.

People in the party mood enjoyed an acoustic stage with music from Ibiza chill out to Johnny Cash covers. Last but definitely by no means least, was the main stage with crowd pleasers: Bad Manners, Aswad, Misty in Roots and (my personal favourite) Dreadzone, along with local bands and top DJ’s filling in the gaps.

Kids were far from left out, with a dedicated activities area and an actual vegan superhero, the one and only Wonderpig, doing the rounds.

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There were charity raffles, henna tattoos and animal sanctuary volunteers alongside countless types of ‘fast’ food, cakes, groceries and of course, a fully licensed bar. The first 250 entrants each day also received a free goody bag. The festivities ended on Sunday night with a collection, raising a respectable £750, for worthy cause Vegfam, who feed the hungry without exploiting animals (www.vegfamcharity.org.uk).

The Vegan Society’s stand took £1500 and gained a few new members which is always great news. Over 400 free Animal Free Shoppers where snapped up by browsers stocking up on all manner of vegan supplies, which brings me nicely to another favourite of mine - shopping!

This year there were over 150 stalls selling clothing, cosmetics, raw foods, chocolate, oils, lotions and potions.

If you are not fortunate enough to get to Bristol for the fayre it is very worth while attending local veggie or environmental events, showing your support and maybe even making a new friend or two. Check out the events page at www.veggies.org.uk for events near you or maybe you feel you could arrange an event yourself? The Vegan Society can help you – contact our info department on 0845 4588244 for ideas.

Education Officer, Rob Jackson, gave a presentation:

PR/Media Officer, Amanda Baker, gave a talk:

I spoke at the Bristol Vegan Fayre at 5pm on Saturday, and considering the timing I was very pleasantly surprised by the number of people who came along.

We had a good mix of teachers, prospective speakers and those with experience of marketing to schools. My presentation included a demonstration of the CDROM and a showing of Truth or Dairy, as well as a look at the kind of themes we try to cover in school talks. We also ‘workshopped’ ways of increasing interest in the project and some great ideas came out of it, which I’m now looking at putting into practice.

I spoke on Dairy Farming and the Environment to a packed tent.

Six listeners bravely admitted to eating dairy. My talk “Is your ‘pinta’ costing the Earth?” focused on cow’s milk and climate change. Dairy cows ‘belch’ a lot of methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent that carbon dioxide.

That methane is equivalent to around a kilo of carbon dioxide per litre of milk.

But methane cycles out of our atmosphere in only 10 years, so ditching dairy could rapidly cut our climate change emissions.

Information Officer, Clare Persey, gave a cookery demonstration: I demonstrated vegan cookery basics to a packed audience on the first day of the Bristol Vegan Fayre. The demonstration was a whirlwind tour of vegan food which had the audience taste-testing soya milks, vegan meat-substitutes and vegan chocolate. Vegan mini-quiche, chocolate cake and chocolate mousse were demonstrated and more tastetesting ensued. Redwoods, Beanies, Bute Island and Pure very kindly donated food or vouchers which were used in the demonstration, a big thanks to them for their help.

Specially tailored information packs were given out at the end and were snapped up in no time.

Best Vegan Entertainer: Benjamin Zephaniah Best Vegan Publication: The Vegan (that’s us) Best Vegan Distributor: Suma-Yorkshire Best Vegan Campaigner: Andrew Tyler-Animal Aid Best Dairy Alternative: Booja Booja Ice Cream Best Vegan Show/Event: Bristol Vegan Fayre Best Vegan Local Campaigning/Social Group: Bristol Vegans Best Vegan Raw/Superfood Suppliers: Yaoh

They included information on vegan ingredients, cake making tips, tofu and a set of favourite recipes. If you would like a free copy please email: info@vegansociety.com or ring 0121 523 1735.

Lively discussion ensued, and many listeners took away copies of our environment leaflet to ponder. I also presented our ‘Vegan Catering for All’ campaign and leaflet.

We aim to increase the quality and availability of professionally catered vegan food. We dispel myths about vegan food, by presenting caterers with ideas for delicious, exciting meals that are kind to people, animals and the planet. The booklet is packed with recipes, advice on handling useful ingredients and tips on avoiding common pitfalls.

I gave out 15 copies of the booklet on the spot, destined for specific professional caterers. As diners, please do encourage restaurateurs and cooks everywhere to read the booklet, and contact The Vegan Society for free advice.

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Vegans and the sunshine vitamin

Stephen Walsh ©

Vitamin D dominated recent press coverage of vegan diets following reports that a vegan child in Glasgow had “the spine of an 80-year-old” apparently due to rickets. Press comment ranged from claims that it was unethical for parents to impose unusual diets on their children to well balanced statements about the need for an informed approach to any type of diet.

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ickets is primarily caused by insufficient vitamin D, though

low calcium intakes can also contribute. The main source of vitamin D is exposure of skin to sunlight when the sun is reasonably high in the sky.

If your shadow is much longer than you are, the sun is not high enough.

Clothes, sunblock and glass windows all block the ultraviolet wavelengths in sunlight that both cause sunburn and produce vitamin D. Variations in the darkness of skin (differing amounts of melanin) have arisen due to the changing trade-off between avoiding damage from the sun and making vitamin D as humans settled further from the equator.

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Vitamin D production increases in proportion to the area of skin exposed to sunlight. The ideal duration of skin exposure to get the benefits without unnecessary damage is about a third of the time that would lead to sunburn.

For white skinned people in the UK the ideal exposure time varies from about five minutes around midday in the summer to about twenty minutes in late autumn while for darker skinned people considerably longer exposures are needed.

Vitamin D levels therefore vary seasonally, usually being lowest in late winter and highest in late summer. If sun exposure is good, the main effect of diet is during this vitamin D winter when it provides a safety net against vitamin D stores falling too low. The vitamin D winter is longer in Scotland than in southern England, increasing the risk of rickets and other health problems.

Within the UK there is a lengthy “vitamin D winter” when the sun is not high enough in the sky even at midday to produce a useful amount of vitamin D. This is exacerbated by less skin being exposed less often once the temperature begins to fall in the autumn.

It is worth noting that even in countries without a vitamin D winter, deficiency can occur due to restricted exposure to sunlight.

Also, the ability to produce vitamin D from the action of sunlight on skin declines with age.

The Vegan l Autumn 2008

Just 2.5 micrograms (100 international units, IU) per day of dietary vitamin D is generally sufficient to prevent rickets, but higher amounts are likely to be beneficial in other ways.

A recent review of trials of vitamin D supplements, with typical doses of 10 to 20 micrograms (µg or mcg), indicated a 7% reduction in death rate from all causes. Around 25 micrograms per day is sufficient to largely eliminate seasonal variations in vitamin D stores in Europe and the USA. In recent years, many experts have suggested that 25 micrograms per day from a combination of sun and diet is needed to maintain healthy levels throughout the year.

There are two forms of vitamin D: vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. Vitamin D2 is generally derived from plant sterols while D3 is derived either from animal skins or wool or from cholesterol (itself normally derived from animals). Several studies using high doses of vitamin D indicated that the vegan form of vitamin D, vitamin D2, was less effective than vitamin D3. However, a very thorough study published in 2008 has shown that at a daily dose up to 25 micrograms (1000 IU) the two types of vitamin D are equivalent in raising circulating levels and that there are no adverse interactions between them.

The average amount of dietary vitamin D in the UK is around 3 micrograms per day. Meat and fish together contribute about half this amount and eggs a further 10%.

Milk contributes virtually no vitamin D at all. The other main sources in the general diet are fortified fat spreads and fortified breakfast cereals. While fat spreads in the UK are fortified with vitamin D2, fortified breakfast cereals are often fortified with D3 which is derived from animals. Fortified soya milks can be a significant source for some people, but it is all too easy for

vegans – and, indeed, other vegetarians – to have no dietary intake at all, thus increasing the risk of rickets and other health problems.

The first line of defence to maintain healthy vitamin D levels is frequent exposure of skin to sunlight – at least twice a week and ideally every day – while taking care not to get burnt. Lunchtime walks in the autumn carry very little risk of excessive exposure while boosting vitamin D stores when they are most needed. Similarly, lunchtime walks in the spring will rebuild stores quickly. Much less vitamin D is produced on overcast days, so on sunny days in autumn and spring make a point of getting outside in the middle of the day.

The charts accompanying this article are based on the website http://nadir.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/Vi tD_quartMED.html prepared by Ola Engelsen and Ann Webb.

The main chart shows how much vitamin D can be made in different locations at different times of the year under cloudless conditions by exposing face, hands and arms (about 25% of skin) at midday for five minutes.

In autumn and spring in the UK much longer exposures are safe without using sunblock, but always use your own experience and judgement to avoid burning.

It is safer to expose more skin for a shorter time than less skin for a longer time.

The second line of defence is to use a vitamin D supplement whenever effective sun exposure is limited.

The Vegan Society’s VEG 1 supplement includes 10 micrograms (400 IU) of vitamin D2. This is twice the amount in most multivitamins and matches the highest UK recommendations (for adults over 65). It is, however, lower than US recommendations for adults over 70 (15 micrograms) and lower than the amount that is now widely recommended (25 micrograms from diet and sunlight combined).

EU guidelines set a safe upper limit of 25 micrograms per day from diet and supplements up to ten years of age and 50 micrograms thereafter while US guidelines set the same limits but with an age threshold of one year. There is no risk of overdosing through getting out in the sun in addition to taking a supplement.

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Bringing up a

vegan baby

by Roger Merenyi

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ur daughter, Angelina, has just turned one year old. She was breast-fed from birth and we started to introduce solid food from about seven months. She is now enjoying a wide variety of vegan foods, including apple, banana, pear, avocado, custard apple, cucumber, courgette, tofu, rye bread, tahini, quinoa, rice, sweet potato, broccoli, spinach, goji berries, fruit bars and Sojasun yoghurt. Angelina likes her mealtimes and it is extremely rare for her to turn down anything we offer her.

She continues to drink her mother’s milk and we also give her filtered water.

Thankfully we have a great team of NHS midwives in Cambridge and our midwife was very supportive of our diet. When in the early stages of her pregnancy my wife, Anna, mentioned that she was vegan, our midwife simply said “Oh, that’s fine.

You’ve probably got a far better diet than most of my mums-tobe.” She was also very supportive of a home birth. Although the national rate for home births stands at about 2.5%, in Cambridge it is almost 5%. Our home birth went very well and we are extremely grateful to the two midwives who turned up in the middle of the night to guide us through the experience.

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Having looked thoroughly into the topic of inoculation and the many health and ethical issues surrounding it, we decided against vaccination. Our emphasis is on building up Angelina’s immune system through breast-feeding, avoiding refined sugar and offering her plenty of organic, or preferably veganorganic, fruits and vegetables. We also have vegan homoeopathic remedies available if required.

However our midwife’s positive attitude towards the vegan diet does not seem to be reflected in government literature.

As Vegan Society member Miriam Muller has pointed out, the NHS guide Birth to Five, which is handed out free to all new parents, states that ‘children need about three servings’ of milk and dairy products a day, and goes on to tell us that ‘Vegan diets are not … recommended for young babies.’

Some non-government publications also seem to be stuck in the Dark Ages.

A recent edition of the Rough Guide to Pregnancy and Birth states ‘Or you might be trying to get through pregnancy on a vegan diet (no animal products) which is just not adequate for foetal development.’ Such inaccurate and misleading comments are clearly based on prejudice rather than fact.

There is a lot more to bringing up a baby than diet, of course. Quite apart from the practical demands of the job, such as near-constant supervision and the washing of numerous nappies, there is the vitally important task of making sure that babies and toddlers feel loved, valued and secure.

They need reassurance, cuddles and empathy. Since her birth Angelina has always slept in our bed, which has enabled Anna to feed her without getting up in the night and we believe has given Angelina an increased sense of security. We have also used a Baby Bjorn carrier during the first year, since it feels more natural to have our baby close to us rather than sitting alone in a buggy.

E VEGAN SOCIETY AVAILABLE FROM TH

FEEDING YOUR VEGAN INFANT - WITH CONFIDENCE Sandra Hood (£9.99) An essential guide for parents and health professionals on nutrition for vegan infants, Feeding your vegan infant with confidence provides reassuring guidelines on creating a well-balanced diet, from pre-conceptual nutrition for both men and women through to children’s pre-school years.

The many areas covered include simple food guides, problem solving, menu ideas and recipes. Also includes vegan parents’ real life experiences in bringing up their children.

However despite the importance of all of these other aspects of childrearing we still think that diet is paramount in providing a healthy and happy start in life, and there can be little doubt that the vegan diet and its philosophy of ahimsa (seeking actively to reduce harm) are fundamental to giving a child a sense of respect for others and for him- or herself. Furthermore the general disregard displayed by most parents for animals and their lives, from factory farming to animal testing and from zoos to circuses, can soon establish the idea in a child’s mind that humans are superior and that their whims and wishes come before those of our fellow creatures. One may as well tell a child that racism, sexism and homophobia are acceptable modern-day phenomena.

We believe that to be brought up with a genuine reverence for the rights of others produces a decent adult.

There is much talk by government these days about responsibilities, respect and citizenship. And yet babies and children are faced with a double standard of fluffy little lambs in their story books and yet being fed that selfsame animal’s dead flesh in their high chair. It is like the government expressing horror at gun crime on our streets whilst perpetrating wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It doesn’t add up, and to teach children such double standards is an insult to their intelligence.

Fortunately as they grow up an increasing number of children, recognise the hypocrisy inherent in eating flesh and dairy and adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet. Let us hope that this trend continues and that we can look forward to a more civilized and peaceful future for the world’s offspring, both human and non-human.

The Vegan Society has contacted the Department of Health about the booklet Birth to Five and they have agreed to consult us when they revise the booklet. We are contacting them regularly to remind them of their promise!

The Vegan Society does not have a policy for or against vaccination.

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A Happiness of

Hens

By Diana Elvin. Photos by Diana Elvin and Cecelia Willett

The rescue and rehabilitation of battery hens is so easy to do in an ordinary, small, suburban garden.

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hree lively hens bustle about a suburban garden.

Clucking contentedly, keeping in a loose group, they scratch the ground for insects or seeds. They are friendly towards the humans they know, and, although wary of a stranger, were soon pecking corn from my hand.

Their beaks have been clipped, for these birds spent the first seventeen months of their laying life crammed with others into a battery cage. At that age they moult, and while they are moulting (about six weeks) they stop laying, so “out with the old and in with the new” - i.e. they are killed and a fresh batch bought in.

The lucky ones, rescued by a charity such as “The Battery Hen Welfare Trust”, could live for another eight years, or if they are injured, ill or worn out by the constant noise, appalling smell and filthy conditions, they might not last the week.

But most will survive to give their rescuers a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction for between two and five years.

One such happy rescuer is Cecelia Willett in Kent, “the eggs are a bonus - I just enjoy having the hens - they are so entertaining.”

New to chicken keeping, Cecelia decided to make the task as easy and trouble-free as possible by investing in the latest design in poultry housing: “Omlet” has just about everything you or the chickens could want.

The runs and houses are colourful, secure, surprisingly easy to clean, with a slideout tray to catch droppings, and have perches and a nesting box.

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They can be moved around the garden so that the hens have fresh grass and the lawn has time to recover. It is very important not to keep just one lonely hen and “Omlet” comfortably houses three or four.

You could buy a traditional wooden house, but it would need treating annually with a wood preservative and checking regularly for mites. A six foot by four foot shed with added perches and nest boxes could accommodate several hens, but they would also need a spacious run.

Hens love a dust bath, and need it in order to keep clean.

A large flowerpot can be utilised - they aren’t fussy - but you need to get it organised quickly, because if you don’t supply something suitable, the hens may well scratch their own dust bath in the lawn. Cecelia has watched hers queuing up to enjoy their upturned dustbin lid filled with earth.

It only costs around three pence a day to feed the hens with “layers mash” - which is all battery hens will recognise at first - but this can gradually be supplemented by fruit, vegetables and kitchen scraps. To prevent any D.I.Y. catering on their part, it is a good idea to fence off your vegetable patch and any prized plants. Also, because their droppings are too caustic on their own, surround your prized begonias with protective netting.

Hens can live alongside cats and dogs without problems, but it is as well not to leave them running free unsupervised, because of the high number of hungry foxes around.

At dusk, the birds naturally return home to roost. Getting them in earlier, however, is not a problem. Cecelia soon trained hers to come running when she rang a bell before scattering food in the run. “Bird-brained” is certainly not an adjective that can be applied to these females.

Hens don’t fly high or far, but they are capable of using anything left beside a fence as a jumping-off point to leap over it, and they can be very curious about their surroundings. You really don’t want them landing uninvited at a neighbour’s barbecue.

Editor’s note: some of the content of this article is controversial. For example, Cecelia eats the eggs that her rescued hens lay. On the one hand, as Cecelia did not rescue the hens to steal their eggs, and she has not created a demand from ‘suppliers’, why not eat them? On the other hand, she could give them away to friends to reduce their demand for eggs.

Some vegans would not agree that keeping rescued hens is acceptable at all. You’ve saved them from death, but you are still imprisoning them in your back garden; and if you eat their eggs some people believe that you are continuing an exploitative relationship.

Please write in to our ‘postbag’ page with your views on this topic, it would be great to get a debate going!

Incidentally, only cockerels crow so there will be no early morning wake-up calls.

Cecelia’s feathered friends are bright and full of the joys of being alive - just the way all hens should be.

These treasured pets, of course, are assured of a happy home for life.

ADDRESSES: USEFUL NAMES AND

The Battery Hen Welfare Trust: email: info@bhwt.org.uk website: www.bhwt.org.uk tel: 01769-580310

Omlet Ltd, Tuthill Park, Wardington, Banbury, Oxon, OX17 1SD email:info@omlet.co.uk, website: www.omlet.co.uk, tel: 0845-450 2056

Keeping Pet Chickens by Johannes Paul & William Windam, Interpet Publishing, Vincent Lane, Dorking, Surrey, RH4 3YX, ISBN-10: 1842861034

The Vegan Vegan ll Autumn Winter 2003 2008 The

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Bill Laws

I’m in salad overdrive. It’s summer and my allotment is burgeoning with purple-leafed lettuce, cut-and-come again, cos, baby leaf, and a few crisp butterheads thrown in for good luck. I’m sorry, but the supermarket’s idea of a bag of chilled, assorted leaves and the frankly insipid iceberg do not stand up to scrutiny as lettuce.

The Latin name for the lettuce, Lactua sativa, recalls the fact that the Romans too viewed it as a mild narcotic. It exuded a bitter sap or latex that, having properties similar to laudanum, promised a good night’s sleep. But there’s evidence a-plenty that the cos or ‘Roman’ lettuce was cultivated long before the Romans: there is a cos pictured on a 5,000 year-old Egyptian tomb relief.

Our allotment is one of those railway leftovers, set aside for railway workers in the late 1800s, and now colonised by the local muesli-belters. (We still wave at the passing trains.) My neighbours include a judge, an artist, and the head chef at one of Hereford’s best vegetarian cafes, built inside a working church. And we are all munching through our salad crop.

People have been doing so for centuries, possibly millennia.

Lettuce may be the world’s oldest vegetable, although the onion and leek cannot lag far behind.

The cos earned the name Roman (or rather Laitue romaine) when it was introduced into the papal courts of Avignon in the 1300s. But why cos?

The English named it after the Greek island of Kos; perhaps, since Kos was the birthplace of that great physician Hippocrates, they too acknowledged its medicinal properties. And among its supposed medicinal powers, lettuce was said to provide a useful cure for impotence. Now what does that say about my fellow allotmenteers?

In the 1800s one Edinburgh doctor hit on the idea of marketing his Lactucarium, an ‘opium juice’ made from lettuce.

Bill Laws is the author of Spade, Skirret and Parsnip The Curious History of Vegetables.

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NEW RECIPE LEAFLET

We hope you enjoy our new recipe leaflet (enclosed).

For more free copies please e-mail info@vegansociety.com or phone 0121 523 1735/6.

The Vegan l Autumn 2008

13

Jains and Vegans – and Jain Vegans

By Vanessa Clarke

In happiness and suffering, in joy and grief, we should regard all creatures as we regard our own self.

ost people’s image of the

that naturally tend to harbour micro-

The transition is encouraged by

Jain community is of saintly

organisms (literally “tiny lives”).

revered figures such as the great Jain

folk sweeping the ground before

Traditionally, milk was permitted –

guru and Sanskrit scholar Gurudev

them and covering their mouths

with strict rules about the rights of

Chitrabhanuji (the suffix ji denotes

with fine muslin to avoid harming

both mother and calf – but increasingly

even the smallest creature – a

in both India and elsewhere Jains are

particularly striking example of

recognising that the suffering of the

devotion to the overarching

dairy cow and her calf make the use

principle of the Jain lifestyle, that

of milk a cause of great harm

of ahimsa.

(himsa). Therefore, as well as actively

M

campaigning against cruelty in the Often translated merely as “non-

dairy industry and supporting

harm” or “non-violence” ahimsa in

sanctuaries such as Hugletts Wood

fact entails actively preventing harm

(www.huglettswoodfarm.com),

and helping every living being in whatever way one can.

For this

reason, Jains avoid not only meat,

many Jains now avoid all dairy products in their diet.

respect) – a passionate vegan campaigner who thought nothing of telling 7000 people at the inauguration of the new temple in Potters Bar that to be true to their religion they should all go vegan immediately and that the Vegan Society was there to help them.

fish and eggs but also root vegetables and other foods

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The Vegan l Autumn 2008

photo: OAUK

DEVENDRA VIRCHAND RAICHAND SHAH (1945-2008) The hand with a wheel on the palm symbolises the Jain Vow of Ahimsa,

Devendrabhai (bhai means brother), as he was known to friends and family, was a Life Member of the Vegan Society and played a major role in bringing together the Jain community and its belief in ahimsa with the more secular approach of the Vegan Society to the same basic goal.

meaning non-violence.

The word in the middle is “Ahimsa.” The wheel represents the dharmacakra, to halt the cycle of reincarnation through relentless pursuit of truth.

Lord Mahavir (Jain scripture)

Another major tenet of the Jain faith is that truth (satya) has many faces, so rather than merely observing rules and rituals because that was how things were done hundreds or thousands of years ago the basic concept of ahimsa can and should be adapted to minimise harm in whatever new circumstances adherents find themselves. This outlook puts Jains at the forefront of multiculturalism since there is no insistence on being right while everyone else must be wrong.

As time goes on, more and more Jains are becoming vegan as part of the quest for a non-violent, cruelty-free world. Mahatma Gandhi, who was much influenced

by Jain teachings, tried unsuccessfully to follow a vegan diet at a time when cow milk substitutes were non-existent and vitamin B12 was still undiscovered.

If he were alive today, he would surely be delighted to find even the older generation of Jains enjoying their beloved chai with soya milk and commenting on how delicious it is!

Like so many of the UK Jain community, Devendrabhai grew up in East Africa: his parents ran a corner shop in Nairobi. As a youngster, he not only became a Queen’s Scout but received his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award from Prince Philip himself on Kenyan Independence Day. He subsequently took an honours degree in electrical engineering at Edinburgh University and put a great deal of effort into making the forced move to the UK as smooth as possible for the rest of his family.

In recent years, Devendrabhai was increasingly passionate about both veganism and the Jain way of life, doing his utmost to bring the two communities together and striving in his own life to become simultaneously more vegan and more Jain – a living example of unity within diversity and vice versa. In his quiet and modest but extremely persistent way he spread both Jain and vegan ideas and provided a bridge between the two.

While devoting increasing amounts of time to studying and practising Jain principles, he sought to demonstrate by example – not just the best, but the only way – that whatever the situation may have been in India a thousand years ago it is incompatible with the concept of ahimsa to drink milk in modern Britain or, indeed, modern India. His indignation on discovering that a famous manufacturer puts gelatine in breakfast cereal and a major supermarket’s own brand fruit juice contains fish products was as typical as his calm wisdom in dealing with sensitive situations.

He was always busy, but never too busy: we could always count on him and count him in. He always found time to help: showing interested non-Jains around the temple and patiently explaining the various rites and images; raising money for Hugletts Wood sanctuary; and even helping to design a Vegan Society advert for the Young Jains magazine. No task was too big or too small for him, and all were carried out with such unassuming grace that most people were unaware how much we all owed to his efforts – until suddenly one morning he was no longer there to offer the helping hand, the encouraging word that we had all come to expect.

A special gathering at the Potters Bar temple brought nearly 2000 people from far and wide to pay their respects – a tribute to his role in so many people’s lives and the esteem in which he was held.

Whilst we all mourn Devendrabhai’s untimely departure from our midst, his legacy lives on in the existence of an active JainVegan movement, which continues to bring together the two groups to which he was most passionately committed, and an increasing number of joint events up and down the country.

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The past few weeks have been overshadowed by the appalling events in Austria (see page 21) and the need to support our vegan friends there in any way we can.

The other main item on the agenda has been getting the German version of our nutrition booklet finalised and printed in time for the World Veg Congress in Dresden.

Hopefully this will be just the start, with French, Italian, Spanish and other versions appearing in quick succession, though having seen our colleagues in Brazil equip an English language video with Portuguese subtitles overnight so it could be shown at the World Congress there, they may just steal a march on their counterparts in Europe and have the booklet out in Portuguese for the International Vegan Festival in Rio next year.

Since my last column, I have had even more messages from vegans all over the world, many asking whether it is possible to find vegan food and/or contacts wherever in the world they are living/visiting – and the answer is almost invariably yes, you just need to know how and where to look. For instance, some areas of the UK don’t have enough vegans to support an exclusive group, so we have Ambridge Vegetarians and Vegans or perhaps just Ambridge Veggies, even though the leadership is generally vegan and only vegan food is served at events. In the same way, there are countries where the number of vegans is too small to support a separate national organisation. So don’t be afraid to contact a “vegetarian” group – the leaders may well be vegan, or the group will include at least one vegan gently nudging the others in

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the right direction (more effective than banging them on the head with a placard saying “Milk Sucks”, however frustrating the apparent addiction to dairy may be).

A good source of information on veg*n and animalfriendly groups world wide is the International Vegetarian Union (leadership mainly vegan and catering always entirely vegan). See www.ivu.org, too, for 2000 vegan recipes searchable by country and by ingredient. www.happycow.net also turns up some useful information.

Even a simple Google search often unearths hidden gems – I just tried “veg Botswana” and “veg Dubai” to see if anything turned up, and it did. If you still draw a blank, give me a shout – I may know just the person to point you in the right direction. And if you still can’t find any actual vegans, consider linking up with some vegetarians – you might just be the leaven in the lump if you leave that placard at home.

All this talk about placards brings me back to our great friend Felix, chair of the Austrian Vegan Society and a main speaker at the World Congress in Dresden.

Right now we very much hope that he and his colleagues will be able to join us – but if they’re not, the time allotted for their talks will be devoted to making sure the world knows why not, and there will be placards aplenty!

Vanessa Clarke, International Coordinator

Recent events have brought home to all of us that national borders are not important where veganism is concerned.

You can read on p. 21 about the dreadful events in Austria so I shall limit myself to expressing my dismay at such things happening to people I know and my thanks to those of you who wrote to, e-mailed and rang various embassies, MPs, MEPs and Austrian government ministers and who turned out for the demonstrations in London and Birmingham. Let’s hope that by the time you read this the whole sordid matter will be over, though it is doubtful in view of the fact that on 8 July their period of imprisonment without charge was extended for two more months. The only good thing that has come out of it is the show of international solidarity among vegans and animallovers.

Now to happier matters. I was delighted to have been able to attend the first ever North-East Veggie Festival in Newcastle in May, where the emphasis throughout was on veganism.

I also had the pleasure of meeting many of you at this year’s Bristol Vegan Fair. The variety of entertainment on offer apart from the stalls and talks attracted many non-vegans, all of whom then discovered the delights of vegan notfish & chips, ice-cream, beer and Veggies’ wonderful Cheezlyburgers. This annual event is worth the journey so be sure to make a note in your 2009 diary!

Like the Beach Boys, Patrick Smith and his Veggies crew get around but were on their local patch in July to provide loverly grub at the Viva Roadshow in Nottingham.

Fairs and festivals are a great way to meet other members so keep an eye on the Events page and let me have an e-mail address if you’d like to be kept informed of these and other events in between magazines. Other festivals coming up are London on 7 September and Wolverhampton on 1 November, both of which will rival Bristol for the variety of attractions. Help is needed for the London festival: if you can offer any of your time between 8 am and 9 pm please contact info@vegancampaigns.org.uk.

The best way of keeping abreast of the overall picture of Society activities is of course to attend the AGM, which this year is on 22 November in York at a venue only five minutes’ walk from both railway and bus stations. (I wonder whose idea it could have been to have it in York …..)

It is hoped to organize more Activists’ Days before too long, probably in London and York, so contact me if you’d like details, which aren’t available as we go to print. However on Saturday 13 September there’s a Vegan Campaigning Skillshare Day in Nottingham organized by the indefatigable Alex Claridge; details: www.veggies.org.uk/event.php?ref=1347,

On pages 42 and 43 you will notice that two new Local Contacts are listed this time (Heather in Oxford and Sarah in Manchester) and several new groups are listed, or relisted after a gap: Gloucestershire Vegans and Belfast Vegans are completely new groups so please support them if you’re in the area. Note also that Scottish Vegans covers the whole of Scotland, though of course there are also local groups in many parts of Scotland. After very many years of sterling work Harry Mather has stepped down as Local and Group Contact for the Bournemouth area The group will continue under Sarah Austin but the list looks bare without Harry’s name.

You may notice that for the first time ever I’ve changed my email address. Contacts’ details often change so try to ensure you refer to the latest issue of the magazine when getting in touch with those listed, and if you don’t get a response let me know because something may have changed since the magazine was printed. You may also notice the new photo, deliberately chosen to show solidarity with the Austrian prisoners, vegan.at being the web address of the Austrian Vegan Society.

Patricia Tricker National Contacts’ Coordinator

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n THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARITABLE GIVING Have you ever been annoyed by someone saying that they find it a shocking fact that people give more money to animal charities than to human charities?

Have you ever suspected that they are making it up as they go along, but not had the real facts available to prove them wrong? Well here is a breakdown of the amounts given to charity; as you can see giving to human charities far outstrips giving to animal charities, despite the fact that many of these human charities also receive government and lottery funding on top of charitable donations.

So next time you hear the old chestnut about animal charities receiving more than their fair share, hit people with the facts!

What people give to: share of total amount, 2006/07:

n MR BRITAIN On Saturday 24 May 2008, vegan Robbie Hazeley was crowned the EPF Masters Over 50 Mr Britain. For more information check out: http://www.veganbodybuilding.org/epfmrbritain2008.htm www.veganbodybuilding.org.

n ONE MILLION PEOPLE IN TAIWAN VOW TO BECOME VEGETARIAN More than one million people in Taiwan have pledged to help cut carbon emissions by becoming vegetarian.

The Union of NoMeatNoHeat made the announcement during its anti-global warming drive. Many prominent politicians, such as the legislative speaker, the environment minister, and the Taipei and Kaohsiung Mayors all pledged to become vegetarian.

17% Medical Research.

16% Religious.

12% Young people.

11% Hospital/Hospices.

9% Overseas.

7% Other.

6% Education.

5% Animal.

4% Disabled.

3% Homeless.

3% Environment.

3% Sports.

2% Elderly.

2% Health.

0% Arts.

Source: “UK Giving 2007� survey by the Charities Aid Foundation, CAF, www.cafonline.org

n FAMILIES LIST If you would like to be put on our families list, which is useful as a social contact network and as an information source for families that are new to veganism and vegans who are new to families, please contact info@vegansociety.com.

n VEGAN PLEDGE We shall be launching a Vegan Pledge at the London Vegan Festival on 7th September.

Non-vegans will be able to sign up to it on our website or at fairs and festivals at any time after that.

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n MESSAGE FROM OUR EDUCATION OFFICER, ROB JACKSON I’ve been in the post of Education Officer since May 2007 and started up a school speaker network. Although we’ve given 30 talks since the start of the spring-term, I’d love to see us giving many more next year!

We’re coming up against a certain amount of resistance from schools – partly because they are worried about what our agenda really is. All we do is help promote discussion, we’re not there to lecture or try to convert, only to raise awareness, and our messages are relevant to the teaching curriculum in so many ways.

One way to encourage schools to take notice and invite us to run sessions might be demand from parents. If you have links with schools and would be interested in promoting use of our education materials and speakers please contact me on youth@vegansociety.com. Joining our families list and exchanging ideas with other parents could also help you to get veganism into schools.

We also offer free resources to teachers, schools, home educators, learning coordinators – in fact anyone involved with education! If you qualify or know anyone who qualifies for a free copy of our CD-ROM, please get in touch!

For more information check out: www.vegansociety.com/teach_and_learn/.

n MBE FOR DEDICATION TO ANIMALS: HOPEFIELD ANIMAL SANCTUARY Paula and Ernie Clark who have tirelessly run Hopefield Animal Sanctuary for twenty five years have each been awarded a prestigious MBE. Paula and Ernie are due to receive their award shortly at Buckingham Palace and are still in shock.

“People like us don’t receive awards like this, we can not believe it. We love working to save animals and the award is for the people who support us, donate to our running costs and for the animals.”

Hopefield Animal Sanctuary currently looks after over 200 animals – many have been abandoned or abused. Paula and Ernie and their amazing team ensure that the animals have an enjoyable life.

Check out: www.hopefield.org.uk.

Well done to you both!

n VVIVISECTION BANNED IN SAN MARINO The Republic of San Marino, an independent state in central Italy and a member of the United Nations and the Council of Europe, has become the first nation formally to abolish animal experimentation. Following a proposal made by the Italian anti-vivisectionists Dr Stefano Cagno, Massimo Tettemanti and Marina Berati, supported by the San Marino Animal Protection Society, a motion to abolish all animal experiments was submitted to the 60 members of the Great and General Council (the national parliament of San Marino) in September 2007 and adopted by a large majority. It is therefore now forbidden by law to experiment on animals in the Republic of San Marino.

Incorporated under the banner of the Green Garden Café will be the chance for both organisations and individuals to buy into environmental and social youth work programmes tailored to meet the needs of the young people concerned. For example, they currently have an inner city allotment ready to be worked upon, and for young people to be involved with.

n GREEN GARDEN CAFÉ Friday 23rd May 2008 saw the launch of the Green Garden Café at the Coventry Foyer (a young people’s centre). Green Garden Café is a not-for-profit, social enterprise that offers vegan catering for any event.

The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress opened the day with the aid of two young people from the Foyer (Nikki and Amy). Various organisations were invited to attend, including the Vegan Society who were at hand to give advice to anyone who was interested. There was a good turnout of people and a lot of positive feedback was received.

Another bonus from the day was that the Green Garden Cafe have free use of the Coventry Foyer kitchens in return for Cathy providing voluntary youth work for the young people based at the centre.

Cathy and Richard would like to thank everyone who has supported them so far and given up their time to help them on the launch.

Richard Easterlow is in charge of the catering and can be contacted on

Cathy Scott (a NC2 qualified youth worker) can be contacted on

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n EDM 480 - ANIMAL PROTECTION COMMISSION The campaign by Uncaged for an Animal Protection Commission continues to gain momentum. 129 MPs have signed Early Day Motion (EDM) 480 to introduce an Animal Protection Commission which would for the first time make animal protection a priority for the Government, and could improve the lives of millions of animals. If you haven’t done so yet, please visit www.vote4animals.org.uk to lobby your MP on this or any of Uncaged’s other political campaigns.

n MARATHON ACHIEVEMENT The Vegan Runners UK had their best turnout to date in the London Marathon: James Meldrum 2.37.23 (135th) Dave Arnold (M40) 3.09.24 (1776th) Colin Braybrook (M40) 3.14.19 (2279th) Verna Burgess (W40) 3.46.49 (1020th W, 199th W40 ) Frances Humphries (W55) 4.06.37 (40th W55) Stewart Boulton 4.28.59 Andi Gaywood (MV40) 5.39.11 For more information check out: www.veganrunners.makessense.co.uk or phone: 01908 503919 / 07967 589663.

n AT LAST, VEGAN COOKERY COURSES! Each course lasts for three days (you stay for two nights) at the Fox Hall vegan B&B in Cumbria.

For more information, check out www.fox.hall.btinternet.co.uk or phone: 015395-61241.

n A MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF INFORMATION, ROSAMUND RAHA We are delighted that we are getting so many requests for large numbers of free booklets and leaflets: it is important to get the word out to as many non-vegans as possible.

When requesting booklets and leaflets, please think about the way you intend to use them. For example if you are handing out literature in the street or putting it through people’s doors, a one-page or two-page leaflet should be used (e.g. our Why Vegan leaflet or our Dying for the White Stuff leaflet). This is because the people receiving them have not actively asked for them and therefore the information should be brief and to the point to grab their interest. There is also a cost benefit of giving out leaflets rather than booklets: the postage costs are much lower for sending out 100 one-page leaflets rather than 100 sixteen-page booklets. Leaflets are also cheaper to print than booklets.

Booklets should be used when people have shown an actual interest, for example when they have approached a stall or asked for information. These people are much more likely to read all 16 pages.

The Vegan Catering For All booklet is different again, being 36 pages and therefore longer than any of our other booklets. It should be given only to cafes, restaurants, canteens and other catering establishments. If someone is looking for recipes, then our new recipe leaflet can be used.

The Group photo from the left: Dave Arnold, Manuel Corriente (potential future vegan), James Meldrum and Colin Braybrook.

These steps should help us to keep within our leaflet/booklet printing budget.

Many thanks.

n V-PURE

n STOP EU SUBSIDIES TO LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY

An article in the spring Vegan magazine said that “… most algal foods or supplements will provide excessive iodine before enough is consumed to provide a useful amount of EPA…”. Since then, Water for Life, www.water4.net, have had many enquiries as to whether their product, VPure, contains iodine. Water for Life has stated that V-Pure does not contain iodine.

Our friends at the Nutrition Ecology International Centre (NEIC) have launched a Europe wide petition to end every kind of European subsidy for livestock farming (e.g. breeding, fishing and crop cultivation for farmed animals’ feed).

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Sign on-line at www.nutritionecology.org/news/petition_cap.html or print off petitions from www.nutritionecology.org/download/petition_en.pdf.

Vanessa Clarke

I

magine having a gang of masked men break your door down, leap on your bed and threaten to shoot you and your dog! It may sound like a third rate gangster movie, and certainly more like 1938 than 2008, but this is what happened in Austria in the early hours of Wednesday 21st May. Six weeks later, despite protests from Amnesty International, MPs in Austria and elsewhere, and demonstrations outside Austrian embassies around the world, ten people remain in prison without charge – among them Felix Hnat, Chair of the Austrian Vegan Society, and Dr Martin Balluch, Chair of the Verein Gegen Tierfabriken, the Austrian equivalent of Compassion in World Farming. The wrecking of offices and removal of equipment and records has further hampered the work of both organisations.

Martin is being artificially fed, having been on hunger strike since his arrest.

“It couldn’t happen here” used to be a common reaction in the UK, bastion of human rights and habeas corpus whereby no one could be imprisoned for more than 24 hours without charge. But those rights have long since been eroded and even 42 days incarceration is no longer seen as an unthinkable violation of human rights.

It could and even does happen here.

Ostensibly designed to deal with international terrorism, draconian legislation is all too often used to intimidate ordinary people whose activities are an embarrassment to the powers that be - and this is just what has happened in Austria. Thanks to the hard work of people like Felix and Martin, Austria’s animal welfare laws have improved enormously in recent years – to the great chagrin of hunters, factory farmers, zoo owners and the meat industry. Like CIWF, the VGT also follows live animal transporters trundling their wretched cargoes across Europe, and flags up breaches of already far too lenient regulations.

This, too, has made them some powerful enemies.

Felix Hnat “I am moved almost to tears by how many people are taking a stand”.

Once the rule of law has been set aside and internment without trial becomes acceptable, unsubstantiated suspicions are sufficient to deprive people of their liberty and organisations of their ability to function. Whether any charges will ever be brought against the ten internees remains to be seen – insinuations of arson at a hunting cabin collapsed when the hunters admitted causing the fire themselves – but there is no way the authorities can silence whole organisations, particularly in these days of instant communication by Internet.

For news and pictures of protests around the world, statements from the Vegan Society and CIWF and an indictment of the Austrian Government by Amnesty International, see www.vgt.at, updated daily in German and English. Also see http://www.austriasolidarity.com/.

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21

Helen Edwards

SPICED BEANS AND OKRA Serves 6 This rich dish is based on a traditional Egyptian breakfast, made from satisfying ful beans, and is perfect as an autumn supper dish. If you can’t find ful beans (available from Middle Eastern groceries), pinto beans make a great substitute.

10g dried porcini mushrooms 400ml boiling water 2 red pepper 4 spring onions 160g (20-25 fingers) okra 2 tomatoes, medium 5 cloves garlic 840g (3 tins) ful beans (rinsed and drained) 5 tbsp cold water 2 tbsp rapeseed oil 2 tsp ground cumin 1 ⁄4 tsp ground dried ginger 1 ⁄4 tspground black pepper pinch ground cayenne pinch ground cinnamon pinch ground nutmeg pinch ground coriander seed 4 tbsp lime juice (from 2-3 limes) 375g couscous 450ml boiling water 2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

Trim and cut the okra into 1cm slices.

Dice the tomato into 1cm pieces.

Skin and slice the garlic thinly.

BROCCOLI & BLUE SHEESE SOUP

Place the beans, water, oil and spices in a large pan and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes.

Serves: 4-6

Meanwhile gently rub the mushrooms between the fingers whilst they are still in their soaking water to wash off any grit.

Remove from the jug using a slotted spoon.

Dice finely and add to the pan.

Carefully decant most of the soaking water from the jug into the pan, discarding the last few spoonfuls’ in case it contains grit.

Add the other vegetables and the lime juice to the pan.

Return to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the okra is soft.

Place the couccous in a large bowl and pour over the boiling water. Leave to stand for 3-5 minutes until the water has been absorbed.

Loosen the softened couscous grains with a fork and mix in the coriander leaves.

Serve immediately with wedges of lime.

2 Medium onions 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil 4 Small potatoes 2 Large head of broccoli 1 Pack of Blue Style Sheese 2 1⁄2 Pints of vegetable stock Salt and pepper to taste Peel and finely chop the onions, peel and dice the potatoes. Chop the broccoli including the stalks.

Fry the onions for a few minutes in a large pan until soft. Add the chopped potato, broccoli and stock. Bring to the boil and cook for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Take off the heat and stir in grated Blue Sheese. Allow to cool a little and then liquidise.

Return to the pan, adding a little soya milk if required. Warm through and season to taste.

Serve with warm crusty baguettes.

Put the mushrooms in a jug and pour the boiling water over them. Leave to stand until soft. Meanwhile prepare the other vegetables.

Trim the pepper and remove stem and seeds and cut into 1cm squares.

Trim and cut the spring onions into 5mm slices.

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My sweet MY SWEET VEGAN

by Hannah Kaminsky Published by Fleming Ink Recipes: 77 recipes, all with full-colour photos ISBN: 978-0-9791 286-1 -5 Retail price: $22.95 Reviewed by Clare Persey If you are after a naughty-but-nice treat you may well find yourself gravitating towards My Sweet Vegan because it is stuffed full of them, being devoted exclusively to sweet cakes and puddings.

This book is extra special because every recipe has a beautiful accompanying photo. Author Hannah Kaminsky, who wrote the recipes and photographed this book in her last year of high school, makes her recipes look so scrumptious that you want to try them all.

I restrained myself and picked two recipes.

I wanted to see how the cakes came out so tested the Poppy-Seed Cupcakes. They were moist, light, held together nicely and tasted lovely even without the lemon filling.

Next off I made the Coconut Custard Pie and it was absolutely delicious so the recipes I tried received a thumbs-up from me.

I didn’t test it, but I also liked the fact that Kaminsky developed a sugar-free ‘Canine Cake’ especially for her dog’s birthday.

Some of the recipes are vegan versions of favourites such as tiramisu and baklava. There are many new and unusual ideas and Kaminsky uses interesting ingredients in her decadent creations.

As the book is American a few of the ingredients have slightly different names, but most of these are explained in the ingredients guide at the front of the book.

This is Hannah’s first recipe book and it is a fantastic achievement.

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vegan

Cashew Crème Pear Tart Recipe from My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky Imagine delicately spiced pears cooked until just tender sitting atop a luscious pillow of maple-scented cashew crème, all contained within a soft nutty crust. Sounds like a dream? Well wake up because this delight is easily a reality! This is one amazing finish to any meal, sure to please all palates and diets alike. Not only is it gluten-free but this tart can also be adapted to be a low-sugar dessert. Simply omit the granulated sugar in the pear topping and replace it in the crust with more ground almonds. Just be sure to save yourself a generous slice beforehand, since the likelihood of leftovers by the end of the night will be slim to none!

CRUST: ⁄3 Cup Granulated Sugar

1

1 Cup Ground Almonds ⁄4 Cup Brown Rice Flour

1

⁄4 Cup Margarine

1

2 Tablespoons Brown Rice Syrup CASHEW CRÈME: 11⁄2 Cups Whole Raw Cashews or 1 Cup Cashew Butter ⁄3 Cup Water

1

⁄4 Cup Maple Syrup

1

1 Teaspoon Vanilla essence In sticking with the gluten-free theme, this tart uses brown rice flour for a wonderfully textured crust. Brown rice flour can be found among the other speciality flours in the baking aisle of supermarkets.

Though nutritionally inferior, white rice flour can be substituted should the brown rice version be difficult to find.

PEAR TOPPING: 2 Firm Medium-Sized Pears ⁄4 Cup Granulated Sugar

1

⁄2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1

Combine the sugar, ground almonds and brown rice flour in a bowl.

Melt the margarine and pour it in along with the brown rice syrup. Stir to coat all of the dry ingredients thoroughly and press this mixture firmly into the bottom of a 9-inch round springform or loose-bottomed cake tin. Bring the crust about 1 inch up the sides of the tin and set aside.

If using whole cashews grind them in a food processor. It will take 5 – 10 minutes for the cashews to begin releasing their natural oils and turn into a smooth paste but don’t stop short since it is important that there should be no lumps. Add the water, maple syrup and vanilla essence. Process to combine. Smooth the resulting crème into the crust and set aside.

To core and slice the pears cut them in half lengthwise and then cut each half into slices about 1/8 inch thick . There is no need to peel them since the skins add extra flavour, texture and fibre.

Toss the slices with the sugar and cinnamon and arrange them on top of the cashew crème. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in an oven preheated to 325°F (160°C) until the pears soften. Allow to cool and sprinkle with sliced almonds before serving.

Makes 12 to 14 servings.

⁄ Cup Sliced Almonds for Garnish

1 4

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Mystical Transformation A True Tale of a Butterfly Butterflies Katz

L

iving in New Zealand, in a place of splendour, I was saddened to come home to find monarch butterflies suffering from being stung by wasps. I picked up one such butterfly and brought him inside.

He hung motionless. His wings were shrivelled and damaged. After 14 hours of this motionless behaviour, I thought he was dead. When he had been stung, he was still in the defenceless ‘drip-drying’ stage, where a butterfly’s wings straighten out from their 10 -14 day stay in the chrysalis. He had just emerged from the chrysalis, but didn’t yet know what it was like to be a butterfly and fly in the sky. Then high and behold, he gracefully fluttered his wings, twice. (I could easily identify him as a male because of his black spots on the vein of each hind wing.)

It was raining, so he was inside. But when the rain stopped, he’d go out for some fresh air and flower-hopping.

He’d step up onto my finger like a trained pet. He was handicapped and I was his wheelchair. The next day I left him out, but then I felt anxious leaving him unattended, vulnerable to wasps.

I hurried home and found him at the beginning of the grassy path to my door.

I put my finger out in front of him, and he stepped on. We went zinnia hopping and he had the time of his life; from pink to yellow to orange, which was his favourite. They were colour coordinated.

I felt truly honoured to share these moments in the life of a butterfly.

Using this feeler that uncurled from his forehead, and with impeccable aim, he would find the nectar. He was enamoured with the orange zinnia, but I escorted him over to a yellow zinnia in its perfected state. In fact I took him over to several other flowers, but he immediately, stepped back on to my finger. It seems he was not enthralled with them.

(Apparently, the monarchs use vision to find flowers, but once they land on a flower they use taste receptors on their feet to find nectar.)

I had become a butterfly babysitter, putting him to sleep into his motionless, upright position. It amazed me; this immediate trust between a butterfly and a human.

On day four, two friends came to tend to him. He had the pleasure of meeting two more vegan women; both very gentle like him. One of them named him ‘Transformation’. On this day he was more serious about drinking the elixir of life; flower nectar. Later, we went for a practice flying session, but his wings were still quite curled up. Once inside again, he went into his upright, sleep position. I would sit and think while looking at him.

Every once in awhile, he would extend his wings; I’d recall what I was thinking when he did this and interpreted it as a mystical message, thus came his name, ‘Mystical’.

It was now day five of befriending a butterfly. But I was leaving for a week and he was a full-time job. What to do with him became of great concern. He was at his best that day, because the sun had finally shone upon his wings. I would lift him to the blue sky and inspire him to fly by singing this little tune: ‘What could be more fun than flying in the sun?’ And he’d start flapping his wings. When he landed in the grass, I’d put my finger in front of him and his fragile, weightless, black legs stepped up on to my finger. He tried again.

This time he flew over to the flower garden.

On his very own, he flew from zinnia to zinnia! I was standing guard, shooing away wasps. They were our happiest moments together. He flew and landed right next to a bumblebee on a flower. The bee paid no attention to him. Various flying beings were competing for the flower nectar.

I introduced him to guests who had arrived that day as ‘Mystical Transformation’; a combination of the two names given to him. A young couple watched him while I left. They seemed to have a mutual affection for each other. When I returned, I discovered that he had flown away (while they were tending to another butterfly that was fatally stung by a wasp). My initial feeling was sadness because I didn’t believe he could survive on his own.

I looked around for him. Two guests, who had witnessed his flying away with a breeze, showed me his path of flight.

We searched the forest floor to no avail.

Then we looked up, right to where he had supposedly flown. And out of our reach, was a butterfly resting on a softly swaying tree branch against a clear blue sky. This butterfly wasn’t the usual fluttery butterfly, which made us think it was my special friend. He was the picture of contentment. His wings were straight, though. Could it possibly have been Mystical Transformation?

Could his wings have straightened out?

Did he live up to his name? Was it a sad or wonderful ending? I don’t know for sure, but I hope that a creature with the incredible power to transform himself from a crawling caterpillar to a flying being also had the power to heal the wings he so magically created.

But what I do know for sure is that for five days I was in love with a butterfly, and so, hold the mysticism of his being in mine.

The habitats of monarch butterflies are becoming threatened in both hemispheres.

We can plant milkweed, the family of plants that they live on. When the butterfly first emerges, leave it attached to the plant from which it hangs and somehow make sure it is safe from wasps at this stage.

Plant the Milkweed amongst bushy plants such as dahlias or zinnias, where the caterpillars can hide and form their chrysalis.

Our reward for this little extra effort is not only a feeling of satisfaction for helping to sustain an effective pollinator of such natural beauty, but the butterfly’s first flight might be taken from your hand!

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HOW TO GROW YOUR OWN FOOD: A WEEK-BYWEEK GUIDE TO WILDLIFEFRIENDLY FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GARDENING by ‘Dirty Nails’ Published by Spring Hill ISBN-10: 1905862-11-3 ISBN-13: 978-1-905862-11-5 Cover Price £10.99 Reviewed by Amanda Baker This is an unusual book, which delightfully combines the arts of garden and kitchen.

You will meet Mr and Mrs Nails and their well-fed children and then follow them through the seasons. It is a lovely read, especially if you yearn for food that celebrates the turning of the year.

But this is also a practical work. ‘Dirty Nails’ gently leads novices through tasks in the garden and kitchen. An invaluable Jobs to do each week section is further enlivened by an interleaved Veg on the Menu theme. Mr Nails also leavens the book with titbits to enlighten the most experienced gardener.

(Old hands may disagree with some of the tips: such is gardening!)

‘Dirty Nails’ has created a highly readable mix of gardening diary, natural history snippets, garden know-how, recipes and more. You will want to keep dipping in at any time of year. The author also clearly loves the local wildlife, badgers in particular.

Note: The recipes in this book can all be vegan and the gardening techniques are organic. However the book is not veganorganic, since it discusses the use of animal manures.

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A SACRED DUTY: APPLYING JEWISH VALUES TO HELP HEAL THE WORLD Producer: Lionel Friedberg Available from: Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Cover Price: Free and may be reproduced and distributed freely Reviewed by Verity Hunt-Sheppard It is incredibly encouraging to see vegan movements within faiths that are largely perceived to be unsympathetic to or even dismissive of vegan living. A Sacred Duty is an hour-long documentary produced by Emmy-Awardwinning film-maker Lionel Friedberg on behalf of Jewish Vegetarians of North America. Although the word ‘vegetarian’ is used extensively, a plant-based diet free from all animal products is what is advocated in the film. This high-quality documentary looks at the consequences of diet on the environment, human health, world hunger and non-human animals. Throughout the film various rabbis explain how numerous Jewish teachings advocate compassionate living. Israeli environmentalists and Jewish activists are also interviewed. The documentary is very well pitched and paced and suitable for a Jewish and non-Jewish audience.

The DVD menu divides the documentary into 18 chapters, though you can watch the film in its entirety without noticing any divisions. The menu chapter allows viewers to start and stop the film at convenient points and each chapter is only a few minutes long. Chapter 8, entitled Global Warming, discusses the findings of the UN report Livestock’s Long Shadow without any religious commentary, making this chapter ideal for showing to any group of people including young students. Chapter 9, A Wasteful System, looks at the inefficiency of producing animal products while chapters 11 and 12 look at the health impact of eating animal products. Chapters 13 to 18 discuss our treatment of nonhuman animals including their farming and slaughter. Chapter 16, entitled Tsa’ar Ba’alei Chayim (Concern for the suffering of animals), shows distressing images of animal abuse and slaughter and includes footage taken inside a kosher slaughterhouse.

Chapter 18 is entitled Hope, something all vegans need to hold on to.

A Sacred Duty is well made and delivered and deserves prominence among its intended audience.

LOVELY FRUIT SALAD Lovely Fruit Salad

By Dominic Berry About the Poet Hey diddle dee!

One small blackberry…

A c o o k b o o k m a p u n e a r t h s t re a s u re , veg marks the spot.

A s c e n d n e w t a s t e s . M y t o n g u e ’s a f l a g topping peaks of pumpkin pie.

With spinach smacked lips and peach smoothie sips, S u n d a y ’s c h i l d p u l l s o u t a p l u m .

D i ff e re n t f ro m o t h e r k i d s , I jump over candle sticks.

Hi ho, the derry-o, d i s c o v e r i e s t o s h a re .

She and me … a n d b ro c c o l i … cracking corn l i k e w e j u s t d o c a re .

J u i c y s e c re t s o f t a n g e r i n e s u n r i s e , bells in my head peel oranges and lemons, hearts tougher than cherry stones, t o g e t h e r, o u r w o r r i e s a re b u t t e r n u t s q u a s h e d !

S o y a M a s t e r.

Dandelion Dame.

Some wild fruits no one can tame.

Dominic co-hosts FREED UP every month at Manchester’s greenroom theatre - the only poetry open mic to always give out free vegan cake! Some audience members even offer to bake their own for everyone to enjoy. One guy made a vegan battenburg from scratch!

This year Dominic created a body of verse exploring identity through diet for Manchester’s 8th Day Cafe, given out as a free ‘zine for customers, leading up to a fundraising performance for the Vegan Society.

This has led to his first book coming out this Christmas - check www.myspace.com/thepoetdominic for updates!

Hickory dock.

Tw o v e g i n a w o k .

B u t t h e re ’s t h re e i n o u r h o m e …not peas in a pod.

A t f i r s t , h e t h i n k s w e ’ re c h a t t i n g r h u b a r b .

Rhubarb! Rhubarb! Rhubarb!

S h e a n d m e … a n d h e w o n ’t s e e the depths to quince and bean feast mince.

B u t f o o d i s m u c h m o re t h a n s t a t e o f m i n d .

I n a t a s t e l e s s g ro w n u p w o r l d i t ’s a w a y w e c a n f i n d t o u n i t e a n d b i n d .

S c r a m b l e d H u m p t y ’s s h e l l m a d e w h o l e .

T h re e m i c e t u r n , w i t h s i g h t re s t o re d , s n a t c h b a c k t h e i r t a i l s f ro m f a r m e r ’s w i v e s .

L a m b s l i p s f re e f ro m M a r y ’s c ro o k .

Pussycat, pussycat spits at the Queen!

Ptu! S p l u t t e r i n g m o n a rc h s h r i l l s “ O ff w i t h t h e i r h e a d s ! ” B u t w e a re w r a p p e d u p in our vegetable beds.

S h e a n d m e … a n d h e … a g re e .

Its okra and lentil! Its kiwi and grape!

Singing our ballad of lovely fruit salad… …and the cow jumps over the moon.

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®

VEGAN SOCIETY TRADEMARK

S

etting criteria for animal-free products is not as straightforward as it might at first appear. The standards that our Trademark holders are required to meet are as follows: Animal Ingredients

The manufacture and/or development of the product, and where applicable its ingredients, must not involve, or have involved, the use of any animal product, by-product or derivative.

Animal Testing The development and/or manufacture of the product, and where applicable its ingredients, must not involve, or have involved, testing of any sort on animals conducted at the initiative of the manufacturer or on its behalf, or by parties over whom the manufacturer has effective control. We do not accept products that have been developed using the ‘five year rolling rule’.

Genetically Modified Organisms The development and/or production of genetically modified organisms (GMO) must not have involved animal genes or animalderived substances. Products put forward for registration which contain or may contain any GMOs must be labelled as such.

Animals The Vegan Society understands the word “animal” to refer to the entire Animal Kingdom, that is all vertebrates and all multicellular invertebrates.

However we have to accept that some accidental contamination from animal substances is likely in many situations. Insect remains may occur in foods such as fruit, vegetables, flour and spices.

Even after thorough cleaning some cross-contamination may occur on production lines that are not dedicated to vegan products.

Chocolate production is a particular problem since production lines are not cleaned with detergent and water in between different products. Instead some of the next product is used to flush out the previous product and then discarded. This means that low levels of dairy contamination are likely if a vegan chocolate is manufactured after a milk chocolate.

The only way to avoid this is to operate a completely vegan production area.

Even then manufacturers could not claim their product contains zero animal cross-contamination. To make such a claim would require the manufacturer to test every batch of every ingredient for animal contamination. A further problem is that the detection levels for the test methods do not go as low as zero. For example the detection limit for lactose is 70 parts per million (ppm) and so if this test produces a negative result a manufacturer can claim only that the product is known to contain less than 70 ppm of lactose.

Allergen labelling has caused confusion over whether some products can be classed as vegan. There are currently fourteen allergens that must be labelled on foods and these include crustaceans, fish, milk, eggs and molluscs.

Under food-safety regulations companies are required to conduct a risk assessment to determine whether the foods they produce may contain any of the known allergens. If they establish that there is a risk and that risk cannot be eliminated then they must include a ‘may contain…’ label on the pack.

The ingredients list provides details of substances that have been deliberately added while the ‘may contain’ list gives details of allergens that could be present at a low level due to cross-contamination.

The Vegan Society does not claim that trademarked products are suitable for people with allergies; that will depend on the standards achieved by individual manufacturers.

To encourage manufacturers to give a serious commitment to avoiding animal cross-contamination the following statement has been added to the Trademark licence agreement: I confirm that our company strives diligently to minimise cross-contamination from animal substances used in other (non-vegan) products as far as is reasonably practicable.

However we accept that some trademarked products may also carry warning labels such as ‘may contain milk’ because this refers to accidental low-level cross-contamination.

We live in an imperfect world and if we made the Trademark criteria any more stringent we could have very few products labelled vegan. We aim at encouraging manufacturers to produce more foods that do not contain deliberately added animal ingredients and so reduce the exploitation of animals. If our demands are unrealistic many manufacturers will ignore us.

As the demand for vegan products grows we will be in a stronger position to request dedicated vegan production lines and then purely vegan factories.

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THE BEULAH CHARITY TRUST T

he Beulah Charity Trust was formed in 1980 by Rebecca Bennett. The original aim was to fund a retirement home for older vegetarians but this proved too costly an undertaking. After many years of steady stewardship the original trustees, Derek and Anne Hill and Eileen Mary Fear, stepped down in 2006.

Today the Trust aims at helping older vegetarians and vegans across the UK, whether in their own homes or in residential or nursing homes, who wish to maintain their vegetarian or vegan lifestyle or who just need some form of practical help.

The three current Beulah Trust trustees listed below hope to help as many people as possible to enjoy their later life and to cope with some of the practical difficulties that may arise.

I became interested in supporting Beulah when I learnt of the commitment the charity had made to supporting people to continue to live in their own homes. For my entire working life I have been a social worker focussing specifically on promoting independence and independent living both for people with learning disabilities and for older people. I am experienced in care management and championed supported living, including acting as executive producer for the video My home, My Choice. My work experience has taught me the vital role of an organization such as Beulah: advice can be given out freely but it is not often that money can be found to provide people with the small things that will really make the difference. I am proud to be involved with The Beulah Charity Trust and proud to be offering practical support to the growing number of older vegetarian and vegan people in need.

It’s my small way of saying “thank you” to those who promoted vegetarian living well before me!”

Kathy Silk, Chair of the Beulah Charity Trust: “I have been vegetarian since the age of eight and became vegan eighteen years ago.

My early life was very difficult, but I was determined to find out more and to help in any way I could. I joined the Vegetarian Society in 1972, then became a trustee and later I was elected President. I am pleased to continue my work as Chair of the Beulah Charity Trust. If any readers are visiting the London Vegan Festival on Sunday 7 September at Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, W8, look out for me and my name badge and stop and have a chat.”

David Fruin: “I have been vegetarian for most of my life – but not for a single reason!

I see vegetarianism as being less exploitative, particularly of animals, more efficient in terms of energy inputs and food processing, and less damaging to planet earth. And I enjoy the taste of vegetarian food! In my working life I have been involved in a range of jobs concerned with health and social care, so the focus of the Beulah Charity Trust on helping people in their later lives to maintain a vegetarian lifestyle appeals to me. Even today the vegan and vegetarian ways of living need to be promoted and many people still need support to get the sort of food they wish, particularly in their later lives when they may be dependent on others to ensure that their diet really is in keeping with their preferred choices.”

Verification of needs is required from someone of standing in the community. For further information and an application form please contact Helen Field. e-mail:

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Helen Field: “I am a lover of good food and a third-generation vegetarian. Although awareness of a vegetarian lifestyle is growing, I can well remember being considered ‘odd’ for the food choices my family made whilst I was growing up in the early 70s; and I take my hat off to the older vegetarian and vegan people who struggled to spread the word and promote the benefits, from a health, animal and environmental point of view, of vegetarianism.”

The Vegan l Autumn 2008

Amanda Rofe

WITH THOUGHTS ON THE ‘WHY’ OF VEGAN-ORGANIC

F

ood is usually grown using chemicals or animal manure and animal byproducts. By and large most of us have had to put up with this. Is there an alternative? Absolutely there is! Read on and be prepared to get involved because food production is a crucial global issue and your help is needed.

Without doubt, the way our food is actually grown is a vitally important animal rights concern too. Let’s all participate in returning the planet to its full glory where wild flowers, trees and animals once more make it into a living earth free from the destruction of animal farming.

Farming Disaster

Animal farming dominates global food production and is rapidly expanding. It is one of the world’s worst offenders when it comes to damaging the environment and causing pollution, land degradation, excessive use of water and energy resources, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, the displacement of food from poorer countries – where people are malnourished – to the rich west, and global warming. It is morally wrong to slaughter billions of animals for food and it is an unsustainable system for feeding an increasing world population.

Even traditional ‘organic’ animal farming would not be able to meet the demand.

The Way Forward We know that a plant-based diet is a healthy way to live. However we also want a healthy planet. One way of producing food that involves no animal products and is also the ’greenest’, most sustainable and carbon neutral is Stockfree-Organic (or veganorganic), which avoids land degradation, deforestation and pollution and is climatefriendly to boot!

Stockfree-Organic is an ethical and ecological solution for the global problems we face today.

Grow Vegan Puzzler WHAT DOES ‘MULCHING’ DO? a) Encourage weed growth or b) Suppress weed growth Send your answers on a postcard to: The Vegan Society (address details on page 1) by 22 September 2008.

The winner will receive a copy of Forest Gardening by Robert A de J Hart

The winner of the Summer Grow Vegan Puzzler was: Dianne Duggan from Manchester.

There was no single right answer.

There are many far-reaching benefits to this system, way beyond simply excluding animal products, which is great in itself and which could transform the way we produce our food. Essentially it is a plant-based sustainable system that avoids the use of poisonous chemicals and encourages wildlife and biodiversity. Great care is taken not to affect the wider environment, and emphasis is placed on obtaining supplies and selling produce as locally as possible.

Stockfree-Organic Symbol The Stockfree-Organic Symbol is for commercial growers and is an ethical standard for food production devised by the Vegan-Organic Network. Inspection and certification is undertaken by the Soil Association and producers can hold the Soil Association and the Stockfree-Organic Symbol at the same time.

Increasing numbers of Stockfree-Organic growers and farmers are now established in the UK and abroad; the Stockfree Organic symbol has recently been set up in the USA. Techniques are tried and tested and economically viable. It is important to remember that animal manures and byproducts are not required to maintain soil fertility and grow healthy plants even in an ‘organic’ system!

What Can You Do? It is crucial that we all do something to promote Stockfree-Organic, in order to get food grown using animal-free methods into the shops, for the sake of farm animals and for our global future. Join the Vegan Organic Network (VON): the more members and support VON gets, the greater the impact.

Ask food producers if they are StockfreeOrganic or would consider changing to it (those with Soil Association certification are more likely to) and ask shops if they would stock this type of produce. The number of well-established businesses supplying Stockfree Organic produce is growing but we need many more!

Finally, try growing your own StockfreeOrganic fruit and vegetables. Cut your food bill and food miles! We need to make critical choices in view of the ecological crisis and Stockfree-Organic is a solid foundation for a healthy, compassionate and sustainable way forward.

Further Information Vegan Organic Network (VON) (educating farmers and home growers about veganorganics), 80 Annable Rd, Lower Bredbury, Stockport, SK6 2DF, tel. 0845 223 5232 (BT local rate, 10am to 8pm any day) or e-mail info@veganorganic.net and see www.veganorganic.net Courses The Welsh College of Horticulture provides HNC and HND courses for those interested in Stockfree-Organic vegetable production.

VON bursaries may be available to vegans and vegetarians who need financial help to study. For further details see www.wcoh.ac.uk or ‘phone 01352 841000.

For information on bursaries ‘phone 0161 860 4869. The Welsh College of Horticulture has its own organic farm which gained Stockfree status in 2005 producing fruit and vegetables for local markets.

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The Vegan Vegan ll Autumn Autumn 2008 2008 The

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Contributions to Postbag are welcomed, but accepted on the understanding that they may be edited in the interests of brevity or clarity

Food for Thought!

It was interesting to read the article entitled So you think you are Vegan and then read that the prison-issue teabags were sealed with heat and not glue. I then started thinking about adhesives and their commercial uses – breakfast cereal boxes, labels on glass jars, labels on juice and milk bottles, paperback books and magazine spines, envelopes, postage stamps, outer wrappings on multipack biscuits, milk and juice cartons, DIY adhesives – PVA wood glue, Evostick, polystyrene cement and so on. What about varnishes and other DIY products?

So, how far do we take Veganism? Do we avoid all items that may use animal by-products for adhesives? It is a frightening thought.

If we knew or thought that all adhesives were from animals we would buy no packaged items at all and grow a lot more of our own fruit and veg, providing the seeds did not come in a packet sealed with glue!

James M. Scott HMP Peterhead

Dear Vegan Society

Dear Vegan Society

Some of The Vegan’s advertisers are now selling goods only via the Internet. In case any other companies are considering doing this, could I highlight that some people with disabilities are unable to use a computer and some people do not have easy access to/do not know how to use the Internet?

I should like to recommend that supporters bombard shops such as the Co-op with requests to reinstate their ‘suitable for vegans’ logo on products that do not contain any animal ingredients and are not tested on animals. It seems as if someone has complained about a product being labelled ‘OK for vegans’ and implied that the supermarket should NOT state this if, for example, the product was produced in a factory that used milk in other products.

It would be helpful, therefore, and in the spirit of the Disability Discrimination Act, if companies could maintain non-electronic means of contact for finding out about and ordering goods.

Joanna Griffiths London

This reduction in the number of products ‘suitable’ can only put people off staying/becoming vegan.

David Smailes Wellingborough

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Verity Hunt-Sheppard

n ESSENTIAL TRADING COOP

n GREEN VALLEY TRADING CO.

Essential Trading Coop has two new fantastic vegan products. Their pure pesto consists of pine nuts, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh basil and sea salt. It’s concentrated too: just add oil for the flavour and texture you want. It’s certified organic and costs £2.89 for 175g.

The wonderful Green Valley Trading Co. are the folks behind Vegan Health and Beauty, which sells a range of supplements and body-care products from established brands such as Veganicity and Yaoh. You can also splash out on vegan perfumes from Amura, pampering bath products from Feel For and make-up products from Fresh Face Cosmetics. There’s a range of award-winning organic baby products from Beaming Baby too and a multivitamin and mineral supplement for children called Mr Tumee.

For chocolate with a clear conscience look no further than Essential’s silkysmooth organic Dark Chocolate Spread. It uses Ghanaian cocoa and fairtrade sugar and vanilla, has no GMOs or artificial additives and costs £2.79 for 400g.

Find it in good health-food shops.

For more information visit www.essential-trading.coop or telephone 0845 458 1459.

n ITS ELIXIR Whatever your skin type you’re sure to find a product that suits you. Its Elixir have an extensive range of skincare products which includes an aloe vera, a vegan ‘silk’ and a vegan ‘collagen’ cream. They also produce a range of facial gels, body lotions, hair-care products and aromatherapy and carrier oils. Its Elixir products are packaged simply and in recyclable materials so they are not only kind to you but kind to the environment too.

Its Elixir products are used in a growing number of beauty salons and use fairtrade and organic ingredients where possible.

Discount Get an amazing 20% off Its Elixir products with your first website order. To claim your discount enter the code ‘vegansociety’ at the checkout page.

To order visit www.itselixir.com or telephone 0845 838 1158.

Creams cost from £6.95 – £11.95 for a 60ml jar.

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The Vegan l Autumn 2008

Prize Draw Keep yourself up to date with the latest additions to their ranges and news of special offers by subscribing to Vegan Health and Beauty’s free e-mail newsletter.

The names of everyone doing so before the end of September will go into a draw to win a fantastic hamper full of Yaoh goodies. Just visit the website to sign-up.

To purchase products go to www.veganhealthandbeauty.com or telephone 01283 769898.

n ALVIN CONNOR Alvin Connor Natural Balance body-care products use naturally occurring crystalline deposits to keep you fresh from top to toe.

Deodorant crystals are said to leave an invisible shield of minerals on the skin which prevent the formation of the bacteria that cause the odour associated with perspiration.

The Natural Balance range includes deodorizing Foot Powder, Crystal Bath Soaks, crystal deodorant sticks and a Deodorant Body Spray. The body spray is refillable, economical and can be used as a refreshing facial and body spritz –fantastic!

Alvin Connor products are available at selected healthfood stores at prices starting from £5.50.

For more details go to www.alvinconnor.com or telephone 0151 448 0368.

All Shoparound products have been authenticated as

n JUNGLESALE You may have heard of tea tree but have you heard of neem tree? Junglesale brings you Indian herbal hair and body care, household products and neemtree pet-care products. Neemtree oil has been used by Ayurvedic doctors for generations in India and is said to have antiseptic and antibacterial properties and yet be gentle on the skin.

Try their neem shampoo, mouthwash or massage oil, or buy their pure neem-tree oil and apply to skin direct or add a few drops to bath water.

To see their full range of products visit www.junglesale.com or telephone 0844 884 4872.

Junglesale’s neem-tree products start at £6.10.

n EARTH SHOES Walk tall in an amazing pair of shoes from Earth Footwear. Earth Footwear features Kalso Negative Heel technology, said to correct the alignment of the spine and create a natural, relaxed movement, like walking on a sandy beach! Don’t think that all that technological stuff means a compromise on style: Earth Footwear has a fashionable range of pumps, clogs, sandals, boots, shoes and trainers including funky Miami flip-flops and smart Solar V pumps.

Earth Footwear is available from £39.

For more details go to www.myveganshoes.com or telephone 0161 975 5380.

n NATURE COMPLETE Chlorella is a green single-celled freshwater alga, is a favourite food supplement in Japan and has been popular in the Far East for 20-30 years.

Nature Complete’s chlorella is certified by the Soil Association and is suitable for everyone, including children and pregnant and nursing mothers.

Discount Take advantage of 10% discount when you order online until 30 September. Just enter the discount code VS01 at the checkout.

To order visit www.naturecomplete.com or telephone 0208 539 5585.

Nature Complete’s chlorella costs £20.95 for 90 grams (one month’s supply) and is available as powder, tablets and capsules.

n NATURE’S AID

n PURITY PROJECT We love his hair-care range and now you can treat your skin to Daniel Fields’ new Purity Project skincare range. The Purity Project launches with seven products in its Face Range, which consists of Face Wash, Face Cleanser, Light Face Moisturizer, Anti-Age Day and Night Moisturizers, Eye-Lines Serum and Face-Firming Serum as well as reusable organic cotton face cloths. The Purity Project range is fragrance-free and formulated for sensitive skins.

All packaging is 100% recycled, recyclable or bio-degradable.

The Purity Project strives to be carbon-neutral too.

Buy 2, get 1 free Take advantage of the very generous introductory offer: buy two products and get a third free (lowest-priced item will be the free one) until 31 December.

All products carry a 100% money-back guarantee.

The Purity Project range is available on-line at www.purityproject.com or telephone 0203 006 1313.

Purity Project products are priced from £5 to £20.

Nature’s Aid have been in business since 1981 so if you’re looking for a goodquality supplement then Nature’s Aid have 124 formulations for vegans to choose from. You won’t find any artificial flavours, colours or yeast in their products. Choose from herbal-based products such as celery seed and rosehip, or from vitamin and mineral combinations such as their Vitamin B complex with C and their Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc complex. You’ll also find hair, skin and nail formulations, and glucosamine. Nature’s Aid supply products only to independent retailers.

Nature’s Aid products start at £2.49. For more details visit www.naturesaid.co.uk or telephone 01772 686231.

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Verity Hunt-Sheppard

n MAJIK BLANKIT

n SMITHFIELD WINE

Why not indulge your skin with Majik Blankit’s luxury skincare range formulated with high-quality organic ingredients and blended by hand in East Sussex?

All products are SLSand paraben-free.

Majik Blankit have products for men and women including a gorgeous Mandarin and Sweet Fennel body cream, Wild Sage & Comfrey Shower Jelly and Calendula & Rosewood Shave Oil. There’s also a scrummy range of body scrubs, nourishing night face creams and a new natural Aloe Vera Self-Tanner, not forgetting lip balms and lip glosses too.

Smithfield Wine has been in the business of sourcing and selling vegan wines for the last eight years and has140 vegan wines to choose from.

Smithfield’s range includes everything from everyday quaffers to champagne and Gran Reserva Riojas. You’ll find wines from all over the world including sumptuous fruit wines from the UK for those who like to buy locally. There are tasting notes too for all the wines on the website, but should you want further advice you can contact Lynn or George who will be happy to help you find the wine you want.

Discount Receive a 10% discount from all products purchased through the website until 31 December 2008! Just enter the promotional code AVMR2008 at the online checkout page.

Majik Blankit products start at £1.99. For more details visit www.majikblankit.co.uk or telephone 01424 421907.

n KUDOS A healthy diet is key, but if you’re in need of a nutritional boost then Kudos have a huge range of vitamins and health supplements to choose from.

Kudos products are manufactured in the UK and free from colourings, yeast, sweeteners, soya, nuts, gluten and colourings. The wide range of Kudos products includes ‘friendly bacteria’ capsules, herbal formulae such as ginseng and valerian as well as B12 formulations.

Kudos products are available from selected pharmacies at prices starting from £6.40.

For more details go to www.kudosvitamins.com or telephone 0800 3895476.

Win a bottle of Pink Old Acres Cava by Competition answering the following question: Isinglass is not used in producing any of Smithfield’s vegan wines, but what is isinglass made from?

E-mail your answers to george@smithfieldwine.com before 30 September 2008.

Smithfield’s vegan wine prices start from around £4.80. For more details visit www.smithfieldwine.com or telephone 0161 273 6070.

n THE NATURAL SKINCARE COMPANY If you’ve overdone it in the sun this Summer then slather your skin in Paul Pender’s anti-ageing coldblended skin-care products from the Natural Skincare Company. For dry skins try Paul Pender’s Hydrating Control Serum, mangosteen and nettle moisturizer or intensive Ceramide Recovery Lipo A, C & E treatment, whilst those with oily skins can choose from Paul Pender’s Herbal Citrus Fruit Exfoliant, Alpinia & Tea-Tree Cleansing Wash and Blemish Away treatment.

The Paul Pender’s range is certified organic and is free from artificial perfumes and colours.

Prices start at £13.95. For more details visit www.thenaturalskincarecompany.co.uk or telephone 01403 790913.

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The Vegan l Autumn 2008

events

Updated diaries and events information can be viewed at www.vegansociety.com

n SEPTEMBER London Vegan Festival Sunday 7 September Kensington Town Hall, Hornton St, London, W8 7NX (opposite High Street Kensington tube station) 90 stalls, speakers, music, entertainment, vegan food, workshops and good vibes!

Tel. 0208 670 9585, www.vegancampaigns.org.uk/ festival Skillshare Workshop Saturday 13 September Vegan Campaigning Skillshare, Sumac Centre, Nottingham.

Tel. 07846 739197

The Incredible Veggie Roadshow Saturday 27 September, 10.30am to 4.30pm Portsmouth Guildhall, Guildhall Sq, Portsmouth,

PO1 2AB FREE entry Food tastings, cookery demonstrations, talks, free diet and health advice, stalls, competitions, beauty products, books, vegan food products, information and campaign news. www.viva.org.uk

n OCTOBER World Animals Day Saturday 4 October www.worldanimalday.org.uk

n NOVEMBER World Vegan Day 1 November www.worldveganday.org West Midlands Vegan Festival (organized by Midlands Vegan Campaigns) Saturday 1 November, 11am to 5pm

Wolverhampton Civic Hall, North St, ,WV1 1RG Celebrate World Vegan Day in style: 40+ stalls, food, speakers, films, a cookery demo, information, campaign news and lots more. Tel. 01527 458395, www.midlandsveganfestival.o rg.uk,

Hornton St, London, W8 7NX (opposite High Street Kensington tube station) More than 80 stands selling cruelty-free goods and gifts, lectures, face painting, children’s workshop, pressups competition and delicious vegan food

Vegan Society AGM (for Vegan Society members only) Saturday 22 November The Priory Street Centre, 15 Priory St, York, YO1 6EZ Food from Veggies will be available on arrival and throughout the day.

Tel. 0121 523 1730, info@vegansociety.com

www.animalaid.org.uk

Christmas Without Cruelty Sunday 30 November, 10am to 5pm Kensington Town Hall,

n DECEMBER East Midlands Vegan Festival Saturday 13 December 11am to 5pm The Council House, Old Market Sq, Nottingham, NG1 2DT The festival features vegan food, clothing, toiletries, cosmetics, gift and campaign stalls and live music. www.eastmidlandsveganfestiv al.co.uk

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VEGAN SOCIETY LOCAL CO THE VEGAN SOCIETY LOCAL CONTACTS Local Contacts are Vegan Society members who act voluntarily as a point of contact for those interested in the Society’s work. They are not official representatives of the Society and their levels of activity and knowledge vary according to their individual circumstances.

Some Local Contacts run groups, in which case details are below their names. Groups not run by Local Contacts and non-geographic groups are listed separately and Youth Contacts are listed on p.34.

For details of group activities please check the website or get in touch with the Contact.

Veg*ans = vegetarians & vegans.

When writing to a Contact please enclose a sae.

If you’ve been a full member of the Society for at least six months and would like to be a Local Contact please get in touch with the Coordinator, Patricia Tricker (see under Yorkshire, no phone calls before 8 pm please).

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The Vegan l Autumn 2008

ONTACTS & GROUPS

826534

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LISTINGS PATRONS Freya Dinshah Maneka Gandhi Rebecca Hall Dr Michael Klaper Moby Gordon Newman Cor Nouws Wendy Turner-Webster Benjamin Zephaniah COUNCIL Vanessa Clarke (International Coordinator) Graham Neale (Vice Chair) George Rodger (Chair) Patricia Tricker (National Contacts Coordinator) Stephen Walsh (Treasurer) STAFF Chief Executive Officer Nigel Winter Head of Sales & IT Dave Palmer Sales Assistant Paul Xuereb Head of Information Services Rosamund Raha

If you would like more information on veganism a free Information Pack is available from the Vegan Society.

Trademark Assistant Sandrine Revert Volunteers Philippa Lennox Dean Bracher Robert Emberson Wendy Atwood Lenka Pagan John Davis

If you are already a vegan or vegan sympathiser, please support the Society and help increase its influence by joining. Increased membership means more resources to educate and inform.

PR/Media Officer Amanda Baker Information Officers Verity Hunt-Sheppard Clare Persey Office Manager / Finance Officer Fiona Sylva Business Development Officer Colm McBriarty

The Vegan l Autumn 2008

Abhorrence of the cruel practices inherent in an agricultural system based on the abuse of animals is probably the single most common reason for the adoption of veganism, but many people are drawn to it for health, ecological, resource, spiritual and other reasons.

THE VEGAN SOCIETY was formed in England in November 1944 by a group of vegetarians who had recognised the ethical compromises implicit in lacto-vegetarianism (ie dairy dependent). Today, the Society continues to highlight the breaking of the strong maternal bond between the cow and her new-born calf within just four days; the dairy cow’s proneness to lameness and mastitis; her subjection to an intensive cycle of pregnancy and lactation; our unnatural and unhealthy taste for cows’ milk; and the de-oxygenation of river water through contamination with cattle slurry.

Education Officer Rob Jackson

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VEGANISM may be defined as a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as possible and practical, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose. In dietary terms it refers to the practice of dispensing with all animal produce — including meat, fish, poultry, eggs, animal milks, honey, and their derivatives.

CLASSIFIEDS (UK) HOLIDAYS CORNWALL

HAMPSHIRE

HOLIDAYS ABROAD

WALES

NEW FOREST - The Barn Vegan/Vegetarian Guest House. En Suite rooms, evening meals. Perfect for walking/cycling etc 023 8029 2531 or www.veggiebarn.net

Alpujarras - Andalucia Attractive, well equipped townhouse. Sunny roof terrace.

Wonderful views, birds, walks, mountain villages. Wholefood shops, Restaurants serving veggie food. Sleeps 2-6. (10% discount for Vegan supporters) 01736 753555 Email:

ISLE OF WIGHT

Andalucia - remote mountain village 40 mins sea - walking, wildlife - from £100 per week - 2 persons - £180 4 persons.

Tel 01202 431867 www.orgiva.org/alfornon Legassi Gardens. Holiday apartments, Accra, Ghana. Vegan cafe, drumming, dance, yoga, massage and heritage tours.

From $35 per night per appartment. legassigardens@hotmail.com

CUMBRIA

Kerala & South India Vegan and vegetarian cuisine, eco-friendly resorts & hotels, beaches, backwaters, wildlife, trekking & camping.

Brochure: 01892 722440 Fax: 01892 724913 E-mail: info@keralaconnections.co.uk www.keralaconnections.co.uk

LANCASHIRE CRAZI-CARROTS. De-tox, relax or learn a skill in Lancashire.

Healthy, creative & vegan weekends.

Yoga, massage or just relax.

Ensuite & comfortable B&B. Tel. 01204 704600 admin@wellbeingworkshopsworldwide.com

WEST CORK-vegetarian self-catering apartments for singles, couples and families in peaceful wooded surroundings.

Organic vegetables & vegan wholefoods available. Green Lodge, Trawnamadree, Ballylickey, Bantry, Co. Cork, Ireland.

Tel: +353 2766 146, 00353 0861955451.

Email: greenlodge@eircom.net or website http://homepage.eircom.net/~greenlodge

DEVON North Devon. exclusively Vegetarian/Vegan B&B. Large letting room with private bathroom. 01271 816193. www.limetreenursery.co.uk.

YORKSHIRE SUSSEX

WHITBY B&B FALCON GUESTHOUSE. Vegan/vegetarian Quiet location, seven minutes’ walk from centre and harbour.

Lounge and sunny breakfast room. Teamaking facilities. No smoking throughout.

Ample breakfast, with organic fare. £20 p.p.p.n (for couple). Tel 01947 603507

South of France- at the edge of the beautiful Cevenne. Self-catering vegetarian/vegan gite. Nestled in quiet and peaceful wooded hills, ideal for walking, mountain biking, painting, writing. Local attractions including a steam railway and a gorgeous grotte.

Tel: 0033 4 66 61 02 38 e-mail: www.veggygite.com Pyrenean mountain village in southern France. Enjoy our vegan B&B. Phone Karen or Matthew on 00 33 56166 9195 www.veganholidayfrance.com

DISCOUNT CARD

DORSET people

ADVERTISEMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED BY 30 OCTOBER 2008 FOR INCLUSION IN THE WINTER 2008 ISSUE OFTHE VEGAN CONTACT: ADVERTISING@VEGANSOCIETY.COM 0121 523 1733

Donald Watson House 21 Hylton Street Hockley Birmingham B18 6HJ

animals

environment

Tel: 0845 45 88244 Fax: 0121 523 1749 info@vegansociety.com www.vegansociety.com

THE VEGAN DISCOUNT CARD

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CLASSIFIEDS HOLIDAYS ABROAD

PUBLICATIONS

Save A Life - Adopt A Goat

The ideal gift for the person who has everything. We take into care those who have suffered from neglect, abuse and abandonment. Providing a loving home for the rest of their days Buttercup Sanctuary for goats, Maidstone, Kent, ME17 4JU Tel: (01622) 746410 Registered Charity: 1099627

www.Buttercups.org.uk VEGAN VOICE magazine promotes a nonviolent lifestyle beneficial to the planet and to all animals. For the latest on veganism and animal rights, subscribe now to Vegan Voice, Australia's celebrated and singular quarterly magazine! www.veganic.net

INTERNET SERVICES

VEGAN VIEWS - informal quarterly for Vegan Opinion. Sample copy £1. 4 issues £4 inc p&p. Harry Mather, Flat A15, 20 Dean Park Road, Bournemouth BH1 1JB SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. Autobiography of Wilfred Crone, well-known vegan/fruitarian. £7.50 inc P&P. Harry Mather, Flat A15, 20 Dean Park Road, Bournemouth BH1 1JB Publications VEGAN VIEWS - informal quarterly for Vegan Opinion. Sample copy £1. 4 issues £4 inc p&p. Harry Mather, Flat A15, 20 Dean Park Road, Bournemouth BH1 1JB

SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. Autobiography of Wilfred Crone, well-known vegan/fruitarian. £7.50 inc P&P. Harry Mather, Flat A15, 20 Dean Park Road, Bournemouth BH1 1JB

PERSONAL Single? Online dating for vegans, vegetarians, environmentalists and humanitarians. Meet your like-minded match in your local area. www.ethicalsingles.com

DISCOUNT CARD

This card entitles the bearer to discounts at a range of outlets, restaurants and hotels.

A full list of discounts is available from The Vegan Society.

DISCOUNT CARD THE VEGAN VALID FROM

PRACTITIONERS FREE YOURSELF FROM LOW ENERGY LEVELS, FATIGUE AND ILL-HEALTH! I offer personal health and nutrition consultations (in-person/by telephone/email), group and individual fasting/detox supervision, iridology, health books and a home-study course in Natural Health. Contact me for your free brochure

AUGUST 2008

UNTIL

NOVEMBER 2008 REFERENCE CODE

Ref:GMA 008

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DIVINE FROG web services. A vegan business. Website design, implementation, development, maintenance and hosting.

Please contact Ian : Tel : 07981 057697 Email : i.nicoll@divinefrog.co.uk www.divinefrog.co.uk

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ORGANISATIONS KINDNESS UNLIMITED is a fellowship of Christian vegetarians and vegans of any denomination or none. For details please write to Kindness Unlimited, the Old Vicarage, Llangynog, Carmarthen SA33 5BS or

Sanctuary In Desperate Need Hillfields Animal Sanctuary, near Bromsgrove West Midlands, has 300 mouths to feed. The owner is battling against almost impossible odds and desperately needs help, both practical and financial. Please contact Website www.hillfields-animal-sanctuary.com

THE BEULAH CHARITY TRUST

“Jesus was a vegetarian” www.donoteatus.org

Funds available for older vegetarian & vegan people

The Vegan Society trademark is the authentic international standard for vegan products.

SHOPPING

The Beulah Charity Trust ( Reg 280228) has limited funds available for individuals or organisations

Our logo provides an easy and trusted way to promote your cruelty-free goods and services to the growing number of vegans in the UK and worldwide.

Feel Good Handbags

To enable older vegetarians to maintain their vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.

Trademark holders benefit from instant recognition, promotion in The Vegan magazine, discounted advertising rates, and a listing on the Vegan Society website.

It’s good for you, good for the Vegan Society, and good for vegans.

Buy Animal Friendly Products

For further information please contact Helen Field

www.feelgoodhandbags.com

The Christian Vegetarian Association UK (CVAUK) promotes a plant based way of life as it represents good, responsible Christian Stewardship for all God’s creation. For further information on our work or to join us visit www.christianvegetarian.co.uk or

For more information on the trademark, contact Colm McBriarty on (0121) 5231733 or email trademark@vegansociety.com.

You can also read about the trademark on our website at www.vegansociety.com

CONDITIONS OF ACCEPTANCE: Advertisements are accepted subject to their satisfying the condition that the products advertised are entirely free from ingredients derived from animals; that neither products nor ingredients have been tested on animals; and that the content of such ads does not promote, or appear to promote, the use of non-vegan commodities. Books, records, tapes, etc. mentioned in advertisements should not contain any material contrary to vegan principles. Advertisements may be accepted from catering establishments that are not run on exclusively vegan lines, provided that vegan meals are available and that the wording of such ads reflects this.

MEMBERSHIP / RENEWAL

I wish to become a member and support the work of the Vegan Society.

I wish to renew my membership.

Membership No. (if known)......................................................................

Name:................................................................................Address:..........................................................................................

Postcode:........................................Tel:..........................................................Email:..................................................................

Date of Birth: (for security purposes)........../.........../..........Occupation:.....................................................................................

Please tick this box if you are a dietary Vegan. This entitles you to voting rights in the Society’s elections if aged 18+.

Please treat my membership subscription as Gift Aid. I have paid UK income or capital gains tax equal to the amount the Society reclaims.

My income is less than £8000 per year and I qualify for the low income discount of 33%.*

A copy of the Society’s rules (Memo & Articles of Association) can be viewed on our website or at our office. Alternatively you may buy

I wish to enrol other members of my household for an additional £7 each.**

a copy for £5.

Please give full names of additional members and specify if dietary vegan and / or under 18. (If more than four additional members please attach separate sheet.)

Membership Individual £21 * Less £7 low-income deduction (if applicable) ** Add £7 per additional household member Under 18 years old £7 Memo & Articles of Association £5 Overseas: Europe +£5 / Rest of World +£7 Payment may be made by credit card, sterling International money order or sterling cheque drawn on a British bank.

Donation Total:

21

How to pay Cheque / PO payable to The Vegan Society Credit / Debit card (enter details below) Direct Debit (phone for details) Website: www.vegansociety.com Please debit my Visa / Mastercard Access / Visa Delta / Connect / Switch Solo card number

ccccccccccccccccccc Name on card:.........................................................................Signature:..................................................................

Today’s date........./........./.......Start date:......../........Expiry date......../........Switch Issue No.:.....................

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CROSSWORD Kate Sweeney & Vega

QUICK CROSSWORD set by Kate Sweeney Across 1 5 8 9 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22 24 25

Crunchy oriental cabbage, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ leaves (7) These may be spring, sausage or Swiss (5) Cook very quickly over a high heat (7) Stalks (5) With nothing added (4) Mature, become ready to eat (5) Mad cow disease (1.1.1.)

Flat board for carrying food (4) Small hard fruit (4) Colour of some currants (3) Powdery substance obtained by grinding cereal (5) Viscous liquids used for frying e.g. sunflower and olive (4) Plant pest active in the wet (5) Large pulpy orange fruit (7) Extra (ingredients) (5) Cooked in water vapour (7)

Down 2 3 4 6 7 10 12 16 19 23

Spicy (3) Place for raising plants - rye runs riot (Anag.) (7) Sweet red summer fruit (10) Available all the time (2,3) Type of zest (5,4) Large starchy, edible melon from the Western Pacific Islands with a loaf-like texture (10) Crude, not processed (9) Mangetout (N.Amer.) (4,3) Ovoid fruit - an important food and source of oil (5) Frozen cubes of water (3)

CRYPTIC CROSSWORD set by Vega Across 1 5 8 9 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22 24 25

48

Please send in solutions to either along wit crossword h your na me and ad dress by 22 Septem ber 2008 Prizes n ext issu e: For both crosswor ds: The PETA Celebrity Cookbook

Tree holds back deed in front of English or Scots cracker (7) Abrasive comic: "Ooh, you are awful, Dick" (5) Deny its twisted fate (7) Enid's awfully supercilious (5) Slug likes eating fruit (4) Wear down queen with poem (5) Princess and pea report accompanies crudites (3) Root is alien (4) Mushy pea leading resistance to oil producer (4) Goodbye bird (3) Lowest point of turbulent drain (5) Change at Virginia railway termini (4) Suck air back out of wedding spread (5) Poisonous spider queen bereaved husband (7) We hear Some Like It Hot stars Jackfruit (5) Vegan may be so principled, but traps 99 inside spinning lathe (7)

The Vegan l Autumn 2008

Solution to the summer crosswords (Quick:left/Cryptic:right) The winner of the Cryptic crossword is: Mrs J Baile The winner of the Quick Crossword is: Jean Latimer

Down 2 3 4 6 7 10 12 16 19 23

Beer will retire within barrel at last (3) Herb approximately models holding up matchstick game (7) Royal spud corrupted wedding ark (4,6) Male to leave fruit (5) Communist to bombard part of Tabasco (3,6) Repent, pimp! Troubled yet sweet (10) Plum force to commit again (9) Roman initially teases Olivia about pasta pillows (7) A hidden way of lying? (5) Periods are up (3)