The Vegan Winter 2005

ARE YOU A ‘TYPICAL VEGAN’?

FEEDING YOUR VEGAN INFANT – WITH CONFIDENCE NEW VEGAN SOCIETY BOOK LAUNCHED

HOW VEGAN?

ACTIVISM VS INGREDIENTS

ISSN 0307−4811 04

9 770307 481000

in this issue features

GIVE US THE TOOLS If a tale is repeated enough times, people can end up thinking it’s true, such as the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes, the idea that the earth is flat, or that dairy products are necessary to prevent osteoporosis.

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A few months ago we spotted an advertorial on AOL in which dairy giant Nestlé stated “Dairy products – essential for healthy bones.” The Vegan Society couldn’t let a whopper like this go, so we submitted proof of the contrary to the Advertising Standards Authority and awaited Nestlé’s response. They responded that many nutritionists believe dairy to be an important source of calcium, but offered no science to prove it to be essential.

The ASA ruled Nestlé’s claim was dishonest. So now it’s official, advertisers cannot say dairy products are essential for healthy bones. But we didn’t stop there.

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regulars

A press release went out from Donald Watson House about this victory for truth over vested interest spin. It was picked up by the BBC, The Guardian, Express and several health magazines which will run features on veganism over the coming months. We told them vegan sources of calcium include green leafy vegetables, tofu, seeds, nuts and fortified soya milk.

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Like the Dairy Council before them, Nestlé used a misleading claim to promote a product, when there is absolutely no evidence that dairy products are essential, and we were delighted that the ASA Council agreed and the mainstream media picked it up.

The Vegan Society is the voice of veganism. We were founded to help the increasing numbers adopting a vegan lifestyle out of concern for our own health and that of people in the developing world, the plight of animals and the destruction of the habitat we all share. The Society’s publications and merchandise help make the transition to veganism as easy and enjoyable as possible. This summer we released some fabulous new tools to help put our point across: our colourful book on vegan infant nutrition by our dietitian Sandra Hood, the seventh edition of the Animal Free Shopper, the second edition of the Vegan Passport, and the VEG-1 nutritional supplement. Being vegan has never been easier, whatever your age, or even before birth.

And the more you buy from the Society, the more we can do.

Your support enables the Vegan Society to carry on our missions, to help vegans and those who cater for us, for the benefit of people, animals and the environment. We’ve achieved so much to be proud of in our first 61 years. But we’d like to think that, in the words of one old song, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Alex Bourke Chair

The Vegan Society

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Donald Watson House

Local rate 0845 45 88244

Editor Catriona Toms Design www.doughnutdesign.co.uk Printed by Hastings Printing Company On G-print chlorine-free paper

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ARE YOU A TYPICAL VEGAN? HOW VEGAN? FEEDING YOUR VEGAN INFANT – WITH CONFIDENCE PRACTICAL PARENTING YOKED TOGETHER: ANTI-SLAVERY & ANIMAL WELFARE BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH

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Tel. 01424 427393

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NEWS SHOPAROUND OUT & ABOUT SHOPAROUND EXTRA VEGILANTICS RECIPES – KIDS CAN COOK! GROW VEGAN CURIOUS VEG & MEGAN THE VEGAN DIET MATTERS REVIEWS POSTBAG LOCAL CONTACTS LOCAL GROUPS NEWS EVENTS CLASSIFIEDS CROSSWORD & CARTOON

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Fax. 01424 717064

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East Sussex

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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.

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News n ADVERTISING STANDARDS RULES DAIRY NOT ESSENTIAL FOR HEALTHY BONES A complaint by The Vegan Society against an advertorial by giant multinational dairy company Nestlé has been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority.

The offending advert contained the blatantly misleading statement: ‘Dairy Products – essential for healthy bones’ and was found to have breached the code of advertising practice on three major grounds: substantiation, honesty and truthfulness.

The Vegan Society's complaint centred on the misuse of the word 'essential', implying that there was no other adequate source of calcium.

Nestlé offered no evidence to support its claim and admitted that there were perfectly adequate sources other than dairy products.

The Advertising Standards Authority has instructed the dairy giant to seek guidance before launching future campaigns.

n ETHICAL SHOPPING MADE EASY

n VEGAN BUDDIES A new website from vegan campaign group Realfood provides a supportive environment for new vegans.

If you have just become vegan there are few things more helpful than being able to talk to people who have been vegan for a while and can provide tips and advice. Local vegan groups and Vegan Society Local Contacts are a great way to meet and interact with other vegans, and vegan forums can help create a great sense of community. Vegan Buddies takes it one step further by matching new vegans up to individual mentors who can help answer questions, provide support and offer advice. The Vegan Buddies website also has a friendly, encouraging forum and regular news items to keep you up to date with the latest vegan happenings. To sign up to be or to find a mentor, go to www.veganbuddies.org.uk.

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A new service is being launched to help vegans-on-thego find animal-free products. Shop-Mate will allow you to access a database of over 6000 vegan products via your mobile phone. Trialists are needed at this stage so if you would like to help test this exciting new system see www.shop-mate.net for details.

Meanwhile, the excellent Ethical Consumer Research Council has set up a new website to help shoppers decide which companies they would prefer to give their money to.

Ethiscore rates companies on a range of criteria, including animal welfare standards and environmental policies. So if you’ve checked Shop-Mate or your Animal Free Shopper and know that a product is vegan, but want to know a bit more about where it came from, just log on to www.ethiscore.org to find out more.

n STOCKFREE STANDARDS - UPDATE FROM THE VEGAN-ORGANIC NETWORK Since the Stockfree Organic Standards for animal-free growing were launched in 2004, Stockfree Organic Services has approved four symbol holders and received interest from 35 other growers.

The Welsh College of Horticulture has also decided to have a section committed to commercial stockfree growing, which will include teaching up to degree level.

They have ten students enrolled for this academic year and it is expected that numbers will increase as the course becomes better known. To encourage this, the Vegan-Organic Network (VON) is approaching vegan and vegetarian companies, organisations and individuals to provide money towards setting up bursaries for vegans and vegetarians who may need financial help to attend the courses and eventually set up their own farms.

An education and publicity programme is also planned to increase consumer awareness of vegan-organic growing.

If you would like to help raise funds or publicity for this important work, please see ‘Grow Vegan’, page 29, for contact details for VON.

n VEGANISM’S FOUNDING FATHER CELEBRATES HIS 95TH BIRTHDAY! Donald Watson, founder of The Vegan Society and inventor of the word vegan, turned 95 on 2nd September.

Donald, who founded The Vegan Society in 1944, hasn’t eaten meat for 80 years and has been vegan for over 60 years.

He celebrated his birthday last year by climbing a mountain. This year, he talked to millions of people via the BBC World Service.

Many thanks to everyone who sent cards and best wishes to Donald – they were much appreciated.

n VEGAN STYLE & CUISINE – WHAT A TURNOUT! Vegan Society trademark holder Bourgeois Bohème’s vegan promotional event to showcase stylish vegan fashion and yummy vegan cuisine with 222 Veggie Vegan Restaurant was a great success.

With a full-house capacity, the event saw about 70 hungry fashion aficionados attending to support animal welfare and ethical companies. Guests enjoyed sampling yummy vegan food, admiring and buying stylish vegan fashion accessories, meeting likeminded people and generally having a fun day out.

Due to the overwhelming enthusiasm for the event, Bourgeois Bohème are keen to organise similar activities in the future so stay tuned for other events to come. www.bboheme.com

n VEGAN DIET HAILED FOR POTENTIAL WEIGHT-LOSS A new study suggests that low-fat vegan diets may be more effective in promoting weight loss than standard cholesterol-controlled diets containing animal products.

The study, published in the September edition of The American Journal of Medicine, involved 63 overweight or obese postmenopausal women who were randomly split into two groups. One group followed a low-fat vegan diet for 14 weeks while the other followed a diet based on US National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines, which included animal products. Neither group had restrictions placed on the amount of calories they could eat and both were asked to maintain their usual levels of exercise. The women following the vegan diet were found to lose, on average, 2kg more than those on the cholesterol-controlled diet; their waist circumferences also saw greater reductions.

n LONDON VEGAN FESTIVAL 2005 The London Vegan Festival 2005 was a great success attracting well over 2000 people of all ages and from all walks of life. The day started with a slight drizzle but nothing was going to dampen the spirits of the throngs of vegans, vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike who were crowding into the venue. By lunchtime the sun had come out and the foyer, where the food and drink was being served, was alive with a mass of happy, smiling faces.

The Vegan Society stall was surrounded for most of the day by those eager for more information about veganism and the talk by Tony Bishop-Weston entitled ’Vegan Nutrition’ was so well attended that the room was full to bursting. During the day, children were occupied with a play area, an art workshop and a fun food workshop where children had the opportunity to decorate cakes and make savoury snacks.

The entertainment was provided firstly by singer/songwriter Tracy Curtis, who mesmerized us with a mixture of beautiful chords and well-chosen words, and later in the day ‘Kulah’ provided a set of folk and improvised music with Eastern European traditions.

Talks covered such diverse issues as an update on the current antivivisection campaigns, hunt sabotage and the post-hunt ban, a vegan vet putting forward the case for vegan cats and dogs, a discussion about promoting veganism and Ben Israel giving a presentation on the 35-year African Vegan Project. Late afternoon saw a cookery demonstration on how to make cream teas, sushi and quiche and the day came to a close with Alex Bourke introducing the renowned ‘Johnny Vaughn’s Top Five’ where Alex outwits the man himself! All in all, there were over 70 stalls, raw food and smoothies, a vegan bar, veggies burgers and vegan kebabs and a whole lot more besides!

For a full report of the day plus photos, see www.londonveganfestival.org.uk Robin & Alison Lane-Coe (Organisers)

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Shoparound n VERSATILE SOYA PRODUCTS FROM SOYMEAT New from Soymeat comes a range of soya protein products including Big Steaks, Mince, Soya Steaks and Soya Cubes.

The beauty of these products is that they’ll absorb whatever flavours you throw at them and become whatever you want them to be so you can use them in stews, lasagnes, stir-fries, bolognese, as a pizza topping, in a sandwich…

n GUMMI BEARS FROM LET’S DO…ORGANIC!

All Soymeat products are dried so they’re easy to store and have a long shelf life, making them as convenient as they are versatile.

For more information, see www.soymeat.co.uk or call 07765 373543.

Courtesy of Acorn Alternatives come Let’s Do…Organic Gummi Bears. Choose from Classic, Jelly, Super Sour, Fruity, Ginger and Liquorice.

They’re all absolutely delicious but the gum-tingling joy of the Super Sour variety is hard to beat, while the Ginger Gummi Bears have a spicy kick to them that will soon have you coming back for more. All this, and they’re organic too!

Everyone at The Vegan Society’s HQ liked these so much that we decided to stock the Super Sours and Classics in our catalogue and on-line shop, where they’re just £1.45 for a 100g box.

Everyone’s favourite childhood treat now comes in some grown-up varieties.

See www.vegansociety.com/shop or call 01424 448832 for details. For more about the other tasty varieties, as well as some delicious vegan ice-cream cones and candy sprinkles, call Acorn Alternatives on 0207 394 8884.

n MIXED CHOPPED NUTS AND SEEDS FROM FOOD FOR MIND AND BODY If you’re looking for a convenient way to incorporate a range of nuts and seeds into your diet then look no further. Food for Mind and Body is a unique mix of chopped nuts and seeds that is perfect for sprinkling on top of your cereal, adding to salads, mixing in with yoghurts or just eating on its own as a snack.

The combination of brazils, almonds and hazelnuts with sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, linseeds and pumpkin seeds makes the mixture rich in essential fatty acids, protein, fibre and selenium, as well as a number of other vitamins and minerals.

A 300g pack costs £9.95.

See www.foodformindandbody.co.uk or call 0845 367 0148 for details.

n SPIREL SPIRULINA FROM CUBANA PRODUCE Spirulina is a microscopic fresh-water blue-green algae believed to have many health benefits. Rich in amino acids and antioxidants, it is thought to help boost the immune system and may be a useful addition to a detox diet.

Spirel Spirulina comes in tablet, capsule or powder form, as plain spirulina or with added ginseng for extra energy (Spirel G) or added vitamin C to help boost the immune system (Spirel C).

For more details see www.spirel.co.uk where you can also buy the products directly. Prices start at £10.95 for 100 capsules.

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All Shoparound products have been authenticated as

n NATURAL LIQUID SOAPS FROM RED STAR Once you’ve tried Red Star foaming liquid hand soaps, other soaps just won’t seem the same any more.

Forget the brightly coloured gungey goo that is most liquid soaps and think instead of soft creamy foam that makes washing your hands feel more like a luxurious massage than a hygiene requirement. The range of sumptuous scents available includes Lavender, Lemon & Lime, Tea Tree and Peppermint. You can also buy refill packs to save on packaging – these are currently available postage-free.

The 250ml bottles of liquid soap are £4.90 each, and the one-litre refill bottles retail at £12 each.

See www.redstarnaturalliquidsoaps.co.uk or call 01922 712691 for details.

Every reader of The Vegan who buys a one-litre refill bottle will receive a 250ml bottle free of charge.

The first ten customers will receive a one-litre bottle refill plus a 250ml bottle of either lavender or lime/lavender free of charge.

Write to: Vegan Offer, Red Star Natural Liquid Soaps Ltd, 1 Haddon Crescent, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV12 5AT.

n FASHION WITH COMPASSION FROM BOURGEOIS BOHEME We could all do with a little bit of glamour in our lives, and glamour is what Bourgeois Bohème does best.

From beautiful clutch bags and gypsy-style belts to funky footwear and gorgeous jewellery, Bourgeois Bohème has it all. Smart shoes for men nestle happily alongside pretty pink purses, and there’s even a range of animal-free toiletries and cosmetics to choose from.

Whether you’re city-chic or comfy-classic, you’re sure to find something to suit in this wonderland of animal-free elegance.

Have a browse around at www.bboheme.com or call 0207 602 9067 for more details.

If you’d like the chance to win one of Bourgeois Bohème’s purses, take a look at the crossword on page 44.

n NATURALLY DELICIOUS PIES FROM NATURAL FEAST

n AWARD-WINNING HANDMADE CHOCOLATE FROM MONTEZUMA’S The latest vegan delights from the wonderful Montezuma’s handmade chocolate company include an Orange and Geranium Emperor Bar, which is an unusual take on the classic chocolateorange combo. The blend of rich organic dark chocolate with oils of orange and geranium is one of the tastiest, most made-for-pure-indulgence chocolate bars we’ve ever tasted.

If you prefer your chocolate unadulterated, then you’ll love Montezuma’s Organic Very Dark Chocolate, which has won awards for its smooth but not-too-bitter taste.

Montezuma’s has stores in Brighton, Chichester and Windsor, but don’t worry if you’re not lucky enough to live near one of these areas – all of Montezuma’s delicious chocolate is available by mail order from www.montezumas.co.uk – just click on or search for ‘vegan’ to find pages and pages of pure temptation.

Take it from us: the important word here is feast.

Just look at these pies! If you’ve ever seen anything more delicious then we want to know about it!

They’re not only vegan, they’re suitable for coeliacs, diabetics and hypoglycemics as well as being free from hydrogenated fats, artificial additives and refined sugars. So there’s no excuse not to over-indulge!

Choose from: apple pie, blueberry pie, chocolate mousse – say it again: chocolate mousse – and pie shells in case you’d like to try your hand at making your own.

Sadly they’re not yet available in the UK, but Natural Feast is looking for a distributor so any day now they could be appearing in a shop near you. That day can’t some soon enough as far as we’re concerned!

See www.naturalfeast.com for more details and more mouth-watering images.

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WIN A FESTIVE FEAST FROM REDWOOD THIS CHRISTMAS A

Also included are a box of vegan truffles from Booja Booja, a bottle of Cabernet Shiraz vegan wine from Smithfield Wine, hemp oil from Yaoh and a vegan Christmas cake from Paul’s Tofu.

ward-winning vegetarian and vegan food specialists Redwood have teamed up with The Vegan Society to give you the chance to win a fabulous array of vegan goodies this Christmas, including:

We have three sets of these fantastic foods to give away. To enter our prize draw, simply email your name, address and phone number (so we can arrange delivery) to marketing@redwoodfoods.co.uk.

Don’t forget to mention Vegan Society prize draw in your email!

l Redwood’s delicious turkey-style Celebration Roast, which comes ready sliced with Redwood’s Vegi-Deli gourmet sausages wrapped in Redwood’s StreakyStyle Vegetarian Rashers and turkey flavour gravy l Redwood’s Lincolnshire-style sausages, which come ready to eat and can be eaten hot or cold l Redwood’s dairy-free Cheezly with Cranberries, which has a wonderful taste and aroma enhanced by the intense fruitiness of pure succulent cranberries

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l Redwood’s fish-free Smoked Salmon Style Pate (makes a great starter!) l Redwood’s Thai Fish-Style cakes, made with chickpeas, onions and potato, delicately flavoured with lemongrass, coconut, galangal and lime. Perfect with sweet chilli sauce.

Alternatively, send your name, address, phone number (and email address if you have one) on a postcard to: Vegan Society prize draw, The Redwood Company, 60 Burkitt Road, Earlstrees Industrial Estate, Corby, Northants NN17 4DT. Closing date is 2nd December 2005. The first three names out of the hat will each win our festive feast!

WORLD VEGAN DAY! 1st November is World Vegan Day – an annual celebration of all things vegan!

Celebrating vegan diversity This year’s theme is vegan diversity and we want you to help us show the world that anyone and everyone can be vegan!

Whoever you are, whatever you do, send us your photo and a little bit about yourself – name, age, profession, hobbies, why you’re vegan, favourite food and whatever else you want to include – and we’ll use it to create a huge web-based montage of vegan pictures and profiles.

If your hobby is stamp collecting, martial arts, chess, rugby or crossword puzzles; if you’re eight or if you’re eighty - whatever you do, whoever you are, you are living proof that anyone and everyone can be vegan.

All pictures and profiles we receive will be added to the website, which will be built on during the coming year, and a variety of people will be chosen to appear in The Vegan magazine over the next few issues.

If you’re camera-shy…

Or just can’t lay your hands on a good picture, just send us a little bit about yourself and we’ll match it to one of our ‘typical vegan’ silhouettes.

If you would like to help us celebrate vegan diversity this World Vegan Day, please send pictures and profiles to typicalvegan@vegansociety.com.

We don’t just want sky-divers and bodybuilders Whether you’re an accountant, a full-time mum, a shop assistant, or a university lecturer, we want to use you to highlight that there’s no such thing as a ‘typical vegan’.

To start things off, over the page we’ve gathered together a selection of Vegan Society members who, we think, amply illustrate the huge diversity and variety of the vegan movement.

For details of The Vegan Society’s ‘Typical Vegan’ merchandise, see www.vegansociety.com/shop or call 01424 448832.

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TYPICAL VEGAN

JOANNE HEIDRIK AND ULRIKA Heidrik Zeitler is an artist, photographer and vegan caterer who has been vegan since 1993. His girlfriend Ulrika Hörnell-Wiberg has been vegetarian all her life and vegan for just over a year.

She is a choir singer and is training to be a dietitian. They tell us that they both like travel, artichokes, chocolate cakes and puffins and are vegan for ethical reasons.

Born in Melbourne and based in Los Angeles, Joanne Rose is a former model and Miss Australia contestant who is now a successful actress on stage and screen.

‘I chose to become vegan because of my love and compassion for all creatures, great and small. Becoming vegan was the best decision I ever made.’ www.joannerose.com

DAWN Vegetarian since she was a small child, Dawn became vegan a few years ago. Now committed to staying 80 per cent raw, she feels she has finally found a ‘diet for life’. Having recently relocated to France, Dawn and her husband have opened a B&B catering for a wide range of veggie guests. This picture shows her about to fly over the chateaux of the Dordogne.

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ADRIAN

NICOLE Vegan for just over three years, Nicole is a 27-year-old substance misuse worker and is currently studying for an Open University English degree.

‘My initial reason for becoming vegan was that I did not want to play any part in animal cruelty, but the more I think about veganism the more good reasons I can come up with. So don’t get me started!’

Twenty-three-year-old Adrian Ramsay became one of the youngest people ever to become a local councillor when he won a seat for the Green Party on Norwich City Council two years ago.

A tireless environmental campaigner, he became vegan at age 14 for animal welfare as well as environmental reasons.

TEKLA SALLY AND KEMEYS

Name: Tekla Andersson City: Gothenburg, Sweden Age: 21⁄2 Profession: Child Hobbies: Reading books, painting, playing in the sandbox, riding on swings, baking, dancing and singing.

Why I am vegan: Animals are friends not food! I’ve always been a vegan and I’ve actually wondered if the other kids at kindergarten might think they are calves!

ADAM A 21-year-old cinema technician whose interests include filmmaking, photography and music, Adam Stevens became vegan to make a stand against cruelty to animals, but quickly discovered that other great benefit of the vegan diet: Green & Blacks chocolate!

Sally and Kemeys are a husband-and-wife team of antiquarian map dealers. They live in Hayon-Wye with their dog Lettice. ‘We have been vegan for two years and three months and love it more and more and miss...nothing!’

KATE Artist Kate Corder has been vegan for around 14 years. Currently studying for a Masters in Fine Art, she works with water-colours, oil paints and multi-media installations. Using her artwork to explore aspects of veganism, ethics and the environment, Kate has recently been researching ideas of extinction and endangerment. ‘I love being vegan for my own health, personal preference, and also for the environment. I am really happy to be part of the growing vegan movement.’ http://www.katecorder.net

GEOFF Fifty-seven-year-old Geoff Nelder is an ex-teacher who has had several books and articles published on microclimates.

His first novel, Escaping Reality, was released in 2005. As a child, Geoff spent time on and around farms and discovered that each animal had a personality. He became vegan when he realised that humans don’t actually need to eat animal products to survive.

IVAN Ivan Sanders is a retired lawyer turned property developer whose hobbies include ultra-long-distance running and tinkering with cars. ‘My Russian wife has mastered vegan cooking, despite originating from an essentially meateating country, and appears, like our guests, to like my food the best - but would never admit to it!’

Want to see more ‘typical vegans’? Just go to www.worldveganday.org to see just how diverse the vegan movement is – and don’t forget to add your face while you’re there!

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OUT AND ABOUT WITH OUR LOCAL VEGAN CAMPAIGNERS For complete listings of Vegan Society Local Contacts and Local Groups, see pages 36 to 38

W

ith World Vegan Day almost upon us, we catch up with what Vegan Society Local Contacts and Local Groups are doing to celebrate the most important day of the vegan year!

THAMES VALLEY VEGETARIANS AND VEGANS WORLD VEGAN DAY CELEBRATION MEAL...

Thames Valley Vegetarians and Vegans are organising a Nepalese feast at the Kathmandu Kitchen in Reading on World Vegan Day itself at 7.30pm. A threecourse special buffet is planned, costing about £13 per person.

Booking is essential and the event is expected to be very popular so reserve a place today by contacting Vanessa Payne:

...HALF-PRICE FOOD FOR GLASGOW VEGANS...

Mono, one of the UK’s best vegan restaurants, is helping Glasgow vegans celebrate World Vegan Day in style.

Between noon and 10pm on 1st November all food will be half-price and there are special offers on the drinks too! But you’d better get in there quickly because when food tastes as good as it does at Mono it’s bound to be booked up soon.

Call 0141 553 2400 for more details.

...VEGAN ESSEX – BELATED CELEBRATIONS...

Vegan Essex have delayed their annual World Vegan Day event this year but don’t despair – you’ll only have to wait an extra month to enjoy one of the best vegan events in the country.

Taking place at The Brentwood School Sports Centre in Brentwood, Essex, the event is always a sell-out, drawing crowds of vegans and non-vegans alike, all desperate to try out the free samples, attend talks and browse through the stalls. There’s always a great party atmosphere with good music and plenty of surprises!

For more details, contact - or see http://essex.veganfestival.org

INTERNATIONAL WORLD VEGAN DAY SITES...

Australia: www.worldveganday.org.au Germany: www.weltvegantag.de The Netherlands: www.wereldveganismedag.nl

…DON’T FORGET THE BRISTOL VEGAN FAYRE! Bristol’s annual vegan fayre takes place the weekend before World Vegan Day at the L-Shed, Princess Wharf, Wapping Road between 10am and 6pm. This year’s event promises to be better than ever with a huge variety of stalls, entertainment and speakers.

The fayre will be followed by a meal and party from 8pm at the Rajpoot restaurant, where the winners of the Vegan Society Awards will be announced. See www.yaoh.co.uk or call 0117 923 9053 for details. On the next day there’s The Vegan Society AGM, at the Elmgrove Centre, Elmgrove Road, Cotham, Bristol, from 1pm.

See www.vegansociety.com or call 01424 448823 for more information.

FEELING INSPIRED? This is just a selection of events taking place across the country. Why not contact your Vegan Society Local Contact or Local Group to find out what’s going on in your area?

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...LOCAL VEGAN GUIDES

Local guides have just been launched for Wales and Yorkshire.

Eat Out Vegan Wales list s vegan-friendly cafés and restaurants throughout North and South Wales – email eatoutveganwa les@yahoo.co.uk for det The Vegetarian/Vegan ails.

Guide to Yorkshire lists veggie/vegan-friendly restaurants, cafés, bars, accommodation and wh olefood shops all over county. Email davidwbro the wn@onetel.com or cal l 01302 535643 for det ails.

REDDITCH VEGANS – FR EE FOOD FAIR After helping

at a successful vegan foo d fair in Coventry in April 2005 , Vegan Society memb ers in Redditch decided to organise a similar event in our own town. A date was set (8th October) and the best venue in town (St Stephen’s Church) was booked.

Redditch Vegetarians & Vegans was formed in order to publicise the event.

Letters were written to well kno vegan food producers, wn inviting them to send foo d donations.

Redwoods, Beanies, Alp ro, Granovita and Fayref ield all sent a very generous assortme nt of their products. Lar ge quantities of home-made food we re being prepared for sev eral weeks before the event.

Just ten days before the fair, the Government ann ounced their intention to ban jun k food in schools so we seized the opportunity to write to every school in Redditch inviting pupils, their parents, tea chers and kitchen staff along to sample healthy vegan food.

We sent out a press rele ase, which resulted in four local papers publis excellent articles advert hing ising the event, and Rad io Redditch broadcast new the forthcoming fair ove s of r several days. When the big day arrived two Midlands radio stations more broadcast pre-recorded interviews on their new bulletins throughout the s morning.

The fair was supposed to start at 10.30am bu t by this time the hall wa crowded and dozens we s re already tucking in to our feast of vegan deligh The huge variety of foo ts! d on offer included bu rgers, samosas, quiche, curry, vegan cheese and falafel, sausages, dairy-free ice cream and a range of irresistible cakes.

As if the free food extrav aganza were not enough to enc ourage people to come along, there were also stalls selling a wid e range of cruelty-free goodies and a vast array of information on the many reasons why a vegan die t is good for animals, people and the planet.

The hall was packed ou t from start to finish and we estimate that up to 500 people attended.

Ninety of our question naires were filled in, ma people have pledged to ny change their diet and 30 of them say they wish join the local group. It to was a truly amazing eve nt which we intend to repeat sometime next year.

Redditch Vegetarians & Vegans reddiveggie@lycos.com www.redditchveggies.m akessense.co.uk

Cambridge Vegans & Vegetarians (CamVeg) existed in various guises through the 1980s and 1990s but was most recently reformed in early 2004 with the goal of offering a supportive social atmosphere for new and established vegans and vegetarians in the area. We want to make being vegan actively fun, the idea being that a vegan who doesn't feel socially isolated by their stance is more likely to stay a happy longterm vegan!

With this goal in mind we have three regular eat/drink/chat get-togethers in the city each month, with further one-off social/nosh events such as a recent trip to the enlightening Heart of England Vegan Festival and our World Vegan Day pizza night at a local Pizza Express last November, which was so popular that we had a follow-up event early this year and have more pizza nights to come! We also have some natural degree of healthy overlap with the lovely local animal rights collective and have sometimes been able to co-operate on leafleting, collections and group presence at demos.

We don't maintain an active membership list; anyone is free to come along to our events and meetings. Our website contains an events calendar and useful local information for vegans, and we have an e-mail list for group announcements and chat. Check out our website at www.vegancambridge.org.uk.

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HOW VEGAN? INGREDIENTS VS ACTIVISM Matt Ball

Most of us think nothing of scanning ingredients lists and questioning waiters, but how often do we question the overall effectiveness of this attention to detail? Vegan activist Matt Ball argues that it may actually be doing more harm than good.

W

hen I first got involved in animal rights around 1990, ‘How vegan?’ had a simple answer: either something is vegan or it isn’t. The way to tell was to compare all of the ingredients on every product against lists of all animal products. This list eventually became a book, Animal Ingredients A to Z, which for years was the best-selling book at vegan.com.

This simple means of defining ‘good’ and ‘bad’ attracted many of us because it was so straightforward. But even before the list began to grow into an encyclopedia, it was inconsistent.

The production of honey kills some insects, but so does driving (and sometimes even walking). Many soaps contain stearates, but the tires on cars and bicycles contain similar animal products. Some sugar is processed with bone char, but so is much municipal water. And adding ‘not tested on animals’ to the definition of vegan added a whole new level of complexity.

Still, it can be difficult to give up a black-and-white set of rules. Over the years, people have added ‘exceptions’, definitions of ‘necessity’, or claims of ‘intention’ to save the laundry-list approach. But trying to have a hard definition of what is ‘vegan’ is, ultimately, arbitrary. Even the production of organic vegetables injures and kills animals during planting, harvesting and transport.

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Of course, we could all ‘do no harm’ by committing suicide and letting our bodies decompose in a forest. But short of this, the best path is to take a step back and consider why we really care whether something is vegan.

The question of ‘How vegan?’ is important because the slaughter of animals for food is, by far, the most significant cause of suffering today, both in terms of the numbers and the level of cruelty inflicted.

“Veganism is important, not as an end in itself but as a powerful tool for opposing the horrors of factory farms and industrial slaughterhouses.”

The Numbers Vastly more animals are raised and killed for food in the US each year than for any other form of exploitation. Ninety-nine of every 100 animals killed annually in the US are slaughtered for human consumption.

That’s 10 billion animals, more individuals than the entire human population of the Earth.

The Suffering Animals raised for food endure unfathomable suffering. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of advocating on behalf of these animals is trying to describe the indescribable: the overcrowding and confinement, the stench, the racket, the extremes of heat and cold, the attacks and even cannibalism, the hunger and starvation, the disease...the horror of every day of their lives. Indeed, every year, hundreds of millions of animals - many times more than the total number killed for fur, in shelters, and in laboratories - don’t even make it to slaughter. They actually suffer to death.

Effective Advocacy Knowing this, the issue for thoughtful, compassionate people isn’t, ‘Is this vegan?’ Rather, the important question is: ‘Which choice leads to less suffering?’

Our guide shouldn’t be an endless list of ingredients but rather doing our absolute best to stop cruelty to animals.

Veganism is important, not as an end in itself but as a powerful tool for opposing the horrors of factory farms and industrial slaughterhouses.

This moves the discussion away from finding a definition or avoiding a certain product and into the realm of effective advocacy. In other words, the focus isn’t so much our personal beliefs or specific choices but rather the animals and their suffering.

If we believe that being vegan is important, being the most effective advocate for the animals must be seen as even more important! The impact of our individual veganism - several hundred animals over the course of a lifetime pales in comparison to what we have the potential to accomplish with our example. For every person inspired to

change their habits, the impact we have on the world multiplies!

Conversely, for every person we convince that veganism is overly demanding by obsessing with an everincreasing list of ingredients, we do worse than nothing: we turn someone away who could have made a real difference for animals if they hadn’t met us! Currently the vast majority of people in our society have no problem eating the actual leg of a chicken.

“It is not enough to be a righteous vegan, or even a dedicated, knowledgeable vegan advocate.

The animals don't need us to be right, they need us to be effective.”

It is not surprising that many people dismiss vegans as unreasonable and irrational when our example includes interrogating waiters, not eating veggie burgers cooked on the same grill with meat, not taking photographs or using medicines, etc.

animals suffering in factory farms. By choosing to promote compassionate eating, every person we meet is a potential major victory.

Matt Ball is co-founder of US-based Vegan Outreach, www.veganoutreach.org.

A copy of this article first appeared in Satya magazine, September 2005.

Hard Questions and Results Admittedly, this results-based view of veganism is not as straightforward as consulting a list. Areas of concern range from the example we set to the allocation of resources, asking questions such as: Do I bother asking for an ingredient list when with non-veg friends and family, perhaps not eating anything, and risk making veganism appear petty and impossible? How should I spend or donate my limited money and time?

Situations are subtle and opportunities unique, thus there can be no set answers.

But if our decisions are guided by a desire to accomplish the most good, we each have enormous potential to create change.

It is not enough to be a righteous vegan, or even a dedicated, knowledgeable vegan advocate. The animals don’t need us to be right, they need us to be effective.

In other words, we don’t want to just win an argument with a meat-eater, we want to open people’s hearts and minds to a more compassionate lifestyle.

To do this, we have to be the opposite of the vegan stereotype. Regardless of the sorrow and outrage we rightly feel at the cruelties the animals suffer, we must strive to be what others want to be: joyful, respectful individuals, whose fulfilling lives inspire others.

Only then can we do our best for the animals.

Instead of spending our limited time and resources worrying about the margins (cane sugar, film, medicine, etc.), our focus should be on increasing our impact every day. Helping just one person change leads to hundreds fewer

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FEEDING YOUR VEGAN INFANT

– WITH CONFIDENCE Sandra Hood

Published by The Vegan Society and written by our consultant dietitian, Sandra Hood, ‘Feeding your vegan infant – with confidence’ is an invaluable guide to raising children on a healthy vegan diet. Here, we feature a series of extracts illustrating the importance of good nutrition and the healthfulness of vegan diets at various stages from preconception through to the preschool years.

A

ll parents want to give their child the best start in life and feeding your child a nourishing diet is an essential part of this. To many parents, feeding cow’s milk and other dairy products to children is among the most natural and healthful acts in the world. However, with the increase in obesity and other childhood complaints such as asthma, eczema, ear infections and, most recently, childhood diabetes, some doctors and health professionals are questioning the role that dairy products play in our children’s diet. Clinical evidence suggests that these foods are not natural foods for children (or adults).

Children do not need to drink the milk of cows to grow fit and healthy.

A vegan diet can provide all the nutrients for good health, growth and development and may protect against many chronic diseases that afflict the western world. Feeding your vegan infant – with confidence provides practical advice on how and what to feed your child and reassures parents that bringing their children up on a vegan, cruelty-free diet benefits the growing child, animals and the environment.

Preparing for your Baby – Pre-conceptual Nutrition To maximise your chances of producing a healthy baby, it is important for both parents to start getting the body into the best possible condition. It takes approximately six months for any lifestyle changes to have an effect on fertility. It is suggested that the developing embryo, the development of the foetus, the health of the infant, child and adolescent and the long-term health of the adult may have its origins in the health of the egg and sperm. If you produce healthy eggs and sperm, this can only be a bonus to the developing baby in handling the exposures of modern day life.

Breastfeeding Up to the age of six months, the perfect food for baby is breast milk. It is difficult to replicate the complex formula of breast milk with its delicate balance of nutrients and built-in immunity which passes from mother to baby.

Most mothers produce more than enough milk to satisfy their babies and the milk produced by vegan mothers can be nutritionally as good, if not better than that of non-vegan nursing mothers. Breast-fed infants of well-nourished vegan mothers grow and develop normally; you do not need to drink cow’s milk to make milk of your own.

There is no doubt that your diet during pregnancy affects the quality of the breast milk. The table below shows some of the nutrients nursing mothers should be aware of:

Nutrients important for the nursing mother Nutrient

Protein

Beans, nuts*, seeds and pulses

Vitamin B12

Fortified foods, e.g. some non-dairy milks, cereals, TVP, yeast extract, B12 tablets

Vitamin A (Carotenoids)

Fruits, vegetables and margarine

Folic Acid/Folate (B vitamin)

Green leafy vegetables, fortified breakfast cereals, peanuts, wheat germ, Brussels sprouts, green beans

Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)

Fortified cereals, pulses, vegetables, wholegrains

Vitamin C

Fruits and vegetables

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is synthesised in our skin with sunlight exposure. Vegan food sources include fortified foods such as non-dairy milks, margarine and breakfast cereals

Calcium

Green leafy vegetables, tahini, figs and almonds. Fortified non-dairy milks and fortified cereals may be considered

Zinc

Wholegrains, nuts*, pulses, tofu, peas, parsley

Selenium

Nuts*, bananas, soya beans, mushrooms and grains

Magnesium

Widespread in foods – wholegrains, nuts*, soya and yeast extracts

Iodine

Sea vegetables, kelp tablets and Vecon

Feeding your vegan infant – with confidence details the key nutrients required for anyone who is planning a family.

Useful lifestyle advice is also offered.

Pregnancy Eating a well-balanced vegan diet during pregnancy will get your baby off to an excellent start. A nutritious diet is important to ensure correct formation of organs such as the brain, nervous system and heart.

What you eat also influences the size of the placenta – the organ that acts as a lifeline between mother and child - and the composition of your blood, which will supply oxygen and nourishment to the baby.

There is no doubt that a vegan diet can support healthy pregnancies and reduce the risk of many of the food-borne illnesses that pose a particular threat to pregnant women. In addition, cow’s milk, eggs and cheese contain saturated fat and cholesterol and are not needed for a healthy diet.

Feeding your vegan infant – with confidence covers the main nutritional requirements during pregnancy and provides advice on some of the common problems encountered by expectant mothers.

Sources

* Avoid nuts if there is a family history of allergy or atopic disorder 14

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Is Soya Safe for my Child?

Yes. The nutritional benefits of soya are well documented. Soya is unique among beans because it contains all the eight essential amino acids and is equivalent in protein quality to eggs, milk and meat.

It is the richest source of vegetable protein and contains antioxidants that protect against disease. Soya contains omega-3 fatty acids and has been proven to lower cholesterol, a fat linked to heart disease and in addition has been shown to reduce cancer and improve kidney function.

Soya infant formulas can provide essential nutrients required for growth and normal development. They are manufactured to be safe and to meet the nutrition needs of babies aged up to four to six months. Soya and other non-dairy milks can be included in an infant’s diet at weaning but should not be used as a sole feed for babies.

Feeding your vegan infant – with confidence contains detailed information concerning the most important nutrients for nursing mothers as well as general breastfeeding advice. There is also information about bottlefeeding for those parents who are unable to breast-feed.

Weaning After six months, babies start to need more iron and their digestive systems become able to cope with a wider range of foods.

Your baby’s calorie needs increase as she becomes more active and energetic, and continue to grow. Weaning is often an anxious time for parents, with many viewing it with apprehension. This can be made worse by comments from anxious friends and relatives who question whether a vegan diet is suitable. However, the weaning process is really very simple and most babies accomplish it smoothly. You can be totally assured that a balanced vegan diet offers all the nourishment your baby needs for growth and development. Weaning is a once in a lifetime opportunity to introduce eating habits that will keep them healthy in the years to come.

Feeding your vegan infant – with confidence contains a weaning timetable detailing the stages at which various types of foods are best introduced. Basic early-years recipes are also provided.

The Pre-school Years Toddlers and pre-schoolers often eat less than most parents think they should. This is generally due to a developing sense of independence and a slow-down in growth. The pre-school years are an important time for developing healthy eating patterns, which can set the stage for a healthful adult diet. Offering healthy foods at home, with the whole family involved in the preparation, helps children take an interest and learn tastes that can help them throughout life. Nevertheless, bringing up a child in a non-vegan world can be stressful. When your child starts attending nursery and generally socialising, you are likely to be questioned regarding your vegan diet and this can at times seem threatening and intrusive, particularly when it is from those who have little understanding of their own diet! However, treat this positively, as an opportunity to share your recipes and beliefs. This is very likely to generate surprise and an interest in your diet and lifestyle.

Feeding your vegan infant – with confidence discusses many of the common questions asked by and of vegan parents and parents-to-be. It also contains vegan parents’ real-life experiences to help advise and reassure.

Whether you are vegan and planning a pregnancy or a health professional needing further information on nutritional guidelines for a vegan infant, Feeding your vegan infant – with confidence is an essential guide.

Don’t just take our word for it…

‘Feeding your vegan infant – with confidence is an outstanding nutrition resource for all vegan parentsto-be and new parents. It is beautifully written and illustrated and easy to understand.’

Brenda Davis, Registered Dietitian, author of Becoming Vegan.

‘As a vegan and practising midwife I am delighted that this comprehensive and very readable book is now available to assist vegan parents and health professionals. In fact the omnivorous population would benefit greatly from its contents.’

Lynn Sawyer, Midwife.

‘A very readable, balanced and enlightening book – an invaluable guide for mums and dads.’

Julie Charman, Dietitian.

Sandra Hood is a registered dietitian with nearly 30 years’ experience of the vegan diet.

Feeding your vegan infant – with confidence is available from all good bookshops or can be ordered direct from The Vegan Society.

ISBN: 0-907337-29-5 Cover price: £9.99 To order your copy, visit www.vegansociety.com/shop or call 01424 448832.

Feeding your vegan infant – with confidence details the main dietary needs of growing children, suggests some healthy meals that children will love, and advises on a few of the social situations vegan parents may have to deal with when their child reaches nursery age.

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PRACTICAL PARENTING Sophie Fenwick-Paul and Lesley Dove

THE VEGAN BABY BOOKSHELF Raising Vegetarian Children by Jo Stepaniak and Vesanto Melina. £12.99 An easy and reassuring, yet very informative and wide-ranging read. Covers the social and emotional aspects of vegan parenting as well as food and nutrition.

Compassionate Kids: Raising Children the Vegan Way by Helen Hewitt and Jacqueline Edwards. £9.99.

Newly published lifestyle guide full of information and advice for vegan parents. Contains product information, food ideas and advice on dealing with everything from school dinners to kids’ parties.

USEFUL MAGAZINES

WEBSITES WORTH A VISIT

The Vegan of course! But also…

The Vegan Society’s own website www.vegansociety.com - has a huge amount of reliable information.

The Mother – a holistic parenting magazine containing information on fertility and conception, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and more. www.themothermagazine.co.uk, tel. 01768 897 121.

Juno – a parenting magazine with a philosophy based on natural parenting. www.hhm.com/juno Both of these magazines have at least one vegan mother involved in their production.

Both available from The Vegan Society. See www.vegansociety.com/shop or call 01424 448832 for details.

The US-based www.vegfamily.com has many in-depth articles on the full spectrum of parenting issues.

FAMILIES GROUPS AND CONTACTS The Vegan Society’s new publication Feeding your vegan infant – with confidence contains a wealth of information and advice on raising vegan children, but what other resources are useful for vegan parents?

Sophie Fenwick-Paul and Lesley Dove take a look at some of the books, websites and groups that can be a useful source of information and support.

SUPPORT FROM OTHER ORGANISATIONS General Parenting Support The National Childbirth Trust Offers information and support in pregnancy, childbirth and early parenthood. www.nctpregnancyandbabycare.com, tel. 0870 7703236.

Breastfeeding Support La Leche League Helping mothers to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information and education. www.laleche.org.uk, tel. 0845 120 2918.

The Vegan Family House is a great website run by a vegan family in Scotland. It is full of simple practical advice for families: www.veganfamily.co.uk

VEGAN FAMILIES’ CHRISTMAS PARTY Lesley Dove is organising a vegan families’ Christmas party in the London area this December. It promises to be a fun day out for all. Email lesely@vegan4life.org. uk or call 0208 9418075 for details.

Your call will be especially welcome if you know a veggie or vegan Santa!

All parents, including vegan parents, differ in the way they bring up their children. Sharing your experiences, ideas and questions with other veggie parents can be both supportive and interesting.

Email groups in the UK include: VegParents South East: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VegParentsSE/ VegParents North West: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VegParentsNW/ If you live elsewhere in the UK, either join one of these anyway or start up one for your region and let the Vegan Society know.

We also recommend joining the Vegan Families Contact List from the Vegan Society if you are a vegan family who wants to be part of a supportive network and find others in your area. Email info@vegansociety.com or call 01424 448823 for details.

Sophie Fenwick-Paul runs Thames Valley Vegetarians and Vegans, she is an experienced childbirth educator and mother to two children. Lesley Dove organises a number of vegan families groups and has three children.

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Vegan Bone Health Study Are you a female vegan aged between 25-45 years?

Are you interested to know about your bone health? We are conducting a study which will be examining the difference in risk factors for bone fracture in vegan diet compared to non-vegan diet.

The consultation will include an ultrasound (radiation free and painless) scan of the heel and a questionnaire and takes around 30 to 35 minutes in total. This will help to examine the role of nutritional influences on bone health, and volunteers will be given advice in order to maximize their bone health.

If you would like to take part in this study, please arrange for a free bone scan.

For an appointment please ring 0207-435 7830 and mention “the Vegan bone health study�

The British College of osteopathic Medicine LeifHouse 120 Finchley Road (Opposite Finchley Road Station) London NW3 5HR

Shoparound Extra INFANTS & CHILDREN SPECIAL n FARLEY’S INFANT SOYA FORMULA There’s no doubt that breast milk is the perfect food for children up to the age of six months, but if for any reason mothers are unable to breastfeed, there is only one vegan infant formula available on the UK market. Farley’s Soya Formula is suitable from birth and is a nutritionally complete food for babies.

See www.tinytums.co.uk or call Farley’s careline on 0800 212991 for more information and do ask your midwife, health visitor or GP for advice.

n LAVERA BABY AND CHILD Ideal for children with sensitive skin, dermatitis or allergies, Lavera’s Baby and Child Neutral range is manufactured with antiirritant ingredients that can help soothe chafed skin.

Lotion made with olive oil and evening primrose oil and containing extracts of yeast and canola oil provides protection against irritation and can help minimise allergic reactions. Light and smooth, it blends easily into the skin and leaves no sticky residue. Face cream made from natural anti-irritant shea butter and mango seed butter with extracts of liquorice and yeast provides gentle protection against irritants and environmental pollutants.

The face cream retails at £7.95 for 50ml and the lotion is £8.45 for 200ml. See www.lavera.co.uk or call 01557 870203 for full details of these and other products.

n LITTLE ONE’S COUGH SYRUP HERBS HAND HEALING When children catch cold it can be difficult to find products to help ease their symptoms that are suitable for vegans and suitable for children. Herbs Hands Healing’s Little One’s Cough Syrup can be given to children over the age of two months, with different doses being useful for all ages through to adulthood. The syrup combines elderberry, balm of Gilead, hyssop herb, golden seal and peppermint, eucalyptus and thyme essential oils and is designed to soothe the throat whilst having a calming effect.

For more details, see www.herbshandshealing.co.uk or call 0870 755 4848.

n EARTHPURE NATURAL & HANDMADE SOAPS Founded in 2001 by Michelle Williams as a response to her wish to use natural products for her new-born son, Earthpure makes soaps that are free from animal ingredients and unnecessary chemicals.

Pure Soap is made using only vegetable oils without added perfumes or essential oils, making it perfect for new-born babies. For slightly older children, Earthpure recommends the Lavender bar, which contains lavender essential oil, known for its calming effect and gentle antiseptic properties.

Luxury shampoo bars are also available in Lemongrass, Geranium & Lavender flavour for normal to oily hair and Geranium & Lavender, which suits normal to dry hair.

All Earthpure bars are beautifully hand-wrapped in biodegradable cloth so they look almost as good as they smell.

Prices start from £2.55 for the Pure Soap and £3.70 for the shampoo bars. See www.earthpure.co.uk or call 01994 241 484 for details.

n GREEN PEOPLE ORGANIC BABIES Green People’s range of natural organic products for babies and children includes shampoo and body wash in lavender and chamomile varieties. Made to gently cleanse your baby whilst helping to retain their skin’s natural oils, they contain soothing herbs that make them ideal for babies with delicate skin.

The ideal complement to Green People’s Organic Baby Body Wash is their Calming Lavender Body Lotion. Made with natural ingredients to soothe and moisturise your baby, it contains herbal ingredients that help to heal and protect, making it ideal for sensitive skin. Its consistency is perfect for a gentle relaxing massage for your little one.

Body wash retails at £5.69 for 150ml and the lotion is £8.69 for 150ml. See www.greenpeople.co.uk or call 01403 740 350 for more information.

Green People has 15 sets of Lavender Baby Wash & Baby Lotion to give away to the first 15 readers to write to: Vegan Magazine Offer, Green People, Pondtail Farm, West Grinstead, West Sussex, RH13 8LN.

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Welcome to the Winter 2005 Kids’ Pages

Aisha: Welcome to the winter 2005 Vegilantics pages!

Bronwyn: We sold the camper van and finally chose a house to buy.

We bought it and moved in soon afterwards. We are currently having some building work done.

Aisha: We are having the chimney taken out of Bronwyn’s bedroom and the kitchen.

Bronwyn: I went to a club throughout the summer. We played games, painted pictures and went to the cinema. While I was at the club, Aisha studied as she had to do a year’s worth of French over the summer. She never actually finished it but still got put into the top set as soon as she took a test at school.

Aisha: I’m the only vegan in my class.

I have to make a chocolate log at school.

The rest of the class is cheating by using ready-made Swiss rolls but I have to make my own, unless anyone can tell me where to buy vegan chocolate Swiss roll?

Bronwyn: She also had to write a debate about a topic of her choice. She was going to do animal testing but someone else did it first, so she helped them to answer the questions the rest of the class raised, to make sure the argument was won by the anti-vivisectionists!

Aisha: For homework we had to write five arguments against something and five for something. This time I did do animal testing. It was difficult to do my arguments for animal testing, as I don’t agree with it.

Aisha: We have been learning a little about pigeons, since a friend found a sick one recently. In the same way that hamsters store their food in pouches either side of their throats, pigeons store food in their crops.

Bronwyn: The pigeon that was found had an inflamed throat with a seed stuck in it and was starving.

Aisha: Mummy rang a few vets to get it looked at but it was outside surgery hours so they wanted over fifty pounds to look at it! Apparently the RSPCA used to foot the bill for wildlife to be looked after by vets but don’t anymore. Mummy told the vet that she thought they treated wildlife for free from love of animals!

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Bronwyn: In the end, Mummy had to drive to Pigeon Recovery in Sutton, South London as it was way too expensive to take to the vet. They are volunteers and experts so it was better to give them a donation than go to the vet.

Aisha: When we went to the London Vegan Festival we saw lots of old friends we hadn’t seen in ages. It was brilliant!

Bronwyn: We did the cookery demonstration downstairs where you had to decorate a quarter of a cake. We spread jam in the middle then put chocolate icing on the top. Ours had loads of nuts, whizzers and glacé cherries sprinkled on it.

We then squirted on lots of vegan whipped cream and sprinkled grated chocolate over the top.

6 tablespoons water 6 fresh chillies, chopped 12 garlic cloves, crushed 1 onion, thinly sliced 2.5 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped 2 medium carrots, cut into quarters lengthways, then chopped 2 medium courgettes, cut into quarters lengthways, then chopped 125g long green beans, chopped into thirds 450g white cabbage, chopped 225g green peas (fresh or frozen) 225g chopped tomatoes A handful of chopped, fresh coriander stalks; reserve leaves for garnish 2 tablespoons tomato puree 2 teaspoons mustard seeds 2 teaspoons cumin seeds 2 teaspoons coriander seeds 2 teaspoons turmeric Get the water very hot in a large frying pan, then fry - in this order – the mustard seeds, cumin, coriander, chillies, garlic, onion, ginger and turmeric, adding each in rapid succession so the seeds have enough time to pop without burning.

Aisha: The Vegan Festival was about a month before my birthday. Mummy decided that since I was going to be thirteen, I could choose my own presents.

There were so many great stalls to choose from. I bought a box of chocolates, some marshmallows, a t-shirt, some nail varnish, waterproof mascara and a rubber and pencil sharpener.

Bronwyn: From Mummy and me she received a new school bag and Fairtrade hat and gloves from Ethical Wares.

Aisha: At school, we studied Fairtrade in PSHE. I was the only person in my class who knew what it was.

Bronwyn: In October, we did a stall and collection for Uncaged campaigns. We managed to raise £120! A big thank you to Vegan Society member Matthew who helped us with leafleting in Newbury.

Aisha: Thank you for your letters and emails. Please keep them coming. Now we have settled, we will be able to respond more quickly. We have been eating a lot of curry lately, so we will leave you with a good recipe – Mixed Vegetable Masala, you can feed at least four people on this:

When the onion begins to soften, add all the remaining vegetables except the tomatoes, together with the coriander stalks and fry for a few minutes, until the cabbage begins to brown and the other vegetables soften.

Add the tomatoes and cook for 1 minute more. Add the tomato purée and reduce the heat, adding a little more water to allow the vegetables to simmer until cooked.

Serve with rice and garnish with the coriander leaves.

Here we are having fun in the Wildlife Garden at the Gnome Reserve in Devon.

Bronwyn (life vegan) is 9. Aisha her sister is 13 and has been vegan as long as Bronwyn and vegetarian since before she was born!

Please send your stories, poems, pictures & photos to: Bronwyn & Aisha’s Vegilantics, c/o The Vegan Society, Donald Watson House, 7 Battle Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN37 7AA or Email editor@vegansociety.com with “Vegilantics” in the subject line.

WORDS TO SEARCH FOR INGREDIENTS FIT FUN (x2) WOK DIGEST DAIRYFREE HEALTH CARE TASTY YUMMY VITALITY SEED DISH COMPASSION ATE JUICY VEGAN

NUTRITION GOURMET HOT PAN SOYA GROW CAKES VITAMIN KIND NATURAL WATSON STRENGTH DINNER DIET COOK LIFE VEG

LUNCH ORGANIC HEAL TOFU ETHICAL LOVE MOO PLANT FOOD CHEF TEA DESSERT SNACK ENERGY MEAL PROTEIN

Words are vertical, horizontal, diagonal, forwards and backwards!

Spot the missing word to be in with a chance of winning one of The Vegan Society’s new kids’ t-shirts. The winner will be the first correct entry pulled out of a hat after 5th January 2006. The winner’s name will be published in the next issue of The Vegan – if you send in your picture, we’ll print that as well!

The missing word is ...........................................Name.............................................................................................................

Age................Address...................................................................................................................................................................................... ...........................................................................................................................................................................Compiled by Rowena Wilson

SAM CREESH SAM Mc Mc CREESH THE THE DIARY DIARY OF OF A A TEENAGE TEENAGE

VEGAN Autumn sees the start of a new season as the days get shorter, the nights get longer, the trees lose their leaves and the days get colder. For me autumn and winter are my favourite times of the year, with my birthday in November and Christmas to look forward to, a new year coming up and plenty of campaigning opportunities. However, sadly for the animals, it brings in even more pain and suffering as the fur trimmings creep their way into the shop windows and the dreaded turkey Christmas dinners hit the supermarket shelves.

Around four to six weeks before Christmas, as many as 25,000 turkeys are crammed into each windowless shed, of which thousands exist up and down the country, and fed an artificial diet packed high with growth-boosting hormones and antibiotics, and all to satisfy people’s unsavoury appetites. For me, the whole idea of ‘peace, love and goodwill’ at this time of the year is just one huge con the minute anyone puts a dead animal on their Christmas dinner table. It saddens me to think of the millions more innocent birds that will die this season and every season as long as this country continues to poison itself excessively but I also

feel obliged to play my part in ending this cruel and mocking tradition and encourage as many people as possible to trash the turkey and settle for a healthy, cruelty-free vegan Christmas dinner instead.

In November I will be putting up a display at school for World Vegan Day and Viva!’s new youth campaign ‘No More Excuses!’ to encourage other young people to take the plunge and go vegan.

For three weeks throughout December my ‘Compassionate Christmas’ library display will have its rightful place at the local public library – judging by the amount of recipe booklets and comments slips returned last year it was very successful and I hope to get the same response this year too!

Every action we take, no matter how small, is helping build towards the day when everyone respects animals for what they are – sentient beings that deserve the right to a peaceful, natural life - and when everyone follows the healthy, compassionate vegan lifestyle.

Keep fighting for the animals, the people, and the planet.

Sam McCreesh W: www.campaigningforanimals.co.uk & www.dosomething.org.uk

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KIDS CAN COOK! Tony Bishop-Weston

T

o help celebrate the launch of The Vegan Society’s new book on childhood nutrition, Tony Bishop-Weston has created some healthy, tasty recipes that kids will love to make and eat.

CRUMPET PIZZAS (Serves four) Great as party food or a quick snack.

4 crumpets or muffins or rice cakes 4 dessert spoons of vegan pesto, thick tomato pasta sauce or salsa dip 4 slices melting vegan cheese (or 4 tablespoons of vegan mayonnaise) 4 teaspoons sugar-free nut butter or tahini 1 teaspoon yeast extract (optional) 4 strips of smoked tofu or vegan sausage or mushroom slice or red pepper slice 1 teaspoon poppy/sesame seeds (optional) 1. Arrange four crumpets on an oven dish or tray.

2. On each crumpet spread nut butter then yeast extract followed by a dollop of pesto or pasta sauce then a slice of smoked tofu. Top with a slice of melting vegan cheese (or mayo).

3. Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds.

4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 180°C / gas mark 4.

To serve You can have a funny face competition using peas, slices of peppers, olives, mushrooms and poppy seeds to create faces.

Beware: the melted vegan cheese is like molten lava so allow to cool slightly before eating.

NUTTY CHRISTMAS CHOCOLATE BALLS (Makes eight walnut-sized balls)

1. Melt chocolate.

2. Mix all ingredients together in large bowl.

2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds, ground or finely chopped

3. Roll mixture into balls.

1 tablespoon de-hulled (without shells) hempseeds

To serve

2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Roll in sesame

1 lime zest (finely grated rind)

or hulled

1 teaspoon flaxseeds/linseeds

hemp seeds,

2 tablespoons ground almonds

desiccated

100g (3.5oz) vegan chocolate

coconut or

2 tablespoons soya cream or custard

chocolate flakes

1 teaspoon cinnamon

and place in sweet

2 tablespoons dried currants

wrappers.

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APRICOT AND CHESTNUT FILO PARCELS Getting children involved in what’s

(Serves six)

going on in the kitchen can help 6 rectangular sheets of filo pastry (roughly 50 to 60cm-long 270g packet)

them have a more positive outlook on

5 tablespoons vegetable oil.

food and nutrition and set them on

1 teaspoon poppy seeds/sesame seeds

the road to a life-long healthy diet.

Filling 1 small carrot, grated (75g / 2.5oz) 1 small onion, finely chopped (75g / 2.5oz) 75g (2.5oz) green cabbage, finely chopped 2 cooked vegan sausages (free from hydrogenated fat) chopped OR 125g / 4.5oz smoked tofu, finely chopped.

200g (7oz) soft cooked chestnuts (pickled or boiled), finely chopped or bashed (crumbled) 60g (2oz) cashews, chopped 60g (2oz) dried apricots, finely chopped 125g (4.5oz) mushrooms, finely chopped 1 teaspoon yeast-free vegan bouillon/stock mix 1 teaspoon mustard seeds (optional) 1 tablespoon apple/cider/balsamic vinegar or tomato sauce Pinch of nutmeg 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon liquid aminos, tamari or soy sauce

1. In a large pan and with 2 tbsp oil gently sauté onions, mushrooms and carrot for about 5 to 10 minutes until onions begin to caramelise (turn brown).

make a cylinder. Then pinch pastry together, a third from each end (see picture above). Crumple and flatten ends to make it look like a cracker.

2. Mix all filling ingredients in a large bowl (everyone in the house should give it a stir and make a wish).

6. Place on baking tray – repeat for remaining five cracker parcels.

7. Paint tops with oil, sprinkle with poppy seeds and bake in an

3. On a large piece of greaseproof paper place one sheet of filo

oven at 180°C / gas mark 4 for 25 to 30 minutes.

pastry, paint left half of sheet with oil and fold right half across To serve

to form a rough square.

4. In the middle third of the pastry place a sixth of the mixture.

Serve hot or cold with various salads or roasted seasonal

5. Fold down top half of pastry and then roll down and around to

vegetables and cranberry or apricot sauce

CRANBERRY MUFFINS (Makes four muffins) 150g (5oz) self-raising wholemeal flour 60g (2oz) dried cranberries or blueberries 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 1 tablespoon flaxseeds (optional)

1. Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl.

2. Pour into muffin baking tray (or four ramekins).

3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 180°C / gas mark 4 (until a cocktail stick or skewer comes out cleanly after being poked in muffin).

125ml (4 fl oz) soya milk 60ml (21 fl oz) rapeseed or olive oil

To serve

100g (3.5 oz) brown sugar

Once cool, you can coat with melted

Zest and juice of half a lime (or lemon)

chocolate or eat with dairy-free ice cream.

Pinch salt

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YOKED TOGETHER: ANTI-SLAVERY AND ANIMAL WELFARE Stephen E. Hunt

Stephen E. Hunt introduces some of the pioneers of the UK’s animal welfare movement and looks at their links with human rights campaigns.

C

ritics of animal liberation often present the familiar and perhaps understandable objection that the welfare of animals is a distraction from important human issues such as poverty, war, domestic violence and racism. This old anthropocentric suggestion has long confronted campaigners for the compassionate treatment of non-human animals.

At best, champions for animals have frequently been caricatured as well meaning but misguided sentimentalists; at worst, as curmudgeonly misanthropes.

Historically, however, far from being a distraction, animal welfare has often been complementary to campaigns for human justice. As far back as the seventeenth century the extremely progressive and visionary thinker Thomas Tryon extended his abhorrence of oppression to include the slave trade and cruelty to animals. Countless writers and reformers since have holistically linked the transformation of the human situation with improvement in the conditions of animals.

Prison reformer and vegetarian John Howard and Lord Shaftesbury - anti-slavery campaigner, factory reformer and co-founder of the antivivisectionist Victoria Street Society - are only two of the more prominent. Such reformers recognised that, at their most compelling and emancipatory, calls for animal welfare are not offered instead of but are intrinsic to those for human well-being.

Organised animal welfare campaigns have their roots in the anti-slavery movement. The origins of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) are closely linked to the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals – ‘Royal’ after 1840).

Prominent suffragettes were sympathetic to anti-slavery and antivivisectionism.

William Wilberforce: renowned anti-slavery campaigner and founder of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

“At their most compelling and emancipatory, calls for animal welfare are not offered instead of but are intrinsic to those for human well-being.”

From the outset, the eighteenth-century cult of Sensibility embraced other species within the circle of moral concern. In 1711, the Third Earl of Shaftesbury wrote in his Characteristics: ‘…to delight in the torture and pain of other creatures indifferently, natives or foreigners, of our own or of other species, kindred or no kindred, known or unknown; to feed as it were on death… is wholly and absolutely unnatural, as it is horrid and miserable’.

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In the writings of Sensibility, sympathy for others became the route to the progress of the individual - making him or her fully human by uniting the rational and the emotional - and the civilisation of society as a whole. Writers such as Anna Laetitia Barbauld and Mary Wollstonecraft argued that to instil kindness towards animals in children would improve their chances of growing up to be welladjusted and considerate adults. The novelist and poet Charlotte Smith wrote in her children’s book, the Natural History of Birds: ‘A horse is sometimes overworked by his barbarous owner, that he may make all the present profit he can of him; and the same thing has, I fear, been done in those countries where the unhappy negroes are purchased, and compelled to labour to raise sugar, and coffee, and cotton, for the use of Europeans’.

Smith uses the issue of animal cruelty to raise a discussion about slavery, thus explicitly associating human exploitation with animal welfare. Both human slaves and animals are reduced to their use value as commodities and exploited for the material benefit of those able to pay for their services or products.

By the eighteenth century’s close both antislavery campaigners and animal welfarists advocated consumer boycotts (a term coined later) to exert pressure to achieve a more compassionate society. This set a precedent for thinking about the social implications of the food on the table.

In Black Ivory (1992), James Walvin writes, ‘the invisible ingredient which placed exotic goods on tables throughout the western world was the toil of black slaves’. One of the first consumer boycotts was organised by abolitionists William Fox and Thomas Clarkson. Clarkson estimated that across the land 300, 000 people avoided sugar.

The poet Percy Bysse Shelley, who practiced the ‘vegetable system of diet’ (again ‘vegetarianism’ and ‘veganism’ were words of a later date) avoided animal products alongside sugar or coffee produced on slave plantations. In Thomas Love Peacock’s novel Melincourt (1818), the hero, Sylvan Forester, is loosely based upon the characters of Peacock’s vegetarian friends Shelley and John Frank Newton and attends ‘antisaccharine fêtes’ that avoid the products of slavery.

Slavery in the British Empire was broken by slave revolts such as that of the renegade maroons in Jamaica and a shift in public opinion at home. Evangelists such as William Wilberforce, Lord

Shaftesbury and Hannah More popularised the AntiSlavery Society. Poet (and animal lover) William Cowper wrote The Negro’s Complaint – ‘skins may differ, but affection/Dwells in white and black the same’. Such works helped to mobilise public opinion to a successful conclusion in a similar way to the AntiApartheid Movement in our own day.

Historically, the anti-slavery movement has shared much common ground, both philosophically and practically, with animal welfare campaigning. Both rejected luxuries, whether rum or animal products, that were believed to corrupt the health of consumers and be produced at the expense of the suffering of others. Both have opposed the kind of colonial expansion that has demanded the subjection of other peoples and forced the clearance of the natural environment to feed farm animals.

farm animals. As Coral Lansbury notes in The Old Brown Dog (1985), the correlation between the RSPCA and human welfare goes further. When the NSPCC was founded in 1884, it shared the same premises as the RSPCA and 20 per cent of its supporters were already RSPCA members.

During the second wave of anti-slavery agitation leading to the American Civil War, several notable abolitionists, including Harriet Beecher Stowe (author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin) and Susan B. Anthony, were also strict vegetarians.

In Britain, women such as Dora Greenwell, Frances Power Cobbe and Charlotte Despard campaigned against vivisection as well as Henry Salt: “The emancipation calling for votes for women and opposing slavery. The Victorian vegetarian writer Henry of men from cruelty and Salt spelt out his conviction that human and injustice will bring with it in due animal rights were intimately linked in the course the emancipation of Cruelties of Civilization: animals also.”

Several commentators – including Peter Singer, in Animal Liberation (1975), and, most comprehensively, Margaret Spiegel in The Dreaded Comparison (1988) – have observed that the founders of the SPCA included renowned anti-slavery campaigners, notably William Wilberforce and Thomas Fowell Buxton. It is evident that, for many, concern for animals was not an indulgent evasion of responsibility for human suffering but an inclusive humanitarian fervour that embraced humans and animals alike. The campaigns of Richard Martin (‘Humanity Dick’), the charismatic MP for Galway, provide one example of the correlation between the two. Chief architect of the first animal protection on the statute, the 1822 Martin Act, Humanity Dick was also committed to the abolition of slavery. His act established protection for cattle and other

‘The emancipation of men from cruelty and injustice will bring with it in due course the emancipation of animals also. The two reforms are inseparably connected, and neither can be fully realized alone’.

In the 1890s Salt was looking back upon a century of attempts to improve the world through food and diet, in which the politics of liberation were played out on the dinner plate. He was also looking to the future.

Stephen E. Hunt researched Romantic literature and the natural environment for his PhD, exploring nature and human well-being and including attitudes to animals and the origins of modern vegetarianism in this period. Dwelling in the West Country, he continues to write about animal welfare and environmentalism.

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AN AUDIENCE WITH BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH Karin Ridgers

Earlier this year, Karin Ridgers met up with Vegan Society Patron Benjamin Zephaniah and caught his live show. Here she tells us a little bit about the man himself and gives us a quick overview of the evening.

B

enjamin seemed cool as always. A radio interview earlier that day, filming for Veggie Vision and then performing live to an audience at the new Broadway Theatre in Barking, Essex. I’ve got butterflies just thinking about it all.

Benjamin says his life didn’t get off to a good start. This world famous poet, presenter, writer, an inspiration for many, was told he was a born failure when he was just a young boy. His schooling stopped at 12 and around the same time he turned vegan after realising what it was he was eating. Benjamin’s upbringing included crime and prison, but his poetry helped him come through those difficult times.

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At the live show, young and old waited on his every word, looking for inspiration and encouragement. They were not disappointed: Benjamin thrilled the audience with his poems, stories, laughter and sadness. Best of all, he kicked off the night saying that he is a vegan!

I managed to wangle a question so everyone could hear.

The answer was ‘yes’- he thought the world would be a better place if there were more vegetarians and vegans.

Benjamin ended the evening with his poem ‘Talking Turkeys’ and as the audience cheered and applauded I wondered how many vegan seeds had been planted that night.

His ‘performance’ is honest, powerful and passionate and I would highly recommend not missing out on seeing him.

You can watch Karin’s interview with Benjamin at www.veggievision.com.

GROW VEGAN Peter White of Vegan-Organic Network

W

inter is the time for planning and projects: planning what you will do next year in your veganorganic garden or allotment and projects for improving your site. Or maybe you have always wanted to grow vegan-organically but have never quite got there? The resources below will help you.

Of course if you have done all the right things in the vegetable department, then over the coming months you will be harvesting sprouts, leeks, cabbage and roots, and taking your carrots and spuds from storage. Not everyone can harvest food all year round but it’s good to aim for this and now is the time to start planning. Try at least to grow some produce that is available in early spring, such as purple sprouting broccoli.

PROJECTS FOR YOUR PLOT Previous articles in your Grow Vegan page have mentioned making compost bins. An easy way to make a simple long-term composter is to use the giant polypropylene bags that are used to deliver sand and so on to builders. These are non-returnable so are thrown away by the million (so you will be doing your bit for recycling) and builders are only too glad to give them away if you ask. All you need to do is put a post at each corner of the bag to support it, use the strong handles on each corner to tie the bag to these, and a spade to cut a few holes in the bottom to let the worms in and out. Then you can start putting in all your organic waste, leaving out diseased material and thick perennial roots. Site your bag near to or on your plot so that you do not have to trundle material or the finished product about too much. Whenever you decide to empty your ‘bin’ you just untie the handles and roll the bag down. Keep the top of the bag covered to stop rain washing out the nutrients. You can obtain

Grow Vegan Puzzler Q. Name a vegetable that is ready to harvest in early spring?

Send your answer on a postcard to The Vegan Society (address details on page 1) by 5th January 2006 to be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of the beautiful Vegan World Fusion Cuisine recipe book by Mark Reinfeld and Bo Rinaldi.

Autmn Grow Vegan Answer: Maiden Winner: Brenda Stubbs, Amersham, Buckinghamshire

the info sheet mentioned below for details of how best to fill up your bin.

Your bag composter will not win any prizes in a beauty contest but you could always grow climbers around it!

Another useful winter project is to build a pond if you have space. Ponds will attract frogs (you can put some frogspawn in the water in spring if you like), which are said to eat slugs; it’s debateable whether or not they do eat many but they will certainly eat slug and snail eggs. Ponds also encourage birds and natural predators.

To line your pond you will need some thick plastic material and may be able to find big off-cuts of damp-proof membrane in builders’ skips. Just watch out for holes!

2006 WILL SOON BE HERE! Now about planning. Here are some suggestions for your winter reading, to inspire you for next year. The VeganOrganic Network has produced a series of 10 booklets, which will give you an insight into getting started and improving your allotment or kitchen garden, without of course using any horrible by-products of

the animal farming industry. The booklets are: Propagation and Fertilisers, Growing Beans for Drying, Growing on Clay Soils, Vegan-Organics – the Basics, Guide to Fungi, Gardening for Wildlife, Grower’s Guide to Beetles, Using Green Manures, Chipped Branch Wood, Composting. They are only £5 a set including postage or you can choose your own single titles for 60 pence each. Obtain these from the VON address below.

The New Organic Grower by Elliot Coleman (ISBN 093003175X) is a good handbook that can be ordered from booksellers. Check out the catalogues of seed suppliers for ideas about varieties of veg to grow; two good ones are Suffolk Herbs (01376 572456, www.suffolkherbs.com) and the Organic Gardening Catalogue (01932 25366, www.organiccatalogue.com.) Two good booklets by Kathleen Jannaway and published by the Movement for Compassionate Living are Growing Our Own – Vegan-Organically and Familiar and Unfamiliar Saladings, both are £1.20 including UK postage from MCL, c/o the Sumac Centre, 245 Gladstone St, Nottingham NG7 6HX. Vegan-Organic Network (VON) has a wide network of interactive supporters, operates the Stockfree-Organic Standards, gives advice, runs courses on veganorganics, helps people find work experience on vegan-organic farms, holds local meetings and organises visits to vegan farms. VON publishes Growing Green International, a magazine full of information and debate on cruelty-free growing and its ethical basis.

For general enquiries phone: 0845 2235232, email: advice@veganorganic.net or write to VON, Anandavan, 58 High Lane, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester M21 9DZ. www.veganorganic.net

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Over 60 and looking for a Vegetarian/Vegan Home in East Sussex or Colwyn Bay? We have a few fully self-contained single/double flats recently refurbished and available to rent now in our sheltered homes. Our charges include a mid-day meal (optional) and otherwise residents cook for themselves and lead an independent life within peaceful and picturesque surroundings, amongst others who share a common interest.

If you feel you would enjoy the companionship of other vegetarians and vegans please contact: The Secretary The Vegetarian Housing Association PO Box 193 Hastings TN34 2WT 01424 757851 Mon-Thurs (inclusive) 9.30am – 12.30pm email: Jayne@veghousing.org.uk (You are welcome to leave a message outside of office hours and we will respond at the earliest convenience.)

CURIOUS VEGETABLES: THE BRUSSELS SPROUT Bill Laws

The Brussels sprout is a winter winner, as appetising steamed with peeled chestnuts as it is bubbled up in a bean stew.

The nutty-flavoured sprouts grow around the tough stem of the plant into buttons the size of a walnut although record-breaking vegetable grower Bernard Lavery from Llanharry in Wales managed to produce a sprout that weighed 8.25 kilograms.

Why we should think the vegetable came first from Brussels is something of a mystery. The Belgians will tell you that they got their ‘Brussels’ sprout seeds from the Romans 2,000 years ago. If that’s true then they kept the secret well because the sprout did not attract much attention outside Belgium until the 1800s.

The Victorian gardener John Loudon reported in 1822 that ‘at Brussels they are served with a sauce of vinegar, butter and nutmeg poured upon them hot after they have been boiled.’

By then the first Brussels sprout seeds had already been whisked away to America by the US president, Thomas Jefferson, who was as enthusiastic about his vegetable patch at Monticello, Virginia as he was about finishing off the fine details of his Declaration of Independence.

The French, who like to serve them sprinkled with goldenbrown, toasted almonds, refer to them as choux de Bruxelles, Brussels cabbages. The Germans call them rosenkhol, or rose cabbage. They are quite right: being a brassica, the Brussels sprout is a mini cabbage, not a sprout.

Speaking of cabbages, Bernard Lavery had a go at that vegetable too. The result? A cabbage that weighed a staggering 56 kilograms.

Bill Laws is the author of Spade, Skirret and Parsnip - The Curious History of Vegetables (Sutton Publishing).

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Over 60 and looking for a Vegetarian/Vegan Home in East Sussex or Colwyn Bay? We have a few fully self-contained single/double flats recently refurbished and available to rent now in our sheltered homes. Our charges include a mid-day meal (optional) and otherwise residents cook for themselves and lead an independent life within peaceful and picturesque surroundings, amongst others who share a common interest.

If you feel you would enjoy the companionship of other vegetarians and vegans please contact: The Secretary The Vegetarian Housing Association PO Box 193 Hastings TN34 2WT 01424 757851 Mon-Thurs (inclusive) 9.30am – 12.30pm email: Jayne@veghousing.org.uk (You are welcome to leave a message outside of office hours and we will respond at the earliest convenience.)

DEAR VEGAN SOCIETY...

Unfortunately, your local health food shop is right. Plamil have taken their concentrated soya milk off the market as they have found that there is too little demand to justify its continued production. However, they do say that, if demand is high enough, they will look into the possibility of continuing to manufacture it to sell directly to consumers.

As far as we are aware, there is currently no alternative concentrated soya milk on the UK market. However, Alpro Soya + calcium + vitamins is widely available, and many supermarkets now sell their own fortified soya milks.

If excess packaging is the main issue, soya milk is also available in powdered form, although this is not normally fortified. For example, Veganstore sell Eco Mil Organic Instant Powdered Soya Milk and Dixie Diner Moo NOT! Powdered Soy Milk. Just be aware that these are usually imported from outside the UK so the environmental benefits of less packaging should be offset against the damage caused by extra food miles.

Useful contact details: Plamil: www.plamilfoods.co.uk T. 01303 850588 Alpro: www.alprosoya.co.uk T. 08000 188 180 Veganstore: www.veganstore.co.uk T. 01273 302 979

My local health food shop tells me that Plamil concentrated fortified soya milk is no longer available. My family loved this product because it used less packaging, so was more environmentally friendly, and it was fortified to give our B12 a boost. We were wondering if you could recommend an alternative.

Although a lot of high street bakeries and national wedding cake suppliers are unlikely to supply vegan wedding cakes, many local bakers are more flexible and will be happy to make a cake to your specifications, if given notice and supplied with a recipe. If you need a suitable recipe, just call or email The Vegan Society Information Department and we’ll be happy to help.

Alternatively, Zedz Foods can make wedding cakes to order, although you may have to organise the icing yourself.

Unfortunately, the royal icing traditionally used on wedding cakes contains eggs.

However there are alternatives such as regal (or fondant) icing, which can be bought ready-to-roll and does not usually contain animal products. Look in the ‘Cooking Aids’ section of the Animal Free Shopper or search in the online database to find suitable products.

Most professional cake decorators should be able to work with these alternatives to create the cake of your dreams.

In more general terms, there is some useful advice on organising a vegan wedding on the Confetti website at www.confetti.co.uk – just search for ‘vegan’.

Useful contact details: Animal Free Shopper – available in book format from The Vegan Society (T. 01424 448832) or searchable online at www.animalfreeshopper.com Zedz Foods: www.zedzfoods.co.uk T. 01691 648029

I’m getting married early next year, but haven’t been able to track down a vegan wedding cake.

I’m having a traditional white wedding, and would like a cake to match. Does such a thing exist and, if so, where can I get hold of one?

In order to comply with The Vegan Society’s strict registration standards, a product must meet the following criteria: 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.

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

Companies wishing to use our trademark logo are required to sign contracts stating that the products they wish to register comply with these criteria. All products featured in Shoparound have been authenticated as vegan. A complete list of companies with currently registered products can be viewed in the trademark section of our website at www.vegansociety.com, and is available on request.

Remember - we’re here to help!

If you have a burning question about a vegan issue that you think we could help What answer, please email it to are the criteria info@vegansociety.com that a product must or post it to the usual meet to be eligible to address. If you would carry The Vegan prefer your letter not to Society’s trademark be published, please sunflower clearly mark it ‘not for logo? publication’.

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Membership / Renewal

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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.)

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Reviews Andy Lawson

Living in the Raw: Recipes for a Healthy Lifestyle Rose Lee Calabro Publishers: Book Publishing Company ISBN: 1-57067-148-6 Cover Price: $19.95

(VS) Animal Ethics

By Robert Garner Publishers: Polity Press ISBN: 0-7456-3079-0 Cover Price: £15.99 To get a grip on animals’ moral standing, Garner critiques competing ethical theories – rights, utilitarianism, contractarianism, welfarism – the strengths and weaknesses of which are played out in relation to animal-using practices. The status-determining human–nonhuman similarities and differences central to these theories – sentiency, beliefs, language, consciousness, interests, personhood – are also assessed. The author ends by outlining the ethical, tactical and political justifications for direct action and his ideas regarding those with whom – through forging alliances – the movement might best achieve its rather ill-defined (though generally understood) objectives.

So far so good perhaps but how disappointing it is to find in such a work, published as late as 2005, this single inadequate reference to veganism: ‘…the key question: is vegetarianism, or even veganism … mandatory?’ It appears in the ‘Should We Eat Animals?’ chapter (two more cover vivisection, and zoos, pets and wild animals but none covers other animal ‘products’). Of course, this is a function of the perceived nature of the mostly vegetarian-standard theories under review here but it’s remarkable that Garner doesn’t remark on the depressing fact.

‘Second-generation’ pro-animal theories appear albeit too briefly and short shrift is given to Stephen Clark and Andrew Linzey, both of whom could have informed this debate.

There’s nothing new here – though one hopes it gets into young critical hands – except the material’s arrangement, and much of it treads Garner’s familiar path: that even from the perspective of moral orthodoxy, much current animal use is unacceptable. There’s plenty to stimulate, however.

Barry Kew

the bone density of a woman in her early thirties and a resting heart rate of 44. This guide will encourage and inspire anyone over 50 looking to improve their fitness.

Andy Lawson

In Defence of Animals: The Second Wave Edited by Peter Singer Publishers: Blackwell Publishing ISBN: 1-4051-1941-1 Cover Price: £9.99

An inspiring collection of around 300 living food recipes that would be especially useful for those transitioning away from a cooked diet to a vegan diet composed of mainly raw living foods.

Amongst the recipes you’ll find the raw food equivalent for most commonly eaten foods including pasta, pizza, dips, salsas, hummus, tofu, chilli, curry, burgers, ice cream and crisps. The recipes are tasty and easy to make, although many require access to a blender, juicer or dehydrator and one or two contain honey.

More than just a recipe book; Living in the Raw also aims to teach the skills needed to practice a living food lifestyle with hints on buying ingredients, guidelines for dehydrating and sprouting and practical advice on setting up a raw living food kitchen.

Pauline Lloyd Senior Fitness

By Ruth E. Heidrich, PhD Publishers: Lantern Books ISBN: 1-59056-074-4 Cover Price: $17.00 Since being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1982 at the age of 47, Ruth Heidrich has won over 900 athletics trophies and medals.

She has also been free of cancer for over 20 years. In this new book, the Hawaii-based fitness trainer explains how to improve physical and sexual fitness at any age – and how a vegan diet can be a key component of this – with a diet and exercise programme that is said to dramatically reduce the risk of prostate cancer, varicose veins, osteoporosis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, Alzheimer’s and a number of other ailments.

Heidrich herself is a testament to the success of this lifestyle – at the age of 70 she has

This long-awaited follow-up to 1985’s In Defence of Animals reacts and responds to the many developments in both the animal rights movement and in contemporary philosophical thought over the past 20 years. As with the previous edition, it starts with the approach not that there is no difference between humans and other animals, but rather that different animals have their own individual interests that must be considered in order to construct any kind of sophisticated moral framework. Hence, while humans may object to not being allowed to travel abroad, a cow is very unlikely to be concerned by this but may be caused suffering by having its calf taken from it at a young age and by being kept in cramped conditions.

The approaches in this new edition, a collection of contemporary and updated essays, are based on changing perceptions and practices. These include analyses of contemporary issues such as factory farming and zoos, questions over whether it is right to value animals in terms of ‘human-like’ qualities, and, crucially, what is to be done to move towards animal liberation.

As a background to ideas of animal rights, an update as to recent developments, or a guide to effective campaigning, this book is invaluable.

Andy Lawson

(VS) Available from The Vegan Society - www.vegansociety.com/shop T. 01424 448832 The Vegan l Winter 2005

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µ

Postbag

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

FINDING THE SUBTEXT

VEGAN VIGILANCE

While most grateful to George Rodger for his appreciative review of Finding the Words, I regret my failure to draw such a like-minded reader to the book’s subtext, which is where I hoped the main interest would lie for all attuned to the indivisibility of violence.

I have had two recent experiences that highlight that you really do need to be incredibly vigilant to uphold your vegan principles.

I regret deeply that this subtext has been ignored, for I know of no other book that has portrayed a child’s progression from an intensely felt compassion for weaker sentient creatures to the realisation that such empathy leads logically to seeking the road to peace between people and nations through the humane education that is essential to that process.

Jon Wynne-Tyson Fontwell, West Sussex

KEEPING OUR BALANCE I disagree with Daniel’s comment in summer’s Postbag that the spring issue of The Vegan was anti-American.

Yes, Helen Williams quotes her young Iraqi friend Mohammed as saying, ‘Coca-Cola is a “bad American company.”’

So? Coca-Cola is indeed American, and The Ethical Consumer (April/May 2004) indicates that it has links with animal testing and other unethical practices.

On one occasion I ordered evening primrose oil from a well-known vegan mail order supplier. The item was listed as suitable for vegans but when it arrived it was in a gelatine capsule!

On the second occasion I was in a healthfood store and I asked about supplements for joints, explaining that I didn’t want shark cartilage.

I was told about glucosamine. The assistant seemed aware of vegan requirements and although the information seemed conflicting, they had been told that whilst it was made from the shells of crabs, it had definitely been passed by The Vegan Society. I checked with The Vegan Society when I got home and yes, there was a vegan glucosamine not made from crabs, which had been approved by the Society but it was not the product I had been told about.

Daniel suggests that it is antiAmerican to criticise US foreign policy or globalisation.

Actually, the reverse is true. It is xenophobic to equate all US citizens with the policies of the US government. Plenty of US citizens disagree with George Bush on a whole range of issues.

I am not criticising the people I dealt with. It just brought it home to me how important it is to ensure that we really do check and double-check to ensure that what we are being sold really is vegan. Of course looking out for The Vegan Society’s logo is our complete assurance but in the absence of this we may have to be a little more vigilant than I had actually realised.

Katharine A. Gilchrist Canterbury

Andrea O’Neill Newark, Nottinghamshire

µ

STAR LETTER

'The author of this issue's star letter wins a 'typical vegans' t-shirt'

PEOPLE ARE ANIMALS TOO

Although I am not unmoved by the plight of animals, my motivation to follow a vegan diet is based on alleviating human suffering.

I feel uneasy that most vegans are represented as a group of bunny huggers who care more for animals than their fellow man.

May I politely suggest to the people who wish to dedicate their lives to rescuing animals that there are thousands of homeless, suffering, human children in Britain. I have fostered children for several years, and can confirm that not only are people so shallow that they prefer cute rabbits to big lumbering ones, some of them even prefer cute children (or even cute animals) to big lumbering children too!

Although it saddens me that many animals are kept in battery farms, I am far more horrified at the way many of our own children are being factory farmed. Fed unnatural food, and with little or no freedom, many human children are displaying all the classic signs of stress disorders.

I believe that part of being vegan should be promoting a natural life for all animals, and this includes our own kids.

Sheila Freeman By email

SACK THE SUGAR

I was really pleased to see the article by Stephen Walsh about VEG 1 vegan multivitamin tablet in the recent Vegan magazine. It is wonderful to finally see a multivitamin tablet that really is aimed at vegans. I was just about to order some when I noticed that the first two ingredients are sugar and dextrose. What a pity!

I originally became vegan due to not wishing to exploit or harm animals (and I still feel that way) and then afterwards, due to health reasons, I started to want to eat more healthily too. I eat a very healthy wholefood organic diet preparing most of the food myself. It is a lot of work but I believe it is worth it.

My personal preference would be to not have sugar and/or dextrose on a daily basis even if it is a really small amount. Would it be at all possible for Veganicity to produce the same VEG 1 Multivitamin without an added sweetener for those vegans who would like to eat healthily? (Surely we would rather use our sugar quota for the occasional yummy chocolate dessert or such, rather than daily vitamins.) I'm sure we would adapt to the bitter taste of the vitamin tablet.

Kindest Regards, Crystal Harrington Whilst some adults might wish to avoid even half a gram of sugar per day (about three teaspoons per month), we felt that this tiny amount was worth while to make the product palatable enough for even a small child to chew as this improves absorption.

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VEGAN SOCIETY LOCAL CONTACTS Note: Local Contacts are Vegan Society members who have offered to act, on a voluntary basis, as a point of contact for those interested in the Society's work. They are not official representatives of the Society.

Their levels of activity and knowledge may vary according to their individual circumstances.

When writing to a Contact please remember to enclose a SAE. If you’ve been a full member of the Society for at least 12 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 7.30 pm please)

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The Vegan l Winter 2005

LOCAL CONTACTS

NEWS

I’m just back from a week at the European Vegetarian Union conference in Italy followed by a week touring Tuscany and Rome with a friendly multi-ethnic, multi-lingual group of likeminded people from the conference. This is not the first international conference at which I’ve been among the UK Vegan Society contingent (all at our own expense of course) and it reinforced the good feelings experienced on other occasions. As ever, elasticated waistbands were required since the food is always excellent and plentiful as well as entirely vegan.

September 2006 will see the World Veg Congress in Goa, India (see Events on p. 39) and many Vegan Society members will want to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Again, all catering will be vegan. I’m also looking forward to renewing my acquaintance with the wonderful city of Dresden in 2008 to celebrate the centenary of the International Vegetarian Union, which held its first congress there in 1908.

I can really recommend such events as a way of making contact with vegans from all over the world and the chance not only to show vegetarians that they can live without dairy but to inform them of the reasons for not using any animal products. We may even soon have a Local Contact in Florida as a result – watch this space!

Which brings me onto the subject of new Contacts – do look at the lists in each issue of the magazine. New Local Contacts and Groups are being recruited all the time and are indicated with red asterisks.

Some people tell me they don’t think there’d be enough interest in their area to make it worthwhile starting a group. This is what Kevin in Redditch told me only three months ago. He also thought that anyone interested would already be a member of the Birmingham group, only 15 miles away. However as a result of a mailout to Society members and extremely hard work organizing and publicizing a free Vegan Food Fair the group now has more than 50 members.

So if you’d like to start a group or revitalize an existing group please contact me (by e-mail if possible – if by phone then not before 7.30 pm, please, including weekends). Although Local Contacts have to have been a full member of the Society for at least a year, Group Contacts just have to be a full member of the Society. Another way to find out more is to attend the meeting for all existing and potential Contacts to be held in Bristol at 1 pm on 30 October, immediately before the start of the AGM. Or you can talk to me at the Bristol Vegan Festival the previous day or at the big do in the evening.

Remember that apart from the regular meetings shown on p.38 the vegan groups we list hold many exciting and interesting events that there isn’t room to mention without doubling the size of the magazine. So, as well as checking page 39 for events of regional and national importance, please contact your local group to find out what’s on, in particular the special meals most have arranged to celebrate World Vegan Day/National Vegan Week.

Patricia Tricker, National Local Contacts’ Coordinator

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LOCAL GROUPS NEWS There is no formal Vegan Society affiliation. Any group can be listed but it must obvious from the name that it is for vegans and not just vegetarians and the contact person must be a full member of the Vegan Society. Please let the Local Contacts’ Coordinator (details on facing page – please do not contact the Office) know if you wish to start a group and of any groups omitted. Those listed for the first time have ** before their name.

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The Vegan l Winter 2005

events

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

n OCTOBER Saturday 29th – Saturday November 5th UK Vegan Week A week dedicated to the celebration of all things vegan! Kicking off with…

Saturday 29th *Bristol Vegan Fayre – Sponsored by The Vegan Society Over 70 stalls plus a full line-up of speakers and entertainers covering all aspects of the vegan lifestyle. Featuring free vegan food and nutritional advice. The L-Shed, Princess Wharf, Wapping Road, Bristol. 10am-6pm.

Contact Yaoh, T. 0117 923 9053 email info@yaoh.co.uk www.yaoh.co.uk.

Sunday 30th *Vegan Society AGM The Elmgrove Centre, Elmgrove Road, Cotham, Bristol BS6 6AH. Doors open and Local Contacts meeting 1 pm. AGM begins 2 pm. Crèche and refreshments available.

n NOVEMBER Tuesday 1st 12th World Vegan Day and The Vegan Society’s 61st birthday Happy Birthday to vegans! T. 0845 4588 244 www.worldveganday.org Saturday 12th * 35th Animal Charities Fair, London 10.30am-6pm Chelsea Old Town Hall, King’s Road SW3. Veg*n and animal charities stalls. Gifts, cards, food, etc.

Saturday 12th * Viva! Incredible Veggie Show, London 10am-5.30 pm Wembley conference and exhbition centre. Stalls, food, talks, cookery demonstrations, etc. www.viva.org.uk Saturday 26th Cruelty Free Christmas Fayre FreeMason Hall, 96 George Street, Edinburgh 11am to 4pm. Entry - £1 for adults, under 16s free Stalls, cookery demonstrations, talks, food.

T. 07931 886 573 or email edinburghvoiceforanimals@yahoo.co.uk

n DECEMBER Sunday 4th * Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 (opposite High Street Kensington tube station). www.animalaid.org.uk T. 01732 364546.

Saturday 10th International Day for Animal Rights Calling for fundamental rights to be bestowed upon non-human animals by 2048 (100 years after the Declaration of Human Rights on this date). www.uncaged.co.uk T.0114 272 2220.

Saturday 10th East Midlands Vegan Festival The Council House, Market Square, Nottingham. 11am to 5pm.

Organised by House of Life. T. 0845 458 9595, veganfestival@veggies.org.uk www.eastmidlandsveganfestival.com

n ADVANCE NOTICE: 10th-16th September 2006 World Veg Congress in Goa, India. See www.ivu.org/congress/2006 or phone 020 7928 7459. All catering will be vegan. * Vegan Society stalls at these events

LISTINGS Patrons Serena Coles Freya Dinshah Maneka Gandhi Dr. Michael Klaper Moby Cor Nouws Wendy Turner-Webster Donald Watson Benjamin Zephaniah Council Jay Ashra Alex Bourke (Chair) Chris Childe Vanessa Clarke Laurence Klein (Hon Treasurer) Laurence Main Ian Nicoll George Rodger (Vicechair) Stephen Walsh (Deputy Treasurer) National Local Contacts Co-ordinator Patricia Tricker Staff Chief Executive Officer Janet Pender Bookkeeper / PA Jody Hazell Head of Information Services Catriona Toms Head of Marketing and IT David Palmer Business Development Officer Sebastian Pender Information Officers Charlie McKenzie Rosamund Raha Membership and Sales Officer Sundari Poorun Sales Assistant John Rawden Volunteers Michaela Altman (proofreader) Erica Wilson Dietary Consultant Sandra Hood

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.

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.

If you would like more information on veganism a free Information Pack is available from the Vegan Society in exchange for two first class stamps.

THE VEGAN SOCIETY was formed in England in November 1944 by a group of vegetarians who had recognised the ethical compromises implicit in lactovegetarianism (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 cow’s milk; and the de-oxygenation of river water through contamination with cattle slurry.

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.

The Vegan l Winter 2005

39

CLASSIFIEDS (UK) HOLIDAY

ISLE OF WIGHT

DISCOUNT CARD

ACCOMMODATION CORNWALL

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

NOVember 2005 UNTIL

FEBRUARY 2006 REFERENCE CODE

CUMBRIA

LANCASHIRE

Ref: FPC 005 POWYS - Machynlleth. B&B overlooking spectacular mid-Wales scenery. Centre for Alternative Technology nearby. Delicious organic veggie / vegan breakfasts.

01654 702562 www.dyfiguest.co.uk

SCOTLAND

SOUTH WEST WALES tranquillity, natural beauty and friendliness. Self-catering cottages only metres from sandy beach and lovely walks. Heated outdoor swimming pool and excellent facilities.

Eco-friendly owners. Tel 01267 241654 www.innisfreeholidays.co.uk

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

Lounge and sunny breakfast room. Tea making facilities. No smoking throughout.

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

DEVON

HOLIDAYS ABROAD ALPUJARRAS - ANDALUCIA Attractive townhouse. Sunny, roof terrace.

Excellent views, birds, walks. Wholefood shops and restaurants serving veggie food in town. Sleeps 2 - 6. From £230 pw.

Available all year. Tel:01736

WALES

HAMPSHIRE

PEMBROKESHIRE. A warm welcome & good food (exclusively Veg/Vegan) in modern bungalow. Close to Newgale beach. Coastal paths to explore.

Green Haven B&B - Tel. 01437 710756

FRENCH PYRENEES: Vegan B&B in beautiful old stone farmhouse run by English organic vegetable farmers. Two large en-suite rooms.

Optional three course evening meal. Set in quiet wooded valley, ideal for walking, cycling, bird watching, relaxing. Contact Trevor or Sue, Le Guerrat, 09420, Rimont, France. Tel.: (0033) 561963703.

E-mail: leguerrat@aol.com Website: http:/vegan.port5.com/flashvegangite2.html

NEW FOREST Veg*n guest house (“The Barn”) - Perfect for walking, cycling etc.

B&B from £24pppn - ensuite, n/s evening meals. 023 8029 2531 or www.veggiebarn.net

ARTICLES AND ADVERTISEMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED BY 5TH JANUARY 2006 FOR INCLUSION IN THE SPRING 2006 ISSUE OF THE VEGAN

KERALA, SOUTH INDIA a vegan’s paradise.

Tours, accommodation including selfcatering. Brochure: Tel: 01892 722440, Voice Mail/Fax: 01892 724913.

E-mail: info@keralaconnect.co.uk Website: www.keralaconnect.co.uk

WEST CORK vegetarian self catering apartments for singles,couples and families in peaceful wooded surroundings. Organic vegetables, bread & vegan wholefoods available. Reasonable rates. Green Lodge, Trawnamadree, Ballylickey, Bantry, Co Cork, Ireland.Tel.003532766146 web:http://homepage.eircom.net/~greenlodge or Text 353861955451

The Vegan l Winter 2005

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CLASSIFIEDS Women needs Man - Apply before sell-by date expires. Quite good 1947 Model.

Norwich Area.

DISCOUNT CARD

THE VEGETARIAN CHARITY Needy young vegans up to the age of 25 years can receive grants from the charity, which also provides funds to promote vegetarianism among the young. people

Donald Watson House 7 Battle Road St. Leonards on Sea East Sussex TN37 7AA

animals

environment

Tel: 0845 45 88244 Fax: 01424 717064 info@vegansociety.com www.vegansociety.com

THE VEGAN DISCOUNT CARD

Donations and legacies are most welcome to ensure that we continue to satisfy the need for help.

For further information contact: The Vegetarian Charity 6 Coxbank, Audlem Cheshire CW3 0EW

Registered Charity No 294767

PUBLICATIONS

EATING OUT The Warehouse Cafe, Birmingham: City Centre veggie and vegan oasis. Relaxed, inexpensive, plenty of menu options.

Mon-Sat lunch, weekend evenings.

0121 633 0261

Adopt a Goat For Christmas

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

To place a personal ad please send your wording (max 35 words) and £6 payment, specifying in which section you would like your ad to appear.

Please add £2 if you would like a box number.

CONDITIONS OF ACCEPTANCE:

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 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

MISCELLANEOUS GREEN/DIY FUNERALS Eco-friendly inexpensive coffins, memorial treeplanting. Please send £1 in unused stamps with A5 size 35p SAE to Box 328 HOMEOPATH. Aubrey Burge LBSH. RSHom. Treating you towards good health. All remedies carried on a vegan base. Clinic in Wiltshire or reasonable distance home consultations welcome.

Tel 01980 630601 for more information.

‘JESUS ALSO WAS A VEGETARIAN’ www.donoteatus.org

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The Vegan l Winter 2005

PERSONAL KINDNESS UNLIMITED. The international network for vegan/vegetarian Christians.

Those still searching may join the SEEKERS group. Membership of our correspondence and email groups is free. For details write to KU, 55 Long Street, Wigston, Leicestershire, LE18 2AJ or

HUMAN WRITES is a non-profit humanitarian organisation offering support to death row prisoners through letter writing. Please make someoneÆs life better with your letters. For details, SAE to: 343a Carlton Hill, Carlton, Nottingham, NG4 1JE. Thanks!

Alicia, slim, very tall vegan female, seeks younger female for relationship. IÆm extremely young for age (44), nonconformist, with long hair, live in Stockport. Enjoy countryside walks, badminton, swimming. Love music (Goth, Punk, etc).

COSMETICS

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.

41

PRIZE CROSSWORD Kate Sweeney

ACROSS

DOWN

1

Flap if this is rice (Anag.)

(6)

2

Yellow oval fruit (5)

3

Haricot (bean) (9)

4

Glazed and salted crackers (8)

5

Cook until very little is left (6)

6

Add to a drink (3-2)

9

Preserve of crushed fruit (3)

7

10

Put in, included (5)

Prefic meaning "concerned with the environment" (3)

12

Part of a fork (5)

8

Starch from palms used as a food thickener (4)

13

Fruit at a meeting? (10,4)

9

Potato cooked in its skin (6)

15

Corn spike (3)

11

Garnish, decorate (5)

17

Shopping _ _ _ _ (4)

14

18

Desiccated, dehydrated (5)

Red pear-shaped tropical fruits found in this cake, especially baked (5)

21

Greasy, oily (5)

16

Cook in an oven (5)

22

Professional cook (4)

19

With restored energy (9)

24

Black moss _ _ _weed (3)

20

Moisten (6)

26

Fuss over nothing! (5,2,1,6)

23

30

I moan about this organic compound (Anag.); _ _ _ _ _ acid (5)

Tender, fleshy part of an artichoke (5)

32 33

All loaves baked at the same time, for example (5)

Eat lightly, pick (6)

27

Dry red table wine from Northern Spain (5)

28

Small piece of e.g. bread or cake (5)

29

Be very thirsty in the gasplant? (4)

31

Pub, hotel (3)

Large container for tea (3)

34

Flat cakes of fried batter (8)

35

Suitable for use as food (6)

Send in a photocopy (or original) of the solution to this crossword, together with your name and address by the 5th January 2006 Prize this issue: Black & white Retro Rings purse

Solution in next issue.

44

25

The Vegan l Winter 2005

Solution to The Vegan Prize Crossword

40 CONGRATULATIONS to the winner Nicky Simmons of Wallasey, Merseyside, who wins a selection of Yaoh products