Vegan Future Newspaper

Vegan Future

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VEGANISM RESCUED ME FROM BLINDNESS Open your eyes to the health benefits of a plant-based diet

Issue 1, February 2014

Meet the vegan maths wizard with a mind-blowing ability to recall 3841 binary digits and 1266 playing cards

Billionaire magnate takes dramatic action after acknowledging that meat is bad for business

MEAT SHOP CHAIN GETS THE CHOP India’s richest businessman, Mukesh Ambani, has shut a chain of meat-selling stores after a backlash from shareholders and consumers.

The 100 Reliance Delight outlets, whose product range included fish and frozen chicken, were closed down in response to complaints that the sale of meat went against the non-violence ethos of Hinduism.

Many in India’s majority Hindu population do not eat meat as it is considered a sin.

Vegetarian billionaire Ambani's association with meat was proving off-putting to consumers who were steering clear of not only Reliance Delight but also other Reliance Retail stores.

“Despite this sensitive balance of availability and convenience, it was felt that certain

sections of customers were still hesitant to shop at our other stores,” a company statement outlined. “Reliance Retail has therefore decided to focus on vegetarian offerings only, within its retail portfolio.”

A former Reliance executive added that “the Gujarati community, which is predominantly vegetarian, and to whom the Ambani Family belong, was also critical of the sale of non-veg items.”

PETA welcomed the “compassionate decision to stick with animal-, health- and Earth-friendly vegetarian foods” and has awarded Reliance Industries a Courage in Commerce Award.

PETA India CEO Poorva Joshipura stated: “Millions of Indians are proud of our cultural tradition of nonviolence, and its truest test is when it's applied to the most defenseless beings on the planet, and that includes animals.”

“Eating animals can also be deadly to humans,” she added.

“Consuming meat and other animal products has been conclusively linked to heart disease, diabetes and obesity – all prevalent health problems in India.”

In 2013, Mukesh Ambani was ranked at number 37 in the Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People.

He is India's richest man and the 22nd richest in the world with an estimated personal wealth of $21.5 billion.

Delightful Decision: Mukesh Ambani has pulled the plug on meat-selling chain, Reliance Delight.

Eating of fish down 14% in US

Veganism growing in China ALTHOUGH meat-eating is on the increase in China, so too is vegan dining.

Pri’s The World reports that there is a growing vegan trend throughout the country, including in many of the major cities.

Interviewed on the show, pop singer turned vegan advocate, Long Kuan, said: “The young generation, especially, they love to be eco-friendly, and they love to be compassionate.”

Around four to five per cent of China’s population (more than 50 million) are thought to be vegetarian.

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A QUARTER of people in Great Britain have cut back on the amount of meat they eat, a new survey has revealed.

The research carried out by environmental alliance, Eating Better, also found that one in six young people do not eat any meat while over a third of the general population are open to the idea of eating less meat. Meanwhile, just two per cent admitted to eating more meat now than in the past.

Ready meals containing meat and processed meats are most likely to be off the menu, the YouGov survey found.

This is believed to be due to growing mistrust of the meat industry as a result of the horse meat scandal.

Those in this age bracket were nearly 3 times more likely to say they don’t eat any meat at all – compared to the survey’s average – with one in The survey results also six (17 per cent) saying they showed a more than doubling do not eat meat.

Responding to the survey in awareness of the meat Concern for animal welfare topped the reasons for considering eating less meat, ahead of saving money, food quality/safety and health.

A third of British willing to consider eating less meat. One in six young people say they now eat no meat. industry's significant environmental impact from just one in seven people in 2007 to nearly one in three in 2013.

The most dramatic change has been in young people (1824) with a five fold increase in awareness from eight per cent in 2007 to 40 per cent now.

results, Vegetarian Society Head of Communications Liz O’Neill said, “The findings should encourage chefs and caterers to take stock. For far too long vegetarians have been expected to be grateful for pasta and tomato sauce!

“As more and more cus-

tomers choose not to eat meat it’s the restaurants with variety, an imaginative menu and good customer service that will survive.”

Britain's shift away from meat is considered good news not only for animals but also for the health of the nation.

Around 228,000 of its citizens die every year from the three major conditions connected to food intake - heart disease, strokes and cancer.

Reduction, or elimination, of meat from diets could extend the lives of many of these. Experts also say it would help save the strained National Health Service (NHS) an estimated £1.2 billion annually.

Dairy decline: America now drinking less milk A STUDY conducted by the US Department of Agriculture has found that Americans are consuming less dairy products and the drop looks likely to continue.

The 2013 USDA Economic Research Service report, “Why Are Americans Consuming Less Fluid Milk? A Look at Generational Differences in Intake Frequency” reveals that people in all age groups are drinking less milk.

Over the past 40 years, there has been a more than one third drop in daily consumption.

The USDA report outlines that between the 1970s and 2000s, “people have become less apt to drink fluid milk at mealtimes, especially with midday and nighttime meals.”

The share of adolescents and adults who did not drink milk on a given day rose from 41 per cent to 54 per cent, while those drinking milk three or more times per day dropped from 13 to 4 per cent.

Among pre-adolescent children, the share that did not drink milk on a given day rose from 12 per cent to 24 per cent while the share that drank milk three or more times per day fell from 31 to 18 per cent.

“The majority of Americans born in the 1990s consume fluid milk less often than those born in the 1970s, who, in turn, consume it less

Economic Research Service/USDA

THE consumption of fish in the United States has continued to fall for the seventh consecutive year.

The latest figures from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that in the past year, Americans who eat fish, ate an average of four per cent less than in the previous year.

Relative to figures for 2006, the drop amounts to a considerable 14 per cent.

The drop is being attributed to the cost of fish and the downturn in the world’s economy.

Not entirely unexpected, says one seafood promotion body with a representative remarking: “I’m not surprised, I’m disappointed. I hate to see a number like that.”

Groups pushing for an end to fish eating find the figures very encouraging.

Mercy for Animals, whose 2010 undercover investigation exposed horrific cruelty at a fish slaughter facility, say the reduced demand for fish may partly be due to more awareness of the suffering involved.

“Perhaps Americans are waking up to the cruel realities behind fish farming and killing,” a spokesperson said.

“To hasten the decline of US fish consumption, visit ChooseVeg.com and learn more about adopting a cruelty-free vegan diet.”

It’s similarly good news from Spain. It may record the highest fish consumption in the EU, but Europa Press has reported that the Spanish are now eating less “fresh” fish, frozen fish, canned fish and seafood in general.

Since 2008, the drop has been over 8 per cent.

25pc of Brits are eating less meat

often than those born in the 1950s,” the report states.

“Differences across the generations in milk intake may help account for the observed decreases in per capita fluid milk consumption in recent decades despite public and private sector efforts to stem the decline.”

“These differences will likely make it difficult to reverse current consumption trends,” it adds. “In fact, as newer generations replace older ones, the population’s average level of fluid milk consumption may continue to decline.”

The report's findings were

The variety of vegan alternatives to animal milks is ever increasing, making it easier than ever to go dairy-free.

welcomed by Compassion Over Killing who said that “Americans are moving on and reaching for healthier and more humane dairy-free options.”

“Consumers are discovering the charade built up by millions of dollars of savvy marketing,” the organisation commented.

“They’re learning that, despite what they were taught in school, milk and other dairy products are actually harmful to our health. Not to mention how dairy factory farms are wreaking havoc on our environment while also causing tremendous cruelty to animals.”

They invite people to visit TryVeg.com for dairy-free food and drink ideas.

Fight injustice to animals: Archbishop Desmond Tutu “OUR dominion over animals is not supposed to be despotism. We are made in the image of God, yes, but God – in whose image we are made – is holy, loving, and just. We do not honour God by abusing other sentient creatures. They deserve our compassion and respect.”

to suppose that God is interested in only one of the millions of species that inhabit God’s good earth.”

“If it is true that we are the most exalted species in creation, it is equally true that we can be the most debased and sinful,” he says. “This realization should give us pause.

There is something Christ-like about caring for suffering creatures, whether they are humans or animals.”

The words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu in his first major statement on animal welfare in which he exorts people to fight injustice to animals.

And the Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town emphasises his desire to see churches leading the way by “making clear that all cruelty – to other animals as well as human beings – is an affront to civilized living and a sin before God.”

In an introduction to the newly published Global Guide to Animal Protection, the South African human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner says “I have spent my life fighting discrimination and injustice, whether the victims are blacks, women, or gays and lesbians an no human being should be the target of prejudice or the object of vilification or be denied his or her basic rights.

But there are other issues of justice – not only for human beings but also for the world’s other sentient creatures.”

Edited by Oxford University theologian, Professor Andrew Linzey, the Global Guide to Animal Protection is the result of collaboration between the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, a world-wide association of academics from all disciplines, and the University of Illinois Press.

“The matter of the abuse and cruelty we inflict on other animals has to fight for our attention in what sometimes seems an already overfull moral agenda,” he continues.

“It is vital, however, that these instances of injustice not be overlooked.”

less or vulnerable, when they have no one to speak up for them and no means of representing themselves to a higher authority.

“I have seen firsthand how injustice gets overlooked when the victims are power-

“Animals are in precisely that position. Unless we are mindful of their interests and

Archbishop Desmond Tutu says “It is vital that instances of injustice against animals are not overlooked” speak out loudly on their behalf, abuse and cruelty go unchallenged.”

Archbishop Tutu goes on to remark that “it is a kind of theological folly to suppose that God has made the entire world just for human beings or

Aiming to raise awareness of human indifference and cruelty toward animals, the guide features more than 180 articles.

It also includes inspiring accounts of attempts by individuals to challenge and change exploitative practices.

It is available to purchase in paperback or as an ebook.

Shark fins cut from menu at Chinese state banquets A BAN on the serving of shark fin dishes at Chinese state banquets will bring great benefits to shark species, conservationists have said.

Shark fin soup, considered a luxury by China’s wealthy, is responsible for decimating global shark numbers. Experts say that populations have plummeted by 60 to 90 per cent in just the last 15 years because of the shark fin trade.

It is also responsible for extreme suffering. An estimated 100 million sharks are caught each year and have their fin cruelly sliced off before being thrown back into the ocean to die.

Fins, cruelly cut from sharks, drying on a sidewalk in Hong Kong in preparation for being sold to restaurants Although the banquet ban is primarily a government move to tackle extravagant spending and “regulate the use of public funding on receptions”, it has been widely welcomed among marine conservation groups.

Quoted in the South China Morning Post, Sea Shepherd's Gary Stokes said: “The reason why they’re doing it mainly is austerity cuts but the ramifications it’s going to have on conservation to the sharks is huge.”

Alex Hofford, executive director of Hong Kongbased marine group My Ocean applauded the move as “hugely significant”.

“It’s going to have a great impact on society, because what the government does shows leadership in society and then the corporate sector will quickly follow suit,” he commented.

“It doesn’t really matter if it is for environmental reasons or for curbing official extravagance, as long as the job gets done.”

Also banned by Chinese authorities is the serving at official receptions of bird's nest soup and wild animal products.

Cruelty to ducks on Amazon Amazon.com is being urged to stop profiting from suffering and end its selling of cruel foie gras.

A campaign launched by Mercy for Animals is aiming to do in the US what VIVA managed to achieve in the UK - convince the online retailer to drop ‘torture in a tin’, the liver of birds that have been violently force-fed.

An investigator for the Los Angeles-based organisation documented a “culture of cruelty” at an Amazon.com foie gras supplier.

Captured video shows workers grabbing ducks by their wings and necks and shoving metal pipes down their throats, tossing ducks by their fragile wings into transport cages and birds with bleeding wounds left to suffer in tiny wire cages.

Also filmed were ducks being shackled upside down and having their throats cut.

“Force-feeding animals to produce foie gras is so cruel it has been banned in California and more than a dozen countries,” Mercy for Animals outlines on Amazoncruelty.com.

“No socially responsible company should be supporting this type of blatant cruelty.”

Cancer risk meat as bad as smoking THE link between consuming animal products and cancer is as strong as the link between smoking and cancer, according to an article in Nutrients journal.

Its author analyzed data on 21 different cancers in 157 countries and found that diet was among the factors associated with the risk of developing certain cancers.

Possible mechanisms for risk include animal products' promotion of growth and high iron and fat content.

The author notes that consuming meat and other animal products has been recognized as a cancer risk for over a century and needs to be acted upon in efforts to help prevent the disease.

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22,000 stores chain cancels foie gras after 22 complaints JAPANESE convenience store chain, FamilyMart, has scrapped the launch of a pre-packaged meal containing cruel foie gras.

The retail giant - the third largest in Japan - unveiled the take-away product on January 10th but after receiving 22 customer complaints, decided to shelve it.

The ‘bento box’, priced at around five euro, was to include beef and a slice of foie gras - considered so cruel, its production is banned in several countries.

A FamilyMart spokesperson said that the lunchbox launch was cancelled after “carefully considering opinions from customers, different views abroad on foie gras and the production process of foie gras itself”.

“We don't intend to make anyone feel uncomfortable,” he added.

Foie gras (fatty liver) is

produced by force-feeding geese and ducks large quantities of grain twice or three times a day. This causes their diseased livers to swell up to ten times the normal size.

The feeding of the often confined birds is not only cruel but also damaging to their health. When the grain is funneled into the oesophagus, it often causes violent trauma which leads to death.

Industry figures reveal that in France (where most foie gras originates) around a million birds die during the force-feeding stage.

The number of French birds that survive that ordeal and eventually have their throats slit at slaughter stands at around 38 million.

With over 22,000 stores around the world, including 10,000 in Japan, FamilyMart’s rejection of foie gras is being celebrated by anti-cruelty campaigners as a major blow to the industry.

Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur and TorontoPigSave.org

Cruelty concerns prompt Japanese giant to ditch disgusting foie gras

Pigs freeze to death on way to slaughter PIGS being transported to a slaughterhouse in sub-zero conditions reportedly froze to the death along the way.

Toronto Pig Save revealed on its blog that the animals were “literally frozen to the floor of the truck – perhaps dead on arrival, having frozen to death en route – and were being cut off the floors by men with knives” Vegan campaigners who were holding a vigil for pigs described the horrendous conditions for the animals.

Eyewitness Paul York said that when a transport truck stopped at the traffic lights, it was possible to see inside through an opening at the side.

“I could see pigs inside and was absolutely certain they were suffering terribly,” he said.

It later emerged that it was some of these animals who froze to death.

With temperatures believed to have dropped to as low as minus 30, it was a harsh experience for both pigs and activists with the effects of the wind being compared to “a relentless knife on exposed skin of the face”.

“I very much empathized with the pigs who are shorthaired,” Mr York stated. “It is painful on our hands and feet.

A freezing pig looks out from a slaughterhouse truck in Toronto. Below, activists give water to dehydrated pigs.

Their ears, tails, feet and snouts must go through a worse pain and they must feel that desperation one feels as the heat leaves the body, and you know that being out there much longer will spell death. I believe some of them did die en route. Certainly, all of them suffered.”

He added: “Even within the context of transport to the slaughterhouse - mass murder - this neglect is an added crime, another level of hell.

There is no reason they should suffer prior to their deaths. It is animal cruelty.”

The truck will be reported to authorities, he said.

Toronto Pig Save has previously documented the suffering of pigs being transported to a local slaughterhouse in 110 degree heat during a summer heatwave.

A video posted on Youtube shows activists running up to a truck temporarily stopped at traffic lights and giving the severely dehydrated pigs drinks from bottles of water.

The group’s stated mission is to “erect glass walls at Toronto’s slaughterhouses in order to encourage people to choose vegan, protect the environment, and support farm sanctuaries.”

Image: TorontoPigSave.org

Vegan show to reach a million Londoners HIGHLY RATED podcast programme, The Vegan Option, has got itself an extra one million listeners after joining the line-up of a popular London radio station.

Resonance 104.4FM is broadcasting a 13-episode series, based on the show’s online archive, every Tuesday at 7.30pm, with a repeat at 7.30 on Fridays mornings.

Anyone within 5km of the transmitter at London Bridge will be able to tune in to the half hour offerings of science, stories and analysis. They can also be heard online via the station’s webstream.

BBC-trained producer and Page 4

presenter, Ian McDonald, says it is “a vote of confidence in veganism” that mainstream radio is promoting the series as being of interest to everybody.

Issues explored include the ethics of lab meat, veganism in politics and environmental destruction linked to palm oil.

Study links dairy to bowel disease ANIMAL-BASED diets may contribute to the development of inflammatory bowel disease, according to a Harvard study published in Nature.

Volunteers followed either animalbased or plant-based diets for five days. Those on the animal-based diet had an eight-fold increase in the gut

population of Bilophila wadsworthia, a bacterium that may cause inflammatory bowel disease.

In contrast, it fell three-fold in the plant-based diet group.

Growth of the bacterium may be stimulated by digestion of dairy products, researchers believe.

In addition, gut concentrations of a compound linked to liver cancer, deoxycholic acid, rose in the animalbased diet group.

The authors note that diet may contribute to the development of inflammatory bowel disease via changes in gut microbes.

Festival of fruit for UK

A DECADE ago, Vicky DeRosa was facing a life of total blindness. A rare disease struck without warning one morning and the words in a newspaper she was trying to read became a blur.

THE UK's first raw vegan fruit festival is scheduled to take place this June.

“Days later I was blind,” she recalls. “Later that year I was diagnosed with a rare genetic eye disease - Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy that damages the optic nerve and is, to-date, incurable.”

Organisers of Fruit Fest 2014 say the 5-day event, from June 25th to 29th, will demonstrate that a low fat, raw vegan diet is optimal for health and well-being.

Eye specialists told her the damage was irreversible and that she would never see again. The best advice they could offer was to seek help for living a blind lifestyle.

Taking place in Devon's Exe Valley, attendees are promised a 24-hour fruit buffet, lectures and daily activities such as calisthenic exercises, weight training, tai chi, meditation and even frisbee games!

But Vicky had other ideas.

Rather than accepting the diagnosis, she set her sights on seeing again and initiated her own special recovery programme. A system based on “good nutrition, exercise and plenty of faith”.

The result astonished doctors. She regained much of her sight and today, ten years on, it continues to improve.

Vicky, now the CEO of online health club V Well Health [vwellhealth.com], says the vegan diet she adopted was instrumental in the turnaround.

In a vegan success story featured on Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Life website, Vicky outlines that before her diagnosis, her diet included meat and dairy and that her lifestyle was stressful - a factor believed to have triggered the eye condition.

VEGAN DIET RESCUED ME FROM BLINDNESS

“I believe that healthy lifestyle is medicine and, determined that my eyesight would be healed, I set out to find my own cure,” she sight. I then took my healthy diet further and gave up dairy recounts on the site. products, fish, eggs, and “I gave up red meat combecame 100% vegan.” pletely, took a hard look at my She says she became diet and started constantly vegan for the overall health swapping out certain foods I was eating for the most nutri- benefits but subsequently ent-dense, sight-supporting learned that it provides foods I could find. Over the antioxidants crucial for eye course of a year and a half I therapy.

Not only has her eyesight regained much of my eye-

improved but her sinuses are hadn’t been for my healthy clearer and she now enjoys diet and lifestyle, I would higher levels of energy. have remained blind. I’m “All of these benefits I’m 100% vegan today and am sure are based on the fact that healthier than ever because of I am a vegan and my life has it.” become less stressful and A sentiment shared by more energetic because of Alicia Silverstone, describing it,” she told The Kind Life.

Vicky as “a prime example of “Specialists were as- how a kinder lifestyle can tounded but agree that if it truly transform and heal.”

Cockroach infestation halts chicken killing operation THE poultry company at the Department of Agriculture centre of a salmonella out- ordered the plant to shut. break last year has finally In a letter to the company, been forced to shut. they stated that inspectors had cockroaches while The closure of Foster seen Farms in Livingston, Calif- “slaughter operations were in ornia was prompted not by the progress and exposed product potentially deadly bug that left was present on the kill floor.”

416 people sickened but “Pests are highly unsanibecause of a different breed of tary given that they can come bug. The cockroach. in contact with decomposing After clocking cockroaches garbage [and] can transmit disat the chicken killing facility ease-causing pathogens, inclon five separate occasions uding bacteria,” they added. since September, the US Reporting on the develop-

ment, the LA Times pointed out that “in addition to health issues raised by the new infestation, consumers are confronted by the ick-factor of cockroaches meandering near their future dinners.”

Unsanitary conditions are not uncommon in slaughterhouses. In a statement, Compassion Over Killing explained that chickens raised for meat are “crammed inside sheds where they stand, eat and sleep in their own waste.”

Speakers will include Dr Doug Graham (an advisor to elite athletes), former pro skateboarder and certified holistic nutritionist, Chris Kendell and Anne Osborn who will talk about raising a family on a fruit-based diet.

ACTION TO BAN MEAT THE Movement for the Abolition of Meat has announced the dates for upcoming weeks of action.

They are 24th May to 1st June and 20th to 28th September.

The World Weeks for the Abolition of Meat are organised to help focus attention on the idea of abolishing the production and consumption of sentient beings.

The movement's website puts the number of terrestrial animals killed for meat every hour globally at six million.

The number of water animals killed is even higher.

“Meat consumption causes more suffering and deaths than any other human activity although it is completely unnecessary,” they state.

Details of planned actions are listed at meat-abolition.org

“F Seaworld”, fumes F1 star FORMULA 1 star, Lewis Hamilton is fuming with SeaWorld after watching BlackFish.

“I have just watched an incredible documentary about killer whales,” Lewis wrote in a post on his Facebook page.

“It has to be one of the saddest things I have seen of recent.

Please watch it.”

The former world champion Mercedes driver went on to say: "It is inhumane what

humans do for money and I think each and every one of us should help stop these assholes from hurting these beautiful creatures - not only whales but all types of animals." "#Fseaworld," he added.

The post has been liked by over 8,700 fans and shared at least a thousand times.

Lewis also tweeted his reaction to Blackfish to his 1.8 million followers on Twitter.

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Veganz chain Advanced life to open 5 new saving surgery supermarkets

for dummies

THOUSANDS of animal lives will be spared with the introduction of sophisticated mannequins to medical training programs around the world.

PETA's intervention will benefit medical courses in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Mexico, Mongolia, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago where trainees at People for the Ethical Treathospitals and universities were ment of Animals, who donated previously required to “cut 64 of the surgical simulators, holes into the chests, throats, say the move will shut crude animal laboratories and repplace them with modern learning environments.

The TraumaMan laboratory dummy replicates the anatomy and physiology of a real human torso, including ribs, internal organs and even layers of realistic skin that bleed fake blood when cut.

to teach lifesaving procedures better than cutting into animals does,” outlines a PETA statement. “Moving science and medicine away from archaic animal use benefits doctors, their patients, and animals.”

Simulab, the Seattle-based company behind Traumaman describes it as “the most flexible training platform available for advanced trauma training”.

“There is no translation required from animal anatomy to human anatomy and all organs required for each procedure are included,” they explain. “The system allows the instructor to train in the proper ABC order, which cannot be done with an animal.”

Approved by the American College of Surgeons as an alternative to live animals and cadavers, it is already the world’s most widely used surgical simulator, with over 30,000 medical professionals learning from it every year.

And, surely important to abdomens and limbs of thouthose training to save lives, no sands of live dogs, goats, pigs killing is necessary. and sheep”.

“TraumaMan never dies,” “The TraumaMan simulators better represent human the company points out. “He But health budget limita- patients, allow trainees to will continue to bleed and tions have prevented some repeat difficult procedures until breath for each and every stumastered, and have been shown dent.” countries from adopting it.

Vegan meals for typhoon survivors in Philippines

THOUSANDS of hot vegan meals have been served to survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in The Philippines.

Food For Life Global's emergency hunger relief team handed out the meals in some of the worst affected areas in the weeks after the devastating tropical cyclone hit.

“The response was overwhelming,” FFL team leader Baladeva Dasa reported. “So many people were starving and rushing to grab the food.”

Volunteers worked day and night to prepare and distribute

food such as rice, vegetables, soya and beans.

“I felt so much relief in my heart seeing their bright smiles,” one helper commented. “I see that our meals give them a spark of hope and that makes us ready to cook for more and more people.”

FFL Manilla Director, Radha Lila conveyed the sadness felt at witnessing the plight of those struggling to survive.

“Seeing people who have lost their loved ones, who lost their homes, money, basically

EUROPE’S first vegan supermarket chain is set to expand in 2014 with the opening of five new stores.

Located in London, Essen, Cologne, Leipzig and Budapest, the planned branches will bring to 12 the number of stores in the Veganz chain.

The Germany-based company - whose motto is “Wir lieben Leben” (We Love Life) - opened its first store in Berlin in the summer 2011 and went on to launch a second store in the city as well as in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Prague and Vienna.

Customers can choose from an impressive range of 6,000 vegan products from 200 suppliers in 30 countries.

In an interview with The All Animal Vegan blog, Veganz marketing manager, Ivonne Meyer stated that their customers are “mainly people who are highly eco-aware, people who are changing their diet for health reasons or allergies, people who want to lose weight and get fit, and of course vegetarians and vegans.”

“Most new customers are very impressed by the huge product range and many things they haven’t seen before (including meat, fish and cheese alternatives),” she added.

Veganz says it plans to have a total of 21 stores across Europe by the end of 2015.

Diners put money where mouths are

A CRUELTY-free cafe on course to close has been given a new lease of life thanks to a everything, and who were major cash injection from now hankering for even one donors. glass of water with the most Eden A Vegan Cafe in desperate emotion, brought Scranton, Pennsylvania was tears to our eyes,” she said. suffering the effects of a down“We are even more deter- turn in the economy as well as mined now to go on and reach new parking and traffic restricout to more people.” tions in the area.

Food for Life says its priority now is to reach people in the remotest places who do not currently receive support from the government or NGOs.

A January 8th announcement signalling imminent closure sparked what owner and head chef, Christian Pilosi, describes as a “humbling and inspiring outpouring of love Donations can be made to and support for us”.

Food for Life Manilla at An appeal for funds on www.ffl.org Indiegogo has resulted in near-

ly 9,000 dollars in donations cash for paying outstanding business expenses and also some of Mr Pilosi's personal expenses.

“I have not drawn a salary from the restaurant in over a year,” he says. “I lived off my savings, which are now completely depleted.”

The next phase of the survival plan involves discussions with potential partners and a second fund-raising drive to raise additional capital.

With such an overwhelming appetite for success, Eden Cafe looks likely to stay afloat and continue serving its generous, devoted diners.

Miami mayor makes Mondays meat-free A RESOLUTION encouraging South Miami residents to go vegan for at least one day a week, has been passed.

ticipate by choosing meatfree, plant-based meals at least one day a week,” the successful resolution states.

“The City Commission hereby dedicates and proclaims all Mondays as ‘Meatless Mondays’ in support of comprehensive efforts to protect the environment, our health and animals, and encouraging residents to par-

Presented by mayor Philip K Stoddard, it got through with a 3-2 majority.

food and that they think about more than just the cost at the checkout counter. It's something many people don't think about at all - the land costs, the carbon costs, the animal experience costs. Those are all costs.”

“I decided this is a good thing,” Mayor Stoddard said.

“It allows us to suggest to people that they think about their

Quoted in the Miami New Times, the mayor added: “I'm not a vegetarian but when I started working on this, I

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Mayor Philip K Stoddard

began thinking more about what I ate. I began paying attention to when I eat meat and the choices I have.

“I do consciously make meals without meat or purchase meals without meat given the choice - it's a conscious choice. People should be cognizant of what they put in their mouth.”

AWARD FOR ASIA ANIMAL ACTIVIST

How to Live to 100 premiers on the Cooking Channel

A TOP activist campaigning for an end to bear bile farming has won the Hong Kong THE FIRST vegan cooking People’s Choice award. show on a major cable netJill Robinson, the founder of work is now airing on the Animals Asia, picked up the Cooking Channel and the prestigious award at South response, says its host, has China Morning Post’s Spirit of been “phenomenal”.

Hong Kong ceremony.

Billed as the “very first “This shows that Hong superfood, longevity, plantKong people are behind us and based cooking show in TV voting for what we do to help history”, “How to Live to the animal species of China and 100” is bringing the health Hong Kong,” a delighted Jill benefits of vegan food to the commented. biggest ever television audi“It’s another indicator that ence. we are on the right track,” she Hosted by celebrity vegan said. “It means the world to us, chef, Jason Wrobels, the new especially since the issue of series presents easy vegan bear bile farming was raised so recipes with an emphasis on much during the event and our “radical simplicity and artful campaign to end it is so clearly presentation”. supported by the people of In the show, Jason Wrobel Hong Kong.”

Over 10,000 bears are cruel- - known as the “King of ly caged on Chinese bile farms Superfoods” - focuses on and painfully “milked” for their powerful ingredients proven bile which is used in medicine to increase longevity. and household products.

The Jindo dog was being raised for meat and was found chained to a metal pole, suffering from mange and crying out in pain. Puppies she had given birth to were discovered dead nearby.

“The healing properties and outrageous tastes of his dishes have rendered his recipes hands-down favorites among celebrity clients and regular folk alike.”

A local group who rescued and treated the animal subsequently called on California's Fuzzy Pet Foundation to help secure a new life for “Bomi”.

Among the famous fans of the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute graduate are Woody Harrelson, Jeremy Piven, Robin Wright, Sigourney Weaver, John C Reilly, Steve Buscemi, Isabelle Adjani and Russell Simmons.

Jason Wrobels: Bringing vegan dining to the masses longer through eating deliLaunched in 2010, the cious healthy food is going Cooking Channel is an offdown a treat with audiences. shoot of the Food Network On the day of its premier and is currently available to airing, the show topped the over 60 million American And the idea of living Cooking Channel’s ratings. households.

The Meat-Free Monday manoeuvre, aimed at combatting the global threat posed by greenhouse gas, encompasses a menu featuring food that is “respectful of the environment”.

It will be available to all army personnel - including those serving overseas.

In a statement to Agence France-Presse, army spokesperson Eystein Kvarving said: “It’s not about saving money.

It’s about being more concerned for our climate, more ecologically friendly and also healthier.”

And according to Pal Stenberg, a Navy Commander and nutritionist in charge of the catering division, initial feedback from soldiers has been generally positive.

A DOG saved from slaughter in South Korea is enjoying a new life in Los Angeles thanks to the support of actress Alyssa Milano.

Promoting the new series which airs across America on Fridays at 9pm ET - the Cooking Channel says: “Jason imbues his eclectic food creations with the energy of fresh and organic produce.”

Military’s meatless menu to combat climate change NORWAY'S military has gone vegetarian one day a week in an offensive against climate change.

Alyssa is a saviour to Jindo dog

The move is expected to cut the army's meat intake by an estimated 150 tonnes a year.

Quoted on the Meat Free Monday website, a representative of Oslo-based environmental group, The Future in Our Hands, welcomed the action, saying “the defence ministry deserves a lot of praise because it’s taking climate and environmental issues seriously.”

Meat and dairy producers are the worst climate change culprits. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, the livestock industry is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.”

The sector is responsible for 51 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, according to some estimates.

“With generous help from one of our staunch supporters, actress Alyssa Milano, Bomi was flown on an airplane to California,” they announced.

“This has been a magical time for all of us who have worked so hard to rescue Bomi. We are truly humbled

by Alyssa's support, and honored to be in the position to save these precious lives.”

“I am thrilled to have brought Bomi to safety, and look forward to the day she finally gets adopted to a forever home,” Alyssa told Radar Online.

“My heart goes out to the countless other dogs and cats who are suffering from animal abuse, struggling to survive on the streets, or waiting in animal shelters for a quality home.”

Bob asks kids to 20 million vegan not eat animals booklets sent out GO VEGAN Radio host, Bob Linden, has told kids that if they love animals, they should stop eating them.

It’s very sad and scary for the animals. You saw ‘Babe’ – how can you eat Babe? You saw ‘Chicken Run’ – how can you eat chickens? You saw ‘Blackfish’ – love all fish, don’t eat them.

VEGAN Outreach is celebrating a major milestone in its campaign to spread the word about the cruelty of the meat, egg and dairy industries.

“Tell your parents you don’t want to eat animals “Kids – you love aniany more. They don’t mals. When you eat meat, Radio host, Bob Linden dairy, fish or eggs, your have to worry. You will parents are paying someone to really be grow up big and strong and healthy.” mean and hurt animals. To lock them The show, and hundreds of others, up in prisons and cut their throats and can be downloaded from the Go kill them for you to eat.

Vegan Radio website’s archive section

In a press release, the non-profit stated: “From our initial 13,182 handfolded and hand-stapled booklets in 1994, to 2012’s 2,786,582 copies of ‘Compassionate Choices’, ‘Even If You Like Meat’, and ‘Why Vegan?’, Vegan Outreach booklets have been used by activists around the world to expose the hidden brutality inflicted on

On his 29 December 2013 show, Bob offered this message of compassion to youngsters:

“A ‘Happy Meal’ isn’t happy at all.

at www.goveganradio.com

The organisation has announced that it has sent out over 20 million educational booklets as part of an effort to persuade people to go vegan.

farmed animals, while making an honest and thorough case for sustainable and ethical eating.”

The booklets have been distributed across America and around the world at colleges, high schools, concerts and festivals.

“Together, we will reach the next 20,000,000 much more quickly, and continue to change lives every day, bringing about the new world we all desire – a world where animals aren’t brutalized and butchered to be eaten,” a Vegan Outreach spokesperson stated.

Copies of the booklets can be ordered or downloaded online at www.veganoutreach.org Page 7

I REPORTED EGREGIOUS CRUELTY TO ANIMALS AND FACED JAIL TIME AN undercover investigator who was facing up to 18 months in prison for failing to report animal cruelty “in a timely manner” has been cleared of the crazy charge.

Taylor Radig, working for Compassion Over Killing, exposed shocking abuse of newborn calves in Colorado, but later found herself facing a trial alongside the abusers.

The bizarre situation arose after local police accused her of failing to report the abuse sooner. The delay, maintained Compassion Over Killing, was due to time being required to “meticulously research the law and review all of the damning evidence of routine animal cruelty”.

Radig's video footage, showing calves being kicked, dragged and thrown roughly on to trucks, was filmed at Quanah Cattle Company, a facility that takes in male dairy calves and keeps them for a week before shipping them out to be raised for their meat. It led to animal cruelty charges being filed against three company employees.

Undercover investigator is cleared of crazy charge

However, the additional charge against the investigator followed with the Sheriff of Weld County noting in a press release that the filmed evidence was only made available to authorities two months after Radig's employment at Quanah Cattle Company came to an end.

“The video footage was eventually provided to law enforcement by representatives of Compassion Over Killing,” Sheriff John B Cooke said. ”Radig’s failure to report the alleged abuse of the animals in a timely manner adheres to the definition of acting with negligence and substantiates the charge Animal Cruelty.”

The move to punish the whistleblower was slammed

by Compassion Over Killing who stressed that witnessing and exposing animal abuse is not a crime and that the charge against the investigator was “unsupported by the law”.

“She’s being punished for telling the truth about the cruelty that happened at Quanah,” the organisation said. “It reeks of political motivation fueled by an agribusiness industry that continues to lash out in desperation, aiming to stop undercover investigators from exposing the truth.”

On January 10th 2014, the Weld County District AttorPage 8

Brave undercover investigator Taylor Radig exposed multiple acts of criminal cruelty. The thanks from local authorities?

A charge of animal cruelty that was eventually dropped. ney’s office filed a motion to dismiss the charge, noting that it “can’t be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

“I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone who helped make this happen,” Taylor Radig said in a statement.

“Thanks to your phone calls and letters to the District Attorney’s Office, donations to Compassion Over Killing and nearly 200,000 signatures on a Change.org petition, we successfully stood together

against injustice on behalf of the animals.”

ending animal suffering really is,” she added.

“We told the world that animal suffering matters, and that their pain should never be kept secret,” she continued.

“The motive behind my charges spoke to how effective Compassion Over Killing’s undercover investigations are, and how important it is that we keep the cameras rolling.”

Abby Spiwak, the Denver resident who set up the petition welcomed the outcome, saying “the District Attorney's office knows she's no criminal.”

The dropping of the charges also showed “just how strong the movement toward

Praising Radig for exposing the cruelty, she stated that if it wasn't for her, “the abuse to baby calves at the Quanah Cattle Company would still be going on today - that fact is not debatable.”

Also beyond debate is the ongoing plight of calves at Quanah. Most are male, unable to produce milk and therefore considered worthless by the dairy industry.

After being trucked in and unloaded, they are confined in crates or hutches for around a week before shipped out elsewhere to be raised and slaughtered for their meat.

Marketed as veal or beef, these young animals are the often forgotten victims of the dairy industry.

Goody good news from vegan candy Veganuary inspires thousands organisers of the helped along the way the animal reason,” she company THE Veganuary campaign with a 31-day sample said. “More people are

JANTASTIC!

THE company behind Goody Good Stuff candy has bid bye-bye to beeswax in a move that will make its entire range vegan.

The company says that they have been “fighting tooth and nail to find an alternative to beeswax so that the whole Goody Good Stuff range can be safe for vegans”.

have announced that over 3,200 individuals pledged to go vegan for the month of January 2014.

The initiative which encourages people to “eat delicious, healthy food, save 10 animals and do your bit for the environment” has been hailed a resounding success.

Those embracing the cruelty-free diet are

menu. Restaurant recommendations and product suggestions are also provided.

Speaking on BBC 5 Live Radio, Juliet Gellatley, director of vegan group VIVA said she has seen massive changes in people’s attitudes and that the rise of veganism is attributable to a number of factors.

“Obviously,

there’s

becoming aware of factory farming and every survey done shows that almost the whole population is against it.”

“On the health side, we’re just so much more well informed,” nutritional therapist Juliet added, pointing to an increased awareness about the links between dairy and acne, heart disease and certain cancers including breast and prostate.

“Meat eating may become repugnant” to the masses Up until now, half the varieties in the popular line of gummy sweets contained beeswax, making them unsuitable for vegans.

Announcing the news that the wax will be replaced with coconut oil, a Goody Good Stuff representative commented: “We're all very excited about it and can't wait for our vegan fans to try our entire range.”

The sweets are sold in over 5,500 outlets in 21 countries, including the USA, Canada, France and the UK. Among the chains stocking them are 7-11, Whole Foods Market, Tops, Waitrose, Tesco and Superdrug.

NOBEL prize winning economist Alvin Roth has predicted that in the future, the dominant diet will be vegan.

The Harvard and Stanford professor declared in a Time interview that “meat eating may become repugnant” to the masses resulting in meat-based diets becoming the exception, not the norm.

In a follow-up interview with Juhea Kim of the Peaceful Dumpling network, Professor Roth expressed his view that

“With more studies movement away from meat could be gradual. proving the intelligence “Our understanding of of cows, their anticipation cruelty can change,” he of death and will to live, said. “So before we out- people may well change law eating chicken, it is their attitudes toward far more likely to see ban- them, just as they did with ning of battery cages and whales,” he added. the worst treatments.”

Professor Roth offered this advice to those Asked why meatveganism: eaters viewed whale meat promoting as repugnant and yet “Instead of focusing on found it acceptable to eat making people repugnant beef, Prof Roth said that to meat, promote the pospeople believe that itive aspects of vegan eatwhales have higher intel- ing. Remember that ligence, and a capacity to repugnance can grow or anticipate and fear death fade.”

CARROT AWARD FOR 1ST LADY MICHELLE Obama's efforts to promote healthy eating habits have earned her a special award.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine chose the First Lady as the recipient of their 2014 Golden Carrot Award in appreciation of her “exceptional innovation and leadership in promoting school gardens and physical exercise”.

“We commend you and your staff for effective efforts to encourage children to eat more healthfully,” PCRM president, Dr Neal Barnard stated in a certificate issued to Mrs Obama.

The organisation says it hopes the award will encourage her to further promote plant-based foods.

The accompanying prize includes a packet of carrot seeds and betacarotene activity packets for principals of all DC public schools.

“Planting the seed about nutritious foods is a community-wide effort,” Dr Barnard outlines in a letter to them. “We encourage each school in Washington to take time to talk to its students about healthy school lunches and disease-fighting foods.”

Established in 2004, the Golden Carrot Awards recognise food service teams and individuals helping to make school lunches healthier by encouraging the consumption of more fresh fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods.

A BODY TO NOT KILL FOR

He has got a body to kill for but if you want a fabulous physique like bodybuilding star, Jim Morris, absolutely no killing will be necessary.

That’s because the former Mr USA and Mr Universe has sculpted his body on a diet free from meat and dairy.

And in an uplifting new PETA advert, his powerful message is: “Muscle your way to better health - Go Vegan.”

Encouraging people to “think before you eat”, Jim poses as Roudin's The Thinker and highlights that “eating vegan helps to prevent obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes and strokes.”

Meat-free since retiring from competition nearly three decades and vegan for the past 13 years, this 78-year-old is a glowing ambassador for healthy eating.

Speaking to PETA, he warns about the damaging

a fact I would not be here and I would not be in this condition now had I continued eating the way I was.”

effects of protein in animal After dropping dairy and products, saying it is laden transitioning to a vegan diet, a with harmful fats and chemi- bonus benefit awaited. cals.

“It kept me not only “When I was competing healthy but I feel better about and stuffing down all of that myself in how I relate to other sort of stuff, I had lots of creatures in the world,” Jim digestive problems,” he told PETA. “Over the years, recalls. “I was constipated and I've come to know these creabloated and just miserable all tures as thinking, feeling the time. I don't concern beings and I feel better about myself about protein any more myself as a vegan that I'm not because I know there's enough hurting these creatures.” protein in what I eat. There's Frugivore Magazine has protein in fruit, there's protein previously quoted Jim as sayin beans and protein in grains.” ing: “I believe every creature Dealing with dairy, he is born with the inalienable declares that “milk is for right of freedom. Freedom to babies.” live in its natural environ“I think a lot of people ment, with its own kind, makdon't realise that if they would ing its own decisions. I stop drinking milk and all of believe the law should prothe milk products, they would hibit the enslavement of all say, 'Wow, I didn't realise I non human species for any could feel this good'. I know as purpose whatever.”

Page 9

“Shocking and completely harrowing to watch”

Australian cattle tortured in Gaza lodged a legal complaint about breaches of the country's live export regulations the third such complaint in recent months following breaches of regulations in Jordan and Mauritius.

THERE have been renewed calls for a ban on Australia's live export trade after video footage emerged showing cattle being tortured.

The animals, identified through ear tags as having originated in Australia, were filmed being brutally abused during the Festival of Sacrifice in the Gaza Strip.

“There are no words to adequately describe the carnage in these videos and the scale of abuse endured by Australian cattle. It is shocking and completely harrowing to watch,” said Animals Australia Campaign Director, Lyn White.

Dozens of videos uploaded to YouTube show terrified cattle tied to poles, trees and vehicles, being stabbed repeatedly in the neck, having their legs bound before being forced to the ground and 'strung out' for slaughter and being beaten and dragged off trucks.

One of the animals violently abused and killed in Gaza in what has been described as some of the worst ever scenes of cruelty. Image: Animals Australia / Banliveexport.com

And in the worst of the horrific footage, one bound animal is seen being stabbed in the eye while another is kneecapped with bullets from an assault rifle.

and said that the barbaric treatment of Australian livestock in overseas markets had to stop.

Independent Member of Parliament, Andrew Wilkie, described it as among the most shocking ever captured

“Gaza is just the latest in a long line of revelations which show clearly that Australia's so-called supply chain assur-

ance is failing,” Mr Wilkie is quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald.

He has condemned the government's response to the cruelty, saying it “doesn't give a toss” about animal welfare.

“If the government doesn't

have the backbone to stop the trade altogether, then it should at least commit to ban or refuse permits to all companies that have demonstrated a continuing disregard for animal welfare,” he said.

Animals

Australia

has

Hens in enriched cages suffer poor conditions Image: Animal Aid

A NEW investigation into “enriched” egg industry cages has revealed that hens are continuing to suffer miserable conditions, despite promises of higher welfare.

Filmed by Animal Aid at an egg production facility in Lincolnshire England, the footage shows row upon row of multi-tier cages crowded with hens. Many of the birds were found to be in a “very poor condition”.

So-called enriched systems replaced battery cages in 2012 following a European Union ban but as this latest footage shows, little has changed for millions of jailed birds.

Animal Aid notes that despite the claims of improved conditions, compared to traditional battery cages, enriched cages only provide an additional 50 square centimetres of space per hen - that's less than the size of a beer mat.

conditions filmed, they stress that “the only enrichment provided in these cages is a scratching area - often consisting of a piece of Astroturf that soon becomes covered in excrement - and a ‘nest-box’ which may simply be a screened-off Pointing to the horrendous area of the cage.”

Page 10

There is no requirement to provide any form of bedding or comfort to the creatures.

“Many people now believe that cramped, barren cages are a thing of the past, but they are still very much a part of modern chicken farming,” Animal Aid says. “Half of all eggs laid

“So acceptable is this brutal treatment to locals that they are cheering and filming it on mobile phones. This is what Australian exporters have been exporting animals to for decades. It is time for every politician to search their consciences as to how they can allow this trade to continue.”

Every year, Australia exports millions of animals to over a dozen countries where there are no laws to protect them from cruelty.

Pig farmer will not be prosecuted The RSPCA has kicked a pig farm off its so-called “Freedom Food” scheme but will not be prosecuting.

Hillside Animal Sanctuary, who reported Cheshire's Wood Common Farm after filming pigs living in “awful conditions”, has expressed dismay.

“After a 5 month RSPCA 'investigation' during which an inspector described conditions on the farm as 'totally unacceptable', they have now informed us that their vet will not support a prosecution,” a Hillside spokesperson stated.

Defending its decision, the RSPCA stated: “On the basis of this evidence, the vet was unable to conclude that any in the UK come from hens in animals had suffered or that enriched cages, with many there was evidence of any being used in processed foods breaches of legislation.”

Responded Hillside: “We such as cakes, quiches and find it incredulous that there pasta.”

The group is calling on the could be any doubt that these public to help hens by boy- pigs were suffering.”

View the video footage at cotting the egg industry and www.tinyurl.com/wcpigfarm going vegan.

Free-range birds freed by activists ACTIVISTS in Germany have rescued six hens from a free-range egg operation.

Also filmed were cows suffering from open wounds and infections and workers dragging cows by their legs using chains attached to a tractor.

“Our images clearly show that these animals are not well and that they are suffering,” the pair of rescuers commented in a video posted online.

The investigation also documented baby calves being dragged away from their mothers immediately after birth and having their tails docked without painkillers common industry practice.

“It is important to see that the animals here are only valued for their productivity.

There is usually no alternative for these animals. They either die during their confinement or they are sent to slaughter later on.”

“Whether they come from free-range, organic or cagefree farms, none of these animals will live once their levels of productivity go down. No matter what type of life they

THE LATEST shocking revelations of dairy industry cruelty have uncovered the vicious beating of cows.

Footage filmed by Mercy for Animals at Wiese Brothers Farms in Wisconsin - a cheese supplier for DiGiorno Pizza includes sickening scenes of workers kicking, stabbing and violently whipping cows in the face and body.

Representing vegan organisation, Animal Equality, they gained access through an unlocked door and uncovered terrible conditions for the thousands of hens crammed in to the facility.

“We wanted to share their stories and show their faces which would otherwise remain anonymous,” they continue. “We want you to see these unheard victims of speciesism which suffer and die in our society.”

Dairy cows beaten and whipped

have had, this will be irrelevant as all of these animals will be sent to slaughter once they stop laying eggs.”

The six rescued hens were later examined by a vet and relocated to a sanctuary where they are enjoying freedom.

The activists did not hide their identities while filming.

This open rescue approach, says Animal Equality, is so that the individuals involved can take full responsibility for their action and its legitimacy.

“As in all open rescues we carry out, we always come away filled with a sensation of sadness and impotence when we have to close the door and leave behind thousands of other animals,” Animal

Equality said in a statement published on their website, www.animalequality.net.

“We are simply unable to rescue all of them, but together we can end their suffering, this depends on each one of us, by choosing ethical alternatives to animal products and removing our financial support from these industries.”

JONAS VON ESSEN: A NAME TO REMEMBER

“didn’t want to contribute to Jonas’s remarkable winning achievements in numbers the suffering and killing of other living beings.”

105 names committed to mem“Unfortunately, it took my ory in 15 minutes and recalled.

3841 binary digits committed viscous human mind 20 years before it got sane enough to to memory in 30 minutes and decide to go vegetarian and a recalled.

2280 random digits commityear and a half longer before it ted to memory in 1 hour and understood that if it really recalled. wanted not to contribute to the 459 abstract images commitsuffering of animals, vegan ted to memory in 15 minutes was the way to go.” and recalled.

Jonas has vowed to return 322 random digits committed next year to defend his number to memory in 5 minutes and 1 position. recalled.

106 dates committed to memory in 5 minutes and linked to correct fictional events.

1266 playing cards committed to memory in 60 minutes and recalled.

211 random words committed to memory in 15 minutes and recalled.

200 single digit numbers spoken out loud in 1 second intervals recalled.

42.57 seconds to commit to memory and recall a single Swede Success: Jonas with the 1266 playing cards he committed to memory and recalled pack of 52 playing cards.

A 22-year-old vegan from some sightseeing and find a Sweden has been crowned vegan cupcake shop!” the new World Memory In an interview with Champion.

PETA, Von Essen - who is In a truly memorable win, studying to be a maths teacher Jonas Von Essen scored a - credited his vegan diet with mind-blowing 8,534 points - helping sharpen his memory. the highest ever in the cham“Looking at my results in pionship's 22-year history. memory disciplines, I can “I'm really pleased with only say that since I became my score,” he said after his vegan, I have won six out of win at the Croydon Confer- seven international competience Centre in London. “I've tions,” he said.

Asked what prompted him been training for 4 to 5 hours a day and now I just want to do to go vegan, he stated that he

DiGiorno Pizza parent company, Nestle, has reportedly severed ties with the farm but with cruelty inherent in the dairy industry, the suffering is sure to continue.

MFA’s sliceofcruelty.com website is urging consumers to “help end the needless suffering of cows and other farmed animals by choosing vegan alternatives to milk, cheese and ice cream.”

Recipes for disaster IF THE idea of a zombiethemed recipe book doesn’t make you shuffle excitedly towards a book store, check your pulse now.

Billed as a “must have cookbook for all your survival needs in any zombie apocalypse”, Vegan Zombie Cook and Survive fearlessly goes where no cookbooks have gone before.

Featuring 85 mouth-watering recipes using easy to find ingredients, the book also incorporates a graphic novel.

A spin-off from the popular online cookery series, it gives readers the opportunity to take time out from cooking to enjoy the Vegan Zombie’s illustrated adventures.

Available as a paperback or e-book, it can be ordered now at www.theveganzombie.com Page 11

Retailers react to rabbit outrage MORE than a dozen major retailers have dropped angora after PETA released a video showing a tied-up rabbit screaming as fur is violently ripped from its body.

The sickening undercover footage, filmed in China, exposes what rabbits are routinely subjected to in the country’s depraved fur industry.

“Ninety percent of angora fur comes from China,” PETA says. “When you buy a sweater, hat, or other product that contains angora, the angora fur most likely originated in China, even if the finished product was assembled elsewhere.”

Reacting to the shocking scenes, more than a dozen clothing companies have completely banned angora. These include ASOS, Boden, Debenhams, H&M, Limited Brands (including Victoria’s Secret), Marc O’Polo, Marks & Spencer, Next, Primark, PVH Corp (including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger), Ted Baker and Whistles.

The Chinese Government is now being urged to outlaw the live plucking of rabbits.

Escaped cow shot by cops A COW which tried to stay alive by escaping from a Mexican slaughterhouse was pursued by local police and shot dead.

The animal made a bid for freedom after jumping over the railing of a pen and running through the streets of a neighbourhood in the city of San Luis Rio Colorado.

The Yuma Sun newspaper reported that a man also lost his life after being hit by the fleeing cow and tragically suffering fatal injuries.

Whale meat massacre WATER around the Faroe Islands was turned blood red as its latest marine massacre left 392 whales dead.

The Environmental Investigation Agency which campaigns against the hunt said: “We can only guess how much each whale suffered, not only while being dragged ashore and slaughtered but also while it was in the water.”

Hundreds of dolphins are also believed to have been killed by barbaric islanders.

Page 12

MEAT IS MOTHER Moments from death, trembling dog rescued from slaughter A DOG rescued from the jaws of China's horrific dog meat industry has given birth to eight puppies.

Vita was saved from certain death by Animal Equality investigators who, in a jointoperation with Last Chance for Animals, were in China to document the horrors of the dog meat trade.

“We found Vita in Zhanjiang in one of the thousands of dog slaughterhouses across China,” one of her rescuers outlined. “As soon as we arrived, we noticed her pleading eyes and trembling body.

Her eyes begged me to get her out of there.”

And so, as the slaughterman was brutally killing other unfortunate dogs, the rescue team gained the trust of a worker and tricked him before successfully smuggling Vita out.

Vita is one of the very few lucky ones. There are no happy endings for over 18 million dogs killed every year in China for their meat or fur.

These animals spend practically their entire lives in cages, surrounded by dirt and faeces, and fed a poor quality diet which causes them to become weak and diseased.

At the slaughterhouse, dogs are typically clubbed and beaten before being hung upside down and stabbed or electrocuted.

Most of the dogs in China’s meat trade have been caught from the streets while others have been bred on illegal farms or even kidnapped from loving homes.

“It pains us to remember

the other dogs we left Life and death: Vita with her puppies and, below, behind behind,” Animal Equality bars moments before being saved from a brutal killing. says. “We have worked hard to ensure the footage we took inside the slaughterhouse was covered by the media worldwide and we will continue to work to ensure that their suffering wont be forgotten.”

Since the rescue, Animal Equality has continued fighting the dog meat trade. Its latest efforts have led to the closure of 33 dog and cat market stalls and a dog slaughterhouse.

A major result, even if the police response was based largely on health and food security fears - the owners of the stalls and slaughterhouse were found to have no valid animal vaccine certificates.

Help end the dog meat trade at voicelessfriends.org

Condemnation of Tesco’s decapitation of turtles TESCO has again been condemned for appalling cruelty in its branches in China.

Despite giving assurances over the past five years that animal welfare would be protected and promoted, animals are continuing to suffer horrific deaths in the company’s stores.

An investigation carried out by the Daily Mail revealed that turtles are being beheaded and suffocated by Tesco staff.

A reporter from the newspaper visited a Tesco store in Beijing and witnessed a member of staff catching a purchased turtle with a metal

tongs and wrapping the creature in three thin plastic bags.

The reporter described how the turtle “desperately fought to get out of the bag until it was returned to the customer service desk”.

At a different Tesco branch, another member of staff was seen hacking at a turtle for seven minutes in an effort to chop its head off. He told the undercover reporter

“Look, I’ll let you know when it’s done. The head won’t come out.”

A few minutes later, he returned with dark blood speckles on his apron and the turtle’s severed head.

Campaign group, One World Wildlife is pushing for Tesco to stop the suffering and end its sale of live animals - not just turtles but also frogs, terrapins and fish.

Quoted in the report, group spokesperson Dominic Neate stated: “This is incredible for a company that claims to have high standards of animal welfare. Just because it’s in China, doesn’t make it right.

This must stop now.”

In an online petition [tinyurl.com/tescoturtles] , the groups says Tesco is responsible for “all stages of the turtles’ tortured existence from being farmed in terrible conditions, packaged in boxes to live on supermarket shelves gasping for life, to their customers' random slaughtering techniques.”

Villainous Tributes paid to vegan vegan role author and historian for JCVD

THE world has lost one of its most passionate vegan pioneers with the death on January 9th 2014 of historian, author, lecturer and activist Rynn Berry.

that Jesus fed the multitudes with fish,” he said. “I translated the passage in the Gospel of John in which he supposedly fed multitudes with fish and the word that is used for fish is opsaria. The first meaning of the word opsaria is 'relish' and only the fourth meaning is 'little fish'. So it was really mistranslated. That would make far more sense for him to be multiplying loaves of bread and relish. That's how people dined in the ancient world - they would take bread which was very nutritious and tear off a piece, dip it into the relish (for example, pickled olives or tahini) and eat it.”

Rynn was a historical advisor to the North American Vegetarian Society and the author of several influential books, including ‘Hitler: Neither Vegetarian nor Animal Lover’ (in which he demolished “the seeming paradox that a genocidal tyrant could have been an animal lover and an ethical vegetarian”), ‘Food for the Gods: Vegetarianism and the World's Religions’ and ‘Famous Vegetarians and their Favorite Recipes’.

He was also responsible for the popular Vegan Guide to New York City. Affectionately dubbed by the New York Times as “more than a guide - a portable conscience”, it was updated annually with its 19th edition published last year.

Confirming 68-year-old Rynn's death on Facebook, close friend Martin Rowe described him as a witty, erudite figure and “the epitome of the kind of unheralded grassroots activist without which any movement for change cannot grow”.

greatly, even by those who never met him, but his work will live on.”

“Rynn’s impact was literally incalculable, given how many met him, bought his books, or talked with him at the Union Square green market over many years,” he said. “He will be missed

Most recently, on the 22nd December 2013 show, he told listeners that Jesus was a vegan and explained how inappropriate it is for people to feast on ham and turkey at Christmas.

Among the platforms from which he imparted his knowledge over the years was Go Vegan Radio, on which he was a guest five times.

“[Jesus] would be appalled at the manner in which people are celebrating his birth,” he said. “He was destined to be an animal liberator and to reform the dietary practices of the elite. They made a travesty of everything he stood for.”

Responding to news of the death, Go Vegan Radio show host, Bob Linden paid tribute to Rynn, saying “he made an enormous and valuable intellectual contribution to our vegan education and was a one-of-a-kind who will be greatly missed.”

The sentiment was echoed by vegan chef and author Mary Lawrence.

Asked about the commonly held belief that Jesus ate fish, Rynn outlined that this was a misinterpretation of the truth.

“This is an unfathomable loss to the vegan community,” she wrote. “He was truly one of those rare individuals who, simply by his presence, made the world a better place knowing he was in it. I will miss him tremendously.”

“In my book, Food for the Gods, I debunk the myth

Rest in peace, Rynn Berry (1945-2014).

MARTIAL arts icon Jean Claude Van Damme returns to the big screen in the rare role of a villainous vegan drug lord.

In the action-packed Enemies Closer, the high-kicking Muscles from Brussels takes veganism where it’s never been before.

Directed by Peter Hyams (who previously gave us Van Damme in TimeCop and Sudden Death), the film follows Xanders on a meat-free mission through the wilderness as he punches, kicks and kills his way towards the cargo of a crashed plane.

Van Damme’s character shuns leather, cares about the environment and is concerned about carbon footprints but, unlike most vegans, frequently chooses killing over compassion. This meat-free mercenary has no aversion to inflicting pain and death on animals (of the human variety).

Although not a vegan in real-life, Jean Claude Van Damme has, in the past, acted to help animals and spoken out against abuse.

He has rescued and homed abandoned dogs, condemned the cruelty of the fur trade (“I fail to see what is attractive about walking around in an animal skin”) and appealed to the South Korean president to stop the torture and killing of dogs and cats.

Referring to his canine companions, he has said: “You know, when we respect animals, we tend to respect human beings. I encourage people to adopt abandoned animals.

It's a beautiful life story which leads to a beautiful love story.”

Ghana to host Africa’s first world veg event AFRICA will host its first ever world vegan event this October.

already has a banner displayed which urges people to follow a vegetarian diet.

The International Vegetarian Union's 42nd World Vegfest is to be held in Accra, Ghana with the aim of inspiring more Africans to live a healthy and compassionate lifestyle.

Praising Ghana as a host country, IVU Representative for Africa, Emmanuel Eyoh, said the country has the strongest vegetarian association on the continent.

The Vegetarian Association of Ghana, which is organising the six day event, says all food served will be plant-based and “all aspects will be consistent with vegan philosophy”.

Running from October 1st to 6th, the festival will feature food fairs, seminars, talks, films and health product exhibitions.

There will also be a visit

Some of the increasing number of vegans in Ghana, where the IVU World Vegfest will be held in October to local orphanages to doDuring the week, the nate food items, an introduc- country's Health Minister tion to traditional Ghanaian will be presented with a letdishes and a Vegan Youth ter outlining the benefits of Day dedicated to the upcom- promoting a plant-based ing generation. diet. The Ministry of Health

“The Vegetarian Association of Ghana was founded in 2005 by vegan nutritionist Nathan Adu who runs a successful vegetarian restaurant in Accra central,” he said.

“He is assisted by the secretary Emmanuel Awunyo, a senior government official and many others. Their patron is the former chief judge of Ghana and they work in partnership with various groups.”

Fruit fight: Van Damme’s vegan in a scene from Enemies Closer

Pam presses PM to ban fur ACTRESS and animal activist Pamela Anderson has called on the Israeli Prime Minister to back a ban on the sale of fur.

In a letter to Binyamin Netanyahu, Pamela wrote: “I urge you to do everything in your power to help pass this historic bill, which has been signed by forty members of the Knesset.”

The bill, submitted by Knesset members Ruth Calderon and Nitzan Horowitz, states “In Israel, there is a broad public consensus that the killing of animals for their fur is an act contrary to morality.”

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Whales dying for pet treats Endangered whales slaughtered by Iceland are being turned into pet snacks, it has been revealed.

An Icelandic businessman has been slammed for driving the slaughter of 134 fin whales, the second-largest cetacean on the planet, and marketing the meat for people and pets.

The Environmental Investigation Agency says that with no market for fin whale meat in Iceland, whaling kingpin Kristjan Loftsson and his company Hvalur last year exported 386 tonnes to Japan.

Some of this is being manufactured in to snacks for Japanese dogs.

Loftsson has also been condemned for going “one step further into the realm of grotesque irony” by powering his whaling fleet with a ‘biofuel’ partly made of whale oil.

“It is deeply disturbing that the UK and other EU member states are not diplomatically blasting Iceland for breaking two international treaties,” commented EIA campaigner, Clare Perry, pointing out that cetaceans are completely protected in European waters.

A JOURNALIST who exposed illegal fishing in Cambodia has been beaten to death by fishermen.

Suon Chan, 44, who wrote for the Khmer language newspaper Meakea Kampuchea (Cambodia’s Way) was reportedly confronted by a gang of 10 fishermen as he was leaving his home.

Four of the thugs beat him unconscious and he was later pronounced dead after being sent for medical treatment.

The brutal attack took place in the Cholkiri district of Kampong Chhnang province.

“He had stones thrown at him and was beaten with the base of a bamboo stalk by a group of people while he was walking alone out of his house in order to buy cigarettes from a shop in the village,” a spokesperson for the local police told the Phnom Penh Post.

Human rights group calls for “full and impartial investigation” into brutal attack by fishermen thugs ist's killing may have been in revenge for articles which exposed illegal fishing in the region and sparked a police crackdown.

The Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) has condemned the attack, saying it was “yet another affront to freedom of expression, and in particular to freedom of the press, in the Kingdom of Cambodia where journalists

are regularly targeted for their work and where a culture of impunity for these crimes reigns.”

CCHR Human Rights Defenders Project Coordinator Chhay Chhunly is urging the authorities to ensure that “a full and impartial investigation into Suon Chan’s death is conducted and that the perpetrators are brought to justice, not only to ensure justice for

Suon Chan’s family but also to promote a culture of respect for and protection of journalists and their work”.

Marine conservation group, The Black Fish praised Suon Chain, saying “he worked to expose illegal fishing through his reporting, which has now cost him his life.”

“Our thoughts are with Suon's family and friends at this tragic and difficult time,” they added.

Police say they have identified the four suspects and are planning to make arrests.

Photo: DAP News

The EIA, along with other conservation NGOs, convinced a major pet food company to cease production of the fin whale ‘jerky’ treats. They are calling on other businesses to follow suit.

REPORTER KILLED AFTER EXPOSING ILLEGAL FISHING

Brave newspaper reporter Suon Chan who was brutally attacked by fishermen thugs

“He was hit and seriously injured on his head and neck, and lost consciousness at the scene.”

The paper also reported that relatives of Mr Chan were also beaten when they rushed to the scene after hearing his cries for help.

Police believe the journal-

Community-led effort Whale meat is to stop illegal fishing seized at fair Among the technologies employed by The Black Fish are camera-equipped drones.

GERMAN customs officials have seized whale meat being sold at Berlin's Green Week trade fair.

A fleet of these crafts were used in a campaign to detect illegal drift net fishing in the Mediterranean, a practice which kills thousands of whales, dolphins, sharks and fish every year.

The meat - thought to be from minke whales - was being sold from a Norwegian stall for 2 euro per plate, despite being illegal in Germany and most of the European Union.

The Black Fish was founded in Amsterdam in 2010.

Among its achievements are the cutting of nets in Taiji harbour, resulting in freedom for Activist Wietse van der Werf ten dolphins who swam back that it is centered around com- out to sea and escaped lifelong munity-led enforcement of captivity. conservation legislation.

Activists also successfully

Around 4kg of the meat had already been sold to fair visitors before customs was tipped off and officers arrived to confiscate the remaining 3kg.

Marine conservation organisation, The Black Fish, is set to launch a new initiative aimed at exposing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in European seas.

“The new programme brings together a broad civic community and helps develop innovative technologies to monitor for illegal fishing practices in a multi-disciplinary way,” Black Fish founder and vegan, Wietse van der Werf explains.

“It facilitates enforcement of existing laws and regulations, through the collection of evidence, with the long-term aim to directly secure prosecuIt will employ new techtions.” nologies and aims to inspire What makes the new pro- political action to safeguard a gramme unique, he says, is future for the world's oceans.

Page 14

released over 1,000 endangered bluefin tuna back into the Adriatic Sea from cages at a fish farm in Croatia.

Astrid Fuchs of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society pointed out that both the importation and sale of the whale meat is illegal.

“Laws have been broken

here and questions must be asked, amongst them whether this is the first time that whale meat has been on sale at this or similar events: or was this just the first time that the sellers have been caught redhanded?” he said.

The case has now referred to state prosecutors which could lead to the Norwegian stall holders being fined or imprisoned for five years.

Commercial whaling is banned by the International Whaling Commission but Iceland and Norway reject this and continue whaling. In 2013, the Norwegian kill quota stood at 1,286 whales.

The creatures are cruelly killed using grenade-tipped harpoons which are fired into their bodies and explode.

KILLING PLANT SHUT AFTER RELEASE OF HARROWING VIDEO A CALF killing plant in New Jersey has been ordered to suspend its operations following the release of a video showing harrowing cruelty.

reacted to the complaint by withdrawing its inspectors, which are required for slaughter operations.

The HSUS is now pressing the Department of Agriculture to finally close a loophole that allows the slaughter of “downed” veal calves, that is those too sick or injured to walk on their own. Slaughterhouses are already required to euthanize downed adult cows but this does not apply to calves.

The closure of Catelli Brothers - a kosher and nonkosher slaughterhouse in Shrewsbury - comes after the Humane Society of the United States presented its footage to authorities as part of a legal complaint.

Revealing “serious and systematic violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act”, the footage includes sickening scenes of calves struggling while hanging upside down on a conveyor belt, calves being shot numerous times before going unconsciousness, a truck driver dragging a downed calf with a chain around his neck and employees shocking, hitting, and spraying calves with water.

A calf is mercilessly hit on the head at Catelli Brothers slaughterhouse in New Jersey by their tails, and telling employees never to do the same if inspectors are present.

“Our investigator witnessed animal abuse time and time again, including calves who were still fully conscious up to two minutes after having Also filmed were plant their throats cut,” Paul Shapiro managers twisting calves' ears of the HSUS stated.

He referred to another calf and tails when they were too weak to stand, lifting the who remained conscious after entire weight of some calves being shot with a captive bolt

gun. “The calf had to be shot with a bolt gun five times before he was effectively rendered unconscious,” he said.

And in another incident, infuriating to anyone with an ounce of compassion, a calf with a broken leg is accused of being lazy when he refused to stand up and follow his doomed companions out of a transportation truck.

The animal who suffered

the injury during a 10 hour journey to the killing plant is “derided for not being willing to stand and walk to his own slaughter”.

In the undercover footage, the driver of the truck can be heard saying “he just wants to play lazy now”. He later adds: “I know he's got a broken leg.”

The United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service

“Downed calves are still suffering the sort of appalling abuses that we exposed in 2009 at another calf slaughter plant in Vermont,” Humane Society CEO Wayne Pacelle stated.

“We commend USDA for taking action to shut down the operation at Catelli Brothers, but it's long past time to close the loophole in the downed animal rule that perpetuates continuing cruelty to calves.”

The HSUS is reminding the public that every time they sit down to eat, they can help stop the suffering.

Hoppy ending for toads SELFRIDGES DROP AN important toad habitat on the shores of Lake Erie has been saved from destruction thanks to a two-year campaign.

A controversial decision to allow the construction of a 12story waterfront condo complex over the area was reversed after thousands of activists swamped the developer with complaints.

Officials in Fort Erie, Ontario had originally given the go-ahead to the company to “damage and destroy” the area and to “harm, harass, kill and collect the toads”.

Campaigners, led by conservation group Save the Frogs, argued that the Crystal Beach project would drive one of Canada’s last Fowler's Toad populations to extinction.

On New Year’s Eve, town bosses announced that the developer had abandoned the plan and “offered no reason for their decision”.

Save the Frogs founder, Dr Kerry Kriger, welcomed the news, declaring it a victory for the Fowler’s Toads.

Only three populations of the endangered species survive in all of Canada.

CRUELTY COFFEE

UK department store chain, suffering of factory farmed Selfridges, has stopped sell- civets - permanently caged ing a variety of coffee linked and force-fed the beans. to animal cruelty.

Responding to a World Society for the Protection of Civet coffee (Kopi Luwak) Animals campaign, Selfridges comes from beans that have as well as Dutch company been eaten and excreted by the Simon Levelt, Sweden’s TekAsian palm civet. nikmagasinet and Denmark’s A BBC documentary aired Winther’s Kaffe have dropped last September exposed the the disgusting product.

Page 15

“MANY PEOPLE HAVE TOLD ME THEY STOPPED EATING FLESH BECAUSE OF SOMETHING I SAID. I CAN'T ASK FOR HIGHER THAN THAT” ~ MORRISSEY ~ Responding to questions on the True-to-you.net fan site, he said: “Many people have told me that they stopped eating flesh because of something I said. I can't ask for higher than that and I wouldn't aim for higher than that.”

Asked about what motivated him to stop eating meat, the ‘Meat is Murder’ lyricist pointed to videos exposing slaughterhouse horrors.

World leaders, including Barack Obama, were also lambasted for their silence on the environmental destruction and human disease and death being caused by the meat industry.

“If you have access to YouTube, you should click on to what is called ‘the video the meat industry doesn't want you to see’,” he told followers. “If this doesn't affect you in a moral sense then you're probably granite.”

“If you believe in the abattoir then you would support Auschwitz. There's no difference,” he added. “People who would disagree with this statement have probably never been inside an abattoir.”

In reply to a fan who asked

what action he would like to see being taken to protect animals from cruelty and killing, Morrissey listed a ban on zoos and circuses, the appointment of Animal Protectionist Members of Parliament in every government and the Queen to stop wearing “an electrocuted bear-cub on her head”.

He went on to criticise the promotion of meat on television, suggesting that every TV commercial that promotes

CEO says change diet to tackle climate change THE CEO of vegan meat alternative company, Beyond Meat, has declared that a diet change is the best way to tackle climate change.

Ethan Brown said in a CNN Money interview that “how we produce protein is the most important environmental question facing our society today.”

The company has developed an interactive website that will explain to millions of Chinese school kids the plight of the abused animals.

“flesh-food” should be followed by one showing, step by step, how the living pig and the living cow become the supermarket commodity.

Next to be criticised were so-called celebrity chefs who eagerly encourage millions of viewers to eat meat and “believe that animals should have no right to live”.

“If Jamie 'Orrible [Oliver] is so certain that flesh-food is

“I would also like to ask meat-eaters why they are so certain that animals deserve such barbaric and horrific treatment,” Morrissey concluded. “I would like to ask meat-eaters why they believe that animals should not have any rights to live their own lives, whilst humans fiercely demand a god-given right to live as they wish simply by reason of their birth alone.”

In China and Vietnam, over 12,000 bears are held in captivity on farms and “milked” regularly for their bile, which is used in traditional medicine.

Go vegan by train A NEW ad campaign is encouraging commuters to be compassionate and quit consuming animals.

Eye-catching PETA posters are on display in 25 London Underground stations and feature a photo of a pig alongside the message “You Morrissey’s best-selling Can Live Without Those Ribs “Autobiography” book is cur- - I Can't!” rently available. Its success The organisation says that has inspired him to work on a the cute tube ads aim to chalnovel which is now half-com- lenge people to think critically plete. He is also soon to begin about their meat consumption recording his 10th solo album, from the perspective of the the follow-up to 2009's 'Years animals killed for food.

Of Refusal'.

To help spread the vegan

KEEPING IT RAIL!

message, a dozen activists in animal costumes travelled through King’s Cross station encouraging travellers to “Love me, don’t eat me!”

strips - to help reduce consumption of animals and lessen the livestock industry’s negative environmental impact.

Make a donation

“I try to encourage people to shift to plant protein,” he said.

“I think that's the number one thing that people can do in their lifetime to positively impact climate change.”

VEGAN Future newspaper is reader-supported. You can make a donation by clicking on the Paypal button at veganfuture.wordpress.com

He set up the company, Beyond Meat products can whose plant-based product be purchased in Whole Foods range includes grilled and Southwest-style chicken-free Market stores.

Page 16

IT giant, Microsoft, is supporting the campaign to end bear bile farming in China.

Entitled “Exploring Moon Bears”, the Internet Explorerenhanced site presents three story books which relate the past, present and future of tasty then why doesn't he stick bears that have been rescued one of his children in a from bile farms. microwave?”

Morrissey Wei Qing of Microsoft said remarked. “It would taste the the company is pleased to be same as cooked lamb.” collaborating with Animals He went on to question the Asia on the site. He said it mentality of singer Cilla helps stop bear bile farming Black - “she recently appeared “through a more vivid and on television telling us how interactive online experience”. she was preparing leg of lamb Animals Asia founder and for dinner, and since a lamb is CEO Jill Robinson added: a baby, I wondered what kind “We can’t thank Microsoft of mind Cilla Black could enough for their help. We are possibly have that would con- truly inspired by their contrivince her that eating a baby is bution and commitment to OK.” ending bear bile farming.”

MORRISSEY has said that the achievement he is most proud of is inspiring others to stop eating meat.

He continued: “I see no difference between eating animals and paedophilia. They are both rape, violence, murder. If I'm introduced to anyone who eats beings, I walk away. Imagine, for example, if you were in a nightclub and someone said to you 'Hello, I enjoy bloodshed, throat-slitting and the destruction of life,' well, I doubt if you'd want to exchange phone numbers.”

Microsoft site helps bile bears

Vegan hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons encouraging commuters to “Get on Board - Go Vegan” in a new PETA campaign running on the Tide light rail in Norfolk, Virginia.

If you would like to send comments or feed-back, email veganfuture1@yahoo.ie Thanks for your support!

VEGANS RUN INTO THE RECORD BOOKS WITH 366 MARATHONS

THE decision to adopt a raw vegan diet helped save the life of Janette Murray-Wakelin, the New Zealander who, with husband Alan, have won worldwide acclaim for their sensational running record.

The pair, who on New Year’s Day, completed a recordbreaking 366 consecutive marathons, fuelled their fabulous feat on a wholly raw vegan diet.

The healthy variety of fruit and vegetables consumed are not only life-sustaining but also life-saving.

In 2001, Janette was told time was running out for her after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Determined to prove the doctors wrong, she went vegan and soon reversed the prognosis - a turnaround she documents in her book, “Raw Can Cure Cancer”.

“I wanted to do something to change [the prognosis] and I just made a lot of really conscious lifestyle choices, especially with food and eating only 100 per cent nutrientladen food which is fruit and veg,” she recalls. “I stopped cooking it so I wasn’t losing any of it. That helped the body to rejuvenate and reverse the

situation.” It’s a diet that has continued to serve the couple well.

In preparation for their monumental Running Raw Around Australia adventure, they calculated how many calories their bodies needed to complete each leg of the 15,000 km journey.

This was covered by consuming 10 bananas, a grapefruit and a date smoothie for breakfast, another 10 bananas and a large green smoothie later in the morning and a fruit salad in the afernoon followed by three oranges.

When each run was complete, they enjoyed a rejuvenating dinner of veggie juice, avocados and a huge vegetable salad.

Their days began at 03.50 when the alarm sounded and after the first of the morning meals, they were on the road usually before 5am.

Speaking to ABC Radio,

International Natural Bodybuilding Association Champion and the founder and president of Vegan Bodybuilding The “Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness. & Fitness” author took the “A vegan diet is very contop spot in the 2013 Go Vegan ducive to success in athletics Stay Vegan survey of “the because plant-based whole very best that the vegan foods provide the best sources world has to offer”. of nutrition, coming from One of the world’s most their original forms,” he says.

Raw vegan power propels Alexei Voyevoda forward

Alan said that they were sore during the first few weeks as they got used to the daily routine.

“After that, it's actually become easier every day,” he revealed. “I really don't think we've had any days when we didn't think we could make it.

But we had a few longer days through extremes of heat. We had some 44 degree days going up into Canberra.”

The pair also had to contend with freezing temperatures, a cyclone, hailstones, floods and a bushfire.

So what’s next for these awesome athletes? They say they will continue to run and spread the word about the raw vegan diet.

Planned for 2014 is a speaking tour of Australia and an appearance in August at New York’s Woodstock Fruit Festival. They are also writing a book about their experiences and will be featured in a special documentary.

Donations to their chosen charities may be made at www.runningrawaroundaustralia.com

Cheeke is favourite veg athlete BODYBUILDING supremo Robert Cheeke has been voted favourite vegan athlete in an annual online poll.

It’s Sochi great diet

ball or bodybuilding, all athletes and non-athletes alike, can benefit from a plantbased, whole food vegan diet/lifestyle.”

Vegan since the age of 15, Robert Cheeke was previously praised by VegNews Magazine as one of the 15 most influential vegan athletes.

He appears on the cover of recognised bodybuilders, “Whether we’re referring the current edition of Vegan Robert Cheeke is a former to running, swimming, foot- Health and Fitness Magazine.

“I've experimented with RAW vegan powerhouse Alexei Voyevoda is a diet a lot,” he explains in a strong candidate for a video interview posted on medal at the Winter Youtube.

Olympics in Sochi.

Comparing his performVoyevoda, a three-time ances on various diets, he arm wrestling world cham- reveals that on the meat and pion and a two-time Olym- dairy diet, he “lacked enerpic bobsleigh medalist is a gy” while the raw vegan diet member of the 2014 is “very effective”.

Russian bobsledding team Asked about dairy prodand says he wants to win ucts, he said: “At first I ate gold. dairy products and drank “My role on the team is to stop the bobsleigh,” he told the Moscow Times. “I do this with the strength I have acquired through arm wrestling.”

milk. Then I stopped.” Asked if he is vegan, he replied “Yes, I am.”

While adjusting his diet in winter to eat some cooked foods, his preference is clearVoyevoda maintains his ly for raw foods.

“In the summimpressive er we have the strength on a opportunity to vegan diet eat fresh vegraw most of etables and the year exfruits and to cept in winter be raw vegwhen he says ans,” he stathe eats some ed. “Just try foods that are cooked. it. I encourage you to try a The Sochi native is on healthy lifestyle. Maybe you record as saying that when like it. I like it.” he switched meat for fruits As an official ambassador and vegetables, he felt bet- of the Sochi Games tasked ter and experienced “in- with encouraging people to creased speed and streng- adopt a healthy lifestyle, th”.

Alexei is a powerful role “You just need to eat the model. right foods, among which See him and the Russian the meat is not included,” bobsleigh team in action at he is quoted as saying on the Winter Olympics on XSportNews.com.

February 16 and 17.

Page 17

I Want to Win Gold Vegan bobsledder Alexei Voyevoda

RAWESOME! Record-breaking performance by plant powered partners

A RAW vegan couple from New Zealand has set a stunning world record by running 366 consecutive marathons around Australia.

Janette Murray-Wakelin, 64, and Alan Murray, 68, began their plantpowered journey on January 1st 2013 near Melbourne and ran into the record books a year later after clocking up over 15,000 kilometres.

Olympics silver for Duhamel VEGAN figure skater, Meagan Duhamel, is celebrating after winning a silver medal at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Meagan and pairs partner Eric Radford, along with the Canadian team, won the medals in the team skating event, finishing ahead of the US and behind host Russia.

The pair, who previously completed 50 marathons in 50 days along the length of New Zealand, took on the new challenge to raise money for charities and promote the vegan diet.

Janette said that their aim during the round-Australia journey was to convey a message of kindness and compassion to all living beings, to show that anything is possible and that you’re never too old and never too young!

“We hope that what we have done will bring great inspiration and motivation to people worldwide and we know that we have touched thousands of people by what we've done,” she said. “We feel blessed to have been part of bringing that message forth.”

Cancer survivor Janette is living proof that the raw vegan diet not only nourishes the body but can also heal it too.

She explains that 13 years ago, she was diagnosed with highly aggressive carcinoma breast cancer and given six months to live.

Turn to page 17 to read more

Elite marathon runner smashes seven continents world record VEGAN running star Fiona Oakes has smashed a world record after completing seven marathons on all seven continents in less than 26 hours.

Vegan Society patron, Fiona, recorded an aggregate time for the gruelling challenge of 25 hours and 54 minutes - that’s nearly three hours less than the previous female record.

She has also become the first vegan to finish the seven continents plus north pole marathon challenge.

Achieving this over a period completed the Sahara course of 225 days, she well and truly in just six days. demolished the previous A retained firefighter and a female record of 324 days. carer of hundreds of animals at Her aggregate time for the Tower Hill Stables, the Essex Seven Continents and Polar animal sanctuary she founded Ice Cap marathons is also a in 1993, Fiona enters the world record at 31 hours and endurance events to raise 12 minutes. money for animals and also to Among her other remark- promote veganism. able feats is running the 153 With her boundless dedicamile Marathon des Sables in tion to animals and awe-inspir2012. ing achievements in athletics, Considered the toughest there can be no doubt that this foot race on earth with temper- “Queen of the Extreme” is one atures as high 50 C and stages of the greatest ambassadors for as long as 50 miles, Fiona compassionate living.

This is the latest major success for Meagan and Eric who previously won gold at the 2013 Four Continents championships and for the past three years in a row, have been crowned the Canadian national champions.

On their way to a win earlier this year in Ottawa, they achieved a stunning new national record with a total score of 213.62.

Ontario native Meagan credits going vegan in 2008 with making her spectacular jumps “more effortless”.

“I have a better balance in my body. I sleep better. My skin is better. My energy levels are better. I feel stronger, calmer, and more at peace with everything,” she has said.

In an interview with Viva la Vegan, she revealed that everyone is supportive of her lifestyle.

“The other athletes love the treats I bring to competitions and often ask me for recipes,” she said. “I try to talk to anyone who is interested. I am not surrounded by any other vegans in my life so I'm advocating alone for veganism!”