The Vegan Summer 2006 by The Vegan Society

THE SOYA STORY HEALTH HISTORY ENVIRONMENT

in this issue features

At the beginning of May the live export of calves from the UK resumed following a decade-long hiatus caused by the BSE crisis. Each year, as many as 500,000 three-day-old calves will be shipped to the continent, where they face months of confinement in bare, narrow veal crates. These are the ‘leftovers’ of the dairy industry: born to make their mothers’ milk flow. Hundreds protested at Dover docks and The Vegan Society was there with the message that simple changes can have a big effect. Switching from dairy to soya milk is such a small thing, but can make a huge difference. So why don’t more people make this change? Recent reports about rainforests being felled to grow soyabeans certainly haven’t helped. I’m sure that, like me, you’ve had friends and relatives imply that you are almost singlehandedly responsible for deforestation. In this edition, Merav Shub argues that the growth in the animal feed industry has caused more environmental damage than the direct consumption of soya products by humans.

Catriona Toms Editor

Donald Watson House

Editor Catriona Toms Design www.doughnutdesign.co.uk Printed by Hastings Printing Company On G-print chlorine-free paper Cover Illustration Simon Parkin/SussedDesign.com.

THE SOYA STORY

THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF SOYA HIMALAYAN SOYA DELIGHT SOYA & HEALTH: POISON OR PANACEA? THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF SOYA

16 18 19 21

YOU BET THEY DIE: GREYHOUND RACING CRUELTY NOTICE OF AGM

24 36

NEWS FROM THE CHAIR SHOPAROUND – SUNSHINE SPECIAL SHOPAROUND EXTRA OUT & ABOUT VEGILANTICS RECIPES – FROM 222 VEGGIE VEGAN GROW VEGAN NUTRITION NEWS MEGAN THE VEGAN / TYPICAL VEGAN? DEAR VEGAN SOCIETY… REVIEWS POSTBAG EVENTS NETWORK CONTACTS LISTINGS CLASSIFIEDS CROSSWORD COMPETITION

I hope you find much here to help you persuade others of the benefits of switching from dairy to soya – for the sake of every one of those 500,000 three-day-old calves.

Local rate 0845 45 88244

regulars

Then there are the scare stories surrounding soya and health. Dietitian Sandra Hood looks at the various claims and counter-claims and finds little cause for concern.

The Vegan Society

TRIBUTE TO SERENA COLES, 1910-2005

Tel. 01424 427393

7 Battle Road l

St Leonards-on-Sea

Fax. 01424 717064

East Sussex

TN37 7AA

2 3 4 7 8 10 22 27 28 29 31 33 35 37 38 41 44

e-mail: info@vegansociety.com

© The Vegan Society Registered Charity no. 279228 The views expressed in The Vegan do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or of the Vegan Society Council. Nothing printed should be construed to be Vegan Society policy unless so stated. The Society accepts no liability for any matter in the magazine. The acceptance of advertisements (including inserts) does not imply endorsement. The inclusion of product information should not be construed as constituting official Vegan Society approval for the product, its intended use, or its manufacturer/distributor. Contributions intended for publication are welcomed, but unsolicited materials will not be returned unless accompanied by a SAE.

The Vegan l Summer 2006

News n RED MEAT ALTERS DNA Several studies have indicated a link between bowel cancer and consumption of red and processed meats; now scientists believe they may have found the reason. It seems that after red meat is eaten, chemical compounds formed in the large bowel attach themselves to DNA causing it to mutate; this increases the risk of bowel cancer. Indeed it is thought that 70% of colorectal cancers are preventable by dietary and lifestyle changes.

n SOMETHING’S FISHY

n VEGAN WRIST BANDS

New research has thrown into question the widely reported health benefits of oily fish (see nutrition news, page 28). One large study has found increased deaths from heart disease with increased fish or fish oil consumption. The danger that mercury-tainted fish presents to pregnant women and to children has been well documented and again points to the need to consume only safe plant foods, which have no negative side effects.

We’ve all seen white ‘Make Poverty History’ wristbands and the blue ‘Beat Bullying’ bands, amongst others. Now at last you can buy a dark green vegan version to proudly display your ethical choice. For more information visit: www.veggiewristbands.com or write to: Veggie Wristbands, 34 Deburgh Road, SW19 1DU.

Additionally, the Food Standards Agency has stated that Seven Seas has withdrawn a number of batches of its fish oil supplements because of dioxin levels exceeding statutory limits.

n PECULIAR PRESCRIPTIONS A six month pilot scheme to provide a healthier lifestyle involves family doctors in the Highlands prescribing locally produced fruit and vegetables for their patients. This program will sign people up for subsidised fruit and vegetable boxes, the aim being to wean people off junk food. It’s a step in the right direction! Meanwhile, an Ixworth GP has been handing out prescriptions for red meat under a scheme set up by the British Meat Nutrition Education Service, which is supported by the Meat and Livestock Commission. The Vegan Society has written to the General Medical Council to point out that the consumption of red meat can contribute to raised cholesterol levels, cancer and heart disease, and to enquire about the legality of such prescriptions.

The Vegan l Summer 2006

n STOP THE 2006 SHOOTING SEASON Animal welfare organisations have called for the shooting industry to stop breeding birds for the 2006 shooting season to help stop the possible spread of bird flu. The release of 35 million birds into the countryside is expected to increase the risk, both to wild and reared birds and to the general public who may come into contact with the birds. Unfortunately much of the shooting industry has ignored this plea.

n SCOTLAND TO BAN WILD ANIMALS IN CIRCUSES Ross Finnie, Scottish Minister for the Environment and Rural Development, intends to ban the use of wild animals in circuses following a successful campaign by animal welfare groups. Scientists, politicians and the public have agreed that the circus environment does not meet the needs of wild animals. The UK Parliament would do well to take note of this as they are also planning reforms but are expected to only outlaw the use of some species of wild animals in circuses nationwide. Shame on Whitehall!

n FRIEDEN HOWARD, 1940-2006 Sadly Vegfam Trustee Frieden Howard died at his home ‘The Sanctuary’ (Vegfam H/Q) on 8th April 2006, following a short illness. Frieden was a gentle and dedicated person who will be sorely missed by his family and friends and by Vegfam supporters. Vegfam was founded by Frieden’s mother, Ruth Howard, who was active in the vegetarian movement and raised Frieden as a vegan. He was not a life-long vegan; whilst a teenager at boarding school he reverted to vegetarianism, later readopting veganism. The funeral service took place on Friday 21st April at Exeter and Devon Crematorium and was followed by a gathering at Exeter Friends Meeting House. A further memorial service will take place in September. Everyone who knew Frieden through Vegfam or elsewhere will be welcome to attend to celebrate his life and contribution to Vegfam and veganism. Arrangements will be made for friends and supporters of Vegfam to be able to give donations in lieu of flowers. A suitable Vegfam project will be funded in memory of Frieden. For details please write (SAE appreciated) to: The Secretary, Vegfam, c/o Cwm Cottage, Cwmynys, Cilycwm, Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, SA20 0EU. Tel: 01550 721197.

n RAW FOOD VEGAN FLOORS THE COMPETITION James Southwood, a vegan for ten years and more recently on a raw food diet, defeated all opposition at the British Savate Kickboxing League held in Cambridge on 19th March. James won all his fights to lead the field in ranking points. Boxe-Francaise Savate is a ring fighting art that uses fists and feet in quick, athletic strikes. To win, a fighter must be skilled, aware, physically fit and flexible. James chooses a raw food vegan diet for its optimum health-giving edge. ‘Training five times a week as hard as a professional athlete, I need the right sort of nutrition,’ says James. ‘I would feel less able to do this without the nutrients available on a raw food diet and the health and wellbeing it provides.’ More information on Savate and classes run by James in London can be found on www.londonsavate.co.uk.

n FROM THE CHAIR Since the last issue of The Vegan, Janet Pender has resigned as Chief Executive. During the short time that she was our CEO, Janet made a major difference to the Society’s office, so I’d like to put on record my thanks, and that of all of Council, for her contribution. Janet was responsible for the very popular ‘Typical Vegans’ campaign for National Vegan Week 2005, and before she left she made a start on the theme for NVW 2006, which will concentrate on the environmental aspects of veganism. A couple of recent news items provide us with useful ‘ammunition’. As reported in the last issue of The Vegan, researchers at the University of Chicago recently calculated that, while replacing a typical ‘gas-guzzler’ with a ‘hybrid’ car will reduce your ‘carbon footprint’, changing from a typical meat-based diet to a vegan diet will reduce it even more. On 14th April, I heard on the morning news that Britain had that day used up its natural resources for the whole year! For the rest of the year, it is dependent on imports from the rest of the world. Britain would be well able to feed itself if our agricultural land were used to grow food for people instead of to fatten up farm animals. So far, we have been unable to appoint a successor to Janet – she’s a tough act to follow! Catriona Toms is also moving on; this will be her last issue of The Vegan as editor. So, to both Janet and Catriona, thank you, goodbye, and good luck. Meanwhile the work of The Vegan Society goes on, as it has for over sixty years.

George Rodger, Vegan Society Chair

The Vegan l Summer 2006

Shoparound l a i c e p S e n

Sunshin

Catriona Toms

Sunshine days are here again so grab some great vegan products, crank up the barbie, shake out the picnic blanket, slap on the sunscreen and roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer!

PERFECT PICNICS Pack a hamper and a blanket and head for the hills. Don’t forget to take along a few tantalising treats…

n SMITHFIELD WINE Add a touch of decadence to your day out with one of Smithfield Wines’ Chilean Tarapacás. Choose from a fresh young Chardonnay, a dry, aromatic Sauvignon Blanc or the full-bodied and spicy La Cuesta Cabernet Syrah. Or go for a fruity option with peachy Chardonnay Reserva or Cabernet Sauvignon with hints of blackcurrants and blackberries. Finally, try Carmenère Resereva - with its taste of ripe berry fruits and chocolate aromas it really is pure picnicking pleasure! Prices start from £5.60 so you needn’t be as rich as a king to dine like one. Just don’t forget to pack a corkscrew!

n EAT ME CRISPS

Visit www.smithfieldwine.com or call 0161 273 6070 for more details.

For a picnic snack with a difference, try some Eat Me Fruit Crisps. Made from fresh and exotic fruits, these wafer thin, brightly coloured crisps have an amazingly fresh concentrated taste. Brittle slithers of dried mango, strawberry, orange, melon, lemon, pineapple and kiwi, they are visually stunning and make the perfect portable snack. They’re also fat-free, with no added sugar, salt, preservatives or colourings. Delicious on their own or as a fruity garnish for summer desserts, Eat Me Fruit Crisps will add a little extra zing to your day. A snack-sized bag of fruit crisps retails at £1.99. See www.eatmeonline.com or call 07886808773 for more information.

Õ ð

Õð SPECIAL OFFER Eat Me are offering a 30 per cent discount on orders of one box (35 packets) or more of Fruit Crisps. Call 07886 808773 or email andrew@eatmeonline.com.

The Vegan l Summer 2006

n SEIA BODY CARE Summer days can play havoc with sensitive lips. Make sure yours are protected, nourished and loved by treating them to a Seia Body Care lip balm. Available in natural, vanilla, orange, peppermint and tea tree & lavender flavours, these scrumptious balms will leave sun-kissed lips feeling soft, smooth and oh-sosensuous. To defend your lips against harmful rays, opt for the same varieties with added sun protection (SPF15).

Õ ð

Lip balms retail at £1.95 and are available from The Vegan Society – visit www.vegansociety.com/shop or call 01424 427 393 to order. For more information, call Seia on 01733 702754.

Õð

SPECIAL OFFER

Seia Body Care has lip balms to give away to the first ten readers to write to: Vegan Lip Balm Offer, Seia Body Care, 107 Church Street, Old Werrington, Peterborough PE4 6QF.

D AY S B Y

n WINNING WAYS – FABULOUS FUDGE Enjoy the authentic taste of summer by the sea with good old-fashioned fudge. Made in small handmade batches cooked in copper pans deep in the heart of Devon, Dairy-Free Fudge from the Fabulous Fudge Factory looks and tastes every bit as good as traditional fudge. Made using natural colourings and flavourings and available in original, cranberry and coconut ice flavours, these bite-sized delights are the perfect summer’s day treat. Available through Redwood Foods - call 01536 400557 or email info@redwoodfoods.co.uk for details.

All Shoparound products have been authenticated as

BLISTERING BARBECUES Nothing says summer has arrived like the smell of veggie sausages sizzling on the barbie. Why not invite the neighbours round and show them how delicious animal-free food can be?

n LITTLE VALLEY BREWERY Lazing in the sunshine sure helps you work up a thirst! Wash down those tasty BBQ sausages with one (or two!) of Little Valley Brewery bottle conditioned beers.

n BEANIES From Fry’s comes a range of products guaranteed to make your barbecue go with a bang. Go for Traditional Burgers and Sausages in a bap with fried onions and lashings of ketchup or, for a tasty twist on traditional fare, try delicious BBQ flavour Braai Sausages and fiery Spiced Burgers. Barbecue feasts don’t come much better than this! So fire up the barbie, break out the ketchup, toss in some salad and tuck in to the taste of summer. Also available in the Fry’s range are vegan hot dogs, cutlets, nuggets, schnitzels and more…. All products are completely free from GM ingredients, hydrogenated fats, cholesterol and artificial preservatives, colourings and flavour enhancers.

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Fry’s products are distributed in the UK by Beanie’s Health Foods. See www.beanieshealthfoods.co.uk or call 01489 574593 for more details.

Õð

Choose from light Withens IPA with hints of spice and citrus, refreshing Hebden’s Wheat - a white hazy beer with tastes of coriander and lemon - or Tod’s Blonde, a mellow yellow beer with fruity undertones. If you’re in the mood for something richer, try full and fruity Cragg Vale Bitter, or indulge in the darkness of creamy Stoodley Stout with aromas of orange and berry. When summer ends and autumn is on its way, try the seasonal Moor Ale: a red-brown full-bodied ale with tastes of caramel and aromas of heather and smoked peat.

Õ ð

Õð

Visit www.littlevalleybrewery.co.uk or call 01422 883888 for more details.

SPECIAL OFFER

Little Valley Brewery has boxes of 12 Little Valley beers to give away to the first three readers to write to: Vegan Beer Comp, Turkey Lodge, New Road, Cragg Vale, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire HX7 5TT.

SPECIAL OFFER

NATURALS

G r

Beanie’s have a wonderful an ket vegan hamper to buc a air, give away. k ch c e See overleaf d l, a for details. e ow at b a n AROMATIC

At the end of a long lazy summer’s day, give your skin a treat with one of Aromatic Naturals’ nurturing and protecting skincare range. Wash away the sand and salt with a deep-cleansing face mask, followed by intensive moisturising treatment with luxurious Age Defying Face Cream. Rich Vitamin E hand cream is ideal for pampering salt-bitten dry skin, while Aloe Vera gel is the perfect balm for any sunburnt bits. Finally, soothe tired minds and bodies with citrus or circulation massage bars for the perfect end to a perfect day.

Prices range from £5.90 for a bag of three massage bars to £10.90 for a 60ml jar of face cream. See www.aromaticnaturals.co.uk or call 01438 723399 for details. .

r the coast for a day of summer seaside bliss. head fo d n a de d s pa

n RED STAR DOG SHAMPOO

n NATURAL SKINCARE COMPANY

If you’ve taken your furry friend along for a day of seaside stickchasing and you would rather not have the smell of wet salty dog wafting through your house, give the little fellow the Red Star treatment. Minty Muttley dog shampoo from Red Star Natural Liquid Soaps is ideal for washing away all those dodgy doggy odours, leaving your four-legged friend smelling and looking like the pampered pooch that he is. So good we were tempted to try it on ourselves! A 500ml squeezy bottle retails at £8.90. For more details, visit www.redstarnaturalliquidsoaps. co.uk or call 01922 712691.

Water-resistant all-natural Caribbean Blue SunShield Sport (SPF15) is ideal for protecting skin from harmful rays while playing on the beach and in the sea. Hypoallergenic, non-whitening and free from synthetic chemicals, it promises to protect, soothe and moisturise. When you’ve spent the day splashing in the waves, rinse all that sticky salt water out of your hair with Paul Penders Walnut Oil Treatment Shampoo for Chemically Treated Hair. This gentle silky smooth shampoo has a pleasant aroma of rosemary and other essential plant oils and will nourish and soften even the driest hair, leaving it feeling sleek and manageable. Available in the UK from the Natural Skincare Company. For details or to place an order, visit www.thenaturalskincarecompany.co.uk or call 01403 790913.

The Vegan l Summer 2006

WIN SIZZLING SUMMER WITH

BEANIES HEALTH FOODS

Beanies Health Foods have a prize summer hamper to give away to one lucky reader of The Vegan magazine. Packed full with all the things you need to make your barbecue go with a bang, including a selection of five Yaoh summer skincare products and all ten products in the Fryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s range (schnitzels, sausages, burgers, cutlets, braai sausages, chunky strips, spiced burgers, polony, nuggets and hot dogs). To be in with a chance of winning, just send your name and address on a postcard to: Beanies Summer Hamper, The Vegan Society, (Hamper not included)

The Vegan l Summer 2006

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

Shoparound extra

n V-PURE ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS

n REDWOOD’S VEGIDELI DELIGHTS New from the multi-talented folks at Redwood Wholefoods, Vegideli Cheatin’ Chicken-style Pieces are amazingly realistic. Add them to stirfries, sandwiches or salads, to Mexican, Indian or Chinese food for a delicious something extra, or just eat with your fingers straight from the box! Seriously tasty. Also new from Redwood is Vegideli Cheatin’ Vegetarian Mince. Extremely versatile, it can be used as the base for bolognese, chilli, lasagne, shepherdless pie or good old fashioned mince and tatties.

Produced by Swiss company Water4Life, V-Pure is the world’s first vegan omega-3 dietary supplement containing both DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid). These long-chain polyunsaturated essential fatty acids have been associated with healthy brain and eye development and reduced risk of coronary heart disease. Previous to the development of V-Pure, vegans have relied on the ability of the body to convert the omega-3 fats from seeds such as flaxseed and hempseed into EPA and DHA (see nutrition news page 28). Now we have a direct source of these nutrients – a natural, sustainable, cruelty-free, uncontaminated alternative to fish oils. Currently only available online at www.water4.net, VPure will be available from high street nutritionists and pharmacies later in the year. It is available by the 50ml bottle or in 60 x 800mg gelatine-free capsules (1 months supply) at €28.99 plus p&p.

n QUIT NOW

- BREAK THE HABIT

If you’re trying to give up smoking and you could do with a little extra help, consider Quit Now’s Stop Smoking 24-7 Aroma: a natural, non-toxic, non-nicotine product made from Chinese herbal essences including angelica, Chinese mugwort, cinnamon, field mint and clove. Simply inhale the aroma for 15 minutes three times a day and whenever you feel the urge to have a cigarette inhale for one to three minutes. Quit Now recommend continuing this for seven consecutive days or until the desire to smoke disappears.

One of the most delicious minces we’ve ever tasted, it’s also fortified with vitamins B6 and B12 and omega 3 fats from flaxseed and is completely free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colourings and preservatives. All of this leaves us wondering if there is nothing Redwood Foods can’t do. We can’t wait to see what they come up with next! Visit www.redwoodfoods.co.uk or call 01536 400557 for details.

n SUMPTUOUS SKINCARE

FROM SCARLETT LUXURY SERUMS

Delicately packaged with rich golden hues and rose petals, these serums appear to be miniature miracles! Ethical, organic and chemicalfree, they are beautifully perfumed and packed with potentially beneficial ingredients. The serum is easily absorbed and can be used sparingly daily to gently moisturise the face. We are told it will help combat the signs of aging while you sleep and can be also used as an after-shave balm. A luxury 25ml bottle retails at £45. See www.scarlettluxuryserums.com or call 01670 789111 for details.

Correction: In the spring edition of The Vegan, the website for Slinky Clothing was printed incorrectly. The correct address is www.slinkyclothing.com.

The Vegan l Summer 2006

OUT AND ABOUT WITH OUR LOCAL VEGAN CAMPAIGNERS For complete listings of Vegan Society Local Contacts and Local Groups, see pages 38 to 40

VEGANS RISE TO THE CHALLENGE... A group of Reading and West London vegans and a dog recently undertook the Three Peaks Challenge to raise money for Retreat Animal Rescue, Kent. Conquering Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Mount Snowdon in less than 24 hours, they raised over £1500 and - by sporting Vegan Society t-shirts along the way - made sure their fellow walkers were in no doubt that these high climbers were fuelled by good vegan food.

...NATIONAL

VEGETARIAN WEEK

Vegan Society Network Contacts Coordinator, Sophie Fenwick-Paul, makes some inspired suggestions for this year’s National Vegetarian Week. nd National Vegetarian Week hits us on 22 May. The Vegetarian Society does a great job during NVW in getting the veggie agenda in the national and local press. The excitement generated this week makes it the ideal time for active vegans to do their bit. It is time to contact your local council and get a stall on the high street, to get local restaurants to run NVW special offers, to write a letter to your local paper or even get on your local radio station – during this period your local press wants more than ever to hear from you! This is National Vegetarian Week so we must be mindful that a forceful vegan argument can backfire on those tentatively approaching vegetarianism. The following imaginary score sheet might be food for thought: n n n n n

Help Help Help Help Stop

a a a a a

meat eater go vegan: 10 points. meat eater go vegetarian: 8 points. meat eater become a meat reducer: 5 points. vegetarian go vegan: 3 points. meat-eater becoming vegetarian: -50 points.

The Vegan l Summer 2006

Vegans in the mist: at the peak of Ben Nevis

Pushing the vegan argument too hard by devaluing the benefits of getting part way there can result in complete inaction on the part of the meat-eater. Remember the goal of all campaigners is to reduce the amount of animal suffering and environmental damage caused by the way humanity feeds itself, so get the best result possible by understanding your audience. Find out more about what you can do during NVW at www.activeg.org. Whoever you are, just enjoy the chance to show what a positive thing it is to eat great compassionate food. Let delicious vegan food speak for the animals and the planet. To give you a flavour of what the Contacts Network will be up to: Solent V&V: country walk and meal Birmingham V&V: BBQ in the park Thames Valley & Redditch groups: town centre free food fairs OxVeg: library display Milton Keynes V&V: special meal AberVeg: party Leeds V&V: Vegan Mini-Fayre and film showings Most groups, contacts and active vegans will be doing something – so get in touch.

Sophie

VEGAN NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD…

NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND: SETTING UP A LOCAL GROUP Sarah-Marguerite Butel, Jersey Bean Vegans Setting up a local group is really a lot less daunting than it sounds. It can take a bit of time to gather momentum but it’s well worth it your reward is meeting like-minded people in your area and giving each other support in fighting the vegan cause. After deciding to set up a local group on Jersey, I got in touch with the Vegan Society Network Contacts Co-ordinator, who advised me on how best to go about making contact with local vegans. I wrote an introductory letter, which The Vegan Society sent out to its supporters in the Channel Islands, explaining that I planned to set up a local group and including a short questionnaire to gauge how people thought veganism could be improved in Jersey and what emphasis the new group should have. At our initial meeting we decided we would be mainly a social group, which would meet for meals out and ‘Bring and Share’ evenings, providing us all with a wonderful opportunity to get to know other vegans. Living on such a small island, the group remains small but adverts in local shops have helped attract new members and it’s great spending time with people who share the same outlook on life. To anyone thinking of setting up a group in their area, my main advice is not to worry if it takes a while for things to take off; just go for it, be positive and enjoy meeting new people.

ional …with The Vegan Society’s Internat Coordinator, Patricia Tricker.

days in Syria I’m just back from nine wonderful contact in our , and echo what Helen Williams experiences her on le Newport, wrote in her artic ut the abo 5) 200 ng in Iraq (see The Vegan Spri drink. and food n vega wide availability of excellent rt, dese the in out t righ than Everywhere you go, other from nuts and fruit g sellin there are juice bars and people ide a huge buffet Hotels and restaurants always prov barrows and the many tiny shops. hummus, baba salads, cooked vegetables, pickles, as a starter, with a variety of raw get a vegan main so who cares if in some places you ghanoug and delicious flat bread, course only on request? Society at the h up before leaving to represent the Now I have only a few days to catc own expense. my at ys, alwa Union in Germany - as AGM of the European Vegetarian renewing old to ard forw look hted to be going and This is not a complaint! I am delig contacts and making more. site of the in other countries look at the web To learn more about what goes on I’ve learned that s w.ivu.org). Among organisation International Vegetarian Union (ww bers of which mem the of Animals Rights Society, most about recently are the Slovenian 26, 3232 ikvi Pon pri the organiser, at Ostrozno are vegan. You can contact Damjan, Green ia, Latv In rg. ali.o , www.osvoboditev-ziv Ponikva, Slovenija, tel. 03/5763-303 , 430 u 83, Grobina, LV-3 Alternative (Zala Alternativa, Celtniek a 62-93, 115191 lifestyle. In Russia, VITA (Mytnay cal ethi lly tota www.za.lv), promotes a www.vita.org.ru) has similar Moscow, tel. 007 (0)95 954 9279, aims. Vegan Festival in details of the annual international On www.vegfestival.org you’ll find but there’s all rday Satu giving a talk at 3 pm on the Turin, Italy, on 16 – 18 June. I’m l 2 am. the usual stuff plus live music unti rd July, at the Aachen, Germany, on Sunday 23 There is a vegan summer festival near nrath, with info, oge hen, Dahlemer Str. 28, 52134 Herz Soziokulturellem Zentrum Klösterc ecue. Further barb activities, hot and cold buffet and food and clothing stalls, children’s ld be no shou e ther of the organisers, is English so info on www.tvgac.de. Jenny, one communication problems. organised by Denmark (see Events, page 37) is The international vegan festival in years ago. international vegan festival many Kirsten, who arranged the very first th ria from 20th - 27 annual walking week is in NE Bava The German Vegetarian Society’s Aug. Further details from me or Vegans and rawfooders will be will be organic. properly catered for and most food in the Events where in the world can be found else ts even ale e-sc Information on larg column on page 37. on the vegan front to bring news on what’s happening In the next issue I hope to be able r countries please let information on vegan stuff in othe in S. Africa, and if you have any me know. Ciao!

Patricia

The Vegan l Summer 2006

Welcome to the Summer 2006 Kids’ Pages

Aisha Welcome to the Summer 2006 Vegilantics Page! We hope you all had a lovely Easter. Bronwyn Since we last wrote, I’ve finally gone into double figures – I’m ten at last! Aisha For her birthday, Bronwyn decided to have a picnic and invited practically all her friends from where we used to live, and some of her friends from her new school. Bronwyn My new friends at school are Bailey, Callum and Ashley. My old friends Luke and Izzy came down to join us for the birthday picnic. Seeing as Luke’s birthday is only two days before mine, we decided it was going to be a joint party. Mummy even made a cake that said ‘Happy Birthday Luke and Bronwyn!’ on it! Aisha I invited my friends Hannah and Ailish, too. The cake was really good, a chocolate banana cake. Bronwyn For my birthday, we went for a week’s holiday to the Isle of Wight and Mummy and Aisha signed me up for the Beano Club. I was really happy as I’d been asking for it for ages. Aisha We also gave her a new atlas and some books about volcanoes and stars. Bronwyn On the Isle of Wight, we didn’t really do much. We relaxed, swam every day, went out for walks and went to the cinema. Aisha At the beginning of March, they finally brought out the lists of top readers in the school library. I was pleased to find out that I was top girl in Year Eight, AND top girl of the whole school! I’ve also been taking my GCSE Maths early as last year I finished Key Stage Three Maths (a three-year course) in just a few months. I decided to take the exams and had the first exam in January, getting the results in March. I was overjoyed to find out that I had managed to get 94% and phoned Mummy straight away to tell her the good news! I’m hoping for similar (maybe even better!) results in June, after my next exam.

The Vegan l Summer 2006

Bronwyn Recently when we were staying at Granny and Grandad’s house, we went for a walk in the gardens at Waddesdon Manor, a beautiful mansion belonging to the Rothschild family. Aisha Seeing as it was the beginning of March, being a National Trust property, the house wasn’t yet open to the public, only the gardens. The gardens were absolutely gorgeous, although all the statues were covered to protect them from the frost. Bronwyn In our February half-term holiday, we went to see our friend David. It was really fun. Aisha, Alan, David and I played football in the park, while Mummy and Cathy went for a long walk with their dogs. Aisha At school, I made Easter Cookies. Our main project for this year in Food Technology was working towards designing and making our own pizza, but having done that, we’re going to make jam tarts, bakewell tarts and fairy cakes. The cookies were really nice, and I put vegan mini eggs on the top after I took them out of the oven and they had completely cooled down. Bronwyn This term, mine and Aisha’s inset days were on different times, so I stayed at home with Mummy, while Aisha went to school. When we got up, we went for a walk in the woods, finding lots of torn-up tarpaulins scattered everywhere along the path. We picked it all up and took it home for the bin, then went for another walk around the woods and fell over in the mud a few times. Aisha I had two days off, because there was a gas leak, so they gave Years Seven and Eight the day off, and moved all the other years to the other buildings. I spent the day with friends who live close to the school and, because it was my form tutor’s birthday, we went into school at the end of the day to say ‘Happy Birthday’ to her. On my inset day, I dropped Bronwyn off at school, and went to the library before meeting Hannah and Diba in town for lunch. Bronwyn This term at school, every three weeks, on Thursdays, we have a race against other schools in the area. There have been six races, including the final which is on a Saturday. I have run at Aisha’s secondary school, and my favourite race was the one at Hughenden Manor Park (I came ninth!) Aisha Did you know that Benjamin Disraeli lived at Hughenden Manor? He was one of Queen Victoria’s favourite prime ministers, and he ruled three times while she was on the throne.

Bronwyn When we go to Granny and Grandad’s we always drive past it on the way. Every time we go past, I point it out to everyone. Even though there were two really steep hills it was my easiest one out of the lot. Aisha I don’t really like running a whole lot, but I have done three cross country races this year. They were really difficult and in my first race, I came second from last, although I did get better every week. I’ve already signed up with my PE teacher to do cross country again in September. Bronwyn I’ve been doing lots of after school clubs, including table tennis, choir, homework club, patchwork and quilting, and hockey. Aisha I’ve been doing all the house activities for Year Eight girls in my school. So far, I’ve done House Badminton, House Quiz and House Football. I managed to come sixth out of my whole year group. Bronwyn We have houses at my school, too. It’s a really weird coincidence, but in both our schools, Aisha and I are both in the yellow house. Aisha I really like the form I was put in, as my form tutor is really nice, and we ended up lending each other books! She noticed that I was reading all the classics (Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Emma, etc.), so she lent me some things she thought I’d enjoy. Because she is a History teacher, I lent her some books I have about Joan of Arc and Horatio Nelson. She enjoyed them both tremendously. Bronwyn Time to go do my homework – it’s maths tonight. I didn’t use to like maths very much, but my school report says I have a mathematical mind and I’ve now got a lovely maths teacher. Aisha Well, enjoy your summer holidays. We will. Mummy’s got nearly three weeks off work, so we’ll be travelling again. See you on a demo or walk soon. Bronwyn Vegan picnic season, here we come. ‘Bye. Please send your stories, poems, pictures & photos to: Bronwyn & Aisha’s Vegilantics, c/o The Vegan Society, Donald Watson House, 7 Battle Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN37 7AA or Email editor@vegansociety.com with “Vegilantics” in the subject line.

Bronwyn (life vegan) is 10. Aisha her sister is 13 and has been vegan as long as Bronwyn and vegetarian since before she was born!

Youth Contacts Campaigning for Animals - friendly strictly-moderated e-group for under 18's into animal rights, vegetarianism and veganism to hang out, meet like-minded people and chat about these things! uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/campaigningforanimals

d Aisha, Dear Bronwyn an

of e this lovely photo I thought I’d shar e Jason. He’s just on my vegan cousin, his s games all day – year old and play ich musical train, wh favourite toy is a ound his room. he likes to push ar From Janet, 13.

We saw our first red squirrels while we were on the Isle of Wight. They’re so cute we thought we’d share them with you, along with five fascinating facts… p Red squirrels don’t hibernate p They can swim p Every year in autumn, their ear tufts moult and

new ones grow in their place p They can hang upside down from trees (and

birdtables!) p Just like us, they can be either left- or right-handed!

Why not try this simply scrummy treat, created by 11 year-old Marysia Shadrach?

APPLE PASTRY PUFFS You will need… One pack vegan puff pastry Two big cooking apples, diced Quarter cup sugar Here’s what to do… Roll out puff pastry (if frozen, defrost slowly) and cut into 5cm (2 inch) squares. Roll a dice of apple in sugar then wrap in pastry, leaving a bit of apple poking out. Put on a big baking tray. Repeat until you have used up all the bits of apple. Heat oven to gas mark 7. Before you put the baking tray in the oven, make sure the small balls of pastry are 5cm (two inches) away from each other. Put in the oven for five minutes, or until they are golden. Leave to cool for a bit then try them. They keep for two days, but in my house they disappear in approximately ten minutes! Delicious!

Sam McCreesh is taking a break from his usual column to concentrate on his GCSE work, however you can still find out what Sam’s up to at the moment by visiting his new website at www.sammccreesh.com.

The Vegan l Summer 2006

SERENA COLES, 1910-2005 n Wednesday 21st December 2005 the world lost a pioneer.

Serena Norah Coles was actively involved in The Vegan Society from 1953 through to her resignation as President in 1987. Across the years she served as Distribution Secretary for The Vegan, as Honorary Treasurer, on the Editorial Board, and as Deputy President and President. She was made an Honorary Patron in 1993. Many people knew Serena from her heartfelt and authoritative discourses on various aspects of the vegan lifestyle, delivered at meetings, festivals and congresses across the world. Kirsten Jungsberg, Tracey Mills and Kathy Silk remember an amazing woman who touched their lives and did so much for the vegan movement.

She was indeed a good representative for the vegan lifestyle. Why we felt so close was probably because she considered me as the daughter she never had and I considered her as a very dear family member and my children liked her very much and enjoyed being with her. Serena became President of The Vegan Society in 1983 following the death of the previous President, Jack Sanderson. She served as President until 1987 so at the 2nd International Vegan Festival in 1985 she also gave the speech of welcome. She was such a dynamic lady, who was very enthusiastic about veganism and never said no if anyone asked her for help. She was a retired social medical worker and knew how to care about people. She was a member of The Order of the Cross, a Christian fellowship based on John Todd Ferrier’s message of compassion where the members have to be vegetarian or vegan. I visited The Order in South Kensington with Serena many times and we both enjoyed it.

Serena’s correspondence stopped suddenly and I later discovered from her niece that she was in a nursing home in Croydon. I was very happy when I was told she was still alive and I went out there right away just to be sure. I’m very grateful to have known her, both as a very inspiring vegan and as a very good friend I always will remember. I am sorry for all the vegans who have never met this wonderful patron, because without people like her veganism would not be the international movement that it is. TRACEY MILLS There are still a few people around who knew Serena when she was in her prime, but most of us only know of her, and the things that she achieved for veganism. Her legacy survives in anyone who lives a vegan lifestyle and who, in turn, wants others to share the joy that veganism brings.

KIRSTEN JUNGSBERG I met Serena at a Mind, Body and Spirit exhibition in spring 1981. I introduced myself and told her that I was going to organise the very first International Vegan Festival in July in Denmark. She right away said: ‘That’s wonderful, I’ll come.’ Not ‘I’ll think about it and maybe come’ – no, it was ‘I’ll come,’ (she was very impulsive). And so she did. I even got her to give the speech of welcome and other talks - after all she was the Vice President of the world’s first Vegan Society. We became good friends and travelled together in Europe sometimes with my children. Everywhere was Serena giving talks and demonstrations - veganism was her whole life. Now when I think about it, Serena must have been 70 years old when I first met her but she had the energy of a teenager, probably because of her good diet.

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Tracey Mills and others threw Serena a 941⁄2th birthday party in April 2005.

I am glad to say that I and others who helped support Serena in her final year of life managed to secure a restoration of her vegan diet, which had been denied to her for several years. It wasn’t easy, but at least in her final six months she was back on the diet that she had adhered to and fought so strongly for during 60 of her 95 years.

SECURING RIGHTS FOR VEGANS IN VULNERABLE SITUATIONS

I also take comfort from the fact that during that last year she wanted for nothing. She received many greetings cards, including a sizeable proportion from people who never knew her, but who recognised the magnificent contribution she had made to veganism.

Serena and Kirsten Junsberg at the International Vegan Festival, Denmark, 1981.

Kirsten Junsberg (centre) and Kathy Silk help Serena to celebrate her 95th birthday. We did not have the opportunity to celebrate her 94th birthday with her, and instead threw a 941⁄2th birthday party in April, which she thoroughly enjoyed. This was followed up with a 95th birthday party in October, where although Serena did not join in with the singing quite so much, she nevertheless equally enjoyed the birthday gifts that people had either sent or given to her in person, and of course the company of vegans. With financial donations I was able to buy vegan toiletries and even some make-up for her, as well as a whole new wardrobe of good quality outfits. After the vegan diet, the most important improvement in her life this last year must be due to the informal support group who visited Serena at the care home. This gang of visitors kept an eye on her care and on the food and drink that she was being served. Moreover we engaged her in conversation, played music to her and read to her to stimulate her mind. At Serena’s funeral a group of us discussed a lasting memorial to her. The consensus was that a fitting and lasting tribute was required; not a fountain, plaque or statue erected in her name, but something that would continue to touch the lives of vegans, just as she had during her active life.

For starters, we decided to gather for a vegan meal on Serena’s birthday (12th October) each year. We also hope to rename an appropriate Vegan Society annual award after her. KATHY SILK Serena Coles was a special lady beautiful, confident and serene, with a special smile and a twinkle in her eye that many of us will remember. I first met Serena at a London meeting in the 1970s with that other vegan pioneer Kathleen Jannaway, when talks were given about the vegan diet and lifestyle and little samples of food were offered. In Serena’s last years friends lost touch as she was moved from one care home to another. We were able to renew our friendship, however, thanks to the diligent detective work of her friend Kirsten Jungsberg. Along with Croydon Vegans and others, we were able to give Serena two special parties with vegan treats, gifts and cards, and songs from the 1930s and 1940s. Serena enjoyed this very much, gently swaying to the music as we sang and smiling that special smile that we all remember so well. It was lovely to have the chance to see her again - we owe so much to Kirsten Jungsberg, and of course to Serena for her pioneering work in our ever developing vegan world.

The greatest legacy we can offer Serena will be to ensure that, in future, vegans will be properly catered for in hospitals, care homes and schools. There is already a precedent for this: currently Prison Service Guidelines ensure that vegans in Her Majesty’s Prisons are provided with vegan food, clothing and drink. These guidelines are not always rigorously adhered to and the Vegan Prisoners Support Group and The Vegan Society keep in regular contact to ensure that the catering staff have the information needed to supply nutritionally balanced vegan food. Until recently, vegans in nursing homes, schools and hospitals have been entitled to no such protection. However, now that the Equality Bill has come into force we should be able to make a strong case to say that all government run institutions and all privately run institutions are obliged, by law, to offer equal opportunities to vegans. The Equality Bill is expected to make life easier for vegans as it broadens the definition of belief to include non religious beliefs. The Department of Trade and Industry gave examples from the European Court of Human Rights rulings that it felt would qualify as beliefs, specifically mentioning veganism (as well as pacifism and atheism). A profoundly held philosophical belief should entitle vegans to equal consideration of interests. However, we must not be complacent, many caterers will need a lot of support if they are to properly cater for vegans and we will need to persuade the government that the implications of the Equality Bill require them to produce guidelines. The Vegan Society will be writing to the government and publishing packs later this year to support and inform local hospitals, schools and care homes. Rosamund Raha Vegan Society Information Officer

The Vegan l Summer 2006

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THE SOYA STORY The ubiquitous soya bean has had its fair share of knocks, being blamed for everything from destruction of the Amazon to falling sperm counts. In this special edition of The Vegan we investigate the various issues surrounding soya and finds that nothingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ever that simpleâ&#x20AC;Ś The Environmental Impacts of Soya

Himalayan Soya Delight

Soya & Health: Poison or Panacea?

The Curious History of Soya

illustrations by Simon Parkin/SussedDesign.com. The Vegan l Summer 2006

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

OF SOYA Merav Shub

oya is an excellent and versatile source of non-animal protein that enlivens and boosts our diets. But are people aware that soya production is destroying rainforests and wildlife in South America? Does this mean we should avoid eating soya products, or does the real solution lie in meat- and dairy-eaters cutting down on their consumption of animal products?

In recent decades, rising prosperity in the developed world and in developing countries such as China, has brought a rapid increase in global demand for good quality vegetable oils and - more significantly - for meat. The result has been a dramatic rise in world demand for soybeans. Soyabeans produce two main products: soya meal (79 per cent) and soya oil (18 per cent). Soya meal is rich in protein (about 50 per cent) and is therefore much sought after as a protein feed for industrial meat production. Indeed the high protein content of soya meal was key to the development in the United States, from the 1930s onwards, of industrial farming of animals such as chickens and pigs. As systems of industrial farming have spread to other countries, demand for soya meal has risen. The past decade has also seen an increased demand for soya feeds due to the BSE crisis, which exposed the horrors and health hazards of using ground-up waste animal protein as feed for farm animals, and led industrial farmers to seek safer alternatives. Soya derivatives are now also found in a staggering range of foods for human consumption - about two-thirds of all manufactured food products now contain soya. Soya protein is fermented to produce traditional eastern products such as miso, tofu and tempeh, but modern processing techniques now also enable it to be made into non-dairy milks, cheeses and desserts, and into texturised soya protein for use as a meat substitute. Soya protein is added to biscuits, sweets, diet drinks, pasta and frozen foods, while soya flour is added to many products to extend shelf life, and to bread to improve flavour and texture.

The Vegan l Summer 2006

Soya is used to ‘bulk out’ and bind many processed meat products, such as sausages, lasagne, beefburgers and chicken nuggets. Soya oil has become the world’s most consumed vegetable oil with a 25 per cent market share, and is used for baking and frying, to produce margarine, and in salad dressings and mayonnaise. The derivative soya lecithin is used as an emulsifier in products such as chocolate, breakfast cereals, ice cream and sweets. Though the list is long, most of these uses are actually by-products of the soyabean industry. Increased global production of soyabeans is being driven largely by the growing demand for animal feed. As the prevalence of the ‘Western’ diet - with its high levels of animal protein consumption - is increasing, so is dependence on soya in meat, poultry, egg, dairy and fish production systems throughout the world. The vast and rapid global expansion in soyabean cultivation of recent decades has major environmental implications. For much of the twentieth century the US was the main producer and exporter of soyabeans and soya meal feeds. However, since the 1970s farmers in many other countries - particularly in South America – have started growing this lucrative crop.

Soyabeans Area Harvested (Hectares)

Year

USA

29,930,060

Brazil

21,475,148

Argentina

14,320,000

China

9,800,150

India

7,200,000

Paraguay

1,870,000

Bolivia

890,000

Indonesia

562,975

2004

Soyabeans Production (Metric tonnes)

Year

USA

85,483,904

Brazil

49,205,384

Argentina

31,500,000

China

17,600,340

India

5,500,000

Paraguay

3,583,680

Bolivia

1,670,000

Indonesia

730,560

2004

Source: Food and Agriculture Organisation - Provisional 2004 Production Data

As vegans know better than most, eating animals fed on a plant food that can easily be consumed directly by humans is wasteful and inefficient in terms of the basic environmental resources of land and water. In the case of soyabean cultivation in South America, the environmental impacts are particularly severe. Whereas in the US soyabeans have long been grown on existing cropland, in South America virgin lands are being cleared of savannah and rainforests to grow the crop. Soyabeans lend themselves easily to capital-intensive, large-scale cultivation, so they are mainly grown on large monoculture plantations. While these offer considerable economic benefits to the plantation owners, their development usually results in the total clearance of diverse natural vegetation and the consequent loss of diverse wildlife habitats. Pesticides and herbicides kill off the last remnants of biodiversity able to co-exist with the plantations, and greatly reduce the chances of habitat revival. As forests and their natural functions are removed from the landscape, problems such as soil erosion and degradation, siltation of waterways, and pollution of fresh water from pesticides and herbicides arise.

The problems are cumulative as cleared land allows greater access for road building and other infrastructure development, leading in turn to further clearances as ranchers and slash-and-burn farmers push ever deeper into the forest frontier. Demand for soyabean meal in the European Union and China to feed pigs, chickens and cattle has led to a nearly doubled production of soyabeans in the past 10 years in countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay, while the actual land area used for soyabean cultivation in these countries has more than doubled in the same period. In 1971 soya was farmed on only 37,000 hectares in the region; now the area covered is more than 14 million hectares and rising. The areas converted from forests into soyabean plantations are so large that they are clearly visible in satellite images. Soya now covers more than half of Argentina’s arable land – more than all other crops combined. It is estimated that if the current rate of clearance continues, within five years the country’s native forests will disappear completely. The country’s Chaco savannah is also under threat. As for Brazil, according to the country’s National Institute of Space Research, in the year up to August 2002 25.5 million hectares of rainforest – an area roughly the size of Belgium – was destroyed. This is the second highest total in 30 years and a 40 per cent increase over the previous year. The main reason has been to create new areas of soyabean cultivation for industrial animal feed – much of it for export to Europe and Japan. Expansion in soyabean cultivation has increased the threat to the Atlantic Forest in South Brazil, which nearly disappeared in the 1970s and 1980s, and to Brazil’s Cerrado savannah. The Brazilian Cerrado is the world’s most biodiverse savannah, home to approximately 90,000 insect species, 550 kinds of birds and 150 mammal species, all of which are endangered by the rapid expansion of soya plantations.

Recent reports by the WWF warn that the demand for soya is expected to increase by 60 per cent in the next 20 years, which could mean the destruction of an additional 16 million hectares of savannah and 6 million hectares of tropical forest in South America, unless more sustainable farming practices are adopted. The environmental impacts of largescale deforestation include climate change. Tropical rainforests help regulate climate by absorbing carbon dioxide. The forests hold water and help to regulate rainfall patterns, so deforestation also leads to increased flooding and droughts. A further concern is genetic modification. Currently, 80 percent of all soyabeans cultivated for the commercial market are genetically modified. In 1995, Monsanto introduced ‘Roundup Ready’ (RR)

soyabeans that can survive being sprayed by Roundup, a non-selective herbicide which kills conventional soyabeans. By spraying twice a year, the farmer can kill off all other vegetation while allowing the soya to flourish, which allows the farmer to reduce or avoid tillage of the soil. The biggest market for GM products in Europe remains animal feed, mainly soya meal imported from the US and Latin America. Thousands of tonnes of GM animal feed are imported into the UK every year. The majority of soya produced in North America and Argentina is now GM, and Brazil has also recently authorised GM soya. Farmers are being tempted to grow it by promises of lower production costs. Switching to GM soya cultivation has had serious environmental impacts. Û

The Vegan l Summer 2006

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

OF SOYA

If all the world were vegan...

continued

Û The RR Soya allows farmers to put much more Roundup on their fields than would be used with traditional crops. The key component of Roundup is the herbicide Glyphosate. The massive quantities used on RR soya plantations lead to pollution of water sources for humans and animals alike. The soil can become saturated with Glyphosate leading to a reduction in soil bacteria. The absence of these bacteria allows snails, slugs, and fungi to proliferate, and to control these, farmers use more pesticides and fungicides, causing further water pollution. There are also reports from South America of the herbicides - and the GM crops themselves - drifting beyond plantation boundaries. Farmers spread Roundup on their fields by plane, leading to incidents of ‘overspray’ in which neighbouring fields

and entire villages are drenched. The herbicides have caused neighbouring crops to fail, livestock to die, and people to become ill. These trends look set to continue, so long as the demand for animal protein continues to rise. However, many nongovernmental organisations within the UK and around the world are working hard to raise the alarm and encourage change, in crop production, farming practices, and of course, in terms of what consumers choose to eat. Compassion in World Farming’s Eat Less Meat campaign is just one such initiative aimed at mainstream audiences. For those who have already turned vegan, there are clearly more reasons than ever to remain so, and to choose non-GM soya products wherever possible.

The current world soya harvest of almost 200 million tonnes per year provides about 80 grams of dried soya beans a day for every person in the world - providing about 30 grams of soya protein and about 15 grams of soya oil. Average Western vegan consumption of soya protein is just 15 grams a day - half the current world supply. Vegan use of soya oil, however, can easily exceed supply. Human use of soya beans, mostly as oil and margarine, contributes about half the market value of the world soya bean crop and along with the use of soya protein as animal feed drives the expanding fields of soya. While vegans can have their soya milk, tofu and TVP with a clear environmental conscience, they should consider easing back on soya margarine and oil.

HIMALAYAN

SOYA DELIGHT Barbara Staples

y glasses were steaming up. I later discovered that my camera lens had steamed up, too. Those first few pictures appeared to be of a fog! How could the women cope with the heat? One was stirring a vast, steaming pot then ladling its contents into a large expanse of muslin, which two other women were holding by its four corners above a large bowl. The muslin must have become very heavy yet they were deftly tilting it from side to side to shape the mound in the middle whilst ensuring that the white liquid drained into the bowl below. So there it was – my first sight of soya milk since I’d been travelling in Pakistan and now India. I was in the village of Bhagsu in the Himalayas near McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama and many Tibetans in exile live. I had been delighted to find several Tibetan vegetarian restaurants with a number of tofu dishes on the menu. However, I hadn’t been able to track down any soya milk. Then while walking through Bhagsu on the way to visit a waterfall I’d spotted a sign saying ‘Soya Milk’ next to a larger sign saying ‘Gaddi Women’s Self-Help Society’. I later learned that the Gaddi are shepherds in the surrounding mountains and was told by a passing trek guide that the Self-Help Society had been set up by a French nun.

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Over the next two weeks I made several trips to witness the making of soya milk and tofu, on one of which I managed to take this fog-free snapshot of the Gaddi women mid-muslin-tilt.

SOYA & HEALTH:

POISON OR PANACEA? Sandra Hood, Dietitian

oya continues to exercise the minds of many in the media, who extol its virtues or bewail its impact on both the environment and health. As soya is a food many vegans eat regularly, it’s hardly surprising that it raises a lot of questions.

Most of the attention is focused on soya bean isoflavones, a class of phytoestrogens hormone-like chemicals that occur in small amounts in many plants, seeds and grains. As more is learned about the biological activity of these isoflavones, concerns are raised as to whether they are harmful or helpful. These phytoestrogens can act in a similar way to the human hormone oestradiol but have a weak oestrogenic effect. Accordingly, the most notable concerns are around infants consuming soya and women with oestrogen positive breast tumours. Evaluating the health benefits of phytoestrogens is complex as these compounds have been shown to have many different effects. The problem comes when trying to determine whether it is safe to eat and if so, how much. Unfortunately, there is lack of data on the effect of intake of soya in the UK and although internationally populations consuming high intakes of soya have a lower prevalence of certain diseases, there is insufficient data to attribute this protective role to soya. However, neither is there enough evidence to suggest that soya is harmful to health. In 2002 the British Nutrition Foundation produced a comprehensive briefing paper entitled ‘Soya and Health’ which looked at the various health scares and claims surrounding this food. It concluded that ‘soya beans are a useful source of a range of nutrients and the beans themselves and foods derived from them can be useful components of a healthy diet.’

What is soya? The soya bean belongs to the legume family, which includes all types of beans, peas and lentils, the edible seeds that come from pod-bearing leguminous plants, also known as pulses. A staple food in Asian countries for centuries, soya is a nutritious alternative to meat in that it provides a high quality source of protein. Naturally low in fat, it is also rich in fibre and provides essential fatty acids, mostly omega-6 and some omega-3, as well as a variety of vitamins and minerals including iron, potassium and folic acid. A portion of soya counts towards the recommended five portions of fruits and vegetables per day.

Cardiovascular health It is now well established that soya as part of a healthy diet has a cholesterol lowering effect and that people with raised cholesterol can benefit from 25g of soya protein per day as part of a diet low in saturated fat (British Nutrition Foundation 2002). As a guide, 10g of soya protein can be obtained from 250ml of soya milk, 200ml of soya yoghurt or 100g of tofu. The cholesterol lowering effect of soya is not caused by the presence of phytoestrogens alone but is likely to be the result of a combination of the components in soya which affect cholesterol metabolism (Jenkins et al 2006) and the overall composition of diets with a high soya content (Rosell et al 2004).

The Vegan l Summer 2006

SOYA & HEALTH:

POISON OR PANACEA? continued

The safety of soya for infants and children Concerns have been expressed regarding the suitability of soya infant formula or soya milk for children because it contains isoflavones. In 2003, the controversy surrounding phytoestrogens led the UK Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food (COT) to produce a 440 page report considering the exposure to phytoestrogens generally in the diet, including those in soya. When it researched soya-based infant formulae it concluded: ‘studies do not provide definitive evidence that phytoestrogens present in soya-based infant formulae can adversely affect the health of infants.’ Allergies aside, there has not been a single study demonstrating adverse effects of soya in infants. In addition, soya-based infant formulae have been used in the UK since the 1960s and during this time there have been no reports of abnormal growth or reproductive problems. Soya foods, particularly fortified versions, make a useful contribution to vegan diets, providing convenient alternatives to animal foods. How much? In the UK the average vegetarian eats around 5 grams of soya protein per day and the average vegan around 15 grams. Daily intakes of soya in Asian countries are about 10 grams. With 25 grams necessary to lower cholesterol, any intake between 10 and 25 grams can be considered safe and healthy (Scott 2004). Non-nutritive components Soya contains several components that traditionally have been considered to be anti-nutritional e.g. phytates and trypsin inhibitors. Phytates are said to act as antinutrients because they have the ability to bind to minerals and possibly reduce the assimilation of calcium, copper, iron, magnesium and zinc. Trypsin is an enzyme needed to break down proteins to make them available; therefore inhibitors prevent this happening. However, research suggests that this may be an oversimplification. For example, boiling beans removes most of the trypsin inhibitors and these are also inactivated by sprouting and fermentation. There is suggestion that the human digestive system is stimulated to reject anti-nutrients and the body can adequately deal with these ‘non-nutritive’ components without any detriment to nutritional states. There are many factors affecting the absorption of nutrients but few will alter the body’s normal mineral status if a person is physically well and following a balanced diet.

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Effects on the thyroid The thyroid gland is responsible for the production of hormones necessary for growth and development and for regulating metabolism. It has been hypothesised that phytoestrogens interact with the thyroid gland by a number of potential mechanisms, raising concerns that the phytoestrogens in soya may affect thyroid function. This has only been suggested in adults where iodine intake was inadequate. These concerns remain theoretical and there is no evidence that soya foods adversely affect thyroid function in healthy, iodine-replete children and adults. Dairy products provide about half the iodine consumption in the UK. Vegan sources include seaweeds and foods made from them such as kelp, Vecon, a vegetable stock, and iodised salt. Menopausal symptoms Numerous studies continue to suggest that soya isoflavones help with improved mental processes and a reduction in hot flushes. However, the results are inconclusive. The isoflavones found in soya bind to oestrogen receptors and prevent the binding of the body’s own oestrogen to the receptor and may help replace oestrogen in postmenopausal women. In the American Family Physician Journal this year an article appeared suggesting patients who do not wish to take hormonal medicines should try other options including soya, red clover and black cohosh (Carroll 2006). Breast cancer Many tumours, especially breast cancers, are stimulated by human oestrogen. Therefore the fact that isoflavones act in a similar way to mammalian hormones supports a potential role in breast cancer prevention. It is believed that these phytoestrogens may counteract some of the hormone’s cancer-causing potential. On the other hand, there are also concerns that these phytoestrogens may have a negative effect in relation to breast cancer risk. Again this is hypothetical and there is a lack of studies to conclusively support either of these theories. Women should be reassured that, whatever their health status, there seems no reason to avoid a moderate intake of soya (COT 2003). Bone health The influence of diet on bone health is complex. There are intriguing suggestions that phytoestrogens may have the potential to protect bones (Arjmandi et al 2002) but studies remain controversial and no conclusions can be drawn. Whilst too much protein can be detrimental to bone health, too little can also be damaging. The most important dietary aspect in bone status is a healthy balanced diet with

adequate calcium (found in nuts, seeds, pulses, figs, grains and fortified non-dairy milks), vitamin D (from the action of sunlight on skin and found in margarines and fortified non-dairy milks) and potassium and vitamin K (of which green leaf vegetables are an excellent source). Summary Soya is a good source of protein and can reduce cholesterol levels. Other claimed effects, both positive and negative, remain controversial and unproven. We all know that diet and lifestyle impact on our health and that it is unlikely that any one food is the panacea of all health and disease. A balanced vegan diet, with or without soya, will always be preferable to one based on animal foods for a multitude of reasons – nutritional, ethical and ecological. References Arjmandi, B.H. and Smith, B.J. (2002) ‘Soy isoflavones’ osteoprotective role in postmenopausal women: mechanism of action’. J Nutr Biochem 13 130-337 British Nutrition Foundation (2002) Soya and Health Briefing Paper, November 2002 Carroll, D.G. (2006) ‘Non-hormonal therapies for hot flashes in menopause’, Am Fam Physician Feb 1 73(3) 396, 398 COT Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (2003) Phytoestrogens and Health. The Food Standards Agency Jenkins DJ et al (2006) Assessment of the longer term effects of a dietary portfolio of cholesterol-lowering foods in hypercholesterolemia Am J Clin Nutr Mar 83(3) 582-91 Rosell MS, Appleby PN, Spencer EA, Key TJ (2004) Soy intake and blood cholesterol concentrations: a cross-sectional study of 1033 pre- and postmenopausal women in the Oxford arm of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Am J Clin Nutr 80 1391-6 Scott, L (2004) 'The Great Soya Saga', VeggieHealth, Viva! Spring 4 16-17 Acknowledgements: Tanya Carr RD R Nutr. Useful reading Plant Based Nutrition & Health by Stephen Walsh – available from The Vegan Society

CURIOUS HISTORY:

SOYA Bill Laws

Every nation has a bean to boast about. In India it’s the mung bean, in France the haricot. In Britain, at least until Columbus brought back the native South American beans, it was the broad bean (as useful as it was nutritious: as everyone knows, the best way to get rid of a ghost is to spit a bean at it). But for China and Japan the national bean is soya. The Chinese have been cultivating the protein- and calcium-rich bean at least since the Western Chou dynasty (which ended in 770 BC). It proved to be a very useful vegetable, and one which gave millions a healthy, meatless diet. Unlike their rough and ready brothers, the Tartars, who used animals to provide their dairy products, the Chinese learned to make milk by crushing the soya bean and mixing it with water. They roasted and toasted the bean and, after removing the outer skin, ground it down for flour. And if some high-born Chinese were inclined to dismiss them as ‘coolie food’, bean sprouts provided a healthy, vitamin-rich salad for everyone else. We could be forgiven for assuming that our soya-filled veggie burgers and meat-free sausages were the product of the twentieth-century space age. In fact the Chinese beat us to it over 1,000 years ago: it was Buddhists in the T’ang empire who turned soya bean curds into lookalike fish, poultry and meat. The Japanese did their bit to promote the versatile soya bean, too. Aside from using soya beans to make soy sauce and that Asian version of Vegemite, miso, the Japanese developed the dairy-free cheese, daizu or to-fu, from soya beans, and, salting the soya bean in oil, a concoction they called sho-yu. It was a case of mistaken identity that brought the soya beans out of the East and into Europe. In the 1700s Dutch missionaries arrived in Japan and discovered the pale-white bean. Mistaking sho-yu for the name of the bean itself they sent samples of what they pronounced as ‘soya’ home.

The Royal Botanical Society trialled different varieties in the 1920s and there are a few varieties available to the allotment holder but they tend to produce more greens than beans. In America, however, the soya bean took off. In the 1800s American growers helped put the soya bean at number four in the world’s most grown vegetable (along with maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes and sugar beet). They were soon exporting soya back to Europe, especially to Britain where, during the Second World War, food shortages put US-grown soya beans on every British plate. Come the end of hostilities and the British housewife, sick of soya, turned her back on bland beans. It didn’t last long. The hippy culture of the 1970s triggered a wholefood revival and the macrobiotic movement extolled the virtues of soya. The soya bean was back.

The benevolent bean went forth and multiplied. The soya bean did not thrive in the British climate. There was never quite enough daylight during the flowering phase and late frosts played havoc with the climbing bean.

Now we eat beans like there’s no tomorrow. The British are said to be the world’s biggest bean feasters consuming an estimated 6.75 kilos per person per year. (The Swedes are not far behind.)

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MOUTH-WATERING MORSELS FROM 222 VEGGIE VEGAN

BAKED CHAMPIGNONS (Wheat-free) Makes: 1 serving 6 button mushrooms A few leaves of green salad (curly or iceberg lettuce, lollo rosso) Extra virgin olive oil 222 VEGGIE VEGAN Vegan Society Sunflower Standard holder 222 Veggie Vegan is an oasis for London vegans and, as its reputation grows, is also attracting the discerning restaurant-goer from much farther afield. The head chef Ben Asamani is one of 222’s founders - he has an impressive background, having been a cornerstone in such well-known London establishments as Country Life and Plant. Ben cares passionately about the vegan lifestyle and has the fortunate rare talent of magically creating flavours that you will dream about long after the meal.... But there is no compromise on the healthful quality of the food. Dishes are freshly prepared from scratch using wholefood ingredients in a kitchen in full sight of the restaurant’s seating area. 222 even holds cooking classes for you to learn to make these dishes at home. And don’t worry if you have a special dietary need, you’ll be amazed at the options on offer.

222 Veggie Vegan Vegetarian Wholefood Restaurant 222 North End Road London W14 9NU Tel: 020 73812322 Fax: 020 76100222 e-mail: info@222veggievegan.com url: www.222veggievegan.com

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Pre-heat oven to 240°C/gas mark 9. Brush the mushrooms well with extra virgin olive oil, coat in breading meal, place on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes. Serve on a bed of salad with the cocktail sauce on the side. Breading meal ⁄2 cup small oat flakes ⁄4 cup yeast flakes Pinch of salt 1 tablespoon dried parsley 1 ⁄2 tablespoon garlic powder 1 ⁄4 cup corn meal 1 1

Simply mix all ingredients together. Cocktail sauce ⁄2 cup organic soya milk (unsweetened) ⁄2 cup cold pressed sunflower oil Pinch of sea salt 1 teaspoon garlic power or pinch of fresh garlic 1 ⁄2 teaspoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon tomato purée 1 1

Blend the first four ingredients thoroughly for 7-10 minutes. Dribble in lemon juice, whisking slowly. Add the tomato purée and mix gently.

SUNNY PAPAYA TART Base ⁄2 cup small oat flakes ⁄2 cup wholemeal flour 1 ⁄2 cup white flour 2 tablespoons pure apple juice concentrate 1 ⁄3 cup vegan margarine 1 ⁄3 cup water 1 1

Preheat oven to 240° C/gas mark 9

TOFU MILLET RISSOLES (Wheat-free) Makes: 10 rissoles (balls)

Place all the ingredients apart from the water in a food processor or bowl. Process or rub together thoroughly for a few minutes until the mixture develops a breadcrumb consistency. Add water until the dough sticks together, then roll out. Place into a tin and bake for 7-10 minutes. Filling

2 cups cooked millet* 1 cup firm tofu, mashed 1 onion, chopped 1 tablespoon olive oil 31⁄2 tablespoons Liquid Aminos 3 tablespoons oat flour or corn flour 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped *Simmer 1⁄2 cup millet grain in 2 cups salted water for 45-60 min. Preheat oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Sauté onion, garlic and olive oil. Mix with the rest of ingredients. Form into balls (with an ice-cream scoop) and place on an oiled baking tray. Bake for 10-15 minutes.

2 fresh papayas (medium size), peeled 1 tablespoon agar flakes 1 ⁄2 cup orange juice 1 ⁄2 cup dried papaya Blend one of the fresh papayas with the dried papaya until smooth then spread the mixture on the baked base. Slice second papaya and layer it on top. In a saucepan, bring the orange juice to the boil then reduce heat, add agar flakes and simmer for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly until flakes have completely dissolved. Pour mixture over tart and place in the fridge for 1 hour. Serving suggestion: Serve with vegan vanilla ice cream.

Serving suggestion: Serve with tomato sauce and steamed broccoli. TOMATO SAUCE (Wheat-free) Makes: 6 servings 4 minced garlic cloves 1 cup chopped onion 2-3 tablespoons olive oil 4 cups fresh or canned tomatoes with juice 1 cup tomato paste / purée 2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon oregano In a pot, sauté the garlic and onions in olive oil. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Simmer for 30 minutes to blend the flavours.

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YOU BET THEY DIE THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST GREYHOUND RACING Greyhound Action

As the national day for commemorating greyhounds abused and killed by the racing industry approaches, campaign group Greyhound Action describes some of the horrific practices involved in the greyhound racing industry and introduces us to some of the ways in which we can help put an end to the so-called ‘sport’.

Thousands of greyhound pups and young dogs are put to death because they fail to reach racing standards. We estimate that over 10,000 are killed annually in the British Isles.

ens of thousands of dogs are disposed of every year by the British greyhound racing industry - because they fail to make the grade as racers or when their racing days are over. About 30,000 greyhound pups are registered every year in the British Isles. The number bred is actually many thousands more than this, when taking into account pups that are never registered and those killed by breeders at a very young age. Although most of these dogs are bred in Ireland, the majority are produced to supply the demands of the British greyhound racing industry.

Twiggy was rescued from the kennels of a trainer in Somerset, where she had been starved and kept in appalling conditions. She has now found a happy home.

produced, as well as leaflets, posters, badges, postcards and stickers. Our extensive website plays a very important part in our efforts to educate the public and is now attracting an average of 350 visitors per day. GREYHOUND ACTION Greyhound Action was formed in 1997 with the ultimate aim of putting an end to greyhound racing. There are many other groups dedicated to finding homes for ex-racing greyhounds, but in practical terms it is only possible to re-home a very small percentage of the vast number of greyhounds disposed of every year by the greyhound racing industry. Therefore the total abolition of greyhound racing is the only real solution.

We also supply information to both local and national media and have been involved in campaigns (many of which have been successful) to stop the building of greyhound tracks both in this country and abroad and to end EU grants to Irish greyhound breeders.

Greyhound Action is seeking to educate the public about the dark side of greyhound racing, so that support for this so-called ‘sport’ withers away. We are also attempting to put pressure on the government to ban greyhound racing altogether. We know it will take a long battle to achieve such a ban, but it is not an impossible aim, as the abolition of dog racing in several American states has shown.

In addition, we act as a central contact point for people who want to adopt ex-racing greyhounds and a considerable number of these dogs have found loving homes as a result.

As part of our campaign, a petition calling for a ban on greyhound racing has been

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We are now putting considerable pressure on bookmakers to persuade them to no longer take bets on live greyhound racing and to switch to virtual (computerised) racing instead.

JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN… …by doing whatever you can to educate the public not to support greyhound racing. This can be done through street stalls, writing letters to newspapers and being interviewed by the local media. Demonstrations can be held outside

Dogs which actually make it to the track are very likely to experience suffering during their racing careers. It has been estimated that greyhounds running on British tracks sustain many thousands of injuries every year and that 10 per cent of dogs that race are already suffering from injuries.

greyhound tracks and leaflets distributed to those attending greyhound races and betting shops. If you would like to do any of the above, please contact Greyhound Action and we will send you whatever information and campaign materials you require. We are also looking for volunteers to do research for us on the internet and elsewhere. If you feel you can help in this way, please let us know. LOCAL ACTION Increased support has allowed us to set up Greyhound Action branches in many different parts of the country. Please let us know if you would be interested in taking part in your local branch to campaign against your nearest greyhound stadium and/or help educate people in your area.

Now happily rehomed, Thomas was severely neglected when he was no longer useful to the racing industry and was just a week away from death from starvation when he was rescued. Injured toes, torn muscles, strained tendons and arthritic joints are commonplace. At least 12,000 greyhounds ‘retire’ from racing in Britain every year, at an average age of just two and a half years old. This is either because of injury or because they are judged to be no longer good enough to race. Very few of these dogs manage to find good homes. This is hardly surprising, given a situation where many thousands of ordinary dogs are put to sleep every year because no homes are available for them. The British greyhound racing industry has admitted that between 500 and 1,000 retired greyhounds are put to death every year. This alone would be enough to justify a ban on greyhound racing, but the true figure for retired dogs killed is, sadly, far, far higher. Quite possibly as many as 7,000.

Many ex-racing greyhounds are simply abandoned and a large number are killed, sometimes by extremely cruel methods such as drowning or poisoning because some owners and trainers are not prepared to pay the cost of having them put to sleep by a vet. Greyhound Action receives an increasing number of reports of trainers shooting dogs when their racing days are over. We don’t wish to suggest that everyone involved in greyhound racing is cruel or insensitive. There are some ‘owners’ and trainers who love their dogs and take good care of them for all of their natural lives. But this only applies to a small minority of the thousands of dogs that enter racing, and thousands more are put to death before even reaching that stage. The only way to prevent the massive suffering and killing of greyhounds caused by the greyhound racing industry is for greyhound racing to be abolished. It is interesting to note that this has already happened in the United States, where six states have banned greyhound racing since 1993. In the meantime it is important that people avoid attending or betting on greyhound racing so that it gradually comes to an end through lack of finance and support. Greyhound Remembrance Day takes place on Sunday 23rd July. See Events, page 37 for details.

HELP SUPPORT GREYHOUND ACTION We make no charge for our campaign materials, as we don’t want to discourage anyone from spreading the message by making them pay for leaflets, posters etc. This, together with the increasing amount we are spending on printing, postage and so on, means that our finances are constantly stretched to the limit and we are always desperately in need of funds to increase and expand our work. You can help us enormously by making a donation. Cheques can be made payable to Greyhound Action or a standing order can be set up to help us with a regular donation – please contact us at the address below for details. Please also consider holding a jumble sale, coffee morning, sponsored dog walk etc. to help raise funds for Greyhound Action. We are a voluntary group, so all money received goes directly towards the campaign. Greyhound Action, PO Box 127, Kidderminster, DY10 3UZ Tel: 01562 745778 Fax: 0870 138 3993 E-mail: info@greyhoundaction.org.uk Website: www.greyhoundaction.org.uk

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GROW VEGAN Paul Robertshaw of VON and the Welsh College of Horticulture

opefully for those vegetable growers among you frost is a thing of the past and there is only good warm weather to look forward to. Whether you have an allotment, a vegetable garden or just a back yard to cultivate some healthy vegangrown organic food in, now is a busy time and there should be lots to be getting on with.

Direct sowing can now continue outside for many crops. For those of you with limited space I would suggest you concentrate on growing salad crops. There is no reason why you should not be able to grow your own salad leaves all year round with some protection. You can now plant lettuces, claytonia, land cress, mustards, summer purslane, leaf radish and rocket. By June you should also start the successional sowings of all those lovely brassica leaves that add variety to your salads, such as Pak Choi, mizuna and Komatsuna. There are now lots of new salad crop varieties available that can be grown as ‘cut and come again.’ You could even grow some dandelions - an undervalued crop! For organic growers, summer is an important time to take preventative action for the most problematic issues facing us: weeds, pests and diseases. There is so much you can do in the way of prevention; it always seems daft to me that we don’t pay more attention to it and so avert the need for chemicals, including organically approved ones. Not all weeds are bad but in general anything that is competing for light, water and nutrients with your food source is at least a nuisance – this need not be the case. My top tip, unless of course you have lots of time and find weeding therapeutic, is to maximise the use of mulches, both natural and man-made. Ensure before you apply mulch that the area is weed-free, particularly in-between the crops. I would then apply a good thickness of compost or leaf mould that will not only reduce the weeds but also over time add to the fertility of the soil. If you can’t produce enough compost then use old cardboard or straw to exclude the light and provide protection.

Grow Vegan Puzzler Q. Where is the name dandelion said to originate? Send your answer on a postcard to The Vegan Society (address details on page 1) by 30th June 2006 to be in with a chance of winning a selection of natural handmade soaps from Seven Wives.

Spring Grow Vegan Answer: Green manures Winner: Pauline Tilbury, Bristol

On the pest and disease front, prevention is the only solution because once you get an infestation it is virtually impossible to do anything about it other than accept it. However, as with weeds you can turn the odds in your favour primarily by building up biodiversity around your plot. Along with caring for the soil this is the most important organic principle. Even if you don’t have the space to have beetle banks and hedgerows we can all create or provide sources of food, water and shelter.

Friend or foe? Some weeds, such as the dandelion, can make a valuable addition to your vegetable garden

Try introducing a pond of some description, bird boxes, feeding stations, habitats for the bug-eaters such as log piles and unkempt areas. Also companion planting is crucial and not just marigolds - diversity attracts different and valuable species. When you think of ‘pests’ as ‘competing organisms’ with a life of their own, you will be better disposed towards them! So that’s it, no excuses, happy growing and if you should want to undertake some formal training I am now running a Foundation Degree in Organic Horticulture as well as an HNC course. On these you will learn about StockfreeOrganic growing. If you are interested in finding out more about these courses contact me at the Welsh College of Horticulture, Northop, Mold, Flintshire, CH7 6AA. paul.robertshaw@wcoh.ac.uk

Compost conundrum Disappointingly, B&Q are no longer selling their organic animal-free compost. An alternative is New Horizon organic garden compost, which is animal-free, organic, and peat-free. Sold as a soil conditioner but can be used as your propagating medium (sieve it first). Stockist details available from W. Sinclair, Firth Road, Lincoln LN6 7AH. Tel: 01522 780335 www.william-sinclair.co.uk (available from some garden centres). This product is used at the College with good results.

Vegan-Organic Network (VON) will help you to ‘grow your own’ and your support is vital. For details contact: VON, ‘Anandavan,’ 58 High Lane, Chorltoncum-Hardy, Manchester M21 9DZ, email veganorganic@supanet.com General enquiries to 0845 223 5232 (local rate). www.veganorganic.net.

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NUTRITION NEWS Stephen Walsh

Two very positive pieces of news made headlines recently. Vegan diets were praised for helping to avoid excess weight gain and the widespread promotion of fish oils was called into question by the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Both topics made the front page of The Independent and were widely covered elsewhere.

No need for fish oil The British Medical Journal recently reviewed all studies based on changes in intake of omega-3 fats or fish without any other dietary changes. These included a recent large Welsh study which found increased deaths in people with angina who had been advised to consume oily fish or fish oil. The impact on heart disease, cancer and overall mortality was measured and the case for a benefit from fish or fish oil was found to be unproven. Getting more plant or fish omega-3s still appeared to reduce overall death rates by about 14% in both cases, though statistical analysis showed that these apparent benefits might be due to chance – hence the ‘unproven’ verdict. Earlier reviews showing clearer benefits for fish oil mainly involved people who had recently survived a heart attack while the Welsh study was based on people with angina, so any short-term benefit from omega-3s in relation to heart disease may apply mainly to people who have recently had a heart attack. The key difference between fish and plant omega-3s is the presence in fish of the longer chain versions, EPA and DHA, which are sometimes regarded as more easily utilised by the body. However, the BMJ review showed no advantage over plant omega-3s (mostly alphalinolenic acid which is converted to EPA and DHA within the body). Neither was likely to be more than moderately beneficial in reducing death rates, so a broader approach is needed to achieve substantial reductions. The BMJ review did not include the highly successful Lyon Diet Heart Trial because this study made more than one change in the usual diet: dairy fat was replaced with rapeseed oil, which is rich in monounsaturated fat and plant omega-3s, but fruit and vegetable intake was also increased, so the benefits of the plant omega-3s could not be separated from those of the other changes. In this study, mortality in heart attack survivors was reduced by more than 50%. This strongly supports a shift to a more plant-based diet, with fruit and vegetables centre stage and monounsaturated fats such as rapeseed oil, olive oil, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts and macadamias as the main source of fat, along with moderate amounts of plant omega-3s from flaxseed, rapeseed oil and hempseed. This continues to be The Vegan Society’s recommendation. Getting your daily ration of omega-3s A cheap and effective source is organic golden linseed (flaxseed), easily obtainable at £3 to £4 per kilo. It is important to grind this first - a coffee grinder will do, though custom-made flax grinders can be obtained cheaply in the USA and may soon be available here. Alternatively, ready-ground flaxseed or bottled pure flaxseed oil are convenient to use but more expensive, have a shorter shelf life and need to be kept in the fridge. The recommended daily amount is about a tablespoon of ground flaxseed or a teaspoon of flaxseed oil. The cost per adult is thus about £1 per month for the home-ground flaxseed and perhaps twice that for the processed versions – a modest investment for an assured intake of uncontaminated omega-3s. Beyond this and the equally inexpensive VEG 1 multivitamin available from the Society, any extra expenditure is best directed towards a variety of good quality fresh fruit and vegetables. See Plant Based Nutrition and Health, also available from the Society, for further information on promoting good health through plant foods.

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Avoiding excessive weight gain The headlines about healthy weight resulted from a report by the EPIC Oxford group who studied weight change over a five-year period in more than 20,000 people, including 5,000 vegetarians and 600 vegans. The average weight gain for meateaters was 2.1 kg (4.6 lbs) compared with 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) for vegans. Those who changed their diet during the five years to include more animal products gained 2.3 kg (5 lbs) while those who moved towards a vegan diet gained only 1.2 kg (2.6 lbs). These results are consistent with other studies showing that vegans are about 5 kg (11 lbs) lighter than meat-eaters and that adopting a vegan diet helps to reduce weight gain in adult life. The weight gain in vegans was about 75% of that in meat-eaters, so we are not immune to the effects of an environment where food is readily available and the need for physical effort is very small. The same study confirmed the importance of physical activity for maintaining a healthy weight. Very active individuals who exercised for at least an hour a day had a weight gain of 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) compared with 2.4 kg (5.2 lbs) for those who took little exercise. A relatively unprocessed vegan diet and an active lifestyle are therefore a sound basis for avoiding excessive weight gain in young to middle-aged adults.

TYPICAL VEGAN? A former professional footballer, Neil Robinson has played for Everton, Swansea City, Grimsby Town and Darlington. He has been vegan since 1980 and was vegetarian for ten years before this. In terms of his career, he was vegetarian for the first seven years and vegan for his last ten years as a football player. He says: ‘I can safely say that my diet was never a limiting factor during training or playing. In fact, I was always one of the fittest players at every club I played at.’ He still keeps fit by walking and weight training, and enjoys composing music on his PC. You can hear samples of his music at www.asusu.com.

WHY VEGAN? ‘I became vegetarian at 13 years of age because I was disgusted by the cruelty to animals just for human consumption and became vegan after finally coming to my senses and realising how cruel the dairy industry was to animals. I fully believe that veganism is the most compassionate and only way for all humans to live.’

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DEAR VEGAN SOCIETY... It is always difficult when you are the only vegan in a group. However, if you go to a friend’s house you can always offer to bring your own food with you; most people will say: ‘No need, just send me a recipe and I will cook for you.’ Part of being vegan is to tell people about it, if you keep your veganism secret it will never become accepted into the mainstream.

The Vegan Society receives a lot of queries from people who have just found out that they have to restrict their diet and don’t know where to start. It can certainly be difficult adjusting to a new routine, especially if you’ve only just worked out what’s vegan and what’s not! But there’s no need for anyone to miss out – wheat-free vegan cooking can be easy and delicious.

When eating out, if your friends won’t eat in a vegetarian restaurant, suggest an Indian or Turkish restaurant. Indian restaurants usually offer a range of vegetable curries, simply ask the waiter to cook your food in oil instead of ghee. Likewise Turkish restaurants can usually provide you with hummus, rice stuffed vine leaves, pitta bread, beans in a tomato sauce or grilled vegetables. Alternatively, Pizza Express now offers an excellent range of vegan options.

We have a couple of books that could help. The Food Allergy Survival Guide is an excellent introduction to living with multiple allergies and intolerances; it covers nutrition and lifestyle advice and contains lots of tasty recipes, including starters, main courses and desserts. For tasty cakes and biscuits, try Simple Treats – utterly delicious wheat-free vegan baking.

Rosamund Raha Vegan Society Information Officer

Sundari Poorun Vegan Society Sales and Membership Officer

Being vegan is easy at home but I don’t like to be awkward when I eat at friends’ houses or when I go out for a meal with other people.

Visit www.vegansociety.com/shop or call our sales department on 01424 427 393 for details.

The symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, which you have described, can be distressing to live with. PCOS, which affects up to 10% of women of child-bearing age, is characterised by insulin resistance, and high blood sugar levels. In the long term, this leads to a greater risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Both your current symptoms, and the long term outlook, may be improved by diet. Your symptoms should improve if you lose even a moderate amount of weight, to bring you closer to your ideal weight for your height. Eating highfibre foods and whole grains, which are slowly absorbed, will help control your blood sugar and reduce the long term risks. Choose foods with a low glycaemic index, such as brown rice and pasta, rather than white rice and bread. Eat plenty of pulses, and avoid sugary drinks. Cakes and biscuits contain refined flour and sugars, and hidden fats; reduce treat foods like these to very special occasions, and snack on fresh fruit, such as apples or pears, instead. Grilling foods instead of frying is an easy way to reduce your total fat intake. Increasing the amount you exercise will aid weight loss and help control your blood sugar levels. Helen Edwards

I love baking, but have recently been diagnosed with wheat intolerance and am having difficulty finding good vegan wheat-free recipes for biscuits, cakes and bread. Can you recommend any recipe books that may be useful?

I have polycystic ovary syndrome, which has caused my periods to become irregular, I’ve put on weight and have poor skin and excess hair growth - is there anything I can do in terms of my diet to alleviate the symptoms?

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Reviews Rosamund Raha

PLEASURABLE KINGDOM By Jonathan Balcombe Published: Macmillan ISBN: 1403986010 Cover Price: £16.99 (hardback) This wonderful book provides new and truly inspiring evidence that non-human animals experience enjoyment, and that their lives are impoverished when they are denied play, the freedom to roam, companionship, sex, touch and other pleasurable things. Balcombe gives example after example of pleasurable behaviour in animals which should (if heeded) have important implications for public policy. The book shows that it is unreasonable for human beings to deny non-human animals these basic pleasures and that pleasure has an important role to play in evolution by natural selection. Balcombe also discusses the philosophical problem of ‘proving’ emotions, consciousness, minds and feelings, and he challenges scientists to question their sceptical dogmas. Indeed only a solipsist (who denies the possibility of other minds – both human and nonhuman) could read this book and remain sceptical that non-human animals feel pleasure.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A TREEHUGGER TO BE VEGAN Written and published by Dan Vishny ISBN: 0-9772493-0-1 Cover price: £8.99 Available from The Vegan Society Full of insights and anecdotes, this book is enormously enjoyable and entertaining. It is a pragmatic book that does not advocate a strict vegan lifestyle, or any philosophy relating to our treatment of non-human animals; it simply concentrates on the health benefits of a vegan diet. Vishny brings together many of the facts already known to many well-read vegans and adds his own slant. At times suggesting arguments in favour of animal products, Vishny never leaves you in any doubt that he considers plant-based diets to be superior to those that contain animal products. Vishny makes no false claims and presents a balanced case for veganism as the ‘healthy option.’

SPADE, SKIRRET AND PARSNIP: THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF VEGETABLES By Bill Laws Published: Sutton Publishing ISBN: 0750932597 Cover price: ££7.99 Spade, Skirret and Parsnip, penned by The Vegan’s own Bill Laws, is now available in paperback. Charting the influence of vegetables across the centuries and across the globe, and covering politics, art, literature and religion, Laws maps out various plant origins and discusses the meaning of different vegetable names and the history of cultivation. Read, for example, about the world’s oldest vegetable, the humble pea, which was first cultivated around 9000 years ago, or marvel at the superstitions and politics surrounding the potato, which aroused considerable suspicion when it first arrived on our shores in the 1600s. Looking at world history from a whole new angle, Spade, Skirret and Parsnip will amuse and inform, providing many a useful anecdote with which to entertain friends over dinner. See page 21 for Bill’s latest article on the curious history of veg.

MEAT MARKET (ANIMALS, ETHICS, AND MONEY) By Erik Marcus Published: Bio Press ISBN: 0-9758679-1-1 Cover Price: $14.95 Comprehensive and hard hitting, this book chronicles the rise of factory farming since the 1950s and touches on subjects ranging from the politics of food to vegan activism. Marcus investigates the techniques of the animal protection movement and makes insightful suggestions for change, notably encouraging animal activists to continually bring the focus of debate back to factory farming and away from the thorny subject of animal experimentation. Marcus does not condemn meat-eaters altogether, but instead tries to win over their hearts and minds by encouraging them to consider the consequences of daily meat-eating and to challenge social norms. An informative and thought-provoking read.

SUPERMARKET OWN BRAND GUIDE By Martin Isark Published: Mitchell Beazley ISBN: 1-84533-189-3 Cover price: ££6.99 Comparing the leading brand name food and drink products with supermarket own-brand alternatives, the Supermarket Own Brand Guide concentrates on taste and value for money, but also marks those products that are suitable for vegans. This makes it an excellent guide to finding animal-free versions of many of the leading brand-name products. Foods that are free from gluten, nuts or seeds are also highlighted. Be warned, though, it does contain details of animal products alongside the many vegan options

The Vegan l Summer 2006

Postbag

STAR LETTER

The author of this issue’s ‘Star Letter’ wins a luxurious Funk Bubble toiletries gift bag.

I thoroughly enjoyed the spring issue of The Vegan magazine, which featured a few pages on vegan parenting and the launch of the new book, Feeding your Vegan Infant with Confidence.

It was nice to see vegan parents represented as we face all the same challenges as other vegans do, with the added ones of making decisions for our little ones and dealing with how people may feel about our ‘imposing’ our beliefs on our children. Since having my first baby I have come to realise just how misinformed many people are about veganism. I have come across more concern about my child’s diet than mothers who regularly feed their children junk food and fizzy drinks. Apparently that is none of most people’s business!

I have also had many humorous experiences, including friends tasting the first weaning food without my knowledge, not realising that it was mixed with breast milk. Accidentally tasting milk from the same species made them want to vomit but drinking milk from another animal is an everyday occurrence. I never noticed this contradiction as much as I do now. It’s my girl’s first birthday as I write and these are just my experiences so far. I have many more to come: how to deal with birthday parties, sleepovers, foster children, teenage rebellion… She is her own person and is free to make any decision she likes when she feels ready but for now, like all parents, I have the role of gently guiding her into a happy, healthy and safe life that is compassionate and empathetic with many life forms. Wish me luck! Hana Hall Ireland

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

I am writing regarding the letter by Ken Elliott in the spring 2006 edition of The Vegan magazine. I find it difficult to see someone as vegan if they only scan half the ingredients on a product they intend to buy. I don’t believe that veganism has to have a detrimental effect on others around you. Friends of mine regularly come round with their children; their kids love the

vegan food on offer and are always amazed by the range of food available. It also opens up discussion with the children about what they are eating and why. This is clearly passing on the message that veganism is not only great for the environment and animals but that it tastes great and is a healthy and sociable choice. Sarah Calvert By email

People cannot be persuaded to the vegan cause by our being casual about our principles; ending the insanity of animal farming is not a casual matter. It is up to us to present the facts in an honest way so that non-vegans can make a decision. If they see us being casual about so-called lesser ingredients they will get the impression that maybe the livestock industry is not that bad after all. John Willis Beaminster Dorset

The debate engendered by the ‘How Vegan’, article, whilst interesting, has taken on the hallmarks of ‘how can we appear to be fluffy, friendly, nonjudgemental and willing to compromise?’ With my wife and four children I’ve enjoyed being a vegan for nearly 24 years. We make mistakes of course but, believing that ‘compassion is the ultimate

ethic’, we keep working at it. There really is no room to compromise with ‘just a little bit’ of cruelty to accommodate the thoughtless or uncaring; to do so would only grant them licence to continue their blasé existence, caring for little other than the small island of the self. Denis Harrison By email

Just as a person who eats fish is not vegetarian, so a person who eats whey, milk proteins, egg albumen and honey is not vegan. If you wish to be dietary vegan but can’t go quite all the way, why not just say ‘I’m almost vegan’? It at least shows you are trying and you can still explain the reasons for striving to be vegan. But to say you are vegan and then accept foods containing animal-derived products creates confusion, and encourages disbelief in the existence of ‘real vegans.’ Rosemary Forrest By email

‘Violent extremists’ – words we have all heard, but who are these extremists who fund violence? They say extreme things so that they can continue to have a mouthful of flesh, such as: ‘If you don’t eat animals you become ill and malnourished.’ They say muscle and blood taste nice. They fund the killing of innocent animals. They fund the stealing of a baby calf’s milk from its mother.

They are the same people who are so extreme in their ways that they are destroying the planet and causing world famine. We are not the extremists and we are not violent. We choose to be vegan – they don’t. Mr James Hayling Island Hampshire

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AGM NOTICE The next Annual General Meeting of The Vegan Society will be held on Saturday 28th October 2006 at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1. PROPOSALS FOR RESOLUTION Proposals for resolution, to be considered by Council for inclusion on the AGM Agenda, must be received at the Society’s office (Donald Watson House, 7 Battle Road, St Leonard’s-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN37 7AA) not later than Friday 28th July. For your guidance Ordinary Proposals should: n be proposed and seconded by paid-up, full (not supporter) members n in the interests of economy and clarity, not exceed 100 words n propose some form of action n propose one single action, i.e. they must not be composite proposals n not simply comprise a statement of opinion Members considering submitting Special Proposals (those seeking to change the Memorandum or Articles of Association) are advised to contact the Company Secretary (Stephen Walsh) or the Chair (George Rodger) c/o the Society’s office. Proposers are requested to limit their proposals to two.

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NOMINATIONS FOR COUNCIL Nominations are invited for members to serve on Council. Each candidate must: n have been a full (not supporter) member of the Society for 12 months or longer (as at 28th October 2006) n not be disqualified under company or charity law from being a trustee/director n submit a written nomination duly signed by a proposer and seconder who are paid-up, full members n submit a profile of him/herself stating in 100-200 words his/her full name (and any previous names), skills, experience, views and intentions if elected. Nominations must be received at the office (Donald Watson House, 7 Battle Road, St Leonard’s-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN37 7AA) not later than Friday 28th July. Candidacy is open to all members of the Society meeting the criteria outlined above. Members with relevant professional skills and qualifications are particularly invited to consider nomination. For further details, ask for a ‘Prospective Candidates’ Nomination Pack’ by sending an A5 SAE marked ‘PCNP’ to: Council Elections, Donald Watson House, 7 Battle Road, St Leonard’s-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN37 7AA.

events

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

n MAY

Saturday 20th Veggie Pride (FRANCE) Festival of vegetarian and vegan pride. Demonstration followed by activities including information and food stands, talks, music, etc. Meet in front of the Pompidou Centre, Paris, 2pm. http://www.veggiepride.org/en./ Monday 22nd – Sunday 28th National Vegetarian Week A week dedicated to raising awareness of vegetarianism. Contact The Vegetarian Society for details of events in your area T. 0161 925 2000, www.vegsoc.org/nvw. Saturday 27th – Saturday 3rd June One World Spring Festival Festival of holistic health, macrobiotics, arts & craft, music, cookery, sport, dance, natural movement. Galloway, Scotland. T. 01273 279439 www.macrobios.com.

n JUNE

Saturday 3rd Viva! Veggie Roadshow, York Vegan food, drink, information, cookery demonstrations, talks, and much more… The Guildhall, St Helen’s Square, York. 10.30am to 4.30pm. Admission free. www.viva.org.uk/roadshows06/yor k.html. Saturday 10th Bristol Vegan Fayre The L-Shed, Princes Wharf, Wapping Road, Bristol. 10am – 6pm. Admission free. T. 0117 923 9053 www.yaoh.co.uk. Saturday 17th National Badger Day Organised by the National Federation of Badger Groups. T. 020 7228 6444 www.nfbg.org.uk.

n JULY

Saturday 1st Gloucestershire Veggie Fayre Vegan food and drink, stalls, cookery demonstrations, bodybuilders, talks, healthy living cafes, organic foods… GL1 Leisure Centre, Bruton Way, Gloucester. 9.30-5.30pm. Admission free. www.govegan.co.uk.

Sunday 23rd Greyhound Remembrance Day Day for commemoration of greyhounds abused and killed by the greyhound racing industry. Lay flowers outside your local stadium to help raise awareness. T. 01562 745778 www.greyhoundaction.co.uk.

Monday 7 th – Sunday 13 th One World Summer Festival Festival of holistic health, macrobiotics, arts & craft, music, cookery, sport, dance, natural movement. Kent, England. T. 01273 279439 www.macrobios.com.

Sunday 30th July – Saturday 5th August 10th International Vegan Festival (DENMARK) Organised by the Danish Vegan Society. Contact Kirsten Jungsberg, Raadmand Steins Alle 45,7, DK-2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark, T. +45 3874 3404, www.vegansworldnetwork.org/in ternational-vegan-festival.html.

Thursday 10th – Monday 14th Animal Rights 2006 (USA) Large animal rights conference. Events include plenaries, workshops, campaign reports, exhibitions and an awards banquet. Hilton Mark Center Hotel, Washington DC. www.arconference.org.

n AUGUST

Wednesday 2nd - Sunday 6th Vegans at the Big Green Gathering Organised by the team behind the Vegan Summer Gathering. A vegan camping area at the Big Green Gathering festival, near Cheddar, Somerset. See www.big-green-gathering.com for details of the festival or contact for information about the vegan area. Saturday 5th Viva! Veggie Roadshow, Swansea The Grand Theatre, Singleton Street, Swansea. 10.30am to 4.30pm. Admission free. See 3rd June event for details. Friday 4th – Tuesday 8th 1st Latin American Vegetarian Congress (BRAZIL) Memorial de America Latina, Sao Paulo. www.svb.org.br. Sunday 5th – Sunday 19th Vegan Camp A well-deserved break for vegans, including many active campaigners, or those willing to be vegan for 2 weeks, or for a day or two. Scotland. T. 0845 330 3918 www.veggies.org.uk/vegancamp/ .

n SEPTEMBER

Saturday 9 th Viva! Veggie Roadshow, Bath The Guildhall, High Street, Bath. 10.30am to 4.30pm. Admission free. See 3 rd June event for details. Sunday 10 th London Vegan Festival A wealth of information, cruelty-free goodies, inspiring talks and delicious vegan food. Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8. 10am-7pm. Contact CALF T. 020 8670 9585 www.londonveganfestival.org.uk. Sunday 10 th – Saturday 16 th World Vegetarian Congress (INDIA) 37 th International Vegetarian Union Conference, Goa, India. All catering will be vegan. T. 020 7928 7459, www.ivu.org/congress/2006. Saturday 26 th – Monday 4 th Camp for Climate Action Bringing people together to provide information on climate change and its causes, take action against climate change, share practical solutions and network with other people campaigning on all the aspects of climate change. More details to be announced. www.climatecamp.org.uk.

LONDON VEGAN FESTIVAL/FESTIVAL OF LIFE The London Vegan Festival, now in its ninth year, joins together with the Festival of Life to promote veganism and a compassionate lifestyle. This year’s event will be bigger than in previous years and will feature animal rights, environmental issues, organic foods and personal growth. There will be 90 stalls incorporating animal campaigning groups and sanctuaries, raw/living foods and juice bars, information stalls and items to buy. The London Vegan Festival aims to raise awareness of animal exploitation, encourage people to support or get involved in campaigning and have a great day out in a totally vegan environment. The emphasis of the Festival of Life is on self-empowerment and will offer ideas on how people can access their own wisdom and intuition. Sustainability and permaculture are featured, with examples of practising alternative modes of living which are in tune with the Earth, and enhancing one’s own physical, mental and spiritual health. The Festival will culminate in a celebration of music and dance from 7pm to 10pm. Sunday 10th September 2006 10am - 10pm Entry £1.50 (under 16s free) Kensington Town Hall Hornton Street London W8 (Underground: High Street Kensington) For further information see www.londonveganfestival.org.uk www.festivaloflife.net Thanks to the following groups and companies for sponsoring this event: The Vegan Society, Veggies, Vegan Store, Redwood Foods, Plamil, Bourgeois Bohème, A Taste of Life & Viva!

The Vegan l Summer 2006

VEGAN SOCIETY LOCAL CONTACTS The Vegan Society Network These people are here to help. Simply get in touch. i - for local vegan info and support F - family contact with vegan parenting experience G - group N - new group Thinking of being a contact or starting a group? First join the Vegan Society and take a look at www.lcat.makessense.co.uk, then email Sophie veganncc@makessense.co.uk, or phone 0118 9464 858 if you don't have Internet access.

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VEGAN SOCIETY LOCAL CONTACTS CONTINUED

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CLASSIFIEDS (UK) HOLIDAY

DORSET

DISCOUNT CARD

ACCOMMODATION This card entitles the bearer to discounts at a range of outlets, restaurants and hotels. A full list of discounts is available from The Vegan Society.

DISCOUNT CARD THE VEGAN VALID FROM

MAY 2006 UNTIL

AUGUST 2006 REFERENCE CODE

CORNWALL

HAMPSHIRE NEW FOREST Veg*n guest house (“The Barn”) - Perfect for walking, cycling etc. B&B from £24pppn - ensuite, n/s evening meals. 023 8029 2531 or www.veggiebarn.net

Ref:CLM 006 SUSSEX

ISLE OF WIGHT ST. IVES CORNWALL – Self-catering accommodation in great location. Vegan café/restaurant in same complex opening soon. Close to beaches, harbour, shops and Tate Gallery. Tel: 01736 795255 or FAMILY AND SPIRITUAL ACTIVISM RETREATS: Chyan Cultural Centre, Penryn, Cornwall, Family Weekend 19-21st May, Spiritual Activism 22-26th May. Contact

CUMBRIA

LANCASHIRE YORKSHIRE

LANCASHIRE WALES

SCOTLAND DEVON

SOUTH WEST WALES tranquillity, natural beauty and friendliness. Self-catering cottages only metres from sandy beach and lovely walks. Heated outdoor swimming pool and excellent facilities. Eco-friendly owners. Tel 01267 241654 www.innisfreeholidays.co.uk

SCOTLAND

WHITBY B&B FALCON GUESTHOUSE. Vegan/vegetarian Quiet location, seven minutes’ walk from centre and harbour. Lounge and sunny breakfast room. Tea making facilities. No smoking throughout. Ample breakfast, with organic fare. £20 p.p.p.n. (for couple). Tel 01947 603507

HOLIDAYS ABROAD KERALA, SOUTH INDIA a vegan’s paradise. Tours, accommodation including selfcatering. Brochure: Tel: 01892 722440, Voice Mail/Fax: 01892 724913. E-mail: info@keralaconnect.co.uk Website: www.keralaconnect.co.uk ALPUJARRAS - ANDALUCIA Attractive townhouse. Sunny, roof terrace. Excellent views, birds, walks. Wholefood shops and restaurants serving veggie food in town. Sleeps 2 - 6. From £280 pw. Available all year. Tel:01736 753555.

ARTICLES AND ADVERTISEMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED BY 30TH JUNE 2006 FOR INCLUSION IN THE SUMMER 2006 ISSUE OF THE VEGAN

POWYS - Machynlleth. B&B overlooking spectacular mid-Wales scenery. Centre for Alternative Technology nearby. Delicious organic veggie / vegan breakfasts. 01654 702562 www.dyfiguest.co.uk

FRENCH PYRENEES: Vegan B&B in beautiful old stone farmhouse run by English organic vegetable farmers. Two large en-suite rooms. Optional three course evening meal. Set in quiet wooded valley, ideal for walking, cycling, bird watching, relaxing. Contact Trevor or Sue, Le Guerrat, 09420, Rimont, France. Tel.: (0033) 561963703. E-mail: leguerrat@aol.com Website: http:/vegan.port5.com/flashvegangite2.html

The Vegan l Summer 2006

CLASSIFIEDS GREEN/DIY FUNERALS Eco-friendly inexpensive coffins, memorial treeplanting. Please send £1 in unused stamps with A5 size 35p SAE to Box 328

DISCOUNT CARD

HOMEOPATH. Aubrey Burge LBSH. RSHom. Treating you towards good health. All remedies carried on a vegan base. Clinic in Wiltshire or reasonable distance home consultations welcome. Tel 01980 630601 for more information.

people

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

animals

environment

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

THE VEGETARIAN CHARITY

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

VEGETARIAN & VEGAN CHAMBRES D'HOTES. Summertime in unspoilt northern Dordogne. Airport/Rail Station collections. Or car rental bookings. Candle Lit al-fresco suppers/ adventure activity bookings. Tel: 01458-259279; E-mail: info:meyronie-vacances.com

ANDALUCIA - remote mountain village 40 mins sea - walking, wildlife - from £100 per week - 2 persons - £180 4 persons. Tel 01202 431867 www.orgiva.org/alfornon BURGUNDY, FRANCE: Vegan B&B / fully catered. En suite rooms in medieval village with shops, bars. Walking, cycling, historical interest, vegan wines, lake with beach, use of private pool. Lyon airport / free collection from TGV station. Tel. Claire

EATING OUT

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

PUBLICATIONS VEGAN VIEWS - informal quarterly for Vegan Opinion. Sample copy £1. 4 issues £4 inc p&p. Harry Mather, Flat A15, 20 Dean Park Road, Bournemouth BH1 1JB SUNSHINE AND SHADOW. Autobiography of Wilfred Crone, well-known vegan/fruitarian. £7.50 inc P&P. Harry Mather, Flat A15, 20 Dean Park Road, Bournemouth BH1 1JB VEGAN VOICE magazine promotes a nonviolent lifestyle beneficial to the planet and to all animals. For the latest on veganism and animal rights, subscribe now to Vegan Voice, Australia's celebrated and singular quarterly magazine! www.veganic.net

MISCELLANEOUS

Donations and legacies are most welcome to ensure that we continue to satisfy the need for help. For further information contact: The Vegetarian Charity 6 Coxbank, Audlem Cheshire CW3 0EW

Registered Charity No 294767

PERSONAL FELLOWSHIP of vegan/vegetarian Christian believers. Not a dating agency. For details please write to VCR, 55 Long Street, Wigston, Leicestershire, LE18 2AJ or email

FEMALE 35, seeking new people to connect with. Empathy and respect really important. Northern, single, openminded. If you prefer email please send your address. Life is hard but hope is stronger for us all? JOHN: Lonesome male veggie, young 52, S. Wales, N/S, suffers from anxiety; sensitive & understanding; into music, poetry, romance, humour, reading, Radio 4, etc., seeks female penfriends 30+, view to possible committed relationship..

MALE, towny artist in country cottage. Not wealthy! Tall; slim; n/s; humourous; non-religious; faithful and very affectionate seeks female life-partner around 35-43.

To place a personal ad please send your wording (max 35 words) and £6 payment, specifying in which section you would like your ad to appear. Please add £2 if you would like a box number.

The Vegan l Summer 2006

LISTINGS WHERE ARE YOU? I am a bright, attractive & extremely youthful lady, 51. Quiet, sensitive, serious and humorous with an enquiring mind, music in many forms is a passion, as is history, reading, art, nature and the natural world - indeed life in general! I seek my special, emotionally mature, intelligent, caring, thinking and affectionate kindred spirit, a gentleman of bright mind, good heart, character, substance & integrity, probably without children, who also needs the mutual attention, sharing and caring of an enriching relationship with the right person. I love and am firmly rooted where I live in Scotland, and hope that if you're out there, you're not too far away(!); although, of course, who you are is more important than where you are!

HUMAN WRITES is a non-profit humanitarian organisation offering support to death row prisoners through letter writing. Please make someoneís life better with your letters. For details, SAE to: 343a Carlton Hill, Carlton, Nottingham, NG4 1JE. Thanks! MALE 50, seeks woman (in her 30s, 40s) for friendship, more? I am interested in Buddhism, Meditation, Animal Rights, Hillwalking, Japanese Art, Aikido, and Writing. I work as a Technician in the Glasgow area.

OPPORTUNITIES

Patrons Freya Dinshah Maneka Gandhi

Quit the rat-race! Business partner sought to share the dream of setting up a vegan guest house in sunny location overseas/UK considered.

Rebecca Hall Dr. Michael Klaper Moby Gordon Newman

SITUATIONS VACANT

Cor Nouws Wendy Turner-Webster Benjamin Zephaniah

Vegan / Raw food chef required in private home:- once or twice weekly. Suffolk

Council Alex Bourke (Vice Chair)

INTERNET SERVICES

Chris Childe

DIVINE FROG web services. A vegan business. Website design, implementation, development, maintenance and hosting. Please contact Ian : Tel : 07981 057697 Email : www.divinefrog.co.uk

Sophie Fenwick-Paul

Vanessa Clarke (Network Contacts Co-ordinator) Laurence Main Ian Nicoll

ORGANISATIONS

George Rodger (Chair)

‘Jesus also was a vegetarian’ www.donoteatus.org

Treasurer)

Subra Sivarajah (Assistant Patricia Tricker (International Co-ordinator)

ACCOMMODATION

PRACTITIONERS VEGAN BUT STILL SICK? Vegan health practitioner available for consultations, personal health retreats, iridology, fasting supervision, emotional healing, etc. Contact /http://www.vibrancy.homestead.com/pag eone.html or telephone (01626) 352765 for free brochure.

Stephen Walsh (Treasurer) Staff Head of Information Services Rosamund Raha Information Officer

HOME SWAP WANTED

With housing association/council tenant. MOSELEY, BIRMINGHAM. Vegan woman offering 1-bedroom housing association flat. Central heating, doubleglazed, close to all amenities, and city centre bullring. Public transport, schools, etc. EXCHANGE FOR 1-bedroom or bedsit accomodation in St Ives, Cornwall. Will consider areas near St Ives. Tel: 0121 778 4043. Please leave message.

Quiet Maida Vale. Nice sunny room, approximately 14ft by 12ft. Share flat with one other. Clean and considerate, must be organic vege/vegan female. Ecosystem friendly with common sense awareness. Provide details. £73 (bills included) weekly.

COSMETICS

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

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

Johanna Best Head of Marketing and IT Dave Palmer Membership and Sales Officer Sundari Poorun Trademark Officer Colm McBriarty Sales Assistant John Rawden Bookkeeper / PA Jody Hazell Volunteers Michaela Altman (proofreader) Erica Wilson

Abhorrence of the cruel practices inherent in an agricultural system based on the abuse of animals is probably the single most common reason for the adoption of veganism, but many people are drawn to it for health, ecological, resource, spiritual and other reasons. If you would like more information on veganism a free Information Pack is available from the Vegan Society in exchange for two first class stamps. THE VEGAN SOCIETY was formed in England in November 1944 by a group of vegetarians who had recognised the ethical compromises implicit in lactovegetarianism (ie dairy dependent). Today, the Society continues to highlight the breaking of the strong maternal bond between the cow and her new-born calf within just four days; the dairy cow’s proneness to lameness and mastitis; her subjection to an intensive cycle of pregnancy and lactation; our unnatural and unhealthy taste for cow’s milk; and the de-oxygenation of river water through contamination with cattle slurry. If you are already a vegan or vegan sympathiser, please support the Society and help increase its influence by joining. Increased membership means more resources to educate and inform.

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PRIZE CROSSWORD Kate Sweeney

ACROSS

DOWN

Soy bean curd (4)

Fruit drink (5,5)

Bean rich in oil and protein (4)

These contain descriptions of food ingredients (6)

Without any 24 Across, unrefined (4)

Mildly hot (4)

Breakfast food mixture (6)

These may be garden or sugar snap (4)

Thick dark treacle produced from sugar 8)

Tall, woody plant (4)

Eggplant (U.S.) (9)

7/22 Edible green kernels from a Mediterranean tree (9,4)

Heavy, with the consistency of unbaked bread (6)

Mad cow disease (1.1.1.)

There may only be a trace of this ingredient (7)

Cooked until very little is left (e.g. a sauce) (7)

See 7 Down

Water (French) (3)

Something which is added to food (8)

Capsicum (3,6)

Roll, small cake (3)

Large pear-shaped fruit similar to grapefruit (6)

Edible bulbs (6)

Consumption (3)

Finely powdered sweetener used to top cakes (5,5)

Not alkaline (soil) (4)

See 20 Across

Place where the washing up is done (4)

Squashed potatoes (4)

Earth (4)

Able to be eaten (6)

20/25 22 24 26 29

Easter treats (9,4)

Send in a photocopy (or original) of the solution to this crossword, together with your name and address by the 30th June 2006. Prize this issue: â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Typical Veganâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; t-shirt and bag. Please state required t-shirt size.

The Vegan l Summer 2006

Solution to The Vegan Prize Crossword

42 CONGRATULATIONS to the winner Polly Milner of Salisbury, who wins a selection of luxurious chocolate-scented Funk Bubble goodies