OxVeg Online News September 2009
Dear Member I am distributing this issue a few days earlier than scheduled to provide advance notice of some events at the beginning of September and to bring you the following good news from our secretary Heather Shepherd: "Bryony Charlotte Shepherd was born on 14th August at 10.53am. She was born at home (planned), and delivered by Andy (unplanned!). She weighed 7lbs7oz. We are all doing well, and Ollie seems to be taking well to his new sister - she is constantly bombarded with toys to play with, and blankets to keep her warm." Our warm congratulations to Heather and Andy. Best wishes Paul Appleby Assistant Secretary CONTENTS: 1. Oxford Vegan Food Fair and Elder Stubbs Festival 2. Recipes 3. Internet Links 4. Holiday Reports 5. Vegetarian for Life Survey 6. AGM 7. Job Vacancy at the Vegetarian Society 8. Forthcoming Events 1. Oxford Vegan Food Fair and Elder Stubbs Festival Oxford Vegan Food Fair organiser Rachel Foster writes: "The 2nd Oxford Free Vegan Food Fair on Saturday 15th August at the Wesley Memorial Hall was a great success. 601 people attended in the four hours (50% up on last year) and there was still masses of delicious food to go round - homemade hot and cold dishes, nibbles donated by companies, and around 16 local restaurants provided samples of Mexican, Indian, Greek, Chinese, Italian, and English food, so the event had quite a global flavour. Volunteers worked tirelessly in the kitchen washing-up, serving drinks and food. There were over 20 stalls, mainly campaigns and charities for animals, climate change, a couple of food stalls and animal-friendly and vegan skin-care stalls. We had speakers from Animals Count "The Future of Change" and "A Brief History of Vegetarianism and Veganism" by Paul Freestone from OxVeg. There were a few takers to the massage workshop led by a vegan who runs the massage company "Exhale" in London. A local entertainer took on the job of getting the vegan message across to children with a puppet and magic show ("happy" vegan sausages, and Mr Mouse handing round his cruelty-free vegan cheese etc) This was particularly beneficial I feel as they say their eyes have been opened and will now proboably go vegetarian as a first step, and will be spreading the word about animal abuse! There was a screen in each of the two halls continually showing films such as "Meat the Truth" and "Earthlings", and also short films such as "Not in my Name" by Viva, "Eat This" by Animal Aid, and "Truth or Dairy" by the Vegan Society. There was also a huge range of posters, with contrasting images of animals in factory farms and slaughter, and healthy animals in their natural settings, plus contrasting images of beautiful landscapes and the devastation and deforestation that causes climate change. Therefore people could not escape the message behind the need to eat vegan as they devoured their plates of free food! The games for children included not only arts and crafts with an animal and nature theme, but also a (recycled) lucky dip entitled "Save an Animal from the Farm", a hook-up game to "Rescue an Animal from the Slaughterhouse", and a box of furry soft toys entitled "Guess how many animals are crammed in this factory farm shed". Though the evaluations have not yet been analysed, all the peoples' comments on the day seemed to be about how amazing the food was, which obviously makes us feel it was very worthwhile in helping to promote a vegan diet. The local press came to the event and wrote an article with a photo showing people enjoying the food and explaining the reasons behind the fair, which was an added bonus as 1000s of people would have seen this excellent publicity about veganism." On the following Saturday 22nd August Pam Hopcraft and David Huish ran an OxVeg stall at the Elder Stubbs Festival - a community festival at the Elder Stubbs allotments in East Oxford. David writes: "We hade a good day last Saturday for the Elder Stubbs festival. With takings of £100.30 we did well, even though only a few cookery books on the stall. A mention to the Oxveg member for the 6 bags of tomatoes donated for sale. Snack bars and plants,supplied by Pam and Denise also proved a poular choice for many customers visiting the stall. David and Pam manned the Oxveg stall all day till just after 5pm. We could have used more help. It's a fun way to spend a few hours, so don't be shy." 2. Recipes To promote the Vegan Food Fayre, Oxford media representative Paul Freestone gave an interview on BBC Radio Oxford during which he demonstrated the following recipes. Lentil, carrot and apple pate. You will need: 200 grams lentils (puy or green). One large carrot or two medium sized carrots. 2 apples. Clove of garlic. Freshly squeezed lemon juice. Black pepper. Stock powder (level dessert spoonful). Rapeseed oil (about a tablespoon). Cook the lentils (simmer for about 20 minutes). Drain and rinse. Chop the garlic and fry gently in a lidded saucepan. Add the grated carrot and chopped apples. Sweat for 10 minutes on a low heat until soft. Add some freshly ground black pepper, juice of about one third of a lemon and the stock powder (bouillon). Mix well together and add the rinsed lentils. Place the mixture in a food processor and zap for 2 minutes (on and off) via the pulse function. Chill in the fridge before serving. (Note - a stick blender can be used, but it takes a lot longer.) Sticky Date Cake. You will need: 250 ml soya milk. 100 ml water. 200 grams chopped dates. 115 grams vegan margarine. 115 grams dark brown sugar. 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 200 grams of self raising flour (white or wholemeal) One-third of a teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, ground ginger and ground nutmeg Place the soya milk, water and chopped dates together in a saucepan and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Blend the margarine and sugar together in a saucepan on a gentle heat. Remove the soya milk and date mixture from the heat and add the bicarbonate of soda. Stir thoroughly and add to the margarine and sugar. Add the spices to the flour and fold the flour into the date, sugar and margarine mixture. Cook in a cake tin (or a bread tin) at gas mark 5 or 190c for 30 minutes in a standard oven. Fan assisted ovens will require a shorter cooking time. I like to serve this slightly warmed (about 30 to 40 seconds in a microwave) with a portion of Swedish glace vanilla ice cream and a few raspberries. There is no shortage of veg*n recipes available on the internet, not least on the International Vegetarian Union website (see www.ivu.org/recipes), and another recommended site is http://www.vegancampaigns.org.uk/resources/recipes.html . 3. Internet Links People of many different faiths are inspired to be vegetarian at least in part by their religious beliefs. This book, Judaism and Vegetarianism, by Richard Schwartz, a retired professor of mathematics, explains one example of the match between religion and vegetarianism. Published in hard copy in 2001, it is now available free online at www.jewishveg.com/JudaismAndVegetarianism/JudaismandVegetarianism2001.pdf An article and YouTube video on the participation of Paul McCartney and his children, including Stella, a noted fashion designer, in the growing worldwide campaign for one meatless day per week: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/5621148/Paul-McCartneys-Meat-Free-Monday-mission.html An article from the Center for a Livable Future website on why plant-based diets are so important for fighting climate change: http://www.livablefutureblog.com/2009/08/how-much-does-us-livestock-production-contribute-to-greenhouse-gas-emissions/ Shocking footage of the slaughter of farmed animals from an Animal Aid investigation and featured in the Mail on Sunday on 30th August, giving the lie to the myth of 'humane slaughter': www.animalaid.org.uk/go/10min 4. Holiday Reports I am sorry to report that I have not received any holiday reports since the previous issue, so I can only assume that our readers either do not take holidays or that they do not consider them worth writing about. Well, I tried. 5. Vegetarian for Life Survey Vegetarian for Life (VfL) is an advocacy and educational charity working on behalf of older vegetarians and vegans throughout the UK. VfL recently commissioned a survey of care homes, which was completed during May and June 2009. From a database of all the UK's 12,500 care homes, a representative sample of 1,000 were surveyed. The survey found that: * 22% of care homes have one or more vegetarian residents * Care homes with vegetarian residents are heavily weighted to the southern half of England (72%) * 1.25% of care home residents are vegetarian or vegan * Of the 410,000 care home residents in the UK, around 5,250 are vegetarian. Vegetarians make up around 3% of the whole population, according to the Food Standards Authority, so, proportionately fewer vegetarians are in care homes. Possible reasons for this are as follows: -there are probably more vegetarians in the younger age ranges -older vegetarians and vegans may be generally healthier than meat-eaters, so are less likely to need a care home -vegetarians are more likely to make 'lifestyle' choices that are 'healthy' e.g. not to smoke -older veggies may be more likely to be independently-minded and try to remain in their own homes for longer, especially if they feel catering in care homes will not include good vegetarian provision. VfL works on behalf of the 5,000+ vegetarian care home residents - a significant minority - and was pleased to find a high degree of interest from care home managers in its publications and catering training courses (organised in conjunction with the Cordon Vert Cookery School of the Vegetarian Society), together with a high approval rating for its website. For a more detailed summary of the survey results or further information please contact Tina Fox on 0151 608 1595 or email Protected email address web: www.vegetarianforlife.org.uk . Meanwhile, VfL are administering two new charitable funds - The Vegan Fund and The Vegetarian Fund. The funds offer one-off grants to older vegans and vegetarians respectively who are in financial need. Grants will normally be made to assist individual independent living, for example to provide ramps, grab handles, minor kitchen/bathroom adaptations, stair lifts or perhaps respite care (a short stay in a care home for a person being cared for at home to provide a break for the carer) but applications for other uses will also be considered as long as the grant will benefit one or more older vegetarians or vegans. For further information and for grant application details please contact Tina Fox at the telephone or email address above. Donations to 'Vegetarian for Life' should be sent to 182 Higher Bebington Rd, Bebington, Wirral CH63 2PT. 6. AGM Our Annual General Meeting will be held in the Panel Room at Oxford Town Hall on Thursday 15th October, starting at 7.30pm. The AGM is your opportunity to have your say in how the group is run and, more importantly, to take an active part in running it! Last October's AGM was the first for many years and the election of a committee (currently comprising 7 persons) breathed new life into the group. If you would like to put yourself forward for election to the committee (which runs OxVeg and generally meets once a month at Oxford Town Hall) why not contact our secretary Heather Shepherd at the email address below. 7. Job vacancy at the Vegetarian Society HEAD OF RESEARCH AND INFORMATION SERVICES £22,000 - £26,000 plus benefits; Altrincham, South Manchester Lead and develop our research team. Manage the charity's knowledge base and run our information, advice and support service. Be the charity's expert on vegetarianism. You must be an influential and authoritative communicator with practical experience of living as a vegetarian. Management and research experience would both be ideal. Job description http://www.vegsoc.org/parkdale/jobdes.html Person specification http://www.vegsoc.org/parkdale/persspec.html Please send a CV and covering letter showing how you meet the requirements of this role to Annette Pinner, The Vegetarian Society, Parkdale, Dunham Road, Altrincham, WA14 4QG, or email Protected email address. If you would like more information about this role please call Annette on 0161 925 2000. Closing date 21st September 2009. Interviews 7th October 2009. 8. Forthcoming Events 1st-30th September. Local Flavours Festival, various venues in Berks, Bucks and Oxon. A month-long celebration of the diversity of food and drink in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. The more veggie-friendly events include: * Saturday 5th September, 10am-5pm - Organic Juice Day at Worton Organic Garden, Yarnton Road, Worton near Cassington; free; create your own fruit & vegetable juices from freshly picked produce, garden tours &c; book on 07718 518964 or see www.wortonorganicgarden.com * Saturday 12th September, 11am-5pm - Coleshill Local Food Festival and Coleshill Organics Open Day, Coleshill near Faringdon; free (car park donations); many activities including guided tours of Coleshill Organics, watermill and gardens open, mini beer festival and wine tastings, produce stalls &c at this National Trust village between Highworth and Faringdon; more info on 01793 762209 or see www.nationaltrust.org.uk/coleshillfoodfestival * Saturday 12th September, 2.30-5.00pm - Organic (actually 'veganic' as no animal products are used) Vegetables Farm Walk at Tolhurst Organic Produce, Whitchurch-on-Thames, Reading; £5 per family; book on 01189 843428 or see www.tolhurstorganic.co.uk Full listings at www.local-flavours.net . Sunday 6th September, 11am-8pm. London Vegan Festival, Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8. Featuring stalls, speakers, music, food - a great day out for everyone (and easily accesible from Oxford as the venue is a 10-15 minute walk from the Oxford Tube stop at Notting Hall Gate). Admission £2, under-16s free. Details at www.vegancampaigns.org.uk/festival or phone 020 8670 9585. Friday 18th September, 7.30pm. OxVeg Dining Out Club meal at The Star Inn, Middle Road, Stanton St John. A lovely Oxfordshire pub a few miles outside Oxford. Please email Natasha at Protected email address or telephone 01865 723760 to reserve a place. Saturday 19th September, 11.30am-4.30pm. Restore Autumn Festival, Fleet Meadow, Sandringham Road, Didcot. Following our successful stall at Restore's Elder Stubbs Festival (see above) we are considering whether to run an OxVeg stall at this event. If you are willing to help run the stall please contact Pam on 01235 536762 or email Protected email address . Sunday 20th September, 2.15-3.45pm. Animal passions and wild justice: the emotional and moral lives of animals and why they matter. A free public talk by author and animal behaviour specialist Marc Bekoff at the Community Resource Space, 1-3 Newton St, London WC2 (nearest tube: Holborn). Arrive early, limited spaces! Marc Bekoff is Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado and is a Fellow of the Animal Behaviour Society. Marc is also an ambassador for Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots programme in which he works with students of all ages, senior citizens and prisoners and also is a member of the Ethics Committee of the Jane Goodall Institute. He and Jane cofounded the organization Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Saturday 26th September, 10.30am-11.30pm (party from 7.30pm). Festival of Life (raw food), Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1R. Featuring stalls, music, organic market, raw kitchen gadgets, talks &c. All-day tickets £10 (concessions £8), daytime or evening only tickets £6 (£4). Details at www.festivaloflife.net . Saturday 26th September, 10.30am-4.30pm. The Incredible Veggie Roadshow, Town Hall, Cheltenham. Organised by Viva! Free admission. Details at www.viva.org.uk/events.php . Thursday 15th October, 7.30pm. OxVeg AGM, Panel Room, Oxford Town Hall. Your opportunity to have your say in how OxVeg is run, to help elect the new committee, and perhaps to volunteer your services. All members are welcome to attend, although only full (i.e. vegetarian or vegan) members are entitled to vote. Friday 16th October, 7.30pm. OxVeg Dining Out Club meal at Bangkok House, 42a Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford. A Thai restaurant near the railway station. Please email Natasha at Protected email address or telephone 01865 723760 to reserve a place. OxVeg Online News is published on the first Sunday of the month and we welcome contributions from members. Please send your contributions to the Paul Appleby
Author: Paul Appleby
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Story posted by on 2009-12-05 10:26:12.
