OxVeg Online News October 2009
Dear Member I do not know whether this will be my last issue as editor of OxVeg News, but I can tell you that it will be my last as a member of the OxVeg Committee, for the time being at least. After 25 years as secretary (from April 1983 to October 2008) I have taken a back seat over the past year while other members have come to the fore and, in truth, saved the group from closing down. So, confident that OxVeg is in good hands (though more hands are always appreciated!) I will be standing down from the Committee at the AGM later this month. However, I shall continue to help out when I can, and I urge all of our members to help make OxVeg the force it needs to be. Best wishes Paul Appleby Assistant Secretary CONTENTS: 1. Members' Questionnaire 2. Local MEP elected President of the EU Intergroup for Animal Welfare 3. Internet Links 4. Readers Recommendations 5. Call on Subway to end cruel slaughter methods 6. Healthy Living Handbook for Older Vegetarians & Vegans 7. Review of Ape by John Sorenson 8. Forthcoming Events 1. Members' Questionnaire Response to the Members' Questionnaire distributed earlier this year was disappointing to say the least, with only 5 replies received to date. With due respect to the respondents (and we thank them for taking the time and trouble to send us their views) it makes the OxVeg Commitee's job very difficult if we do not know what our members want, or indeed whether you satisfied with what we are doing. However, the good news is that you will be able to have your say in person at the forthcoming AGM (see below for details). 2. Local MEP elected President of the EU Intergroup for Animal Welfare Caroline Lucas, Green Party MEP for the South East, has been elected President of the European Parliament's cross-party Intergroup for Animal Welfare. Dr Lucas is well known for her longstanding efforts to achieve better protection for animals, having played a key role in the creation of legislation to ban the sale of cat and dog fur in the EU, and in the recent ban on the import of seal products. She has also campaigned against the continued use of animals in travelling circuses and the EU-subsidised practice of bullfighting, and opposes the cloning of animals for food. Dr Lucas, who was awarded the RSPCA's Michael Kay Award for her outstanding contribution to European animal welfare in 2006, has pledged to put her considerable experience to good use as President of the Intergroup - one of the most effective, high profile cross-party groups in the Parliament. 3. Internet Links You can find an online petition to reduce EU livestock farming subsidies (recognising the fact that farm animals are a significant source of greenhouse gases and therefore a major contributor to climate change) at http://www.nutritionecology.org/news/stop_subsidies.html The Activeg website (http://www.activeg.org/index.html) is an excellent source of news and campaigning ideas for vegetarians and vegans. Recent articles include details of a new vegetarian B&B in the Peak District and articles on Gorilla poaching and dolphin slaughter. 4. Readers Recommendations The old "Holiday Reports" section wasn't a great success, so I have decided to expand it to include any readers' recommendations relating to holidays, restaurants or whatever so long as they are veggie-related. We received the following holiday report from Denise Watt soon after the previous issue was published: "I should mention our Easter break in Turkey with VegiVentures at Nigel Walker's Yuva resort. Ideal temperature at that time of year for guide-led walking in the mountains, home cooked food though David didn't think there was enough variety for vegans. Could swim in the sea if brave enough. One day off in the week for visiting local town with marina and Turkish fruit and veg market plus loads more things of course, and much more choice with Turkish Delight in a store where the woman speaks good English and is very helpful on vegan varieties!" Details of VegiVentures holidays can be found at www.vegiventures.com with details of the Yuva holidays at www.yuvaholidays.com . Natasha Williams recommends the cafe at The Organic Farm Shop, Burford Road, Cirencester (www.theorganicfarmshop.co.uk). Natasha writes: "They have a cafe that serves vegan / veggie food and it was lovely. They have a great health food store too. It is really worth a detour if you're in the area." (Editor's note: The cafe is not exclusively vegetarian, but most dishes are suitable for vegetarians and there is always a vegan option. There is also an organic farm shop and farm trail.) 5. Call on Subway to end cruel slaughter methods (from the Viva! email newsletter) It has emerged that 78 Subway deli stores across the UK are selling Halal meat from unstunned animals. Please help us persuade them to end this cruel practice, which is illegal apart from for so-called religious slaughter. Animals killed in this manner have their throats cut whilst fully conscious; bleeding to death in terror and pain. The suffering and welfare implications of it are so extreme that the Government's own welfare advisory body - the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) - have now twice asked for it to be banned. Subway's current policy also goes against the wishes of most British Muslims, as the majority of Halal meat sold in the UK comes from animals that have been stunned. Viva! is, of course, against the killing of any animal, but, in essence, there is no difference between Halal slaughter with pre-stunning and all other slaughter. There is no reason for Subway to be selling the meat from animals that have suffered so extremely. Please use our pre-prepared email to contact Subway today to voice your concern and objections. For more information see the Viva! website www.viva.org.uk . 6. Healthy Living Handbook for Older Vegetarians & Vegans To celebrate World Vegetarian Day 2009, Vegetarian for Life (VfL) launched its second publication: Vegetarian Living - A healthy-living handbook for older vegetarians & vegans, or those who care for them. The handbook is aimed at individual older vegetarians and vegans and their changing needs. It offers advice on subjects such as a positive approach to retirement, 'simple tips to sharpen wits', housing & care, diet & cookery, and it includes a section of 'easy recipes-for-one'. 6,000 copies of Vegetarian Living have already been distributed, and thousands more are available on request - free of charge - to individuals, care organisations and similar. Vegetarian Living can also be downloaded from the charity's website at http://www.vegetarianforlife.org.uk/vfl.aspx?page=611 (This article was copied from the October issue of IVU Online News, which you can read at http://www.ivu.org/news/online/2009-10/ ). 7. Review of Ape by John Sorenson Ape by John Sorenson, Reaktion Books, 224pp, pbk, 100 illustrations, 48 in colour; ISBN 978 1 86189 422 9, £9-99 (reviewed by Paul Appleby) With more than 25 titles already published in Reaktion Books' Animal series it is surprising that we have had to wait until now for a book about our closest animal relations. Although each species of non-human ape (bonobos, chimpanzees, gibbons, gorillas and orang-utans) could have merited a book of their own, the author chooses to regard apes as a whole, reflecting their similarities and close kinship with humans (to whom chimpanzees are 99.4% identical in functionally important DNA). Close though their genetic relationship may be, humans have had at best an ambivalent attitude to apes, often regarding them as objects of derision or ferocious monsters to be hunted and killed. Only in the past 50 years have apes become the subject of serious scientific study with primatologists such as Jane Goodall and the late Dian Fossey helping to foster a greater appreciation and understanding of these remarkable creatures. Although more enlightened attitudes have led to the founding of campaign groups such as the International Primate Protection League and the Great Ape Project (which seeks to extend basic 'human' rights to apes), and the creation of sanctuaries such as Monkey World in Dorset, apes are still experimented on, exhibited in zoos, safari parks, circuses and tourist hotels, trafficked for the illegal pet trade, hunted for bush-meat in Africa, and suffer loss of habitat through logging and palm oil production. All of this is chronicled in Ape, making the book informative but depressing reading. John Sorenson is a Professor of Sociology at Brock University in Canada where he teaches Critical Animal Studies. In Ape it is clear where his sympathies lie, pointing out that "all non-human apes are under threat, some critically endangered, and it is an open question as to whether they will avoid extinction caused by the most violent apes of all, humans". We must hope that the book's concluding chapter, entitled Extinction, is not prophetic. Other chapters describe the natural history of apes and our attitudes towards them, and apes in captivity, in art and film, and as models for human behaviour. Despite a tendency to blur the distinction between apes and monkeys (a separate primate family), John Sorenson has written a compelling book with a clear message. If apes are to survive in the wild we are going to have to put self-interest aside and treat them with the same care and respect as we show towards our human relatives. Their future is in our hands. Some relevant internet links: Reaktion Books (www.reaktionbooks.co.uk) Great Ape Project (www.greatapeproject.org) International Primate Protection League (www.ippl-uk.org) The Ape Alliance (an international coalition of ape conservation and welfare groups; www.4apes.com) 8. Forthcoming Events 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 ideally 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. Bangkok House offers varied vegetarian and vegan dishes at affordable prices and has proved to be a very popular venue with our members. Please email Natasha at Protected email address or telephone 01865 723760 to reserve a place. Thursday 29th October, 6.45pm. Peter Roberts Memorial Lecture, Savoy Place, London: "How can we feed the world and protect the environment?" with Lester Brown, one of the most respected international experts on food, farming and environmental policy. Tickets £25, half-price for Compassion in World Farming supporters. Full details at www.ciwf.org . Thursday 5th November, 5pm. Talk on "The History of Vegetarianism", Seminar Room East, Mansfield College, Mansfield Road, Oxford. A talk by Paul Freestone - media spokesperson for OxVeg and VERO (Voice for Ethical Research at Oxford). Part of VERO's programme of events for the autumn term - further details at www.vero.org.uk . Friday 20th November, 7.30pm. OxVeg Dining Out Club meal at Al Salam, 4 Park End Street, Oxford. A Lebanese restaurant near the railway station with plenty of dishes suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Please email Natasha at Protected email address or telephone 01865 723760 to reserve a place. Saturday 21st November, 10am-4.30pm. One World Fair, Oxford Town Hall, St Aldate's, Oxford. There will be an OxVeg stall at this annual event organised by Oxford Oxfam Group. Please contact Pam on 01235 536762 or email Protected email address if you would like to help. Saturday 8th December, 10.30am-4.30pm. Winter Green Fair, Oxford Town Hall, St Aldate's, Oxford. There will be an OxVeg stall at this popular event organised by Oxfordshire Green Party. Please contact Pam on 01235 536762 or email Protected email address if you would like to help. Friday 18th December, 7.30pm. OxVeg Christmas Party at The Jam Factory, 27 Park End Street, Oxford. The Jam Factory (www.thejamfactoryoxford.com/restaurant.html) has been booked for the Ox Veg Christmas Party. The Chef is working up our own special menu and they did a great job last time with plenty of vegan options (including a gluten-free one too). It will be a great opportunity to meet other members in a fun and lively setting. Natasha would be grateful if those who would like to come, or are interested in coming, would let her know so she can give the restaurant an accurate estimate of numbers. Contact Natasha at Protected email address or telephone 01865 723760. 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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