May 2011


GREETINGS

We did, as planned, have a table at the Green Living Festival at the Domes at the beginning of April. Attendance was good, and we had many nice conversations and gave away much literature. A number of people also signed up our For Further Contact sheet and are therefore receiving a free copy of this newsletter: Welcome to you, and also to anyone who picks up a free copy at the Urban Ecology Center’s Earth Day festivities which are still coming up (on April 30) as I write this. Our policy is that a first exposure to our printed-on-paper newsletter is a freebie, and then readers can decide whether they want to subscribe to the paper version for only $9 per year (which covers printing and mailing) or go to our website each month and read it there for free.

Also, new readers and readers who have not come to our potlucks yet (or who came in the past but not lately) are particularly invited to try attending. You do not have to be a gourmet chef: you can bring a salad or some fruit, or go to the Outpost and buy something vegetarian from the deli counter, or bring chips and a vegetarian dip. Nor is there any obligation to follow the month’s food theme, which is always optional. The idea of the potlucks is simply to get together and enjoy each other’s company while eating a vegetarian meal, and finding out what other vegetarians and would-be-closer-to-vegetarians are eating.

And it’s finally time for fresh produce to start: asparagus, dandelion greens, scallions and radishes and chives and arugula and new local lettuce and spinach. And it’s about time!

M.A.R.V. ACTIVITIES

Sat., Apr. 30, Earth Day Tabling at the Urban Ecology Center, 1500 E. Park Pl., noon to 4 PM

Sun., May 1, 5 PM, regular potluck at the Friends’ Meeting House, 3224 N. Gordon Pl. in Riverwest (from Humboldt Blvd., go east on Auer a few short blocks to the parking lot). Food theme will be gluten-free foods.

Subsequent regular potlucks will be on June 5, July 3, Aug. 7, ?Sept. 4?, Oct. 2, and Nov. 6.

Other veg-friendly potlucks

There is currently no one planning to host a macrobiotic potluck in May. But you can call Pat O’Neill at 414-964-9759 to find out if someone volunteers in the next couple of weeks, as happened in April.

The Urban Ecology Center’s vegetarian potluck should be on Thurs., May 19 at 6:30 PM at 1500 E. Park Pl. – call 414-964-8505 to confirm. Bring plate and fork as well as your meatless dish.

Vegan Meetup: to find out about possible events, check the Vegan Meetup website.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“Vegetarian-style eating patterns have been associated with improved health outcomes – lower levels of obesity, a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and lower total mortality. Several clinical trials have documented that vegetarian eating patterns lower blood pressure.”

-- From the new 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines

NEWS

Animal foods are still a problem. Jennie-O Turkey in Minnesota recalled 55,000 pounds of turkey burgers that were sold to Sam’s Club stores, due to potential salmonella contamination. And there were over 30 cases of suspectted salmonella poisoning from pastry shells which a Rhode Island bakery had stored in used egg crates. OSHA cited Tyson Foods for various violations at a Nebraska plant. Imperial College London researchers found that a carcinogen common in grilled chicken may increase the invasivenesss of certain cancers. And the FDA confirmed that the Union of Concerned Scientists has been getting it right in warning that the livestock industry massively overuses antibiotics, thus contributing to the rise of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Speaking of the FDA and antibiotics, Wisconsin State Farmer reported that the issue of testing culled dairy cow meat for banned antibiotics, as reported last month, is still being debated between the dairy industry and the FDA.

Other concerns about the dairy industry involve the continuing efforts of some dairies, farm groups, and health officials to stop a proposed law that would legalize certain raw milk sales, and worries about radiation from Japan affecting milk in Washington State. 

Turning from vegetarian milk to vegan water, Michigan and Iowa both saw agribusiness resistance to rules and that would protect surface water from pollution by factory farms and industrial agriculture; a Michigan appeals court upheld a state rule on such measures, while in Iowa a proposed bill generated protest.

It’s not as if there were extra water to spare any more: an Oklahoma reservoir is being eyed by Oklahoma City, its growing suburbs, a Texas county 200 miles away, and the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes whose people live in the area.

Food news this month was also marked by a variety of controversies. Iowa, Florida, and Minnesota are all seeing legislative efforts to criminalize undercover videos that reveal the nasty conditions at factory farms. Prevention magazine did not rely on such methods in its examination of different ways of producing eggs; it did find that large-scale “organic” production does not necessarily make either safer eggs or happier chickens than conventional production, but that small-scale pasture-raised egg operations are a lot nicer all around. The Organic Consumers Association pointed out that while Kraft claims that its veg-friendly soy-based Boca Burgers are GMO-free, it has no verification of that and does acknowledge on its website that bioengineered soy and corn find their way into its products; OCA also lambastes Kellogg’s for claiming it can’t get GMOs out of U.S. products when it can and does keep them out of the items that it sells in Europe. The NY Times reported on a scandal concerning VegNews, which was found to have used photos of meat- and dairy-containing dishes to accompany vegan-themed articles and recipes. The Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine is suing the USDA over the fact that the new 2010 Dietary Guidelines, while a real improvement, still use weasel-words to avoid telling people clearly to eat less animal foods. And there are efforts underway to stop McDonalds from using free toys to lure children into eating unhealthy meals.

What is not in dispute is that higher oil prices, combined with bad weather, are increasing the use of land for non-food crops while increasing food prices and decreasing harvests. Responses to these trends are somewhat worrisome, as will be discussed in the Dialog section below.

With all this going on, it is good to be able to report that plant foods are not only good for you, but being increasingly noticed as such. An early-morning NPR Marketplace radio report commented on the rising price of the soy used in fake meat products – and placed the concern in the context of the increased interest in meat substitutes due to rising awareness of health concerns from meat-eating, treatment of animals in factory farms, and livestock production of greenhouse gasses.

Prevention pointed out in one article that strawberries are packed with vitamin C and antioxidents, and in another item that the orange-fleshed produce that contains beta-carotene, such as tomatoes, carrots, and peaches, actually gives the skin a healthy-looking glow. Good Medicine, the PCRM publication, ran an item about a study from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition which found that women following a fishless vegan diet still had plenty of good long-chain omega-3 fatty acids in their blood Another study found vegetarian diets better for kidney patients than animal-based diets. And an American study found that eating plenty of fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of cervical cancer in women with human papilloma virus.

A different Prevention article addressed the issue of whether it is better to eat raw or cooked produce, and concluded that the ideal strategy is some of each. Tomatoes that have been cooked actually have higher levels of cancer-fighting lycopene than raw ones; and cooked carrots and squashes deliver more beta-carotene than raw. Spinach and garlic vary in their nutritional profile depending on whether they’re cooked or raw: raw spinach has more vitamin C and folate than cooked, but provides less calcium and zinc than after cooking; garlic has more health-protecting antimicrobial power when raw, but helps the heart better when cooked. And green bell peppers provide more B vitamins when raw than when cooked, while any vitamin C source will be compromised by

cooking, since that vitamin is so heat-sensitive.

A whole article in the recent AARP magazine dealt with foods that can fight various kinds of pain (like arthritis and back pain) that often afflict those of us who are not kids any more. For example, red grapes, red wine, blueberries, and cranberries are all full of resveretrol, which blocks an enzyme that contributes to tissue degeneration, with the result that eating these foods can help protect against the cartilage damage that can cause back pain. Ginger, besides aiding digestion, reduces the soreness of chronic knee pain for many people; soy may also reduce osteoarthritic knee pain. The high anthocyanin content of cherries may help reduce arthritis pain. Turmeric may help reduce the pain of rheumatoid arthritis as well as reducing inflammation generally. And coffee enhances the effects of common pain-killers such as aspirin and acetominophen.

The same article had a sidebar on the anti-inflammatory diet, pointing out that the typical American diet “is awash in inflammation-triggering omega-6 fatty acids – found in meat, eggs, and the vegetable oils prevalent in processed foods – and low in inflammation-calming omega-3s.” Advice on striking a better balance included limiting processed foods including lunchmeats and cookies, avoiding saturated fats (dietary sources of which are all animal foods), trans fats, and partially hydrogenated oils, eating more nuts, seeds, and beans and less animal protein, and aiming for at least 8 servings per day of fruits and vegetables. 

CONNECTIONS

The Madison Alliance For Animals group has announced a first annual Mad City Vegan Fest on Sunday, June 19, described as a celebration of local and national vegan resources with talks and food demos and an exhibitors’ area. See their website for further information: www.veganfest.org

NAVS 2011 Vegetarian Summerfest will be on July 5 - 9 in Johnstown, PA; this is the 37th annual holding of this large event. Call 518-568-7970 if interested or see their website at vegetariansummerfest.org

DIALOG

As mentioned in the News section, there is beginning to be general attention to a world-wide need to provide more food for the world’s growing human population. I saw a variety of treatments of the issue – but none of them even mentioned the V word.

For example, a Turtle Island Restoration Project newsletter had an article on 5 Simple Ways to Save Sea Turtles which talked about Choos[ing] Seafood Wisely rather than avoiding eating seafood altogether. The New York Times published an op-ed piece about how, contrary to everything we’ve been hearing, fish are doing fine, with significant recoveries of haddock and redfish, so we should all eat fish happily since eating them is much better ecologically than raising terrestrial livestock. Quite a few Letters to the Editor a few days later pointed various ways in which things are not nearly as rosy as all that, but the idea of not eating fish still mostly fell through the cracks. Perhaps the most egregious example came from beef promoters who explained that beef production is good for the planet since cattlemen do environmentally nice things like preventing erosion and protecting water, and that their smart practices make livestock raising account for only 3% of US greenhouse emissions (no details on how this statistic differs so remarkably from the UN’s) so you should celebrate Earth Day by eating steaks. But even the Union of Concerned Scientists’ magazine had an article on cattle-raising practices that could be less damaging than current practices, and Wisconsin State Farmer reported on a researcher seeking tools to make meat animals more efficient at becoming food, and Worldwatch Institute’s 15-point plan for making agriculture part of the solution to environmental problems made many excellent points but never touched on raising fewer animals. On the contrary, all of these efforts to address the problems of supplying enough food to almost 7 billion people assume that demand for meat will continue to climb so it just has to be met.

We all know that this is just not sustainable, or even ultimately possible. But even people who should know better (like Worldwatch Institute) seem unwilling to take on the task of bearing bad tidings.

If this is the way things are going, then it will serve to bring a laser-sharp focus to the mission of vegetarians: write letters, speak up, get public in every possible way with the simple message that decreasing animal food consumption is both possible and urgently necessary!