European Vegetarian Union

March 2005

Dear friends,


You are certainly all aware of the very unfortunate claim made by Lindsay Allen that vegetarian and
vegan parents are damaging their children's health by denying them meat.
http://society.guardian.co.uk/publichealth/story/0,11098,1419389,00.html

Please find the EVU answer in the form of a press release "Prejudice against vegetarian nutrition" here:
(in Dutch, English, French, German, Italian and Portuguese):
http://www.euroveg.eu/lang/en/news/press/20050224.php

Prof. Allen is a member of ADA, a group of experts who are quite obviously not sharing her opinion:
'It is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned
vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment
of certain diseases….'

In light of this evident discrepancy, I wrote to ADA's ethic committee asking for an explanation: This is their reply,
dated 28 February 2005:

In response to your email message, we would like to clarify several points:

1) Lindsay Allen is indeed an ADA member, but was not speaking as an official spokesperson for the
Association. ADA's spokespersons are selected by the Association to serve as our voice in the media.

2) Dr. Allen was presenting her own research findings and expressing her own opinion, which is not prohibited,
even though that opinion may be contrary to a position adopted by ADA.

3) ADA still supports our position statement in support of proper vegetarian diets and Dr. Allen's opinion does not
change it. We do not presume to restrict Dr. Allen's entitlement to express her opinion.

4) Please note that ADA has posted and distributed a variety of information about vegetarian diets which are
supported by the Association's position on this issue. Please see the following information:

www.eatright.org/Public/NutritionInformation/92_11795.cfm

www.eatright.org/Public/index_19963.cfm

www.eatright.org/Public/index_19639.cfm

www.eatright.org/Public/NutritionInformation/index_2827.cfm

www.eatright.org/Public/NutritionInformation/8474_nfs95.cfm?CFID=7159580&CFTOKEN=86104321

As a member of the public, you may submit an ethics complaint against Dr. Allen, if you believe that her conduct violates
the ADA Code of Ethics for the Profession of Dietetics, but we cannot prejudge the outcome of such a complaint. The
Ethics Committee would request a response to the complaint from Dr. Allen. Based on the facts, the Committee would
determine a course of action, if deemed necessary. Please let us know if you wish to receive a complaint packet, which
you will need to complete and mail back to us. We do not take complaints electronically at this time. If you would like
to review the ADA Code of Ethics, please use the following link: www.eatright.org/Public/index_8915.cfm

Eleese Cunningham, RD
Staff for ADA/CDR Ethics Committee

The EVU board does not intend to lodge an official complaint even though this scandal is very regrettable indeed.

Best regards
Herma Caelen
Secretariat
European Vegetarian Union
www.euroveg.eu


Further topics, fortunately more pleasant ones:

1. The EVU magazine “European Vegetarian” will start again in July and will be run by Georgia Blackwell and
Carla Van de Velde, who are both members of the EVU, It will be published twice a year.

Please submit any contributions you may have to either Georgia or Carla.

The deadline for articles for the first edition is 30 April 2005.

Here is a short introduction of our very motivated members:

-My name is Carla Van de Velde, 35 years old. Born and raised in Belgium, in the Dutch speaking part of the country.
My home is in Ghent but during the week I work in Frankfurt. I've been a happy vegetarian for more than 10 years
and a Manchester United supporter for even longer. Contact: carla.van_de_velde@european-vegetarian.org

-Georgia Louise Blackwell is 26 years old and works in Germany. Georgia has been vegetarian for ten years and takes
great interest in all vegetarian issues. She has worked for the website already for some time.
Contact: georgia.blackwell@european-vegetarian.org


2. "Utopia tomorrow: A vegetarian world" - A book project of the European Vegetarian Union

H.G. Wells wrote in his book "A Modern Utopia": "In all the round world of Utopia there is no meat. There used to be.
But now we cannot stand the thought of slaughter-houses. And, in a population that is all educated, and at about the same
level of physical refinement, it is practically impossible to find anyone who will hew a dead ox or pig. (.) I can still
remember, as a boy, the rejoicings over the closing of the last slaughter-house."

With many billions of animals being slaughtered every year and the demand for meat even increasing further at an alarming
rate, this bright new world seems to be light-years away. But is it really? In May 2003, the British newspaper "Mirror"
reported the results of a study: "All Britons could be vegetarian by 2047 as 2,000 people a week stop eating meat."

A UK Consumer Analysis Group commented that such findings "will come as a shock for some people, but it seems like
we will be entering an age where the nation as a whole has finally begun to understand and respect the environment.
You can almost imagine that in the future it will be the norm to be vegetarian and people will have to consciously opt to eat
meat, rather than the other way around."

But what will it be like, the human future without the massacre of animals? What will be the consequences regarding human
health and the problem of world hunger, animal well-being, ecology, world trade, spiritual awareness etc.

The European Vegetarian Union would like to hear your thoughts about this issue. Please have a look at the information provided
below and let us know your ideas.

Here are some administrative details:

- Contributions should be free of copyright and between one phrase and max. 2 pages,

- all aspects are welcome: scientific, thoughtful, funny, SF-inspired, critical etc.,

- name, photo and e-mail address requested, a (very) short CV is appreciated,

- the book will be published in English, suitable texts in other languages will be translated, if possible.

- Should we receive more statements than can be accommodated: EVU reserves the right to select the most suitable ones.

- There will be no payment but all participants featuring in the book receive a free copy.

- This is a fundraising project of the European Vegetarian Union.

- Closing date: 1 June 2005 (not 1 August 2005).


3. News and diary inputs can be found here:

News: http://www.euroveg.eu/lang/en/news/news.php


International events: http://www.euroveg.eu/lang/en/events/events.php


Please do not forget to reserve the 30 September for the EVU AGM

http://www.euroveg.eu/lang/en/events/events.php?id=1986

and the congress in Italy the following week:

http://www.euroveg.eu/lang/en/events/congress.php

If you have not done so, why not become member of the European Vegetarian Union now. It is so easy:
http://www.euroveg.eu/lang/en/about/support/membership.php

 

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