European Vegetarian Union
Newsletter December 2006
Dear friends,
The last months of this year brought very uplifting news, namely the health
benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle were praised frequently in the
international press and furthermore
international attention was drawn to
smart veggies: 'High IQ link to being vegetarian'. Such information is
lovely to read but we knew that already.
However, what really came as a total surprise (an
end-of-year-present with
the compliments of the UN?) was the FAO press release, dated 29 November
2006,
stating 'Livestock major threat to environment '. Thank you, FAO, for
seeing the light at last and admitting
something which is very obvious but
so far had been ignored with lots of official determination. Hopefully the
old meat-pushing days will now be over and a better strategy be put in place
to restrict the damage the meat
industry has already done.
Such information certainly offers a little hope for billions of animals
being sacrificed each year on the altar of meat-consumption. Because an
astronomical number of them have
already
or will be killed for the upcoming
festivities, we have compiled a list of prayers and blessings which we want
to offer to you and everyone visiting our website. We hope that you like the
collection (designed for easy
print-out).
www.euroveg.eu/lang/en/news/campaigns/christmas_compassion06.pdf
On behalf of the board
of
the EVU, I wish you peace and health, success and
happiness in the New Year.
ALL THE BEST FOR 2007!
Best regards
Renato Pichler
President
European Vegetarian Union
_____
Contents:
1. Health - Benefits and Dangers <>
2. Smart vegetarian children <>
3.
FAO: Livestock major threat to environment <>
4. Politicans and scientists for animals <>
5.
The vegetarian wave is getting stronger <>
6. Saints and Sinners Festive Menu <>
_____
1. HEALTH
Benefits:
Vegetarians'
low-calorie diet gives new cancer-cure clues
Researchers studying a group of vegetarians whose diet was low in protein
and calories found they had reduced
blood levels of several hormones and
other substances that have been tied to certain cancers.
Garlic,
onions may
offer wide-ranging cancer protection
High intake of garlic and onions was associated with
significantly reduced
risks of a wide-range of cancers...
tart>
Eating soy protein
benefits the heart
Dangers:
Dairy products may
increase testicular cancer risk
A new
study from Germany shows that dairy product consumption may increase
the risk of testicular cancer.
Too Much Protein may
Increase Cancer Risk
China scientists say
SCARS-civet cay link proved
A joint China-Hong Kong research team says it has found a genetic link
between SARS in civet cats and humans,
bearing out claims that the disease
had jumped across species, state media said on Thursday.
USA:
Consumers not
warned of mercury in fish
USA/Virginia man has
mad cow disease
Health
officials have confirmed that a Saudi-born man living in Virginia has
a human form of mad cow disease.. variant
Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, a
brain-destroying illness believed to be caused by eating beef products from
cattle infected with mad cow....
Poultry trade likely
route for bird flu to Americas, experts say
The H5N1 strain of bird flu is most likely to enter North America through
infected poultry trade,
researchers say.
_____
2. SMART VEGETARIAN CHILDREN
Kids with high IQs
grow up to
be vegetarians
As a child's IQ rises, his taste for meat in adulthood declines, a new study
suggests.
British researchers have found that children's IQ predicts their
likelihood of becoming vegetarians as young
adults -- lowering their risk
for cardiovascular disease in the process. The finding could explain the
link
between smarts and better health.
High IQ link to
being vegetarian
Intelligent
children
more likely to become vegetarian
_____
3. FAO: LIVESTOCK MAJOR THREAT TO
ENVIRONMENT
Which causes more
greenhouse gas emissions, rearing cattle or driving cars? Surprise!
According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization, the livestock
sector generates more greenhouse gas
emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent - 18 percent - than transport. It
is
also a major source of land and water degradation
Cows, pigs and
sheep: Environment greatest
threats?
Cows, pigs, sheep and poultry have been awarded the dubious honour of being
among the world's
greatest environmental threats.
Cow 'emissions' more
damaging to planet than CO2 from cars
Farmed Animals Are a Top Contributor to Environmental Problems
Can New Zealand
weather the
changes?
New Zealand's greenhouse-gas emissions profile is markedly different to
those of other countries.
Along with carbon dioxide emissions from energy,
cars exhausts and fossil fuels, we have the gnarly problem of 40
million
sheep, 10 million cattle and a couple of million deer.
FAO: Cereal prices
surge to
highest levels in decade
NOTE: The motto of the EVU
Talks 2007 will be
'The veggie answer to
world hunger'
_____
4. POLITICIANS AND SCIENTISTS FOR ANIMALS
NETHERLANDS:
The
Party for
Animals, founded in October 2002, won two seats in last month's Dutch
general election
Party for the
animals gains 2 Parliamentary seats in the Netherlands
UK:
Animals Party at
Parliament
What are the chances of cows getting voting rights in parliament? In Holland
this is for real.
In the UK animals will now also be properly represented
through a new political party, 'Animals Count'..
UK/Oxford: Thinktank
launched to debate animal ethics
The new animal ethics center. aims to "put
animals on the intellectual
agenda". The centre's director, the Rev Professor Andrew Linzey, an Anglican
priest, writer and University of Oxford theologian, is well known for his
opposition to animal testing....
UK: Press Release
from the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics:
100 Academics Support New Animal Ethics
centre at Oxford
USA
'Kucinich's personal ethics begin on his plate'. He is a vegan
US
Representative Dennis Kucinich has entered the field of possible
contenders for the 2008 presidential election.
Just Ask: Kucinich
Answers, 'Yes, I Am'
Congressman Dennis
Kuninich thinks we need
tougher laws to protect the animals we use as food.
_____
5. THE VEGETARIAN WAVE IS GETTING
STRONGER:
Today:
Germany: On 16 November 2006, the Vegetarier Bund Deutschlands e.V.
distributed a
press release stating that 10% of Germans are already
vegetarian
-VEBU: -Jede/r
zehnte Deutsche
schlemmt mittlerweile fleischlos
Indonesia:
Compassion, health driving more people to meatless diet
Eat more meat to get more energy. Right? Not necessarily!
"If you want to work like a horse, try
imitating this plant eating animal's
diet. The key to maintaining my stamina is meatless food combining. All
that
is important is the variation of colors of the vegetables and fruits I eat
daily," said Michael
Kao, who has been a vegetarian for 11 years, at the
World Meatless Day food fair last week.
Tomorrow:
'Most people on earth these days are vegetarians - if not by choice, by
necessity'
A chapter from the
book 'UTOPIA
TODAY - REALITY
TOMORROW - A vegetarian world'
_____
6. SAINTS AND
SINNERS FESTIVE MENU
Vegetarian Society UK: A Christmas calorie-counting angel? Or a
throw-out-the-weighing-scales naughty elf? Which
one are you when it comes to
the festive dinner table?
_____
-International Diary:
http://www.euroveg.eu/lang/en/events/events.php
-Quote: Henning Steinfeld, Chief of FAO's Livestock Information and Policy
Branch: "Livestock are one
of the most significant contributors to today's
most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to
remedy the
situation."
- A prayer not fit for our website-collection: A missionary was walking
in
Africa when he heard the ominous sound of a lion behind him. "Oh Lord,"
prayed the missionary,
"Grant in Thy goodness that the lion walking behind
me is a good Christian lion." And then, in the
silence that followed, the
missionary heard the lion praying too: "Oh Lord," he prayed, "We thank
Thee
for the food which we are about to receive."
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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