press release

Veggie Summit Meeting Berlin

Veggie Summit Meeting Berlin
2009

The first Veggie Summit Meeting took place in Berlin from 16 - 18 October. It was organised by the EVU with support from VEBU, and participants attended from Germany, Spain, France, Switzerland, the UK, Croatia, Austria, Belgium, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The weekend was spent sharing knowledge and discussing topics such as lobbying, cooperation with business, pooling resources and international campaigns. Several concrete action points were agreed, including:

drafting definitions of vegetarian and vegan, and lobbying to have these made law within the EU;
creating a database to share brochures, pictures and other resources;
setting up a yahoo-group to enable societies to communicate rapidly and alert each other to urgent and important issues; and
looking into the possibilities of EU funding.

Veggie Summit Group

All participants felt that the weekend was successful and a useful way of gathering information and ideas from other organisations. Everyone was interesting in attending these workshop meetings regularly, and so the EVU has decided to replace the EVU Talks with an annual Veggie Summit Meeting.

We hope that by providing a forum for societies to meet and share knowledge, the vegetarian movement within Europe will be able to move forward together.

Anyone who is interested in having more information about the Veggie Summit Meeting, working on the action points or attending the next Summit Meeting can contact me at georgia.blackwell@euroveg.eu.

Best regards

Georgia Blackwell

Vice President

More information about international coooperation:

FAO: Economic crisis is devastating for the world's hungry

1.02 billion hungry people in 2009 - FAO hunger report published

Number of hungry people "intolerable"

14 October 2009, Rome - The sharp spike in hunger triggered by the global economic crisis has hit the poorest people in developing countries hardest, revealing a fragile world food system in urgent need of reform, according to a report released today by FAO and the World Food Programme (WFP).

The combination of food and economic crises has pushed the number of hungry people worldwide to historic levels - more than one billion people are undernourished, according to FAO estimates.

Nearly all the world's undernourished live in developing countries...

...lifecycle and supply chain of animals raised for food account for 51% of annual emissions ...

EU project sets new standards in animal welfare

A new set of animal welfare measures has been developed by a project called WELFARE QUALITY ('Integration of animal welfare in the food quality chain: from public concern to improved welfare and transparent quality'). The 44-partner consortium from 13 European countries plus Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Uruguay, is funded by the EU with EUR 14.6 million under the 'Food quality and safety' Thematic area of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), and runs from May 2004 to the end of 2009.

New Heart Disease Findings Suggest Meatless Meals Could Cut Health Care Costs

Scientific Review Finds Vegan Diet More Effective than "Lean Meat" Approach in Fight Against America's Number One Killer; Congress Urged to Take Findings to Heart

A scientific review in October's American Journal of Cardiology finds that vegetarian and vegan diets rich in nuts, soy, and fiber cut cholesterol and triglyceride levels more effectively than other dietary approaches commonly used to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, America's number one killer.

Study co-author Hope Ferdowsian, M.D., M.P.H., says these findings have clear implications for the debate over health care reform ...

Fight global warming, animal cruelty and world hunger with meat tax

A tax on meat can protect the environment and fight world hunger

It's easy these days to find support and help in becoming vegan. The selection of meat and dairy analogs has grown remarkably in just a few years. There are plenty of places to find nutrition advice for vegans and an inspiring variety of great vegan cookbooks. For those who feel as though they might be the only vegan in the world or at least in their home town social support is a click away on the internet.

Thailand: Pattayans view vegetarian festival parade

The thoroughfares from Walking Street, Pattaya's Beach Road and right through to the full length of Naklua Road in northern Pattaya were used by hundreds of performers in Pattaya's annual Vegetarian Festival Parade.

This very colourful and exciting parade drew plenty of spectators in what is one of the most popular events to be held each year in our city, that celebrates the benefits of being a vegetarian ...

More news regarding ethics, health, animal protection and the vegetarian lifestyle can be found on:
www.euroveg.eu/lang/en/news/news.php
www.evana.org

Diary www.euroveg.eu/lang/en/events/events.php

European Vegetarian Union

Bahnhofstrasse 52, CH-9315 Neukirch (Egnach)
Fax: +41 (0)71 477 33 78
www.euroveg.eu / president@euroveg.eu


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