June 2008
News For Life
This newsletter, in its 6th year, is designed to keep you aware of the many effects our food choices have on our lives; from personal health to a sustainable planet and respecting other species. I hope you enjoy it and share it with others!
General News Index:
OPRAH'S 21-DAY VEGAN CLEANSE!
10 REASONS TO GO VEGGIE
PANEL QUESTIONS FACTORY-LIKE FARMS
WHITE HOUSE SITTING ON MAD COW RULE
MARK BITTMAN: WHAT'S WRONG WITH WHAT WE EAT
TOUGH EARLY HUMAN LOVED FRUIT
LETTER FROM A VEGAN WORLD
MOBY: VEGANISM IS A WAY OF LIFE
PRECIOUS PURSUIT
RAISING KIDS THE GREEN WAY
VIDEO: STALKING WILD GREENS - MINER'S LETTUCE
QUIZ ON 10 HERBAL REMEDIES
MEAT IS OUT AT FIELDER’S PLATE
VIDEO: THE VEGETABLE ORCHESTRA
SOME GREAT CONFERENCES COMING UP THIS SUMMER
Health News Index:
BEETROOT 'MAY CUT BLOOD PRESSURE'
VITAMIN D MAY HELP CURB BREAST CANCER, STUDY FINDS
ADS SAYING DAIRY PRODUCTS HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT ARE MISLEADING
CALCIUM AND STRONG BONES
MORE EVIDENCE LINKS COW’S MILK TO TYPE 1 DIABETES
Environmental News Index:
DO FOOD MILES MATTER? REDUCING MEAT & DAIRY CONSUMPTION MORE IMPORTANT
IS MY LUNCH CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING?
FARMS MAY BE EXEMPTED FROM EMISSION RULES
EATING THE RAINFOREST
HOW THE WORLD'S OCEANS ARE RUNNING OUT OF FISH
Animal Sentience Index:
DYING TO ENTERTAIN YOU
NEW GRAPHIC VIDEO: MISTREATED LIVESTOCK
NEW GRAPHIC VIDEO: EXPOSES EGG INDUSTRY!
Take Action Index:
CAFO'S COST TAXPAYERS BILLIONS
KEEP ANTIBIOTICS WORKING!
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General News:
“If you don’t stay informed, then who will tell the others the truth?” Anonymous
OPRAH'S 21-DAY VEGAN CLEANSE!
"What she [Kathy Freston] talks about in her book is a higher level [of conscious eating]. She speaks of "spiritual integrity." How can you say you're trying to spiritually evolve, without even a thought about what happens to the animals whose lives are sacrificed in the name of gluttony? So this 21-day cleanse gives me a chance to think about it differently and see what my attachments are to certain kinds of foods—and what I'm willing to do to change."
"Wow, wow, wow! I never imagined meatless meals could be so satisfying. I had been focused on what I had to give up—sugar, gluten, alcohol, meat, chicken, fish, eggs, cheese. "What's left?" I thought. Apparently a lot. I can honestly say every meal was a surprise and a delight, beginning with breakfast—strawberry rhubarb wheat-free crepes." — Oprah
http://www2.oprah.com/foodhome/food/cleanse/blog/blog_1.jhtml
10 REASONS TO GO VEGGIE
1. Helping animals also helps the global poor...
2. Eating meat supports cruelty to animals...
3. Eating meat is bad for the environment...
4. Avoid bird flu...
5. If you wouldn't eat a dog, you shouldn't eat a chicken...
6. Heart disease and cancer are big killers...
7. Fitting into that tiny bikini...
8. Global peace...
9. The joy of veggies...
10. Sir Paul McCartney says so...
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/real_food/article3931260.ece
PANEL QUESTIONS FACTORY-LIKE FARMS
American agriculture must move away from its focus on large, industrial farms to reverse environmental and human health problems, a private commission reported Tuesday.
The report examined the impact of what it called the widespread use of industry-like facilities, where large numbers of cattle, pigs and chickens are concentrated, often in very close quarters, for rapid growth and preparation for slaughter...
The commission examined a broad range of issues, such as the impact of livestock waste on lakes, streams and soil; the human health implications of the industry's extensive use of low-level anti-microbials for animal growth; the impact of factory farms on rural life; and the welfare of the animals themselves...
the concentration of animals increases the risks of transmission of disease from animals to humans. The report cited studies that show workers near such farms have been found to experience high levels of respiratory problems.
The commission called for phasing out non-therapeutic use of anti-microbials — substances that kill bacteria — because their widespread use in agriculture is probably contributing to human resistance to antibiotics...
The massive amount of animal waste generated at industrial farms was also cited as a major environmental and health concern. Animals confined in these facilities produce three times as much manure annually as every man, woman and child in the U.S...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-04-29-farms-panel_N.htm?csp=34
http://tinyurl.com/5odc7j
WHITE HOUSE SITTING ON MAD COW RULE
The Bush administration continues to delay a rule that could protect the public from being exposed to mad cow disease. The Food and Drug Administration rule would prohibit farms from using certain animal by-products as feed for cattle.
Allowing cattle to feed on the rendered meat, bones, or blood of other cattle raises the risk of mad cow, also known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). According to the agency, "FDA believes that the final rule would effectively remove about 90 percent of any remaining BSE infectivity from possible spread through the animal feed system... Even though FDA believes the benefits to be "potentially large," the White House is likely more concerned about the potential costs to the agriculture industry.
The delay is emblematic of the Bush administration's policy on preventing mad cow disease. Since the first U.S. case of mad cow was discovered in December 2003, the administration's policy has been one of inaction and broken promises. The administration has also shied away from an animal identification system that could speed up the response time of public health officials in the event of an emergency...
http://www.ombwatch.org/article/blogs/entry/4866/38
MARK BITTMAN: WHAT'S WRONG WITH WHAT WE EAT
In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/263
Note: Many, many excellent points, but misses on the latest medical studies and animal compassion.
TOUGH EARLY HUMAN LOVED FRUIT
An early human with a big mouth made for chomping strangely preferred to eat soft, squishy fruits, new dental analyses suggest. The finding — the big guy's teeth showed only light wear — might force scientists to downgrade everything they thought they knew about hominids' diets...
http://www.livescience.com/history/080429-nutcracker-man.html
LETTER FROM A VEGAN WORLD
At a time when most animal rights organizations are actively promoting, advocating and rewarding "humane" animal products and farming methods, I am writing to you on behalf of three of the recipients of that mercy.
To the industry, they are known as production units #6, #35, and #67,595. To the "compassionate" consumer, they are known as feel-good labels: "organic dairy", "rose veal", "free-range eggs". To welfare advocates, they are known as "humane alternatives". To each other, they are known as mother, son, sister, friend. To themselves, they are simply what you and I are to ourselves: a self-aware, self-contained world of subjective experiences, feelings, fears, memories – someone with the absolute certainty that his or her life is worth living...
http://peacefulprairie.blogspot.com/2008/05/letter-from-vegan-world.html
Video: The Faces of "Free-Range" Farming
http://peacefulprairie.blogspot.com/2007/11/faces-of-free-range-farming.html
MOBY: VEGANISM IS A WAY OF LIFE
... as I got older, I became more socially and politically aware, and I started trying to reconcile the fact that although I loved animals, I was also eating them. I feel very simply that if you have a choice between one action that causes suffering and one that doesn't you should always try to choose the action that doesn't cause suffering. So I guess when I was around 19, I became a vegetarian; that same logic eventually led me to become a vegan...
http://deliciouslivingmag.com/greenliving/moby-veganism/
PRECIOUS PURSUIT
There is a certain joy to becoming a vegetarian that can only be experienced and cannot be described... It has been two years since I started following a strict vegetarian diet and I must say I’m glad to have made the switch because I feel so liberated...
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/27/sundaymetro/21054684&sec=sundaymetro
RAISING KIDS THE GREEN WAY
Vegans exempt animal products from their lifestyle. This is easy enough for committed older vegans, but how to raise a kid with no milk, ice cream, chocolate, or candy? In today's, predominantly meat-dependent and animal fashion crazed world, it is certainly a challenge for vegan parents to raise their children. Fortunately, the years brought an abundance of information about vegan fashion, vegan shoes, vegan recipes, vegan lifestyle, and veganism. All that vegan parents need right now are determination and creativity to encourage their children to take up the vegan way of life...
http://vegfamily.com/vegan-children/raising-kids-the-green-way.htm
VIDEO: STALKING WILD GREENS - MINER'S LETTUCE
Learn about the tasty, delicious, and healthy foods that grown in the wilderness....wild edibles Sergei Boutenko harmony hikes health greens raw food smoothie.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=coB-qhAHLo8
QUIZ ON 10 HERBAL REMEDIES
Do you know your medicinal herbs? See if you can name these 10 herbal remedies. (And don’t peek at the answers at the bottom until you’re done!)...
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/quiz-on-10-herbal-remedies.html
MEAT IS OUT AT FIELDER’S PLATE
... Fielder, a first baseman who walloped 50 home runs last season, has become more than the face of the young and improving Milwaukee Brewers — he has become a lightning rod for his off-season decision to spurn meat and fish... Fielder, 23, decided to make the switch over the winter after reading how cattle and chickens were treated and “was totally grossed out,” he said. His wife, Chanel, preferred a no-meat diet as it was, so he embraced a new approach... Muscles cannot tell the difference between the protein found in soy burgers and poultry... so eating one or the other should not affect something even as timing-sensitive as hitting a baseball... Fielder stood in the batter’s box against one of baseball’s best young left-handers, Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies. Fielder smoked two home runs in the Brewers’ 5-4 win. Less filling, tasted great.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/sports/baseball/27fielder.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
VIDEO: THE VEGETABLE ORCHESTRA
The Vegetable Orchestra performs music solely on instruments made of vegetables. Using carrot flutes, pumpkin basses, leek violins, leek-zucchini-vibrators, cucumberophones and celery bongos, the orchestra creates its own extraordinary and vegetabile sound universe. The ensemble overcomes preserved and marinated sound conceptions or tirelessly re-stewed listening habits, putting its focus on expanding the variety of vegetable instruments, developing novel musical ideas and exploring fresh vegetable sound gardens...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpfYt7vRHuY
SOME GREAT CONFERENCES COMING UP THIS SUMMER
JOHNSTOWN, PA: VEGETARIAN SUMMERFEST 2008 http://www.vegetariansummerfest.org
COLUMBIAVILLE, MI: THE WORLD PEACE DIET RETREAT
http://worldpeacediet.org/retreat.htm
ARLINGTON, VA: TAKING ACTION FOR ANIMALS 2008
http://www.takingactionforanimals.com
WASHINGTON, DC: ANIMAL RIGHTS 2008 NATIONAL CONFERENCE
http://arconference.org
Health News:
"Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food." Hippocrates, the father of medicine.
BEETROOT 'MAY CUT BLOOD PRESSURE'
Drinking 500ml of beetroot juice a day can significantly reduce blood pressure, UK research suggests. The key beneficial ingredient appears to be nitrate, which is also found in green, leafy vegetables. The researchers found that in healthy volunteers blood pressure was reduced within an hour of drinking the juice.
The study, by Barts and the London School of Medicine and the Peninsula Medical School, could suggest a low-cost way to treat hypertension... While it took less than an hour to note a reduction in blood pressure in the beetroot juice tests, it was more pronounced after three to four hours and a degree of reduction continued to be observed for up to 24 hours...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7228420.stm
VITAMIN D MAY HELP CURB BREAST CANCER, STUDY FINDS
Breast cancer patients with low levels of vitamin D were much more likely to die of the disease or have it spread than patients getting enough of the nutrient, a study found — adding to evidence the "sunshine vitamin" has anti-cancer benefits. The results are sure to renew arguments about whether a little more sunshine is a good thing...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080516/ap_on_he_me/vitamin_d_breast_cancer_7
Note: Dark green leafy vegetables, walnuts and cocoa are protective against the damages and risks of sunshine.
ADS SAYING DAIRY PRODUCTS HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT ARE MISLEADING
There have been recent claims that dairy products can help people lose weight, and the dairy industry has hyped the assertion by investing millions of dollars in commercial advertising. However, a new review of the evidence reveals that neither dairy nor calcium intake promotes weight loss...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502104547.htm
CALCIUM AND STRONG BONES
The bone-thinning condition called osteoporosis can lead to small and not-so-small fractures. Although many people think of calcium in the diet as good protection for their bones, this is not at all the whole story. In fact, in a 12-year Harvard study of 78,000 women, those who drank milk three times a day actually broke more bones than women who rarely drank milk.1 Similarly, a 1994 study of elderly men and women in Sydney, Australia, showed that higher dairy product consumption was associated with increased fracture risk. Those with the highest dairy product consumption had approximately double the risk of hip fracture compared to those with the lowest consumption.2...
http://www.pcrm.org/health/prevmed/strong_bones.html
MORE EVIDENCE LINKS COW’S MILK TO TYPE 1 DIABETES
A new study adds more evidence that cow’s milk proteins trigger type 1 diabetes. Marcia Goldfarb of Anatek-EP, a protein research laboratory in Portland, Maine, reports having found antibodies to bovine beta-lactoglobulin in the serum of children with diabetes. Individuals without diabetes did not have the antibody.
Type 1 diabetes is believed to be caused when antibodies destroy the insulin-producing pancreatic cells. Several studies have suggested that cow’s milk proteins may trigger the production of these dangerous antibodies. Larger studies are currently testing this theory.
Goldfarb M. Relation of time of introduction of cow milk protein to an infant and risk of type 1 diabetes mellitus. J Proteome Research 2008;7:2165-7
Environmental News:
"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." Albert Einstein
DO FOOD MILES MATTER? REDUCING MEAT & DAIRY CONSUMPTION MAY BE EVEN MORE IMPORTANT
The benefits of eating locally grown food may not extend to curbing global warming, according to a comprehensive study of greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. food... for many people, "food miles", the distance food travels from farm to plate, are a simple way to gauge food's impact on climate change. But it's how food is produced, not how far it is transported, that matters most for global warming, according to new research published in ES&T . In fact, eating less red meat and dairy can be a more effective way to lower an average U.S. household's food-related climate footprint than buying local food, says lead author Christopher Weber of Carnegie Mellon University...