Sponsor
This site is sponsored by
Horse Whispers
http://www.horsewhispers.com.au
Animal Communication and Natural Therapies for horses and for companion animals.
Give your animal friends an opportunity to be heard!
ANIMAL
CRUELTY
DON'T IGNORE IT
REPORT IT !!
FREECALL
1800. 751. 770
Licensed Investigator now servicing
 |
 |
 |
|
VEGAN ... for the People, for the Planet, for the Animals ...
WORLD VEGAN DAY Celebrations 2011
ACT New South Wales Western Australia Queensland Northern Territory Victoria South Australia
“If we could live happy and healthy lives without harming others, why wouldn't we?” Pam Ahern, Edgar's Mission, Australia
NEW VEGAN FILMS
Making The Connection (UK) 30 mins (watch online) A Life Connected (US) 12 mins (watch online)
Forks Over Knives (US) feature film 2011 (coming soon) Vegucated (US) feature film 2011 (coming soon)
Thank you to Evolve campaigns for this entertaining and insightful video clip.
F.A.Q.
Is this some kind of strange cult? No, veganism is not a cult -- it is first and foremost a social justice movement. Vegans share a common goal of striving to be compassionate consumers. We make informed choices about the foods we eat, the clothes we wear, the products we use, the charities we support and the activities we engage in, so that we are doing the least amount of harm. Then what does it mean to be vegan? Being vegan is about rejecting the abuse and exploitation of others -- regardless of species -- even if society considers that abuse and exploitation to be "normal", "acceptable" or "necessary". The protection of animals is therefore central to the vegan philosophy. You can read about our philosophy here: www.speakforanimals.info/vegan/philosophy What kind of people choose to be vegan? Most people embrace the vegan lifestyle after a journey through the vegetarian diet. As we learn more about the facts of different issues, it becomes very easy to make more compassionate choices. There are now lots of children being raised as vegans from birth. You can meet some Australian vegans here: www.speakforanimals.info/vegan/faces Isn't the vegan lifestyle a little extreme? On the contrary, vegans feel that the atrocities carried out on our fellow creatures, (in the name of food, fashion, beauty, science, education, sport or entertainment), are extreme in the worst kind of way. Most people never give this a thought, but once a person has an awareness of the cruelty, it brings about a change in perception: www.earthlings.com What do vegans eat? EVERYTHING !! ... except animals and animal-derived products. Follow this link to view a selection of vegan food photos: www.speakforanimals.info/vegan/food But aren't humans designed to eat animals? Take a look at the table below and decide for yourself. Adapted from The Comparative Anatomy of Eating by Milton R. Mills, M.D.
But plant foods can't provide adequate nutrition! "It is important to correct this misinformation (because) many people are afraid to follow healthful, pure vegetarian diets - they worry about "incomplete proteins" from plant sources. A vegetarian diet based on any single one or combination of these unprocessed starches (eg: rice, corn, potatoes, beans), with the addition of vegetables and fruits, supplies all the protein, amino acids, essential fats, minerals, and vitamins (with the exception of vitamin B12) necessary for excellent health. To wrongly suggest that people need to eat animal protein for nutrients will encourage them to add foods that are known to contribute to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and many forms of cancer, to name just a few common problems." John McDougall MD www.drmcdougall.com So where do you get your vitamin B12? These days, the most common question asked of vegans is "Where do you get your B12?"... A fact sheet from Vegetarian Victoria states "all the B12 in nature is produced by microorganisms, bacteria, fungi and algae". People who eat animals and animal products tend to have more B12 in their systems than vegans because the high levels of microorganisms and bacteria consumed by animals are passed on to humans during the digestive process. It should be noted that the Recommended Dietary Intake of B12 is 2 micrograms per day and that this vitamin can stored in the body for several years. These days, there are many common foods that have been intentionally fortified with B12, including a selection of breakfast cereals, meat analogues and non-dairy milks. But for those who are concerned about their levels it would be prudent to simply take a regular supplement in the form of a chewable tablet. Regardless, you can't raise children on a vegan diet! "It is the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life-cycle including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence, and for athletes." I can't believe that meat and dairy are bad for my health. An article sourced from Doctors for the Environment Australia states: "Exploration of the patient’s meat intake should be on a par with the history of exercise, smoking and alcohol consumption... The patient should be informed that mortality increases in meat eaters because of hypertension, heart disease and several cancers." The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has published some facts about health risks of dairy. Perhaps you might also like to take a look at these resources: CSIRO Perfidy - a book by Geoff Russell: http://perfidy.com.au The China Study - a book by Dr T Colin Campbell: www.thechinastudy.com/about.html A Delicate Balance - a film by Aaron Scheibner: www.adelicatebalance.com.au Tell me more about the health benefits of the vegan diet... "Scientific research shows that health benefits increase as the amount of food from animal sources in the diet decreases, so vegan diets are the healthiest overall." (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vegetarian_foods.html The Vegan Diet as Chronic Disease Prevention by Kerrie Saunders PhD: www.lanternbooks.com/detail.html?id=1590560388 Dr Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes by Neal Barnard MD: www.nealbarnard.org/diabetes_book.htm The McDougall Program for a Healthy Heart by John A McDougall MD: www.drmcdougall.com/store_ebooks.html How do our food choices affect the millions of starving people in the world? A plant based diet uses far less resources, (arable land and fresh water), than an animal based diet. It is very simple -- the less animals we consume, the more people we can feed. At present, our affluent society consumes animal foods in a way that is both unsustainable for our planet and inconsiderate of our third world neighbours. Eating Up The World (AU): www.veg-soc.org/PDF_Downloads/%27Eating%20Up%20the%20World%27.pdf You may like to watch this short presentation, (12 minutes), that explains it all in a nutshell: A Life Connected Is it true that animal agriculture is worse for the environment than all our vehicles? YES! The United Nations' official report, Livestock's Long Shadow (2006), stated that livestock production "currently amounts to about 18% of You might like to read about the Environmental and Social Impacts of the Livestock Sector And a new report by the Environmental Working Group in the US has discovered that: "If everyone in the US ate NO meat or cheese for just one day a week it would be like taking 7.6 million cars off the road". Read a summary of the report: Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change (2011) In addition, the German Foodwatch report from 2009 claims that: "An organic vegan diet produces 94% less greenhouse gas emissions that the average meat and dairy diet."
I don't understand the connection between eating animals and global warming? You can learn more by reading this EWG report about the Climate Impacts of meat, which includes notes about digestion-generated methane, feed production methods, manure creation, processing methods, transportation and waste. "According to the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane has a warming impact 72 times that of carbon dioxide over a 20 year time frame. In Australia, sources of methane are derived from a variety of sectors but the one that produces the most is Agriculture. The emissions produced by livestock production alone have more impact than the emissions from all the coal-fired power stations combined!" (Source: CSIRO Perfidy by G. Russell. Vivid Publishing 2009.) For further information you might like to read this article or watch this documentary. How can I find out more about veganism in Australia? Vegan Voice magazine: You can read more about the editor here.
Where can I find some yummy, healthy, easy-to-make, cruelty-free recipes? Here are some links to Australian vegan recipe webpages: Act Now For Animals: www.actnowforanimals.com/recipes.aspx All Recipes: http://allrecipes.com.au/recipes/vegan-recipes.aspx Animal Liberation, SA: http://animalliberation.org.au/images/stories/Philfood-1.pdf Beyond Chicken: www.beyondchicken.com.au
Unleashed: www.unleashed.org.au/change_the_world/go_veg/vegan_recipes.php UPROAR: www.uproar.org.au/category/recipe Vegan Easy: www.veganeasy.org/Recipes Viva La Vegan: http://vivalavegan.net/community/forum/5-recipes.html Vegan Society of NSW: www.vegansocietynsw.com/vs/html/recipes.html Veg Society of Queensland: www.vegsoc.org.au/recipes.asp Why Veg: http://whyveg.com/recipes/list.php
. .
“Contrary to popular belief, veganism is much more than a diet. It is Angel Flinn
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated on Wednesday, 12 October 2011 04:13 |
