Schedule of Activities,
loaded with positive news our community can really use...
Thursday, Jan 8th 7:00PM Raw Food Support Group and Meeting
Whole Foods Market at 5022 Poplar Ave
Local folks living the raw food lifestyle meet to share recipes, ideas, pointers and discuss going raw!
Started by renowned author Tonya Zavasta, the Raw Food Support group continues to meet and share each month!
Please bring a $5 contribution or a raw dish to share.
Sunday Jan 11, 12:00PM Pot Luck Luncheon with Vegetarian Cooking Tips
Followed by talk on Making Eating Habits Healthier by Janet Eich (including meat based diets)
UU Church of Neshoba, 7350 Raleigh-Lagrange Rd. Cordova, TN 38018
Saturday Jan 24, 3:00PM Improving City Schools Lunches Planning Meeting
We're forming a volunteer committee to work towards improving the dietary selections offered in Memphis schools.
This is our initial planning meeting to make our official large group and publicized planning meeting
on Feb 1st, as effective as possible.
To be held at Vaughan's house in Cordova. Dinner and social to follow.
If you feel you can contribute to this vital movement, call 901 737 2595 for reservations or email:
Memphis@FoodAwareness.org
Friday Jan 30th, 6:00PM Vegetarian Dinner and Cooking Class
Henry Chu’s Buddhist School (with the very large Buddha statue in front)
Pu-Lin Center meets at 3004 S. Mendenhall (between Knight Arnold and Cottonwood)
Miss Bianca and Stephani will provide tasty examples of vegan cooking.
Advance reservations required: Call: 901 737 2595 No fees.
Feb 1, Sunday 3:00 pm Improving City Schools Lunches Kick Off Meeting
Initiated by Food Awareness Resource Tools. Please help us drum up support !!!
Main Public Library, 3030 Poplar. Meeting room is down left hallway at main entrance
and will have signs to indicate which specific room.
If we know hot dogs (processed meat) causes cancer, why are we feeding them to our children?
We're forming a volunteer committee to work towards improving the dietary selections offered in Memphis schools.
We intend to:
- Show the many benefits associated by offering more plant based dietary options.
- Provide general cost savings comparisons of providing tasteful, plant based meals, based on alternative recipes.
- Address these issues with PTA, educators, dieticians, administrators, the local media and our elected representatives.
Free and open to the public.
Free literature will be available on a variety of pertinent diet related topics.
Saturday Feb 7, 2:00PM Monthly Meeting Luncheon and Social at
Saigon 2 Vietnamese Restaurant,
2731 Bartlett Blvd, Bartlett TN 38134
South of Stage Road, near Bartlett Park on west side of road. tele: 213 0447
Nov 8 - Jan 30 New Member Drive - YOU CAN Help !
Every one of us, knows someone who would benefit from joining our Food Awareness
group email list. We are starting up a 3 month new member drive to grow our community.
Each member is requested to find at least one new person to join us, by submitting their email address to:
Memphis@FoodAwareness.org
No dues, no hassle. Grow our strength and capabilities by helping us grow !
Assure prospective new members that we keep their email address confidential
and we don't send out more than 1 or 2 emails per month.
Let them know that we provide useful info from a wealth of sources and offer community outreach
programs, free informative literature, opportunities to help our community and planet, and to have fun !
Prizes for Growing Our Group
The 50th new member to join via this 3 month membership drive, will receive a $50 gift certificate.
The member who sponsors the most new members at the end of the 3 month period by Feb 1st, wins $100.
Progress & Good News Updates Follow – cheer up, …
Activist Opportunities... for your New Year Resolutions -- help us improve American diets !!!
The Healthy Schools Campaign envisions a society in which:
Every student, faculty and staff member, regardless of race or socioeconomic
background, has equal access to a healthy school environment.
Schools serve as leaders making the critical connection between learning and health.
Students have fewer risks of disease, lead healthier adult lives, act as stewards
of the environment and achieve their highest potential.
If you want to take action on this issue, consider signing HSC’s petition for
healthy food and fitness at school. This program is important not only for
the nourishment it provides students but also for the lessons it can teach them
about how to compose meals and make healthy decisions about food.
http://www.healthyschoolscampaign.org/getinvolved/action/childnutrition/action.php
Vote For Vegan School Lunch Before Jan. 14
Because of your overwhelming support, our proposal to have the USDA facilitate
daily vegan school lunch options received 1432 votes on the Change.org website.
This qualifies the proposal for the second round of voting to select the
10 most popular reforms for presentation to the Obama transition team.
This round of voting will run between January 5-14. On January 16th,
Change.org will co-host an event at the National Press Club in
Washington, DC to announce the top 10 rated ideas and the formation
of a national advocacy campaign behind each idea.
Here is the simple procedure for exposing the concept of a vegan diet
to hundreds of thousands of social reform activists and perhaps to the new administration:
Sign up on the Change.org website, if you're not a member or sign in.
https://www.change.org/admin/sign_up
If you are a member already, visit our vegan school lunch proposal, and click on the number to cast your vote. http://www.change.org/ideas/view/vegan_school_lunch_options
"The USDA has added soymilk to the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program.
The program serves free or low-cost meals to more than 30 million children each day.
Usually, those meals come with a carton of cow's milk, unless a child present a doctor's written order to the contrary.
Soymilk has no cholesterol and according to the Physicians Committee on Responsible Medicine, is lower in calories, fat, and sodium than cow's milk, and supplies the same amount of calcium when fortified.
The USDA's new policy requires only a written parental request, and is a definite step in the right direction."
From: Vegetarian Times 2009 Jan, issue, p. 52:
American Dietetic Association Comprehensive Info Sources
This is a great source for all types of nutrition details from the experts. http://EatRight.org
Tips from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
The USDA's vegetarian nutrition Resource list directs you to the most helpful books,
pamphlets, and websites -- all organized by topics such as pregnancy, sports nutrition,
and vegetarianism for kids and teens. Tons of highly credible great website links !!!
Check out website: http://nal.usda.gov/fnic/pubs/bibs/gen/vegetarian.pdf
Labeling of Genetically Altered Foods?
Genetically modified (GM) ingredients are in almost everything we eat in U.S. and it's NOT labeled.
These include corn, soybeans, cottonseed and canola.
All European Union countries require strick labeling of GM foods. In the U.S., "there must be somthing
tangibly different about the food product -- not the production process for the FDA to require labeling,"
says FDA spokeperson Michael Herndon.
Experts warn that GM crops which were designed to be resistant to pests and spoilage may contribute
to food allergies and other health problems. The long term effects have not been seriously studies, which means
todays consumers are unknowing test subjects. It's been that way and growing since the 1990s.
Until legislation requires companies to label GM foods, Americans will be shopping in the dark.
Consider to join this national movement to help us make informed choices and further protect
the purity of our crops by logging onto: http://thecampaign.org
Refs: Vegetarian Times, March 2007, p. 54
More evidence that protein from dairy products may increase the risk of prostate cancer
Approximately one man out of six will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime.
One key question is whether diet plays a role in the development of prostate cancer.
Recent study adds to the accumulated evidence that it does. The study involved more
than 142,000 men from 19 European countries. The men were asked about their diets
and their health histories and were studied for a number of years.
Protein from dairy foods was significantly associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.
References: Vegetarian Journal Issue #4, 2008, p. 20; animal foods, protein,
calcium and prostate cancer risk: the European perspective investigation
into cancer in nutrition. British Journal of Cancer 90: 1574-81
Avoiding Gout
Have you ever seen a painting of a noble man with his bandaged foot propped up on a footstool?
Chances are that he was suffering from gout, a common, painful form of arthritis.
Gout is still a problem today and most commonly occurs among men over age 40.
Close to 3 million American men have gout. Where genetics can certainly play a
role in determining one's risk for gout, other more controllable factors are also an important.
A recent study examining close to 29,000 healthy, physically active male runners to see
which factors affected their risk of having gout. One factor that was identified was meat
consumption; even among this relatively healthy crew, men eating the most meat had
the highest risk of developing gout. Other factors that increase the risk of gout included
higher alcohol intake, lower food intake, being overweight or obese, and being less
physically active. It looks like reducing the risk of doubt is another reason for becoming a vegetarian.
References: Vegetarian Journal Issue #4, 2008, p. 21: Williams PT.2008.
Effects of diet, physical activity and performance, and body weight on incident of
doubt in ostensibly healthy, vigorously active men. American Journal of clinical nutrition 87:1480-87.
Association fund between cured meat and risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
This is a condition that makes it hard to breathe. Both chronic bronchitis and emphysema
are types of COPD, the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States.
A recent study looked at whether dietary factors play a role.
Cured meats like bacon, hot dogs and deli meats, contain nitrites, which are at it as preservatives.
Nitrites, which are also present in tobacco smoke, can damage lung tissue.
Frequent consumption of cured meat contain nitrites could potentially damage the lungs.
Epidemiologists looked at more than 71,000 registered nurses and found those who've
consumed cured meats most frequently were most likely to have COPD. Similar results
were seen an earlier study of male health professionals done by the same researchers.
The study provides one more reason to choose vegetarian diets ( and to stop or never start smoking ).
References: Vegetarian Journal Issue #4, 2008, p.21: American Journal of clinical nutrition 87:1002-1008
Useful Book Suggestions
Meatless Meals For Working People -- Quick And Easy Vegetarian Recipes
While it is recommended to use whole grains and fresh vegetables for meals, for the
busy working person, this isn't always possible. This hundred 92 page book contains
over 100 fast and easy recipes and tells you how to be a vegetarian with your hectic
schedule using common, convenience foods. Cost is roughly $12
Simply Vegan - quick vegetarian meals
This 224 page book contains over 160 quicken the vegan of recipes, a complete nutrition section,
and a list of where to mail order vegan food, clothing, cosmetics, and household products.
Cost is roughly $15
Vegetarian Booze Finder
What do Pabst Blue Ribbon, Yellow Tail Shiraz, Absolut Vodka have in common?
They're all made without the use of animal products. Some companies use gelatin or isinglass
( made from the air bladders of fish ) in the finishing & clarification process.
To see if your favorite pale ale, wine, or rum is on the vegetarian friendly list, check out:
http://barnivore.com
Goode TV
It's healthy to poke fun at yourself, so we'll be excited to check out "The Goode Family",
a new animated show premiering on ABC in March. The show revolves around a family
who tries to always to the right thing --- they're vegan, politically correct, and environmentally aware.
The show promises plenty of good-natured mocking of the best intentions gone awry.
The Locavore's Dilemna
Many people are trying to buy food that was grown locally.
According to Christopher Weber and H. Scott Matthews of Carnegie Mellon University,
food production is a much greater factor -- especially that of red meat, because the high
energy and fertilizer use required. Switching from beef to veggies one day a week, the researchers
figure, would reduce your carbon footprint more than if you bought all your food locally.
ref: Sierra Club Jan-Feb, 2009, p. 21
New Coalition Exposes the “HUMANE MYTH” of using livestock for food:
The Humane Declaration
The public deserves to be told the full truth of who animals are and what is being done
to them behind closed doors, as well as the catastrophic impact that the continuing
consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy products will have on human health, wildlife
and the environment. We will do all we can to uphold this public trust.
As animal advocates committed to compassion and justice, we will refuse to take
part in the exploitation of others or to collaborate with those caught up in such injustice.
We will do our best to present a clear and uncompromised message to the public,
a sincere and respectful message that is free of cynicism and manipulation.
http://humanemyth.org/declaration.htm
Animal Suffering in the Egg Industry – followed by a “Victory”
More than 95% of eggs produced in the U.S. come from hens confined inside
barren wire battery cages so restrictive, the birds can barely even move, let alone
spread their wings, perch, or walk. Each battery-caged hen usually only has
a meager 67 square inches of space in which to live—that’s less floor space
than one sheet of notebook paper.
For information about the horrors of egg factory farms, please visit http://Eddindustry.com
VICTORY: Lightlife Foods Commits to Using Fewer Eggs & Introduces More Vegan Options!
Lightlife Foods has been a leader in the vegetarian food market for nearly 30 years—
and this maker of meatless foods just took another giant step forward, further setting itself apart!
Shortly after announcing the Morningstar Farms victory late last year,
Compassion Over Killing (COK) has been corresponding with Lightlife Foods
about the growing demand for egg-free options. The company has been
incredibly responsive, and we’re excited to share the following statement
about its plans to reduce its use of eggs in 2009:
According to company spokeswoman Cathleen Strong, “Beginning January 1, 2009
Lightlife is reducing our use of eggs by 166,000 eggs annually!
Additionally, we are excited about introducing three new vegan items to the market place this spring.”
Please call Lightlife at 1-800-769-3279 to thank them for making this
From: http://www.cok.net/feat/lightlife/
Going for a garden burger is sounding better all the time !
Remember, if you change one persons eating habits toward reducing meat consumption -
you have accomplished something to positively impact that person and our entire planet.
Join our efforts toward making the world better !
You CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE - one meal at a time.
It's satisfying and fun.
Best wishes,
Vaughan & Your Food Awareness Team of Caring Volunteers
http://FoodAwareness.org
email: Memphis@FoodAwareness.org tele: 901 737 2595
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