OMNI
VEGETARIAN/VEGAN ACTION NEWSLETTER #45,
WEDNESDAY (2NDWEDNESDAYS), FEBRUARY 14, 2018.
Edited by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and Ecology
Forward this newsletter to help advance vegetarianism and veganism.
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OMNI’s FEBRUARY VEGETARIAN/VEGAN POTLUCK is Wednesday, FEBRUARY 14, 2018, at OMNI, Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology (2ND Wednesdays). We start eating at 6:00. All are welcome.
VV IS SPREADING, and OMNI’s Vegetarian Action and OMNI members are reporting and advocating the good news. We are advancing the better future. This newsletter expresses the belief that Vegetarianism/Veganism VV is a powerful force for change when all of its principles are advocated: VV sustains and improves health, the protection of animals, and the climate.
You may want to enjoy and discuss some old or new vegetarian or vegan recipes, to talk about your experiments with VV cooking, or your concerned about cruelty to animals or global warming and climate catastrophe. OMNI’s director is Gladys Tiffany. OMNI is located at 3274 Lee Avenue parallel to N. College southeast of the Village Inn and south of Liquor World. More information: 935-4422; 442-4600.
Car directions to OMNI: Take College to Harold St (at Flying Burrito), turn east (right if you’re heading north). Go one block to Lee and turn left. Go one block to Bertha and we’re the gray brick on the corner, 2nd house south of Liquor World, solar panels on roof!
CONTENTS OMNI Vegetarian Action Newsletter #45, Wed., February 14, 2018
Good Medicine Magazine (Winter 2018). Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
Holt-Gimenez. A Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism.
Protection of Animals, Empathy, Compassion
Rally at Tyson’s
Tritschler, Morality of Killing Animals
Birch, Animal Sentience and Killing Animals
Murphy, Fish Sentience
Ending Slaughterhouses
Another Handmaid’s Tale
Dick, Breaking News, a Parody
Chickens v. Cultured “Meat”
Tessitore, Vegan Leather
Free Dinner at Red Lobster—Boiled Alive
Warming, Extreme Weather
Dick, Vegetarian Diet Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Publications Cited in Vegetarian/Vegan Action 2016-17
Auron (Avaaz), 56 Billion Animals Slaughtered Annually Increase Global Warming
TEXTS
Health, Nutrition
“Forks Over Knives Premieres in India.” Good Medicine (Winter 2018).
“…the groundbreaking documentary that illustrates the power of plant-based diets to improve health and prevent diseases like type 2 diabetes, had its premier in Delhi and Mumbai….” Good Medicine is published by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. (Thanks to Ruth Frances for the copy of the magazine.)
More from Good Medicine (Winter 2018):
“Why Athletes Are Racing to a Vegan Diet”
“Physicians Committee Names Nonprofit of the Year”
“Learn “How Not to Die’ on NutritionCME.org”
“Evidence Mounts for Grain and Against Processed Meat”(colorectal cancer)
“Diabetes Risk Increases with Meat Intake”
“Red and Processed Meats Increase Risk for Heart Attacks”
And more.
Kim Severson. “Meatless and Motivated.” The New York Times (Nov. 29, 2017).
“Black Americans are going vegan in growing numbers, driven by issues of health, politics and more.”
David Pierson. (LA Times) “Creation Has to Taste Like the Real Thing.” NADG (2-3-18). “Beyond Meat hopes to concoct plant-based bacon, steak.” Tyson’s is one of its backers.
Nathan Owens. “Tyson Invests in Lab-Grown Meat.” NADG (1-30-2018). “Springdale firm links deal to global sustainability efforts.”
“Eat Better, Live Better” with these Easy Vegan Recipes.” PETA Global (Winter 2018).
The Portobello Steaks look delicious, and the Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding. –D
Eric Holt-Gimenez. A Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism: Understanding the Political Economy of What We Eat. Monthly Review P, 2017.
(See Susan George. How the Other Half Dies: The Real Reasons for World Hunger.)
Protection of Animals, Empathy, Compassion
Did you see the large ad in the NWADG (2-7-18)? “The Hidden Reality Tyson Doesn’t Want Shareholders to See” advocating vegetarianism? By COK, Compassion Over Killing (info@cok.net).
And or you perhaps joined the opposition rally Thursday at Tyson’s new headquarters on Emma in Springdale. Any comments you wish to send me with your permission I will print in next month’s VVA.
Paul Tritschler– CounterPunch
Solutions-Oriented Peace Journalism
Morality is at the heart of the matter. As a child, I found it difficult to draw the distinction between martyred saints and murdered animals. We are morally responsible for all of our choices, including the choice to kill. Read more...
Emily Birch. Crying Elephants and Giggling Rats – Animals Have Feelings, Too. ANIMAL RIGHTS - VEGETARIANISM, 15 Jan 2018
https://www.transcend.org/tms/2018/01/crying-elephants-and-giggling-rats-animals-have-feelings-too/
Emily Birch – The Conversation
Mother love. Shutterstock
10 Jan 2018 – Years ago, we believed that we weren’t animals and that animals were here solely for our use. Indeed, a cow was just a walking burger, steak of Sunday roast, keeping itself fresh and tasty ready for when we were hungry.
Luckily, for their sake, things have progressed significantly from then and now we recognise that animals (including our “superior” human selves in that category) can experience emotions from more simple ones such as happiness and sadness to more complex ones such as empathy, jealousy and grief. Animal sentience is defined as the ability to feel, perceive and experience subjectively. In other words, it’s about emotions and feelings and in some respects, having an awareness that “you are you”.
In fact, the scientific evidence for animals being sentient is vast – so clear that three scientists read 2,500 papers studying sentience in non-human animals and concluded confidently that sentience does indeed exist.
If you saw Blue Planet II recently, for example, you’ll have seen the footage of a pilot whale carrying around her dead calf. For most humans, this clearly demonstrates a form of grieving, particularly given the behaviour changes in the wider family pod.
The evidence for sentience
Studies have shown that sheep are able to recognise the faces of their sheep friends even after being separated for two years. Elephants from strong family groups with immense memories and they cry when they are hurt (both physically and emotionally). Capuchin monkeys know when they are receiving unequal pay (grapes vs cucumber) and Macaques develop individual cultures, particularly when it comes to how one should wash a potato.
Chimpanzees like to keep the peace by redistributing bananas if someone complains that their share is unfair and even rats have been shown to demonstrate empathy by giving up their favourite snack to save a drowning friend. They also giggle when being tickled.
Fish use tools and octopus weigh up whether the effort needed to gain a food reward is worth it depending on the type of food. There is also plenty of evidence on how animals have individual personalities and indeed how some are a glass half full type while others are more glass half empty.
But it isn’t just from watching their behaviour that we can say animals are sentient. When we examine the brains of species (and indeed individuals), we can draw parallels from what we know about human brains and start to make assumptions.
Emotions mainly stem from a part of our brain called the “limbic system”. Our limbic system is relatively large and indeed humans are a very emotive species. So when we come across a brain that has a smaller limbic system than ours, we assume it feels fewer emotions. But, and here’s the big but, when a limbic system is comparatively much bigger than ours, we don’t assume it feels more emotions than us. Most likely because we cannot imagine something that we do not feel or even know about.
The act of killing
In some marine mammals, their limbic system is four times larger than ours is. In addition to this, some marine mammals have spindle cells, which we originally thought were unique to humans, allowing us to make rapid decisions in complex social situations. Arguably, would these evolve if they weren’t used for the same (or at least similar) purposes.
One potential reason why we don’t like thinking too much about animal sentience is because we like to kill animals. Some to eat and some, quite simply because we do not like them. Look at those poor spiders in autumn, coming in to find some shelter, only to meet their end being smacked by a slipper wielding human. We also turn a blind eye to systematic cruelty on a mass scale to ensure we save some money on meat at the supermarket. It’s far easier to pretend these animals don’t have feelings or emotions so that we can enjoy a cheap dinner without the emotion of guilt creeping in.
So is animal sentience a big deal? Yes, it is. We need to ensure we include it everywhere to safeguard the welfare of all animals, not just our pets. We live in a world where a lady putting a cat in a bincauses immense public shaming, yet we’ll pop down to the nearest fast food outlet and eat meat that has lived the most abhorrent life ever without thinking twice. It really is time that we spent more time thinking about the thinking beings around us.
Emily Birch – Research Fellow in Human Canine Interactions, Nottingham Trent University
Heather Murphy. (The New York Times). “If Fish Looks Sad, It Probably Is.” NADG(Jan. 15, 2018), 1D. Under-reported fish sentience research advances. “New research…has been radically shifting the way that scientists think about fish cognition, building a case that pet and owner are not nearly as different as many assume. The neurochemistry is so similar that it’s scary,” said Julian Pittman, a professor at the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at Troy University in Alabama. “Study after study show how fish are defying aquatic stereotypes: Some fish use tools, others can recognize individual faces. Research has found that fish are naturally curious and seek out novel things,” according to Victoria Braithwaite, a professor of fisheries at Penn State University, “who studies fish intelligence and fish preferences.” A lot of research has shown fish suffering from depression. So if you have kidnapped a fish for your pleasure, be sure his or her tank is large and full of interesting objects! (Summarized by Dick).
The Future of Food: 8 Business Leaders Investing to End Slaughterhouses. EcoWatch, Feb. 2018.
From Silicon Valley tech moguls to business executives and entrepreneurs, these people know that the future of food means not slaughtering animals. MORE https://www.ecowatch.com/airplane-emissions-climate-change-2526268805.html?utm_source=EcoWatch%2BList&utm_campaign=7b166b950f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_49c7d43dc9-7b166b950f-85335357
“The Other Handmaid’s Tale. Wake Up: Cheese—Yes, Cheese!—Is a Result of Rape.” From the TV series to PETA’s video PETA.org/CowRape and “I, Calf.” Join Vegans Against Rape.
Breaking News
The historian Christian Maulwurf, University of Schlect Bose, announced yesterday the discovery of a long lost archive of rumored secret records that reveal a unique research program by the Nazis during WWII. The Wolfsheim concentration camp commandant Col. Josef Kannibale tried to turn the camp away from total slaughter to something positive. In an isolated corner of the camp, he fed inmates very scarce wholesome food containing maximum calories to fatten them up for consumption.
It was not an easy decision, for he had been taught his entire life to abhor eating human flesh. It was one of the strongest taboos in the entire world for its entire history. But after the successful invasion of Europe by the Allies, and the rapidly decreasing amount of calories available to the German people, he decided he must overcome his inhibition against carnivorism (carnism for short) to help Germany turn back the enemy armies.
It was a difficult task he set himself, for the people he had to work with—to plump up— even those just off the trains, were thin. [Inspiration: Sarah Meehan. (Baltimore Sun). “Cattle Breeder Pursues Juicy Tenderness.” NADG (1-10-18).]
“PETA’s 20-Year Campaign to Take the Murder out of Meat.” PETA Global (Winter 2018). Recognition of the intelligence of chickens and the development of cultured meat.
Gianpiero Tessitore. “Wine Not? Vegan Leather Made from Grapes!” PETA Global (Winter 2018). Alternative “leather,” yes from grapes.
FREE DINNER FOR TWO AND BE AN ENERGY HERO TOO
Red Lobster will help you save money on your electric and gas bills and give you a free dinner. Help environment? Help stop warming? No mention of those realities. And no mention of boiling lobsters alive. Are we making progress or not?
Joanna Klein. “Plants Show Feeling, Respond to Sedation, Study Says.” NADG (2-12-18). “…plants are complex organisms, perhaps less different from animals than is often assumed.” Albert Schweitzer, as a physician, reflected about killing a less complex animal like bacteria to save a more complex one. Share your thoughts.
Warming
VEGETARIAN/VEGAN ACTION has followed research on the relation between carnivorism and global warming. For example,“Research out of Oxford University’s Oxford Martin School finds that widespread adoption of a vegetarian diet around the world could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly two-thirds.” The Humanist (Nov.-Dec. 2017), p. 9. And see “Vegetarian Vegan Diet and Climate Catastrophe, Google Search, 11-7-17,” in Vegetarian Action #42.
Dick
OMNI VEGETARIAN ACTION NEWSLETTER #27, April 13, 2016.
CLIMATE CHANGE, Carnivores
Cowspiracy film against eating meat endorsed by Unitarian Universalist Association
#28, 5-11-16: methane: more cow than car?http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/05/vegetarian-action-newsletter-28-may-11.html
#29, 6- 8-16: carnivorism, Farm Bureau v. Cowspiracy
http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/06/vegetarian-action-newsletter-29-june-8.html
#30, 9-14-16: over-consumption, China, http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/09/vegetarian-action-newsletter-30.html
#31, 10-12: population, cc, meat, http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/10/vegetarian-action-newsletter-31.html
#32, 11-9: cc, consumption, http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/11/vegetarian-action-newsletter-32.html
#33, 12-14: cc, pop, consumption http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2016/12/vegetarian-action-newsletter.html
#34, 1-11-17: Vegetarian Action, What the Health! http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2017/01/vegetarian-action-newsletter-34.html
#35, 2-8-17: veg. . carnivorism and cc http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2017/01/vegetarian-action-newsletter-34.html
#36, 3-8-17: Denmark, Germany http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2017/01/vegetarian-action-newsletter-34.html
#37, 5-10-17: CC, carnivorism http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2017/05/omni-vegetarian-action-newsletter-37.html
#38, 6-14-17: eating fish, cc from meat http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2017/06/omni-vegetarian-action-newsletter-38.html
#39, 7-12: animal agri. destroying planet, eat less meat http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2017/07/omni-vegetarian-action-newsletter-39.html
#40, 9-13: Paris goals vs eating meat, Gore’s Sequence, Documentary Meat the Truth (2008) on Livestock Gas Emissions, http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2017/09/omni-vegetarianvegan-action-newsletter.html
#41, 10-11: Cowspiracy, Vegetarian/Vegan link http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2017/10/omni-vegetarian-action-newsletter-41.html
#42, 11-8: health risks of meat, V-V diet reduces C02 http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2017/11/omni-vegetarian-action-newsletter-42.html
#43, 12-13-17: Clayton, taxing meat, Tyson, carnism, http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2017/12/omni-vegetarianvegan-newsletter-43.html
#44, 1-10-18: Dr. Greger eat plants, FAO agri emissions, meat taxes, food-capitalism-warming, carnism
56 billion slaughtered: It’s brutal, brutalizing, and it increases global warming
| 11:29 AM (3 hours ago)  | | ||
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From: Danny Auron - Avaaz <avaaz@avaaz.org>
Date: Sat, Jan 20, 2018 at 5:52 AM
Subject: 56 billion slaughtered
To: "samstertotten@gmail.com"<samstertotten@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jan 20, 2018 at 5:52 AM
Subject: 56 billion slaughtered
To: "samstertotten@gmail.com"<samstertotten@gmail.com>
|
Avaaz is a 44-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us onFacebook or Twitter.
CONTENTS OMNI Vegetarian Action Newsletter #44, Wed., January 10, 2018 http://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2018/01/vegetarianvegan-newsletter-44-january.html
Health, Nutrition
Storey: Dr. Greger--Up Plants!
Snyder: Cutting Cancer Risk
Masterson: Living Longer
News from VegNews: DiCaprio, Dairy, Russia
Holt-Gimenez: Food and Capitalism
New Vegan Food
McVegan Burgers
New Book: The Vegan Way
Trader Joe’s
7th-Day Adventists
Protection of Animals, Empathy, Compassion
October 2
Can Animals Suffer?
Alabaster: Cruelty of Industrial Farming
Be a Chicken in London—and Here?
PETA Ads Censored
PBS, NOVA, “Bird Brain” Skills and Empathy
New Book on Animal and Disability Liberation
Climate Catastrophe, Opposition to Carnism
Clayton: OMNI Climate Book Forum 1-7-18
FAO: Agricultural Emissions
Chasan: Meat Taxes?
Holt-Gimenez, Food, Capitalism, and Warming
Contents #43, Dec. 13, 2017