THE VEGETARIAN BLOG

Tribe of Heart has announced that it has completed Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home. The film has undergone a process of audience testing and refinement and the organization says that it has received “thoughtful and positive feedback from early test viewers”.

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The Boston Vegan Society (BVA), with the kind and generous help of a private donor, is beginning a new outreach initiative. Effective immediately, the BVA will begin wholly funding the printing and distribution of its full-color ‘Respecting Animals’ pamphlet to qualifying advocates throughout North America.

The process of applying for funds is simple but it requires the organization to have the same strategy as the Boston Vegan Society, that is, an abolitionist approach to animal rights via vegan education. “We are committed to funding the printing and distribution of the pamphlet to any vegans and vegan advocacy organizations whose work is consistent with our methodology.” So have a look the BVA website and get the information you need before getting in touch with them.

Those willing to apply for funding visit this page. The digital version of the pamphet can be seen here.

I came cross this instigating post from Today.com stablemate Realnoooz about dogs living longer on a plant-base diet.

Today, I received a newsletter from an health advocate, Frederic Patenaude who mentioned that one of the oldest living dogs, named “Bramble,” had been a vegan. I was a little curious, because actually most animals and dogs are carnivores. Then I found that there are quite a few animal lovers and veterinarians who recommend a vegetarian diet as it seems to increase the vitality and even the intelligence of these pets. Now this particular dog Bramble was a “chocolate labrador” from Britain who lived to be 189 human years, or 27 dog years, as the saying goes. (Guiness World Records)

Realnoooz makes some recommendations in terms of nutritional supplements and to get more information and more links go directly to the post here.

Back to human vegans, Eric Prescott, of An Animal Friendly Life fame is interviewed by Animal Voices radio about his documentary featuring vegans making a positive statement about their chosen diet, “I’m Vegan”. The objective of the film is to dispel myths and stereotypes about vegans, despite the cultural currency the term has been gaining. In terms of format, “I’m Vegan,” is described as a “series of short documentary profiles that aim for long-term impact as an online series normalizing veganism…intended to serve as a form of ongoing advocacy.” You can find the interview here.

This is what I call a responsible public administrator. According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, the city’s health commissioner Dr. Terry Mason has told his constituents to put an end to their meat-eating habits. Apparently, Chicago is big on animal fat (pun intended) and now that they’ve mentioned it, it makes historical sense as the city was the place where the concept of the modern, mechanized slaughterhouse was created, and which is chronicled in the famous book, The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair.Of course, animal food is a health hazard and Mr. Mason knows that.

“For the entire month, I’m not eating any meat,” he has told listeners to his Sunday morning radio show, “Doctor in the House,” on WVON-AM. “If it walks, runs, hops, flies, swims, crawls or slithers, I won’t eat it. If it has eyes, I won’t eat it. If it had a momma and a daddy, I won’t eat it. . . . I’m going to focus on eating a healthy and delicious variety of fresh vegetables and fresh fruit. . . . And I want you to do the same.”

The Afro-American community particularly shows a high-than-average rate of health problems related to animal fat, such as diabetes and heart conditions so it will be a good thing to educate these people about the benefits of a plant diet. Go on Chicago, go vegan!

This press release came through my news wire this week and I thought it deserved being transmitted verbatim….

Earlier this week the first fan-managed, motion picture studio, Green Light Flix announced that it is now recruiting 50,000 vegetarians and vegans to join their “Producers Club.” Blending activism and entertainment, Green Light Flix members help develop and produce media, such as feature films, videos, podcasts, webisodes, and more.

“Vegetarians, animal rights activists and environmentalists have a very rare and often negative representation in cinema and television. Our mission is to change that. We want to show activists in a positive light while entertaining and educating audiences,” said Dawn Black, co-founder of Green Light Flix.

Green Light Flix fills a critical gap in the entertainment industry. For the first time, a community of environmentalists, animal rights activists, and vegetarians will be able to help choose, promote and have an impact on media that appeal to them. Fans get the opportunity to discover new storytellers while getting insider access and VIP perks for their contributions.

“There are millions of vegetarians and vegans around the world, and many of us are insulted by being portrayed in films and TV shows as pale, 85 pound hippies that look sickly and need a murdered farm animal’s carcass and dairy products to feel better,” said Scott Cardinal, GreenLight Flix co-founder and Director of Development. “Environmentalists and animal rights activists are usually portrayed as kooks, too. Imagine heroic films like ‘Rocky,’ dramatic films like ‘The Breakfast Club,’ romantic comedies like ‘Serendipity,’ and more - except the main characters are obviously animal rights activists and vegetarians or vegans. That is what we plan to do. The positive examples would do more to promote our positive lifestyle than all the horrific slaughterhouse videos on You Tube.”

Green Light Flix’ 2009 slate includes “V-Day,” a forward-thinking documentary about what the world would be like in the future if everyone was vegan; “GreEntreprenuer,” which is interviews with owners of earth-friendly businesses; “Guy Going Green,” about a 355 lb. man changing his life for the better; a series of cooking DVDs; and a few dramas and comedies with characters that are admirable animal rights activists, vegetarians, vegans, and environmentalists.

“Producing and distributing feature films and videos can be a great form of activism. Finally, animal rights, vegetarian, vegan and eco activists have an opportunity to join in on this while supporting the causes they believe in,” claims Board Advisor Steve Silberberg.

The projects are financed by Membership dues which turn Fans into Producers and investors. Once the productions are done, Limited Edition DVDs are distributed to those same Member whose annual dues financed them. Memberships start at $25 a year. Members will help make major business decisions including logo design, web design, film development, marketing and distribution, etc. Members will also receive VIP perks, such as a free member T-shirt, DVDs, 25% off all products, and more. Green Light Flix will donate 10% of net profits to animal rescue, rights, welfare organizations selected by its members.

“Many animal rights groups produce footage of slaughterhouses and animal cruelty, which most people do not want to watch. While this information needs to be made public so people can learn the truth, we also need positive videos showing what the world could be like without dependence on animal products. Green Light Flix will do that, and we are excited to support them.” said Jodi Chemes, VP Youth Outreach, Florida Voices for Animals.

Talk about a complete lack of pedagogical sense. Following a year-long campaign to persuade Canandaigua Academy (a high school in upstate New York) to eliminate a project in which students butchered chickens in an ecology course, United Poultry Concerns last week learned that the Education Department has instructed Canandaigua Academy administrators to stop the slaughter project under NYS Education Law, Section 809 - Humane Treatment of Live Vertebrate Animals, which prohibits studies that employ “termination of life.” The surviving chicks of the last batch to be raised and killed were taken to Farm Sanctuary.

Previous birds were not so lucky: In December 2007, students illegally slaughtered 21 chickens in Eric Cosman’s ecology class, despite the pleading of Canandaigua activist, Joel Friedman, urging school administrators to show mercy and spare the birds. It was subsequently disclosed that under NYS Education Law, Section 809, a school seeking to harm and kill animals must submit a waiver application to the Education Department for review. The department promptly suspended the project, following a letter from attorney Elinor Molbegott, legal counsel for the Humane Society of New York, on August 5, 2008, advising the department of the project, which had not been applied for or approved.

The school district submitted the waiver application, a copy of which was obtained by Molbegott under a Freedom of Information Law request. The application showed that the school offered no legal justification for killing the chickens. The goals set forth did not meet waiver approval standards, and the application was denied. At this time, it appears that the Canandaigua Academy chicken slaughter project is dead for good.

“United Poultry Concerns is deeply gratified that the Education Law protecting live vertebrate animals in the State of New York was upheld,” said UPC President Karen Davis. “It gives confidence to the humane community, which increasingly is all of society, that laws protecting sentient creatures from preventable harm are enforced, and that the animals themselves, be they chickens or dogs, are gathered within our circle of compassion where they belong.”

I’m glad about the outcome of this terrible story and I wonder how the hell all this came to happen in the first place. I mean, how could school staff even think about killing animals in the classroom?

Today and the next few days are dedicated to the global remembering of our animal friends whose lives are destroyed to satisfy human greed. The numbers are staggering:
* “Animals raised for food account for 98% of all animal abuse and killing in the world.”
* “More than 55 billion land animals are killed for food each year - that’s 150 million/day.”
* “From birth, they are caged & crowded, deprived & drugged, manhandled & mutilated.”
Source: Ida

Visit the website dedicated to the event for ideas on how you can join these days of action. Simple, local initiatives can do wonders to change people’s perceptions of how animals should be treated.

I was relieved earlier this week when I received an email from United Poultry Concerns saying that “after a year of pleading to the Canandaigua Academy City School District to eliminate a chicken slaughter classroom activity conducted at Canandaigua Academy high school in upstate New York, the State Education Department has informed the school district that the project requires a waiver under New York State Education Law Section 809(5) - Humane Treatment of Live Vertebrate Animals Law.” Which means that for the time being, the school cannot proceed with this absurd project until it gets special permission to do so, which is unlikely to happen.

The whole business was being carried out in the name of “education”. Really? As UPC’s president Karen Davis said, if you want to teach kids about where their food comes from, one of the arguments used in defense of the project, take them to a slaughterhouse. Now, that would be very educational - perhaps the school administrators were afraid the kids would turn vegan when they saw what happens in those places.

I hope this episode has come to a definitive end. If not, be sure UPC will continue speak up for the innocent victims of this macabre ‘educational’ project.