www.ivu.org/wva WINNIPEG Vegetarian The Newsletter of the Winnipeg Vegetarian Association Issue 51 Fall 2005 What Would Jesus, Dairy Moses, Buddha and or Mohammed Eat? In a new pamphlet, the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians surveys the veg'-friendliness of the world's major reli- Beef? gions. Here are some abridged high- lights. Read it all at serv-online.org. Which is Jainism Vegetarianism is expected practice among Jains, who Worse? hold that it is wrong to kill or harm any living being. By Dave Steele Islam It seems obvious enough. If you’re concerned about cows, It appears impossible for a faithful Muslim to con- dairy’s the way to go. Nobody gets killed, right? The cows sume meat produced by the cruel methods of facto- spend pleasant lives grazing in the fields, coming in for milking every now and then. Right? Contrast that with the ry farming. The Quran states, “There is not an ani- horrors of the slaughterhouse. mal on earth, nor a flying creature flying on two Unfortunately, things aren’t so simple. The small family wings, but they are peoples like unto you.” farms on which dairy cattle Mohammed taught, “A good deed done to a beast Most dairy cattle could roam between milk- is as good as doing good to a human being; while live out their lives ings are mostly gone now. an act of cruelty to a beast is as bad as an act of Instead, most dairy cattle cruelty to a human being.” Muslim theologian Al- in huge sheds live out their lives in huge Hafiz B. A. Masri, noting the cruelties of Western where they're sheds where they’re treated food production, has called the flesh “sacrilegious treated more like more like machines than ani- meat.” mals. Bred to produce unnat- The great Sufi M. R. Bawa Mahaiyaddeen machines than ural amounts of milk (annual appealed to Muslims to reflect on the meaning of animals. milk production per cow has slaughter. When describing Islamic slaughter more than doubled since the (qurban) in his Ninety Nine Beautiful Names of 1940s), dairy cows are plagued with calcium deficiencies Allah, he said that the knife-bearer should “… look and painful mastitis. Their natural lives would span some into the animal's eyes, he has to watch the tears of 25 years, but instead they are routinely sent to slaughter the animal, and he has to watch the animal's eyes before their fifth birthday, to become hamburger and until it dies − hopefully, his heart will change.” “processed” beef. Like humans, cows have to give birth in order to produce continued on page 5 milk. To keep production high, they are artificial- ly inseminated once a year. Nine months later, a calf is born. 24 to 48 hours after that, the calf is taken away. Milk production must be maxi- mized. If the calf is female, she usually gets to live and follows her mother’s path to the dairy. If the calf is unfortunate enough to be male, he is sent off to the veal farm instead. He might as well be sent to hell. While his mother languish- es, mourning the loss of her calf, he is chained by the neck inside a tiny crate, just two feet wide. He sees no daylight and eats no grass. Fed AND THE WIENER IS! an antibiotic-rich, iron-deficient gruel so that his meat will be pale, the young calf has no room to PETA announces Golden Bun Awards Read all the juicy details on page 4 See Dairy or Beef − page 6 2 Fall 2005 Winnipeg Vegetarian WWVVAA VVOOLLUUNNTTEEEERR TTEEAAMM Phone Line Monitors aabboouutt Board Kelly Groening Cecelia Potter Syd Baumel Phone Tree Coordinator Winnipeg Vegetarian is published by the Win- Dennis Bayomi (Past President) Cecelia Potter nipeg Vegetarian Association, a non-profit Twyla & Kelly Groening Phone Tree Callers group dedicated to fostering and encouraging Mimi & Alex Karp Sylvia Cowan Anne Gavin vegetarianism through social and educational Fiorina Pasquarelli Lesley Wise Karen Merkel-Kopp Judy Seipp activities. The Association was formed in 1993 Membership Coordinator Adeline Sokulski on World Vegetarian Day (October 1). Twyla Groening Vicki & Nathan Wild Joyce Ward A vegetarian lives on a plant-based diet, free Newsletter & Internet Restaurant Dinner Coordinators of all animal flesh – meat, fish or fowl of any Syd Baumel Mimi & Alex Karp kind. Some vegetarians (vegans) exclude all ani- mal products from their diets while others may include dairy products (lacto-), eggs (ovo-), or WWVVAA WWAANNTTSS YYOOUU both (lacto-ovo-vegetarians). Help make WVA happen. Join our volunteer team. Leave The WVA recognizes that its members are vegetarians or interested in vegetarianism for a a message at 889-5789 or email us at [email protected]. variety of reasons – including personal health, compassion for animals, concern for the envi- ronment, respect for peace and non-violence, Have We Got Your Number? concern about world hunger, and religious beliefs – and that not all members share these Don't get left out of the WVA loop views. The WVA seeks to provide a forum for discus- Every once in a while a WVA member falls through the cracks of sion on all facets of vegetarianism. We are run our telephone and email announcement lists. If you're reading entirely by volunteers and are always looking this and didn't receive a telephone call or an email announce- for members interested in becoming more ment about our season-opening dinner at Mondragon on Octo- actively involved. ber 2, you're probably one of them. To ensure you're in the loop, please call Twyla Groening at 477-1375, leave a message on the Winnipeg Vegetarian Association WVA line at 889-5789 or email us at [email protected] if you'd like to Box 2721, Station Main be called about future WVA events. Alternatively, if you'd like to Winnipeg, MB receive WVA announcements by email (easier for the WVA volun- Canada R3C 4B3 teer team), email us at [email protected]. Please specify if you'd like Phone: 889-5789 to receive announcements only (one or two messages most Email: [email protected] months) or announcements and discussion (around 20 or 30 Website: www.ivu.org/wva messages most months − state if you'd prefer the daily digest). WWVVAA BBuussiinneessss SSuuppppoorrtteerrss AFFINITY VEGETARIAN GARDEN Eat It.ca Chinese restaurant – almost fully Local/Canadian, certified organic, VegDining.com vegan 208 Edmonton St. mostly veg’ virtual foodstore. Pick- Your online guide to vegetarian 943-0251 up or delivery www.eatit.ca restaurants around the world THE AQUARIAN 488-6271 www.VegDining.com A Journal for the New Millennium HUMBOLDT’S LEGACY VEGEFOODS free around town and at Your community’s ecological Pure vegetarian food products aquarianonline.com department store 887 West- 459 Roseberry St. 831-6009 DELICIOUS VEGETARIAN minster Ave. 772-1404 [email protected] RESTAURANT MANITOBA HARVEST Esther Weinstein & Joyce Chinese restaurant – vegan Manufacturers of fresh hemp foods Rykiss 1467 Pembina Highway 477-1530 2166 Notre Dame 953-0233 “Your Environmentally Friendly DYNA-PRO ENVIRONMENTAL www.manitobaharvest.com Realtors” Water purification products SUNRIDER Century21 Advanced Realty 565 Roseberry St. 774-5370 Organically grown, highly concen- 925-7999 [email protected] or trated vegan whole food supple- [email protected] ments, in vegetable capsules Tricia Holder 668-8840 Please patronize our business supporters! To become a WVA Business Supporter yourself for just $75 a year please call or email us at 889-5789 or [email protected]. Business supporters are eligible for a quarter page ad each year or a $22 dis- count on any ad in Winnipeg Vegetarian. For rates, see ivu.org/wva/newslt.html. Winnipeg Vegetarian Fall 2005 3 FIT 2 PRINT WVA NEWS Outreach news from the veg front WVA had a busy outreach season this summer. The organizers of the 24th Annual Peace Walk decided to broaden Vegan diet burns more calories their focus this year. “Our theme this year, making peace on earth, is meant to encompass not just peace between nations and people, but A low-fat vegan diet causes significant peace with the earth and peace with our selves,” wrote Harold Kush- weight loss, even without exercise, calorie- ner in his invitation to WVA. “A big part of making peace with the counting, or portion limits, according to a earth is how we use the earth to grow the food we eat.” Our table at study conducted by researchers with the Memorial Park, manned by Syd Baumel and Kelly Groening, was well Physicians Committee stocked with veg' literature. Not surprisingly, considering the context, The vegan for Responsible Medi- a lot of vegetarians and near vegetarians came by to talk, ask ques- group cine and published in tions and pick up practical information, such as Vegan Outreach's veg- the September 2005 an starter kit. showed a American Journal of 16% A couple weeks later, WVA was back again in full force at the Win- Medicine. Sixty-four over- nipeg Humane Society's annual Paws in Motion fundraiser. Aaron increase in weight women were ran- Fehr, Twyla Groening and Lesley Wise caught the tide of cat- and dog- its after- domly assigned to either walkers pouring past the pavil- meal calorie- a low-fat, vegan diet or a ion at Assiniboine Park. Twyla's more moderate low-fat homemade vegan dog biscuits burning (control) diet based on speed. were at least as appealing as U.S. National Choles- the veg' literature for many a terol Education Program four-legged passerby. WVA pro- guidelines. The vegan group lost an average duced a hard copy version of of 13 pounds in 14 weeks, compared with 8 our Vegetarian Guide to Win- pounds for the control group.