April/May 2001, Vol. 10, No. 2 Ł Vitamin B12 shuffle: Time for the meat eaters to be defensive page 11 Maddening cows: Prion-infected feed spreading across the globe Ł page 8 Open letter to Senator Clinton: Veg’ns say, “End the subsidies” Ł page 2 Wild fish, farmed fish: Reports say they’re both contaminated Ł page 6 1996 agriculture-policy overhaul: $46 billion over budget Ł page 7 The VivaVine is a publication of the VivaVegie Society, New York City’s premier vegetarian-outreach organization. The veg/ animal-rights answer to red-meat gourmands STORY, PAGE 14 GrazingAlso the issue Pages 5, 10, and 13 www.vivavegie.org PROGRAMS • OPEN LETTER TO OUR NEW SENATOR VEGETARIAN CENTER PROGRAMS All events are at 121 East 27th Street, Suite 704. Where appropriate, partici- Dear Mrs. Clinton: pants may bring dinner with them. Infor- irst we want to congratulate ers receive payments from the U.S. mation: 646-424-9595. you on your hard-won vic- Treasury to make up for low prices; F tory in November. We look dairy farmers in particular are given forward to you becoming a voice for price floors; and livestock farmers, Lecture series (6:30 P.M.) progressive policies for New York who should have their own insur- Thurs., Apr. 26 & May 24: Government State and the country. That said, we ance, are regularly given disaster re- giveaways to the meat industry: A respectfully submit the following key lief. Animal agriculture also has ben- primer (Pamela Rice) policy initiatives on behalf of the ap- efited by the complete overhaul of An introduction to the dozens of tax breaks proximately 18 million self-pro- farm policy that was put into effect and subsidies the government hands over to the meat industry. Suggested donation: $3. claimed vegetarians in the United in 1996, either through direct pay- States today, not to mention the tens ments or through cheap grain from of millions of environmentalists and its suppliers who receive payments. Seminar (6:30 P.M.) animal advocates, many of whom (See page 7 for further commentary.) Tues., May 8: Workshop for wanna- share a belief in these initiatives. • HIDDEN PAYOUTS. Operating ex- be vegetarian-issue journalists FIRST, we ask that you work to penses such as research and devel- Learn about the inverted pyramid, copy eliminate conflicts of interest inher- opment, environmental cleanup, and style, the importance of proper grammar, ent in the U.S. Department of Agri- meat and poultry inspection are sim- and the who, what, where, and why of cov- culture. On the one hand, the de- ply provided for by the government. ering our issues. Suggested donation: $3. partment serves to promote the Regarding inspection, the industry consumption of American agricul- should pay user fees to the govern- tural products; on the other, it is ment for the privilege of this over- SUNDAY charged with formulating dietary sight. In addition, publicly funded guidelines, protecting American con- buildings, mostly for research, are SOIREES sumers from unsafe food, and en- built to benefit animal agriculture. at VivaVegie’s Veggie Center forcing the Animal Welfare Act. New York City is looking to finance a Light snacks • BYO beverage SECOND, we hope that you will new Fulton Fish Market. Given the Admission fee: One news- work to end subsidies to animal agri- ecological and ethical problems in- paper/magazine article on a vegetari- culture in their many forms: herent in fishing, the government an issue. Bring your favorite music • OVERT PAYOUTS. Livestock farm- should back out. CDs and potluck dish, or make a donation to the Vegetarian Center. ੬ Apr. 22, and May 27 6:30 P.M. Obtain VivaVegie’s guide to either New York City or New Jersey, free! Simply send an SASE to our post-office Rap ’n’ Wrap (6:30 P.M.) box (see page 4), and indicate which Tues., Apr. 17, & May 15: A time for guide you vegetarians to shoot the breeze and would like sort things out from our own per- us to send. spective Everyone’s talking about mad-cow disease, ੬ even meat eaters: What about this? Why are ranchers getting subsidies when there’s Stop ‘em no government money to fund the Endan- in their tracks with VivaVegie’s gered Species Act? Where can I get a vegan “mighty convincer.” meal in Timbuktu? Suggested donation: $3. “101 Reasons Why I’m a Vegetarian,” our popular itemized booklet documenting Workshop the ills of meat and the virtues of veggies By appointment: Getting started with (by Pamela Rice), is available in single your new veggie diet copies and in bulk. An order form appears on page 15. What do you eat, now that you’ve decided to go vegetarian? Browse our files and take some literature. View videos that will have you saying, “Aha!” Donations appreciated. http://www.vivavegie.org The VivaVine • April/May 2001 • 2 OPEN LETTER TO OUR NEW SENATOR Start thinking eco-vegetarian • FREE RIDE. The meat industry is granted the ludi- lowing the enlightened and humane policies that have crous privilege of essentially being exempt from laws been adopted by the European Union to ban the veal that other industries have to abide by—in particular, the crate, as well as the farrowing stall for hogs and the bat- Animal Welfare Act, the Clean Water Act, and even the tery cage for hens. As you are no doubt well aware, these Clean Air Act. implements of today’s factory farming turn sentient be- Given the dubious-at-best health benefits of animal- ings into food production units, allowing the animals vir- derived foods—including cows’ milk—it behooves any rea- tually no living space or ability to express natural be- sonably progressive government to phase out economic haviors or experience the natural environment. As the breaks to the industries that produce them. We needn’t re- number of animals raised for food in the United States mind you that cutting subsidies to agriculture in general is each year has soared to 10 billion, this issue demands at- a great way to foster good relations tention on the grounds of animal with our trading partners as well. We hope that you will welfare, human health, workers’ rights, and ecology. he best way to get people to work to end subsidies THIRD, given that one-fifth of eat more healthfully is to American teenage girls, according T make unhealthful foods such to animal agriculture to Vegetarian Times, describe as meat more expensive. Regardless, themselves as vegetarians and animal agriculture needs to pass its in their many forms. that the American Dietetic Associ- costs of production on to its cus- ation and American Medical Asso- tomers, not to the taxpayers as a whole. Just one exam- ciation have endorsed vegetarian diets as healthful and ple of how to make this industry pay its own way would nutritionally sound, we hope you will work to make sure be to place the strictest controls on confined animal feed- that every school in New York State provides at least one ing operations (CAFOs) and make sure that the controls vegetarian option at every meal. We would be pleased if are enforced. As a larger goal, we would like to see the you promoted vegetarian options in schools at the na- elimination of CAFOs altogether, as they are not only bad tional level, too. for the environment but also bad for workers who suffer respiratory problems; for people in general, because they n addition, given the epidemic levels of heart disease, are incubators of antibiotic-resistant bacteria; and for the obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and certain types of animals themselves, because the CAFOs rob them of any I cancer—all of which have been linked to a diet high in semblance of a natural life. animal fats, low in fiber, and depleted of important nutri- We also expect you to take a leadership role in fol- Continued on page 15 The Vegetarian Center’s survival is sus- Let us know if you would like to sponsor a matching fund yourself. If this is not possible, please be generous pended in the balance. Support is needed. with your contributions. Who knows? By the time you read this, there may be a matching fund in place. Please hank you, David Sielaff, feel free to contact us and find out! Contributions not in of Seattle, Washington. exchange for merchandise are tax-deductible. TYour double-matching of donations to the VivaVegie Soci- Send checks made out to VivaVegie Society, P.O. ety in 2000 made all the differ- Box 294, Prince Street Station, New York, NY 10012. ence to us. In fact, your match- ing program literally allowed VivaVegie Society • 646-424-9595 the survival of our Vegetarian Center. (See pages 2 and 6.) At the moment we are with- Five-Boro Bike Tour w/VVS out a matching fund, but we en- SUNDAY, MAY 5 courage anyone to take up David Sielaff at Stonehenge where our previous benefactors have left off. Our ex- Join VivaVegie as a team in this 45-mile free penses never stop: rent, telephone, printing, postage, ride (no cars) through New York City. Do it electricity. These are the big outlays, but the smaller ex- with 20,000 other cyclists. We’ll have a ban- penditures, such as our annual post-office-box fee, photo- ner. Call 646-424-9595 before April 10 to be copies, stationery supplies, book purchases, and Viva- with us, and we’ll all have a blast! Vine distribution, also add up fast. The VivaVine • April/May 2001 • 3 GRAPEVINE Make Our Day: Give us questions I’m thinking of going vegan Vegetarian hunger relief I would like to obtain a hard copy of on the Lower East Side your “101 Reasons Why I’m a Vege- I’ve been a volunteer at Hare Krishna tarian.” I first saw the document on Food Relief since last summer.