Vegetarian News

Crowded house for chickens: Greens Press Release

2008-08-11T07:53:00Z

Chickens worldwide must be in a terrible condition, if New Zealand chickens have the best animal welfare standards in the world, Green MP Sue Kedgley says.

A NAWAC report released 27 May 2008 says the welfare of broiler chickens in New Zealand is on a par with best practice around the world.

While this is good public relations spin from the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, it is absurd to suggest that animal welfare is in no way compromised by high stocking densities as the report claims, Ms Kedgley says.

" NAWAC are trying to convince us that jamming up to 20,000 chickens into a windowless shed, where chickens have very little room to move and do nothing all day, and where every aspect of its environment is controlled to make it grow as fast as possible, does not interfere with the welfare of the birds. This is absurd. "

NAWAC claims that a maximum density of 38kg liveweight per square metre is not associated with compromised welfare.

"A key factor in animal welfare is the ability of animals to express normal patterns of behaviour. Obviously chickens jammed into a shed where they can barely move around or forage for food will not allow them to express their normal patterns of behaviour, " Ms Kedgley says.

" It is not surprising that the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee should reach this conclusion, because it is not a genuinely independent animal welfare body, and has sometimes operated as if it is a public relations arm of the industry. It is appointed by the Minister, and contains representatives of industry. "

Sue Kedgley
MP Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

Room 8.06 Bowen House
Parliament Buildings, Wellington
Ph: 04-817-6717
Fax: 04-472-6003
Email: sue.kedgley@parliament.govt.nz

'Let Food Be Thy Medicine and Medicine Be Thy Food'
Hippocrates 400 BC

It's The Meat, Stupid

2008-08-11T04:11:00Z

Salmonella Outbreak in America Blamed on Vegetables:

During the current salmonella outbreak, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration, an agency within HHS, have focused Americans’ attention first on tomatoes and now on jalapeño peppers as a likely source of the infectious bacteria. However, contaminated produce is only the last link in a chain that begins with the meat industry. It is essential for consumers to know that burgeoning meat consumption has caused a massive overproduction of chickens, cows, pigs, and other animals, leading to unprecedented production of feces that end up in rivers, streams, and irrigation water, and contaminate otherwise healthful produce.

Salmonella are intestinal organisms. Needless to say, tomatoes and peppers do not have an intestinal tract. When feces end up in irrigation water, salmonella can contaminate the surfaces of plants and can apparently pass into their rootlets, ending up inside produce. Infectious bacteria from animal feces also contaminate agricultural fields, workers’ hands, retail shelves, and kitchen surfaces.

Join PCRM in calling for the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the source of the contamination—the root of the problem lies in the meat industry! We need your help today. Click here to sign our petition and add your name to our list of outraged citizens. Help us provide a wake up call to HHS and demand it starts protecting our food supply.

Rabbi finds vegetarianism to be a religious ideal

2008-08-11T03:56:00Z

Full story: Missourian, MI, U.S.

Rabbi Yossi Feintuch says vegetarianism is a religious ideal. "When you read about the abuse of animals in our own industrial meat production, then you cannot say that God's idea about compassion for animals is achieved," he says. Feintuch blames the nature of modern-day factory farming... National organizations share Feintuch's belief in religion-based vegetarianism. In an e-mail to religious leaders, Richard Schwartz, president of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America, writes: "This dietary change would be consistent with important Jewish mandates to preserve our health; treat animals with compassion; protect the environment; conserve natural resources; help hungry people; and pursue a more peaceful, less violent world." His Web site, along with that of the Society for Ethical and Religious Vegetarians, offers statistics and text to support a commitment to spiritual vegetarianism.
Related:
"All Creatures Great and Small" campaign
HSUS and JVNA
The only diet for a peacemaker is a vegetarian diet
National Catholic Reporter (July 8, 2008)
"A Religious Proclamation for Animal Compassion" signup
Best Friends Animals Society
The Schwartz collection on Judaism, vegetarianism, and animal rights
Film: "A SACRED DUTY: Applying Jewish Values To Help Heal The World"
JVNA

Missourian, MI, U.S. - July 13, 2008

German study: Vegetarians live longer

2008-08-11T03:41:00Z

Full story: Huffington Post

The battle has long been waged, and will certainly continue in spite of this study. Are humans designed/evolved to eat everything and at risk of malnutrition as vegetarians? Or is vegetarianism the healthy and ethical choice? The most impressive data arises from a study of 1904 vegetarians over 21 years by the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsche Krebsforschungszentrum). The study's shocking results: vegetarian men reduced their risk of early death by 50 per cent! Women vegetarians benefit from a 30 per cent reduction in mortality.

Huffington Post - July 13

Personal values deceive taste buds

2008-08-11T03:11:00Z

Full story: Science Daily

Many heavy meat eaters believe they eat a lot of meat because of the taste. But according to groundbreaking new research the reason that a beef burger tastes better than a veggie burger to some people has more to do with values than actual taste. Authors Michael W. Allen (University of Sydney), Richa Gupta (University of Nashville), and Arnaud Monnier (National Engineer School for Food Industries and Management, France) conducted a series of studies that examined the symbolic meaning of foods and beverages. They found that when it came to tasting meat or soft drinks, what influenced participants was what they thought they had eaten rather than what they actually ate. The authors note that meat has an association with social power, and people who scored high in the authors' Social Power Value Endorsement measure believed that a meat-containing item tasted better than a vegetarian alternative, even when both products were actually identical [both veggie!].

Science Daily - July 18, 2008

Spanish parliament approves 'human rights' for apes

2008-08-11T03:07:00Z

Full story: Guardian, UK

Great apes should have the right to life and freedom, according to a resolution passed in the Spanish parliament, in what could become landmark legislation to enshrine human rights for chimpanzees, gorillas, orang-utans and bonobos. The environmental committee in the Spanish parliament has approved resolutions urging the country to comply with the Great Apes Project, founded in 1993, which argues that "non-human hominids" should enjoy the right to life, freedom and not to be tortured. The project was started by the philosophers Peter Singer and Paola Cavalieri, who argued that the ape is the closest genetic relative to humans - that it displays emotions such as love, fear, anxiety and jealousy - and should be protected by similar laws.

Guardian, UK - June 26, 2008

Horrific animal testing by Herbal Essences exposed

2008-08-04T07:18:00Z

Uncaged has launched a massive new consumer boycott of Herbal Essences. Herbal Essences is a well-known hair care brand owned by notorious animal testers Procter and Gamble. We have unearthed documentary evidence of cruel and unnecessary animal testing carried out for the Herbal Essences range.

Cruel Experiments
Herbal Essences repeatedly force-fed one of their chemical ingredients to scores of pregnant rats. Some of the animals suffered poisoning after being given massive doses that were hundreds of times higher than could possibly be consumed by humans. Just before they were due to give birth, the pregnant animals suffered a painful and terrifying death in a carbon dioxide gas chamber. Incredibly, over a thousand baby animals survived, only to be cut from their mothers’ lifeless bodies, killed and dismembered.

But a wealth of scientific evidence already shows that the chemical in question – butylparaben – is safe, and the recent experiments were not required by law. A scientific expert has commented that this test ‘was a profligate and wasteful use of animals’.

What’s more, this test is just the tip of the iceberg. P&G secretly slaughter thousands of animals every year in poisoning tests for cosmetics products like Herbal Essences.

The Campaign So Far

Uncaged are launching the campaign against ‘Hurtful Essences’ with a series of hard-hitting publicity events around the country, incorporating rat costumes, cages and a giant inflatable ‘Hurtful Essences’ bottle! We started in London, with a photocall and leafleting session on Oxford Street, and have since put on highly successful events in Newcastle (left)and Darlington (right). We’ve received an incredibly positive response from the public. We’ve also attracted fantastic media interest, with features in newspapers, radio and TV news, as well as national consumer magazines.

We’ve already had an incredibly positive reaction from shoppers at our city centre campaign events – the best in 15 years of campaigning. Also, our recently commissioned YouGov poll has shown that if everyone knew the truth about Herbal Essences – the ‘Agony behind the Ecstasy’ – their profits would plummet. By exposing Herbal Essences we are set fair for a hugely successful campaign that promises to achieve a huge step forward in the battle against cruel animal testing.

What You Can Do

Please visit our campaign website at www.hurtfulessences.org for more information and to get active in the campaign. We’ve also got a fun personality quiz to find out what kind of animal you are – with information about what would happen to you at the hands of P&G animal testers!

Please also visit our ‘Hurtful Essences’ facebook page to register your support, make friends with like-minded compassionate people, see news updates and view our latest campaign photos and videos.

Yours for an end to animal testing,

Dr Dan Lyons

Campaigns Director

Uncaged Campaigns, 5th Floor, Alliance House, 9 Leopold Street, Sheffield, S1 2GY

Tel: 0114 2722220

E: info@uncaged.co.uk

W: www.uncaged.co.uk ; www.hurtfulessences.org

END Experiments at Federal University Of GOIÁS In Brasil

2008-08-04T07:15:00Z

On the 14th of June 2008 some brasilian activists were able to go into an animal holding facility at the School of Medicine of the Federal University of Goiás, in Brasil and took some photos to the dogs. As you can see in the photos, the animals were found cannibalizing each other, the dogs had many diseases, they are in agony, after being vivisectioned on alive.

http://www.oipa.org/vivisection/alerts/brasil.html

http://www.focinhoamigo.com.br/

http://www.biodefesa.org.br

HELP END THE NAMIBIAN SEAL SLAUGHTER

2008-08-04T07:14:00Z

During this year's season — from July 1 to Nov. 15 — seal hunters will be allowed kill 6,000 adult males and 80,000 pups. Although the Namibian government justifies its annual seal hunt by claiming that the seals are responsible for the demise of fish stocks, scientific studies have shown that over-fishing is to blame—not seals. In reality, Cape Fur seals are killed mostly for their fur. Adult males are also killed for their penises, which are exported to Asia to be used as aphrodisiacs.

Namibia is the only country in the world that still allows the killing of nursing baby seals. During what's been described as "the cruelest seal 'hunt' on the planet," young Cape Fur seal pups and adult males are beaten with clubs, stabbed, and shot with arrows.

Please contact the Prime Minister of Namibia, and urge him to put an end to the barbaric seal slaughter.

http://www.oipa.org/hunting/alerts/namibia.html

A Roadmap to Animal Liberation

2008-08-04T07:06:00Z

One Possible Future:
A Roadmap to Animal Liberation

-Matt Ball, March, 2007

With cruelty rampant in factory farms, and vegetarians currently a small minority, it is easy to dismiss as naive the hope for a vegetarian world. However, it is nevertheless possible to achieve our goals -- and much more quickly than we imagine.

It is hard to comprehend just how much society has changed in recent history. Prejudices we can hardly fathom today were completely accepted just decades ago. For example, if we read what was written and said about slavery -- fewer than 150 years ago -- the defenders were not just ignorant racists, but admired politicians, civic and religious leaders, and learned intellectuals. What is horrifying to us now was once respected.

Today the vast majority of people are now opposed to cruelty to animals; thus, the discussion now must focus on helping people see that eating meat violates their own principles. This effort is only just beginning. Twenty years ago, most animal advocacy in the U.S. was focused on fur and vivisection, nearly ignoring the ~99% of animals butchered for food. Only recently have more groups and individuals focused on this 99% by exposing the cruelty of factory farms and promoting vegetarianism.

With cruelty rampant in factory farms, and vegetarians currently a small minority, it is easy to dismiss as naive the hope for a vegetarian world. "My Uncle Dick hunts, and my cousin Jeb is always mocking me for being vegan -- you're crazy if you think they will ever change!"

These are legitimate concerns. However, it is nevertheless possible to achieve our goals -- and much more quickly than we imagine.

If we look at the long arc of history, we see how very much society has advanced in just the last few centuries. It was over 2,000 years ago that the ideals of democracy were first proposed in ancient Greece. But it was only during the eighteenth century that humanity saw the beginnings of a truly democratic system. Not until late in the nineteenth century was slavery abolished in the developed world. In all of human history, only in the last 100 years was child labor abolished in the developed word, child abuse criminalized, women given the vote, and minorities given equal rights.

However slowly the progress may feel, we are advancing at lightning speed compared to past social justice movements. A century ago, almost no animals received any protection whatsoever from abuse. Now, according to a recent Gallup poll, 96 percent want to see animals protected from abuse, 62% want strict laws regulating the treatment of farmed animals, and fully one-fourth believe that animals deserve "the exact same rights as people to be free from harm and exploitation." Until 1990, there was one ballot initiative to protect animals that had passed at a state level -- just one! Since 1990, animal advocates have passed more than 20, including several directly abolishing some of the worst abuses on factory farms.

In large part because of this shift in advocacy, factory farms -- unknown to most people only a decade or two ago -- are now commonly vilified as ethical (and environmental) abominations.

Twenty years ago, few people had heard the word "vegan." Mock meats and soymilk were rarely found in mainstream grocery stores. According to market research by Mintel, "Until the mid-1990s, change was slow in coming to the world of vegetarian foods, and many average consumers relegated 'vegetarian products' to a counter-cultural movement, not a mainstream trend." Today, even cousin Jeb doesn't need "vegan" explained to him; you can find soymilk, veggie burgers, and various other vegetarian convenience foods in most grocery stores. According to Mintel, "In 2003, the vegetarian foods market in the U.S. topped $1.6 billion in sales. This represents a constant-price growth rate of 111.3% since 1998." They estimate that the market was up to $2.8 billion last year.

Forbes reports: "[M]arket research shows that the number of consumers who lean toward some sort of vegetarianism is increasing across all age groups. The Vegetarian Resource Group estimates that 2.8% of adult Americans consider themselves vegetarian, up from 2.3% in a 2000 survey. Another 6% to 10% of the population said it was 'almost vegetarian' and another 20% to 25% are 'vegetarian inclined,' or intentionally reducing meat in their diet, according to VRG." According to Food Systems Insider: "Ten percent of 25- to 34-year-olds say they never eat meat."

As we continue our efforts, more vegetarian products arrive on the market every month. Having convenient vegetarian options available is vital, as it makes it easier for new people to try and stick with a compassionate diet. As more people sample faux-meats and other vegetarian products, competition will continue to increase the supply and varieties, improving quality and driving down prices. This cycle of increasing numbers of vegetarians and the increasing convenience of vegetarian eating is self-reinforcing. Essentially, the technology of vegetarian meats and other foods is both driven by and a driver of moral progress.

If we continue to expand our advocacy, the growth of vegetarianism will accelerate to a tipping point, where opposition to factory farms and vegetarianism become the "norm" among influential groups. Legislation, as it usually does, will continue to follow these evolving norms, and we’ll see more of animal agriculture's worst practices outlawed and abolished (something that has already begun). Corporate practices will also continue to adjust to the demands from an increasingly aware market.

At the same time, powerful economic forces will kick in because meat is ultimately inefficient. It is more efficient to eat plant foods directly, rather than feeding plant foods to animals and then eating the animals' flesh. Of course, people aren't going to substitute tofu for meat, but that is not the choice they'll be making. Food science has advanced such that the best vegetarian meats are able to satisfy even hard-core carnivores. Deli slices from Tofurky, burgers from Boca, Gimme Lean sausage and ground beef, Morningstar MealStarters, Gardenburger’s Riblets and Chik’n -- all of these dismiss the notion that giving up meat is necessarily a deprivation.

The faster the growth in people eating vegetarian, the faster vegetarian meats will improve in taste, become cheaper, and be found in far more places. (Compare a 2006 Boca Burger to a 1986 Nature Burger, and imagine how good a 2026 veggie burger will be!) In addition, in vitro meats become more viable each year. In meatro can also be more efficient than actual animal corpses, and can be engineered to have the same benefits as vegetarian meats: no cholesterol, good fats (omega-3s), no factory farms, no slaughterhouses, no manure ponds, no greenhouse gas emissions, no food poisoning, no mad cow, no avian flu. These technologies will also be accelerated by the growth of vegetarianism.

Our challenge now is to expand the vegetarian market by explaining to more meat eaters the reasons for choosing vegetarian meals, while exposing them to new -- though similar -- products. The more rapidly we do this, the sooner cruelty-free eating will be widespread.

After his first heart attack, Uncle Dick will shift over to vegetarian meats that have no cholesterol or saturated or trans fats and are high in omega-3s. Cousin Jeb’s second wife -- a vegetarian since getting an Even If You Like Meat booklet from Jon Camp in 2003 -- will use that as an excuse to only cook vegetarian meals -- and Jeb will hardly notice the difference! Their daughter Barbara will grow up as a vegan activist, and will oversee McDonald's shift to non-animal chicken in their sandwiches.

Despite all the current horror and continued suffering, if we take the long view and are willing to commit to the work that needs to be done, we should be deeply optimistic. Animal liberation can be the future; as The Economist concluded, "Historically, man has expanded the reach of his ethical calculations, as ignorance and want have receded, first beyond family and tribe, later beyond religion, race, and nation. To bring other species more fully into the range of these decisions may seem unthinkable to moderate opinion now. One day, decades or centuries hence, it may seem no more than 'civilized' behavior requires."

With our efforts, de facto animal liberation could be achieved with a whimper, not a bang. Change will not come by revolution, but through person-by-person outreach progressing hand-in-hand with advances in technology, leading slowly but inexorably to a new norm that, to most people, hardly seems different. But an unfathomable amount of suffering will be prevented.

It is up to us to make this happen.