[EXCERPT: Farm animals produce lots of methane, a
potent greenhouse gas that gets far less public
attention than carbon dioxide  .....  Methane
concentrations have increased about 150 percent
in the air since 1750 and now far exceed the
natural range of the past 650,000 years, the
U.N.'s climate panel says.  ......   "What
worries me is the increased methane coming out of
the stomachs of ruminants, mainly for increased
beef consumption within an increasingly wealthy
world. The diet of the West has a big impact on
the atmosphere."]


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/globalwarming_methane_dc;_ylt=ApNCgykTZI7a4ZGPk3pOOoS\
s0NUE

The heat is on for greenhouse gas methane

By David Fogarty
Sun Apr 29, 2007

Across the globe, chickens and pigs are doing
their bit to curb global warming. But cows and
sheep still have some catching up to do.

The farm animals produce lots of methane, a
potent greenhouse gas that gets far less public
attention than carbon dioxide yet is at the heart
of efforts to fight climate change.

Government policies and a U.N.-backed system of
emission credits is proving a money-spinner for
investors, farmers and big polluters such as
power stations wanting to offset their own
emissions of greenhouse gases, particularly
carbon dioxide (CO2).

The reason is simple: methane is 23 times more
potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in
the atmosphere and it is relatively simple to
capture the gas from animal waste, landfills,
coal mines or leaky natural gas pipes.

"A fifth of all greenhouse gas-induced global
warming has been due to methane since
pre-industrial times," said climate scientist
Paul Fraser of Australia, where ruminant farm
animals belch out vast amounts of the gas.

Methane concentrations have increased about 150
percent in the air since 1750 and now far exceed
the natural range of the past 650,000 years, the
U.N.'s climate panel says. And human activities
are largely to blame.

The panel will be focusing on ways to curb
methane and other greenhouse gas emissions when
it releases a major report on mitigating the
effects of climate change in Bangkok in early May.

"It's been argued that the reductions from
methane are potentially cheaper than from carbon
dioxide," said Bill Hare, climate policy director
for Greenpeace and a lead author of the
mitigation report.

"A lot of policy discussion in the United States
has focused on methane rather than more difficult
problems such as CO2 from coal," he added.

This is because capturing methane from landfills,
mines, or from fossil fuel production or natural
gas lines is pretty straight forward and makes
economic sense. Methane is a major component of
natural gas and can be burned to generate power.

Agriculture was a greater challenge, Hare said.

A MATTER OF BALANCE

"There are more difficult areas for methane from
livestock and from rice agriculture where, at
best, longer time scales are required to change
practices in agriculture than you might need in
industrial areas," Hare said.

Rice paddies and other irrigated crops produce
large amounts of methane, as do natural wetlands.
Vast amounts of methane are also locked up in
deposits under the ice in sub-polar regions, in
permafrost or under the sea.

Hare said there are lots of options being looked
at, such as additives for cattle and sheep to cut
the amount of methane in their burps and moving
away from intensive livestock feed lots to
range-fed animals.

"And for example in rice, just changing the
timing and when and how you flood rice paddies
has great potential to reduce methane emissions."

For the moment, the amount of methane in the
atmosphere is steady after leveling off around
1999, said Fraser, leader of the Changing
Atmosphere Research Group at Australia's
government-funded Commonwealth Scientific and
Industrial Research Organization.

This is thought to be because the drying out of
tropical wetlands seems to canceling out a rise
in emissions from the oil and gas industry. But
how long this lasts is anyone's guess.

"Most people would agree that some time in the
future methane is going to start growing again,
just because of the world demand for natural gas,
rice and cattle," Fraser said.

POO POWER

All the more reason why chicken manure and pig waste are hot commodities.

Under the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol, a system called
the Clean Development Mechanism allows rich
countries to keep within their emissions limits
by funding projects that soak up greenhouse gases
in poor countries, getting carbon credits in
return.

This has made huge pig farms in South America and
poultry farms in India attractive investments.

The waste is put into digesters and the methane
extracted and burned to generate electricity or
simply flared to create CO2 -- not perfect, but a
lesser greenhouse gas evil.

And interest is growing in these kinds of
projects, said N. Yuvaraj Dinesh Babu of the
Singapore-based Carbon Exchange, which trades
Kyoto carbon credits and helps broker emissions
off-setting deals.

The Kyoto system of emissions credits has proved
popular and the U.N. Framework Convention on
Climate Change, which administers it, says dozens
of methane-abatement projects have been approved
in recent years with more being considered.

But Stephan Singer of conservation group WWF
thinks this is not the complete solution. He
believes more attention should be paid to
controlling carbon dioxide emissions and the
sources of methane not so easily controlled.

Only about 50 percent of all methane emissions
are being controlled, namely from landfills, coal
mines and the oil and gas industry, said Singer,
head of WWF's European Energy and Climate Policy
Unit.

"What worries me is the increased methane coming
out of the stomachs of ruminants, mainly for
increased beef consumption within an increasingly
wealthy world. The diet of the West has a big
impact on the atmosphere."

In the United States, cattle emit about 5.5
million tonnes of methane per year into the
atmosphere, accounting for 20 percent of U.S.
methane emissions, the Environmental Protection
Agency says. In New Zealand, emissions from
agriculture comprise about half of all greenhouse
gas emissions.

But what worries Singer most is a rapid release
of methane stored in sub-polar permafrost or in
huge methane hydrate deposits under the sea.
While this has not happened, some scientists
suggest it might occur in a warmer world.

"If methane hydrates leak, then we're gone, then it's over."

Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited.

[Common Ground.ca]

In recent months, this column has touched on food choices and their
impact on global warming. Since the release of the Food and
Agriculture Organization's report, Livestock's Long Shadow, many of us
are now choosing to be part of the solution. The FAO report confirmed
that livestock, including dairy cattle, is a major contributor to
today's serious environmental problems and that urgent action is
required to remedy the situation. (See
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html)
One step we can take is to select non-dairy sources of dietary
calcium. Fortunately, Health Canada is in tune with this
problem-solving approach. For the first time, it has officially
included milk alternatives in its most recent food guide, Eating Well
With Canada's Food Guide, launched in February. The guide features
fortified soymilk as a clear alternative to dairy and a great source
of calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients. (See
www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index_e.html)
Until now, the food guide has offered no alternatives to dairy
products. No matter that roughly 70 percent of the world's population
has some degree of difficulty digesting milk, including Canada's
aboriginal people and large numbers of us who came to this country as
immigrants. ....
...
Green veggies like kale, broccoli, bok choy, collards, napa cabbage
(sui choy) and okra are well-known for being good sources of calcium.
In fact, we absorb the calcium in these greens twice as efficiently as
from dairy products. Load up on broccoli at The Foundation at 2301
Main Street. It's a fun spot for 20-somethings or if you just want to
feel like you're still in your 20's. For an environment that nourishes
the soul and food that satisfies the palate and eye, visit Radha Yoga
and Eatery at 728 Main Street (www.radhavancouver.org)

--
full story:
http://commonground.ca/iss/0705190/cg190_Vesanto.shtml

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[Red and Black]

On Dec. 5, 2006, the New York City Board of Health voted to adopt a
ban of the use of trans fats in restaurant cooking.

The board took this groundbreaking action because of the severely
negative effects that trans fats have on health.

Though New York is the only city to officially ban the use of trans
fats, many food manufacturers have begun to limit or eliminate the
amount of trans fats in their products.

At the University, Food Services is taking initiative to decrease the
amount of trans fats that students consume.

"Trans fat is a liquid fat that has had hydrogen added to it in order
to make it solid at room temperature," said University nutritionist
Katherine Ingerson, who helps choose food for the dining halls. "Trans
fats are added to foods to increase shelf life and make foods moist,
chewy, creamy, flaky or crunchy."
...
"Food services has definitely moved towards making things healthier -
with the huge salad bar, assorted fruits and the vegetarian and vegan
options at East Campus Village - but all the cheese served in the
various lines is a pitfall," said Gily Raz, a sophomore from Israel.

Cheese and other dairy products naturally contain small amounts of
trans fats. However, Raz said she really doesn't know much about trans
fats or any initiative Food Services has taken to limit or eliminate
their consumption in the dining commons.

Lee said students should "check nutrition labels carefully to see if
'hydrogenated' or 'partially hydrogenated oil' are among the first few
ingredients listed."

--
full story:
http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/storage/paper871/news/2007/05/01/Variety/\
Meal-Plan.Eliminates.Trans.Fats.From.Food-2888830.shtml

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[Daily - University of Washington]

A walk down the Ave. is enough to illustrate the trend noted in a
recent Associated Press article – vegetarian dining is growing in
popularity.

From Veggie Veggie to Araya's Vegetarian Place, the University
District has its fair share of strictly vegetarian or vegan
restaurants.

Even more encouraging, however, is seeing that non-vegetarian
establishments like Chipotle and the Thaiger Room offer an array of
meatless fare.

"There are between 1,000 and 1,200 vegetarian restaurants in the U.S.,
almost double the number seven years ago, according to …
VegDining.com, an online guide to vegetarian restaurants," writes the
AP.

The benefits of a vegetarian diet have been more publicized in recent
years, too, with most major nutritionists acknowledging that, with a
little bit of work, a vegetarian diet can help a person lose weight or
stave of forms of cancer and heart disease. Besides, according to an
AP article, Seattle has just been ranked second in the nation in
compassion for animals by the Humane Society.
...
After all, if there is a senior menu at Denny's and a children's menu
at the International House of Pancakes, there is no reason for
restaurants not to offer a vegetarian menu, too.

--
full story:
http://thedaily.washington.edu/article/2007/5/1/staffEditorialGoodNewsForObeseAm\
ericaVegetarianRestaurantsOnTheRise

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[Sydney Morning Herald]

I AM A vegetarian. Before you say anything, let me answer all of your
questions. Trust me, it will save everyone a lot of time.

I am a vegetarian because I believe that it is wrong to eat animals.
My mum and brother are also vegetarian but my dad eats meat.

No, I have never eaten meat. No, I am not kidding. I have been a
vegetarian since birth. I am 21 years old.
...
I won't go on, but the next time I tell someone I am vegetarian,
maybe, just maybe, they could consider all of the good reasons to be
one before they start trying to convince me that I am missing out on
some vital part of life.

I am sure you are all right, I am sure that it tastes great, but
perhaps it is worth considering that taste is just not a good enough
reason to be a carnivore.

I hope this gives you some food for thought. Enjoy your dinner tonight.

--
full story:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/heckler/no-bones-about-it-ive-been-vegetarian-since-c\
onception/2007/05/01/1177788141954.html

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[Hippy Shopper]

Contrary to popular belief vegans don't live off carrots and lettuce
leaves and they do enjoy being vegan. Once at my mum's house I was
dishing myself up a vegan treat and one of my relatives said to me,
"How long are you going to have to eat that for," as if I was somehow
afflicted. Although mildly entertained by the comment, I realised,
that some carnivores (mainly the avid ones, who wouldn't limit their
meat intake for love nor money) view vegans with a kind of abject
pity. It made me think of how I became vegan myself and my attitudes,
prior to my, dare I say, 'conversion.'

I have only been vegan for coming up to three years. I used to gobble
meat on a regular basis. I didn't really think about how the animals
were reared and slaughtered and the means by which they came to be
sitting on my plate. I think this is the case for many people. They
see the animal as a pre-packaged item on a shop shelf.
...
I have not found any problems with being vegan whatsoever and various
studies have shown the benefits of a vegan diet to human health. The
Vegan Society provides lots of information for potential and existing
vegans. In fact, I would go as far as to say that being vegan has
never been so easy, with all the many resources we now have available.
I think it's time for the devout carnivores to broaden their horizons
a little.

--
full story:
http://www.hippyshopper.com/2007/04/why_i_became_ve.html

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MARCO ISLAND, Fla., May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Self-made
millionaire-turned- author Jeff Popick claims in his debut book that
man's downfall came not from eating an apple or a fig, but from eating
meat.

"The Real Forbidden Fruit: How Meat Destroys Paradise And How Veganism
Can Get It Back" is a no-holds-barred indictment of the animal
industry and the devastating effects it has on our planet, our bodies,
our society and our spirituality.

"On page one of the Bible, God tells man, 'I have given you every herb
yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every
tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed, to you it shall
be for food' (Genesis 1:29). So how could an apple or a fig possibly
have been the problem?" said Popick.

Popick contends that once humans began to eat meat, paradise on Earth
was lost. However, we can regain that paradise by becoming vegan
again, as we were meant to be.

--
full story:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-01-200\
7/0004578247&EDATE=

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[Detroit News]

Two women protesting what they allege is cruelty to animals by a
national fast-food chain stripped off their clothes and covered
themselves with a strategically placed banner today in a demonstration
in Troy that attracted onlookers and motorists, who honked their horns
in support.

Nicole Matthews of Hastings and Heather Shirley of Ann Arbor protested
-- covered in front and back only with a white banner -- outside a
Southeastern Kentucky Fried Chicken Franchise Association meeting that
was taking place inside the Marriott Hotel on West Big Beaver Road.

Matthews said she could see people watching from the hotel's windows
and heard plenty of car horns as motorists drove past. Some drivers
also signaled their support by giving a thumbs-up.

Asked if she thought they were supporting her cause or her lack of
clothes, she responded: "A mixture of both. People are happy to see
people stand up for what they believe in. No one likes cruelty to
animals."

--
full story:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070501/UPDATE/705010451/1003

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[comments taken at "full story" URL below]

The Vegetarian Society, based in Altrincham, has given approval for
McDonalds to use its accreditation on a range of the fast food giant's
vegetarian products, as part of the latter's new 'Trust' campaign
through TBWA\London.

The Society does allow a number of well known 'food manufacturers' to
use its approved logo on their products but this latest marketing
initiative from McDonalds, has generated a healthy degree of
scepticism.

--
full story:
http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/north-west-pr-and-marketing/vegeta\
rian-society-endorses-new-mcdonald's-range-20070502330/

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United Poultry Concerns
May 2, 2007

International Respect for Chickens Day Brings Good News

Thursday May 3 – UPC president Karen Davis will talk on “”Animal
Matters” about International Respect for Chickens Day, Ira Glass going
veg, & You Tube. Tune in to “Animal Matters,” hosted by Karen Meicht, on
www.kzfr.org and KZFR 90.1 FM in the Sacramento Valley, at 11:30 pacific
time, 2:30 eastern time tomorrow!

UPC member Sheila Ray wrote a letter to the Messenger-Inquirer in
Owensboro, Kentucky about International Respect for Chickens Day that
inspired a wonderful column about her chickens and IRCD by
Messenger-Inquirer reporter Suzi Bartholomy, on April 25. It concludes:
“Because of her pet chickens, Ray has become a farm animal activist and
will be celebrating the annual International Respect for Chickens Day on
May 4. The day was instituted by United Poultry Concerns to ‘celebrate
the dignity, beauty and life of chickens and to protest against the
bleakness of their lives in farming operations,’ according to the UPC
Web site. Ray . . . advocates treating chickens with the same value that
pet owners put on their dogs and cats. ‘On May 4 take a day to respect
the chicken, and if you have some, be kind to them,’ Ray said.”

When a Hawaiian egg factory shut down recently, animal advocates rescued
hens who were left to die in the hellish place. Laurelee Blanchard’s
story of six people gathering up as many hens as possible and adopting
them to loving homes can be read with photos at
http://www.upc-online.org/battery_hens/50207mauieggs.html.

Please Do a Positive Action for Chickens for International Respect for
Chickens Day. Every action counts! If you’re in the Washington DC area,
join us near the White House May 4 from Noon to 4 PM and in Takoma Park,
Md May 5 from Noon to 2 PM in the Town Square. For information, visit:
http://www.upc-online.org/respect/42607irfcdevents.html.

[The Orion]

Lack of variety, options of food for vegetarians, vegans leave some
with empty stomachs, wallets
...
When it comes to eating on campus, there seems to be something for
everyone. From pizza and salad to hamburgers and fries, the options
seem endless. But what about vegetarians and vegans?

Irene Korber, a Chico State senior and the director of the
Environmental Action Resource Center, eats the same four meals all of
the time because there aren't many choices for vegetarians like her,
she said.

"I love the soup - they always have a vegetarian option," she said.
"But really, how many times can you eat soup before getting sick of
it?"

Korber acknowledged that the Associated Students Food Services staff
is making an effort, but she thinks her options are limited.

A.S. Food Services has been adding more food to appease the taste buds
of vegetarians and vegans in recent months, said retail manager Bob
Alderson.
...
Even with the salad bar, it can be difficult for vegans to find food
on campus because they don't eat dairy or any animal by-products.

"I'll eat the burritos with whole black beans," Yanow said. "But even
the rice is cooked with chicken broth."

Yanow wishes vegan foods, such as tofu, were included in meals but
doesn't expect everyone to cater to her.

"I don't want to inconvenience everyone," she said. "I'm well aware of
the fact we don't live in a vegan world."

Leslie Williams can be reached at lwilliams@...

--
full story:
http://media.www.theorion.com/media/storage/paper889/news/2007/05/02/Features/Ca\
mpus.Grows.To.Be.More.Vegetarian.Vegan.Friendly-2890533.shtml

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[AutoWeek - opinion]

Sometimes I find it difficult maintaining a vegan lifestyle in a
decidedly carnivorous world. But before you jump all over me for
trying to recruit more folks to the pro-animal cause, hear me out.

I'm not here to preach. In fact, I make it a practice to abstain from
any sort of proselytizing regarding my beliefs on animal rights. After
all, no one likes the self-righteous, those holier-than-thou types who
enjoy nothing more than basking in their own glorification. (Of
course, if someone shows a genuine interest in why I chose this way of
life, I'm more than happy to explain the nature of my convictions.)
...
Does a car girl not buy the car of her dreams if it only comes with
leather seats? The short answer is no, I would not buy a car leather
seats. I would settle for something less than dream-worthy. Of course,
I have to drive plenty of leather-laden cars for my work, but when it
comes to voting with my own wallet, I will not let any automaker think
I condone the practice of skinning animals for the sake of making my
butt feel a certain way.

I'm sure the same goes for the union worker who looks fondly on a
foreign sports car, the tree-hugger who enjoys the thrill of a good
stoplight drag race, or the humble preacher who grew up dreaming about
Benzes and Bimmers. Complicating matters, of course, is the fact that
every car has some foreign content, all cars pollute, and every car,
no matter the make or model, can be looked at as a luxury. For me,
even if I successfully avoided buying a car with leather, every car
uses animal products somewhere, even if it's just the glue holding up
the headliner.

It sucks having principles, doesn't it?

--
full story:
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/FREE/70502001/1530/F\
REE

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[Salt Lake Tribune]

Birth mother, daughter reunite, share soy passion in cookbook
...
Anne Tegtmeier knew she probably inherited many physical traits from
her birth mother, from the shape of her eyes to the way she laughed.

But Tegtmeier never anticipated that when she finally met with Donna
Kelly several years ago, they would share the same passion for cooking
and celebrate their reunion with the most unlikely of ingredients -
tofu.

The culinary bond that has grown between birth mother and daughter has
resulted in a new cookbook, 101 Things to Do With Tofu (Gibbs Smith,
$9.95).

"My adoptive mom was not a food lover," said Tegtmeier. "She looked at
it as a chore, like cleaning."

After their initial reunion, Kelly, a child-abuse prosecutor in Provo,
and Tegtmeier, a modern dancer and massage therapist living in
Connecticut, found themselves spending hours in the kitchen. They
would talk late into the night, sharing stories from their years apart
and swapping their favorite recipes.
...
In turn, Tegtmeier, who gave up red meat in high school and became a
vegetarian in college, taught Kelly healthy cooking techniques. Kelly
was an eager student. Her husband recently had a heart attack and
needed to change his eating habits.
...
"It is so much more than a substitute for meat in a stir-fry," explained Kelly.

But many people are intimidated by this soy protein, made by mixing
the milk of the soy bean with a coagulant and then heating it until it
turns into cheeselike curds. The process is similar to the way cow's
milk is turned into cottage cheese.

"People need to think of it as an ingredient, like flour," said
Tegtmeier. "You would never think of eating a spoonful of flour by
itself. But put it with other ingredients and it becomes all these
great things."

--
full story:
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_5796781

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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_headline=hill-farmer-starved-21-cattl\
e%26method=full%26objectid=19030688%26siteid=89520-name_page.html

HILL FARMER STARVED 21 CATTLE
02/05/2007


A FARMER was jailed yesterday for allowing 21 cows to starve to death.

David Weeks, 40, hit money problems and the cattle didn't get fed.

Magistrate Christopher Rowlands told Weeks: "This is the most
appalling case of animal cruelty we have dealt with.

"You had a special responsibility to these animals and you failed -
you effectively watched them die."

Weeks, well-known for winning prizes at the Royal Welsh Show, had a
full-time job while also trying to run his hill farm in Ebbw Vale,
Gwent.

The dead and dying cattle were found by RSPCA inspectors.

Weeks was found guilty of 15 charges of animal cruelty and jailed for
four months by Blaenau Gwent magistrates.

He said in a statement: "I am very ashamed at what happened."


Mirror.co.uk - News

Publix Milk goes rbST-Free

Publix Super Markets Inc. press release, April 30, 2007

http://www.publix.com/about/newsroom/NewsReleaseItem.do?newsReleaseItemPK=2476



Lakeland, Fl.,  - Publix Super Markets Inc. announced that beginning May 1, 2007
its private label brand milk, including whole, reduced fat, low fat, fat free,
chocolate and low-fat chocolate, in all sizes, will be rbST (recombinant bovine
somatotropin) free. Traditionally, rbST is a bioengineered hormone that is
injected into cows to increase the cow's milk production.



"As a retailer devoted to customer satisfaction and highest quality of products,
we wanted our customers to enjoy the wholesome goodness of milk, without added
hormones," said director of media and community relations, Maria Brous. "Our
Publix brand milk is Grade A - pasteurized, certified Kosher and contains
Vitamins A&D."





And from Dairy Alert from Dairy Herd Management, May 2, 2007:





New label claim makes appearance in Washington

Shoppers in the state of Washington are seeing a new label claim in the dairy
case. The Sno-Fresh Dairy milk label states "All Natural, Farm Fresh. Free of
Antibiotics, Rumensin, rBST."

This is the first time rumensin has been added to a label claim. (Please see
item below.)



.Elanco monitoring the situation

According to Dennis Erpelding, manager of corporate affairs for Elanco Animal
Health, "We are looking at this from a broader perspective. We understand that
different producers use different production practices, that there are different
consumer choices, and that this small bottler believes his customers want this
product." However, rumensin, rBST and antibiotics are all FDA-approved and safe
to use. Rumensin was approved for dairy cows in the United States in 2004, and
has been used around the world since 1978. "Rumensin is a widely-accepted
technology by producers and consumers around the world," adds Erpelding.





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

GUIDE TOUTS LATIN AMERICAN DIET PYRAMID AS WAY TO BETTER HEALTH
The Associated Press, Monica Rhor, May 1, 2007


Houston - A new food pyramid, designed to encourage Latinos to eat healthier,
touts the staples of traditional Latin-American cooking as the path to better
nutrition and health.

The Latin American Diet Pyramid, which emphasizes grains and tubers such as
maize, quinoa and plantains and tropical fruits like mangos and papayas, is
featured in a new pocket-sized bilingual supermarket shopping guide being
distributed in Fiesta Supermarkets, churches, and health centers in Houston and
Dallas now and expanding around the country.

The 16-page pamphlet, called "Camino Magico" or Magic Road, is the centerpiece
of a nationwide campaign launched Tuesday by the Latino Nutrition Coalition, a
Boston-based nonprofit dedicated to improving Latino eating habits.


more at:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4765196.html





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

A Superior Court jury convicted a vegan couple of murder and cruelty
to children Wednesday in the death of their 6-week-old, who was fed a
diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice.

Jade Sanders, 27, and Lamont Thomas, 31, will receive automatic life
sentences for starving the boy, who weighed just 3 1/2 pounds when he
died.

Defense lawyers said the first-time parents did the best they could
while adhering to the lifestyle of vegans, who typically use no animal
products. They said Sanders and Thomas did not realize the baby, who
was born at home, was in danger until minutes before he died.

But prosecutor Mike Carlson told the jury Tuesday during closing
arguments: "They're not vegans. They're baby killers!"

--
full story:
http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=91562

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Dear friends,

following the EVU Talks 2007, which were attended by up to hundred
people from 11 nations, we are sending you our statement 'The veggie
answer to global hunger' and invite you to endorse it by sending the
name of the responsible person, name of the organisation and website
and/or e-mail to president@... until 9 May. On 10 May we want
to forward the statement to the United Nations with copies to FAO and
WHO.

The EVU Talks 2008 'Vegetarianism, the ultimate animal welfare' are
going to take place in Switzerland probably also at the end of
April/beginning May.

All further details will be published on the EVU website in due time.

Thanks for your cooperation and
best regards

Renato Pichler
President
European Vegetarian Union
www.euroveg.eu
president@...
----------------------------------------------------------------------

EVU Talks 2007: The veggie answer to global hunger

Statement by the European Vegetarian Union

Following a debate about the problem of global hunger, it is declared
that vegetarianism offers the possibility of considerably alleviating
the growing threat.

Feeding large percentages of available human food crops to farm
animals is unethical and represents a blatant lack of solidarity with
the hungry.

The existing water shortage is aggravated by ever-larger quantities
of water being used for animal husbandry, leaving less for crops.

The production of meat is uneconomical and can only be maintained
with huge financial subsidies, leading to harsh social injustice.

The FAO report "Livestock's long shadow" states that livestock
farming already generates almost a fifth of greenhouse gases, which
are expected to raise the average temperature. Global warming leads
to droughts, failing harvests and even more hardship for the poor.

The artificial extension of the food chain due to the transformation
of grain into meat causes a huge waste of resources.

The European Vegetarian Union demands that:

--national and international decision makers stop subsidizing the
production of meat and invest instead in sustainable aid programmes;

--meat packages carry warnings informing about the hazard which
animal husbandry represents to the environment and food security;

--international organizations and agencies incorporate the benefits
of a vegetarian lifestyle into future strategies for the fight
against global hunger.

A healthy life without meat is possible, beneficial for the
environment and allows a fairer distribution of natural riches.

Any policy pretending that the consumption of meat has to be the
social norm is rejected.

Vienna, 1 May 2007

Renato Pichler
President
European Vegetarian Union (EVU)
www.euroveg.eu

Mad cow disease has been found in a dairy cow in British Columbia, the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed on Wednesday.

The agency said it has the carcass of the 5½-year-old cow and no part
of it entered the human food or animal feed systems.

It said the animal's age, combined with the average incubation period
of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), indicates the cow was
exposed to a very small amount of infected material, likely during its
first year of life.

The agency is now tracing other animals from the same herd and trying
to determine how the cow became infected.

--
full story:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/05/02/madcow.html

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I ALWAYS joke that I can order quicker than anyone at a table, because
all I have to do is find the one veg*n option on the menu. Sometimes
I'm not even that lucky. Like during a recent trip to Omaha, Neb.,
where the room service menu had nothing—not an appetizer, salad or
entree—that didn't include meat.

That's why it warms my heart to go to a place like the Happy Bamboo, a
casual vegetarian restaurant that oddly enough serves goulash,
"burgers" and other distinctly non-Asian offerings alongside the pho,
sweet and sour chicken and pad thai.

Although the Happy Bamboo has been open for a few years, I made my
first visit this month and discovered a place to which I'll be
returning whenever I feel the yen for more choice. Restaurants like
the Happy Bamboo prove that any restaurant could offer vegetarian
versions of such items as potstickers, spring rolls, curry and noodle
dishes without sacrificing flavor and heartiness.
...
The last, best thing about the Happy Bamboo is their selection of
vegan desserts. Any vegan will tell you that being vegan means "no
dessert for you!" at just about any non-vegan restaurant. Happy Bamboo
has several offerings, and I chose the German chocolate cake (a
reasonable $2.75.) As far as this vegan is concerned that was a little
slice of chocolate-coconut heaven, and all the choice I needed!

The Happy Bamboo Address: 1711 Branham Lane, San Jose. 408.694.0740.
www.sterrentech.com/host/happybamboo/index.html

--
full story:
http://www.metroactive.com/metro/05.02.07/veggie-0718.html

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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/business/worldbusiness/30food.html?pagewanted=\
print
The New York Times - April 30, 2007
Filler in Animal Feed Is Open Secret in China
By DAVID BARBOZA and ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO

ZHANGQIU, China, April 28 — As American food safety regulators head to China to
investigate how a chemical made from coal found its way into pet food that
killed dogs and cats in the United States, workers in this heavily polluted
northern city openly admit that the substance is routinely added to animal feed
as a fake protein.
For years, producers of animal feed all over China have secretly supplemented
their feed with the substance, called melamine, a cheap additive that looks like
protein in tests, even though it does not provide any nutritional benefits,
according to melamine scrap traders and agricultural workers here.
“Many companies buy melamine scrap to make animal feed, such as fish feed,” said
Ji Denghui, general manager of the Fujian Sanming Dinghui Chemical Company,
which sells melamine. “I don’t know if there’s a regulation on it. Probably not.
No law or regulation says ‘don’t do it,’ so everyone’s doing it. The laws in
China are like that, aren’t they? If there’s no accident, there won’t be any
regulation.”
Melamine is at the center of a recall of 60 million packages of pet food, after
the chemical was found in wheat gluten linked this month to the deaths of at
least 16 pets in the United States.
No one knows exactly how melamine (which is not believed to be particularly
toxic) became so fatal in pet food, but its presence in any form of American
food is illegal.
The link to China has set off concerns among critics of the Food and Drug
Administration that ingredients in pet food as well as human food, which are
increasingly coming from abroad, are not being adequately screened.
“They have fewer people inspecting product at the ports than ever before,” says
Caroline Smith DeWaal, the director of food safety for the Center for Science in
the Public Interest in Washington. “Until China gets programs in place to verify
the safety of their products, they need to be inspected by U.S. inspectors. This
open-door policy on food ingredients is an open invitation for an attack on the
food supply, either intentional or unintentional.”
Now, with evidence mounting that the tainted wheat gluten came from China,
American regulators have been granted permission to visit the region to conduct
inspections of food treatment facilities.
The Food and Drug Administration has already banned imports of wheat gluten from
China after it received more than 14,000 reports of pets believed to have been
sickened by packaged food. And last week, the agency opened a criminal
investigation in the case and searched the offices of at least one pet food
supplier.
The Department of Agriculture has also stepped in. On Thursday, the agency
ordered more than 6,000 hogs to be quarantined or slaughtered after some of the
pet food ingredients laced with melamine were accidentally sent to hog farms in
eight states, including California.
Scientists are now trying to determine whether melamine could be harmful to
humans.
The pet food case is also putting China’s agricultural exports under greater
scrutiny because the country has had a terrible food safety record.
In recent years, for instance, China’s food safety scandals have involved
everything from fake baby milk formulas and soy sauce made from human hair to
instances where cuttlefish were soaked in calligraphy ink to improve their color
and eels were fed contraceptive pills to make them grow long and slim.
For its part, Chinese officials dispute any suggestion that melamine from the
country could have killed pets. But regulators here on Friday banned the use of
melamine in vegetable proteins made for export or for use in domestic food
supplies.
Yet what is clear from visiting this region of northeast China is that for years
melamine has been quietly mixed into Chinese animal feed and then sold to
unsuspecting farmers as protein-rich pig, poultry and fish feed.
Many animal feed operators here advertise on the Internet, seeking to purchase
melamine scrap. The Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Company, one
of the companies that American regulators named as having shipped
melamine-tainted wheat gluten to the United States, had posted such a notice on
the Internet last March.
Here at the Shandong Mingshui Great Chemical Group factory, huge boiler vats are
turning coal into melamine, which is then used to create plastics and
fertilizer.
But the leftover melamine scrap, golf ball-size chunks of white rock, is
sometimes being sold to local agricultural entrepreneurs, who say they mix a
powdered form of the scrap into animal feed to deceive those who raise animals
into thinking they are buying feed that is high in protein.
“It just saves money if you add melamine scrap,” said the manager of an animal
feed factory here.
Last Friday here in Zhangqiu, a fast-growing industrial city southeast of
Beijing, two animal feed producers explained in great detail how they purchase
low-grade wheat, corn, soybean or other proteins and then mix in small portions
of nitrogen-rich melamine scrap, whose chemical properties help the feed
register an inflated protein level.
Melamine is the new scam of choice, they say, because urea — another
nitrogen-rich chemical — is illegal for use in pig and poultry feed and can be
easily detected in China as well as in the United States.
“People use melamine scrap to boost nitrogen levels for the tests,” said the
manager of the animal feed factory. “If you add it in small quantities, it won’t
hurt the animals.”
The manager, who works at a small animal feed operation here that consists of a
handful of storage and mixing areas, said he has mixed melamine scrap into
animal feed for years.
He said he was not currently using melamine. But he then pulled out a plastic
bag containing what he said was melamine powder and said he could dye it any
color to match the right feed stock.
He said that melamine used in pet food would probably not be harmful. “Pets are
not like pigs or chickens,” he said casually, explaining that they can afford to
eat less protein. “They don’t need to grow fast.”
The resulting melamine-tainted feed would be weak in protein, he acknowledged,
which means the feed is less nutritious.
But, by using the melamine additive, the feed seller makes a heftier profit
because melamine scrap is much cheaper than soy, wheat or corn protein.
“It’s true you can make a lot more profit by putting melamine in,” said another
animal feed seller here in Zhangqiu. “Melamine will cost you about $1.20 for
each protein count per ton whereas real protein costs you about $6, so you can
see the difference.”
Feed producers who use melamine here say the tainted feed is often shipped to
feed mills in the Yangtze River Delta, near Shanghai, or down to Guangdong
Province, near Hong Kong. They also said they knew that some melamine-laced feed
had been exported to other parts of Asia, including South Korea, North Korea,
Indonesia and Thailand.
Evidence is mounting that Chinese protein exports have been tainted with
melamine and that its use in agricultural regions like this one is widespread.
But the government has issued no recall of any food or feed product here in
China.
Indeed, few people outside the agriculture business know about the use of
melamine scrap. The Chinese news media — which is strictly censored — has not
reported much about the country’s ties to the pet food recall in the United
States. And few in agriculture here do not see any harm in using melamine in
small doses; they simply see it as cheating a little on protein, not harming
animals or pets.
As for the sale of melamine scrap, it is increasingly popular as a fake
ingredient in feed, traders and workers here say.
At the Hebei Haixing Insect Net Factory in nearby Hebei Province, which makes
animal feed, a manager named Guo Qingyin said: “In the past melamine scrap was
free, but the price has been going up in the past few years. Consumption of
melamine scrap is probably bigger than that of urea in the animal feed industry
now.”
And so melamine producers like the ones here in Zhangqiu are busy.
A man named Jing, who works in the sales department at the Shandong Mingshui
Great Chemical Group factory here, said on Friday that prices have been rising,
but he said that he had no idea how the company’s melamine scrap is used.
“We have an auction for melamine scrap every three months,” he said. “I haven’t
heard of it being added to animal feed. It’s not for animal feed.”
David Barboza reported from Zhangqiu and Alexei Barrionuevo reported from
Chicago. Rujun Shen also contributed reporting from Zhangqiu.

--------------------------------------------
Register for AR2007 Conference at
www.ARConference.org/register.htm

Vegan foods at a street festival? SunFest has them. In its initial
appearance, the Vegetarian Oasis booth in the south food court will be
just that - an oasis for the meatless crowd among all those expected
at this year's event.

Terri Basilone, of Woodstock, N.Y., the vegan owner of the Oasis
stand, explained her foods. "We're going to offer three things: a
whole wheat grilled marinated tofu wrap, with avocado, tahini, then a
whole hot-sauce bar to add on as you like. We'll have a black bean
toastie - it's grilled on a 12-inch tortilla, with black beans, corn,
spinach, salsa, brown rice with cheese, optional. And finally, Thai
coconut curry, with kale, cauliflower, baby corn, carrots, bamboo
shoots all served over a bowl of brown rice."

This is her third year selling food at street festivals, but first
SunFest. "The response to our food has been great. People that eat
meat come and eat with us as well. Anyone can eat a quesadilla, and
people who like curry like our version. Cheese is there for those who
want it, but for vegans, there are three dishes they can have."

--
full story:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/food/content/food_dining/epaper/2007/05/03/axfn_sun\
fest_food_0503.html

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May 03, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government's ban on slaughtering
animals and selling or serving meat ended yesterday. Meat shops
islandwide were seen open and crowded today, some short on supplies.

The Sri Lankan government banned the sale of meat on 30 April due to
the Vesak holiday, in which Buddhists commemorate the birth,
enlightenment and passing of the Lord Buddha.

--
full story:
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_07/May3131030SL.html

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All-vegan bags. It was an odd concept a dozen years ago, when Inder
Bedi developed it for his entrepreneurship course during his last
semester of marketing at the JMSB.

"I really didn't want to do the course, but I needed it to finish. My
proposal got just 77 per cent and no funding."

But the idea stuck, and a year later, the recently converted
vegetarian launched his first line of vegan bags. The Matt & Nat label
has grown to include shoes and wallets, and has an office in the UK
and plans to further expand into Europe and North America.

The products, manufactured in China from synthetic leathers, PVC, the
more environmentally friendly PU, and other cruelty-free materials,
are emblematic of an increased effort to tread lightly on the planet
and its resources. In April alone the label has been featured in Lou
Lou magazine, Toronto Life's Green Living and on ETalk.

Bedi said that the company was launched in a far less green-savvy era.
"People didn't care that the products were vegan. I'm happy we made it
in the fashion world first because of our designs. We're a fashion
company that happens to be vegan."

--
full story:
http://cjournal.concordia.ca/journalarchives/2006-07/may_3/011044.shtml

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http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/05/02/fda_is_failing_to_prote\
ct_food_ex_chiefs_say/

FDA is failing to protect food, ex-chiefs say

By Bloomberg News  |  May 2, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Regulators don't have the money,
equipment, and staff to keep industrial
chemicals, salmonella, and E. coli from
contaminating the US food supply, former
commissioners of the Food and Drug Administration
said.

"Simply put, our food-safety system is broken,"
said David Kessler, who headed the agency from
1990 to 1997.

"The reality is that there is currently no
mandate, no leadership, no resources, nor
scientific research base for prevention of
food-safety problems," Kessler told the House
Oversight Committee yesterday.

Lawmakers from both parties demanded changes at
the FDA, which they said has failed to meet
modern challenges in its duties to approve new
drugs and to monitor the safety of the food
supply. They cited recalls of pet food containing
an industrial chemical, peanut butter with
salmonella, and spinach with E. coli bacteria.

"Incompetent government can have deadly
consequences," committee chairman Henry Waxman, a
California Democrat, said as the panel heard from
FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach and three
of his predecessors. "The FDA is an agency in
crisis. We need to act now."

Before the hearing, Von Eschenbach named David
Acheson, 51, director of the FDA's food defense
office, to a new position created to coordinate
food safety.

Congress has expanded the FDA's responsibilities
since 1994 without providing enough funding,
Waxman said.

The Senate is debating a reauthorization of the
law governing the FDA's drug-approval process.
The legislation would increase fees paid by the
industry and require more active surveillance of
potential health risks of medicines after they go
on the market.

There's a bipartisan consensus the FDA needs an
overhaul, said Representative Tom Davis, a
Virginia Republican. "In recent years, the FDA
has stumbled through some high-profile missteps,"
he said, citing the withdrawal of Merck & Co.'s
painkiller Vioxx from the market in 2004 after it
was linked to heart attacks and strokes.

Donald Kennedy, FDA commissioner from 1977 to
1979 and now editor of Science magazine, said the
agency has suffered from a lack of funding and
staff. Its budget would need to be increased from
$1.56 billion in fiscal 2007 to $2 billion in
fiscal 2008 to fully restore its capabilities, he
said.

"If we expect to have our spinach uncontaminated,
our pet food safe, Congress has to give the FDA
more resources," Kennedy said.

"We've seen a rapid transformation of the food
safety system due to advances in production
technology, rapid methods of distribution, and
the globalization of food sources," von
Eschenbach said.

Representative Darrell Issa, a California
Republican, criticized von Eschenbach and the FDA
for its response to the E. coli outbreak in
spinach last fall, saying an FDA advisory calling
on consumers not to eat spinach went too far.
"You destroyed an industry by the ineptness of
the response," Issa said.

Representative John Duncan, a Tennessee
Republican, called on the FDA to target China
after reports traced melamine, the substance in
pet food linked to the deaths of at least 16 US
dogs and cats, to two Chinese companies.
© Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070503/don_tyson_tumor.html?.v=1

AP
Ex-Tyson CEO Recovering From Surgery

Thursday May 3, 12:49 pm ET

Former Tyson Chief Executive Recovering From Surgery, Family Says

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (AP) -- Don Tyson, former chairman and chief
executive of Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat processor, is
recovering in a Minnesota hospital from an operation to remove a
tumor from his liver, his family said.

Tyson, 77, the largest individual shareholder of Tyson Foods, is in
the Mayo Clinic at Rochester, Minn., according to a statement
released by his family on Wednesday.

"His doctors believe the surgery was very successful and the
long-term prognosis is good," the statement said. "No follow-up
chemotherapy or radiation is necessary. He will hopefully be able to
travel and return home in the near future."

Archie Schaffer III, a Tyson spokesman, said the company would have
no comment because of the personal nature of Tyson's situation,
"other than to wish Don a speedy recovery."

Tyson's son, John Tyson, is now company chairman, and Dick Bond is
Tyson Foods' chief executive officer.

In 2005, Forbes magazine ranked Don Tyson among the richest 400
Americans, with a net worth of roughly $1 billion. The son of the
company founder, he joined the family business in 1952.

[Columbia Missourian]

Day One: 9:15 a.m. I have not put a morsel of food into my belly
today. I have decided to see if I can live without meat (chicken,
pork, lamb and beef) for one week. If this works, it could possibly
lead to a complete life change. I recently saw the movie "Fast Food
Nation," and it made me sick. I will use that as motivation to get
through what is sure to be a week of hell.
...
One thing I have noticed is that it is not so fun being different than
"normal" meat-eating society. Beef is such a large industry that it
pushes meat any chance it gets. The Missouri Beef Council is offering
a $500 refund to any cattleman's group or county farm bureau willing
to conduct a Beef Month promotion in May. Yes, May is known as Beef
Month. These promotions could be beef sales, beef education
activities, public relation events or just the advertisement of beef.
Because "Beef, it's what's for dinner." Right? Nope, not for me.
...
Day Seven: 12:36 p.m. Today is the last day, and I am excited. I
haven't eaten anything yet, but I am going to head home soon and scarf
a PB & J with chips on the side. Meat eater or not, you've got to
admit a PB & J is good anytime.

Tonight is going to be stir-fry with lots of rice. I am going to eat
mine with tofu, and my lady will have chicken. That is probably the
hardest part about being a vegetarian — if your spouse is not one, it
creates a lot more work. I think tomorrow morning I am going to start
the day off with a big juicy steak, only because I can.

This was a great experiment, though. It was a good test of willpower
and made me take a quick dive into another culture that is not so
publicized with billboards and "councils," and big money trying to
sway the influence of the people.

Who would have thought I would ever have tofu in my fridge? Or a can
of beans for a meal or that I would try my hand at a veggie burger
recipe? I am not going out to buy a tie-dyed shirt or Widespread Panic
tickets anytime soon, but I do have a little more respect for the
veggie heads out there.

--
full story:
http://columbiamissourian.com/stories/2007/05/05/week-without-meat/

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Posted on Thu, May. 03, 2007
By JOHN BIEMER
Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO -- A federal court is allowing the last operating horse
slaughterhouse in the United States, in DeKalb, Ill., to temporarily
resume butchering horses so their meat can be sold to overseas
markets.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided
2-1 Tuesday to grant the slaughterhouse's emergency request for a stay
as it considers an appeal of a March lower-court ruling that halted
federal inspection of the horses, thus shutting down the business.

In that decision, a U.S. District Court judge declared illegal an
arrangement in which slaughterhouses paid the U.S. Department of
Agriculture to cover costs of their health inspections.

That arrangement came about in early 2006 after Congress the previous
year cut off funding for horse-slaughterhouse inspections.

The Humane Society of the United States sued, arguing the new funding
arrangement was a conflict of interest and that the USDA had
implemented it without conducting environmental assessments required
for such a regulatory change.

In its decision Tuesday to grant the stay, the appeals court indicated
that Cavel International in DeKalb had argued "that it will go out of
business absent a stay" because it will not be able to operate while
its appeal of the court ruling is pending

FULL STORY:
http://www.star-telegram.com/100/story/89513.html

[Lew Rockwell - opinion]

by William Campbell Douglass II, MD

When I first reported on the breaking story of contamination in
mass-produced pet foods that has so far sickened and killed thousands
of our beloved American pets – dog and cats, specifically – because it
was so early on in the crisis, I had very little information to impart
about exactly what was causing these casualties.

But I did have some recommendations on how to safeguard your kitties
and pups against this fate: To feed them ONLY raw liver, chicken
necks, hamburger, and any other uncooked meats and animal organs. This
should include at least one daily raw egg – including the shell –
rounding out their diet with cut vegetables put on top.

This advice of mine directly contradicts not only everything you'll
hear down at your local PetSmart store (or Petco, whatever), but also
what several mainstream books recently published in wide release have
to say about canine and feline diets. Believe me, though – I'm right
and they're wrong.
...
To sell more pet food, pet owners were deceived into believing the dry
vegetable junk food they're feeding their cats and dogs is
protein-rich and good for them (it's actually horrible for them,
melamine-laced or not). I have now brought you up to speed on the
sordid saga behind the plight of pets here in the U.S. – at least
those whose owners don't know to ignore the advice of vets and
pet-store employees when it comes to your cats' and dogs' diets. (Yes,
tragically, most of the vets have gone on the vegetarian bandwagon and
many sell this trash food from their offices – "Doctor-recommended,"
you know.) As I've said repeatedly, the ONLY foods your little kittens
and pups of all breeds and ages should be eating are raw meats and raw
eggs, topped with a few fresh-cut vegetables.

However, this isn't common knowledge to pet owners because of a vast
vegetarian conspiracy (more on this later).
...
A great many mainstream "animal people" are enthusiastic pet owners
who believe in bonding with and loving animals. Unfortunately, a lot
of them don't believe in eating animals, or even allowing their
animals to eat animals – even though it's exactly what their cats and
dogs need to be healthy. A lot of them are vegetarians, and by
default, their pets are, too. But not all of them are. Plenty of dog
and cat owners are meat-eaters, but they still want to buy what's best
for their pets.

So they buy their pet-food on the advice of the "experts" at the local
Petco or PetSmart, despite the fact that these stores are largely
staffed by young, idealistic folks – many of whom buy into the
vegetarian dogma hook, line and sinker. The whole thing combines to
become a snowball effect.
...
Bottom line: If vegetarian dogma did not exist, pet owners, pet-store
staffers, and veterinarians would wake up and take notice of what most
animals eat naturally – each other. They'd also start allowing this
knowledge to guide their dietary advice to pet owners, instead of
allowing their own ignorance and prejudices to spur the death and
sickening of countless numbers of the very pets they purport to be
advocates of.

--
full story:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/douglass4.html

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A little more than a year after the Chicago passed an ordinance
banning the sale of foie gras in Chicago restaurants, the lawsuit
filed against the city is far from resolution. But some local law
professors cast doubt on the suit's prospects.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Illinois Restaurant Association
in August. The lawyers representing the association suggest the law is
unconstitutional interference in interstate commerce.

"All of the foie gras that is served or sold in Chicago restaurants
originates from either another state or a foreign country and is
imported into Illinois as a result of interstate or foreign commerce
regardless of form," they argue.

--
full story:
http://www.dailyherald.com/business/story.asp?id=309304

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