Monthly Vegan Potluck
There is a Chapel Hill / Carrboro community vegan potluck on the first Sunday of each month. Contact Donna at 933-7079 for details.

School Lunch Liaison
We're very lucky to have Joelle Hendrick as TVS' new School Lunch Liaison. Joelle is a Registered Dietitian, with an M.Ed. in Public Health Nutrition, and she just completed the requirements for an R.N. She has several years of experience in nutrition counseling and is a previous member of the American Dietetic Association's Vegetarian Practice Group. She will initially be finding out what vegetarian options area school children have in their school lunches, and working with them to provide input and educational materials from organizations like ours, PCRM, and others. Please contact Joelle at 969-8688 if you would like to help.

Dr. Spock Advocates Vegan Children
Dr. Benjamin Spock has influenced countless babies and their parents with his Baby and Child Care, which, throughout its 52 years, has been the second-best selling book next to the Bible. The seventh edition, recently published weeks after Dr. Spock died at the age of 94, advises parents to raise their children vegan. Finding that his own health improved after moving to a vegan diet in 1991, he states in the new edition, "I no longer recommend dairy products after the age of 2 years. Other calcium sources offer many advantages that dairy products do not have." Dr. Spock had said he wanted his book to be "in the forefront" of the increasing evidence of the relationship between animal-derived foods and disease, and his rejection of cow's milk has been viewed as radical and controversial.

Vegetarian-Friendly Colleges and Camps
The Vegetarian Resource Group has an 8-page booklet summarizing a survey they did of colleges and summer camps offering vegetarian food. To obtain a copy, send 5 first class stamps to VRG, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203. You can also order a copy of their great travel resource book listing over 2000 restaurants, Vegetarian Journal's Guide to Natural Foods Restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, by sending them $15.

Potential Class-Action Lawsuit Against Wendy's
Apparently, Wendy's (fast-food restaurant) had been serving a fresh stuffed garden vegetable pita with (animal-derived) gelatin in the Garden Ranch dressing. There is a pending lawsuit against Wendy's claiming that the company knew about the non-vegetarian gelatin but nevertheless advertised the sandwich as vegetarian. Please contact the Vegetarian Awareness Network at (888)VEG-DINE if you have eaten the garden pita and want to be included in a potential class-action lawsuit. (Thanks to our friends with the Central Jersey Vegetarian Group for letting us know about this.)

Children's Magazine to Feature Animal and Vegetarian Theme
New Moon: The Magazine for Girls and their Dreams (New Moon Publishing, P.O. Box 3620, Duluth, MN 55803-3620; www.newmoon.org, newmoon@computerpro.com) will have a November/December 1998 special section on animals where readers will submit their thoughts on ideas ranging from whether they're vegetarian, to what pets they enjoy and whether they are interested in animal rights. Thanks to Orion Pozo for letting us know about this!

ADA Revises Position Toward Vegetarian Diets
In November, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) published in their Journal [Jnl ADA, v.97, pgs. 1317-1321] a revised position paper on vegetarian diets. The previous position was that "vegetarian diets are healthful and nutritionally adequate when appropriately planned" but was updated in light of increasing scientific evidence showing strong health benefits. It now states that "vegetarian diets are healthful, are nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases", and includes 44 references showing the positive relationship between vegetarian diets and risk reduction for coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, colorectal and lung cancer, and other diseases. A food guide allows for "zero to 3 servings of milk, yogurt, and cheese", as opposed to the USDA's food pyramid of 2-4 servings. Contact the ADA at (800)877-1600 ext.4898 for a complimentary copy of the position paper, or visit www.eatright.org/adap1197.html on the web.

Number of US Vegetarians
It surprises me how frequently non-vegetarians, when the topic comes up, talk about being on the path to vegetarianism. When we reviewed in Fall 1995 (v9#4) studies of how many vegetarians there are in this country, we found the most conservative estimate of ovo-lacto vegetarians who never eat fish or meat to be between 1/2 and 1 percent. Well, according to a recent Vegetarian Times survey, 46 percent of Americans (120 million) are reducing their meat consumption. I've been amazed how many people it seems in the last year or two are suddenly familiar with the term vegan!

Worldwatch Institute Cautions Against Meat Consumption
Worldwatch Institute, a nonprofit public policy research organization concerned with the complex links between the world economy and its environmental support systems, on June 30 published a paper about the negative effects of meat consumption. (It can be found on the web at www.worldwatch.org/alerts/pr980704.html.) Though Worldwatch is concerned with widespread food scarcity, they never have focused on meat consumption before. The paper, authored by Brian Halweil, a young vegetarian who recently graduated from college, cites problems with human health, ecological damage, overgrazing, world hunger, and animal sewage pollution, all directly attributable to meat consumption. Brian can be reached at (202)452-1992 ext. 538 or halweil@worldwatch.org.

Rynn Berry's new book on Vegetarianism and World Religions
We're lucky to have Rynn visiting us in the Triangle this September (see calendar). He has a new book with an official release date of October (but which has limited availability since June) called Food for the Gods: Vegetarianism and the World's Religions. I received a copy shortly before going to press on this newsletter, and a quick skim leads me to feel that this is bound to be the reference on this subject. Look for a review in the next newsletter.

Upcoming book on Western Religion and Vegetarianism
Thou Shalt not Hurt or Destroy Thanks to the San Francisco Vegetarian Society, (their Nov./Dec. 1997 newsletter) just before the end of 1997 I spoke with Vasu Murti, a well-spoken new author with a book suggesting how western religions very much support a compassionate and vegetarian lifestyle. Currently it is available as a manuscript directly from him (30 Villanova Ln, Oakland, CA 94611) for $20. Look for a review in an upcoming Grapevine.

Spiritual Vegetarian Book for Sale
I have several copies of a hardcover book, "Reflections" by Akbarali Jetha, that TVS received on consignment. It consists of simple and inspiring aphorisms about nonviolence, compassion, and vegetarianism. If any of you want to buy this 200-page book (which I think is only published in India) for $14, please let me know.

Chapel Hill High Cancels Donkey Basketball Game
On February 23, Chapel Hill High School had scheduled a "donkey basketball game" where players sit on donkeys, subjecting them to cruel pushing and pulling. Because of the involvement of the NC Network for Animals and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the event was cancelled. Getting involved does make a difference! Thanks to Dietrich von Haugwitz for bringing this to our attention.

Sensitive Butchers
Thanks to the Milwaukee Area Resources for Vegetarianism (v4#4 - April) for this quote from "News of the Weird" published news reports in the monthly Funny Times. "A federation of meat-shop owners in France ... say they're hurt that reporters routinely refer to vicious murderers as 'butchers'. Butchers, said the association, are 'gentle, peace-loving artisans'."

Delights of the Road?
Earlier this year, a bill passed in West Virginia which allows drivers to keep any wildlife (except protected birds, spotted fawns, or bear cubs) that they kill while driving (provided that they report it within 12 hours). Those who argued for the bill suggested that the eating of roadkill would save the state money in removing the dead animals.

Tanzanian Justice
In early March, Tanzania's courts sentenced a dog to die by hanging. His human companion, 25-year-old John Kachela, had named the dog "Immigration", and the prosecutor felt that the "highly respected and law-abiding" department was scandalized when John would walk the dog in public places and happily call out the name. The dog was put on death row with no appeal for even a stay of execution. Contact the Tanzanian embassy or the Soc. for Prev. of Cruelty to Animals in Tanzania if you have an opinion.

Sexy Vegetables
Britain's Vegetarian Society is enticing non-vegetarians with a new 50-second advertisement to be released in 250 cinemas in England in late June. They feel that there is a public perception of vegetables as being boring, and are trying to add a "sexy spark" of sensuality to vegetarianism by featuring melons being caressed, chilies, and a flaccid asparagus. Good luck, but to me the ethics and health benefits of vegetarianism themselves sound pretty sexy!

EarthSave Job Available
EarthSave International, inspired by John Robbins as a non-profit organization promoting food choices healthy for people and the planet, is searching for a National Development Director in Louisville, KY. If you want to be paid to do something that directly helps the vegetarian cause, check it out! Contact EarthSave by July 30 at 600 Distillery Commons Suite 200 Louisville, KY 40206-1922, fax 502-589-2171, www.earthsave.org, or earthsave@aol.com.

TVS-Chapter Credit Cards
If you use credit cards and haven't yet signed up for First Financial Bank in Wisconsin's Morris MasterCard (TVS chapter 692; apply by web page address below or by calling (800)64-CATS-9 and mentioning #692) or Capitol One's Action for Animals MasterCard (call 800-367-7297 and give our chapter # - 0317), please consider it. With no cost to you, TVS receives a half percent royalty on all your purchases. Further details on either credit card is available on the web at www.sni.net/nacard/nac2.html. General questions on these programs can be answered by Ed Shelton of National Affinity Cards at (800)545-5885, or by email at nactor@msn.com.

North American Vegetarian Society
TVS is an Independent Affiliate of the North American Vegetarian Society. TVS members can become NAVS members at half price, with benefits including the quarterly Vegetarian Voice magazine, as well as discounts on merchandise and Summerfest conferences. For more information, contact them at NAVS, P.O. Box 72, Dolgeville, NY 13329, (518)568-7970, navs@superior.net.

Internet Resources
For those of you who haven't been to the TVS web site, do visit www.trianglevegsociety.org/. Sarah Hoff has done a beautiful job putting TVS material online -- including pictures of some of our events and many interesting links. If you have an email address and aren't on the TVS email list, drop me a note (barman@cs.unc.edu); I send out information such as event reminders every few weeks. (If you're on the list, you've already seen the remaining blurbs below.) You may also wish to subscribe to the VEG-NC mailing list to see information about vegetarian events all over the state; visit www.waste.org/regveg (you can join lists for other regions as well) or send email to waste@waste.org with the message subscribe veg-nc-digest.

TVS to Adopt-A-Highway
TVS is going to be involved in the state adopt-a-highway program! I'm going to find out what stretches of road are available in the Triangle. The basic idea is that we'll have about a 2-mile stretch and we have to commit to pick up trash at least 4 times a year. It should give us some publicity (they'll put up our name at the beginning and end of our stretch) and an opportunity to do some fun community service together. Please contact me to participate in choosing the road and in being part of the pickup team. I hope we can get a group of 4-8 people who can commit to working together; perhaps two can work together on a half-mile stretch, and maybe we can all have dinner afterwards.

McLibel Coverage on 60 Minutes
Most of you probably are familiar with the "McLibel" court case, the longest in English history, where McDonald's sued two activists (Helen Steel and Dave Morris - who will be speakers at the Compassionate Living Festival in Raleigh this October!) for distributing a pamphlet about the company (see our coverage of this in the last newsletter). I hope that many of you were able to see the 13-minute story on national television on the news show 60 Minutes on December 28, 1997. Also, early in 1998 there were several shows critical of factory farming and the dairy industry on CBS television's Hard Copy program.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC Suggests Dietary Changes
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC, the state's largest health insurer, with 1.6 million members, this past March advocated dietary changes for better health. They suggested eating less protein, and obtaining that protein from plant and not animal sources. They also encouraged the eating of more complex carbohydrates (like fresh fruits, potatoes and whole-grain foods such as pasta, cereal, rice and bread), limiting fat and caffeine, drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day, and eating larger breakfasts with lighter meals later in the day.