Tuesday, December 2, 2008

*EYFA NETWORK NEWS! November 2008*

EYFA newsletter is a tool to spread information on campaigns, actions,
meetings and convergence happening around Europe and beyond. Info is
forwarded to our network e-list and to network partners and contacts.
Please send us info <eyfaATeyfa.org> if you have news to be spread.

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*.on Veganism and beyond

Since 1994, the year in which the English Vegan Society turned 50,
November 1st has been celebrated as World Vegan Day. For many vegan and
animal rights groups this has turned November into Vegan Month which is
why we have decided to focus this November's newsletter on Veganism and
some surrounding issues.

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Contents

  1. Veganism?
  2. Anti-speciesism & Abolitionism
  3. The Ecology of Meat
  4. Recent Vegan & Animal Rights News
  5. Further useful resources

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* 1. Veganism

While for some veganism is simply a set of dietary choices, for others it
is an inherent part of their struggle against a system that oppresses and
devalues lives, all lives, while at the same time creating a meat industry
which has caused irreversible damage to the environment.

"It is all very well to say that individuals must wrestle with their
consciences—but only if their consciences are awake and informed.
Industrial society, alas, hides animals' suffering. Few people would
themselves keep a hen in a shoebox for her egg-laying life; but
practically everyone will eat smartly packaged, 'farm fresh' eggs from
battery hens…milk drinkers do not see the calves torn from their mothers."
The Economist, "What Humans Owe to Animals," 8/19/95

Why Vegan? is a great resource on why being vegan is important. It covers
a wide variety of issues connected to veganism such as the conditions for
animals in factory farms, in transport as well as in slaughterhouses, the
environmental impact of meat, as well as offering resources about healthy
vegan eating. The guide is available in many languages with the english
version here: http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/

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* 2. Anti-Speciesism & Abolitionism

* Anti-Speciesism

Anti-speciesism is a new wave similar to the anti-sexist or anti-racist
one which seeks the elimination of all discrimination against particular
beings based on their membership to a certain species. At the core of this
movement is that the a being should not be valued based on its ability to
make moral judgements, but rather on its ability to know pain or pleasure.
Anti-speciesists believe that the only way forward is to give up treating
animals as things from which humans can benefit. Source:
http://www.rightsforanimals.org/antispeciesism.php

Antispeziesismus (german) http://www.antispe.de/

* Abolitionism

Abolitionism is a concept closely related to anti-speciesism in that it
too is based only on sentience and no other cognitive characteristic.
Abolitionism seeks to abolish all animal exploitation through a legal and
moral paradigm shift. While not only one tactic is prefferred by all
abolitionists nonviolent vegan advocacy is one of the baselines especially
for some of its more prominent advocates such as Gary Francione.
Abolitionists believe that the legal ownership of animals must be
abolished and are against welfarist animal rights interventions such as
those of PETA which they consider to "risk making the public feel more
comfortable about its use of animals." Source:
http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/

The Abolitionist's Religion, Veganism and Anti-Speciesism Issue
http://www.upc-online.org/whatsnew/60107abolitionist.html

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* 3. The Ecology of Meat

While for vegan, animal rights and environmental activists it has been
clear for many years that the nature of the meat industry had a negative
impact on all beings involved in recent years even mainstream media and
international officials have had to recognize the damage that the growth
of this production has caused and will continue to cause worldwide.

"Global demand for meat has multiplied in recent years, encouraged by
growing affluence and nourished by the proliferation of huge, confined
animal feeding operations. These assembly-line meat factories consume
enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant
greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and
other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths
of the world's tropical rain forests." Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler is an
indepth article published in the New York Times at the beginning of the
year dealing with this issue.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html

On November 21st, as Americans prepared to celebrate the annual harvest
festival that is Thanksgiving, the World Society for the Protection of
Animals (WSPA) released "Eating our Future: The environmental impact of
industrial animal agriculture." The report details how current
agricultural practices in the U.S. and elsewhere contribute to the
environmental, economic and social crises faced by developed and
developing countries alike, and makes a call for shifting to humane and
sustainable models of production. It also examines the impact of the rapid
growth of meat production, and highlights the urgent need to challenge and
restrain the expansion of that production and reverse it as soon as
possible.
Source:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Industrial-Animal-Agriculture-Eating-Our/story.aspx?guid=%7B3B66B82D-4829-4A61-A213-3375525AC8E2%7D

The full report is available from the WSPA and includes three main
sections: Environmental Impact outlining the relationship between meat
production and climate change, air pollution, water use, land use,
biodiversity loss, as well as statistics on management of animals;
Economics, social justice and humaneness dealing with animal care, human &
animal health, disease outbreaks; Reducing and reversing the damage which
attempts to tackle various aspects of possible solutions. Source:
http://www.wspa-usa.org/download/140_eating_our_future_nov_08_.pdf

Cook Plants, Not Planets! Short article outlining the direct corrolation
between consuming meat and the environmental damage resulting from that
consumption.
http://www.aseed.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=144&Itemid=251

"People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a
personal and effective sacrifice that would help tackle climate change." A
recent article published in the Guardian presenting some of the ideas of
Dr. Rajenda Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, related to the over-consumption and production of meat
and its detrimental impact on climate change.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/07/food.foodanddrink

* Further information on the Environmental Impact of Meat

Meat by Numbers is a short article breaking down the statistics on the
consumption of beef in Britain in relation to environmental impact such as
amount of water used to produce milk, carbon dioxide emitted during
production of meat,
etc.http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/07/food.beef

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* 4. Recent Vegan & Animal Rights News

European Vegetarian and Animal News Alliance with news in many languages
from all over the globe related to vegetarianism, veganism, animal rights,
environmental impact, etc. http://www.evana.org/

Animal Rights Media (dutch) http://www.animalrights.nl/\

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* 5. Further useful resources

Just starting out as a vegan? Check out the Vegan's Starter Guide which
includes info on staying healthy as a vegan, simple meal ideas and further
recipes, replacers and substitutes for eggs/dairy as well as further
resources http://www.veganoutreach.org/guide/

Veganism in a Nutshell http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/vegan.htm


* What to Eat?

A complete listing of all E-numbers containing animal ingredients
http://www.veggieglobal.com/nutrition/non-vegetarian-food-additives.htm

An exhaustive listing of all ingredients derived from animals which might
be found in food as well as other goods
http://animal-ingredients.tripod.com/

Vegweb http://vegweb.com/

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World http://vegancupcakes.wordpress.com/

All about Tempeh http://www.tempeh.info/

Happy Cow's Guide to Vegetarian Restaurants and Health Food Stores in
Europe http://www.happycow.net/europe/index.html

Express the vegan dietary restrictions in different languages with the
Vegan Passport http://www.lekkerplantaardig.net/vgp/v-pas.htm


* Vegan prisoners' support group http://www.vpsg.org/aboutvpsg.html


* Groups and information from around Europe

http://www.vegetarisme.info/ (french)
http://www.animalrights.ru (russian)
http://vegan.de/ (german)
http://www.veganitalia.com (italian)
http://www.svr.ro (romanian)
http://de.veganwiki.org (the vegan wiki in german)


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*Published electronically by EYFA*
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