newsobserver.com | Lifestyles: "Ever eat a cheeseless pizza or dunk a cookie into a glass of soymilk? For about one out of every 100 people, avoiding all animal products -- meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products -- is second nature.
They're vegan (VEE-gun) -- vegetarians who go a few steps farther than the rest. In fact, most vegans also steer clear of honey, and some avoid refined sugar (much of it is whitened with bone char).
What motivates people to go to such extremes?
Vegans are typically motivated by convictions about ecology, world hunger and animal rights. Any use of animals that exploits them or contributes to suffering is off-limits, and that extends to clothing and cosmetics, too. Vegans don't wear leather, wool or silk and they avoid makeup, shampoo and other household products made with animal ingredients or tested on animals.
Health reasons may be motivating factors, too, though they usually aren't the driving force.
Vegans (and vegetarians) are less likely than nonvegetarians to be overweight, and they have lower rates of coronary artery disease. They have lower blood cholesterol levels and lower rates of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer."
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Austria Detects Bird Flu in Poultry; Virus Spreads in Nigeria
The deadly HN51 bird flu virus was found for the first time in poultry in the European Union, after a dead swan infected by the disease was taken to an animal shelter housing three ducks and two chickens.
The infected ducks and chickens aren't from a farm, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety spokesman Oskar Wawschinek said today in an interview. Final test results on the birds are expected next week from an EU laboratory. In Nigeria, the virus may cause a ``regional disaster'' as infections widened and local authorities struggled to enforce disease control measures, the Food and Agriculture Organization said today.
``There is ample evidence that the Nigerian bird flu situation is difficult and worrisome,'' said Joseph Domenech, FAO's chief veterinary officer, in the e-mailed statement. Nigeria may need to start a vaccination program, Domenech said.
The World Health Organization is tracking the spread of the H5N1 virus in the event it evolves to spread easily from person to person, sparking a pandemic such as the 1918 outbreak that killed 50 million people worldwide. GlaxoSmithKline Plc said it's already sold out this year's production of the antiviral drug Relenza, and more than 60 countries have ordered Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu drug, also used to treat bird flu in humans.
The spread of the virus in birds creates more opportunity for human infection as people come into contact with poultry during slaughtering, plucking feathers, butchering or preparation for cooking. At least 92 of the 170 people known to have been infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus since late 2003 have died, mainly in Asia, according to the WHO.
Pandemics
A pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges and starts spreading as easily as seasonal flu, by coughing and sneezing, according to the Geneva-based WHO. Because the virus is new, humans will have no pre-existing immunity, making it likely that people who contract pandemic flu will become more seriously ill than when infected by seasonal flu, WHO said on its Web site.
So far, there isn't any evidence that H5N1 is evolving to become become more easily transmissible to humans as the disease spreads in Europe, Africa and Asia, WHO said this week. The most recent pandemic in 1968, known as Hong Kong flu, killed 1 million people worldwide.
Animal diseases are mutating to infect humans at an ``unsustainable'' rate, with more than one new pathogen capable of causing infectious diseases reported per year over the past quarter-century, a British scientist said.
Over the past 25 years, a total of 38 new pathogen species including viruses, bacteria, fungi and other organisms associated with infectious diseases in humans have been reported, Professor Mark Woolhouse, Chair of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, said this week at a meeting of scientists in St. Louis, Missouri.
Hungary
Those making the ``species jump'' from animals to humans include bird flu, variant Creutzfeld Jakob disease, derived from mad cow disease, and human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV), Woolhouse said.
The Hungarian government has appropriated 5.8 billion forint ($27.4 million) to respond to the bird flu threat, including compensation for chicken farmers for potential losses, government spokesman Andras Batiz said yesterday.
Batiz said that by early March, Hungary will have the permit in place to distribute 20,000 doses of the bird flu vaccine that is being developed in Hungary. While Hungary's government has pronounced the vaccine effective against the H5N1 virus, it has yet to be fully tested.
``We have precisely enough -- that is, 20,000 doses -- available to us in Hungary, so that if the situation comes up where bird flu spreads to domestic poultry, that the surgeon general can decide to vaccinate people who breed or who work immediately with those birds,'' Batiz said.
Germany
Germany's most recent confirmed H5N1 cases, involving 18 swans, three geese and a Eurasian buzzard, have brought the country's tally above 100 and prompted authorities to place the coastline of the northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, on the Baltic Sea, under observation.
The FAO has allocated $1 million to support surveillance in 20 African nations, including Nigeria and Egypt, where infections in birds have been reported.
An Indonesian woman who died Feb. 20 tested positive for the H5N1 strain in a local laboratory check, Ilham Patu, a doctor coordinating bird flu efforts at Jakarta's Sulianti Saroso Hospital said today.
Malaysia is investigating how 40 chickens became infected and died last week in the state of Selangor, Kamaruddin Md Isa, head of the disease control unit at the Veterinary Services Department, said today. The outbreak of the disease is Malaysia's first in over a year.
Fighting Cocks
Illegally imported fighting cocks are ``a possibility, as well as wild migratory birds,'' Kamaruddin said. The result of the probe may be known within a week, he said. Cock fighting is common in Southeast Asia as gamblers bet on the winner.
At least five Asian countries including China banned imports of birds following the recent outbreaks in India and Malaysia. Iran banned exports of red meat to check against a ``steep'' climb in red meat and fish prices as customers shun poultry products because of concern over bird flu.
India killed more than 223,000 fowl as officials try to prevent the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus to people in the world's second-most populous nation.
The government will provide livestock insurance plans covering 620,000 animals nationwide following the recent culls, Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi today. India had 489 million poultry as of 2003, when the latest livestock census data was released.
The infected ducks and chickens aren't from a farm, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety spokesman Oskar Wawschinek said today in an interview. Final test results on the birds are expected next week from an EU laboratory. In Nigeria, the virus may cause a ``regional disaster'' as infections widened and local authorities struggled to enforce disease control measures, the Food and Agriculture Organization said today.
``There is ample evidence that the Nigerian bird flu situation is difficult and worrisome,'' said Joseph Domenech, FAO's chief veterinary officer, in the e-mailed statement. Nigeria may need to start a vaccination program, Domenech said.
The World Health Organization is tracking the spread of the H5N1 virus in the event it evolves to spread easily from person to person, sparking a pandemic such as the 1918 outbreak that killed 50 million people worldwide. GlaxoSmithKline Plc said it's already sold out this year's production of the antiviral drug Relenza, and more than 60 countries have ordered Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu drug, also used to treat bird flu in humans.
The spread of the virus in birds creates more opportunity for human infection as people come into contact with poultry during slaughtering, plucking feathers, butchering or preparation for cooking. At least 92 of the 170 people known to have been infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus since late 2003 have died, mainly in Asia, according to the WHO.
Pandemics
A pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges and starts spreading as easily as seasonal flu, by coughing and sneezing, according to the Geneva-based WHO. Because the virus is new, humans will have no pre-existing immunity, making it likely that people who contract pandemic flu will become more seriously ill than when infected by seasonal flu, WHO said on its Web site.
So far, there isn't any evidence that H5N1 is evolving to become become more easily transmissible to humans as the disease spreads in Europe, Africa and Asia, WHO said this week. The most recent pandemic in 1968, known as Hong Kong flu, killed 1 million people worldwide.
Animal diseases are mutating to infect humans at an ``unsustainable'' rate, with more than one new pathogen capable of causing infectious diseases reported per year over the past quarter-century, a British scientist said.
Over the past 25 years, a total of 38 new pathogen species including viruses, bacteria, fungi and other organisms associated with infectious diseases in humans have been reported, Professor Mark Woolhouse, Chair of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, said this week at a meeting of scientists in St. Louis, Missouri.
Hungary
Those making the ``species jump'' from animals to humans include bird flu, variant Creutzfeld Jakob disease, derived from mad cow disease, and human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV), Woolhouse said.
The Hungarian government has appropriated 5.8 billion forint ($27.4 million) to respond to the bird flu threat, including compensation for chicken farmers for potential losses, government spokesman Andras Batiz said yesterday.
Batiz said that by early March, Hungary will have the permit in place to distribute 20,000 doses of the bird flu vaccine that is being developed in Hungary. While Hungary's government has pronounced the vaccine effective against the H5N1 virus, it has yet to be fully tested.
``We have precisely enough -- that is, 20,000 doses -- available to us in Hungary, so that if the situation comes up where bird flu spreads to domestic poultry, that the surgeon general can decide to vaccinate people who breed or who work immediately with those birds,'' Batiz said.
Germany
Germany's most recent confirmed H5N1 cases, involving 18 swans, three geese and a Eurasian buzzard, have brought the country's tally above 100 and prompted authorities to place the coastline of the northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, on the Baltic Sea, under observation.
The FAO has allocated $1 million to support surveillance in 20 African nations, including Nigeria and Egypt, where infections in birds have been reported.
An Indonesian woman who died Feb. 20 tested positive for the H5N1 strain in a local laboratory check, Ilham Patu, a doctor coordinating bird flu efforts at Jakarta's Sulianti Saroso Hospital said today.
Malaysia is investigating how 40 chickens became infected and died last week in the state of Selangor, Kamaruddin Md Isa, head of the disease control unit at the Veterinary Services Department, said today. The outbreak of the disease is Malaysia's first in over a year.
Fighting Cocks
Illegally imported fighting cocks are ``a possibility, as well as wild migratory birds,'' Kamaruddin said. The result of the probe may be known within a week, he said. Cock fighting is common in Southeast Asia as gamblers bet on the winner.
At least five Asian countries including China banned imports of birds following the recent outbreaks in India and Malaysia. Iran banned exports of red meat to check against a ``steep'' climb in red meat and fish prices as customers shun poultry products because of concern over bird flu.
India killed more than 223,000 fowl as officials try to prevent the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus to people in the world's second-most populous nation.
The government will provide livestock insurance plans covering 620,000 animals nationwide following the recent culls, Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters in New Delhi today. India had 489 million poultry as of 2003, when the latest livestock census data was released.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Love for animals turns Liz Hurley vegetarian!
Love for animals turns Liz Hurley vegetarian!
Washington: British beauty Elizabeth Hurley has become a vegetarian after falling in love with the animals on her farm.
The actress has a working farm in the English countryside that she hopes to retire to when her acting and modelling careers come to an end.
And she admits living alongside nature is having an effect on her.
"There's sheep and cows and chickens and rabbits. It has put me off eating meat because these creatures are so sweet. I know every lamb and have given them names like David, Flora and Angela," she was quoted by Contactmusic,as saying.
"You're not meant to get too attached because it is a working farm and they are meant to go for meat.
But there is a little lamb that I bottle feed and I don't want him to be eaten at all," she added.
Washington: British beauty Elizabeth Hurley has become a vegetarian after falling in love with the animals on her farm.
The actress has a working farm in the English countryside that she hopes to retire to when her acting and modelling careers come to an end.
And she admits living alongside nature is having an effect on her.
"There's sheep and cows and chickens and rabbits. It has put me off eating meat because these creatures are so sweet. I know every lamb and have given them names like David, Flora and Angela," she was quoted by Contactmusic,as saying.
"You're not meant to get too attached because it is a working farm and they are meant to go for meat.
But there is a little lamb that I bottle feed and I don't want him to be eaten at all," she added.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
MLK Day: Vegan Soul Food
DCist: MLK Day: Vegan Soul Food: "Dexter and Coretta King believe that promoting animal rights is just the next 'logical extension' of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s philosophy of non-violence. "
Monday, January 16, 2006
Animal scares create demand for vegetarian ingredients
Corporations are beginning to shift over to vegetarian ingredients in their products, to ward off any potential 'diseases in certain animal species.'
Food safety fears have led to the emergence a new market in vegetarian supplement ingredients, and industry insiders predicting that as many as half of all ingredients could be non-animal derived in the next ten years.
Scares such as BSE in cattle and avian ‘flu in poultry have prompted consumers and marketers to cast about for supplements containing no animal derivatives, and that means ingredient companies are having to reconsider the carriers they use or develop synthetic variants or seek out vegetarian sources for many of their products...
Food safety fears have led to the emergence a new market in vegetarian supplement ingredients, and industry insiders predicting that as many as half of all ingredients could be non-animal derived in the next ten years.
Scares such as BSE in cattle and avian ‘flu in poultry have prompted consumers and marketers to cast about for supplements containing no animal derivatives, and that means ingredient companies are having to reconsider the carriers they use or develop synthetic variants or seek out vegetarian sources for many of their products...
Saturday, January 14, 2006
The Vegan Family Cookbook
If you like to tinker with recipes as much as I do, this is the perfect cookbook. The recipes are well laid out with plenty of space to add notes. Most of the recipes are simple enough to experment with. It's organized by category: Snacks and dips, Soups, Salads and dressings, Vegetables, Side dishes, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Beverages, Breads, Desserts, and more. There's a lot of variety and some great ideas, including a fake cheese sauce for those just making the transition to veganism. One of the best vegan cookbooks I've found. You can buy it here.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Logan students satisfy vegan cravings
High school student create vegan alternative to school lunch:
"After six months of heavy lobbying, Rupani and her club mates convinced school administrators that healthy food not only belonged in the lunch line, but that students would buy it if given the chance. Now, they are proving their point.
Since school resumed this month after winter vacation, Rupani and other club members
JAMES LOGAN HIGH SCHOOL student Nathaniel Nguyen stocks a cart with water, fruit juice and vegan foods such as soup, salads and nuts. (Bea Ahbeck - Staff)
have hawked soy milk, fresh fruit and vegan burgers from a small stand they call the Smart Cart, strategically positioned outside the school cafeteria in Colt Courtyard."
Saturday, December 31, 2005
What’s in a Name?
"Deciding to make a statement every time he’s asked for or signs his name, a 19-year-old PETA staff member—formerly known as Chris Garnett—has legally changed his name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com, the same name as PETA’s Web site that gives the lowdown on KFC’s refusal to eliminate the worst abuses of chickens raised and killed to fill its buckets. The former Dover Plains, New York, resident and current Street Team coordinator of peta2—PETA’s youth division—has the official state papers and driver’s license to prove it. His parents—who have been supportive since he went vegan at age 15—were a little shocked at first, but although they insist on still calling him Chris, they’ve accepted the change."
Thursday, December 22, 2005
PETA’S SEXY ‘SANTA’S HELPER’ LANDS IN EVANSVILLE TO GIVE AWAY TOFURKY
Ho ho ho:
A sexy 'Santa’s Helper' wearing a skimpy outfit and a jaunty red hat will hand out free Tofurky—a soy-based roast that includes savory stuffing—in Evansville as part of PETA’s national tour to promote a vegetarian holiday season. The sexy vegetarian hopes to reach people’s hearts through their stomachs and is urging consumers to stay true to the holiday spirit by spreading comfort and joy to turkeys too
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