06/12/2011 JVNA Online Newsletter

Shalom everyone,

This update/Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) Online Newsletter has the following items:

1. Superb PDF Refutes Claims of Climate Skeptics

2. How Veg Diets Can Fight Cancer

3. Why Such Denial While the World approaches a Climate Catastrophe?

4. Excellent Material on Environmental Impacts of Animal-Based Agriculture

5. Update on the World Week for the Abolition of Meat

6. The Coming Food Crisis

7. Animated Cartoon Shows Animal Abuses on Factory Farms

8. YOU Can Become a “World Peace Diet” Educator

9. We Are In for Even Hotter Weather

10. Position Paper on Climate Change from the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America

11. International Vegetarian Week Contest Being Planned/Suggestions Welcome

12. Great Videos About Yale University Program Combining Religious Teachings to Environmental Issues

13. Action Alert: You Can Help Get Healthier Food Choices Into Schools

Some material has been deferred to a later update/newsletter to keep this one from being even longer.

[Materials in brackets like this [ ] within an article or forwarded message are my editorial notes/comments.]

Opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the JVNA, unless otherwise indicated, but may be presented to increase awareness and/or to encourage respectful dialogue. Also, material re conferences, retreats, forums, trips, and other events does not necessarily imply endorsement by JVNA or endorsement of the kashrut, Shabbat observances, or any other Jewish observances, but may be presented for informational purposes. Please use e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, and web sites to get further information about any event that you are interested in. Also, JVNA does not necessarily agree with all positions of groups whose views are included or whose events are announced in this newsletter.

As always, your comments and suggestions are very welcome.

Thanks,

Richard

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1. Superb PDF Refutes Claims of Climate Skeptics

http://www.skepticalscience.com/The-Scientific-Guide-to-Global-Warming-Skepticism.html

This PDF is at the website of Republicans for Environmental Protection. Hence, it can be an especially valuable way to respond to climate deniers. It is very clearly written, with helpful graphs, and responses to comments from readers.

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2. How Veg Diets Can Fight Cancer

Fight cancer with your fork

By BRUCE FRIEDRICH

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals

Published: Monday, Jun. 6, 2011 - 5:13 am

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/06/3679963/fight-cancer-with-your-fork.html

According to a new study, one of the deadliest types of cancer is also one of the most preventable. The World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research found that eating too much meat raises the risk of colorectal cancer and that eating fiber-rich vegetarian foods reduces the risk. What's more, nearly half (45 percent) of colorectal cancer cases "could be prevented if we all ate more fiber-rich plant foods and less meat."

This serves as yet another reminder that one of the best weapons in the war on cancer is a fork.

Scientists at Imperial College London conducted the new analysis as part of the World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research's groundbreaking Continuous Update Project (CUP). They found that a person who eats just 3.5 ounces of pork, beef or lamb every day has a 17 percent higher risk of developing colorectal cancer than does someone who eats no meat.

Three ounces of meat is approximately the size of a deck of cards. That's just one serving size as determined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, yet it's far less than most Americans ingest in one sitting, let alone in one day.

Just about any meat is loaded with the saturated fat that the American Cancer Society believes is linked to cancer of the colon and rectum, but processed meats such as ham, bacon, hot dogs and deli slices carry an even greater risk. According to the CUP report, if a person eats 3.5 ounces of processed meat every day, his or her risk for colorectal cancer increases by 36 percent. The more meat you eat, the higher your risk will be.

Almost as bad as what's in meat is what's not in it: fiber. Meat and dairy products have absolutely no fiber at all, while fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains are loaded with it. Fiber helps speed the passage of food through the colon. Meat, on the other hand, tends to hang around and, well, rot.

In my work with PETA, I've been researching and writing about vegetarian issues for more than 15 years. And the conclusion of each new nutritional study is nearly always the same. There is overwhelming evidence linking meat to some of our society's most severe health problems. Conversely, eating vegetarian foods can greatly reduce your risk of developing many of these same diseases - and in some cases, actually reverse them.

For example, according to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarians have "lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease, lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer" than meat-eaters do. The American Cancer Society recommends "choosing most of your foods from plant sources and limiting your intake of high-fat foods such as those from animal sources."

If we take away anything from such nutritional research, it should be that the best prescription for good health is always prevention. And if making the sensible switch to a vegan diet can so greatly benefit our health - not to mention save animals' lives - why not at least try it? With summer fast approaching, and with it a wealth of locally grown fruits and vegetables available in farmers' markets and at produce stands, now is a great time to start eating for life.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Bruce Friedrich is a vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 501 Front Street, Norfolk, Va. 23510; www.PETA.org. Information about PETA's funding may be found at www.peta.org/about/numbers.asp.

This essay is available to McClatchy-Tribune News Service subscribers. McClatchy-Tribune did not subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of McClatchy-Tribune or its editors.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/06/3679963/fight-cancer-with-your-fork.html#ixzz1OWwD77Qz

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3. Why Such Denial While the World approaches a Climate Catastrophe?

Glued to The Weather Channel While the World Burns
By Paul Rogat Loeb

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-loeb/glued-to-the-weather-chan_b_871832.html

Following the weather is beginning to feel like revisiting the Biblical plagues. Tornadoes rip through Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma—even Massachusetts. A million acres burn in Texas wildfires. The Army Corps of Engineers floods 135,000 acres of farmland and three million acres of bayou country to save Memphis and New Orleans. Earlier in the past year, a 2,000-mile storm dumped near-record snow from Texas to Maine, a fifth of Pakistan flooded, fires made Moscow’s air nearly unbreathable, and drought devastated China’s wheat crop. You’d think we’d suspect something’s grievously wrong.

But media coverage rarely connects the unfolding cataclysms with the global climate change that fuels them. We can’t guarantee that any specific disaster is caused by our warming atmosphere. The links are delayed and diffuse. But considered together, the escalating floods, droughts, tornadoes, and hurricanes fit all the predicted models. So do the extreme snowfalls and ice storms, as our heated atmosphere carries more water vapor. So why deem them isolated acts of God—instead of urgent warnings to change our course?

Scientists are more certain than ever, from the National Academy of Science and its counterparts in every other country to such “radical groups” as the American Chemical Society and American Statistical Society. But the media has buried their voices, giving near-equal “point/counterpoint” credence to a handful of deniers promoted by Exxon, the coal companies and the Koch brothers. Fox News’s managing editor even prohibited any reporting on global climate change that didn’t immediately then question the overwhelming scientific consensus. The escalating disasters dominate the news, but stripped of context. We’re given no perspective to reflect on their likely root causes.

Meanwhile, leading Republicans who once acknowledged the need to act, like Tim Pawlenty, disavow their previous stands like sinners begging forgiveness. A Tea Party Congress insists that they know better than do all the world’s scientists, dismissing decades of meticulous research as Ivory Tower elitism. Even Obama has fallen largely silent, as if he can’t afford an honest discussion.

As a result, too many Americans still don’t know what to believe. We can’t see, smell or taste the core emissions that create climate change. The industrial processes that create the crisis are so familiar we don’t even question them, no more than the air that we breathe. And if we’re not getting hammered by the weather, the world still seems normal, particularly on a lovely summer day. Plus we’re told that in the current economic crisis we can’t afford even to think about climate change or any other urgent environmental issue, even though the technologies that provide the necessary alternatives are precisely those our country will need to compete economically. Add in a culture of overload and distraction, and it’s easy to retreat into denial or self-defeating resignation. It’s as if half our population was diagnosed with life-threatening but treatable cancer—visited the world’s leading medical centers to confirm it--and then decided instead to heed forwarded emails that assure them that they can freely ignore the counsel of the doctors and simply do nothing.

The antidote to denial and the forces that promote it is courage. And as Egypt and Tunisia remind us, courage is contagious. We need to act and speak out in every conceivable way, and demand that our leaders do the same. We need to engage new allies, like religious evangelicals who’ve recently spoken out to defend “God’s creation,” from best-selling minister Rick Warren to highly conservative organizations like the Christian Coalition. We need to work with labor activists who link this ultimate issue with the renewal of American jobs. A recent BlueGreen Alliance conference, for instance, brought together leaders of major unions like the United Steel Workers, SEIU, Communications Workers of America, United Auto Workers, Laborers’ International, and American Federation of Teachers, with environmental groups like the Sierra Club, National Resource Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation and Union of Concerned Scientists, all speaking about the need to invest in an economy where both ordinary workers and the planet are respected. We need to join with these allies and others to voice our outrage at those risking our common future for greed. We need to find creative ways to do this until America’s political climate comes to grips with the changing climate of the earth. Here’s hoping the mounting disasters will finally teach us to turn off The Weather Channel and begin taking action.

Paul Loeb is author of Soul of a Citizen, with 130,000 copies in print including a newly updated second edition. He's also the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, named the #3 political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association. See www.paulloeb.org.

To receive Paul’s articles directly please email sympa@npogroups.org with the subject line: 
subscribe paulloeb-articles.edu

Sign up here for Paul's Huffington Post articles (a more comprehensive list)

To sign up for Paul’s Facebook page, visit http://www.facebook.com/PaulLoebBooks

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4. Excellent Material on Environmental Impacts of Animal-Based Agriculture

Veg Mondays Good for the World

http://www.vegmondays.org/Environment.html

Eating ‘veg’ has tremendous benefits for our land, water and air. By reducing or eliminating our consumption of animal products we not only conserve vast quantities of fresh water (needed to slaughter and “process” animals), but we also protect our land, water and air from a major source of pollution.

On average it takes 11 times more fossil fuel to make one calorie of animal protein as it does to make one calorie of plant protein. (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 78, No. 3, Pimentel & Pimentel, Sept. 2003)

Livestock are responsible for 68% of ammonia emissions, which contribute significantly to acid rain and the acidification of ecosystems. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, 2006, p. 272)

In the U.S., livestock production is responsible for 55% of all soil erosion on cropped land and pastureland, 40% of which ends up in water resources. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, 2006, p. 73, Box 2.5)

It takes 5 times more water to yield 1000 kcal of meat as it does to yield 1000 kcal of fruits, vegetables or grains. (Malin Falkenmark & Johan Rockstrom, “Balancing Water for Humans and Nature”, 2004, p. 50)

You could save more water by not eating one pound of California beef than you would save by not showering for an entire year. (Based on 1 shower/day, 7 minutes/shower, using 2 gallons water/minute). (John Robbins, The Food Revolution, 2001, p. 237)

More water is taken from the Ogallala aquifer (western U.S.) each year for beef production than is used to grow all the fruits and vegetables in the entire country. (Dr. Candace Chase, The Journal of Ecologically Sustainable Medicine, “Healthy Earth, Healthy Eating”, Dec. 2005)

Learn more about the environmental impacts

Your Can Help Protect the Environment

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would save:

100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months;

1.5 billion pounds of crops otherwise fed to livestock, enough to feed the state of New Mexico for more than a year;

70 million gallons of gas--enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined with plenty to spare;

3 million acres of land, an area more than twice the size of Delaware;

33 tons of antibiotics.

If everyone went vegetarian just for one day, the U.S. would prevent:

Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 million tons of CO2, as much as produced by all of France;

3 million tons of soil erosion and $70 million in resulting economic damage;

4.5 million tons of animal excrement;

Almost 7 tons of ammonia emissions, a major air pollutant.

Taken from Kathy Freston's column, "The Breathtaking Effects of Cutting Back on Meat" April 1, 2009.

Resource Depletion

Approximately half the population of Africa and Asia will be facing water scarcity in 2025 and are also the regions that will face the most serious challenges in terms of poverty, population growth and food requirements. (Malin Falkenmark & Johan Rockstrom, “Balancing Water For Humans and Nature”, 2004, p. 135)

Livestock production accounts for 23% of global water usage, including drinking, servicing, processing and feed crop irrigation. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, 2006, p. 271, Table 7.1)

Livestock grazing and feed crop cultivation account for 59% of global land use. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, 2006, p. 271, Table 7.1)

More than 71,300 mi2 (an area twice the size of Portugal) of the Amazon rainforest has been cleared to graze livestock. (Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), “Hamburger Connection Fuels Amazon Destruction; Cattle Ranching and Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon”, April 2004)

As of 2004 more than 10,000 miles of the Amazon rainforest had been cleared to grow soybeans to feed livestock. Kristal, Arnold, “Globalization: It’s a Small World After All”, Food Systems Insider, May 1st, 2005)

In just five months in 2007 Brazil lost more than 1236 mi2 of Amazon rainforest to illegal farming and ranching, as high prices for cattle, soybeans and corn led farmers and ranchers to plant more crops and raise more animals. (BBC News, 2008. “Brazil Amazon Deforestation Soars” http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7206165.stm, See also: Sibaja M. 2008. “Brazil to Increase Monitors in Rain Forest as Illegal Clearing Spreads”, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/24/AR2008012401059.html

Green House Emissions

Livestock production is responsible for more than 50% of all GHG. (Robert Goodland & Jeff Anhang, World Watch Institute, “Livestock and Climate Change”, Vol.22 No. 6, Nov/Dec 2009)

Distribution of Food Resources and World Hunger

It is much more efficient to grow food directly for human consumption than to cycle it through animals.

Livestock consume more edible protein (77 million tons) than they produce (58 million tons). (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, 2006, p. 270)

70% of all corn and grain grown in the U.S. is fed to livestock (Durning and Brough, “Taking Stock”, p. 14. See also, Ayres, Ed, “Will We Still Eat Meat?” Time Magazine, Nov. 8th, 1999. See also The Food Revolution by John Robbins, 2001 p.292)

1,400,000,000,000 (1.4 Trillion) people could be fed by the grain eaten by U.S. livestock alone (John Robbins, The Food Revolution, 2001, p.292)

Worldwide, 80% of all soybeans grown are used for animal feed (Mark Ash, Economic Research Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, email to Danielle Nierenberg, Worldwatch Institute, May 2005)

26% of the world’s surface is used for livestock grazing, 33% of all arable land is used for feed crop cultivation (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, 2006, p.271 Table 7.1)

25,000 people (adults and children) die every day from hunger and related causes (FAO & The State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2006. (World Food Programme: www.wfp.org/hunger/stats))

1,200,000,000 (1.2 Billion) people worldwide are underfed and/or malnourished (Gardner and Halweil, “Underfed and Overfed” Worldwatch Institute paper #150, March 2000)

Water Pollution

The livestock sector is the largest source of water pollution, contributing to eutrophication, ‘dead’ zones in coastal areas, degradation of coral reefs, human health problems, emergence of antibiotic resistance and many other problems. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, 2006, p xxiii)

The amount of water pollution generated in producing a pound of ‘meat’ is 17 times greater than that generated producing a pound of pasta. (Brower & Leon, “The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists”, March 1999)

The main water pollutants in the U.S. are sediments and nutrients. Animal agriculture is responsible for 55% of the erosion that causes sedimentation, and for 33% of nutrient pollutants, nitrogen and phosphorous. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, 2006, p 162)

Animal agriculture is responsible for 33% of the United States’ water pollution from pesticides, and 50% of its water pollution from antibiotics. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, 2006)

Pollution from Manure Lagoons

Bursting, leaking and overflowing manure lagoons have spawned environmental disasters around the country, sending animal waste gushing into rivers, groundwater and coastal wetlands. Each year thousands of lagoon leaks are reported and it is estimated that thousands more go unreported. (National Resources Defense Council, “America’s Animal Factories: How States Fail to Prevent Pollution From Livestock Waste” by Robbin Marks and Rebecca Knuffke, Dec. 1998)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that confined farm animals generate 3 times more raw waste each year (more than 450 million tons) than is generated by Americans. (Environmental Protection Agency, National pollutant discharge elimination system permit regulation and effluent limitation guidelines and standards for concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs); Final Rule, 68 Fed. Reg. 7176, 7180 (Feb. 12th, 2003.))

The amount of waste produced by North Carolina’s 7 million factory-raised hogs is 4 times greater than the amount of waste produced by the entire human population of that state (6.5 Million) (Facts and Data, Waste Pollution and the Environment, GRACE Factory Farm Project, www.gracelinks.org/factoryfarm/facts, 2000)

Compare: 12 million gallons of oil spilled by Exxon-Valdez in 1989 vs. 25 million gallons of putrefying hog urine and feces spilled into the New River in North Carolina, June 21st, 1995, when a lagoon holding 8 acres of excrement burst. 10 - 14 million fish were killed as an immediate result. (Williams, Ted, “Assembly Line Swine”, Audubon, March/April 1998, p.27. See also, “Environmental and Health Consequences of Animal Factories”, Natural Resources Defense Council report, 1998., see also “Feedstuffs”, July 3rd, 1995)

On factory dairy farms one cow produces 115 lbs. of manure each day. (Citizens’ Environmental Coalition & Sierra Club, “The Wasting of Rural New York State”, 2005)

Land and Air Pollution

Livestock are responsible for 68% of ammonia emissions, which contribute significantly to acid rain and the acidification of ecosystems. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, 2006, p. 272)

In the U.S. livestock production is responsible for 55% of all soil erosion on cropped land and pastureland, 40% of which ends up in water resources. (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”, 2006, p. 73, Box 2.5)

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5. Update on the World Week for the Abolition of Meat

Forwarded message: (Sorry that some is already out of date)

Greetings,

Please find below the English version of the closing communiqué* for the May 2011 WWAM (World Week for the Abolition of Meat). The awareness actions will nevertheless continue through the month of June.

If you have organized actions, please remember to publish your reports here. If you'd like to organize events, please announce them here!

You can join us on Facebook!

Look forward to hearing from you,

WWAM Organizational Committee

* This closing communiqué is available in the following languages: Brazilian/Portuguese, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Spanish. Please ask at contact@meat-abolition.org.

Please post and circulate widely

Closing communiqué for the May 2011 WWAM:

Once again there has been great mobilization for this year's second World Week for the Abolition of Meat (WWAM): fifty actions took place in the world, all aiming towards the same goal: to promote the idea that the consumption of meat is not ethical and that it should be abolished at the societal level, just like human slavery, for example, was abolished in its time.

Numerous organizations united to demand the end of a deeply ingrained injustice, perceived as natural and ancestral, and thus perceived as normal.

They united to say:

No one has the right to eat meat.

Even the most basic morals, accepted by all, which affirm that one must not kill or make an animal suffer unnecessarily, unavoidably lead to the conclusion that the consumption of meat must be banned. This practice which produces the most suffering and death that have ever existed on the face of the earth is not justified by any physiological necessity.

Throughout the world, individuals, groups and organizations stand up to proclaim their dissent.

We demand the banning of animal agriculture, fishing and hunting.

We no longer want to tolerate that reasons as ridiculous as the good taste of flesh in one's mouth can overcome the fundamental interests of those concerned: sentient beings who are raised, fished, and hunted in order to become dead bodies for consumption.

These World Weeks for the Abolition of Meat, we hope, are the beginnings of a world where everyone will have it in her or his heart to avoid making other beings suffer.

WWAM Organizational Committee

---------------------------------

Contact:

International organization: http://www.meat-abolition.org

Yves Bon: + 33 4 75 21 44 91

Florence L.: + 33 6 85 79 22 61

email: meat-abolition.org and meat.abolition@gmail.com

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6. The Coming Food Crisis

Spirituality and Ecological Hope
The looming threat of food shortage
Posted: 06 Jun 2011 09:23 PM PDT

Fostering Ecological Hope
Today from Margaret Swedish:

Friends, this is a busy week, too busy for a truly thoughtful post, yet my heart is heavy with many worries and fears. We really are right up against it now, this threshold I tried to describe in my book (Living Beyond the "End of the World": A Spirituality of Hope). We are at the moment when we really must decide what kind of world we want to leave to our children, just how bad things are going to get, what it will be like to live in a world where everything we need for life will be under the threat of our changing ecological reality.

I invite you to read this lengthy article from Sunday’s NY Times – because it is very important. While the news media can make me crazy, this is one story that tells us something we need to know – our global food shortages are not something to worry about in the future, they are arriving right now. And whether or not this planet will be able to feed this growing human population (until we can get it to stop growing) depends entirely on the decisions we make, you know, right now.

Here is the article: A Warming Planet Struggles to Feed Itself, by Justin Gillis. It was on the front page and consumed 2 pages inside. The NY Times made this the most important news story of their Sunday edition – for good reason.

Now I want to add a couple of links to give this more perspective, and then add a thought or two.

Worst Ever Carbon Emissions Leave Climate on the Brink, from the UK’s The Guardian.

Floods, Droughts, Are ‘New Normal’ of Extreme US Weather Fueled by Climate Change, a Reuters article.

Now put this news up against the profound political dysfunction in this country, the utter impossibility of even having a national conversation about any of this.

We can’t, because if we did certain things would become obvious:

* industrial agriculture as a model for food and fuel production would have to be brought to an end as quickly as possible;

* growth as a model for the global economy would have to be renounced and something new created;

* our western societies would need to get off meat as quickly as possible;

* new international laws would need to prohibit multinational corporations and sovereign funds from buying up access rights to water and food production on arable lands in other countries;

* affluent societies would have to begin to renounce their wealth and privileges and drastically downscale the lifestyles of the richest;

* tax structures would need to change, meaning taxes on the rich and on corporations and global financial transactions would need to be raised sharply;

*Monsanto’s GMO seed business would need to be made illegal, along with patents for seeds needed to grow food, returning seed sovereignty to local farmers;

* growing food grains for fuel would need to be halted;

* and massive amounts of international aid would need to be offered to poorer countries to help them develop local agriculture for the purpose of attaining seed sovereignty and food security.

And perhaps most of all, food would have to be removed from the list of commodities to be sold for profit and become what it really is – a basic right for all.

In chapter nine, I begin to articulate a ‘spirituality of scarcity,’ using the gospel story of the loaves and fishes, breaking it open to see what it suggests about how to proceed. The course of the narrative suggests a path. The crowd is hungry and the time is late. How to feed the throngs? Jesus’ first response is a challenge, “feed them yourselves.” Yes, that is our charge. The disciples, lacking confidence in their own ability to do this, lament that they have only found these few loaves and fishes.

Again, the course of the narrative is what matters, certainly more than the ‘miracle’ itself. First, Jesus blesses the food, then they break it into smaller pieces, then they share it with the crowd. Not only are all fed, but there is food left over, there is abundance.

Abundance came from the sharing of the smaller pieces with everyone.

This is a story out of a faith tradition, yes. It is also a story out of an ethic, a moral framework suggesting how we can live with dignity, sharing the abundance of creation. Jesus did not come to start a religion, and much of the religion that claims his name falls shamefully short of proclaiming the worldview that got him into so much trouble.

So I leave us tonight with the story of the loaves and fishes and invite it to disturb us, to invite us to a conversion and transformation in how we see the human journey and our current predicament. We either create a world built upon a vision like the one suggested in this story, or we descend into moral chaos as more and more of our sisters and brothers grow hungry and die.

It really is that stark.

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7. Animated Cartoon Shows Animal Abuses on Factory Farms

WATCH: Agribusiness on the Assault (Cartoon)

http://motherjones.com/media/2011/05/zina-saunders-undercover-animal-abuse-videos

— By Zina Saunders
Tue May. 3, 2011 3:00 AM PDT

Mother Jones illustrator Zina Saunders creates editorial animations riffing on the political news and current events of the week. In this week's animation, a look at our sordid meat production industry where agribusiness has been pushing laws in a number of states that would criminalize shooting or displaying undercover videos that show animal abuse on farms. One such law has already passed the House in Iowa, and would carry a penalty of up to 5 years in jail. As always, that's Saunders with the voiceovers. Other sound effects are courtesy of freesound.org. —The Editors

Thanks to author and JVNA advisor Dan Brook for sending this material to us.

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8. YOU Can Become a “World Peace Diet” Educator

Forwarded message, from author, speaker, activist Will Tuttle

Richard

Greetings!

Hope you're enjoying these early June days, wherever you are!

If you're interested in deepening your understanding of the ideas in The World Peace Diet, I've got some exciting news. We are now offering two self-paced online educational programs focused on providing you with the liberating skills and training to thrive as a vegan and also to be an effective advocate for compassion and health.

The basic 4-week program, the World Peace Diet Mastery Program, provides an excellent foundation for the 8-week program, the WPD Facilitator Training. This 8-week advanced training leads to certification as a World Peace Diet Facilitator, and can open many doors in your life, from greater health and self-confidence to a new career in the growing vegan movement. The two programs are independent and provide an in-depth experience of the empowering ideas in The World Peace Diet, directly from me, the book's author.

To get the skinny on these new programs, please go to http://worldpeacemastery.com

I hope you'll join us in the rewarding adventure of personal and cultural transformation that is calling!

Madeleine and I would also like to thank everyone who has helped organize our recent presentations in Texas, Arizona, and southern California. We are constantly humbled by the generous, creative, and hard-working efforts of you, our fellow advocates for a better world. Bless you all!

We have some upcoming lectures in San Diego and L.A. before we present at the terrific Vegetarian Summerfest in Pennsylvania in early July. Please join us if you can and check our constantly-updated tour schedule.

We appreciate you and all you're doing to embody the ancient wisdom teaching: to be the change you'd like to see in others.

That's it for now,

All the best, Will & Madeleine

Dr. Will Tuttle

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9. We Are In for Even Hotter Weather

Summers Are Going To Get Hotter, Stanford Scientists Say

The Huffington Post Joanna Zelman First Posted: 06/ 9/11 11:26 AM ET Updated: 06/ 9/11 11:37 AM ET

The summer season has not even officially started yet in the U.S. and already people are cranking up the a/c, boxing away the sweaters, seeking out the best swimming hole, and plotting how to avoid sweat stains. It’s about to get a lot worse.

A recent study conducted by Stanford University scientists has concluded that if greenhouse gas concentrations continue to increase, many regions in the world will probably experience an irreversible rise in summer temperatures within the next 20 to 60 years.

LiveScience explains that a single heat wave or warm day is not a sign of global warming. But while an individual weather event cannot be attributed to a warming world, more long-term trends are accepted in the scientific community as evidence of man-made global warming.

The recent Stanford study, which will be published this month in the journal Climatic Change Letters, found that middle latitude regions of Europe, China and North America (including the U.S.) will likely see extreme shifts in summers temperatures within the next 60 years. In just the next two decades, tropical regions of Africa, Asia and South America could see permanent and “unprecedented” summer heat. The most immediate rise in extreme temperatures is expected to occur in the tropics.

Last year tied with 2005 as the hottest year on record, with the average worldwide temperature 1.12 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The Associated Press reports, “Most atmospheric scientists attribute the change to gases released into the air by industrial processes and gasoline-burning engines.” This is man-made global warming.

The Stanford study's lead author, Noah Diffenbaugh, sought to determine when the current hottest temperatures would become “the new normal.” He says, "According to our projections, large areas of the globe are likely to warm up so quickly that, by the middle of this century, even the coolest summers will be hotter than the hottest summers of the past 50 years."

Diffenbaugh and co-author Martin Scherer came to this conclusion after analyzing over 50 climate model experiments, including both computer simulations of 21st century predictions and 20th century simulations that accurately predicted the Earth’s climate over the past 50 years.

Beyond perhaps a need to stock up on sunglasses and deodorant, what is the significance of these findings? According to Diffenbaugh, this dramatic rise in seasonal temperatures could severely affect human health and agriculture.

Regarding health, heat waves can kill. As Diffenbaugh cites, heat waves in 2003 killed an estimated 35,000 people in Europe. Last year, a record heat wave in Russia killed 700 people per day. As for agriculture, new research reveals that global warming has hindered crop yields. Higher temperatures cause dehydration and prevent pollination, resulting in a rise in food prices. Other studies suggest that warmer winters keep pests alive longer, allowing them to carry plant diseases, and greenhouse gases affect a plant’s structure, reducing its protection abilities.

The Stanford report comes amid many other dire global warming predictions. One recent study found that rising sea levels could threaten 180 U.S. coastal cities by 2100. Reuters reports cities including Miami, New Orleans, Tampa, and Virginia Beach could lose over 10 percent of their land area by the end of this century.

U.N. predictions suggest that there may be 50 million environmental refugees by 2020. This past year alone, natural disasters displaced 42 million people, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. According to the organization, over 90 percent of the disaster displacements were caused by weather incidents that were probably, to some extent, impacted by global warming.

Scientists and government planners announced in May that heavy rains, deep snowfalls, monster floods and deadly droughts signal a "new normal" of extreme U.S. weather events influenced by climate change.

How many looming threats and even visible evidence are needed before serious action is taken to fight global warming?

Instead of recognizing that another air conditioner is just a bandaid on our warming world, climate talks are expected to miss the Kyoto deadline, climate scientists are receiving death threats, and global emissions of energy-related carbon dioxide were the highest ever last year.

Will significant action against global warming have to wait until we can’t take the heat?

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10. Position Paper on Climate Change from the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America

https://www.agronomy.org/files/science-policy/asa-cssa-sssa-climate-change-policy-statement.pdf

One more example of the scientific consensus on climate change.

Thanks to agricultural expert and JVNA advisor Professor Joe Regenstein for forwarding this link to us.

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11. International Vegetarian Week Contest Being Planned/Suggestions Welcome

Forward message from IVW organizer Mateus Mendes:

1. I will create a contest in the website. The software we use is prepared to run contests, we have done it in Portugal using this software.

2. Participants can submit their ideas and works directly, after logging in to the system.

2.1 The deadline for participating is 10 September.

2.2 These kinds of contributions are accepted:

- Cartoon

- Essay

- Leaflet

- Poster

- Slogan

2.3 Participants must be individuals.

2.4 All the submitted texts must be in English.

2.5 There is no limit of submissions per author - each author can submit many different works.

3. Prizes

3.1 The awarded contributions will become official IVW material, and the authors will be promoted by vegetarian week project;

3.2 The winner can be announced with a press release, presentation of the person with picture and article about her/him or an interview - whatever is preferred.

3.3 Additionally, the following prizes can be given:

1 - 60 Euros voucher for http://en.efeitoverde.com

2 - 50 Euros voucher for http://www.amazon.com

3-10 - Vegdining cards (valued at $11.95US for members of recognized veg groups, $15.95US others - http://vegdining.com)

4. NGOs, companies and individuals taking part in the IVW are invited to promote the campaign on their websites, via their distribution systems and newsletters and in whatever form they find suitable.

5. A jury consisting of reps from all NGOs supporting the idea will grade the contributions until 25 September.

5.1 The grading system will be double-blinded (the author doesn't know who are the reviewers, and the reviewers don't not know who are the authors).

5.2 Each submission will be graded by at least 2 reviewers.

6. The winners will be announced on 1 October.

7. The authors agree that their submissions are actually contributions to the IVW project, and the winning contribution(s) may be freely used to promote the IVW.

1) Relevance for the International Vegetarian Week goals (promotes the vegetarian lifestyle? promotes the vegetarian week?);

2) Quality (is the message scientifically correct [if applicable]? Are there typos in the texts [if applicable]? are the illustrations or images good-looking [if applicable]?);

3) Expected effectiveness (is the message appealing? is it clear? May it reach a wide audience?).

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12. Great Videos About Yale University Program Combining Religious Teachings to Environmental Issues

http://environment.yale.edu/profile/tucker

http://www.globalonenessproject.org/videos/maryevelyntuckercomplete

Thanks to JVNA advisor Ron Landskroner for forwarding these links to us.

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13. Action Alert: You Can Help Get Healthier Food Choices Into Schools

Forwarded message:

Hi Richard,

I have been working with a fantastic group - the New York Coalition for Healthy School Food as a volunteer for the last 3 years, because I see the amazing work they are doing in schools, and they also develop great resources for schools to educate children about the importance of plant foods.

I hope you will join me in supporting the important work they are doing. You can click here to see the details of how you can help them, but essentially, they need DONATIONS:)

© Corporate sponsorships of our fall Gala: $1000, $2,500, $5000, $10,000 or more.

Some past sponsors (not yet confirmed for this year): Whole Foods Market, The Hain Celestial Group, Nutiva, Candle Cafe & Candle 79, NuTru, HealthForce Nutritionals, and Wildwood Pulmuone.

(Click here for more details, including what you get in return)

© Items for Gift bags for our fall Gala (need 300) – no samples, regular size products only; coupons for free products, not discounts; all items must be fully plant-based (vegan). Donation includes listing on our website and Gala program guide.

© Silent Auction item for our fall Gala (minimal value $300) – all items must be fully plant-based. Donation includes listing on our website and Gala program guide.

© Charity Buzz online auction items (minimal value $1000) – unique experiences and items. Great Publicity! See sample donations at www.charitybuzz.com. Donation includes listing on our website.

Note: please send low resolution logo in .jpg format for all donations listed above.

PLEASE respond by September 1, 2011 for Gala sponsorship, gift bags, and/or silent auction.

A little more about New York Coalition for Healthy School Food:

They are in partnership with the NYC Office of SchoolFood, the largest school food operation in the country. They have developed plant-based entrée recipes and conducted educational presentations for all staff and food service personnel. They are in 19 schools with a waiting list of 48 schools! In addition they are in partnership with the Ithaca City School District Child Nutrition Program and they have developed plant-based entrees using local organic beans and grains – a true Farm to School program. In addition, they have created Wellness Wakeup Call, nutrition education in the form of “easy to digest sound bites” read over the loudspeaker each morning. It is currently heard by over 100,000 students each day in New York and many other states around the country.

Please let me know if you need any other information, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Deer Fields
Volunteer Development Director
NYCHSF, New York Coalition for Healthy School Food

Check out our new website: www.healthyschoolfood.org

The New York Coalition for Healthy School Food (NYCHSF) is a statewide nonprofit that works to improve the health and well-being of New York's students by advocating for healthy plant-based foods, including local and organic where possible, farm to school programs, the elimination of unhealthy competitive foods in all areas of the school (not just the cafeteria), comprehensive nutrition policy, and education to create food- and health-literate students.

Sign up for our email list from our homepage to be kept up to date on Healthy School Food! Happenings and join as a member - it's free!

--

Love, Deer

Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends. ~George Bernard Shaw

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

-- Mahatma Gandhi

Live and Let Live, Go Vegan!

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