VITAL VITAL V O L U M E N IN E T Y O N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 QUARTERLY MEMBERS MAGAZINE WWW VEGSOC ORG AU ARTWORK BY JADE SHERWOOD christmas as a vegan BY ZADE WATSON Well its that time of year.
VOLUME NINETY ONE • DECEMBER 2018 VITAL QUARTERLY MEMBERS MAGAZINE WWW.VEGSOC.ORG.AU ARTWORK BY JADE SHERWOOD christmas as a vegan BY ZADE WATSON “Then God said, ‘I give you every seedbearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it They will be yours for food. Genesis 1:29-30 @ZESTYZADEALICIOUS Well it's that time of year again; Christmas! For most vegans (whether they are religious or not) we not look forward to dinner with family To sit at a long table watching beloved family members unconscionably ignore animal suffering, as they gorge themselves on dead animals (in what has become a traditional form of gluttony), and all supposedly as part of a celebration of the birth of Christ, despite the obvious fact that celebrating Jesus Christs birth is a form of paganism and goes against Christian values, so is completely illogical I am going to be honest with you all, I have disliked Christmas since before I was vegan! With the false family conversations, the huge waste of paper on presents, the gifts that remind us how little our family knows us, and of course the mindless consumerism of the slave labor and unsustainable products that just get thrown out into landfill However if we actually consider activism and the potential that Christmas provides, for us to create positive health and lifestyle changes for our family members, then we can see awesome aspects of Christmas Dinner, because it is the only day that allows all of us activists to bring our own delicious vegan meals to share with family, who otherwise may never have tried vegan food, and to lead by example by providing more sustainable and ethical gifts! RECIPES | VIRTUAL VEGAN VEGAN CHRISTMAS PUDDING (Recipe from Virtual Vegan) Ingredients: 260g / about very full cups dried fruit , I used a combination of currants, raisins, sultanas, cherries, cranberries & blueberries - Try to get a nice variation of colour if you can 10 dried dates , I used Deglet Noor but Medjool or any other kind will be fine You could even use dried figs if you wanted to 10 dried apricots , optional but they look really pretty in there and provide a nice texture 80mls / ⅓ cup brandy , or port, dark rum, a good sherry or a nice dark stout See recipe notes for an alcohol free option 50g / ⅓ very packed cup all-purpose flour , to make gluten-free use certified gluten-free oat flour 65g / ¾ very packed cup bread crumbs , any type of bread will but slightly stale, dry bread is best Use gluten-free bread to make gluten-free (I weigh my bread then throw it into a blender to make breadcrumbs) teaspoons baking powder teaspoon allspice 80g / ½ heaping cup coconut sugar , or any other dark brown sugar medium apple , grated or cored and thrown into a high speed blender and blitzed into a puree (skin can be left on) large orange , zest only tablespoons aquafaba , the liquid from a can of chickpeas (i not recommend substituting anything else It gives the best results by far) tablespoons blackstrap molasses , NOT regular molasses It needs to be blackstrap molasses 75g / ¼ cup plus tablespoons coconut oil , measured while liquid if you are using cups Weight will be the same solid or liquid YOU WILL ALSO NEED: A 0.9 - litre/2 pint/ quart pudding basin , baking parchment, tin foil, some string and a pair of scissors RECIPES | VIRTUAL VEGAN Instructions: Put the dried fruit, including the dates and apricots, into a large mixing bowl and pour over the brandy (or alternative alcohol/juice) Leave until the liquid has been absorbed by the fruit How long it takes varies depending on the fruit you use but it will be somewhere between about 15 and 30 minutes While that is happening, place the pudding basin on some parchment paper and draw a circle around the bottom of the basin onto the paper Cut it out and set aside Then turn the basin over and draw another circle around the top of the basin Cut that one out but cut a few millimeters inside the line this time so the circle will fit on top of the pudding batter when you put it in the basin Set that circle aside too Make sure your Instant Pot is ready with the trivet insert inside If you are using a steamer have the water simmering ready under the steamer, and if you are using a large saucepan, have a heatproof upturned saucer or something similar in the bottom of a pan so the pudding doesn't come into direct contact with the heat when it goes in, and a full kettle boiled and ready Grease the pudding basin with some coconut oil and place the small circle in the bottom of the basin Once the liquid has been absorbed by the fruit, add the flour, breadcrumbs, baking powder, allspice and sugar to the bowl and stir really well to combine Then add the orange zest, apple, aquafaba, blackstrap molasses and coconut oil and stir well until combined Spoon the mixture into the pudding basin, smooth it out and top with the large circle of parchment paper, pressing it down all over and into the sides gently Cut a large rectangle of silver foil and a slightly smaller rectangle of parchment paper Enough to go over the top of the pudding basin with plenty to spare Then lay the foil flat on your surface and the parchment paper flat on top of the foil Make a pleat in them both. Cover the top of the pudding basin with the foil and paper making sure the pleat is in the middle, then press it down all around the basin as tightly as you can, then tie twice around the basin with string as tightly as you can If you are using a plastic pudding bowl with a lid, I still recommend covering the pudding with a circle of parchment paper, putting on the lid, then wrapping the whole thing in foil as I have had situations in the past where the lid blows off and the pudding is ruined by the moisture RECIPES | VIRTUAL VEGAN Instructions IF USING A STEAMER: Make sure the water is simmering away well under the steamer insert Place the pudding in the insert and cover with the lid Cook for hours IF USING A LARGE SAUCEPAN: Place the pudding gently on an upturned saucer inside the pan and pour boiling water carefully down the sides so it reaches about halfway up the side of the pudding basin It must not reach the foil Bring to a simmer but don't let it rolling boil as you don't want the water to get up under the foil Cook for hours WHEN COOKED: When the time is up, carefully remove the pudding, then take off the foil and parchment paper It should look cooked and a toothpick should come out clean when inserted You can also just poke the middle with a finger and it should be firmish with a bit of bounce, like a cake is when cooked In the unlikely event that it isn't cooked through you can return it to the Instant Pot/pan/steamer and cook it for a few minutes longer Be sure to secure the paper and foil around it first though Either serve immediately or leave to cool completely, with the paper and foil removed but still in the bowl Once cool, wrap the bowl again in fresh paper and foil before storing somewhere dark and cool NOTES: If you would prefer to make this pudding alcohol free you can replace the alcohol with apple juice or orange juice Bear in mind though that the alcohol acts to preserve the pudding, so if you omit it, the pudding won't store well You will need to keep it in the fridge and eat it within a week of making it Leftover cut pudding will keep in the fridge for up to a week and can be reheated as mentioned in the direction Whole untouched puddings, if kept wrapped, can be kept for up to weeks somewhere cool and dark (probably longer but I haven't tested for longer than weeks) If you want to make it even boozier and moister, feed it one tablespoon of brandy once a week Just open it up and spoon it on, then cover well again Leftover or whole puddings, if wrapped well, will keep in the freezer for up to year. The Loss of Innocence of Eating Meat By Francesco Buscemi “Yes, but only once a month.” “Never ever!” “Yaaa, just to piss my wife off ” “Sometimes, but please don't tell my boyfriend ” These answers are not the results of a survey regarding sexual lifestyles and matrimonial behaviours today, but to questions I posed regarding frequency and approach to eating meat, as part of my long-spanning social research on meat and food in general Wherever you position yourself in the complex field of meat-eating, from vegan to reducitarian to proud carnivore, you can't deny that eating animal flesh is today a hot topic That’s why I decided to write a book about it What I immediately realized as I started writing, was that there has been a long historical process that has led us to this point It has been an articulated cultural development where, gradually, humans have interrogated themselves about the legitimacy, convenience, correctness, and healthiness of eating an animal, giving these issues all the imaginable answers The fact of posing these questions, however, means that the problem exists It started under the ancient Greeks and Romans, and continued with the Renaissance, still with only a minority of people being aware of the difference between eating a leaf and eating a liver, but it gradually developed, with more people speculating about the issue So, I decided that my book would be the historical account of this process, and that it would focus on the period of 1900 to the present, which has seen the most relevant changes, and the consolidation of issues and instances that have slowly but relentlessly grown in the previous centuries It has been in these years, in fact, that we can see the loss of innocence of eating meat Today, whatever the answer you find, it is clear to all that eating broccoli is different from eating a steak More often than in the past, meateating implies second thoughts relating to our health and our moral position in the world This is also visible in the span of a person's life I have seen my grandparents hardly touched by the problem; my father and my mother a bit more concerned, with some friends more involved; me writing a book about it; and the youngsters taking more neat positions in relation to this issue However, I think that a book should be more than a sequence of chapters It should have a general idea in the background holding all its parts together At the beginning, I was not able to identify this idea Certainly there was the unifying element of the detachment between the idea of the living animal and the steak We tend to hide the link between the two and the fact that the meat we eat once was a living being However, I had written about this issue previously, and instead I was looking for a new concept It was while reading recipe books on meat from the end of the nineteenth century that the right idea came to my mind These books highlighted the important role played by meat in human nutrition (and some of them, anticipating today's trends, called it into question) The Loss of Innocence of Eating Meat By Francesco Buscemi So, I understood that what I was writing about was energy In fact, meat has long been considered the principal source of energy for the human body, and what came to my mind was that it may be compared to the forms of energy we use for industrial machines They both feed something Meat feeds our bodies while carbon and oil feed our industry In both cases, for years we have ignored the effects produced by what we in order to obtain energy With an extractive approach, we have taken meat from animals, and oil and carbon from Earth, damaging the planet and forgetting the basic ethical principles that connect us to Nature The only aim was to take the biggest amount of energy and money from animals and soil This may be seen, for example, in factory farming, an insensate industrial practice that pollutes, creates illness in many species (the human one included) and destroys the social and economic equilibrium inside a society However, more optimistically, what seemed clear to me was also that since the 1980s, we have started obtaining energy for machines in another way Renewables teach us that we can also take energy from Nature without damaging the environment and ourselves What about meat, then? Are we starting to take meat in a renewable way? Before the book, I had already done research on cultured meat and veg*ism, and I found that they both may be considered non-damaging ways of giving energy to our bodies Thus, the book also focuses on them, as a potential and future solution to our problems with today's meat The idea of energy, thus, is the idea that permeates the entire book It is perfectly embodied by some commercials of canned meat of the 1960s and 1970s, which I analyze in the book In them, eating meat allows people to dance, run and move in an exaggerated way These representations are key to comprehending how Western society has constructed meat through the media It has been considered as fuel for our bodies Related to this, the 'necessity' of meat has also favoured the hiding of the link mentioned above These commercials, in fact, only rarely show an animal such as those providing the promoted meat When they do, they cutify it Animal cutification is a really interesting concept regarding the media habit of showing the animals providing meat as cuter that they actually are, sometimes even anthropomorphized, to further detach the idea of the animal from the idea of meat Thanks to the idea of energy, the book changed rapidly, acquiring a deeper meaning and becoming more coherent and homogeneous In this light, meat-eating has suddenly become only a part of the bigger and very complex system of the relationships between Nature and Culture For many years, we have considered Nature and Culture, that is, the environment where we live and the human intervention on it, as separate and often in contrast It is through these lenses that we have justified what we have done to the Earth We can pollute, destroy, and kill natural elements because they are not parts of us, but separate from what we are, and often in contrast with us Labelling this intervention as necessary for our lives has made us feel comfortable in this position, as what we were damaging was external to us and, in some sense, our enemy The Loss of Innocence of Eating Meat By Francesco Buscemi Only in the last few years the opposite perspective on the relationships between Nature and Culture has become more widespread It sees Culture as a part of Nature, and thus humans not separated from, but involved in the environment In brief, what we (even to Nature) is done by Natural elements, that is, human beings As a result, environmental theories advance that Nature is a huge container that also includes Culture From this point of view, by damaging Nature, we also damage a part of ourselves In this light, it is more difficult to justify pollution, destruction, and even animal killing Finally, I find each language incomplete Specifically, I believe that academic language is truly useful to rationalize complex concepts and to categorize and organize knowledge However, it is very limited when it comes to expressing emotional approaches and irrational beliefs This was a problem for my book, as very often, meat is linked to elements that are not part of the rational sphere Meat relates to deep and sometimes unmotivated beliefs, religious faiths, memories, fears, psychological suppressions, etc How to cope with all of this? I have worked for many years as a TV writer and storyteller, and decided to add a short story at the end of each chapter What academic writing is not capable of expressing is told via fiction It was a really interesting experiment, as we have long been told that creativity and rationality are different and must remain separate My point is that they are certainly different, but just for this they can and should be practised and applied together This is a sort of account of my book, From Body Fuel to Universal Poison: Cultural History of Meat, 1900-the present, edited by Springer It started from noticing that people have gradually been changing their perceptions on eating meat, and has ended up involving big issues such as the problem of energy, the role of the humans on the planet, and the complementary characters of academic and creative knowledge In the end, all of this demonstrates the importance of studying meat if we want to understand who we are A good point to challenge those who still think that meat is only something to eat. “Would this habit of eating animals not require that we slaughter animals that we knew as individuals, and in whose eyes we could gaze and see ourselves reflected, only a few hours before our meal? [ ] Wouldn’t this hinder us in achieving happiness?” - Socrates, in Plato’s The Republic, c.380 BC Eating Animals As the quote above shows, the moral weight of this act has been a subject of philosophical discourse for as long as philosophy has existed Whether to eat animals, and which animals are permissible to eat, is a bone of contention that has long symbolised the divisions between religious communities, ethnic groups, societies, and, as I’m sure some readers can attest, between friends and family members too This quandary has profoundly shaped the human experience, and remains both controversial and pressing today From Body Fuel to Universal Poison - Cultural History of Meat: 1900 - The Present is Francesco Buscemi’s lively attempt to document humanity’s engagement with this issue A detailed and balanced story of the modern history of eating animals, the book provides food for thought for anyone interested in the concept of meat Cultural History traces the winding path that meat has taken to become a staple of Western diets, from gastronomic mainstay of the rich, to occasional treat of wider society, to its central place at many tables today With academic rigour, Buscemi documents the gradual but steadily growing awareness of the environmental, ethical and health concerns associated with animal agriculture Covering a wide and varied range of issues, including national identity, masculinity and capitalism, Buscemi doesn’t shy away from controversial topics, such as the Nazi’s affinity for vegetarianism as the diet of the Third Reich One particularly interesting thread is the ‘deanimalisation’ of meat With nuance and depth, Buscemi unpacks this concept, exploring the increasing distancing of animals from meat products, first through the removal of slaughterhouses from cities, and later through the removal of any recognizable anatomical features from packaged meat Buscemi’s articulation of this process allowing for a cognitive dissonance between meat and animal suffering is well researched and compelling Between chapters, the book is punctuated by illuminating (and sometimes hilarious) flash fictions - short stories that convey the absurdities and contradictions involved in eating animals These interjections lighten the mood of the book and add some brevity to the fact-heavy text Throughout the text, Buscemi (who is a reducetarian himself,) deftly avoids condemning meat consumption, allowing space for the reader to make their own ethical judgements Rather than making overt moral claims about the ethics of eating animals, Buscemi focuses on the historically unstable role of meat as a cultural marker This may be unsatisfactory to readers who see any consumption of meat as inexcusable, however, this vantage point allows for a refreshingly unbiased read, and also means the book will appeal to those across the ideological spectrum Buscemi’s insights provide an in-depth understanding of the cultural importance of meat, demonstrating how it intermingles with everything from gender roles to class hierarchy to political belief His exploration conveys that meat consumption is much more tightly interwoven into wider culture than is often acknowledged, investigating the changing and often irrational perception of meat in the collective consciousness This information will benefit both veg*ns who wish to understand how to talk to omnivores about eating animals, and omnivores who wish to be more self-reflective in their understanding of the ideology around meat Buscemi’s insights on norms around consuming animal products will also be of particular interest to activists hoping to change these norms It may also be heartening to these same readers to note the flexibility in the role of meat over time, indicating that its current place in the cultural paradigm is neither fixed nor unchangeable Cultural History is a thoroughly shaded portrait of Western society’s fraught and polemic relationship with eating animals, ending with an investigation of the current state of cultured and plant based meats It documents where we have been, and does not shy away from how far we have to go Recounting the growing consensus that meat is a problem, Buscemi suggests that our relationship with meat will continue to evolve in unpredictable directions, and dares to imagine that eating animals could have an end date. - Written by Grace Brosnahan Professional Proof Writer/Reviewer Jade Sherwood Artwork -Check out her work via Instagram >> @justyana.art The World’s Most Important (and unsung) Hero - An Introduction By Douglas Leith Hans Ruesch, the father of the modern anti-vivisection movement died on 27 August 2007 at age 94 If we measure a persons greatness by the extent to which they expose and seek to eliminate suffering and are prepared to dedicate themselves to this end no matter what then Hans Ruesch was the most important person in the world today…and also the most persecuted Mr Ruesch’s contributions to humanity were recognised in two books that recognise history’s luminaries Ruesch is honoured – alongside Orwell, Darwin, Shaw, Plato, Sartre, Aristotle, Keats, Carlyle, Herodotus, Hoyle, Ruskin and Flaubert, amongst others – in the 2002 book Past to Present: Ideas That Changed Our World by Terry and Stuart Hirschberg That book includes fourteen pages of excerpts from Slaughter of the Innocent He is also honoured in the 2003 book called Ideas that Changed the World by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto; listed alongside Einstein and Gandhi as inclusions from the 20th century A genuine anti-vivisectionist he forced a referendum on the elimination of vivisection in Switzerland, the country which had and still may have the highest number of animal experiments per capita due to pharmaceutical companies He was also instrumental in helping Italian parliament to vote for the elimination of vivisection and brought this about in South Tirol No-one has ever come closer to exposing and eliminating this, the most despicable crime ever committed His ideas should have changed the world and would have if his books and words were not so successfully suppressed If we not hear them then there is little hope Please buy his books, read them and for the sake of laboratory animals, spread the truth far and wide What a life! Grand Prix winner, best selling novelist (selling millions of books, some made into Hollywood films) and MOST IMPORTANTLY BY FAR, the most successful antivivisectionist of all time The World’s Most Important (and unsung) Hero By Douglas Leith In June 2004 I had the honour of meeting a man who is truly the founder of scientific antivivisectionism and the most effective anti-vivisectionist in the world, Hans Ruesch I admit that I was unaware that he was still alive until shortly before then I was travelling in Europe and so decided that I would go through Lugano in Switzerland for the purposes of meeting the man who is a hero to me and would be to anyone who knows the truth about vivisection and his tireless efforts to expose and stop it Upon arriving at his address I found a block of flats with many numbers, once a millionaire persecution by his opponents had lead to him living here Not knowing what number was his I felt despair until a moment later a man arrived and said to me in english “I’m here to see Mr Ruesch, who are you here to see?”, something which has never happenned to me before If I believed in fate this would be a sure sign of it I met an 89 year old man, very modest and not requiring my compliments and still writing an entire book in four languages without help despite ill health and constant persecution which caused him to leave his country for years After writing to him I had the good fortune to receive a reply which is unusual for such a busy man In it he said that at eighty nine he was reaching the end of his rainbow and I replied that if anyone’s life could be described as such then his could Let me paraphrase from “1000 Doctors (and many more) Against Vivisection” “Born in 1913 as a Swiss citizen to a Swiss couple who was living in Naples, Italy, he grew up multilingual, studying first in Italy and then in German speaking and partly in francophone Switzerland – Zurich and Geneva As a very young man he embarked in a car racing career which took him all over Europe and Africa He established two world records at nineteen and went on to win the British Grand Prix of the time But he felt that literature was his calling, and in 1938 he sailed to the USA, where he was one of the few European writers to succeed in publishing short stories and articles in Americas leading magazines and newspapers of the time In 1950 Harper Brothers published his first American novel, set among the Eskimos: “Top of the World”, which had by 1989 sold over million copies world wide and was also filmed, starring Anthony Quinn Kirk Douglas starred in another film taken from one of Ruesch’s novels, “The Racer” Having also studied medicine, he worked in the 1950s as a medical editor It was in this capacity that he gradually discovered the fraud inherent to the industrialized, money spinning, disease producing vivisectionist practice In 1973 when his latest novel, “Back to the Top of the World” was released, Ruesch announced that he was never going to write fiction again so long as the fraud of vivisection was not generally exposed, and from then on he dedicated all his efforts to this end The World’s Most Important (and unsung) Hero By Douglas Leith His first book about the cruelty and counterproductivity of the practice, “Slaughter of the Innocent”, first appeared in Italy’s publishing empire of Rizzoli in 1976 and in New York (Bantam) in 1978 “Naked Empress” (1982) exposed the dire consequences that medicine and humanity have derived from an erroneous method of “research”, and “1000 Doctors (and many more) Against Vivisection” shows that a growing number of people share his views Vivisection based medicine is in fact being increasingly recognised as the principal cause of disease today.” Bette Overell, former leader of the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society said in her excellent book “Animal Research Takes Lives…Humans and Animals Both Suffer”, 1993, (available from http://www.nzavs.org.nz), “Shocked by what he discovered, in 1974 Ruesch founded his own Center for Scientific Information on Vivisection (CIVIS), a publishing house dedicated exclusively to the fight against vivisection, from which he despatches regular foundation reports in many languages In 1979 Ruesch’s ‘Slaughter of the Innocent” was the breakthrough which altered the whole concept and course of the ‘anti-vivisection movement’ Revealing that vivisection is not merely a question of cruelty to animals, but also the vital international alibi which paves the way, through fraud and conspiracy, to solid gold profits, in Great Britain the book lasted a few short weeks before being banned from the shelves Abandoning his lucrative literary career Ruesch pledged to devote the remainder of his life to this cause He has been highly successful, not only in becoming the recognised father of the new abolitionist movement, but for his many subsequent powerful works on the subject In 1985 Ruesch was a key figure in the Swiss Referendum Against Vivisection, when on December 18 of that year a third of the Swiss population voted in favour of abolition In October 1987 he helped launch the first ever International League of Doctors Against Vivisection of which he was made Honourary President The worlds most sought after exponent of abolition, Ruesch undertakes a gruelling lecture circuit, debates with adversaries at symposia, addresses internatioinal congresses and is a well known figure on European and American radio and television He is the draw card which leads marches and addresses rallies, always dispensing the facts as they are Many organisations worldwide have been formed to support Hans Ruesch, whose name, and rightly so, since we and future generations are in his debt, is already carved in history” Here is a letter Mr Ruesch wrote to me in 2002; The World’s Most Important (and unsung) Hero By Douglas Leith Dear Mr Douglas Leith, Your letter of Oct 14th reached me only a few days ago because I’ve had to leave my Swiss address about years ago because of constant persecution by the courts I regret not having heard from you earlier, otherwise you would be on my mailing list and you would have received all my Foundation Reports of which I am enclosing the last one I don’t know if I’ll ever find the time and the strength to still another report in English, as I am also writing and publishing Reports in my other three languages and I am very much at the end of my rainbow Your letter moved me particularly although I receive many of the kind I’ll soon be turning 90 and feel very much at the end of my strength I know there are a great many people who feel as we Yours; Hans Ruesch If you have never heard of him I am not surprised for his books and work have been kept out of the public eye very effectively since his first anti-vivisection book “Slaughter of the Innocent” was published in 1978 This book exposed vivisection for what it is, a massive hidden fraud which not only kills hundreds of millions of animals a year but is also the largest cause of human illness and death, a fact which has been very well hidden from almost all of us Why is it so well hidden? Primarily because extremely powerful industries rely on fraudulent animal “tests” to pass their products as “safe” so as to avoid litigation for the damage which they cause constantly, the careers of many “academics” rely on vivisection as an alibi for publishing papers and the “medical research” business relies on it for constant “breakthroughs” without ever curing a disease and thereby ensuring constant business The media relies on these for advertising income and often outright ownership and the government receives “donations” from them so influencing the education and legal systems They also infiltrate groups who claim to be opposed to vivisection So we have some very powerful enemies We can defeat them by expressing the truth about vivisection To this firstly we must inform ourselves and the works of Hans Ruesch are essential reading for anyone who is opposed to what Mahatma Gandhi called “the blackest of all of the black crimes ever committed against God and his fair creation.” Do not let the vivisectors succeed in stopping the truth from being heard as they have done by stopping his books These books are more empowering than disturbing If you have ever had no answer when someone has said “What would you rather kill, a baby or a rat?” then you must read these books before they are completely suppressed “Conclusions drawn from animal research, when applied to humans are likely to delay progress, mislead and harm to the patient Vivisection, or animal experimentation, should be abolished.” Dr Moniem A Fadali For over a thousand more quotes against vivisection by eminent doctors and scientists see “1000 Doctors (and many more) Against Vivisection” by Hans Ruesch MODIFIED HUMAN DIET - By Dr Malina Fielder Dr Malina Fielder, veterinarian and animal nutritionist has created the “Modified Human Diet” (MHD) plans for pet owners that would like to feed their dogs vegan meals Malina emphasises that our pets can be satisfied, healthy and thrive on plant based diets, as long as they are eating meals that include all the required nutrients, are tasty and complete In fact, plant based diets can promote better health Dogs on plant based diets are found to have significantly lower plasma ammonia concentrations compared to the dogs eating poultry-based diets (Proot et al.2009) Ammonia is a toxic component formed during protein metabolism Moreover, dogs with certain medical conditions are advised to be on plant based diets For example, dogs with portosystemic liver shunt may need medical management, which includes being on a plant based diet In addition, the ingestion of meat-based high protein diets can cause neurological problems in dogs with hepatic encephalopathy Also, in dogs with liver cirrhosis, plant based diets can help benefit liver function Therefore, feeding dogs vegetable based diets with legumes as a main source of protein is the preferred diet in these patients (Weber, Minco et al.1985) The MHD book for vegan dogs includes instructions on how to create complete and balanced plant based diet plans for adult dogs of all body weights These diet plans are calculated based on scientific evaluations and recommendations for adult dog nutritional requirements Every ingredient, including supplements, are calculated in grams and presented is a weekly diet plan The nutritional values of the meals are calculated for you so making your dog’s plant based meal can be simply done, with a peace of mind that each meal is completely balanced Our goal in Vet Nutritionist Clinic Brisbane is to teach people how to prepare healthy food for pets The requirements for creating healthy food, explained in details in the mentioned book, are: 1) Food is prepared based on a scientifically calculated nutritional requirements 2) Food is made out of good quality ingredients 3) Food is prepared in a healthy way and served fresh To purchase the book please visit our website: https://www.petdiets.expert/ If you would like to attend our interactive Dog Vegan Cooking Class workshop, please call Dr Malina directly on 0420285463 AUSTRALIA'S LARGEST BBQ - FAR Be Part of Australia’s Largest Vegan BBQ 2019 Host your own vegan BBQ in January or February 2019 with friends and family to help create Australia's Largest Vegan BBQ 2019 and help Farm Animal Rescue (FAR) raise awareness of the hundreds of thousands of farmed animals needlessly killed for traditional Aussie BBQs over Summer Earlier this year FAR launched Australia’s inaugural Largest Vegan BBQ, inviting vegans across the nation to host their own BBQs by inviting friends and family to share cruelty-free food, and helping raise funds for FAR to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome farm animals FAR President, Brad King, said the registered charity is aiming for an even bigger and better effort in 2019 with a fundraising target of $5000, and an open invitation for people to host their own BBQs at home or in the local park and charge each guest $10 as part of the fundraiser “The more people across the nation hosting their very own vegan BBQs, the bigger we can make Australia’s Largest Vegan BBQ,” Brad said “We want this event to grow year-on-year and for more people to experience cruelty-free eating to create rapid social change, and our annual event provides the impetus to come together to share healthy, plant-based food, and discuss the needless suffering of farmed animals used to produce food.” FAR’s promotion of Australia’s Largest Vegan BBQ will feature the story of Isabella (pictured) in 2019 Isabella is one of the lambs that FAR rescued from factory farming who could have been a piece of meat cooked in a traditional Summer BBQ Today, Isabella happily frolics at FAR and is a playful ambassador for the millions of lambs that are slaughtered at this time of year Register today host your own vegan BBQ and join Australia’s Largest Vegan BBQ at farmanimalrescue.org.au SARA KIDD'S BRAND NEW VEGAN BAKING SHOW! Check Out >> www.sarakidd.com Christmas Vegan - By Dr Ash Nayate It’s difficult being around non-vegan family and friends during holiday events, when the consumption of animal products is glorified and celebrated Vegans are more aware than ever of the immense suffering of billions of animals, at a time when the world is touting “peace on Earth” Except of course, for those who end up on a plate Holidays are particularly challenging due to the complex social relationships and traditions that encompass celebrations If we opt-out of festivities, either by not consuming animal products or not attending altogether, it’s often seen as a rejection of the family itself, of our friends, or as “not being a team player” in our workplace Should vegans attend or decline non-vegan events? Our ultimate decisions depend on whether they are in line with our values As much as we live with other people’s reactions to our decisions, more importantly we must be able to live with them too Be clear on why you’re attending (or not) Consider your reasons for attending or declining an event If we choose to attend, we risk feeling resentful; and if not, we risk feeling guilty Once we’re clear on the reasons why we’re choosing to attend, it can ease the process of decision making and navigating the resulting emotions Plan your approach The way in which we handle questions and comments from non-vegans will depend on our ultimate reasons for attending events We may be more likely to discuss our vegan lifestyle if we’re attending an event for the purpose of showcasing vegan food, rather than if we’re just making a token appearance to get on the boss’s good side Develop a toolkit for handling difficult situations Attending non-vegan events can elicit uncomfortable emotions like anger, frustration, and sadness These feelings are often a healthy response to seeing animal products that we know resulted from cruelty and suffering It’s important that we recognise these feelings and have adaptive ways to cope with them, otherwise we risk suppressing them or lashing out at others Healthy ways of coping might include: creating a support network of fellow vegans who empathise with our struggles, having a plan for stepping away when we need space, and ensuring that we pre-emptively strengthen our communication skills so that we can effectively and respectfully get our message across For more information about Dr Ash Nueropsychologist, simply visit >> www.goodwillwine.com.au/charities VITAL MAGAZINE - QUARTERLY MEMBERS MAGAZINE (JUNE/DECEMBER) Upcoming Events VVSQ Stalls: Brisbane Vegan Markets: 2nd Sunday of each month, West End @ 9am - 3pm Want to volunteer at our stalls? Get in touch - info@vegsoc.org.au VVSQ Events: Please see our FaceBook Events Page for location details and more up-to- date information https://www.facebook.com/vegsocaus/events/ Have any ideas you’d like us to help you action? Get in touch - info@vegsoc.org.au Other Events in Queensland: See the Vegan Australian website: http://www.veganaustralia.org.au/calendar_qld The Vegetarian Vegan Society of Queensland E: info@vegsoc.org.au W: vegsoc.org.au P: PO Box 107 Red Hill, QLD 4059 Find us on: FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube The information in this magazine is presented solely for educational purposes It is not intended to serve as medical advice, or a prescription, or to replace the advice and care of your doctor or health professional Be sure to check with your doctor or health professional before adopting any of the methods and programmes mentioned within these pages Please also contact the appropriate animal carers for all animal care reasons The information and/or opinions expressed within this magazine not necessarily reflect the views of VVSQ Inc or any/all of its committee, members or spokespeople ... plant based diets can help benefit liver function Therefore, feeding dogs vegetable based diets with legumes as a main source of protein is the preferred diet in these patients (Weber, Minco et al.1985)... Innocence of Eating Meat By Francesco Buscemi Only in the last few years the opposite perspective on the relationships between Nature and Culture has become more widespread It sees Culture as... together At the beginning, I was not able to identify this idea Certainly there was the unifying element of the detachment between the idea of the living animal and the steak We tend to hide the