April 2005
GREETINGS
The Great American Meat-Out has happened, and
it was probably our most active year for it ever. We started by helping Alliance
for Animals, the UWM student group, with promotion and literature for Dr.
Michael Gregor’s talk about diet and cancer which they sponsored, and then at
their March 14 veggie grill-out; then we tabled at Alverno College on March 14
and 18; and earlier (much earlier) on the 18th I talked about the
Meat-Out and vegetarianism on a public radio call-in show. (For those of you
sensible enough to have been asleep at 6 AM on that day, it was taped! And the
tape will be listened to at this Sunday’s potluck.) In any case, we did well,
both in the quantity of flyers given out and, I felt, in the quality of contacts
we made. And to those of you receiving this as a free sample of our newsletter
because you signed the sign-up sheet, welcome. We’d love to have you come to a
potluck, and/or start getting this rag either by snail-mail for only $9 per year
or by email for free (see the subscription form inside for details). Thanks to
Jody and Jean for their work this year.
Someone didn’t get their March MARV Times: its
address sticker apparently got ripped off so it was sent back to us at the
return address. If you call 962-2703 and tell me who you are, I will send it to
you late if you like, or add a month to your subscription. But I can only do
something for you if you get in touch.
Just a note: even though our potlucks are normally on the first
Sunday of the month, we decided at the March potluck that July 3 would be a
mess, so the July potluck will be on the 10th, at a different site
than usual.
M.A.R.V ACTIVITIES
Sunday, Apr. 3, regular potluck, 5 PM,
at the Friends’ Meeting House, 3224 N. Gordon Pl. in Riverwest (from Humboldt,
go east on Auer a few short blocks to the parking lot). Focus will be
understanding and avoiding trans-fats, as well as listening to my talk-show
performance on tape.
Subsequent regular potlucks will be at
the same time and place on May 1, June 5, Aug. 7, and ?Sept. 4?; and there will
be a regular potluck on July 10 at the Quigley house in Shorewood. The May theme
will be African foods; in June we will look at possibilities of a vegan
Atkins-type diet.
Apr. 19, 10 AM – 2 PM, tabling
opportunity at Alliance for Animals’ Vegan Food Give-Away at the UWM Student
Union ground level concourse.
At 7 PM that same evening, nutritionist George Eisman will
talk about “Diet and Disease” at the UWM Student Union, Room 191.
Other potlucks
The April macrobiotic potluck will be
at 5 PM on Sunday, April 17, at Pat O’Neill’s house, 2431 N. Bartlett, 964-9759.
The raw foods potluck is usually held on the last Saturday
of the month at 6 PM in Brown Deer. Call the Cloughertys at (414) 355-7383 for
further information and directions to their place.
QUOTES OF THE MONTH
“Many people believe a vegetarian diet is the
world’s healthiest diet… Vegetarians …have lower rates of heart disease, cancer,
lower blood pressure, less diabetes, fewer gallstones, and less colon disease.”
-- Judy Mayer, April Outpost Exchange,
p. 14
“ The Oxidant Stress Theory explains why fruit
and vegetable consumption seems to protect against almost every disease from
Alz-heimer’s and cancer to heart disease and stroke. The antioxidents found in
whole plant foods (fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains)
play a role in squelching the free radicals we produce within our own bodies and
are exposed to within our environment.”
-- Dr. Michael Gregor’s March ’05 newsletter
NEWS
Obviously, plant foods are Good For You, while
animal foods are not so good, at the very least. Thus fish, due to its
contamination with mercury, PCBs, etc. is now suspected of dam-aging the heart
as well as the central nervous system, even if it does contain those healthy
omega-3 fatty acids – which can of course be found more safely in ground flax
seeds, flax seed oil, hemp seed oil, walnuts, and dark green leafy vegetables;
even soybeans and tofu have some. Another animal food to be wary of is
apparently milk: three prospective studies have now found a link between dairy
consumption and increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. Also, the journal
Pediatrics published an article by Physicians’ Committee for Responsible
Medicine (PCRM) which reviewed 58 prior studies and concluded that the
government recommendation that children drink milk for the calcium is baseless:
it’s exercise along with any calcium-rich food that really builds bone
strength. And it seems that no milk is sacred, since even human breastmilk
samples were found in a University of Texas study to be contaminated with
thyroid-impairing perchlorate (a rocket fuel that has gotten into south-western
water supplies), causing them to advise pregnant and breast-feeding women to
take iodine supplements in order to block its absorption. A UCLA study which
placed women on a low-fat plant-based diet found not only that this lowered
their levels of growth hormones relative to their prior animal-food-including
diets, but also that blood samples with these lowered levels noticeably reduced
the growth rate of cancer cells in petri dishes.
In related animal food news, the U.S. is still
trying to convince Japan to resume importing U.S. beef despite finding mad cow
disease here, with Condoleeza Rice just insisting that it’s safe! And of course,
raising animals for food isn’t so good either: Wisconsin’s DNR is seeking to
prosecute three separate instances of fish kills due to manure spills; proposed
regulations to limit odors from livestock operations predictably satisfy no one;
and poultry operations seem to be the source of bird flu, which epidemiologists
now worry may become very widespread as well as deadly.
On the other hand, plant foods are good in
many ways. For example, plants are our source of the trace mineral boron, which
is turning out not only to help build bone and ease arthritis, but also to help
protect against cancer; good sources are flax seeds, avocados, prune juice,
peanuts, and pecans. That broccoli may slow cancer growth should be familiar by
now, but green tea and even its extract may protect from liver disease, while
yellow onions have more antioxidents than milder white ones, according to
Prevention. And beans are another surprise addition to the anti-cancer
arsenal: Harvard researchers recently found a protective effect from just two
servings per week, a finding that adds interest to a Journal-Sentinel
article explaining that beans give excellent nutrition due to their fiber,
protein, and minerals, but that Americans just don’t like them…
Yet there is still one non-animal food that is
now nearly universally recognized as bad: trans-fatty acids. Besides our quote
above, there was an article in the Health/ Science section of the newspaper
about their prevalence in restaurant foods even though the government is
starting to try to alert people to how bad they are. Delicious Living
magazine has not waited for the government: in an article on blood cholesterol
and how to lower it, the first step they listed was to avoid hydrogenated fats
and trans-fatty acids, while eating a more plant-based diet was step two. In the
same magazine’s item on foods to seek out or avoid, the three bad guys they
listed were margarine, nonorganic animal foods, and soda, while the mainstay
ingredients for all good pantries are, according to them, a list that’s starting
to sound familiar: avocados, barley (enhances the immune system while lowering
blood cholesterol), cinnamon, flax seeds, fruits, garlic, legumes, quinoa (an
Andean grain full of protein, folate, magnesium, and soluble fiber), turmeric,
and walnuts.
Finally, the most recent Vegetarian Voice
featured a long report on Dr. Michael Klaper’s ongoing Vegan Health Study. And
it seems that a certain fraction of vegans could use some advice. For the
responses thus far, which include 900 or so questionnaires submitted as well as
blood and urine samples, indicate that while many vegans are healthfully eating
a diet of (primarily) fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, others are
not eating healthily at all, and need to know that just avoiding animal foods is
not enough for long term health. Thus, while all the health benefits of
vegetarian and vegan diets that have already been mentioned do hold, vegan diets
that have too much refined grains and sugars and hydrogenated fats (think fried
foods) are just as bad as those ingredients are in any other diet – just as
devoid of nut-rients and just as bad for the heart; further-more, eating much
refined sugar seems to cause one to age faster than necessary. Vegans are not
exempt from needing to take care of their bones, which means eating magnesium,
boron, zinc, and manganese as well as calcium and vitmins D and K and getting
regular weight-bearing exercise. Also, it’s important for vegans to make sure
they’re taking a B-12 supplement, and to eat a vitamin C food along with foods
that supply iron (such as legumes and dark green leafies) since it is harder to
absorb plant-based iron than the form of iron found in meat and eggs, and
vitamin C helps. Dr. Klaper also found that vegans must make a point of eating
omega-3 sources (mentioned above) and of getting enough protein (from beans, soy
foods, nuts and seeds). Nor is it enough merely to ingest the sources of trace
minerals; they must also be absorbed to be useful – and should therefore be
broken up either in preparation or by thorough chewing. It is a real service to
the vegan community that such a study is underway, which can let every-one
interested in a vegan diet know how to do it in a way which is healthy in the
long term, both for one’s own sake and to help convince the rest of the world
that veganism is in fact a reasonable and healthy dietary option. But it does
not surprise me to find that vegans turn out to be subject to the same
nutritional needs as everyone else, and the same need to make sure that all good
nutrients are present in the diet and that bad ones are excluded.
CONNECTIONS
The Vegan Health Study is ongoing. If you want
to participate, visit the website
www.veganhealthstudy.org or write to Michael Klaper, M.D., Director,
Institute of Nutrition Education and Research, 1601 N. Sepulvada Ave. #342,
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266.
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The NAVS (North American Vegetarian Society)
annual Vegetarian Summerfest will take place this year from June 29 to July 3,
at the Conference Center at Pitt-Johnstown, PA. It features educational
sessions, great speakers, great natural-food vegan meals, fun activities, and
lots of networking. If you’re interested, contact vegfest@telenet.net by email,
or NAVS, P.O.Box 72-S5, Dolgeville, NY 13329 for snail mail, or phone (518)
568-7970.
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Finally, it’s time for Community Supported
Agriculture sign-ups. CSAs are family farms which operate by taking
subscriptions at the beginning of the year; from June through late Fall, each
subscriber then receives a weekly box full of whatever that farm had ready to
har-vest that week. All our local CSAs are organic, so you get healthy, local,
seasonal, fresh pro-duce throughout the season while helping keep a small farm
in business. This year’s list is:
Backyard Bounty, Laura Comerford, W4873
County Rd. U, Plymouth. WI, (920)892-4319, ljcomerford@hotmail.com
Early Settlers Farm, Daniel and Janet Schmidt, N11074
Center Drive, Brownsville, WI, (920) 583-4493. Organic flowers
Full Harvest Farm, Chuck Frase and
Terry Vlossak, 7112 County Rd. S, Hartford, WI, (262)673-6760, fullharvestfarm@yahoo.com
Genesee Community Farm, Patrick O’Day,
513 Grove St., Waukesha, WI, (262) 542-8973. Subscriber work required
Nature Creek Farm, Dan Conine, 2684 County Rd. D,
Belgium, WI, (920) 994-2365, dconine @dotnet.com
Pinehold Gardens, David Kozlowski and
Sandra Raduenz, 1807 E. Elm Rd., Oak Creek, (414) 762-1301
Prairie Dock Farm, Greg David, W4512
Riverdale Ln., Watertown, WI (920) 262-9996
Rainbow Farmers Cooperative, Will Allen, 5500 W.
Silver Spring Dr., Milwaukee, WI (414) 527-1546, will@growingpower.org
Rare Earth Farms, Steve Young, 6806 Hwy KW, Belgium,
WI, (262) 285-7076, rareearth@execpc.com
Rebel Ridge Family Farm, Mike or Pam Green, 20023
Rebel Ridge Rd., Richland Center, WI (608)538-3838, plgreen8@mwt.net
Springdale Farms, Peter and Bernadette Seely, W7065
Silver Spring Lane, Plymouth, WI, (920) 892-4856, springdale@excel.net
Stella Garden, Kim Bale or Janet
Gamble, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, W2493 County Rd. ES, East Troy,
WI, (262) 642-4028, ext.111, kbair@michaelfieldsaginst.org
Tipi Produce, Beth Kazmar, 14706 W.
Ahara Rd., Evansville, WI (608) 882-6196, tipi@ticon.net
Wellspring Garden, Mary Ann Ihm, 4382
Hickory Rd., West Bend, WI (262) 675-6755, Wellspring@hnet.net