Enewsletter

Office Update

The office will be closed again during AR2003 East. Any orders or correspondence since June 11 is backlogged, and we'll get to it as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.

United Poultry Concerns Conference

You are Cordially Invited to Attend United Poultry Concerns'

4th Annual Forum: Promoting Veganism
How to Promote Veganism Widely and Effectively

Saturday August 16 – Sunday August 17, 2003
University of Colorado-Boulder Campus

Meat From Dying, Sick Or Diseased Cows Getting into Food

Seattle's KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Investigative Reporter's story on downed cattle being used for human food. It provides proof that downed animals are still a significant problem for the industry.

Don't Blame Canada!

Report on Canadian Tour Sponsored by Vegan Outreach

In May, Vegan Outreach gave a small grant to Leland and Dustin Stoelwinder of Kelowna, British Columbia, enabling them to do a tabling and leafleting tour through Canada. They tabled at 4 shows with the band The Tups, and leafleted at 3 universities in Calgary, Brandon, and Winnipeg.

Leland writes:

The universities of Calgary and Winnipeg went VERY well. We managed to give out around 200-300 Why Vegans to passersby as well as dropping off about 100 pamphlets or more with the local vegetarian or activist groups that the schools housed. The University of Brandon did not have such a club, but we left some pamphlets with the student union and they seemed enthusiastic.

Along the way we handed out pamphlets to lots of people: gas station attendants, fast food workers, and basically everyone we ran into. We dropped off pamphlets at various hemp shops and record stores including the Hemporium in Calgary; Kustom Kulture, Wild Planet, and Into the Music in Winnipeg; and B.O.B. Headquarters in Clear Lake and Brandon. All these independent businesses (as well as a few others) were excited to have the pamphlets (some took upwards of 20+) and the employees were interested in what they had to say.

On May 10th we went to Saskatoon to table at the Slosh 'n' Wash, a laundromat/bar.

This night went well. Lots of people took the time to read the laminated texts and to ask us questions. We gave away a good number of pamphlets.

On May 11, we went to Clearlake and the Tups played another show that night for a birthday party. We sold a couple stickers and handed about a dozen or so pamphlets to locals.

On May 15, we went to Winnipeg and leafleted at Winnipeg University. We ate at the Mondragon Cafe, a vegan coffee house and book store, where we dropped off some pamphlets. We then tabled at the Royal Albert with the bands Trouser Mouth and Trixxie. One guy I talked with was discussing how expensive being a vegan was; I told him it's actually a lot cheaper. He said he would go vegetarian 50% in the next month, and if that worked out he would go 80%, then he said who knows! There were a lot of people interested in what we had to promote.

On May 18, we tabled at the Clearlake show at which vegan Greg MacPherson, of the G7 Welcoming Committee Record Label played.

The Meet Your Meat video was a hit. Everyone was asking if they could buy it. I have a bunch of addresses of people who want a copy. I will be sure to get them out to them as soon as possible.

The next morning we left and headed straight back to Kelowna, though we continued to hand out pamphlets here and there along the road as we stopped for food and gas along the Trans Canada Highway.

Great job Leland and Dustin! We are glad you were able to reach so many people.

LA Times Article: There Should Be No Room for Cruelty to Livestock

Newkirk and PETA in The Observer

Vegetarian School Lunch Resolution Passes in California

On Monday, June 16, California passed State Resolution ACR16 asking School Food Services to provide vegetarian alternatives at school lunches. It passed in the California Senate by a vote of 23-8. For more information, see Project Healthy Beginnings.

More Research on B12 and Vegans Released

- Jack Norris, RD

A new study on vegans and vitamin B12 was published in the July issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The research once again emphasized the need for vegans to get a reliable supply of vitamin B12 on a regular basis (see these Recommendations) to ensure that homocysteine levels stay at healthy levels.

The current study by Herrmann et al. took a specific look at B12 on transcobalamin II (TC2) in vegetarians. (More background on TC2 here.) TC2 is the protein that picks up B12 from the intestines and takes it to the cells where it is needed. The theory is that only B12 transported by TC2 is available to the cells. And because B12 can only get to TC2 by way of the intestines, B12 stores are only helpful to the extent that they can be secreted into the intestines by the liver and be reabsorbed eventually ending up on TC2. Herrmann's study showed that this may not be happening nearly as efficiently as we had hoped, as vegans TC2 levels were quite low.

Some vegans and vegetarians were taking B vitamins, though amounts of B12 were not reported. Results were:

From the table, you can see that vegans' B12 on TC2 levels were quite low, while homocysteine levels, especially for the vegans not taking any B vitamins, were much higher than for the non-vegetarians. Statistical analysis by the authors showed that TC2 B12 levels were the best predictors of homocysteine levels.

I'll just finish this quick report with an excerpt from Can a Natural Diet Require Supplements?:

The Medical Community: Future of Research on Vegans

Some vegans dislike the medical community. By refusing to accept the scientific evidence in favor of the need to supplement with B12, the vegans who dislike the medical community are providing a steady flow of vegans with poor health for the medical community to study. If you do not like the medical community, the best thing you can do is ensure that you do not develop B12 deficiency and will never be used by them to say that a vegan diet is unhealthy.

I tend not to believe that medicine is one big conspiracy against veganism, and am glad that research has been done on vegans who do not supplement with B12. But enough is enough. I am tired of seeing study after study looking at vegans who do not supplement with B12. It is the vegan community’s responsibility to stop this flow of research subjects. When a researcher decides to do a study looking at the various health problems of vegans who do not supplement their diets with B12, it would be best if they simply could not find any.

Vegan Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the suffering of farmed animals by promoting informed, ethical eating. All donations are tax-deductible. Vegan Outreach POB 30865, Tucson, AZ 85751-0865