Marin Vegetarian Education Group
 April 2016

Happy April! Have you planned something foolish for April Fool's Day?  Here's a joke I recently learned that makes me laugh: What do you get if you cross poison oak with a four leaf clover?  Answer: a rash of good luck!     May you enjoy this colorful, flower-full month in good health and with good humor.


Sunday, April 17
Berkeley Vegan Earth Day
The name "vegan Earthday" should be redundant.  Anyone who loves our planet ought to be making vegan choices every day.   Still, we are fortunate to have a Berkeley Vegan Earthday celebration this month at the David Brower Center, 2150 Alston Way in Berkeley, from 9:30 until 3:00 on Sunday, April 27.  I will be tabling there with Dharma Voice for Animals (DharmaVoicesForAnimals.org) which will  be launching its Bay Area Chapter at the event.  There will be terrific speakers, great food, important information booths and more.  Hope to see you there!  Tickets are $16 in advance, $20 at the door. To learn more or to buy tickets visit http://berkeleyveganearthday.vegfoodevents.com/

Saturday, April 30
Food Empowerment Celebration
Enjoy scrumptious food, live music, a silent auction and great people to help raise money for the Food Empowerment Project. This one of a kind not for profit supports farm workers and their families, low income communities, vegan ethics, fair trade chocolate and many other important, food related social justice causes. You will seldom get to attend a fund raiser for such a powerful organization for only $25! Plan a day in the city for this event that will be from 2 to 5:00 PM at the VegNews headquarters (3505 20th St., San Francisco).   Until April 23 you can sign up at http://www.foodispower.org/celebrate-with-food-empowerment-project-2016/

Plant Based Foods Association
Congratulations to Michele Simon of EatDrinkPolitics.com! She is the executive director of a new industry trade group that could not have existed even five years ago.  Click on this link to read Michele's announcement and to watch a short video about the new organization. 
http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=6d92905ea6348fcc3f1b61a3e&id=bc4b392ef7&e=63a34e4fe9

Congratulations to Miyoko Schinner
Not only did she change the world with artisan vegan cheeses. And it wasn't enough that she created an out of this world nondairy butter that will knock your socks off. But Miyoko Schinner has now been named one of twenty "Badass Veg Women Who Are Making History" by Mercy for Animals.  The other 19 women are impressive as well, but Miyoko is our own Marin County super star.  Check out the list at http://www.chooseveg.com/20-badass-veg-women-who-are-making-history

Congratulations to Michael Goldberg
The Flowers Lied, volume two in Michael Goldberg's Freak Scene Dream Trilogy was published last month. This coming of age rock and roll story is set in the 1960s and 70s and recounts the narrator's search for "the authentic real."  Michael is a devoted animal rights activist now, but it's fun to read about life in the years that shaped him, albeit fictionalized. (See Prop 2 story, below for a recent report Michael co-authored.)

Vegan Diets In the News
A report from researchers at Oxford University that was published in  the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said that a vegan diet could slow climate change and save millions of lives. This study got a lot of media attention as it was the first to address the likely effects on climate and on health if large populations moved to a vegan diet. Here is the Reuters story from NBC news: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/diet-fitness/vegan-eating-would-slash-cut-food-s-global-warming-emissions-n542886

Dr. John McDougall Dis-invited to Obesity Medicine Conference
If you do not subscribe to Dr. McDougall's free newsletters, you are missing important articles, great recipes,  information about his educational weekends and week-long seminars in Santa Rosa, travel adventures, and more.  This month he wrote about why his invitation to present at a conference on obesity was rescinded.  I find it sad and fascinating to learn how big business keeps  health information from becoming more widely understood.  Read more about it here:  http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=5e58f59d97611f910916b6276&id=c8329b4ac5&e=1355df7431

Mill Valley Juice Bar
For about a year now, Nekter Juice Bar has been serving fresh juices, smoothies and acai bowls in the Strawberry Shopping Center across the street from Pasta Pomodoro, near Safeway.  Everything in the place is vegan except for optional whey powder (argh!) for the smoothies.  They have a loyalty program, a referral program,  and offer a free menu item on your birthday.  I just discovered this health promoting shop and I'm glad to know about it. You can see the menu at www.nekterjuicebar.com/

Switching From Red Meat to Chicken
United Poultry concerns has been writing about the myth of humane chicken and egg production for many years.  Recently, an excellent article by founder Karen Davis was published at Onegreenplanet.org.  Here she explains why people who say "I stopped eating red meat, but still eat chicken" may want to reconsider their eating habits. Warning: Some disturbing photos accompany the article.  http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/switching-from-red-meat-to-white-doesnt-help-health-or-animals/

Prop 2 Investigation
A report that came out in February from DxE details how the law created by Proposition 2, which went into effect in 2015, is not being enforced. Investigations into so called "humane" egg laying facilities are harming birds in many horrific ways. And the report explains why the "bigger cages" argument always will fall short in light of the ethical treatment of animals. The report was written by Wayne Hsiung, Michael Goldberg, and Leslie Goldberg.  You can read it here, but know that some disturbing images are part of the report: http://static1.squarespace.com/static/515cca87e4b0bca14d767b61/t/56ce18a82fe1314d297145c1/1456347319370/The+Truth+about+Prop+2+Report.pdf

Vegan River Cruises
In addition to VegVoyages, Holistic Holiday at Sea, and Dr. McDougall's adventure vacations, now vegans can also travel with Vegan River Cruises. Thanks to Judith Gottesman for telling me about http://veganrivercruises.com/

Being Social
There are restaurant outings, drinks gatherings, book club meetings and more every month.  Check out http://www.bayareaveg.org/events.htm   and http://www.meetup.com/marin-vegan/   to find out what's happening in April.


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