Marin Vegetarian Education Group
June, 2016
Happy summer! Even though the official season starts in three
weeks, where I grew up in New York, Memorial Day began the season in
which it was okay to wear white shoes, and when people who drank
switched from Bloody Marys to Gin and Tonics. I laugh to remember
what seemed important all those decades ago! There is more news
about drinking below.
I wish you a beautiful and rewarding summer, regardless of whatever
color shoes you wear or whatever summer drink you prefer. (I tend
toward watermelon or cantaloupe liquified in the blender, with just
a splash of water to get it going.)
Climbing Mt. Everest is Dangerous
Virginia Messina, The Vegan RD, wrote an important, timely article
about the vegan climber who died climbing Mt. Everest. You can sign
up to receive her wonderful bulletins at TheVeganRD.com. Here's the
climbing story in full:
Last week, a vegan named Kuntal Joisher successfully reached
the summit of Mt Everest and came home to post photos to his Instagram account.
Chances are, you didn’t hear much, if anything, about him. No
doubt, though, you heard about another vegan climber, one who
died while attempting to climb the tallest mountain in the
world.
Of the nearly 1,000 internet articles generated by this story,
some overtly questioned the safety of a vegan diet for climbers.
By noting that she was a vegan in the headlines, every single
one of the articles implied that this was somehow a relevant
fact related to Dr. Maria Strydom’s death.
Dr. Strydom wasn’t some irresponsible dilettante when it came
to big mountains. She was an experienced climber who had already
summited Denali, Mount Ararat, and Kilimanjaro, among other
peaks. It’s hard to imagine that she headed into this adventure
poorly prepared and without making sure that her health was in
good shape. That hasn’t stopped journalists and doctors and
dietitians from questioning her diet.
A spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association told the
BBC that consequences of a poor vegan diet would be increased
fatigue due to lower iron levels, weaker muscles because of
lower amino acid intake, and the risk of fractures from poor
calcium intake.
Yes, those all could be consequences of a poor vegan diet.
And guess what? They would be consequences of a poor omnivore
diet as well. It’s not like iron deficiency anemia and
osteoporosis are rarities among the general population. And are
we really supposed to believe that someone who made it to
Everest Base Camp and had already climbed Kilimanjaro had weak
muscles?
If Dr. Strydom knew the basics of vegan nutrition and sports
nutrition, there is no reason to think that she was any less
prepared to climb Mt Everest than anyone else. A lot of people
die in the extreme climates on these mountains, and most of them
are smart athletes in excellent shape. It is unfair to single
out one vegan climber and try to second guess why she died and
to assume that her diet had something to do with it.
The truth is that a vegan diet is safe. Climbing Mt. Everest
is dangerous.
As always we can (eventually) put an end to these click-bait
stories by assuring health professionals and the media that
vegans know how to eat healthfully. That means embracing the
science that allows us to do that even when recommendations
aren’t especially popular. Yes, vegans need to take supplements
(or eat fortified foods.) Yes, vegans need to pay attention to
protein. As long as we embrace evidence-based nutrition, share
it, and practice it, it will get harder and harder for
detractors to say that our dietary choices are unsafe.
Vegan Alcohol In the News
Bailey's Irish Cream has always been made with dairy cream (50%) and
Irish whiskey. Now they have introduced a rice milk version called
Bailey's Almande Almond Milk Liqueur. The company suggests freezing
coffee in an ice cube tray and dropping some into a glass of the
Almande Liqueur. While I'm not a big fan of drinking spirits, I do
find it interesting that even a long established liquor company is
jumping on the vegan bandwagon. And of course, they distance
themselves in this article by saying it's not just for vegans; they
are targeting lactose intolerant drinkers as well. Read more at
http://www.examiner.com/article/bailey-s-vegan-almond-milk-liqueur-milkshake-brings-all-the-boys-to-the-yard
Spiritual But Not Vegan? Not For Long!
Victoria Moran of Main Street
Vegan shared exciting news about an important new film that is
being produced to bring more people into vegan living. Her
message is below, as I received it. Information is included on
how you can help support this project. I hope you will!
A Spirited Documentary & I'm on YouTube!
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The Compassion Project is
an in-the-works documentary
film designed to encourage
the 80% of humanity who
identify as either
"religious" or "spiritual"
to expand the love and
compassion already at the
heart of their faith,
outward to encompass all
life. In other words, this
beautiful film invites
people of all spiritual
paths to explore veganism,
via an introduction
from someone of their own
faith tradition.
The filmmaker, Thomas
Jackson, whose very first
film won a Student Academy
Award, is a committed
ethical vegan who was
inspired to make this
documentary when he saw the
obvious disconnect that
exists when people who are
dedicated to making peace
and expressing love only
take that as far as our
species, plus perhaps
companion animals and
certain wildlife. Why not
all life? It's possible, and
because it is, I am honored
to be producer for this
important and powerful film.
Already we have interviewees
lined up for the film
representing Christianity
(Catholic and Protestant),
Judaism, Islam, Buddhism
(Zen and Theravada),
Jainism, Native American
spirituality, and the large
group of people who are "not
religious but spiritual."
Among the vegan and animal
rights people, who have
agreed to participate are:
- Will
Tuttle, Ph.D, of The
World Peace Diet
- Bob
Isaacson of Dharma Voices
for Animals
- Bruce
Friedrich, of The Good
Food Institute and New
Crop Capital
- Milton
Mills, MD, internist and
Seventh Day Adventist
- Lisa
Levinson, In Defense of
Animals and Vegan
Spirituality
- Linda G.
Fisher, tribal member of
the Ojibway Nation and
animal behaviorist
- Frank L.
Hoffman,
all-creatures.org, retired
pastor
- Richard
Schwartz, Jewish
Vegetarians of North
America
- Imam
Sohaib Sultan, Princeton
University chaplain and Time
Magazine contributor
- Pramoda
Chitrabanhu, spiritual
teacher and author in the
Jain tradition
The crowd-funding
campaign to raise the needed
funds to complete and edit
the film went up today at http://www.gofundme.com/compassionmovie.
All contributions are
received with great
appreciation and will be
used with great care. (The
gifts are pretty cool too!)
If you have questions about
the project, please send
those to me and I'll route
them to Mr. Jackson. Thanks
so much for taking a look at
this. "Likes" on Facebook
-- https://www.facebook.com/CompassionMovie/?fref=ts --
and follows on Twitter -- http://www.twitter.com/compassionmovie are
also appreciated.
Thank you, bless you, and
may good karma grow up all
around you --
Victoria
PS -- On another matter: I'm
on YouTube! Yep, it's never
too late to take to TV,
especially these days. My
channel is http://www.YouTube.com/VictoriaMoranNYC,
and thanks to the artistry
of NYU student and Main
Street Vegan Academy
graduate, Rindala Alajaji,
and the tech expertise of
musician and podcaster
Michael Harren, we're up and
running. Thanks for taking a
look, and if you subscribe,
well, I'll be grateful and
do an even better job!
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As always, be sure to look at www.bayareaveg.org/events.htm and www.meetup.com/marin-vegan/ to find out what's happening in the coming weeks. Also, check out Compassionate Living in Sonoma County. Their web site is www.socoveg.org/. And The San Francisco Veg Society at www. SFVS.org also has events that might lure you over the bridge.
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