Newsletters 2010

January * March * April * May

Marin Vegetarian Education Group
May, 2010

There is no scheduled meeting of Marin VEG in May, but there are many wonderful events where vegetarians will be gathering. Enjoy the spring, and I hope to see you at one of these happenings.

West Marin Plant Eaters
Friday, May 7
The first meeting of West Marin Plant Eaters invites everyone to a a pot luck dinner on Friday May 7 at a private home in Inverness at 6:30 PM. After dinner there will be a showing of the film Processed People. To R.S.V.P. and to learn the location, call Leslie at 415 663 9182.

Lyman vs. Niman
Thursday, May 20 at 7 PM in Berkeley
VegNews magazine and Earth Island Institute are sponsoring a one of a kind evening in Berkeley at 7 PM on Thursday, May 20 at the Brower Center (2150 Allston Way at Oxford). Mad Cowboy author Howard Lyman, the former cattle rancher who won't eat meat, will talk with Nicolette Niman of Niman Ranch, about the question:: Can you be a good environmentalist and still eat meat? Admission is $10 - $20 (sliding scale). To reserve a spot, call 510-859-9100 or visit earthisland.org. (Doors open at 6:30) Before you go, you may want to read the U.N. Report called Livestock's Long Shadow, which ignited this issue by explaining how animal agriculture accounts for more greenhouse gasses than the entire transportation sector. You can read the report at ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a0701e/a0701e00.pdf

Whether or not you attend the event, I encourage you to visit www.HumaneMyth.org. Even it we could ignore the environmental impact of animal agriculture, "humane meat" is a harmful oxymoron. The system in which all farmed animals are bred, confined and killed is inherently cruel and begins and ends with the slaughter of young animals. Hatcheries from which laying hens come routinely kill male chicks, as they are of no value to the egg industry. Likewise, dairy farms are dependent on impregnating cows over and over again and taking the offspring away from their mothers so that humans can have the milk.. Male calves are sold for their flesh, as they are of no value to the dairy industry. No animal "farm" allows animals to live a natural life nor die a natural death. I agree with Pulitzer Prize winning writer Alice Walker who said, "The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white or women were created for men." Also note that in the excellent book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, Nicolette Niman's husband, Bill Niman, says that even he will no longer eat the meat from the ranch he founded, as their policies are no longer in accord with his own definition of "humane." I certainly hope someone will bring up this point at the event.

Patti Breitman's Cooking Class: Overlooked and Yummy
Monday, May 24
On Monday, May 24 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM, I will be teaching a vegan cooking class in Belvedere focusing on breakfasts, snacks, and other opportunities for eating well. We will prepare and enjoy a variety of fast, flavorful and fabulous recipes and explore how to eat well even when we are away from home. The class is $35 and registration is required. Location will be given when you sign up. Contact the Belvedere-Tiburon Recreation Center at 435-4355 or www.btrecreation.org

Michael Bedar Speaking in May
Producer, Simply Raw
Local raw food expert Michael Bedar is one of the producers of the new documentary Simply Raw, Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days. The film follows a number of people who have diabetes through a month of eating a raw food diet at Dr. Gabriel Cousin's Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center. The changes are amazing, despite the misgivings of most of the participants. Michael will be speaking on May 8 in Oakland at the Spring Flavor Festival and on May 22 in San Francisco at UCSF. You can follow Michael's work and learn more about the movie and Michael's talks at www.eat-reel.org.

Marin Vegan Meet Up
The May meet up has not been announced yet. Be sure to check in with www.meetup.com/marin-vegan/ to see when the next outing is planned. Thanks to Wade for arranging these interesting and delicious events at local restaurants.

Red Vic Dinners Every Wednesday in San Francisco
The San Francisco Vegetarian Society sponsors delicious, vegan dinners every Wednesday night at 6PM at the Red Victorian Peace Cafe in San Francisco's Haight Ashbury neighborhood. The delicious, healthy meals are lovingly prepared by Patricia Allen Koot of Wellness Central, and the cost is a minimum donation of $10. The cafe is in the Red Victorian Hotel at 1665 Haight Street, near Cole. Reservations are strongly suggested: 707-774-1904 or e-mail info@wellness-central.org

Will Tuttle in Mill Valley
Thursday, June 17
Thursday, June 17 is the next scheduled event for Marin VEG. We have rented the Mountain View Room at the Mill Valley Community Center for a talk by Will Tuttle from 7 until 8 that evening. Will Tuttle is the author of The World Peace Diet, one of the most comprehensive and moving books ever written about the implications for peace, war, wealth and societal well being that are all tied to our food choices. He is the winner of the Peace Abbey award, and his book was recently #1 on Amazon.com, a very encouraging sign of these changing times. Will Tuttle is a deeply peaceful, highly energetic and engaging speaker. We will provide more details in the June newsletter.

San Francisco Adopts Meat Free Mondays
Ghent, Belgium was the first in the world, and San Francisco is the first city in the U.S. to adopt a Meatless Monday policy. Supervisors voted in April to encourage San Francisco residents, restaurants, schools and grocery stores to offer more vegetarian fare. While the resolution does not require that people say no to meat, it is designed to call attention to the links between our food choices and climate change, health and sustainability.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Eat for Health
Now a 2 Volume Set, Comes with Membership
Joel Fuhrman, M.D., author of one of the most responsible weight loss books ever written, now offers a two volume edition that comes with membership in his education center. Membership includes access to a Q&A forum with Dr. Fuhrman, live teleconferences, a complete library of Healthy Times newsletters, recipes and menu plans, plus a free e-book of Eat to Live and discounts on other products. The package (two books, plus membership) is $54.95 (regularly $84.95). To order and join, go to http://www.drfuhrman.com/shop/eat_for_health.aspx
And while I totally support Dr. Fuhrman and his message, I must also point out that the original Eat to Live (one volume) is available from Amazon.com for $10.19 and the two book set is on sale there for $21.59.

Eating for the Environment
Good Times
On April 14, the cover of Good Times announced Meat is Not Green, and the cover story, Eating for the Environment told the truth about how harmful animal agriculture is to our environment. Writer Elizabeth Limbach interviews John Robbins in the piece, and calls attention to the effect of a meat and dairy based diet on global warming. John Robbins, author of The Food Revolution, Healthy at 100, and the groundbreaking Diet for a New America, is one of the most compassionate people working for a healthier and cleaner future. You can read the story at http://www.goodtimessantacruz.com/santa-cruz-news/good-times-cover-stories/1027-eating-for-the-environment.html

VegE News and VegSource
If you want to learn about vegetarian issues around the world, there is no better free e-newsletter than VegE News. Published in Canada, this free monthly e-newsletter is a compilation of news stories, recipes, events, interviews and more. Sign up for it by sending an email to Vege-news@Holmesassociates.com
Another top notch source for all things vegetarian is VegSource.com. This is like a Readers' Digest of current videos, conferences, stories, and articles about people, food, and issues of interest to vegetarians and vegans. Whether you care most about the environment, health, or animals, there is plenty to explore at VegSource.com.

Carnivorous Plants
Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco
Starting May 7 and running through October, the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park is hosting a show called Chomp 2, Return of the Carnivorous Plants. It boggles the vegan mind to contemplate plants that eat animals, but here they are. Billed as "a garden of deadly delights," the exhibit is open 10 to 4 daily except Mondays. The Conservatory is at 100 John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park..

Summerfest Coming July 7 - 11
Billed as The Event That Can Change Your Life, The 36th annual conference of the North American Vegetarian Society - Summerfest - is coming in Johnstown, PA in July. This is like a summer camp for adults and families, and it includes fabulous vegan meals, educational sessions, socializing, morning exercise classes, entertainment and wonderful people. Learn more about this fun and inspiring week at www.vegetariansummerfest.org.

NHA Healthy Living Conference in California
August 19 - 23
This year the annual conference of the National Health Association will be held in Santa Rosa instead of the usual Florida location. This is a great opportunity to attend part or all of this health promoting event featuring the best health experts in the country. To learn more about it, visit www.healthscience.org

April 2010
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Hello and happy April! I hope your Spring has been as nourishing as the rain and as beautiful as the wildflowers.

There are plenty of opportunities to meet and eat with other vegetarians and vegans this month. In addition to what is listed below, be sure to check BayAreaVeg.org for other gatherings throughout the month.

And mark your calendar now for Thursday, June 17, the next scheduled event for Marin VEG. We have rented the Mountain View Room at the Mill Valley Community Center for a talk by Will Tuttle from 7 until 8 that evening. Will Tuttle is the author of The World Peace Diet, one of the most comprehensive and moving books ever written about the implications for peace, war, wealth and societal well being that are all tied to our food choices. He is the winner of the Peace Abbey award, and his book was recently #1 on Amazon.com, a very encouraging sign of these changing times. Will Tuttle is a deeply peaceful, highly energetic and engaging speaker. You will not want to miss this event. We hope to co-sponsor this event with The Marin Peace and Justice Coalition. More on this and on the refreshments we will provide will be included in future newsletters. But mark your calendars for June 17 today.

Wednesday, April 14
Marin Vegan Dinner Club
The Marin Vegan Dinner Club will meet at 6:30 PM at Thai Smile Restaurant at 534 Fourth Street, San Rafael on Wednesday, April 14. To R.S.V.P. go to http://www.meetup.com/marin-vegan/calendar/12969238/. Space is limited, so sign up today if you are interested.

Redefining Soul Food - Thursday, April 15
A Cooking Class for a Great Cause with Celebrity Chef Bryant Terry
Marin County's Homeward Bound program offers job training programs and housing opportunities for homeless women, men, and families. On Thursday, April 15 Homeward Bound is having a fundraising dinner and cooking demonstration with chef Bryant Terry, author of two wonderful books: Vegan Soul Kitchen and Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen. Bryant is an eco-chef and food justice activist and one of the Bay Area's most exciting food experts He has been awarded the inaugural Natural Gourmet Institute Award for Excellence in Health Supportive Food Education, and was chosen in 2008 by the Bay Area's 7x7 magazine at one of the "Hot 20 Under 40." He will present his unique definition of soul food at this one of a kind event.

The cooking demonstration and menu will include: Citrus Collards with Raisins, Mini-Jamaican Veggie Patties, Sweetback's Salad with Roasted Beet Vinaigrette, and Gumbo Z with Wild Rice.

The event will be held in The Next Key Center, 1385 N. Hamilton Parkway, Novato. The cost is $49 and all proceeds support Homeward Bound, "Ending Homelessness with training, housing, and hope."
For more information,, visit www. hbofm.org (and click on "take a cooking class") or call Maura Thurman at 382-3363, ext. 213

John Robbins and Ocean Robbins to Speak at Earth Day Celebration
Creating a Healthy Future
Wednesday, April 21, Berkeley
The Sustainable World Coalition is producing a 40th Anniversary Earth Day Even event at the Brower Center in Berkeley at 7 PM on Wednesday, April 21. John Robbins and his son Ocean Robbins will both be speaking on "The Wisdom of Partnership" at this exciting 40-year celebration. John Robbins is the bestselling author who has revolutionized awareness through his books about food that is healthy for people and the planet. Ocean Robbins is the founder of YES and continues to inspire and support young leaders from all over the world.

The theme of this evening is Creating a Healthy Future, and the event also includes a video introduction to a new collaborative initiative called Four Years Go (which already includes 500 organizations), and a public launch of the Sustainable World Source Book and the Pay It Forward campaign of the Sustainable World Coalition. Also included is a reception with appetizers, wine and live music. The cost is a donation of $15, but nobody will be turned away for lack of funds. For more information visit www.SWCoaliton.org and click on Earth Day Special Event.

<>Marketplace Dinner in Berkeley
Sunday, April 25 at 4 PM
The next Market Place dinner produced by Barry Schenker (and prepared by him and all the guests) in Berkeley's historic Hillside Club is on Sunday, April 25. To find the address, the menu, Barry's blog and a recent Express newspaper story about their dinners, go to www.marketplacedinners.org.
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David Brooks, in a recent New York Times column about happiness, stated that according to one study, joining a group that meets just once a month produces the same happiness gain as doubling your income. Richness in both body and spirit !! What a deal for $30.

Please RSVP as soon as possible, as space is limited. Send payment to: Barry Schenker, 1065 Sterling Ave., Berkeley, CA 94708.

Cooking Class with Patti Breitman
Monday, April 26
I am teaching a vegan cooking class in Tiburon called Vegetarian Solutions to Coming Home Hungry from 6:30 to 8:30 PM on Monday, April 25. . The class will demonstrate how to prepare food in advance so your refrigerator always has a delicious meal ready to eat. All you have to do is set the table and heat what you prepared last weekend. The cost is $35. Register through the Belvedere-Tiburon Recreation Department: 435-4355 Or go to www.BTRecreation.org. The class code is 1708.306. The address is provided when you register.

And now, forgive the third person voice: Patti Breitman is the coauthor of How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One and the director of the Marin Vegetarian Education Group (www.MarinVEG.org).

West Marin Plant Eaters:
New West Marin Vegan Group Forming
Leslie Goldberg is starting a new vegan meet up group for West Marin, but everyone in Marin is welcome. The first meeting will be a pot luck dinner on Friday May 7 at a private home in Inverness at 6:30 PM. After dinner there will be a showing of the film Processed People. To R.S.V.P. and to learn the location, call Leslie at 415 663 9182.

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The Marin Vegetarian Education Group is a project of VegNews Network. We are a 501 (c)(3) organization and gift are tax deductable. To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

We appreciate contributions of any size. We will thank you for a contribution of $20 or more with a 1-year subscription (or a 1-year
continuation of a current subscription) to VegNews magazine. Send contributions to Marin Vegetarian Education Group, 12 Rally Ct., Fairfax, CA, 94930.

Marin Vegetarian Education Group
March, 2010

Tomorrow is March 4, the only day of the year we can actually act out. (Say the date out loud, and then march forth in joy and gratitude for the rain, the sun, the wildflowers, and the fertile earth that provides our food!)

We will not sponsor an event in March, but there are many opportunities to dine with other vegans and vegetarians. Be sure to check out BayAreaVeg.org and SFVS.org for more outings and events.

Lunch on March 14
Marin Vegan MeetUp will be meeting for lunch at Cafe Gratitude( 2200 4th Street, San Rafael) on Sunday, March 14 at 12:30 PM. Cafe Gratitude has added a number of cooked Mexican dishes to its menu of raw and cooked foods, so raw fooders and everyone else can find something tasty and nutritious there now. If the weather permits, the group will dine outside on the patio. Learn more and R.S.V.P. at:
http://www.meetup.com/marin-vegan/calendar/12716600/

March 21: Fifth Annual MeatOut Celebration - Informative talks, Delicious lunch included
Sunday, March 21 from 12:15 until 3:30, the San Francisco Vegetarian Society will host an educational, vegan food event at the Unitarian Center, 1187 Franklin Street (at Geary) in San Francisco. The cost is $5 for the entire event ($3 for seniors, students and disabled), including hors d'oeuvres at 12:15 and lunch at 12:30. Bob Linden of Go Vegan Radio will speak at 2:00 and Will Tuttle, author of The World Peace Diet will speak at 2:15 on "MeatOut: Good for You and Good for the Planet." Will Tuttle is the recipient of the Peace-Abbey's Courage of Conscience Award and the co-founder of the Circle of Compassion Ministry. He is also an acclaimed composer and pianist. Lunch reservations are mandatory: Call 415-273-5481

Bruce Friedrich of Peta Speaking March 21
Author and Peta VP for Policy and Government Affairs, Bruce Friedrich will be speaking at the East Bay offices of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on Sunday, March 21 from 2 - 4 PM, in Oakland near Lake Merritt. He will present new information on how the production of eggs, meat and dairy products contributes to environmental degradation, human health problems, cruelty to animals, poverty and worker rights problems. Complimentary vegan appetizers and beverages will be served. Bring a nonvegan guest and watch Bruce's persuasive presentation start someone new on the path toward a more compassionate diet. To receive the address, R.S.V.P. to PetaBayArea@Peta.org And if you haven't already read the book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, in which Bruce Friedrich contributes a chapter, you are missing out on one of he best books in decades to be written about choosing a plant based diet.

March 28: Marketplace Dinner in Berkeley
The cooking begins at 4 PM, so please arrive by 4:00. Barry Schenker is hosting a vegan Marketplace Dinner at the historic Hillside Club (2286 Cedar at Ash, Berkeley) on Sunday, March 28. Join Barry and other guests to prepare and enjoy a gourmet, vegan dinner with fresh ingredients purchased from the local farmers' market. The cost is $30 ( $25 for Hillside Club members). To see the menu, visit http://www.marketplacedinners.org/ And to R.S.V.P. (required), call Barry at 510 649 0449, or write to him at BarrySchenker@comcast.net

Shrimp as a Health and Environmental Nightmare
An important expose on where shrimp comes from and its affect on our environment and health was published on Alernet. Its author Jill Richardson is the author of Recipe for America: Why Our Food System is Broken and What We Can Do About It. After you read her article about shrimp, you may want to share it with those you know who still think of shrimp as a healthy choice. See the piece at http://www.alternet.org/food/145369/shrimp%27s_dirty_secrets:_why_america%27s_favorite_seafood_is_a_health_and_environmental_nightmare

Dr. Neal Barnard Explains Soy Safety
Neal Barnard, M.D., founder and director of Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine, wrote an excellent piece on The Huffington Post last month about soy and its safety. His conclusion: Soy is safe, but not essential. Read the post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neal-barnard-md/settling-the-soy-controve_b_453966.html

Make a Phone Call for Healthy School Lunches
When Dr. Neal Barnard spoke in Santa Rosa last month for the Farm Animal Protection Project, he asked us to help get healthier choices into school lunches by calling our senators. Simply request that vegetarian and vegan options be made available for children's school lunches. All senators' offices keep track of messages and opinions. The Child Nutrition Act will be discussed soon in the Senate. Be sure Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer know that we want vegetarian and vegan options in every school lunch. The congressional switchboard can connect you with any senator: 202 224 3121. Or call the California Senators directly: Barbara Boxer: 202 224 3553 and Dianne Feinstein 202 224 3841 They will most likely ask for your zip code, and it is okay to leave a message. Just say you want vegetarian and vegan options in every public school lunch.

Farm Animal Protection Project
Our neighbors to the north in Santa Rosa have created a wonderful organization to help end animal suffering at human hands. Please visit http://farmanimalprotection.org/fapp/home.htm and consider making a donation to this wonderful group. These are the people who sponsored last year's vegan Thanksgiving Dinner, last month's visit by Dr. Neal Barnard, and many other pro-vegan events. They keep track of vegan friendly restaurants in Sonoma County (click "Restaurants" on their web site) and are up to date on issues affecting vegans and vegetarians and our planet.

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January, 2010
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Happy New Decade! 2010 sounds so futuristic, doesn't it? - as if we are living in a science fiction world. In some ways we certainly are! In any world, I hope that the new year and new decade bring joy and peace, health and love to you and to all beings.

We will not have a meeting in January, but I encourage you to stay in touch with BayAreaVeg.com and www.meetup.com/marin-vegan/ to find out about dinner outings, potlucks, and other opportunities to socialize with other vegetarians.

PCRM offers KickStart 21-day Program to Star the New Year
Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine is offering a free 21-day program to help you learn how to eat and live as a healthy vegan. With daily emails and occasional telephone reminders you will learn celebrity tips, receive recipes, be part of a community forum, have access to an interactive, national restaurant guide and more. Based on Dr. Neal Barnard's work, this kickstart program aims to introduce healthy habits that will last throughout the new year and beyond. To register at no cost, go to http://www.21daykickstart.org/ or click on the kickstart link at www. PCRM.org.

Sprouting For Life Class with Michael Bedar
Tuesday, Jan. 12, 7 - 9:30 PM
Join local raw food expert Michael Bedar on Tuesday, January 12 to learn the ins and outs and benefits of sprouting. The class will meet in a private home in Tiburon, and the address will be provided when you register. The cost is $25 by January 11 and $30 on the 12th. Visit http://www.sunrise-center.org/sproutingforlife.html for details.

Come Into Your Own - Teleclass with Victoria Moran
The author of Living a Charmed Life and Creating a Charmed Life is offering a year long tele-seminar course (by phone) to help people keep their resolutions, meet their goals, and create physical health, spiritual growth, financial stability and a life of joy and wellness. Last year's class converted 15 people to veganism! So if anyone you know wants a dynamic and effective coach to help achieve his or her potential in every area of well-being, visit http://VictoriaMoran.com/come-into-your-own.html to learn the price and logistics of this inspirational and successful program.

<>Michael Klaper, M.D. Joins Improved and Expanded TrueNorth Health
For those of us who strive for excellent health it is frustrating to watch the fight over who will pay for drugs and surgeries being called a “health care” debate. As an antidote to those maddening headlines and the misguided use of the word “health,” I have happy news to share.</>
Dr. Michael Klaper has joined the staff of True North Health in Santa Rosa, CA, one of the most effective, scientific, comfortable and affordable eating/juicing/fasting centers in the country (www.healthpromoting.com) . You may remember Dr. Klaper from his role in the documentaries Diet for A New America and Food for Thought, both of which aired on PBS television in the 1980s. He is the first vegan medical doctor many of us ever heard of, and he continues to treat patients with a successful, nutrition first approach toward the most common, life threatening conditions (heart disease, diabetes, auto immune disorders, obesity, and more). Dr. Klaper is seeing patients privately as well as supervising and educating guests at True North Health (707-586-5555).

Joining True North Health is not like joining a practice anywhere else. This is a world class team of caring and competent medical doctors, interns, chiropractors, therapists, sports injury experts, cooking instructors, exercise coaches, a health promoting chef and supportive staff, all dedicated to helping people achieve and maintain genuine wellness. Among this stellar line up are some of the best diagnosticians and smartest doctors in the country. Under one roof is the largest number of experts on fasting, eating, juicing and getting well that you can find anywhere. Guests come from all over the globe to learn how to achieve health and maintain a healthy way of living.

About 7 years ago I did a four day supervised water fast, followed by two days of eating under the guidance of Dr. Alan Goldhamer, the founder of True North Health, at their former location in Rohnert Park, CA. That facility was a little shop worn. It had a clinical feel to it, and people who stayed there felt more like hospital patients than honored guests.

The new facility is just the opposite. I spent a day at the Santa Rosa True North Health Center last month to see Dr. Klaper in action and to witness the improvements to True North Health. What a change!

The new digs in Santa Rosa are gorgeous. Professionally designed to feel like a luxury home, the common areas are tastefully furnished, comfortable, spacious, and welcoming. Five days a week guests are invited to a video screening in the morning by an expert in health and nutrition and a lecture in the afternoon by a doctor. Additionally, twice a week there is a cooking class and an exercise class, plus there is a gym across the street if you want more exercise than the fitness room can provide.

The entire facility has WiFi, and every guest room has a flat panel tv, dvd player, telephone, private bath and comfortable bed. But none of this is the best part.

The best part is that True North Health has expanded from a water fasting only center to a fasting, feeding, juicing center, so more people can be exposed to the immersion in healthy living that a stay there provides. At any time just under half of the guests are fasting, about the same number are eating and about 10% are juicing. About 2/3 of the guests are individuals and about 1/3 are couples. Additionally, because every room is part of a two bedroom suite, many friends come to share a suite while learning how to get healthy and stay healthy by developing health promoting habits.

The other best part is the price. A stay at True North Health is less expensive than The Doubletree Hotel down the road, yet it comes with medical supervision, three meals a day or supervised fasting or juicing, educational programs, classes, companionship with other health seekers if you want it, and a noticeable improvement in weight, cholesterol, blood pressure and other markers of improved health. In addition to a one time fee for a medical evaluation the day you arrive, the cost of a stay is only $129 per person per night, provided the suite has two occupants.

During my visit I enjoyed a bountiful lunch of salad, black eyed pea stew, steamed baby bok choy and asparagus, and baked rice and potatoes, all from an all you can eat buffet. Nobody eating at TrueNorth Health leaves the dining room hungry. And this brings me to yet more good news: If you live in Sonoma or northern Marin County (Novato and east), you can enjoy this health promoting food, already prepared and ready to heat and enjoy in your own home. Go to www.TrueNorthKitchen.com to see how this delivery program allows people to order meals to be dropped off at your home on Sunday if you order by Wednesday. Dr. Goldhamer hopes to expand the TrueNorthKitchen idea to communities all over the country and is currently looking for funding to expand to other cities.

When I fasted at True North Health in the 1990s, it served as a re-education for my taste buds. I lost my cravings for chocolate and learned to enjoy the taste of unadulterated food for the first time in my life. Having seen the new facilities, I am looking for an excuse to spend more time there. Maybe Ill use it as a place to write parts of my next book. Maybe Ill invite my college roommate to join me there for a lifestyle makeover. Whatever my reasons for going, I know Ill leave with enhanced health, greater motivation for healthy living, and a sense of having been cared for by a superb team of health professionals. As Dr. Klaper says of the people he helps at TrueNorth Health, “They are all heroic on their journey. It is an honor to help them.”

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</>Two New Vegan Restaurants
A new Thai restaurant in Berkeley and a new Mexican restaurant in San Francisco just made it easier for vegans to find good food. Word is out that these two eateries are offering scrumptious meals. Check out the reviews on HappyCow.net (where you can search for veg-friendly restaurants anywhere in the world).

Gracias Madre (from the owners of Cafe Gratitude, but it is not a raw food restaurant)
2211 Mission Street (between 17 and 18th)
San Francisco
415-824-4652

Green Papaya
2016 Shattuck
Berkeley
510-845-1658

One Plate Left
Did anyone leave a white rimmed, coffee colored ceramic plate at our holiday potluck in Fairfax? Please call 459 1666 or write to Eatplants@Earthlink.net if the plate is yours.

Hold the Date - Feb. 14
On Valentines Day in Berkeley, Vegan Outreach will be holding a fund raising dance ($50 per person) that promises to be fun, compassionate and delicious. For more details, visit http://www.veganhealth.org/vday.

<>The Witness Now Available Free on Line
A classic, life changing documentary about evolving to become a vegan and an activist, The Witness, is now available for free viewing at http://www.tribeofheart.org/screeningroom. If you have never seen The Witness, be prepared for a surprising story about a New York City construction worker whose unexpected encounter with a cat changes his life. Tribe of Heart is also the producer of Peaceable Kingdom, The Journey Home, which has been winning awards at film festivals and is scheduled to be shown in the Bay Area later this year. To read some audience reactions to Peaceable Kingdom, visit www.tribeofheart.org/news/mediabase/1227.htm. Film is a powerful tool for awakening people to the realities of their own hearts, and Tribe of Heart is a remarkable, compassion driven company. I hope you will have a chance to support them and to watch the unforgettable films they produce.

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Soy and Breast Cancer
Healing Cuisine sent a bulletin between Christmas and New Years that summarizes the most recent findings on soy consumption and breast cancer. Below is the Healing Cuisine summary of Dr. Joel Fuhrman's analyses. Meredith McCarty's Healing Cuisine is an excellent source of credible information. Additionally, Healing Cuisine offers cooking classes, consultations, recipes, and an health e-club. For all this and health alerts such as the one reprinted below, visit www.HealingCuisine.com.

Soy is protective for breast cancer survivors.

Two new studies have examined the effects of soy on recurrence of breast cancer in survivors. Soybeans are rich in isoflavones, a type of phytoestrogen. Phytoestrogens are plant substances that are chemically similar to estrogen and thus can bind with estrogen receptors. Phytoestrogens may block estrogen's natural effects or actually have weak estrogen-like effects in the body. Since estrogen exposure had been known for many years to negatively influence breast cancer risk, soy was thought by some to be potentially dangerous. This fear of soy was unfounded. Isoflavones were actually shown to have anti-cancer effects in cell culture and animal studies. Also, in Asian countries where soy is a staple food, rates of breast cancer have traditionally been much lower than those in the U.S. This paradox launched much debate and hundreds of studies on the relationship between soy and breast cancer. Today, a search of U.S. National Library of Medicine for "soy" and "breast cancer" returns 373 articles from scientific journals.

These most recent and reliable clinical studies support a strong protective effect of soy against breast cancer. Unfortunately the myth that soy contributes to breast cancer has persisted in spite of this plentiful contradictory evidence:

• 2006: A meta-analysis in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute examining data from 18 studies on soy and breast cancer that were published between 1978 and 2004 concluded that soy overall has a protective effect.

• 2008: A meta-analysis in the British Journal of Nutrition compiling data from 8 different studies (not included in the 2006 meta-analysis) also concluded that soy consumption decreases breast cancer risk. These effects were dose-dependent: a 16% reduced risk for each 10 mg of soy isoflavones consumed daily.

• 2009: There were reports in Cancer Epidemiology and The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that soy consumption during childhood (60% reduced;) and teenage years (40% reduced;) reduce risk of breast cancer in adulthood. Both studies also reported reduced risk for adulthood consumption of soy. A new study shows premenopausal breast cancer survivors who consumed more soy had a 23% reduced risk of recurrence.

Which soy products are most beneficial?

In Asian countries, the average daily intake of soy isoflavones is 25-50 mg, and is consumed via tofu, soybeans, soy milk, miso, and natto. In the U.S., the average soy isoflavone intake is less than 1 mg, and most of this amount is consumed via soy-based additives or isolated soy protein in processed foods. Cruciferous vegetables are the most powerful anti-cancer foods, along with a variety of beans, including soybeans, as components of an anti-cancer diet. As little as 10 mg of soy isoflavones consumed per day has a protective effect with regard to breast cancer – this equates to approximately 1 ounce of one of these minimally processed soy foods:

• Whole soybeans or edamame
• Tofu
• Tempeh
• Unsweetened soymilk

Source: Dr. Joel Fuhrman, www.drfuhrman.com

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

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December, 2009
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Essay Competition - Winning Entries are Printed Below

Vegan Holiday Potluck - Saturday, December 19

Mark your calendar for Saturday night, December 19 from 5:00 until 8:00 for a holiday potluck dinner at a private home in Fairfax. The address will be given when you R.S.V.P. to Eatplants@earthlink.net or 415 459 1666. The event is free, but contributions of $3-$5 per person will be welcome.

Many readers probably answered the same question in the days leading up to Thanksgiving: "But what do you eat if you don't eat turkey?"
Here is our chance to show off our best holiday recipes and enjoy the company of other compassionate people at a pot luck just for us and our favorite people. Please bring a dish to share with 8-10 others, a camera if you have one, and a hearty appetite. Also bring friends and family - Anyone who likes good food, wants good health, and enjoys a good time! RSVP before December 18 please.

Vegan Bake Sale in San Francisco
This Saturday, December 5 from 11 AM until 4 PM, a variety of professional pastry and bake shops and caterers and chefs will be selling all kinds of yummy baked goods to benefit The Food Empowerment Project (FoodIsPower.org) and Save a Bunny (Saveabunny.org). The bake sale is at Ike's Place, 3506 16th Street. The Food Empowerment Project is in desperate need for donations to get some of their programs up and running. Every penny from this benefit - and from your gifts - will go a long way.

Holiday Shopping
In these days of excess, it's good to know that gifts can be given that honor the recipient and help other beings at the same time. No gift wrapping paper is needed to make a contribution to your favorite cause and honor someone you care for. Some of my favorite not for profits that will send a "gift was received in your honor" card are:

Marin Homeless In Action - providing dry socks, warm clothes, sleeping bags and other survival gear for people who don't have a home (P.O. Box 118, Ross, CA 94957)

Physicians' Committee For Responsible Medicine - Promotes preventive medicine and higher standards for ethics and effectiveness in research (PCRM.org)

Mercy For Animals - promoting the idea that nonhuman animals are irreplaceable individuals who have morally significant interests, and hence rights (MercyforAnimals.org)

Help Desk of the St. Vincent de Paul Society in San Rafael- Serving people without housing in Marin County (www.vinnies.org - and check "other"and specify "help desk" when asked where to direct funds)

The Food Empowerment Project (FoodIsPower.org) - creating a more just and sustainable world through the power of food choices

And if you do give a tangible, wrappable gift this year, consider wrapping with something useful such as a dishtowel, apron, pillow case, or reusable fabric or something re-used like comics from the newspaper, old magazines, or old maps. Here are some gift ideas worth wrapping:

The new book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs and Wear Cows by Melanie Joy, Ph.D. (My review of this book is now posted on VegSource.com)
The new book Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer
The new book That's Why We Don't Eat Animals by Ruby Roth (for children 6 and up)
The new book Rising Shadow, a novel for young adults featuring a vegetarian protagonist, by Jacquelyn Appell Wheeler
The one year old book How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One by Carol J. Adams and Patti Breitman

A gift certificate for Millennium Restaurant, Allison's Gourmet, or a subscription to VegNews magazine - three of the four sponsors of our essay contest. We are so grateful to them!

Special Thanks to Donna's Tamales
While Millennium, Allison's Gourmet, and VegNews magazine are all superb sources for gifts, we can't add Donna's Tamales to our holiday shopping list, even though they were also a generous sponsor of our essay contest.. So I want to encourage you to stock up on the vegan tamales and "enchamales" from Donna's Tamales and keep a bunch in your freezer during this busy time of year. They are terrific by themselves and they make a wonderful meal with a salad or soup. Virtually every natural food store and many supermarkets throughout the Bay Area carry them in the refrigerator section. Visit www.DonnasTamales.com to find out where you can find them near you.

Personal Choice or Political Issue
A powerful article about whether food is a personal choice by James E. McWilliams was published last month in the Washington Post. Although he calls a vegetarian diet a sacrifice, his arguments against eating meat are strong and persuasive. And it's just short enough, yet thorough enough, that even our meat eating friends might read it and consider its argument carefully. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/15/AR2009111502210.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

New Vegan Restaurant in Berkeley
Nature's Express, a new vegan restaurant for people in a hurry is planning to open mid-January in Berkeley. To read about the founder, an oncologist of all things (!), go to http://www.natures-express.com/meet_Dr_Carl.php. Watch this newsletter for news about the official opening.

Lydia's Lovin' Foods in Whole Foods
Lydia's Lovin' fresh food line of organic, vegan, raw foods is now available in the refrigerator case of the San Rafael Whole Foods Market as well as The Good Earth in Fairfax.

Essay Winners
Below are the winning essays in our essay competition. Each essay was an answer to Why I Am a Vegetarian or Why I Am a Vegan. Congratulations to each of the winners. And thanks to everyone who entered. The competition was very close, and all who wrote deserve kudos for the effort and the passion they shared.

We send abundant thanks to the generous and supportive companies that provided the prizes: Fourth place, Allison's Gourmet (AllisonsGourmet.com); Third place, VegNews magazine (VegNews.com); Second place, Donna's Tamales (DonnasTamales.com); and first place: Millennium Restaurant (MillenniumRestaurant.com). When you are thinking of holiday gifts and meal ideas this season, remember these wonderful companies.

Note: If the spacing is strange or there are <> symbols where they don't belong, please forgive my substandard computer skills.

Fourth Place - Alicia Robb

Growing up in the Midwest, eating meat was just an accepted practice that didn’t warrant much thought or reflection. Even though I loved animals and grew up surrounded by a myriad of wonderful creatures, it wasn’t until late in high school that I made the connection between the food on my plate and the animals that were killed for my meals. As I began getting involved in activism in the area of human rights, protesting against U.S. intervention in Nicaragua and working with the “new underground railroad,” transporting central American refugees through the U.S. (where they weren’t welcome) to Canada, my awareness of the atrocities committed against animals also grew and I also became an advocate of animal rights.

During the first month of college I had decided to slowly move towards vegetarianism because I didn’t think I could make the dramatic change in eating overnight. However, my roommate, who was vegetarian, convinced me otherwise. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. She said, “Just do it. Stop now. Throw everything out today. You can do it.” And I did. I never eat meat again. It wasn’t that easy at the time. I was in college in south Texas in the late eighties. It was definitely beef country. I wasn’t one of those people who didn’t really like meat and didn’t really miss it. The first year was the hardest. I craved it all the time. About one year into it, I remember driving by a fast food restaurant where I had used to get chicken breast sandwiches. I had really been craving meat, especially chicken, and I contemplated a clandestine purchase of a chicken sandwich. I think that was really the moment of truth. As I sat there in my car the thought running through my head was, “nobody would know”. And then it just became crystal clear: I would know; that was all that mattered. My decision to go vegetarian for the animals was a commitment to the animals and not to anyone else.

As the years went on, I learned more about the other industries that exploit animals. I stopped wearing leather shoes, wool suits, and silk blouses. About six or seven years ago, more information became available about the cruelties in dairy and egg industries. I switched to soy milk and ice cream; I found egg replacements for baking and dabbled with various vegan cheeses. As an economist, I studied the economic inefficiencies of the production of meat, the environmental degradation that occurs from factory farming, and how a meat centered diet for the world population is simply not sustainable.

When I moved to California six years ago, I decided to adopt some chickens from some rescues that saved ‘spent hens’ and ‘broilers’ from being killed. I was able to witness the very unique personalities of each chicken and am entertained daily by the energy and enthusiasm they exude as they run around digging up my yard and chasing my cats. I think of their lives prior to their arrival to their new home and it makes me so proud to be able to give them a new life where they can sit in the sunshine, take dust baths in the dirt, and tear around an acre of land as they wish. I’m thankful that these birds have this opportunity, but it breaks my heart to think of the other nine billion chickens each year that don’t get a chance at a second life.

When I was 25, I started a nonprofit organization that works in the area of community development throughout the developing world, partnering with local grassroots organizations. It currently operates in seven countries with eleven offices worldwide and employees nearly 40 full time staff. When people ask me if founding this organization is what I’m most proud of in my life, I say no. What I am most proud of is my compassion for all living beings, my commitment to open my home to animals that are old or sick or not “adoptable” for some reason, my lifestyle choices about what I eat and what I wear, my commitment to raising awareness about the reality of factory farms, and my advocacy for choosing a more compassionate lifestyle that does not exploit animals.

This compassion and commitment defines who I am more than anything else. I became a vegetarian in September, 1988. It is now 21 years later and I am more committed than ever to spread the idea of compassion for all.

Third Place - Jamie Ellerman
It was Deb's 45th birthday - a gorgeous September afternoon. The wine was flowing and the food was delicious. In fact, it was the best porkchop I'd ever eaten in my life, so tender and tasty I had to know where it came from.

Just before taking another bite I asked, "Where on earth did you get these chops?"

"Oh, I put a hit on the pig yesterday," she replied.

And then, with the porkchop still in my mouth, I pictured a pen, and in it were three adorable pigs, each one even cuter than Babe, looking up expectantly to see who it was that was visiting them. And it was Deb, pointing her finger at one of those adorable creatures saying, "That's the one," and the pig was smiling, not knowing it was the chosen one, the one that would become the feast for the party. At that moment, the walls that had held up the compartments in my mind, the ones that allowed me to eat meat despite my passion and love for animals, came crashing down. The porkchop fell out of my mouth as I gasped and I never ate meat again.

Second Place - Paula Mullen Erba

I resisted becoming a vegan for a long time, mostly because I had a cheese addiction like you wouldn’t believe. The funny thing is, I had several vegans around me at various times who should have been influential. At age nineteen, I had a boyfriend who was a militant environmentalist and was not only vegan, but a good cook. The problem? He criticized me for still eating dairy. His favorite line at breakfast was, “Want some pus with your cereal?” as he passed the milk. His sarcasm might have broken down a more weak-willed person, but being somewhat rebellious by nature, I dug in my heels.

Later, I became friends with a vegan who frequently made scathing comments about non-vegans. It came from a place of concern for the animals and an anger that, even then, I understood. But all she made me want to do was go home, cut up a block of cheddar cheese and gnaw on it like a ravenous little mouse.
So, what finally broke through my rebellion? One day, I chanced upon an in-depth article about the close ties the dairy industry has with veal production. I had always known about veal; my mother had never eaten it and didn’t let us eat it when we were children, not only because of the cruelty perpetrated against the male calves, but because the thought of eating particularly young baby animals had always repulsed her. However, until I read this article, I hadn’t stopped to think of where the male dairy calves go after birth, being of no use to the dairy industry. I didn’t realize that even the female calves are ripped away from their mothers soon after birth. And I didn’t know that the mother cows can cry out for days, frantic to find their babies.

I imagined being newly born, roughly shoved into a dark crate with no warmth or comfort, when every instinct a newborn has, whether human or bovine, is to be hovered over, cared for and comforted. I thought about not being able to move, play or do the normal things a young baby wants, and needs, to do. I considered what that would feel like – the confusion, the frustration, the loneliness.

In other words, instead of reacting to forces outside myself, I looked within, and finally found the empathy and compassion from which I had been hiding all those years, behind self-erected walls of fear – fear of change, fear of the unknown, fear of really and truly knowing what these animals live and die through, each and every day.

My reasons for remaining vegan are multifold. Practically speaking, when my husband went vegan overnight, all the cheese, milk and eggs left the house, and all temptation and addictive habits went with them. I am extremely fortunate that this very same husband not only can cook well, but actually enjoys it. For a domestically disabled person such as myself, this is priceless.

And, no matter how I try not to look, the cruelty inherent in big agriculture pops up periodically to stare me in the face, serving as confirmation that I have made the right choice. Living in rural Sonoma County , I see it everywhere. There’s the field of orphaned dairy calves off Highway 116, the “family farm” that houses generation upon generation of babies, all destined to grow up and have their own babies torn away from them. These female calves, bewildered and frightened, will come to the same lonely field as their mothers and grandmothers. They will slowly acclimate, then they will be transported to a large scale dairy, and the next wave of tiny orphans will be shipped here. I drive by this field every day.

And there’s the nearby dairy, where the cows literally wallow in a mud pit, next to a huge pile of manure. One day I made the mistake of glancing over as I drove by. A cow was trying to walk, but her udders were so enormous, and her back legs so stiff, that she stumbled and fell in the mud. I slowed to a stop, horrified. Struggling, she somehow managed to get up and move across the enclosure.

If I were ever again tempted to eat cheese, that memory alone would stop me.

I am forever in debt to the author of that article, and for the chance to come upon those farmed animals and be a witness to their suffering. Although painful, these reminders keep me on my chosen path. It’s been amazing to realize just how powerful our food choices are. If we channel our anger and sorrow into meaningful change, and live as shining examples of compassion, we truly can change the world for these animals.

First Place - Sarah Lux
Thinking Outside the Lox

I am vegan because there is no other option.

I was also raised with no option, raised on meat and dairy. Salad was a few iceberg pieces, vegetables a few overcooked afterthoughts. Meat was the meal. I drank the blood from cooked steaks, warm and in glasses. Steak juice, my mom called it, and it was my prepubescent wine.

There were no other options: that was food. That was life. That was death. Get it while you can.

When other people took options where I saw none, my conscience flew up in a flutter of beating wings and heartbeats into my face. Angry, I'd swat it aside and counterattack.

Yeah, I was one of those meat eaters. You know the type. I'd wave a slab of meat in your face and taunt your meat-free options. Aw, you feel bad for the cows, I'd mock. Have a burger, the cow is delicious, I'd say. Try Bessie.

Don't get me wrong. I loved animals. I grew up with cats and dogs and if it weren't for the relationships shared with them, sometimes I wonder if I would have made it out of my teens at all. I loved animals. I just never questioned what was on my plate. I was the consummate consumer, following the leader, following the USDA through the food pyramid.

Besides, I loved meat. All someone had do say was “Veggie Burger, please” to a waiter and I'd get all prickly and bothered.

My repressed conflict is best illustrated through my two career goals at age ten: 1. Work with the Humane Society cause I loved cats and dogs. 2. Work at Burger King cause I loved their Veal Parmesan sandwich. Yup.

Then one day it happened. 17 years old, on the top bunk of my Hunter College dorm. I was eating cheap Chinese takeout. Pork fried rice and something. I was loving the sweet and salty pieces of pork, the translucent onion pieces, the greasy rice. Then I bit down, and something happened. The pork turned to flesh in my mouth. I tried again, and again – my pork became flesh and pig in my mouth, and I was sickened. I am eating Wilbur, I thought.

Snap out of it, I thought. Put it away and come back to it tomorrow. I did, and tried again, but it was there: flesh and gristle, something that used to be alive and sentient. It was no longer food.

I tried to keep it quiet at first. I told only a few close friends. I thought it was a phase and I would get over it sooner or later. After all, I'd been an out and proud meat eater – there was my street cred to consider.

I tried to keep eating chicken and fish. Not like a pig or a cow, right? I do know people who seem to think that some vegetables swim, fly and walk; but I couldn't swallow that. It was flesh.

Well, I guess I'm vegetarian. Crap. I thought. At least I'll never be VEGAN.

Once I had stopped eating meat, though, I opened myself up to knowledge. And after I learned that the dairy and meat industries are both intrinsically cruel and deeply entwined, there I was. Vegan.

There was just no other option.

It's been 15 years now, and I'm thrilled by the changes happening in the world around us. Veganism has moved from sacrifice to celebration. We can enjoy gastronomic and fashion pleasures that go soul-deep and cruelty free. There is nothing to miss, and everything to gain. Most meaningful to me are the relationships I've gained. Franz Kafka expressed it well: “Now I can look at you in peace, I don't eat you anymore.”

Around the world, people are making connections between their diet, humane options, the environment, health, and human rights. I believe we are on the verge of a sea change as people's awareness of what (and who) they put in their bodies continues to rise. Activism is spreading – and we can help spread the word just by ordering dinner.

Are there still meet meat eaters like I used be? Sure. I still get bacon waggled in my face. I still get the questions about protein, vegetable feelings, abortion, and but what about if you were stranded on a desert island with only a fishing rod. Sure, I still get that – but I get it. That was me. Like Carol J. Adams pointed out, that's unresolved guilt talking. I know firsthand that the most vehement meat eaters are also the most likely to become aware, and to realize that they can question the animal consumption assumption and create another choice.

And really – is there any other option?

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

November, 2009
The Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Correction: The chefs who created the Brassica Supper Club, as reported in last month's newsletter, were not sous chefs at Millennium Restaurant, but worked in the kitchen there as interns. My apologies to anyone who was offended, surprised or misled by my ignorance of the difference. The Brassica chefs never misrepresented themselves. The mistake was entirely my own.

Writing Competition Winners
Congratulations to everyone who entered the essay competition for Why I Am a Vegetarian or Why I Am a Vegan. Our judges were delighted and impressed with the quality and number of entries, and it was hard to choose the four winners from among the fifteen excellent submissions. We are pleased to announce these winners of this very close competition. Next month's newsletter will include the winning essays.

Fourth Place: Alicia Robb - wins an Allison's Gourmet gift certificate
Third Place: Jamie Ellerman - wins a VegNews subscription, gift bag, t shirt and goodies
Second Place: Paula Mullen Erba - wins a Tamale party from Donna's Tamales
First Place: Sarah Lux - wins a gift certificate to Millennium restaurant

All the winners receive a winner certificate and a copy of How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One. Abundant thanks to everyone who entered the contest and to our judges (Howard Lyman, Shirley Virgil) and our sponsors (Allison's Gourmet, VegNews, Donna's Tamales, and Millennium restaurant).

Thanks
Thank you to Hope Bohanec for her in depth talk this month on Eco-Eating. We appreciate her research, organization and presentation skills. If you know any organization or school that might be open to hearing a 30 minute talk about the environmental impact of an animal based diet, please contact Hope to arrange it. The 60-minute version of her presentation covered much more than the environmental havoc wreaked by animal agriculture and included the cruel practices that are standard on factory farms. Hope can be reached at Hope@idausa.org.

Film Debut and Fundraiser - Oct. 28
Call of Life is the first feature film abut the current mass extinction that is destroying the biological systems needed for our very existence. This Wednesday, October 28 from 7 to 10 PM you can watch the film and discuss it with the filmmaker, David Ulansey, the founder of Species Alliance and a professor of philosophy and religion at the California Institute of Integral Studies.. The event will be at a private home in Tiburon and directions will be given upon registration. To register, call 924-7824. The event is a fundraiser to help pay for post production. There is no cost to attend, but you will be asked to make as generous a donation as you can.

Halloween Costume Party - Oct. 31
On Saturday, October 31 join other party goers at a costume party in San Francisco featuring guest speaker Kenneth Williams, a champion vegan bodybuilder along with music, costume contest, prizes, silent auction, catered, vegan treats and more. The event is in honor of World Go Vegan week and is co-sponsored by the San Francisco Vegetarian Society and In Defense of Animals. Here's the scoop: Saturday, October 31, 7 PM to 11 PM, AMUSE Gallery, 614 Alabama Street (in the Mission neighborhood), San Francisco. The cost is $7.00 to $40, sliding scale, and all the proceeds will help animals. For more information, contact IDA at 448-0048, ext. 208.

Vegan Dinners Every Wednesday Night - Nov. 11 with Patti Breitman
Patricia and David Koot of Wellness Central produce a scrumptious and creative educational event every Wednesday night in San Francisco at The Red Vic Hotel (1665 Haight Street) at 6PM. The evening includes a delicious, vegan buffet dinner prepared by Patricia and a talk with a different expert every week.. It costs a minimum donation of only $10. You must RSVP to ensure that there will be enough food for everyone. To RSVP, call Dave at 707-774-1904 or email info@wellness-central.org.
The upcoming schedule of speakers is as follows:

Nov. 4 Michael Edelstein, Ph.D., debates the question: "Self-esteem: Helpful or Harmful?"
Nov. 11 Patti Breitman, director of Marin VEG (that's us), author, How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One (that's me!)

Nov. 18 Vegan Thanksgiving Banquet!!
Dec. 2 Olga Aura presents Fully Alive! Lecture on Emotional Eating and the Fully Alive! dance
Dec. 9 Holiday Program
Dec. 16 Christmas Banquet!!
Jan. 6 Josephine Bellaccomo, noted author presents on the art of Communication, and booksigning.
Jan. 13 Stiles Bingham, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, presents on Bioenergetics.
Jan. 20 Lisa Books-Williams, Therapeutic Recreation Specialist presents

Alicia Silverstone at Marin JCC
Alicia Silverstone, actress and advocate, will be appearing at the Osher Marin JCC on Thursday, November 5. She will be talking about her new book The Kind Diet, A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight and Saving the Planet. The cost is $12 for members, $16 for nonmembers and $38 if you want your admission to include a copy of the book (advance purchases only). For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.marinjcc.org. The event is co-sponsored by Book Passage and The Kanbar Center for Performing Arts.

Animals Asia
There will be a delicious Chinese vegan dinner with Jill Robinson, founder of AnimalsAsia on Sunday, November 8 at 6:30 at Shangrila Restaurant (2026 Irving Street, San Francisco). The cost is $15, and there is a limit of 45 guests, so RSVP early. Contact Nancy Loewen at
NJLoewen@gmail.com or call 415 750-0614 no later than Wednesday, November 4. Animals Asia works to stop bear farming in Asia, where bears are confined in tiny cages and "milked" for decades for their bile.

Jewish Vegetarians
All Bay Area Jewish vegetarians are invited to a dinner at Shagri-La restaurant on Sunday, November 15 at 6 PM in San Francisco (2026 Irving, between 21st and 22nd Streets). The food is Asian, Kosher, Vegetarian (vegan except for fortune cookies and a few dishes). RSVP by November 14 to be included. Contact Bonnie Knight 290-1575 or BonbonSF@aol.com. To learn more about the group VeggieJews, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/veggiejews/

Vegan Thanksgiving
There are many opportunities to gather with friends for a vegan Thanksgiving meal in November: a benefit for Farm Sanctuary, a catered meal by Patricia Koot, and a potluck in Santa Rosa. And don't forget Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco (580 Geary @ Jones) will serve a vegan Thanksgiving menu on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26 from 2 until 8PM. Reservations are required for everyone. Call 345-3900 to make your reservation. Members of the San Francisco Vegetarian Society (sfvs.org) can dine any time that day for $50, all inclusive. The regular price is $60 before tax and gratuities; children under 12 are $30 each. Here are the details on the other dinners:

Wellness Central is offering a vegan Thanksgiving banquet on Wednesday, November 18 as one of their weekly series of vegan dinners at the Red Vic Hotel in San Francisco. The minimum donation is $10. See above under "Vegan Dinners Every Wednesday" for more about these scrumptious, catered meals and excellent programs and for information on how to reserve a spot.

Farm Sanctuary in Orland is offering a candlelit, gourmet vegan dinner with entertainment and guest speakers Gene Bauer and Colleen Patrick Goudreau on Saturday, November 21 for $75 per person. The event is a benefit for Farm Sanctuary and goes from 1 PM to 7 PM at Farm Sanctuary, 19080 Newville Road, Orland, CA. For more information, visit http://www.farmsanctuary.org/farm/calendar/celebrations/

And on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, Farm Animal Protection is offering a free (donations welcome) pot-luck vegan dinner at 5 PM in Santa Rosa.. Please bring food to share with at least 10 others and your own plate, utensils and napkin. The address is Monroe Hall, 1400 West College Avenue, Santa Rosa. (Take the Santa Rosa exit 490, College Avenue. Go West about 1.4 miles, and Monroe Hall will be on the left.) For more information, call Wade at 707-765-2682. Friends in Santa Rosa remind me that it takes less than 45 minutes to reach Santa Rosa from Central San Rafael, so I hope many Marin vegetarians will make it to this community vegan Thanksgiving Day feast.

Regardless of where you celebrate your gratitude, please hold in your heart the 10 billion land animals who are slaughtered every year in the United States for food.

Pardon All Turkeys
There is an absurd tradition in our country in which the President pardons a turkey every year just before Thanksgiving. Why this one bird is spared when 300 million others turkeys are slaughtered is beyond me. But this year FARM is asking us to sign a petition asking President Obama to pardon all turkeys. To sign the petition go to FARMUSA.org.

Holiday Gravy
Here is an easy, delicious and fat free gravy that is a perfect topping for baked squash, bread or rice dressing, lentil loaf, mashed potatoes, and any other holiday food. The recipe is originally from Ann Wheat and appears with her permission in How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One by Carol J. Adams and Patti Breitman. 2 quarts vegetable stock

1/3 cup white or light miso

1/3 cup dry white wine or mirin

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon Apple cider vinegar

2 – 3 teaspoons poultry seasoning or other mixed herbs (*see note)

½ - 1 tsp dried rosemary

½ - 1 tsp dried sage

½ - 1 teaspoon thyme

½ teaspoon black or white pepper

Salt to taste

2 – 3 Tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot as thickener
Combine all ingredients except cornstarch or arrowroot in a 4-quart pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

At serving time, dissolve thickener in ½ cup cold water. Bring the gravy to a low boil. Slowly pour in the thickener and stir while the gravy turns fro milky to smooth. Add enough thickener to reach the consistency you desire. <>
Makes 8 cups. *Note: Poultry seasoning does not contain animal products. If you don’t have poultry seasoning, use 2 to 3 teaspoons of a mixture of rosemary, sage, thyme, marjoram and basil.

Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows
An important and fascinating new book is coming out in January (available in stores in December) by Melanie Joy, Ph.D. called Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows. This terrific book names the ideology, dominant in our country, that says it is okay to eat some animals and not others. The author calls this belief system carnism. The publisher created a professional and moving two-minute video about the book that you can watch on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3CsceN26_E . I urge you to watch it! If you are so moved, it would be great for the book if you placed an early pre-order with Amazon or any other bookseller. Full disclosure: I was the author's agent, and I do benefit from the book's success. But the whole world benefits, too, especially animals raised for food, so I hope you will watch and share the video and consider buying a copy of the book, either now by pre-order, or in December when it ships.

New Children's Book
A new book intended for children makes the perfect coffee table book for people of all ages. That's Why We Don't Eat Animals by Ruby Roth is a beautiful, tasteful, illustrated book about how animals live when they are free and when they are confined. The illustrations are neither too cute nor gruesome, and the book is appropriate for anyone in second grade or older. Covering everything from the oceans to the rain forests, cows, pigs, ducks, geese, quail, turkeys and chickens, the book is a splendid introduction to the environmental issues and ethical concerns that are part of a meat based diet. The book is an inviting call to vegetarianism.

Eating Animals
A new book by Jonathan Safran Foer tells the truth about how animals are raised for food and, more importantly, talks about the stories we tell ourselves about the food we eat. The book is called Eating Animals and it is available now everywhere books are sold.. Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of the novel Everything Is Illuminated (a wonderful book and national bestseller), so he will attract a large audience of people who are not (yet) vegetarian. If you want to buy a holiday gift for a reader who enjoyed the novel (or the film that was based on it), this is a perfect gift, now in bookstores and on line.

One More Book Recommendation
Colleen Patrick Goudreau of Compassionate Cooks has written a new book that will be an ideal hostess gift or the most frequently consulted book in your own kitchen. The Vegan Table offers menus and recipes for every occasion, including dinners, brunches, celebrations, holidays and more. With full color photography of gorgeous food, this book is the answer to anyone who asks, "But what can you eat?!" Visit www.CompassionateCooks.com for more information about Colleen's cooking classes, podcasts and more.

Now Add Sweden to the List
What do the city of Ghent, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, one Baltimore public school district and Sweden have in common? They all recognize the huge impact of animal agriculture on climate change and have taken steps to alter how people eat to help slow global warming. Sweden now includes labels on its food showing how many kilograms of carbon dioxide are produced by creating that food. According to a chart in the story in the New York Times on Oct. 23, one person eating one serving per week of beef from a dairy cow would be accountable for 120 kilograms of carbon dioxide in the production of that portion, versus 2 kilograms from one serving of vegetarian pea soup. The labels are helping people recognize how our food choices affect global climate change. The city of Ghent in Belgium has declared one day a week to be meatless in all public schools and institutions, and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health has done the same, both to help slow global warming. A group called Meatless Monday, a project of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, is working with public and private institutions all over the world to implement similar policies.

WorldWatch Magazine
The current issue of World Watch magazine includes an in depth story about the harmful effects of a meat based diet on our environment. You can read the article at www.worldwatch.org/files/pdf/Livestock%20and%20Climate%20Change.pdf

Mercy for Animals: Fowl Play
A new DVD called Fowl Play documents the Mercy for Animals undercover investigation at hatcheries. This footage made national news and introduced thousands of people to the disturbing information about what happens routinely at hatcheries, the source of almost all layer hens. The DVD is now available for $10 from Mercy for Animals. Male chicks are killed immediately by either suffocation or in a huge grinder, when a worker known as a "sexer" determines that they are male. Only females are of value to the laying hen industry. Anyone with the stomach to watch what happens will never be tempted to eat eggs again. Go to http://www.mercyforanimals.org/store.asp to purchase the DVD which includes interviews with investigators, rescuers and animal care professionals.

May your November be filled with interesting people, great food, and countless reasons to be grateful.

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

October, 2009
The Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Our Next Gathering:

Wednesday, October 21
Eco Eating, The Power of Your Plate
a presentation by Hope Bohanec
Grassroots Field Director for In Defense of Animals

At a private home in Tiburon, near Blackie's Pasture
RSVP required: Eatplants@earthlink.net or 459 1666
Address given when you RSVP

Vegan Potluck Dinner 6:30 - 7:15 PM
Talk 7:15 - 8:15 PM
(We start promptly!), $2 - $5 sliding scale

Most of us have heard that going vegan is good for the environment, but did you know that choosing plant food is significantly better for the planet than organic and locally sourced food? This presentation will explore the detrimental effects of animal agriculture on our environment including: global warming, water use and pollution, energy consumption, deforestation, farm animal overpopulation and the consequential waste of resources, as well as the deep impact of fishing on our oceans. Through peer-reviewed scientific studies, you will learn what every environmentalist needs to know; that going vegan can help save the planet.

Invite your neighbors, friends, and coworkers to this informative and inspiring talk. People who heard this presentation at the Marin Peace and Justice Center raved about it. Many who had never heard the scientific case for veganism were totally surprised. Because this is a private home, we agreed to give the address only to people who RSVP. But we want a large turn out for this event, so RSVP as soon as you can and plan to come. The house is spacious with a state of the art kitchen and a huge family room/dining area for our event. It is only 5 minutes off 101 and easy to find with plenty of parking. Call 459 1666 or write to Eatplants@earthlink.net to get the address.

Hope Bohanec has been active in Animal Rights for over 20 years, organizing successful campaigns with Sonoma People for Animal Rights (SPAR) throughout the 90’s. In 2002, she founded Vegan Voices, focusing on education and outreach for farm animals. Hope was the Sonoma County Coordinator for Proposition 2 and soon after that victory, fused Vegan Voices into the new Farm Animal Protection Project (FAPP). She has most recently offered her organizational talents to In Defense of Animals (IDA) as their new Grassroots Campaigns Director.

Writing Competition to be Judged in October
Thanks to everyone who entered our essay contest! The judges will be busy this month reading all the entries, and the winners will be announced on November 1. Thanks also to the sponsors who donated prizes: Allison's Gourmet, VegNews magazine, Donna's Tamales and Millennium Restaurant. So many wonderful essays came in on "Why I Am a Vegetarian" or "Why I Am a Vegan" and so many stellar prizes will be awarded. In this newsletter we will be publishing the winning essays, one a month, starting in November, and we will be submitting them - with the authors' permission, for publication elsewhere as well.. Our judges are: Howard Lyman, author of Mad Cowboy and No More Bull; Shirley Virgil of Donna's Tamales; and Patti Breitman (me), author of How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One.

Other October Events & News:
>Friday, October 2: Slaughterhouse Vigil
In honor of World Farmed Animals Day and Ghandi's birthday, October 2, people from Marin and Sonoma counties who care about animals will be holding a peaceful Slaughterhouse Vigil at the Rancho Veal Corp. slaughter house in Petaluma (1522 Petaluma Blvd. North) and at the Fulton Processors, Inc. slaughterhouse in Fulton (1200 River Road) on Friday, October 2 from 5:00 until 8:00 PM.

Hoping to call attention to the slaughter of more than 9 billion land animals slaughtered each year in the United States alone, the attendees will honor and mourn all animals who are slaughtered for our food choices. Prayer sticks, candles and banners will be provided. Bring prayers, poems, photos of well cared for animals, plus stones (to leave as a memorial, as in the Jewish tradition on graves), leaves, and other natural materials that can be left at a memorial.

For more information on this vigil, go to AnimalEarthHuman.org and click on "blog."

Saturday and Sunday, October 3 and 4th - World Veg Fest in San Francisco
Don't miss these two days of celebration, information, terrific food and top notch speakers. Admission is free from 10:00 until 10:30 each morning and after that a $6 donation is requested. The event is from 10 until 6 both days in the San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park at 9th Avenue near Lincoln Way. The sponsors are the San Francisco Vegetarian Society and In Defense of Animals.

Saturday's line up includes Cherie Soira (10:45) Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and Linda Riebel (1:30), Dr. Milton Mills (2:45), Kathy Freston (4:00), Dr. William Harris (5:15) and more. Sunday's speakers include John Robbins (1:30), Skinny Bitch author Rory Freedman (4:00), Howard Lyman (5:15) and many more wonderful experts.

For more information and to show your support for the San Francisco Vegetarian Society, go to www.SFVS.org

Wednesday, October 14 - Vegan Dinner Club in San Rafael
The next gathering of the Marin Vegan Dinner Club will be on Wednesday, October 14 at 7 PM at Bon Kot Thai (847 Fourth Street) in San Rafael. To sign up go to www.meetup.com/marin-vegan/calendar/11470034/Meetup.com/marin-veg Space is limited to the first 8 people who RSVP. To learn more about the restaurant, go to www.bangkokthaiexpress.com/dinnerveg.aspx

Wednesday, October 14 - Screening: Simply Raw, Reversing Diabetes in Thirty Days
Also on October 14 from 7 until 9 PM in Tiburon, there will be a screening of a new film, Simply Raw; Reversing Diabetes in Thirty Days. Filmmaker Michael Bedar will be on hand to answer questions and talk about the film and about raw food. Simply Raw follows six people with diabetes and their experiment of eating only raw food for thirty days. T. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study says , "Simply Raw is one of the most uplifting stories I've ever seen." Tickets are $10. The screening will be at the Indigo Healing Arts/ Tiburon Wellness Center at 1550 Tiburon Blvd. Call 435-2411 for more information. And to purchase the DVD for home screening, go to rawfor30days.com/cmd.php?af=973105

Sunday, October 18
In Defense of Animals is organizing a protest at the Oakland Coliseum against Michael Vick, now with the Philadelphia Eagles. IDA hopes to create a peaceful and powerful presence at his appearance in the Bay Area. The message is "We have not forgotten what he did to dogs, we oppose his weak punishment and are not satisfied with his lack of remorse and his employment with the Eagles." For more information, contact IDA: 415 448-0048, extension 208.

Tuesday, October 20 - Alicia Silverstone at Book Passage in San Francisco
Actor and vegan activist Alicia Silverstone will be reading from and signing her new cookbook The Kind Diet, A Simple Guide to Losing Weight, Looking Great, Saving Yourself and the Planet on Tuesday, October 20 at Book Passage in San Francisco (at the Ferry Building).

Saturday, October 24 - Farmers' Market Guest Chef
From 10:00 to 11:00 AM on Saturday, October 24 Patti Breitman (that's me) will be the guest chef at the Pt. Reyes Station Farmer's Market at Toby's Feed Barn on Highway One in downtown Pt. Reyes Station. Come see what's fresh from the farm and watch a cooking demo that brings out the best in local produce.

Saturday, October 31 - Vegan Halloween Costume Party
Party 'til the cows come home! A party with a costume contest, catered vegan treats, a silent auction, raffle and speakers is being held in San Francisco on Halloween from 7 - 11 PM at the Amuse Gallery, 614 Alabama Street. Guest speakers include the World Champion Vegan Body Builder Kenneth Williams and Elliot Katz, Founder and Director of In Defense of Animals. IDA is the host in partnership with the San Francisco Vegetarian Society. For more information, contact IDA: 415 448-0048, extension 208.

Braassica Supper Club
Two terrific chefs, trained professionally and veteran sous chefs at Millennium Restaurant, produce "An Underground Dining Experience" in a private home in San Francisco two weekends a month. The always vegan menu varies with what's in season, and the food is interesting and delicious. Be prepared for a luxurious, leisurely dining experience at half the cost of a comparable meal at a restaurant. A four course meal is $35 per person, plus tip. I went to one dinner in September, and it was fabulous. For more information, go to BrassicaSupperClub.com And if you go, you may want to bring a zafu (meditation cushion) or other supportive pillow. The pillows provided for dining on very low tables with seating on the floor are more decorative than comfortable.

Thanks to FLAVORS
Abundant thanks to Radhika Sitaraman of Flavors Gourmet Vegetarian Cuisine for her fascinating and scrumptious presentation in September. Flavors offers weekly meals and event catering, always vegetarian and vegan on request. To contact flavors, write to cateringbyflavors@yahoo.com or call 472-5881.

No More Eggs in Boca Foods
According to an article in Compassionate Living, a publication of Mercy for Animals, Boca Foods, the producer of Boca Burgers, "chik'n" nuggets and other vegetarian foods, announced that it will be removing eggs from all its products. "We anticipate all BOCA products will be egg free in 2010." This is great news! To thank BOCA for making this compassionate decision, send an email to boca@casupport.com The decision came less than two months after a coalition of animal rights groups encouraged the company to leave the eggs out. These groups included Mercy for Animals, Compassion Over Killing, the Animal Protection and Rescue League and caring consumers who all worked together to expose the cruelty in the egg industry and support BOCA to change its recipes.

New Animal Rights CD: Bite by Bite
A new CD called Bite by Bite featuring 15 songs about animals and animal rights has been produced by Corporate Pork Records. Rosebud is the singer and stop abusing animals is the message. This is a collection of acoustic songs dedicated to sharing awareness and extending compassion to all beings. You can listen to clips and purchase the CD at: cdbaby.com/cd/rosebud2 The cost is $13 plus postage, but the value is priceless. Special Discount: Readers of this newsletter can purchase the CD for only $10 (includes postage) by writing to Donna Ashizawa at govegan@shaka.com

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

September, 2009
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

September has so much going on! Grab your calendar before you continue reading.

September Meeting of Marin V.E.G.
Pot Luck Dinner followed by Talk/Cooking Demonstration:

The Versatile Garbanzo Bean
with
Radhika Sitaraman of
Flavors Catering Company

Wednesday, September 9
6:30 - 8:30 pm

$3 - $5 per person, sliding scale
in a private home in central Marin; address given when you RSVP

Reservations Required by Sept. 7: 415 459 1666 or
Eatplants@Earthlink.net

Marin V.E.G. will be hosting a pot luck dinner and talk on Wednesday, September 9. Reservations are required. Come enjoy a pot luck dinner (bring a vegan dish to share with 8 others) and then watch and taste as caterer Radhika Sitaraman of Marin County's Flavors Catering Company (FlavorsVegetarian.com) demonstrates how to prepare a garbanzo bean salad, chole with basmati rice, and two varieties of a quick snack, sundal with coconut and sundal with green chiles.

Radhika Sitaraman is the co-owner of Flavors, a vegetarian and vegan catering company that offers a variety of internationally inspired meals for daily convenience or parties and events. The company only offers vegetarian and vegan options, and Radhika's demonstration will be 100% vegan. Be sure to RSVP as soon as you can and before Sept. 7; space is limited.

Other events in September:

Wednesday, September 2 - Dinner at Cafe Gratitude
Join the Marin Vegan Meet Up Group for dinner at 7 PM at Cafe Gratitude (They are also meeting on Sept. 24 at Amici's;' see below). To sign up, go to www.meetup.com/marin-vegan/calendar/11095917/

Thursday, September 3 - Two great free events: Mike Robbins in Marin and Will Tuttle in Santa Rosa
Will Tuttle, author of The World Peace Diet will be speaking at the Humane Society of Sonoma County (5345 Highway 12, Santa Rosa, one block west of Llano Rd.) from 7 to 8 PM. This event is sponsored by the Farm Animal Protection Project. Any opportunity to hear Will Tuttle should not be missed. He is a visionary and brilliant spokesperson for a vegan world, based on the recognition that all of life is inter-connected. For more information, write to info@farmanimalprotection.org

And the same night, closer to home, Mike Robbins, author of the terrific new book Be Yourself; Everyone Else is Already Taken will be speaking about how to harness the power of authenticity at 7 PM at Cafe Gratitude (2200 Fourth Street, San Rafael ). If you want to put your most deeply cherished hopes and dreams into action, come get inspired to live your life with integrity and authenticity. To learn more about the author and the book, visit www.BeYourselfBook.com

Thursday, September 17 - Vegan Cooking Class: How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One
Patti Breitman's quarterly cooking class, based on her book How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One will be Thursday, Sept. 17 from 7 to 9 PM at her home in Fairfax. (Directions upon registration.) Learn how to prepare quick and easy healthy, delicious vegan meals and discover a simple, powerful and effective way to understand food choices. The cost is $31 (or $27 for San Anselmo residents). Registration is required through San Anselmo Recreation Department. Visit www.townofsananselmo.org/recreation and look for listing # 2122 or call 258 4669 or 258 4640. The class is free to any one who has or has had cancer, but registration is still required. Just tell San Anselmo Rec. people that you have or had cancer, and you will not be charged.

Thursday, September 24 - Vegan Meet Up at Amici's in San Rafael
Join other vegans for pizza at Amici's East Coast Pizzeria (1242 4th Street, near D) at 7 PM. Their vegan cheese pizzas are delicious, and they come with broccoli, red onions and spinach on them. Yum! Don't be afraid to ask for tomato sauce, too, for an old fashioned "cheese" pizza flavor. To sign up, go to http://www.meetup.com/marin-vegan/calendar/11154995/

Saturday, September 26
Marin V.E.G. to exhibit at the Fairfax Body & Soul Festival - Help Wanted
From Noon until 6 on Saturday, September 26 come visit the Marin V.E.G. table at the first every Body & Soul Festival in downtown Fairfax. A local pediatrician was fed up with the many beer and wine festivals in Marin and decided to kick off a more wholesome, health oriented, day long event. Marin V.E.G. signed up to have a table so we can offer free recipes and information about compassionate, healthy living. If anyone can help at the booth that day, please let me know: 459 1666. We will share the table with Patricia and David Koot of Wellness Central (www.Wellness-Central.org), and would love to have more people helping us. And even if you can't volunteer an hour, please come by to say hello. It's going to be in the park on Bolinas
Road.

Tour Farm Sanctuary for World Go Vegan Week
In October, animal lovers around the globe will celebrate World Go Vegan Week (details next month). But Wednesday, September 30 is the deadline to register for a VIP tour of Farm Sanctuary on Saturday, Oct. 24. In Defense of Animals offers this invitation:

Come spend the afternoon with the animals! In Defense of Animals will be hosting an afternoon at the beautiful Farm Sanctuary in Orland, CA, where they rescue and rehabilitate abused and injured farmed animals. Pet a goat, hug a cow, kiss a chicken and give a pig a belly rub! We will get a special IDA/VIP tour. We are encouraging folks to find a non-vegan friend to come along. Must register by Sept. 30. Please RSVP to Jessica@idausa.org or 415 448 0048, ext. 215.

Wednesday, September 30 - Deadline for "Why I Am a Vegetarian or Why I Am a Vegan" Essay Contest
This is your last month to write a short essay - under 800 words - on why you are a vegetarian or vegan. The entries will be judged in October and winners will be announced in the November newsletter. The contest is sponsored by the Marin Vegetarian Education Group and is open to anyone in the greater Bay Area.

Fourth Prize is a $25 gift certificate to Allison's Gourmet: Organic Artisan Bakery & Gifts

Third Prize is a $50 VegNews Gift Pack, including an oversized tote bag, T-shirt, 1 year magazine subscription, the current issue and 6 jumbo cookies.

Second Prize is a Tamale Party from Donna's Tamales, featuring 3 dozen tamales of your choice, plus three different salsas.

First Prize is a $100 gift certificate to the Bay Area's only and the country's best award winning, gourmet vegan restaurant, Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco.

All winners will receive a certificate recognizing the writer and a copy of How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One. The winning essays will be posted on our web site.

To enter, send your essay by email to VegetariansInMarin@Earthlink.net (or by regular mail to 12 Rally Ct., Fairfax, CA) before September 30. Only work under 800 words will be considered. All submissions may be used in publicity for the Marin Vegetarian Education Group and may be submitted to other blogs, web sites, and print and on-air media for publication with credit to the author.

New Development for Animal Place
Animal Place is still getting ready for its move from Vacaville to a 600 acre space in Grass Valley, but they just learned that they will retain ownership of the old facility as well, turning it into an adoption center for farmed animals. Tours and visits will be held at the new place only, but the old location will still be helping farmed animals. The Vacaville property will be called the Rescue Ranch, a project of Animal Place. It will allow farmed animals two options: adoptions into a new home or permanent sanctuary in Grass Valley. All animals who arrive at the Rescue Ranch will be quarantined, provided veterinary care, rehabilitated and then placed in approved homes. They will be promoting the idea that farmed animals can be companion animals, and will most likely place more chickens and goats than pigs and cows. If you want to help build a Vegan Picnic Place at the new Animal Place facility in Grass Valley, or if you want to help support the new Rescue Ranch operation in Vacaville, please send a contribution to Animal Place, 3448 Laguna Creek Trail, Vacaville, CA 95688, or visit www.AnimalPlace.com.

New Book a Terrific Experience
Eye of the Whale is a terrific, dramatic, timely and scientifically accurate novel about a whale who gets stranded when it swims up the San Francisco Bay. But it's also the story of the state of our oceans, the fate of our children, the whaling industry and so much more. I could not stop reading until the very last page and then I started to read it all over again. Eye of the Whale is by Douglas Carlton Abrams, and you can read more about this riveting and important book at DouglasCarltonAbrams.com

Speaking of Cetaceans
If you missed the fabulous film The Cove in San Rafael last month, you can still visit www.SaveJapanDolphins.org to learn more about the dolphin slaughter in Japan and to help with the effort to stop it. This group is a coalition of many organizations including Earth Island Institute, In Defense of Animals, Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, Campaign Whale of the UK and Ocean Care of Switzerland. The slaughter is tragic, and most Japanese people do not even know it is going on. Do what you can to become aware of this horror, and to help publicize it and stop it.

In Praise of Fairfax
In addition to the Body & Soul Festival planned for Sept. 26 (see above), Fairfax has a few other wonderful reasons to come for a visit. So, forgive me for boasting about the town I live in, but it keeps getting better and better.
1.The Good Earth Natural Food store is dedicated to fresh, organic produce, locally grown whenever possible. Every item in the produce department tells you how many miles it traveled to get to the store. And you get 5 cents back for every small bag you bring to re-use for produce, plus 10 cents for every large bag you bring in for reuse at check out. Yes, they still carry meat, but the produce section and bulk sections cannot be beat.
2. Ghirenghelli's Pizzeria now offers vegan soy cheese. Their Fairfax Vegetarian is delicious (with tomato sauce, mushrooms, peppers, olives and artichokes.) Be sure to specify that you want the vegan soy cheese.
3. O'Donnell's Organic Nursery carries Down to Earth Vegan Fertilizer for house plants and gardens.
4. The Scoop Ice Cream Shop offers one organic, vegan "ice cream" flavor and a vegan sorbet flavor at all times.
5. Sorella Cafe on Bolinas Road is a full service Italian restaurant that has never had veal on the menu. And they offer a vegan ravioli filled with butternut squash. (Ask for it in olive oil or marinara sauce instead of the butter, and ask for it primavera style - scrumptious!)
6. The retail store Sur on Bolinas Road offers a huge variety of gorgeous items from around the world (mostly south of the U.S., hence its name) and most are hand crafted from sustainable materials.
7. The hiking trails out of Deer Park and near Lake Lagunitas and Bon Tempe cannot be beat.

Have a safe and wonderful September! Hope to see you at one of these terrific events.

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

To be removed from this mailing list, please send an e-mail with "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

August 2009
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

There will be no offiicial meeting in August, but we are making plans for some wonderful events in September and October. And there are plenty of opportunities to gather this month for food and for fun. Remember also to visit www.BayAreaVeg.org to find many more.

Writing Contest - Deadline is September 30
Don't let another day of Summer pass by! Now is the time to write your essay (800 words or fewer) on Why I Am A Vegetarian or Why I Am a Vegan. The prizes await the top four entries, and you will kick yourself if you didn't send in your essay. Win dinner at Millennium or a Tamale Party from Donna's Tamales. Or a gift certificate for Allison's Gourmet or a Gift Package from VegNews magazine! We have received only a handful of entries so far, so your odds of winning are excellent! Send your essay to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net before Sept. 30. For more details about the prizes, the judges, or the rules, go to MarinVEG.org and look at the last two newsletters. If you have ever explained to anyone why you don't eat meat - or if you'd like to explain it to more people - just write down your reasons and email them today!

Tuesday, August 4 - Cooking Demo and Reading
I will be reading from my book How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One and doing a quick and easy cooking demo from 6 until 7:30 PM in San Francisco at the Main Public Library in the Latina/Hispanic room on the lower level (100 Larkin @ Grove). Co-sponsored by the library and the San Francisco Vegetarian Society, this will be a fun filled 90 minutes. Tell your city friends to come to come to this free event.

Thursday, August 6 - Marin Vegan Dinner Club
The Marin Vegan Dinner Club is meeting at Cafe Gratitude in San Rafael (2200 Fourth Street, almost at the border of San Anselmo) for dinner at 7 PM on Thursday, August 6. To sign up and for more information about the club and the event, visit www.meetup.com/marin-vegan/

Friday, August 7 - The Cove, Opening and Reception
The new film The Cove is about the work of the Save Japan Dolphins Coalition, and features activist Ric O'Barry (from the TV show Flipper). The film opens at the Smith Rafael Theater on Fourth Street at A Street in downtown San Rafael on Friday, August 7. A private reception will follow at Sabor of Spain (with all vegan hors d'ouvres), across the street and one block up Fourth Street. Sponsoring organizations are In Defense of Animals, Earth Island Institute, and Sea Turtle Restoration Project. Tickets are $40 per person for film and reception. To reserve your place, call Melissa at 707-981- 7701 or email her at: Melissa@IDAUSA.org. She will provide information on how to pay by credit card or where to mail your check. Space is limited at the reception, so please call or write before Monday, August 3 to be sure to be included. To go to the movie and not the reception, buy tickets in advance at the Rafael Theater in person.

Tuesday, August 11 - World Go Vegan Week Planning Meeting
There will be a planning meeting to organize local events for World Go Vegan Week at 4 PM Tuesday, August 11 at the San Rafael office of In Defense of Animals (3010 Kerner Blvd.). For more information, contact Hope: Hope@IDAUSA.org

August 23 - 25 - Creating Peace Retreat with Will Tuttle
Will Tuttle, author of The World Peace Diet, is running a retreat in Mendocino Sunday August 23 through Tuesday, August 25 called Creating a New Culture of Peace. Held at the Stanford Inn Resort, this retreat offers an introduction to an immersion in The World Peace Diet. The cost is $598.50 based on double occupancy and includes 6 meals, two nights lodging, the entire program and all the hotel's facilities. For reservations, contact The Stanford Inn: 707-937-5615 or 800-331-8884

August 23 - Mad Hatter Tea Party for SFVS
The San Francisco Vegetarian Society is holding its annual fundraising Tea Party on Sunday, August 23 from 2:00 - 5:00 at the Secret Garden Tea House, Garden Room, 721 Lincoln Way between 8th and 9th Ave. in San Francisco. The cost is $30 in person in advance (mail a check made out to SFVS to Joseph Cadiz, 73 Rondel Place, San Francisco, CA 94103 by August 19). Prizes for the prettiest, funniest and most unusual hats. Raffles, Silent Auction, Tea Sandwiches and savory treats, plus special donation of vegan cakes and cookies from Violet Sweet Shoppe, a vegan bakery (www.violetsweetshoppe.com). Support the Bay Area's first vegetarian society and have a good time on a summer Sunday afternoon.

T-Shirts on Sale to Benefit Animal Place
Kate Danaher designed a gorgeous T Shirt featuring a cow. Below the cow it says "Someone, Not Something." And below that it says "Animal Earth Human," because that is the name of Kate's blog (and a wonderful reminder that we are all in this together). Visit her blog at AnimalEarthHuman.org. I bought a quantity of the shirts to sell to raise money for Animal Place. The shirts are 100% organic cotton. The color is a soft medium brown with black printing. If you want to buy a T-Shirt (mostly large and extra large sizes, plus xx-small for tiny tots), send $23 made out to Animal Place and mail it to Marin VEG at 12 Rally Ct, Fairfax (or $20 if you can pick it up in person). I will mail you a shirt and send your check to Animal Place.

Summerfest Report
I cannot seem to come down from the high of being at Summerfest! I encourage everyone reading this to plan on attending next year's event. Summerfest is a five day celebration of and immersion in the latest news, science, and practical issues of a plant based diet. This annual meeting of the North American Vegetarian Society was like a family reunion of 600 people, most of whom didn't know one another on day one, but felt like close knit kin by the last day. And what a great "family," where everyone "gets" the vegan diet. The meals were all vegan with raw and gluten free options, and the desserts were extraordinary. What a delight to have too many good choices at every meal! What a pleasure to eat alongside others from all over the country and to never once have to explain where we get our protein or calcium!

Many of the speakers made me laugh as they taught invaluable classes in nutrition (Michael Greger, M.D., Alan Goldhamer, D.C.) and life skills (Victoria Moran). Some made me stretch my mind to encompass new ways of looking at animals (Melanie Joy, Johnathan Balcomb, Howard Lyman). And one speaker in particular opened my mind and heart to a whole new level of understanding and compassion. While this was decidely not an animal rights conference, it did include perspectives on animal rights and values-based activism. And James Laveck inspired me to re-commit to my own values-based activism to promote veganism.

Negotiating the Terms of Exploitation or Ending Exploitation

James Laveck, the producer of the powerful documentary film The Witness and the soon to be released, re-worked and updated film Peaceable Kingdom, brought to my awareness an issue that has divided the vegan community in recent years. I will share my new understanding here and will value your feedbackand further discussion.

The vegan community seems to be split between those who are working for better conditions for animals and those who want to abolish all animal exploitation. Of course, there are many in both camps. But unlike the decades old debate between welfare promoters and animal rights activists, today's rift has new, unintended consequences that may be hurting more animals than it is helping. We may be making it easier for more animals to be killed for food and harder to persuade people to go vegan. This has tremendous implications for global warming, world hunger, and human health.

The people who claim to be raising animals for food humanely have taken the language of animal rights and turned it on its head to now mean "Be reasonable; we can't all be vegans, but we can be kind to animals." But is confining and killing animals really kind? Can slaughterers and butchers really be said to be humane? I don't think so.

The so called "humanely raised" meat purvayors have won over people who, in the past, might have become vegan so as not to be part of the horrific methods used to breed, confine and kill animals raised for food. Even some mainstream animal rights groups have joined forces with "humane" animal producers and slaughterers, thus bringing prestige to the slaughterers and slowing the once growing trend toward veganism. Anyone who looks closely at the hatcheries where laying hens come from, where the male chicks are killed as soon as they hatch (being of no financial interest to the egg laying industry); or the debeaking and toe clipping of chickens without anesthesia (even when the birds live outside of cages, but still in overcrowded warehouses); or the birds bred to be deformed for maximum meat and profit; or the dairies where calves are taken from their mothers within a day or two of birth; or the statistics about how young most animals are when they are killed for food (even "spent" hens and dairy cows), will know that there is little that is humane about so called humanely raised animals. Yet more and more people - upon hearing of the horrors of factory farming - now say they will only eat "humanely raised animals." Twenty years ago, the only choice was to go vegan. I believe that going vegan is still the only moral choice.

When I looked at the accounts of slave holders in our own country in the 19th centry, I discovered two groups of people. There were abolitionists who believed that owning slaves was wrong. And there were good Christian slaveholders who felt that if they treated their slaves well, that made it fine to own slaves. I see a very close parellel in the people who think that treating animals better than what is standard makes it okay to breed, confine and kill them. To me, they are missing the big picture.

If you would like to read more about this subject, please visit www.HumaneMyth.org. There are dozens of excellent articles with commentary from James LaVeck posted there. I especially like the glossary that brings clear thinking to a subject that can often feel murky, and the slideshow called Happy Cows; Behind the Myth. Also,Will Tuttle's web site, www.WorldPeaceDiet.org offers good writing on the history of human meat eating and a vision for a future without it. I hold to that vision and do not want to be sidetracked by the myth of humane animal confinement and slaughter.

I have come to believe that our energy would be better spent if we worked not to negotiate the details and terms of exploitation, but to end exploitation entirely. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the subject.

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

July 2009
The Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Why Are You a Vegetarian? Why Are You a Vegan?
We will not be meeting in July, but it's a great time to start writing your essay for the Why I Am a Vegetarian or Vegan competition. If anyone ever asked you why you don't eat meat or eggs or dairy, you have probably already spoken the words that could win this contest. Simply write down your response and send it to VegetariansInMarin@Earthlink.net. It would be a shame if somebody else won these wonderful prizes:

Fourth Prize is a $25 gift certificate to Allison's Gourmet: Organic Artisan Bakery & Gifts

Third Prize is a $50 VegNews Gift Pack, including an oversized tote bag, T-shirt, 1 year magazine subscription, the current issue and 6 jumbo cookies.

Second Prize is a Tamale Party from Donna's Tamales, featuring 3 dozen tamales of your choice, plus three different salsas.

First Prize is a $100 gift certificate to the best gourmet, vegan restaurant in the Bay Area (in our humble opinion), Millennium Restaurant.

All winners will receive a certificate recognizing writer, and a copy of How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One. The winning essays will be posted on our web site.

To enter, send your essay by email to VegetarinsInMarin@Earthlink.net (or by regular mail to 12 Rally Ct., Fairfax, CA) before September 1. Only work under 800 words will be considered. All submissions may be used in publicity for the Marin Vegetarian Education Group and may be submitted to other blogs, web sites, and print and on-air media for publication with credit to the author.

Bones and Osteoporosis
Thanks to Amy Lanou for her informative talk about keeping our bones strong. Her new book, Building Bone Vitality offers a diet plan to prevent bone loss. One of her main points is that an alkaline diet is critical, and that the standard American diet has too many acid producing foods in it.

Another excellent book about bone health is The Myth of Osteoporosis by Gillian Sanson. This book talks about the dozens of risk factors for broken bones as we age, and how most doctors look at only one of them. She does not claim that osteoporosis is a myth, but that the bone density test and resultant drug therapies are fraught with as much mythology as science. As you might have guessed if you read another excellent book, Selling Sickness by Roy Moynihan and Alan Cassels, the profit motive of the pharmaceutical industry is a driving force behind the ubiquitous diagnosis of osteoporosis in post menopausal women.

Soy Beans vs. Soy Products
Thanks to Meredith McCarty's recent post from HealingCuisine (www.Healing Cuisine.com) for reminding us that there is a huge difference between foods made from whole soy beans and foods made from isolated soy protein. Whole soy beans and the foods made from them are good for us and include: edamame, soy nuts, seitan, tofu, miso, soymilk and tamari. Foods made from isolated soy protein, also called ISP, increase our production of Insulin Growth Factor (IGF-1), which decreases longevity. Most people only know about the IGF-1 that cow's milk promotes. But now we know that isolated soy protein is a more powerful promoter of IGF-1 than even cow's milk. Also, the methods used to produce these soy isolates use petroleum based solvents and high temperatures to break apart the soy bean and mold them into different shapes. If the label lists TVP, TSP, ISP, it is best to put that product back on the shelf. These are found in most fake meats, many energy bars, frozen desserts, protein drinks, soy cheese, and soy deli foods.

Vegan Cheese Pizza in Marin
Now Amici's East Coast Pizzeria in San Rafael (1242 D Street, near E) offers vegan soy cheese pizza. Also, Small Shed Flat Bread in Mill Valley (17 Madrona, around the corner from 142 Throckmorton theater, next to Avatar Punjab Burrito, and down the block from the Mt. Carmel thrift shop) offers vegan soy cheese on their flatbreads (which are really thin crust pizzas). Having just learned about the downside of soy cheese (see paragraph above this one), I won't be making these pizzas a regular habit. But still, it's nice to know that the word vegan is appearing on more and more menus. And when your friends want to go out for pizza, there are now delicious vegan options that include "cheese."

Dr. Michael Greger's New DVD Now Available
One of our favorite physicians, Michael Greger spends hours studying every peer reviewed article published each year on nutrition and health. He distills his wisdom and his interpretation of each study on a DVD available for sale. Dr. Greger's new DVD for the year 2009 (volume 3) is now available. Learn the latest on chocolate and coffee, if any herbal teas are dangerous, the research results on avocados, and dozens of other news reports from the world of food research. To order the 2-DVD set, go to www.DrGreger.org/DVDs. The cost is $20 which includes postage. You may also want to order the DVDs from 2007 and 2008. As always, Dr. Greger's humor, knowledge, and commitment to health come through his every comment.

Free Health Book Summaries
A free service lets you read summaries of recently published health books. Michele Simon's Appetite for Profit was the only title I had heard of before visiting the site, but there seem to be many good (and some wild) books out there about health. For more information and to sign up, visit www.healthbooksummaries.com

Summer Fasting
If you have ever considered a supervised water fast, this summer might be the time to do it. Dr. Alan Goldhamer's True North Health center in Santa Rosa is having a sale. Fully furnished private rooms are as low as $119 per person a night (shared bath) or $139 (private bath). There is also an examination fee and medical management fee. Their new facility offers free phone, internet, tv, and other amenities, plus two lectures a day, professional supervision, and educational DVDs to help you stay well. Also included is food as you come off the fast. I fasted for 4 days a number of years ago and have not craved chocolate since then. To retrain your taste buds so they love healthy food, or to lose weight, learn how to reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes, or just feel healthier, True North Health is a great place to affect change. Visit www.healthpromoting.com for more information.

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

June, 2009

Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Our June Meeting:

Building Bone Vitality----A talk by Amy Lanou, Ph.D.,

Author of the new book Building Bone Vitality: A Revolutionary Diet Plan to Prevent Bone Loss and Reverse Osteoporosis
And a Vegan Pot Luck Dinner

Wednesday, June 24

6:30 Potluck, Vegan Dinner
7:30 Talk with Dr. Lanou
The Sunrise Center
645 Tamalpais Drive
Corte Madera

$2 - $5, sliding scale
Invite your friends to join you! We will learn how to strengthen our bones and stay vital and strong for a life time with Dr. Amy Lanou. Dr. Lanou is an assistant professor of health and wellness at the University of North Carolina in Ashville, and on the staff of Physicians’ Committee For Responsible Medicine. She will share her cutting edge knowledge of health and bone health and allow plenty of time to answer questions.

Please bring:
*a vegan dish to share with 8 others
*your own plate, utensils and serving spoon
*a cup for water

City of Ghent Declares a Weekly Vegetarian Day
The city of Ghent in Belgium is walking its talk. Noting that meat production causes more greenhouse gas emissions than motor vehicles (www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html), the city is calling for its employees and in the fall, its schools to go vegetarian one day a week. Hooray for this wise decision!

Helping John Robbins
As many of you know, John Robbins and his family were victims of the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme and lost their life savings. (An article in the Chronicle a few months ago tells the story: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/02/23/findrelig022309.DTL) Many individuals who appreciate John's work and have been moved by his writing have been generous and have sent checks to John's family, for which they are tremendously grateful.

Now, there is a fundraising effort underway for a Lifetime Achievement Award for John Robbins by GreenAmerica (www.GreenAmericaToday.org), formerly known as Co-op America. They hope to raise $100,000 to honor John's work for a healthier, more sustainable, more compassionate world.

To enable GreenAmerica to keep their overhead low, they are asking only for contributions of $500 or more. If you are inspired to participate at that level, please contact Russ Gaskin, Green America's Operations Manager: 202-872-5331, or write to him at RussGaskin@GreenAmericaToday.org. You will be asked to sign a letter agreeing that the gift is for any purpose, but that your intention is to help them support the award for John Robbins. This is a legal safeguard to enable donors to deduct the gift when they file taxes this year.

Of course, many people have already given to the Robbins family, and many more may want to help, but not at the level requested by GreenAmerica. John's son Ocean has let me know that for anyone who cannot contribute to the award, the best way to support the family is to buy a copy of John's new book, due out a year from now and called The New Good Life. When it is available for pre-orders on Amazon, we can help the publisher know how many to print and help the family with ongoing income by ordering the book in advance. I'll let you know in this newsletter when that becomes possible, probably in the winter of 2009.

And for anyone not familiar with John Robbins' work, he is the author of some of the most influential and heart opening books ever written about our health and our interconnectedness with all life. If you have never read his work, you may want to start with The Food Revolution or its earlier incarnation, Diet for a New America. His most recent book was Healthy at 100. John's father and uncle were the creators of the Baskin-Robbins ice-cream company. John chose not to follow in his father's footsteps, but instead to educate people about how our food choices affect our health and the health of the planet and its other inhabitants.

Essay Competition Open Until September
Remember to enter our writing competition, open to everyone, and featuring wonderful prizes. Write 800 words or fewer on "Why I Am a Vegetarian," and share your motivation and success with others.

The judges are Howard Lyman, author of Mad Cowboy and No More Bull, Shirley Virgil, cofounder of Donna's Tamales, and Patti Breitman, co-founder of The Marin Vegetarian Education Group (that's me).

Fourth Prize is a $25 gift certificate to Allison's Gourmet: Organic Artisan Bakery & Gifts

Third Prize is a $50 VegNews Gift Pack, including an oversized tote bag, T-shirt, 1 year magazine subscription, the current issue and 6 jumbo cookies.

Second Prize is a Tamale Party from Donna's Tamales, featuring 3 dozen tamales of your choice, plus three different salsas.

First Prize is a $100 gift certificate to the best gourmet, vegan restaurant in the Bay Area (in our humble opinion), Millennium Restaurant.

All winners will receive a certificate recognizing writer, and a copy of my new book, How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One. The winning essays will be posted on our web site.

To enter, send your essay by email to VegetariansInMarin@Earthlink.net (or by regular mail to 12 Rally Ct., Fairfax, CA) before September 1. Only work under 800 words will be considered. All submissions may be used in publicity for the Marin Vegetarian Education Group and may be submitted to other blogs, web sites, and print and on-air media for publication with credit to the author. Be sure to keep a copy of whatever you send.

In Defense of Animals Potluck and Opportunities for Volunteers Work
If you have always wanted to work on behalf of animals, but didn't know where to start, come to a volunteer orientation for In Defense of Animals (IDA) at their office, 3010 Kerner Blvd., San Rafael (388-9641) on Saturday, June 6 from 1:00 - 3:00. It's a vegan potluck, so bring some good food to share, and then join other compassionate people to discuss local activities that might be sponsored by IDA. After that, at 2:00, there will be a volunteer orientation. Tasks available for volunteers range from high tech to no tech and will then allow you to join IDA's Saturday sessions, on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month. These sessions may include gardening, data entry, or work on cruelty cases. Also, they may include sending out brochures and help with organizing office space.

Remember Bay Area Vegetarians
To discover more summer activities be sure to consult BayAreaVeg.org. This Bay Area wide organization exists to help vegans, vegetarians and animal rights activists to find support and community. They offer dozens of activities every month from San Jose to Sonoma. Support them with your financial contributions and by attending their events.

The Five Minute Volunteer
Can anyone volunteer to post our events on the BayAreaVeg calendar?. The wonderful activist Kate D. who has done this for a long time has moved out of the area. Will you spare 5 minutes a month for Marin VEG? Thanks for letting me know if you can do this.

To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

May, 2009

Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Better Late Than Never
Thank you for your patience this month! Our newsletter is late, and I have a half dozen really good excuses, but I won't bother sharing them. Suffice it to say that the state of overwhelm is a risk even for long time vegetarians. And I highly recommend asking for help when it hits. Abundant thanks to Stan Rosenfeld and Claudia Delman who both jumped in to help before the condition did any serious harm.

Vegan Cooking Class Thursday, May 21
It's called a vegetarian cooking class, but its heart and soul and recipes have always been vegan. For more than 10 years I have been offering my Fast, Easy Delicious vegetarian cooking classes four times a year through the recreation department in San Anselmo. And for most of that time, San Anselmo has been very kind in not charging any fee for people who have cancer or people who cook for them. To thank them for this generosity, I would love to be able to fill this upcoming class with people who can pay the $31 cost. My own share of the proceeds always goes to Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine and the Vegetarian Resource Group, so this is not about my wanting more paying customers for myself. It is to thank San Anselmo for their years of offering and advertising the class, and to help offset their costs of printing and mailing their class schedules.

Of course, you may still attend for free if you have cancer. But please try to spread the word to people who can afford the class fee so that San Anselmo knows how much we appreciate their big heartedness.

Thursday, May 21
Fast, Easy, Delicious Vegetarian Meals
with Patti Breitman, co-author How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One
7 - 9 PM
Private Home in Fairfax
(Address given upon registration)
Learn some kitchen shortcuts, easy, scrumptious recipes, and an overview of nutritional information that will simplify and enhance your relationship with food.
Registration is required: Call San Anselmo Recreation at 258-4669 or visit www.townofsananselmo.org/recreation.

In the very near future:

1. Mark your calendar now for Wednesday, June 24. We will be meeting at The Sunrise Center on Tamalpais Blvd. in Corte Madera that evening to hear Amy Lanou, Ph.D., author of the new book, Building Bone Vitality, A Revolutionary Diet Plan to Prevent Bone Loss and Reverse Osteoporosis. She is also on the staff at Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine, and an assistant professor of health and wellness for the University of North Carolina - Ashville. We will start the evening with a potluck dinner and then hear from Amy talk about diet and bone health. Invite your neighbors and friends to this life changing talk. Dr. Lanou will have books for purchase and will answer questions after the event. More details in the June newsletter, but be sure to schedule the meeting now.

2. Summerfest is like summer camp for vegetarians. Five days of cooking demonstrations, talks, all vegan meals, games, exercise, and like minded people coming together for fun and learning. Twenty years ago I attended Summerfest to learn how to eat as a vegan in a world that was not vegan friendly. Then, ten years ago I brought my mother with me to Summerfest to show her how many people - including medical doctors - were eating and recommending a plant based diet. This summer, I have been invited to teach at Summerfest, and it is one of the greatest thrills to have come full circle and be among the esteemed teachers at this annual event.

Summerfest is the yearly conference of the North American Vegetarian Society, and this year is their 35th anniversary. The event is July 8 - 12 in Johnstown, PA on the campus of The University of Pittsburgh. Speakers include the author of the Ultimate UnCheese Cookbook, Jo Stepaniak, animal advocate Heather Mills, Lifestyle Medicine Pioneer Hans Diehl, Humane Society of the U.S. resident physician Michael Greger, M.D., Alan Goldhamer, D.C., Kathy Freston, author of the best-selling Quantum Wellness, and many others. To learn more about this unique gathering visit www.vegetariansummerfest.org. Lodging is available on campus. I hope that maybe I'll see some of you there this summer.

3. If Pennsylvania isn't exciting enough, consider a trip to Costa Rica with Dr. John McDougall, July 8 - 15 If you want to travel to a beautiful country in Central America with Dr. John McDougall (all meals McDougall approved!), visit http://www.drmcdougall.com
for all the details.

The Love-Powered Diet
A new edition of Victoria Moran's classic book The Love Powered Diet, Eating for Freedom Health and Joy is being published this month by Lantern Books. If you know anyone who has an unhealthy relationship with food - dieting and bingeing, compulsive eating, anorexia, bulimia, or any other issues about food and their body image - this is a wonderful book to recommend. Embracing compassion for ourselves and for all living beings, The Love Powered Diet is a gentle book that fosters kindness and healing. This book has had three publishers over the last 20 years, but its message is so vital that new readers and new publishers keep finding reason to keep it in print. Full disclosure: I was the author's agent for this book. We met at the first Summerfest I ever attended (see "In the very near future", above). All of my proceeds from sales of this title will go to The New York Coalition for Healthy School Food, an organization that the author supports.

A "Must-Read" Article
The May-June issue of Sierra magazine has and piece called Message in a Bottle about the effects of plastics on our oceans, sea animals, and planet. It is full of surprising and terrible statistics, but ends with good news about what California is doing to reduce the issue. The take home message for me is that I want to be much more scrupulous about not buying anything with unnecessary plastic packaging (Odwalla, my favorite pre-made spring rolls from natural food stores that come with peanut sauce in plastic cups), and to let manufacturers know about my discomfort with their use of plastic. I highly recommend this article to anyone who loves our mother earth. You can read this article at http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200905/message2.aspx

The Singing Vegans
The Mayflower Community Chorus includes two Marin VEG enthusiasts, soprano Elizabeth Heitner and alto Patti Breitman, along with one other vegan and a handful of other vegetarians. This detail is not really important, but it allows me to justify including a plug for our upcoming show in this newsletter! We will be performing at 8 PM Thursday through Saturday, June 4 - 6 at the Showcase Theater in San Rafael (near the civic center at the end of Ave. of the Flags) and on Sunday, June 7 at St. Raphael's Church in downtown San Rafael (Mission at A Street) in an afternoon matinee performance at 3:30 PM). We just returned from a trip to Portugal where we sang with local choruses and in an ancient cathedral. Come here us sing here at home and see slides from our trip. The music is eclectic, with a Portuguese song among the American music, some classical pieces, some folk, and some just fun. For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.MayflowerChorus.org

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

April 2009
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

There will not be an official Marin VEG event in April, but we are please to announce the start of a writing event that will be ongoing until September:
"Why I Am A Vegetarian"
Writing Competition
800 Words Maximum Length
Winners Announced in September
We are pleased to announce this writing competition, open to everyone, and featuring wonderful prizes. Like so many others, I became a vegetarian to improve my health, and twenty three years later, health concerns are only a small part of my dietary choices. I've seen the lives of animals raised and killed for food; I've discovered the link between what we eat and the destruction of our rain forests, the speed of global warming, and the quality of our air and water, even food scarcity, hunger and the availability of water in arid lands. In fact, health has dropped to last place in my motivation to eat from the plant kingdom. What about you?

This is an opportunity to write from your heart. What motivates you? What heartens you? What hurts you and what helps? What changes have you seen in your life since becoming a vegetarian?

Essays will be judged by me, a professional literary agent and writer and by Shirley Virgil of Donna's Tamales. We will look for original thinking, good writing, and heartfelt story telling.

Fourth Prize is a $25 gift certificate to Allison's Gourmet: Organic Artisan Bakery & Gifts

Third Prize is a $50 VegNews Gift Pack, including an oversized tote bag, T-shirt, 1 year magazine subscription, the current issue and 6 jumbo cookies.

Second Prize is a Tamale Party from Donna's Tamales, featuring 3 dozen tamales of your choice, plus three different salsas.

First Prize is a $100 gift certificate to the best gourmet, vegan restaurant in the Bay Area (in our humble opinion), Millennium Restaurant.

Additionally, all prizes will include a certificate recognizing the winning essay, and a copy of my new book, How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One. Also, the winning essays will be posted on our web site.

The judges are Howard Lyman, author of Mad Cowboy and No More Bull, Shirley Virgil, cofounder of Donna's Tamales, and Patti Breitman, co-founder of The Marin Vegetarian Education Group (that's me).

Dr. Steve Blake to Speak on
Making the Journey to a Healthier Diet
Saturday, April 11
In San Francisco,
Vegan PotLuck at 6:30, followed by talk
Institute on Aging
3600 Geary Blvd. between Palm and Arguello

The San Francisco Vegetarian Society will be hosting Dr. Steven Blake on Saturday, April 11. It's worth a drive to the city to hear him. Dr. Blake is a terrific speaker, intelligent, funny, and on top of vegan and vegetarian nutrition issues. He is the author of a number of excellent books (including Healing Medicine and Vitamins and Minerals Demystified) as well as one of the world's largest data bases of natural healing remedies from cultures past and present around the globe. He will be using his new software, The Diet Doctor 2009 to show how changes in diet result in improved nutrition.

Correction from February Newsletter
I reported in February that there were no vegan marshmallows that are truly vegan. Thanks to an astute reader and marshmallow fan named Rob for telling me that Sweet & Sara in NY have been making truly vegan marshmallows. The story about the nonvegan marshmallows was an old one, he told me. He encourages us to check out these truly vegan treats at http://www.sweetandsara.com And now from VeganEssentials.com comes news that a brand called Dandies is a new, vegan marshmallow. Visit www.VeganEssentials.com for more information.

Change What is Served in Schools to Healthier Lunches
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is promoting healthy changes in the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act which will be considered soon by Congress. If you can volunteer to help this effort (letter writing parties, signature gathering, etc.), send an email to Laura Beck: LBeck@PCRM.org.

If you cannot get out to collect signatures and circulate petitions, please at least write to Representative George Miller, chair of the Committee of Education and Labor and to Lynn Woolsey, our representative in the House. If you don't have time to write a letter, PCRM will send you a postcard that needs only your signature. To get a postcard, send an email with your mailing address to Laura Beck: LBeck@PCRM.org. If you can write a letter, here's a sample you can follow. Feel free to put it in your own words, or just follow this lead:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear Representative _______________,

I am writing today to respectfully request that you help our schools provide low cholesterol, non-dairy vegetarian meals and nondairy beverages in school meal programs in The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2009.

Problems with weight and health have become epidemics in the United States. Some groups are especially at risk. African American and Hispanic children are at particular risk of weight problems, diabetes, and other health concerns. For many of these children, lactose intolerance is also an issue, pointing to the need for lactose-free beverages.

All schools face economic challenges in providing healthful foods. However, a strong federal investment in good food for children pays off for many years to come.

Sincerely,

Name
Address

CONGRESSIONAL ADDRESSES

Congressman George Miller
2205 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515

Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey
2263 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515

It is so rare an opportunity to effect positive changes in the school lunch program, that it would be a shame if every one of us didn't either volunteer, write a letter or two, or send for the postcard to sign and mail.

Keeping Organic Farming Legal
Calling Lynn Woolsey, Barbara Boxer, and Diane Feinstein to Oppose HR 875
Nefariously called the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, HR 875 would virtually criminalize organic farming. The web site CampaignforLiberty.com says, One thing I do know is that very few of the Representatives have read it. As usual they will vote on this based on what someone else is saying. Urge your members to read the legislation and ask for opposition to this devastating legislation. Devastating for everyday folks but great for factory farming ops like Monsanto, ADM, Sodexo and Tyson to name a few.

You can reach Senator Feinstein at: 202-224-3841 and Senator Boxer at: 202 224-3553 . Lynn Woolsey can be reached at 202 225-5161. This bill will be voted on in the next two weeks. Please call ASAP and tell whoever answers the phone that you strongly oppose HR875 and that you strongly urge the senator or representative to read the legislation before voting.

Vegan Chic
The company Vegetarian Shoes and Bags has changed its name to Vegan Chic. To see their line of cruelty free, animal friendly products, visit www.veganchic.com

Thanks to the Wheats
Abundant thanks to Ann and Larry Wheat for their hospitality in March. Thirty people gathered in their elegant home to watch Processed People. If you missed that event and want to see this inspiring film, you can purchase a copy at www.VegSource.com Processed People links our health crisis with our financial crisis and shows how the same solution can help alleviate both.

Tour Animal Place
On Saturday April 11 from noon until 3 PM, join Bay Area Vegetarians for a tour of Animal Place and a vegan food picnic. Animal Place is still in Vacaville, preparing for its move to Grass Valley. The cost of the tour is $10 for the basic tour and $25 if you also want to "adopt" a farm animal. RSVPs are required. For more information and to RSVP, go to http://www.bayareaveg.org/events.htm?EID=2106#2106

Raymond Francis a No Show
Apologies to the many people who came to our February meeting to hear Raymond Francis. He stood us up, a first for our group! His publicist called me the following Monday to say Sorry! No good excuse was offered, but I was told "He is so busy. I'm sorry about that, and we hope that you can reschedule." We will try to reschedule for the fall, and we will not charge for that meeting to make up for his absence in February.

Out of E Touch
I will be out of e touch April 3 until May 3. Have a great April! (and my computer is down today, and won't be fixed until tomorrow, soonest. If you need to reach me before May 4, please call and do not rely on my seeing your emails. Thanks.)

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666 .

Marin Vegetarian Education Group
March, 2009

Next Meeting: Video Screening: Processed People and Vegan Dessert Pot Luck
Saturday, March 21, 7 PM
at the home of Ann and Larry Wheat in Belvedere
(Address provided when you RSVP to: Ann@Wheatsite.com)

Financial disaster, obesity epidemic, health care crisis . . . Everyone is talking about them, but does anyone see how they are connected and how to end them? In the exciting new documentary Processed People, the dots are connected and the solutions are at hand. Leading health experts detail why we are sick and how we can solve our health care crisis and regain financial health and total well being. With so much conflicting and confusing information and misinformation being published, how are we to know who really has our best interests at heart? Processed People provides the answers!

Join us to watch this terrific new video at the home of Larry and Ann Wheat in Belvedere. We will also share potluck vegan desserts, so bring some fresh fruit or your favorite sweet surprise.

To get the address, RSVP to Ann Wheat: Ann@Wheatsite.com.

Because we are watching a film, please make a special effort to arrive on time, allowing time to find street parking. It is very disruptive to the audience when people come after the film has begun.

And if you cannot make it, do consider buying a copy of this excellent documentary. It is available from VegSource.com for only $24.95. The running time is only 40 minutes, but the disc includes 140 additional minutes of in-depth interviews with the health experts who appear in the film.

Meat Out Luncheon
Saturday, March 14

John Robbins Speaking
Patti Breitman Cooking
Kim Sturla Sharing

11:00 - 3:30
San Francisco
First Unitarian Universalist Center
Corner of Geary Blvd. and Franklin Street

$5 suggested donation,
$3 students, seniors and disabled
*RSVP required for the lunch; send an email to doloresmp@aol.com

MeatOut is a day that asks people to forego meat for 24 hours. The San Francisco Vegetarian Society is holding its fourth annual MeatOut luncheon in celebration, and they are offering terrific speakers along with a vegan lunch. For a modest contribution you can attend a cooking demonstration with me, Patti Breitman, co-author of How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One (11:00); hear John Robbins, author of The Food Revolution, Diet for a New America, and Healthy at 100 speak about how Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and The World (1:30), and hear Kim Sturla of Animal Place tell us about the lucky farmed animals who live at Animal Place (during lunch ). A vegan lunch will be served at 12:15. You need to RSVP for the lunch: Doloresmp@aol.com or 415-273-5481 .

Marin Vegan Dinner Club
There is a new group called the Marin Vegan Dinner Club through meetup Marin. They organize a vegan dinner in restaurants once a month. For more information, go to www.meetup.com/marin-vegan and sign up for free. I am thrilled to see this, as it is one more piece of evidence that it is easier than ever to find other vegans to share a meal without having to prepare it ourselves. And don't forget to also check out www.BayAreaVeg.org every month for more outings and events.

Last Thursday Drinks After Work
VegNews magazine is launching a networking event for vegans in San Francisco on the last Thursday of every month. Join others in San Francisco at Martuni's (4 Valencia Street at Market) for drinks and good conversation from 6 to 8 PM. At the event there will be a list of good places in the neighborhood to find good vegan food. For more information, write to Elizabeth at ECastoria@vegnews.com

PCRM Needs Our Help
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is working to get vegan options and soy milk into the national school lunch program. Now that the Child Nutrition Act is being discussed in anticipation of its reauthorization in July, PCRM is gathering signatures and creating a letter writing campaign to educate and influence Lynn Woolsey and the Committee of Education and Labor on which she sits. If you can spare some time to collect signatures or write letters, please be part of the Marin effort to make this healthy change in school lunches. If you want to be part of this historic effort, contact Laura Beck at LBeck@pcrm.org. Tell her you are in Marin County and that you want to help bring vegan options and soy milk into our schools.

Vegan Marshmallows Exposed As Not Vegan
Thanks to VegSource.com for their excellent coverage of the vegan marshmallow scandal. It turns out that both companies that make vegan marshmallows were getting a key ingredient from another company who claimed that their product was vegan when it was not. In truth, according to this investigative report, there are no truly vegan marshmallows. To see the CNBC piece and to read more about this vegan marshmallow news visit http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/msnbc_marshmallow.htm

Let People Sample Vegan Food at Your Next Event
A new organization called VegFund.org provides money for table fees, vegan food and service supplies at any public event that allows tabling by vegan groups. What a simple, creative, effective way to introduce the public to the tasty food available from the plant kingdom! Kudos to the three wise people who thought of this. To support this group, learn more about it, or to get support for your next event, visit www.VegFund.org. Thanks to George Eisman for telling me about this.

Jack Norris, R.D. has a new blog
Jack Norris, R.D. is one of the founders of VeganOutreach and one of the most trusted dietitians there is. His new web site and blog are among the best sources anywhere for all nutrition questions involving a plant based diet. Visit http://JackNorrisRD.com to see his latest articles, sign up for his blog, and read more about the best way to stay healthy as a vegetarian or vegan.

America The Beautiful
On Thursday, March 5 at 6:30 at the Rafael theater in downtown San Rafael, there will be a one time showing of the documentary America The Beautiful. This is a fund raiser for Beyond Hunger, a not for profit that helps people overcome eating disorders, including yo-yo dieting, binge eating, bulimia, anorexia, and body image issues. The cost is $20, but it may sell out, so buy tickets at the theater early if you can attend. America the Beautiful shows how everyone in this country is made to feel not good enough, starting at a very young age. This dissatisfaction with our appearance too often leads to eating disorders, along with dangerous surgeries, shopping addictions, and life long attempts to reach some ever changing image of what beautiful is.

Food Empowerment Project
Now is a great time to subscribe to and support free email updates from The Food Empowerment Project. A recent email included stories about the practice of shark finning (taking the fins of live sharks, and returning the mutilated, dying sharks to the water), a reminder about buying only fair trade or organic chocolate (because other chocolates are frequently made with beans harvested by slave labor), and a story about The Great American MeatOut (see listing above for March 14 in San Francisco). To subscribe, visit FoodIsPower.org. THAT is one terrific name for a a web site! And here is an excerpt about the shark finning that includes information on how you can help put an end to this cruel practice.

Here at the Food Empowerment Project, we see some of our task is doing what we can to speak out for the most vulnerable. Even though sharks have a reputation of being the top of the food chain in the seas, because of humans their survival is in jeopardy. Millions of sharks are captured, their fins removed, and their live bodies dumped back into the ocean to slowly die - just to make shark fin soup.

In 2000, Congress passed a law with the intention to ban the practice of shark fining, but despite this the cruelty still continues. Because of that, the Shark Conservation Act of 2009 has been introduced. We urge that you contact your US Representative today and ask that they cosponsor the bill and close the loopholes that allow this practice to continue.

Find facts regarding this practice at http://www.awionline.org/legislation

You can send your email by visiting: http://capwiz.com/compassionindex/issues/alert/?alertid=12408576

Osteoporosis Protection for Life
Dr. Joel Fuhrman has a new video about how we can protect ourselves from osteoporosis without dangerous drugs.. The cost is $24.95. To order the video and to learn more about it, visit http://www.drfuhrman.com/shop/av.aspx#osteoP

Front Man for Corporations Exposed
An organization called The Center for Consumer Freedom has a great name, but a despicable mission. It exists to create confusion and to counter the efforts of true consumer protection organizations. Rick Berman is the mind behind this nefarious group, often the first and only group to attack PCRM, Peta, and other organizations that work for genuine health education and and end to animal cruelty. He has finally been exposed as a charlatan by his own son, and the media have finally told the truth about him. His work for the tobacco, fast food, tanning and other harmful industries was always cloaked in clever names, but always took the side of profit over truth. To read more about this man and his son's rebellion, visit the web site of the Center for Media and Democracy at this link: http://www.prwatch.org/node/8168

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666 .

We appreciate contributions of any size. We will thank you for a contribution of $20 or more with a 1-year subscription (or a 1-year continuation of a current subscription) to VegNews magazine. Send contributions to Marin Vegetarian Education Group, 12 Rally Ct., Fairfax, CA, 94930.

February, 2009
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Next Meeting: Note the New Venue

Saturday, February 28
6:00 PM Promptly - Please arrive early
Vegan Pot-Luck and Talk by
Raymond Francis of Beyond Health on
Optimum Health for Vegetarians
at
The Sunrise Center
645 Tamalpais Drive, Suite A
Corte Madera, CA

$2 - $5 sliding scale

Raymond Francis to speak on Optimum Health for Vegetarians
An MIT trained scientist, internationally recognized leader in health, Raymond Francis is on the cutting edge of biological science and internationally recognized leader in the field of optimal health maintenance. Raymond is chairman and CEO of Beyond Health Corporation, a supplier of health education and health supporting products to the public. In addition to being an author of two best selling books, Never Be Fat Again, and Never Be Sick Again, he has been a guest on more than 1,500 radio and television shows. Raymond Francis was a popular speaker for the San Francisco Vegetarian Society, and we are pleased to welcome him to Marin VEG on February 28.

We are also happy to be meeting at the offices of the Sunrise Center (www.Sunrise-Center.org), an organization that offers classes, events, and workshops to help create sustainable relationships and a sustainable world. Just one minute off the 101 Freeway at the Tamalpais Drive exit, and on the south side of Tamalpais Drive, The Sunrise Center is a perfect venue for Marin VEG meetings. There is ample off street parking in the lot in front of and alongside the building. (Coming from 101, exit at Tamalpais Drive. You will pass a large shopping mall and then a gas station on the right. After the shopping center and gas station, the Sunrise Center is on the other side (left side) of the street in the middle of the next long block. Make a U-turn at Lakeside Drive, and the building will be on your right..)

Because this is a new venue, we ask that you arrive early so we can start on time. We plan to start eating at 6:00 promptly, and our speaker will begin at 7:00 on the button. Please bring a vegan dish to share with 8-10 others, a plate, eating and serving utensils, a cup, and napkin. We also need volunteers to bring extra folding tables and folding chairs. The center has only enough for about 20 people, and we are hoping to have many more than that attending. If you can bring a table (bridge table or larger) or folding chairs, please let me know by email before February 25.

Helping John Robbins
Helping a friend in need seems like a natural response to me. I sent the following letter to about fifty people in the vegetarian movement a few weeks ago. Since then another version of it has been posted on VegSource.com and other vegetarian web sites. I am sharing it here with everyone on the mailing list of Marin VEG with the hope that those of you who care about John Robbins might be moved to help in whatever way you can. Words of encouragement with or without financial support will be very much appreciated. My apologies if you already saw this letter, and my thanks to those who already responded.

Dear Friends,

If you have ever been moved by the integrity of John Robbins' life, or if you have opened your heart to animals because of his compassion, now is the time to pay him back.

Stan and I just sent John Robbins the most generous cash gift we could afford. I am writing to ask you to consider doing the same.

Along with hundreds of celebrities, charitable organizations, universities, international banking institutions and even some small towns, John and his family are victims of the criminal, fraudulent Ponzi scheme of Bernard Madoff. The family learned last month that they have lost their entire life savings. John and his wife Deo have always lived frugally. They saved just about every dollar they could. And they thought their money was invested safely. But it turns out that their investments were stolen from them, and there is very little chance they can recover any of these funds upon which they were living. Now the Robbins family is facing a sudden and severe financial crisis.

To economize, the family has rented out every extra room in their house and every spare space on their property. Still, it is not clear if they will be able to pay their mortgage or keep the property they share with their son, his wife and their two grandsons. Both Michelle and Deo have taken on part time jobs, and Deo has also taken over the formerly paid for day care for their special needs grandchildren. John is writing a new book, but it could be many months before any income may come from that effort.

I cannot imagine a man who has had a greater positive influence on the vegetarian movement than John Robbins. Because of his books, countless people around the world have changed their way of eating, dressing, and relating to animals. Because of the integrity he has shown in his life, countless people have found the courage to turn down job opportunities and great financial gain if the work caused harm to others.

John's compassion for all beings, and his ability to share his vision through his speaking and writing, are among the greatest gifts I have witnessed in my life. I offered to send out this appeal for help when I learned of this terrible injustice to a man who has dedicated his life to ending injustice toward others.

If you can help John and his family now, please send a check made out to him. Send it to John Robbins, c/o me, Patti Breitman, 12 Rally Court, Fairfax, CA 94930, and I will send it along to him immediately without opening the envelope. (I do not want his address to be circulating on the internet, and I do hope you will forward this email to everyone you know who knows of John's work and might want to help him.)

I first discovered the truth of all life being connected through John's books. And while I am saddened that this criminal financial loss has happened to him, I am thrilled to be able to pay him back in small measure for all he has given to me through his work and his life choices.. Thank you for sending the most generous contribution you can for this extraordinary man of peace whose many contributions have saved countless lives and moved countless more toward peace.

With appreciation and love,
Patti Breitman
12 Rally Ct.
Fairfax, CA 94930

Veg E-News
One of the very best monthly e newsletters I've seen is Veg E-News from Canada. To subscribe to this excellent, free source of news about all things vegetarian, go to http://www.lholmesassociates.com/cgi-bin/veg/nologo/nologo_newsletter_subscribe.pl
The current issue includes the following story, summarized from an article on Planetsave.com

Is there a vegan in the White House?
Full story: Planetsave.com

Soon-to-be-President Barack Obama has appointed animal advocate Cass Sunstein to head the relatively obscure, yet powerful Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.The regulatory czar, as the position is generally called, is responsible for every regulatory agency in the country, such as the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency], and will oversee all administration rules. Sunstein is best known for his balanced views between government regulations and cost-benefit analysis and for his theory of behavioral economics and he is widely considered to be a great choice for the office. However, a new controversy is arising over his views on animal rights and animal welfare. Sunstein, a vegetarian, co-authored the book Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions, and has advocated for much stricter regulations of almost every industry that uses animals.

T. Colin Campbell to Speak during
McDougall Advance Study Weekend
China Study author T. Colin Campbell is among the guest lecturers at Dr. John McDougall's Advance Study weekend in Santa Rosa February 20 - 22. The cost of the weekend is $395 per person (not including accommodations). For more information about this life changing educational experience, visit www.drmcdougall.com

Next Marketplace Dinner in Berkeley: Sunday, : February 22
The next Marketplace dinner at the beautiful, historic Hillside Club in Berkeley is on Sunday Feb. 22 at 4:00 pm. The menu is posted at www.hillsideclub.org Join vegan chef Barry Schenker in preparing a gourmet meal from ingredients fresh from the farmer's market, and dine with others who are learning the many benefits of plant based dining. The cost is $30 per person, or $25 for members of the Hillside Club. RSVP before February 16 to Barry: 510-649-0449 or write to barryschenker@comcast.net

Valentines Day - Buy Fair Trade Chocolate Only
If you are going to buy chocolate for Valentines Day (or on any other day), look for fair-trade chocolate and make a commitment to never buy chocolate that isn't "fair trade." As globalmarch.org reports, "Hundreds of thousands of children are involved in the production of cocoa, the primary ingredient of chocolate. They are often working in the most abusive conditions at cocoa plantation. Children are forced to work in extreme heat for many hours conducting backbreaking physical labor. Often this work is forced upon the children by their parents, by poverty or by slave traders." To read more about protecting children and promoting fair trade in the chocolate industry, visit www.globalmarch.org/fairchocolate/

Bay Area Veg
For a calendar of restaurant outings, vegan dinner parties, a listing of restaurant reviews, opportunities to leaflet or write letters, and countless ways to meet with other vegetarians, visit www.BayAreaVeg.org. Promoting community, advocacy, and education, Bay Area Veg usually lists about a dozen events every month around the Bay Area. If you click on "news" and "Subscribe," you will not miss a single new event or call to action. And if you can make a contribution to this entirely free community service organization, you will be helping them reach a growing number of people who are curious about moving toward a plant based diet and a more compassionate world.

Kids are Becoming Vegetarians
An Associated Press article by Mike Stobbe in the January 12 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that nation wide about one in twelve children are now defining themselves as vegetarian. Among older teens it could be even higher. Concern for animals and the environment is what motivates most kids. To read the article, go to www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2009/01/12/MNKT157GTS.DTL

Vegetarian Starter Kit Now On Line
The wonderful Vegetarian Starter Kit from Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine is now available on line. You can now forward the newsletter via email to anyone you think ought to see it! Visit www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/index.html
to see the on line edition of this powerful publication.

January News from the Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Happy new year! May 2009 be a year of peace, joy and fulfillment.
There are two Marin VEG events in January. I hope you can come to one or both.

First January Meeting
Celebrate!
Sunday, January 18
1:00 - 4:00 PM
Vegan Potluck Party
In Celebration of
Barack Obama's Inauguration
at the home of Patti & Stan in Fairfax
RSVP to Patti by January 15
Eatplants@earthlink.net or
415 459 1666

Join us for a vegan potluck party on Sunday, January 18 in celebration of the inauguration of our new president. In addition to delicious food, there will be games and prizes, mostly on the theme of the election and the new administration. Please bring a vegan dish to share with at least 8 people, plus your own plate and utensils if you come to our meetings regularly. We are expecting a large number of people who are not regular attendees, in fact, who are not vegetarians. We will offer new guests plates and flatware, but ask the "regulars" to help us avoid using paper plates by bringing your own.

This is a wonderful time to show off the best vegan food you know and make a good impression for those who want to celebrate with us, but who are not familiar with plant based cuisine. To get the address and to ensure enough prizes, RSVP before January 15.
If you are coming from out of town for this event, you are welcome to sleep over (first come, first beds).

Second January Meeting
Sunday, January 25
1:00 PM
Joint Meeting of Marin VEG and Bay Area Veg
Vegan Picnic Potluck at Muir Beach Community Center
19 Seacape Drive, Muir Beach
RSVP to Erin: Rarearthca@earthlink.net

Join Bay Area Veg and Marin VEG for a vegan potluck party in Muir Beach on the afternoon of Sunday, January 25. Meet new people, enjoy the sea air, and savor more delicious food from the plant kingdom. Please bring a vegan dish to share with at least eight others, your own plate, utensils, and, if you want to take home leftovers, bring a container.

Directions: from Highway 101, take the Highway 1/Stinson Beach exit (north of Sausalito, South of Mill Valley), after about a half mile, turn left at the Arco Station at Tam Junction staying on Highway 1/Shoreline Highway. Continue to stay on Highway 1 for about 6 miles to Muir Beach. Continue past the Pelican Inn, turn left on Seacape Drive. The Community Center is at 19 Seacape Drive. The phone number at the Community Center is 383-9969. RSVP to Erin: Rarearthca@earthlink.net

essage from Wayne Pacele of the Humane Society of the U.S.

Wayne Pacele of the Humane Society of the U.S. writes about the impact on hundreds of thousands of animals that the new Obama cabinet will have. Specifically, the secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture, along with the head of the environmental protection agency will make decisions that affect wildlife, farmed animals, our oceans, air, and relationships with wilderness. You can read his comments at

https://community.hsus.org/ct/c1acjCK1_zCB/

Grant Money Available for Creative Ways to Help Animals
Each year the Culture and Animals Foundation, founded by Tom and Nancy Regan, provides small grants to writers, musicians, artists, and other creative types working at the intersection of animal rights and culture. The deadline is looming for this year's grants. The deadline for proposals is January 31. CAF is giving money away to worthy grant applicants: painters and film makers, poets and philosophers, historians and choreographers. Go to cultureandnaimals.org for all the details.

Marketplace Dinners in Berkeley
The vegan Marketplace dinners in Berkeley continue in 2009. Join others to prepare and enjoy scrumptious, market-fresh foods that Barry Schenker buys that day. Enjoy the historic Hillside Club in Berkeley, and meet others who enjoy fresh, local, organic and delicious food. Visit www.hillsideclub.org for more information. The dates for Barry's dinners in 2009 are: January 11, February 22, March 22, April 19, and May 3. You must RSVP to: BarrySchenker@comcast.net.

************************************************************************************************************************

To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net
or call 415-459-1666 .

We appreciate contributions of any size. We will thank you for a contribution of $20 or more with a 1-year subscription (or a 1-year continuation of a current subscription) to VegNews magazine. Send contributions to Marin Vegetarian Education Group, 12 Rally Ct., Fairfax, CA, 94930.

December news from the Marin Vegetarian Education Group

December 2008 News from the Marin Vegetarian Education Group

December Meeting
Vegan Holiday Potluck Dinner to benefit Homeless In Action
Saturday, December 20 6 PM
at the home of Patti and Stan
12 Rally Court, Fairfax
RSVP required. email: Eatplants@earthlink.net
or call 459 1666
Cost: $2 - 5 sliding scale
All proceeds go to Homeless In Action

Join us to celebrate winter's many holidays on the eve of the year's shortest day. We will gather at 6 PM on Saturday, December 20 for a potluck dinner, offering our favorite vegan holiday dishes and an opportunity to share our abundance with people in need. We will send all the money collected to one of Marin County's smallest and most effective not for profit organizations, Marin Homeless In Action.

The invaluable services offered through HIA make a difference every day for people who are homeless. The small office above the St. Vincent Dining Room is where director Bob King invites people who live outside to pick up survival gear (rugged clothing, rain ponchos, sleeping bags, tarps, dry socks and shoes), use the phone (to call social services, medical offices, therapists, probation officers and other vital services), and find a guidance and emotional support. His stabilizing presence along with advocacy on behalf of his clients are Bob King's priceless gift to people who are homeless. Please come enjoy good food and help support this invaluable Marin County resource.

If you cannot come to this event, please consider sending a contribution of any size to Marin Homeless In Action: c/o Patty Burke, P.O. Box 118, Ross, CA 94957. Even a small contribution goes a long way.

RSVP to Eatplants@Earthlink.net or call 459 1666 if you plan to attend this potluck dinner on behalf of Homeless in Action.

A prayer from Compassionate Cooks
As many of you know, I highly recommend Colleen Patrick Goudrau's Compassionate Cooks website, cooking classes, newsletter, podcasts, and books. If you are not familiar with her, treat yourself by visiting www.CompassionateCooks.com. You can sign up for her free newsletter and read her brilliant essays about food, animals, and compassion every month. Here is a prayer for the holidays from her November newsletter:

My hope is that we can all navigate through this world with the grace and integrity of those who need our protection. May we have the sense of humor and liveliness of the goats; may we have the maternal protective nature of the hens and the sassiness of the roosters. May we have the gentleness and strength of the cattle, the wisdom, humility, and serenity of the donkeys. May we appreciate the need for community as do the sheep and choose our companions as carefully as do the rabbits. May we have the faithfulness and commitment to family of the geese, the adaptability and affability of the ducks. May we have the intelligence, loyalty, and affection of the pigs, and may we have the inquisitiveness, sensitivity, and playfulness of the turkeys.

My hope is that we learn from the animals what it is we need to become better people.

Everyone at Compassionate Cooks wishes you and your family a healthful, holiday.

Sonoma People for Animal Rights
Mark Hawthorn, author of the inspiring book Striking At the Roots, A Practical Guide to Animal Activism, also writes a wonderful monthly email newsletter for SPAR, Sonoma People for Animal Rights. Anyone can sign up for his free email, and I recommend you do. If you can fill your inbox with wonderful news about helping animals, there will always be a good idea at your fingertips when you are waiting on hold, looking for a distraction from work, or feeling that you ought to be doing more but not wanting to leave your desk. To sign up, send an email to Mark at VeganforLife@sbcglobal.net.. Your address will never be shared with anyone.
Here is an excerpt from his November newsletter:

Tell LL Bean to Stop Selling Rabbit Fur!
The Christmas 2008 LL Bean catalogue features an illustration of a winter wonderland with rabbits in the snow. However, on page 21 they offer "Mad Bomber" hats made with rabbit fur. The catalog describes these items as "Our warmest hat and a customer favorite for years. Shell is fully insulated and trimmed with plush rabbit fur. Wear it with earflaps up or pull them down for added warmth..."

We know that LL Bean has selling this cruel hat for years, but perhaps with your help, this year we can get them to look for alternative options.

If you’re an LL Bean customer or on their mailing list, please ask them to remove your name as a customer or from their list – and tell them why! Remind them that these rabbits suffer horribly in factory farms and are killed brutally. Tell them you will no longer shop at LL Bean as long as they are selling real fur and that equally warm gloves and hats can be sold that are cruelty-free. Ask them to join progressive fur-free retailers such as Gap, Banana Republic, American Eagle, Aeropostale, H&M, Forever 21, J. Crew, and others. They also need to know that fur bearing animals are not covered under the Humane Slaughter Act. Ranch-raised animals are electrocuted through their genitals, poisoned with pesticides, or asphyxiated with carbon monoxide from unfiltered engine exhaust. Those who don't die swiftly are skinned alive.

Please contact Carolyn Beem, Public Affairs Manager for LL Bean, at publicaffairs@llbean.com. You may also call them at 800-341-4341.

Costa Rica with John and Mary McDougall
If you want a warm vacation in the middle of winter, consider going to Costa Rica with Dr. John McDougall and Mary McDougall February 4 - 11, 2009. All the food will be McDougall approved (healthy and delicious). Meet new friends, discover new places, and enjoy good food in a fascinating country with lots to offer. For more information, visit www.drmcdougall.com or call 800-941-7111 or write to Carol@drmcdougall.com. By the way, Dr. McDougall's November newsletter includes a wonderful piece explaining why the recent study showing that statin drugs are good for everyone is a misleading and dangerous example of how the press helps drug companies increase their profits at the expense of the public. Yet another wonderful monthly newsletter to add to your inbox.

Before You Buy That Sweater
An astounding and important article on Alternet.org by Stan Cox explains why buying new clothes is one of the most destructive things we can do to our beloved planet Earth. Just a short excerpt:Dye effluents often carry toxic metals, among them copper, cobalt, chromium, nickel, zinc, lead, antimony, silver, cadmium and mercury. Bleaching the cloth for a single shirt generates as much as 15 gallons of chlorine-polluted wastewater.

Chemicals used in the industry, including anti-wrinkle compounds, can be carcinogenic. In 2002, Italian and American researchers found that risks of nasal, bladder and gastrointestinal cancers among spinners, weavers and dyers were elevated 28 to 126 percent.

I was amazed at the amount of harm done just to manufacturer a single blouse or sweater, whether all cotton or synthetic. This is one of the best arguments for shopping at thrift stores or organizing clothing exchanges with friends.

You can read this eye opening article at www.alternet.org/story/109065/the_average_household_spent_$1,760_on_clothes_in_2007_--_here's_one_way_to_cut_back/

Prop 2 Passes!
Thanks and congratulations to everyone who passed out fliers, made phone calls and told friends and neighbors why farmed animals - and Proposition 2 - deserved our support! The measure passed with 63% of voters saying yes on Prop.2. Special thanks to Kate Danaher who organized the Marin County effort. What a wonderful job she did, and what a wonderful group of compassionate people helped get this landmark piece of legislation passed. Of course it does not go nearly far enough. But it is an important first step in offering better living conditions to the tens of millions of birds, pigs and baby cows who are bred and confined for food in California. Let's hope that other states follow in our footsteps. Peter Singer wrote an excellent article about how the strong support for Prop. 2 makes caring about animals more mainstream.. You can read his positive article at http://www.newsweek.com/id/
169881

Plastics and Metabolic Syndrome
Science News reported in September that the chemical used to make hard plastics (used in water bottles and baby bottles), BPA or bisphenol A, is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a combination of risk factors that can lead to heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. If you have not yet switched to stainless steel or glass water bottles, this would be a great time to do so! You can read the entire article at http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/09/04/bisphenol.a.linked.metabolic.syndrome.human.tissue

New Vegetarian Restaurant Coming to San Rafael
A new vegetarian restaurant is slated to open in San Rafael in February. Radiance Vegetarian Cuisine will open on the west end of Fourth Street, not far from where Milly's used to be. And we think, but cannot confirm, that Dennis Malone, the former owner of Milly's is the force behind Radiance. Not a lot of details are available yet (Will it be vegan? Will it be expensive?), but a website has been created to help build the buzz: http://radiancecuisine.com/Site/Introducing...html Watch www.BayAreaVeg.org for a February restaurant outing if Radiance opens on schedule.

"But I Only Eat Organic Turkeys"
Will Tuttle, author of the remarkable book The World Peace Diet, sends news of a wrenching video on YouTube of a turkey hatchery. Regardless of how humanely birds are said to be raised - "free range," organic, or "cage free," they begin life at a hatchery and end by being slaughtered. This video footage from a turkey hatchery - filmed by Compassion Over Killing - makes it apparent that there is absolutely nothing humane about the lives of turkeys. This is not for anyone who cannot stomach the ugly truth. Do not watch this video if you cannot bear to bear witness to the unspeakably cruel treatment of living beings. But if you can, then do. And tell people what you know. The only thing worse than torture is to stand by and do nothing when you know it is happening. This powerful video can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGJryC4XIdo

In Lieu of Gifts
Instead of store-bought holiday gifts this year, consider a contribution that does good in the world in honor of your loved ones. There are dozens of wonderful organizations that help people and animals, locally, nationally, and globally. Do you want to help feed hungry people? Food First (www.foodfirst.org) is a great international organization that works to promote policies and practices that keep ensure food safety.. And the St. Vincent dePaul Free Dining Room in San Rafael provides a free meal every day to people who are strapped for cash in Marin County.. Helping animals? The Marin Humane Society can use your support. Are you grateful for your home? Why not help people who are homeless? Try Homeless In Action in San Rafael (see first item above) or the help desk at the St. Vincent de Paul Society, upstairs from the free dining room on B Street. When you give a gift that is a contribution in someone's honor, you multiply the joy of giving at least by three: Your gift affirms your generosity; the honoree knows that you care for your world and your connection to her; and the organization who receives your gift is grateful that your support enables it to continue its good work. Talk about a win/win/win!

Peace On Earth
Every year in December I like to publish this essay by C. David Coates. It appeared originally in his book Old McDonald's Factory Farm and was reprinted in Jennifer Raymond's cookbook The Peaceful Palate. I also included it in my new book, How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One. I wish each of you a peaceful holiday season.

Isn’t man an amazing Animal? He kills wildlife—birds, kangaroos, deer, all kinds of cats, coyotes, beavers, groundhogs, mice, foxes, and dingoes—by the million in order to protect his domestic animals and their feed.

Then he kills domestic animals by the billion and eats them. This in turn kills man by the million, because eating all those animals leads to degenerative—and fatal—health conditions like heart disease, kidney disease, and cancer.

So then man tortures and kills millions more animals to look for cures for these diseases. <>
Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals.</>

Meanwhile, some people are dying of sad laughter at the absurdity of man, who kills so easily and so violently, and once a year sends out cards praying for “Peace on Earth.”</>
From Old MacDonald’s Factory Farm by C. David Coats

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

We appreciate contributions of any size. We will thank you for a contribution of $20 or more with a 1-year subscription (or a 1-year continuation of a current subscription) to VegNews magazine. Send contributions to Marin Vegetarian Education Group, 12 Rally Ct., Fairfax, CA, 94930.

November news from the Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Gene Baur of Farm Sanctuary at Book Passage – This Weekend
Gene, Baur, the cofounder of Farm Sanctuary and author of the new book Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food will be reading from and signing his new book on Saturday, November 1 at 1:00 PM at Book Passage in Corte Madera (51 Tamal Vista). The book includes heartwarming and harrowing stories of some of the animals at Farm Sanctuary, and invites readers to understand that each animal is an individual being. Farm Sanctuary is one of the forces behind getting Prop. 2 on the ballot in California, and Gene will talk about the significance of this ballot measure for millions of animals.

Correction
Thanks to Sita Khufu for pointing out my error in the September newsletter. I was too fast to criticize Sierra magazine. In fact, they DID include colleges serving vegetarian food on campus in their round up of green colleges. 65% of the dining hall options at UC Berkeley are vegetarian and Warren Wilson College grows food on campus for their student-run vegetarian eatery. Apologies to Sierra magazine and thanks to Sita for reminding me to read more carefully.

The Green Collar Economy
Van Jones, the founder and president of Green for All has a new book out: The Green Collar Economy. (Full disclosure: I am his agent and I do benefit from every copy sold. And I will donate funds from that income to PCRM and other organizations that benefit animals and people.) This important book makes the case for solving our energy, environmental and unemployment crises with one elegant and effective solution: Bring green jobs to the people who need to step up out of poverty.

Until now, the green movement has benefited mostly those who can afford solar panels, hybrid cars, bamboo floors and other environmentally friendly technologies. But the green movement must help those most in need or it will remain a trendy fad instead of becoming a way of life that can improve life for everyone. In this groundbreaking book, Van Jones calls attention to the importance of green jobs for people, the economy, and the planet. He calls on us to remember our sacred connection to the earth, to the wisdom of native societies around the world, and to one another. Like the work of John Robbins, The Green Collar Economy empowers us as it inspires us to call for and work for changes that will benefit all living beings. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote the foreword and Al Gore says of the book, "Van Jones demonstrates conclusively that the best solutions for the survivability of our planet are also the best solutions for everyday Americans."

Marketplace Dinner in Berkeley November 16
On Sunday, November 16 join Barry Schenker to prepare and share a delicious, gourmet, vegan dinner in the historic Hillside Club at 2286 Cedar St. at Arch in Berkeley. The meal features local, fresh, organic fruits and vegetables. The cost is $25 and seating is limited. RSVPs are required. Call Barry at 510-649-0449 or send him an email at BarrySchenker@comcast.net by Nov. 10 to reserve a spot. To help prepare the meal, arrive at 4 PM. To see the menu (which is subject to change) go to http://www.hillsideclub.org/Marketplace_dinner_Nov08.pdf

Marin Restaurant Outing November 17
Join Alicia Robb and Bay Area Vegetarians for a meal at Harmony restaurant in Strawberry Village (Mill Valley) at 6:30 PM on Monday, November 17. Strawberry Village is at 800 Redwood Highway, just off and parallel to the 101 freeway. Check out the tantalizing menu and get directions to the restaurant at http://www.harmonyrestaurantgroup.com/. Then RSVP to Alicia: alicia@fsdinternational.org. Hope to see you there!

Bad News About Microwave Cooking
Healing Cuisine’s Health E-News newsletter this month published news from a book called Microwaved Food by Raymond Francis. The author is an M.I.T. trained scientist and a nutrition consultant.

The book reports that the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology did studies showing that microwaving food changes its molecular structure and its nutritional quality. Additionally, The Institute of Radio Technology in the former Soviet Union town of Kinsk issued a report in 1976 that said microwaving food formed the production of carcinogens. You can learn more about Raymond Francis him at www.beyondhealth.com. And you can sign up for Healing Cuisine’s E-News newsletter at www.HealingCuisine.com.

Patti Breitman’s How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One
I will be reading from my new book on Thursday, November 13 at 7 PM at BookBeat, 28 Bolinas Road in Fairfax. I will be preparing a simple recipe from How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One for sampling as well. Please invite your friends and neighbors to this tasty and informative presentation. Thanks to everyone who has come to my other readings and presentations. And thanks to Alicia Robb for the lovely vegan dinner party in her home in October. The book is available at Book Passage, BookBeat and on Amazon.com.

October News from the
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

*This Weekend is World Vegetarian Festival in S.F. See below for details.*

October Meeting at Alicia R.’s House:
Sunday, October 19 at 5 PM

Join Bay Area Vegetarians and friends for a vegan food party at the San Rafael home of Alicia R. to celebrate the publication of my new book How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One . This will be a vegan pot luck dinner on Sunday, October 19 at 5 PM. There is no cost to attend, but you must bring a vegan dish to share with 8 others. For directions and the address, and to RSVP, contact Alicia by email: alicia@fsdinternational.org or by visiting http://www.bayareaveg.org/events.htm Even if you already sent your email to Alicia, you may want to go to this web site. If you scroll down to the Oct. 19 event at Alicia’s house. You can leave any message on that page to become eligible to win a free copy of my book! Thanks to Bay Area Vegetarians and Alicia for arranging this meeting and offering this prize!

Steve Blake – Not in Marin, but in San Francisco This Weekend
Dr. Steve Blake, one of the most popular speakers for Marin VEG in the past, has had to postpone his visit with us because of scheduling conflicts. But he will be speaking at the World Vegetarian Festival at 2:45 on Saturday. See below for more about this not-to-be-missed event.

World Vegetarian Festival This Weekend: October 4 and 5
10:00 AM to 6:00 PM both days
This coming weekend in San Francisco you can hear just about every leader on all subjects relating to vegetarianism at the two day celebration of World Vegetarian Day in Golden Gate Park. The cost is only $6 per day, and seniors, kids and students with ID are admitted FREE. Early birds, entering before 10:30 either day are also admitted for FREE. Enter the park at 9th and Lincoln, and arrive extra early for free parking on Lincoln.
Speakers include John Robbins, Howard Lyman, Will Tuttle, Colleen Patrick Goudreau, Steven Blake, Meredith McCarty, Milton Mills, Patti Breitman (That's me! I will be doing a food demonstration at 12:15 Sunday) and many more. To see the schedule of lectures, food demonstrations and entertainment, visit http://www.sfvs.org/wvd/schedule.php.

There will be great vegan food for sale, so plan on having lunch there and listening to some of the most knowledgeable people in the country talk about what is new in vegetarian cooking, raw foods, animal rights, environmental impacts and compassionate living. Additionally, there will be jazz, folk songs, Celtic music, belly music and a Chinese acrobat. And as if that's not enticement enough, on both days at 10:30 and 1:30 there will be a free walking tour with a docent of the Arboretum, next door to the building in which the festival is taking place. For more about this festival, visit www.sfvs.org.

Free, On-Line Living Food Event
Starting October 19 Dr. Rick Dina is taking part in a free, seven day, world-wide online living food event called a Rawkathon. Dr. Gabriel Cousens, Dr. Doug Graham, Victoria Boutenko, Cherie Soria, and many other living food experts will also be participating. These gurus of the living food movement will be explaining the benefits of living foods, how to add living foods to your diet, how to switch to a living food diet, and how to be successful with living foods. The event can be watched on your computer or listened to on your phone. There is no charge if you listen to the talks as they are given. If you want to be able to listen again, or listen at a time after the live broadcasts, there is a charge. To learn more about this extraordinary opportunity to hear from the living food leaders live in your home, visit http://www.rawkathon.com/index-main.html. You will be asked to fill out a form (they swear they donut share the information with any other group) and you will receive an email with the details of the broadcasts and a chance to sign up and pay for the ability to save the talks or listen to them after they are broadcast.

es on Prop. 2
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I want to remind everyone to jot a reminder in your calendar or PDA today for November 4 to vote Yes on Proposition 2. Many of us sometimes vote when we are busy or harried and may not recall which propositions we want to support. A Yes Vote on Prop. 2 would ensure that farmed animals in California are treated more humanely. It would require that laying hens, gestating pigs, and veal calves be given enough space in their enclosures to stand up, turn around, spread their limbs or wings, and lie down. It is the least we can do for farmed animals in our state, so be sure to set a reminder for Nov. 4 that says vote Yes on Prop. 2. The list of organizations that endorse Yes on Prop. 2 is enormous and growing. It includes the Humane Society of the U.S., The Union of Concerned Scientists, the California Veterinary Medical Association, The Center for Food Safety, the Consumer Federation of America, The Sierra Club, and the California Democratic Party. For more information, visit www.YesOnProp2.org.</> <>

Action for Animals
Every month I receive in my mail (not email, but real mail) a flier listing all the ways I can help animals in the upcoming thirty days. Action For Animals is a trustworthy and effective organization based in Oakland that keeps us informed about issues affecting animals and how we can make a difference. Whether writing letters to local officials when the rodeo or circus is coming to town, or showing up at important meetings when local legislation is being discussed, there is always something to learn and to do to help the lives of animals both in the Bay Area and around the country.
The calendar also includes events of interest to animal lovers, such as the lecture and slide show on Birds of Three Remarkable World Heritage Sites, scheduled for Thursday October 9 at the Randall Museum , 199 Museum Way, in San Francisco from 7:30 – 9 PM. (Call 225 3830 or email jkodiak@earthlink.net for more information about this event.)

To receive the monthly calendar of events for and about animals, send $20 to Action For Animals, P.O. Box 20184, Oakland, CA 94620.

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666 .

September news from the
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Vegan Potluck Brunch and optional hike
Saturday, September 13
11:00 for hike
12:45 for potluck only
San Rafael address provided when you RSVP

On Saturday, September 13, Alicia Robb of Bay Area Vegetarians will be hosting a hike and vegan food party (potluck) brunch in her San Rafael home. There is no cost to attend, but RSVPs and a dish to share are required. Go to http://bayareaveg.org/rsvp.htm?id=1972 to RSVP. Or e-mail Alicia at alicia@fsdinternational.org.

Join us for an adventurous, short hike, followed by a vegan potluck brunch at Alicia’s beautiful, hillside home in San Rafael.. The address will be provided when you RSVP.

Meet up at 11:00 at Alicia's house, drop off your potluck items, and join us for a hike in the China Camp/Open Space area of San Rafael. It will be about a 90 minute hike. Please show up at 12:45 if you'd prefer not to hike and just want to attend the brunch. We will reheat and prepare food and eat at 1 pm. It is a challenging climb, so bring tennis shoes or hiking shoes. And please note: the hike will start promptly at 11:00.

Promised for the brunch so far are Erin's tantalizing French toast, Alicia's mushroom stroganoff, and other delicious vegan dishes. Please bring a vegan dish to share for 8.

RSVP and send the name of the dish you'll bring. Go to http://bayareaveg.org/rsvp.htm?id=1972 to RSVP. Or e-mail Alicia at alicia@fsdinternational.org. All RSVPs will be confirmed with the address where the potluck will happen.

Thanks to Alicia for organizing this event.

Good-bye for now to Dr. Rick Dina
At the end of September, Drs. Rick and Karin Dina will close their current chiropractic practice so they can focus on teaching vegan nutrition full time. They will continue to work independently and with Living Light Culinary Arts Institute, as well as several other venues that are both underway and still in the development phase. So the La Plaza conference room era will be over after a 5 year run.

Rick and Karin plan to open a new practice in the next 2 to 3 years, and will probably be in Sonoma County then.

Please join me in thanking these two extraordinary health care practitioners for their generosity to Marin VEG over the last five years. And share with my most sincere congratulations on their dedication to teaching people to live well and eat well, as well as on their next step in their professional lives.

Can You Help Us Find a Meeting Room for October 12?
One of our most popular speakers will return on Sunday, October 12 for a talk with the Marin Vegetarian Education Group. Dr. Steve Blake, creator of one of the world’s largest data bases of natural remedies and author of Healing Medicine and Vitamins and Minerals Demystified, will be talking about Fats, Oils, and the Vegetarian Diet. But we do not have a meeting space yet.

Please help us find an appropriate meeting room in a recreation center, church, office building or other public place. We want to welcome Dr. Blake with a large enough room to hold an enthusiastic audience of at least 30 people. If you know how to contact the right person at a possible location, (Having a kitchen would be nice, but is not required.) please call Patti at 415 459 1666.

My new book coming in September
My new book, How to Eat Like a Vegetarian, Even If You Never Want To Be One, co-authored with Carol J. Adams, will be published by Lantern Books in September. This is a book for anyone who wants the benefits of a plant based diet, but thinks he doesn't have the time. The book includes more than 250 shortcuts, tips, hints, and strategies that make meals and snacks a snap. The book can be pre-ordered at Amazon.com right now, at a discount, and will ship in the middle of September. Plan to celebrate with me at any or all of these events:

Saturday, September 27, 7 PM Book Passage in Corte Madera, The Gallery Space
October 4-5 World Vegetarian Day in San Francisco (time of cooking demo to be announced; visit www.SFVS.org for details)
October 6, tasting and talk at Fairfax Public Library
October 19 Potluck Vegan Food Party at Alicia Robb’s house in San Rafael to celebrate the book.

Brighter Green and China’s Challenges
Mia MacDonald, under the auspices of her new non-profit organization Brighter Green, has just compiled an extensive report on China's environmental, human health, animal welfare, and food security challenges in the wake of their adoption of the Western meat-intensive diet and intensive farming of animals. The introduction has even been translated into Chinese. This is the first in a series of papers that will look at the same phenomenon of globalization in Brazil, India, and Ethiopia, coming Fall 2008.

To read the report, visit
http://www.brightergreen.org/files/brightergreen_china_print.pdf

Learn more about BrighterGreen at their web site: http://www.brightergreen.org/n.php?id=23

Cat Adoptions
If you are thinking of adopting a cat, The Marin Humane Society is reducing its adoption fees and adoption behavior consultations more than $100 until September 7. Visit MarinHumaneSociety.org or call 883-4621 for more information.

EarthSave Still Going Strong
At one time the Marin Vegetarian Education Group was a chapter of the national organization EarthSave. This terrific not for profit is still alive and well and publishes a wonderful, newspaper a few times a year. Articles in the current issue cover everything from the chemicals in popular processed foods to the cost to the environment of cloth and disposable diapers. John McDougall, John Robbins and Alan Goldhamer are all frequent contributors.. Membership is $35 a year for individuals and $50 for families. Send your tax deductible donation to EarthSave International, PO Box 96, New York, NY 10108

Sierra Magazine
The September-October issue of Sierra magazine rates the top 10 colleges in the United States on how green they are. While organic and locally grown foods are mentioned, there is no mention of which schools offer vegetarian and vegan meals in their dining halls. The magazine faults schools that require students to drive to campus, but ignores the fact that eating a plant based diet is one of the best things we can do for the environment.Write to Sierra magazine to point out their blind spot: E-mail Sierra.letters@sierraclub.org.

Yes On Prop2
With the election only two months away, now is the best time to remind people to vote Yes on Prop. 2 on the November ballot. This modest measure stops cruel and inhumane treatment of animals, ending the practice of cramming farm animals into cages so small the animals can’t even turn around, lie down or extend their limbs. This is decidedly not a vegetarian issue, but one of common sense and kindness to animals. It is endorsed by The Humane Society of the United States, Center for Food Safety, the California Veterinary Medical Association, the Union of Concerned Scientists, United Farm Workers, Cesar Chavez Foundation, and dozens of other organizations.

If you want to see all the endorsements for Yes on Prop 2, visit www.YesOnProp2.com. And remind every voter you know in California to vote YES on Prop. 2.

August news from
The Marin Vegetarian Education Group

No Meeting in August
There will not be a meeting in August, but there is plenty going on throughout the Bay Area. Check www.BayAreaVeg.org for restaurant outings, potlucks and opportunities to leaflet, write letters, and speak up for animals. There is a veg outing on August 25th (monday), see www.bayareaveg.org for more info.

Patti's New Book Coming in September
How to Eat Like a Vegetarian – Even If You Never Want to Be One, is being published by Lantern Books in September. This is my new book (Patti Breitman) with Carol J. Adams, and it is the ideal gift for anyone who wants to eat more vegetarian meals or snacks, but who thinks it takes too much time. Anyone who prepares meals for a vegetarian - or who is already a vegan or vegetarian - will find the book helpful as well.

I will be signing books at Book Passage in Corte Madera on Saturday, September 27 at 7 PM, and doing a cooking demonstration at World Veg Day in San Francisco during the day on October 3 and 4th. And the book can be pre-ordered now at Amazon.com. It will ship in September. Anyone who has been a vegetarian for a long time will enjoy the recipes, shortcuts and the 25 lists in the book (such as 10 Ways to Eat More Greens; 10 Things to Know Before You Go Grocery Shopping, and 10 Time Saving Tips). Of course the entire book is vegan, but we want to appeal to the widest possible audience, so the title uses the longer V word. John Robbins, Howard Lyman, Rory Friedman and Dr. Neal Barnard have all endorsed the book. Mark your calendar now for Sept. 27 and October 4-5, and have a look at the cover and endorsements at www.LanternBooks.com.

Diet and Greenhouse Gases
Thanks to Patrick Sullivan of Mill Valley for his wonderful letter to the Pacific Sun this week. It talks about the terrible impact a meat based diet has on the global climate crisis. He points us to a terrific web site: www.CoolYourDiet.org. This is an information packed site that explains and expands on the United Nations Food and Agriculture report that found that animal agriculture accounts for 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. In his same letter, Patrick also reminds us that Compassion Over Killing’s site, TryVeg.com includes recipes, advice, support, and information about why it’s a good idea to leave the meat off the plate.

New DVD Debunks Protein, Soy and Fish Myths
Dr. John McDougall has a new DVD for sale that debunks pervasive myths about fish, soy and protein. The DVD is available from his web site, www.drmcdougall.com and costs $24.95 plus shipping and handling. The DVD addresses three tenacious myths: That plants are incomplete proteins; that soy makes people sick, and that fish is good for the heart. If you need to invoke an M.D. in your arguments with meat eaters, this is a a great source of authority and knowledge.

While you are on Dr. McDougall’s web site, be sure to read his newsletter. All the archived newsletters are there as well as the new August one, and well worth reading.

A Plea from Animal Place
Animal Place asked me to share the following announcement:

Three roosters and ten hens need new digs and fast! They are on the lam, ready to start a new life somewhere safe. We rescued them a year ago from a sad situation and they're ready to move off of their probationary period at Animal Place and into a permanent home.

Can YOU give these "unusual cluckspects" a new home? Know someone who can? Send this off to your friends and family. Post it on your myspace or blog - spread the message that The Unusual Cluckspects are looking for their forever home!

Available as a group or individually, these birds will show of their superb weeding and gardening skills, and make wonderful companions to the chicken-loving family.

If you can provide a home for any of these birds, or know someone who can, please contact Marji at Animal Place: Marji@AnimalPlace.org, or call 707 449 4814 .

The VegNews Polls Are Open
VegNews magazine has opened the polls for the 2008 survey of the best places, people and products of 2008. Vote for your favorite restaurants, celebrities, and products by going to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm/kh_2bW3o9fkbEWraGcnM9Q_3d_3d

Sample Podcast CD now Available
Compassionate Cooks’ Colleen Patrick Goudreau is offering a CD compilation of her most popular and helpful podcasts for just $1 each. You must order 10 or more, but this is a $10 investment worth making. You can give these away to your friends and watch as their hearts open and their habits change. Colleen receives dozens of letters every month from people whose lives have been touched and changed from her podcasts. Visit www.CompassionateCooks.com to order the CD. Many thanks to Colleen for speaking out with so much compassion and eloquence for farmed animals.

Yes on Prop. 2
It is not too soon to mark your calendar for November 4 – Election Day - to remind yourself to vote Yes on Proposition 2. This modest proposition would require that laying hens, gestating pigs and veal calves be given enough room to turn around and stretch their limbs. It is sad, but true that this is not the case today. Please, please please visit www.YesOnProp2.com to learn more about why this is vitally important for California’s farmed animals. The California Veterinary Medical Association endorses this proposition along with the Humane Society of the U.S., the Sierra Club, many consumer groups, and even small family farmers. If you can make a donation at the site, you can help counter the more than $10 million being spent by the factory farm egg industry to try to defeat the measure. Any help you can give now will help the Yes on Prop. 2 campaign with tv ads in October and November. And if you can talk with everyone you know about why it is vital to vote yes on prop. 2, it will make a difference in the lives of millions of animals. This is not a vegetarian issue. Everyone believes that animals should not be treated inhumanely, including animals raised for food. Vote Yes on Prop. 2 and help spread the word.

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666 .

To be removed from this mailing list, please send an e-mail with "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

July Newsletter from the
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Worth Watching
Mark Bittman, who writes the Minimalist column for The New York Times, gave a wonderful talk about the industrialization of food, the demise of home cooking, and the impact of our eating habits on the planet’s air, water and global warming. While he does not advocate a vegan diet, he urges listeners to cut way back on meat, eliminate fast food, and eat more fruits and vegetables. You can hear this inspiring talk at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YkNkscBEp0

Can You Help Us Post Events?
If you are reading this and have an extra five minutes a month, please volunteer to post our events – when we have them – on Craigslist and on Bay Area Veg. Call Patti at 459 1666 to volunteer. It’s the easiest volunteer job you can ever hope to find, and it has the potential to reach new people who want to learn more about a plant based diet, but don’t know where to start. Thank you!

Holistic Pet Tips
If you have a cat or dog, you may want to sign up for Ali’s Pet Tips, a once a month (sometimes twice a month) email with holistic pet tips. This is a free service that includes all kinds of tips for keeping your companion animals happy and healthy.

To subscribe send an email to a_s_Phillips@animail.net Type 'subscribe' in the subject line and also within the body of email. Also, include your city and state to avoid excess regional mailings which do not apply to your geographical location.

Here is one holistic pet tip from a recent email: Trouble with shedding? Lubricate your dog's coat with a small amount of olive oil or coconut oil every 10 days and say good-bye to expensive products and ingredients you sprinkle on food.

New Web Site Counters Myth of Humane Meat
The creators of the extraordinary film The Witness have launched a new web site to counter the meat industry’s efforts to promote “humanely raised meat.” Visit www.HumaneMyth.org to see the overwhelming evidence that animals suffer when they are raised and killed for food. This is an impressive and comprehensive web site, and it can help us respond wisely to people who claim that they only eat “humanely raised meat.” HumaneMyth.com is dedicated to truth, transparency, and integrity in Animal Advocacy.

Vegan Potluck For Humane Farming: July 27th
Alicia Robb is extending the following invitation to everyone who cares about animals:

You're invited to my Vote Yes For Farm Animals event on Sunday, July 27 from 4 pm to 7 pm. I hope you'll come and participate in the nationwide conference call with animal protection leaders, and help make my party a success.

I'm helping to raise much-needed funds for Californians for Humane Farms -- the Yes for Farm Animals Campaign. Every contribution helps me reach my personal fundraising goal.

Just click the link that follows to RSVP. You can make your donation online to the campaign at the same time.
For more details about this invitation and to RSVP online, go to: http://www.party2win.com/humanecalifornia/parties?e=veganpotluck4humanefarming&userid=163659

At my party, we'll dial in to the nationwide conference call with other Vote Yes for Farm Animals events across California. Please RSVP now so you don't miss out on the fun. If you cannot attend, I understand, but please consider making a contribution anyway to help me reach my fundraising goal and to help WIN for Farm Animals on November 4th!

Thank you and I hope to see you July 27!

Alicia

P.S. Contributions or gifts to Californians for Humane Farms are not tax deductible. Your donation will be used to help us win this campaign and alleviate the suffering of 20 million farm animals in California.

Healing Cuisine
Right here in Marin County we have a resource that can help anyone learn how to shop, cook, and eat in a way that supports health and satisfies even the most demanding palate. Healing Cuisine offers private and public cooking classes, nutrition counseling, market tours and more. Additionally for $60 a year (or $30 for six months) you can sign up for Healing Cuisine’s Health E-Club. You will receive a weekly e-mail with culinary tips and health information, a monthly report with in depth diet and health news plus a seasonal menu with both quick and gourmet recipes. Membership also brings a 25% discount on cooking classes and nutritional counseling sessions. To learn more about Healing Cuisine and the Health E-Club, go to www.HealingCuisine.com

I hope you have a wonderful summer!

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666. (No one will respond until July 7, but your message will be received.)

June News from
The Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Tree Huggers!
We had a great time at our Deer Park picnic in May, and we even hugged some trees. You can try this game at your own picnic over the summer. It inspires laughter and a new appreciation for trees, our breathing partners on Earth.

Pair off and have one partner tie a blindfold on the other. Then the sighted person carefully leads his blindfolded partner to a tree. The blindfolded person tries to get to know the tree by touching it, walking around it, smelling it. Then the sighted person carefully leads him back to where they started. The blindfold comes off and the tree hugger must then find the specific tree he was getting to know. This can be easy or it can be challenge, and the participants at our picnic were all very good at finding their tree.

Thanks to all who shared wonderful food and good company at this picnic.

The Usual Suspects: New Restaurant in San Francisco
BayAreaVeg (www.BayAreaVEG.org) reports that there is a new vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco. On Broadway, just off Montgomery in the North Beach/Telegraph Hill neighborhood, it is called the Usual Suspects Cafe. This diner is becoming popular for its vegan versions of familiar food. If anyone has a chance to go there, please let us know what you think.
The Usual Suspects
450 Broadway
(between Kearny St & Montgomery St)
San Francisco, CA 94133
415 434-4444
Open Tuesday through Saturday, 8AM – 10 PM

Oprah and The Sierra Club
You have probably heard that Oprah has begun a vegan diet for 21 days. She is following the advice of Kathy Freston, author of Quantum Wellness, and the internet has been buzzing with news of Oprah giving up animal products.

What you may not have heard is that The Sierra Club, which usually shies away from the food connection to the environment, finally is recommending a vegan diet for the environment's sake. The Sierra Club publishes a daily newsletter called The Green Life, Daily Tips for Living Well and Doing Good. On May 27 they asked their readers to try a vegan lifestyle because Oprah was doing it. In that day’s email the newsletter said, “Raising animals for meat is one of the most environmentally destructive practices, according to a 2006 report published by the United Nations. The report calls raising animals for food “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.

“If Oprah can do it, don't you think you can too? Who is ready to try out the vegan lifestyle?”

Thank goodness for this division of the Sierra Club for telling the truth about the impact of animal agriculture's affect on our environment. To read their daily newsletter, go to http://sierraclub.typepad.com/greenlife/

Current Events from a Vegetarian Perspective
The newsletter VegE-News offers a terrific summary of world wide news about animals, the food industry, the environment and plant based diets. It is like an electronic Readers Digest, but only with stories about vegetarianism. The following piece, excerpted from The Washington Post, was in their May issue. To subscribe to VegE-News go to http://www.lholmesassociates.com/cgi-bin/veg/nologo/nologo_newsletter_subscribe.pl

Major new U.S. report targets costs of factory farming
Factory farming takes a big, hidden toll on human health and the environment, is undermining rural America's economic stability and fails to provide the humane treatment of livestock increasingly demanded by American consumers, concludes an independent, 2 1/2 -year analysis that calls for major changes in the way corporate agriculture produces meat, milk and eggs. The report released [April 29], sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, finds that the "economies of scale" used to justify factory farming practices are largely an illusion, perpetuated by a failure to account for associated costs. Among those costs are human illnesses caused by drug-resistant bacteria associated with the rampant use of antibiotics on feedlots and the degradation of land, water and air quality caused by animal waste too intensely concentrated to be neutralized by natural processes.
Washington Post - April 30, 2008

Congratulations to VegNews Magazine
Once again, VegNews magazine has been awarded a great honor. At the 57th annual Maggie Awards--the nation's largest and longest-running magazine recognition honors--VegNews was named "Best Lifestyle Publication" by the Western Publisher's Association. This is the third time VegNews has won a Maggie award, and the first time for being the best overall lifestyle magazine. Thanks to Joseph Conellly and Colleen Holland for producing such a wonderful magazine – where being vegan is celebrated and portrayed as the norm. And congratulations to them and the entire staff of VegNews on getting the recognition they deserve.

PCRM’s Good Medicine
The current issue and ten years of back issues of Good Medicine magazine from the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine are available on line. Visit www.PCRM.org/magazine to read the good news of progress being made in medical schools and animal laboratories around the world. PCRM provides – free of charge – a copy of their Nutrition Guide for Clinicians – to every second year medical school student in the United States. Consider making a contribution PCRM. It's one of the few organizations educating future medical doctors about the power of plant based eating for health. Their philosophy is that prevention is better than treating disease and that good medicine does not include torturing animals in medical schools, laboratories or in the food industry. A gift membership starts at only $20, so treat someone who needs to hear about the science behind vegan diets to a year of PCRM membership.

Do It For Yourself and For Cows, Chickens and Pigs
If you have not yet subscribed to the Compassionate Cooks’ monthly free e-newsletter, do yourself a favor and sign up! (http://www.compassionatecooks.com/join.htm) In my opinion, her column “This I Know” is among of the best written, most persuasive, most honest series of essays on animals and food published anywhere. The following is a recent column.

Essay - This I Know
RECLAIMING COMPASSION
Articles about "humane meat" continue to appear in all manner of media, and I won't pretend it doesn't bother me. In fact, it drives me to distraction. Proponents of "humane meat," an oxymoron if I ever heard one, have even given themselves a name: "compassionate carnivores."

The excuse-itarians have come up with some brilliant justifications for dining on animals, including the rubbish that "we're simply participating in the 'food chain' just like all other animals. Last time I looked lions didn't breed gazelles and raise them in order to kill them. That's what humans do: create an artificial system of birth and death and then appeal to the "food chain" argument to romanticize their consumption.

They also contend that they purchase their meat from "farmers" who love their animals and treat them with kindness and compassion. I can't help but wonder: If it's so compassionate to hug a lamb three times a day before slitting his throat, isn't it even more compassionate to hug a lamb three times a day and NOT slit his throat?

For those whose throats are not slit by the loving hand of their caretaker, they are betrayed by being sent to a slaughterhouse. Very few "farmers" have "USDA-approved" kill floors, and when they are allowed to kill the animals themselves, it is generally birds - not mammals - who die by their hands. The picture they paint make it seem as if there is some special, gentle place that "humanely raised" animals go to die, but the truth is that they go to conventional slaughterhouses, and the abuse that takes place in slaughterhouses is endemic and inherent. I promise you that the desensitized slaughterhouse workers don't treat "humanely raised" animals with kindness and reserve their cruelty only for "conventionally raised" animals.

The other point excuse-itarians like to make is that if we stopped eating domesticated farmed animals, they would go extinct. In response to the notion of lab-grown meat, the New York Times wrote, "it will be a barren world if the herds and flocks disappear in favor of meat grown in a laboratory tank." Now, leaving aside the issue of meat grown in a petri dish, I wonder how selfish you have to be to bemoan the abolition of a system that exists only to harm others - just so humans can derive pleasure from seeing herds and flocks of animals (as if they're even seeing them now).

All of these are just excuses we create and lies we tell ourselves so that we can have our meat and eat it, too. Unfortunately, millions of people live by these lies, while billions of animals die by it - each and every day. It's up to each one of us to dispel these lies when we have the opportunity. Write letters to the editor, talk to co-workers, hold people accountable. The animals are counting on us to speak for them. If not you, then who? If not now, then when?
By Colleen Patrick Goudreau, from www.CompassionateCooks.com

Animal Place Still Needs Contributions
Many thanks to Tiffany R. For opening her beautiful home for a fundraiser for Animal Place in May, and to the generous people who already sent a check to support this wonderful educational farmed animal sanctuary. Animal Place is moving from a 60 acre facility to a 590 acre ranch which is more accessible to school busses and much better able to welcome and house rescued animals. To ensure that the funds they raise in the future can go toward educating the public about animals on factory farms and to the rescued animals, they need to make a significant down payment on this new ranch. If you have not yet made a contribution, please consider sending one now. Visit www.AnimalPlace.org or send a check to Animal Place, 3448 Laguna Creek Trail, Vacaville, CA 95688

May news from the
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Picnic Sunday, May 25 in Deer Park, 1:00 PM
The Marin Vegetarian Education Group will meet for a picnic potluck lunch in Deer Park in Fairfax on Sunday, May 25 at 1 PM. Come meet friends and make some new ones in a beautiful, shaded grove on the right side of the parking lot. Bring a vegan dish to share (enough for 8 servings), a serving utensil, your own plate, cup, and utensils. Deer Park is at the end of Porteous Road. Take the Bolinas Road in Fairfax past the stop sign at Cascade. Bear left and make the first left onto Porteous. If you see the Deer Park Villa restaurant, you just missed the left turn onto Porteous.

Water will be provided. Bring your favorite beverage if it's not water.
There is no cost for this picnic, so bring your friends, too!

Animal Place Taking a Huge Step Forward &
Needs Our Support
Animal Place, the education center and farmed animal sanctuary in Vacaville has a unique opportunity to educate vastly more people and help hundreds more animals than they can now. And we have a unique opportunity to help make it happen.

Currently on 60 acres, much of it steep hillside at the end of a dirt rode, Animal Place is in a mudslide zone and has restricted parking, construction prohibitions and no indoor learning center. Additionally, water is limited and they must contend with drying wells, rationing, and desalinization of the available water.

The organization is buying a new property near Grass Valley that provides 590 acres of usable land off a paved road that already had barns and a farm center that is perfect for expansion. Buses can enter safely, so school children can visit by the busload, a huge increase over the number of students who can visit by car. The new facility has irrigated pastures, decreasing fire risk, and ponds that will provide homes for geese and ducks. For the first time, Animal Place will be able to grown their own hay on their own property. The new location will include a barn for incoming and sick animals, and education pavilion for seminars and special events, and housing for resident animal caretakers and interns. Best of all, the land will allow Animal Place to respond responsibly when rescue operations or natural emergencies call for new homes for farmed animals.

The price tag for this new facility is a bargain, given the cost of land in California. Still, it costs more than two million dollars, and Animal Place now needs to raise an additional seven hundred thousand dollars to close the deal. A generous donor has agreed to match up to $250,000 in contributions so we can double the power of our donations if we act before June 1. There are two ways to do this.

You can send a check directly to Animal Place: 3448 Laguna Creek Trail, Vacaville, CA 95688. If you want to make a contribution by credit card, you can visit www.AnimalPlace.org and click on Donate Now at the top of the page, or call Animal Place at 707-449-4814.
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Additionally, for people who might be inclined to make a substantial contribution, there will be a small fundraising house party in a private home in Mill Valley on Friday, May 23 in the evening. If you would like an invitation to this event, an opportunity to learn more about the new facility and the financial details, or if you know someone who loves animals and may feel generous, please send an email with a mailing address and email address to Kim Sturla (KimSturla@aol.com) or call her at the number above, and an invitation will be sent. Animal Place welcomes any and all potential donors at this event.

Incidentally, the Marin Vegetarian Education Group is contributing $250 to Animal Place toward their exciting new home, so heartfelt thanks to all of you who have been generous to us in the past.

There is no better way to teach children and adults about caring for animals than to invite them to hold a chicken, stroke a cow, or give a belly rub to a pig. Seeing empty gestation crates and chicken cages has a tremendous impact when birds and pigs are walking with you as you learn about factory farming. Few people who have had the pleasure of cavorting with rescued animals will want to continue to eat them. Animal Place is hugely successful in introducing people to real animals in a setting that allows the reality of animals’ lives to make a lasting impression.

No contribution is unimportant. Small donations add up. Thank you for being as generous as you can and helping to make this dream for rescued farm animals come true.

Marketplace Dinner in Berkeley
Barry Shenker’s next market place dinner is Friday, May 16 at 5:00 PM at the historic Hillside Club in Berkeley. Barry has created an interesting Pan Asian menu which you can help prepare. Or you can just show up to socialize and eat! You can see the menu and learn more about the event by going to www.Hillsideclub.org and clicking on May 16 Market Place dinner. The cost is $25 per person, and seating is limited, so reserve soon.

Happy Anniversary to the Wheats!
May marks the 50th wedding anniversary of two of our most loyal supporters, Larry and Ann Wheat. Ann is one of the most persistent and effective spokespeople we know for getting dairy out of our diets. She is a crackerjack volunteer and her energy and commitment to healthy living are an inspiration. Larry is a terrific raconteur, brilliant business man, and supporter of so many good causes it can make anyone feel lethargic. The couple are as compassionate and wise as people can be, and we extend our hearty congratulations to them on celebrating 50 years of marriage.

Remember to check Bay Area Veg for more events!
Remember to visit www.BayAreaVeg.org for more outings and events every month.

Corporate Owners of Organic Farms
I was surprised to learn that so many organic food companies are now owned by corporate giants. Victoria Boutenko wrote the following Ode to Organic Farmers. Her newsletters are always interesting and informative, with recipes and tips for healthy and delicious raw food meals. To sign up for her email newsletter about raw food and her family's experiences as raw fooders, visit www.rawfamily.com.

Ode to Organic Farmers

We like shopping at stores that carry organic foods. The organic industry is a fast- growing industry in the United States. We're not the only ones who notice that - large corporations do too. Recently I ran across a unique web site created by assistant professor of Michigan State University,Philip H. Howard, Ph.D. From this web site I learned that my favorite frozen fruit company, Cascadian Farms, is in fact owned by General Mills. I contacted Dr. Howard and he graciously gave me permission to publish his research link. See for yourself; look for your favorite companies at www.msu.edu/~howardp/organicindustry.html

Odwalla- owned by Coca Cola
Naked Juice-owned by Pepsi
Spectrum Organics, Garden of Eden, Celestial Seasonings and others- owned by Heinz
Boca Foods and Back to Nature- owned by Kraft
Dagoba Chocolates- owned by Hershey
Morningstar Farms- owned by Kellogg
Horizon and White Wave - owned by Dean
Nature’s Farm- owned by Tyson
Annie’s Naturals- owned by Solera Capital
Maranatha- owned by American Capital Strat. Ltd.
Power Bars- owned by Nestle
Seeds of Change- owned by M&M Mars

Prevention of Cruelty To Farm Animals
The ballot measure that eases the lives of farmed animals has gathered enough signatures to be on the ballot in the November election. Now Californians will have a chance to vote on whether to provide cages and gestation crates large enough for chickens, veal calves, and pregnant pigs to turn around in. The opposition to this ballot has been hiring high priced political consultants to tear down support for this important ballot initiative.

On Monday, May 5 from 7 to 9 PM at the Marin Humane Society, there will be a meeting to encourage and train volunteers in a Get Out The Vote campaign before the election in support of this ballot initiative. The Humane Society is at 171 Bel Marin Keys in Novato, just East of 101.

If you cannot attend, consider a contribution to the campaign. Humane thinking will be outspent by huge farmers who do not want to provide better conditions for animals, so every dollar helps. Contact https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=19836 to make a contribution. And to learn more about how you can get involved, write to director@humanecalifornia.org

Organic Athlete
If anyone you know thinks that vegans cannot possibly be competitive athletes, introduce him to an organization called Organic Athlete. This group of bicyclists, runners, swimmers, body builders and other athletes is living, thriving proof that a plant based diet is the best fuel for our bodies. Visit www.OrganicAthlete.org to learn more about these strong and healthy vegans. Organic Athlete is hiring an intern in Sebasopol for this summer. For more information go to http://test.organicathlete.org/blog/715

Hope to see you in Deer Park on May 25. Mark your calendar today!

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

April News from

The Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Marin Cooking Club – First Meeting This Sunday
Do you like to cook with other people? Do you want to get together and figure out how we can make this happen in Marin?

Julie Motz is looking for is a group of 10 or 12 home cooks and food celebrants who'd like to prepare great meals together on a regular basis, perhaps once a month. If enough vegetarians or vegans want to join, there will be lots of vegetarian and vegan meals planned. Every meal will have at least one vegetarian entree and dessert.

To make communication easier she has started a yahoo group called Marin Cooking Club. Please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/marincooking and join. This way she will be able to post each event to everyone and you can send in posts to let me know if you're coming and what you'll be cooking.

To meet with Julie and to help start this tradition, come to the Farmers Market this Sunday, April 6. She will be standing at the southwest corner of the Farmers Market (nearest the freeway and the Civic Center building) at noon on Sunday, holding aloft (what else?) a wooden spoon. If this isn't enough to allow you to find her, call her that morning on her cell phone at 415 342-1833.

If you can't come on Sunday don't worry. She will send out an email to the whole group afterwards to let you know what we've discussed and decided. You can reach Julie by email: evenings@greengoing.com or by phone: 415 256-2528

Iceberg Lettuce and More from Jeff Novick
Jeff Novick, MS, RD, continues to publish fascinating articles about plant based nutrition. I want to reprint every one in this newsletter, but space does not allow that. So I encourage you to sign up for his newsletter at http://www.jeffnovick.com/content/category/23/97/349/ The current newsletter has a great piece about iceberg lettuce that was full of surprising information that was new to me. (Hint: Iceberg lettuce is not as bad as we think!) You can read all the back issues at this site as well, and I urge you to look at them.

Jeff serves as the Director of Health Education for the National Health Association and as the nutritionist and dietitian for the McDougall Program in Santa Rosa, California. For almost a decade, Jeff served as the Director of Nutrition at the world renowned Pritikin Center in Aventura, Florida. His writing is clear and his sense of humor is evident even in the most data-filled articles.

Costa Rica in July with Dr. McDougall
Join other healthy eaters this July for an adventure in Costa Rica with Dr. John McDougall. From July 16 through July 23, you will explore the treasures of Costa Rica while enjoying delicious, McDougall approved food at every meal. Space is limited, and earlier trips have filled up quickly. For more information or to register, contact Carol at carol@drmcdougall.com or call (800) 941-7111 or (616) 874-8155. You can also read more about the trip at http://www.drmcdougall.com/adv_costa_2008.html

Gabriel Cousens in Sebastopol
Rawfood Central in Sebastopol will be hosting an event with the renowned holistic practitioner and author Gabriel Cousens, on Friday, April 25th from 3 to 6 PM.
For information and tickets go to: http://rawfoodcentralgabrielcousens.eventbrite.com/
For more information about Rawfood Sebastopol, Email Kathryn@rawfoodSebastopol.com, call (707) 827-3361, or visit www.rawfoodSebastopol.com
The Marin raw food group is no longer meeting, so this would be a good event for meeting other raw food enthusiasts.

Farm Day A Success
Thanks to Ann Wheat, Elizabeth Heitner and Dottie Bray who helped staff the table at Marin County’s Farm Day last month. More than 2,000 school children stopped by our busy booth to try to guess what vegetables were in the paper bag, by touching them only. Many eight year olds in Marin had never seen cauliflower, and most had never seen an artichoke.

.Also, thanks to Ina Tabibian who designed our ban bag toss game – in which three baskets, labeled “fiber,” “protein,” and “calcium” would catch broccoli, mushrooms, and potatoes. The “bean bags” came from a wonderful company called Produce for Better Health Foundation, which offers stickers, “tattoos,” bean bags, squeeze balls and more, all shaped like and touting the benefits of fruits and vegetables. They can be reached at www.pbhfoundation.org Fruits and veggies cannot compete with the multibillion dollar dairy and beef industries, but this small group is doing its best.

Lastly, we send thanks to Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine for their literature on healthy eating, and the Vegetarian Resource Group (www.vrg.org) for supplying us with placemats, workbooks, and encouragement, as we reached thousands of visitors with the message that eating from the plant kingdom is a great idea.

Marketplace Dinner in Berkeley
Join Barry Schenker on April 25 at 6:00 PM in a beautiful, historic social club in Berkeley. You can help prepare the dinner or just enjoy the company of others who like to meet and dine on delicious vegan food. . The ''fabulous'' menu is now posted on www.hillsideclub.org (look for the 4/25 date), and reservations are required before April 22. The cost is $20 per person. RSVP to Barry at 510-649-0449

March News from
The Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Change is the Only Thing We Can Count On
For the rest of this year, The Marin Vegetarian Education Group will be meeting a few times a year rather than once every month. There are a number of reasons for this change, and most of them are very encouraging.

First, there are so many vegetarian friendly restaurants in Marin county and the Bay Area that the days when our potlucks were the only way to leave home and eat well are long gone. Also, there are so many people willing to try a vegetarian meal when they are dining with us, that finding good company for a good dinner out is no longer the challenge that it used to be.

Additionally, Bay Area Vegetarians (www.BayAreaVeg.org) is such a well organized and wide ranging group that we can find ways to gather for food or activism, information or companionship simply by reading their events calendar and showing up. In affiliation with Bay Area Veg, Alicia Robb usually coordinates a Marin dinner out every month. Others around the Bay Area offer dinners out, dinners in people's homes, letter writing parties, leafleting opportunities, and educational meetings.

And when the Marin raw food group resumes its monthly potluck picnics in April, there will be a place to share good food with local folks in San Anselmo. (Contact Tara at Tarrawsun@g.mail.com for more information about this mostly raw food group.)

Lastly, the number of people attending our monthly gatherings has been decreasing month by month. Unless we have a terrific speaker, the turnout has been fewer than 20 people. Given the work involved to get these meetings going, and given that in most instances we are "preaching to the choir," we have decided to have fewer meetings.

So when we have the opportunity to present an interesting speaker, or if a season is passing and we have not met in a long time, we will gather to celebrate and learn and dine together. Until then, this monthly newsletter will continue, and I encourage you to sign up also for other excellent monthly newsletters that will keep you informed and involved. These include (but are not limited to Colleen Patrick Goudreau’s Compassionate Cooks (www.CompassionateCooks.com); Dr. John McDougall’s (www.DrMcDougall.com); Bay Area Vegetarians (www.BayAreaVeg.com); Meredith McCarty’s (www.HealingCuisine.com); and the Vegetarian Resource Group (www.vrg.org)

We offer ongoing thanks to Dr. Rick Dina and Dr. Karin Dina for allowing us to meet in the conference room of their offices for so long. Visit www.VitalityWellnessCenter.com to learn more about these terrific advocates for optimum health.

Congratulations to VegNews
Hats off to VegNews magazine! They were declared the winner of the Best Niche Magazine Design Award at the Texas conference of niche magazines. Even better than its eye-catching design is the fact that VegNews is packed with celebrity buzz, recipes, travel articles, and news all focusing on life as a vegan. If you know anyone who needs some inspiration or validation, give them a subscription of VegNews. (See below for how to support Marin VEG and get a free one year subscription.)

Organic Living Made Easy
Congratulations to Meredith McCarty who just signed a contract to write The Complete Idiot's Guide to Organic Living. Meredith is the founder and director of Healing Cuisine, and if you are not yet on her mailing list, you are missing a wonderful resource for recipes, coaching, cooking classes and more. Visit www.HealingCuisine.com, and sign up for the monthly e-card.

New Vegetarian Restaurant in Petaluma
A new mostly vegan restaurant called Wild Greens has opened in Petaluma’s North Plaza Shopping Center. The only person I know who ate there said that the prices were reasonable for dinner and seemed high for lunch, and that the food was good, but not remarkable. published reviews on line (Google Wild Greens and Petaluma) are mixed. I would love to hear from you and know what you think of it if you have a chance to eat there. Wild Greens, 55 N McDowell Blvd, Petaluma, CA 94954; (707) 778-3867.

Why Animals Matter
A book that was published last year makes a compelling argument for why it is important to speak out on behalf of animals. Why Animals Matter by Erin E. Williams and Margo DeMello provides an in depth look at what goes on behind the public face of the pet industry, the meat industry, the entertainment industry, animal experimentation, the fur industry and more. Thankfully, each chapter concludes with a section called What You Can Do, and many of the actions are simple and effective. Example: To reduce the use of animals in research, education and product testing, we can consider donating the body of a deceased companion animal to an Educational Memorial Program (www.educationalmemorial.org). And to stop killing animals for sport and profit we can ask any “wildlife” or “conservation” group we belong to if they support hunting. Many do, and we can withdraw our financial support as we increase the volume on our position through letters to their magazines and leaders. There are multiple suggestions for each chapter.

Why Animals Matter is an invaluable primer on the institutionalized cruelty that our society tolerates and supports. And it is a call to actions that will make a tremendous difference in the lives of countless animals every day.

Skinny Bitch
Skinny Bitch and Skinny Bitch in the Kitch are the first vegan books to attain NY Times bestseller status, and they are very funny. Skinny Bitch has been the #1 best-selling book on the paperback bestseller list for months. Skinny Bitch in the Kitch is the follow up with recipes. Skinny Bitch has an attitude, not doubt about it. Not only the title, but the subtitle is “in your face” as well: “A no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!” If you can get past the language, the book is hilarious. “If we had a penny for every time some meathead asked us, ‘So where do you get your protein?’ we’d be richer than Oprah.”

While advocating for a plant based diet, the authors Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin tell the truth about how animals get from the feedlot and factory farm to the table. They use the gross out method to entice readers to go vegan along with the “do it for your health” message. While the title may be a turn off, the chapter called Poop and the one called The Dairy Disaster are worth the price of the book!

Cooking Class April 3
Mark your calendar now for Patti Breitman's next Fast and Easy Vegetarian Cooking Class at 7 PM on Thursday, April 3 in Fairfax. Registration is required through the San Anselmo Recreation Dept. Call 258-4640 or visit www.townofsananselmo.org/recreation. The class is free to anyone who has cancer, but you must register regardless. For others the cost is $30 for a two hour talk, demonstration, and meal at the end of the class. Many people who have taken the class already plan to return again, so sign up early to ensure a spot. The address will be provided when you register.

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or
call 415-459-1666.

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"unsubscribe" in the subject line.

February News from
The Marin Vegetarian Education Group

There will not be a meeting in February. Still, there is lots to do: A free screening in San Francisco this Friday night, Feb. 1, of the HBO documentary I AM AN ANIMAL about Ingrid Newkirk and Peta; details below. And remember to Visit Bay Area Veg. For leafleting opportunities, restaurant outings, social gatherings and other vegetarian activities, remember to visit www.BayAreaVeg.org every month. You can sign up for a free monthly newsletter and view the Ultimate Guide, a restaurant directory for veg-friendly restaurants throughout the Bay Area.

Speak Up for Animals February 1 and 2 at Fort Mason
This coming weekend PETA will be hosting Speak Up for Animals in San Francisco, and it's not too late to register. Whether you're new to animal rights or a seasoned activist, you can learn how to help animals at these two Peta sponsored events.

On Friday, February 1, Peta will be screening I Am an Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA, an award winning animal rights documentary. On Saturday, February 2, PETA will be hosting a discussion on effective advocacy, answering tough questions, and encouraging people to get involved to help animals.

Screening of I Am an Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA
Get a glimpse inside the daily life of PETA President Ingrid Newkirk-from the moment she wakes up, well before dawn, until the end of a long day spent fighting for the rights of animals. I Am an Animal will give you an inside look at one woman's lifelong quest to make the world a kinder place for all animals, and it will inspire you to make a difference in your community.

When: Friday, February 1, 7-9 p.m.
Where: The Fort Mason Center, meeting room C370
Tickets: Admission is FREE, although donations are always welcome

Speak Up for Animals!
Peta is the host for a lively discussion on animal rights and vegetarianism. Learn how to be a more effective advocate for animals, and what each of us can do to make the world a kinder place. You'll also meet like-minded people in the Bay Area and find out how to get involved with the efforts of local animal protection organizations.

When: Saturday, February 2, 12 noon-3 p.m.
Where: The Fort Mason Center, meeting room D100
Registration: $10 in advance, $15 at the door

To register go to http://www.peta.org/speakupforanimals.asp. If you have any questions, please write to Peta at SpeakUp@peta.org

Roxanne’s Raw Food is Back
Roxanne's the late, great raw food restaurant in Larkspur may be gone, but raw food from Roxanne is now available in Woodlands Market, Whole Foods, The Good Earth, Andronico's and Paradise Markets in Marin. Roxanne Klein will be making appearances and offering free tastes of new products in the following Marin County stores:

- Feb. 1: Andronico's at 100 Center Blvd. in San Anselmo from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
- Feb. 5: Whole Foods at 340 Third St. in San Rafael from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
- Feb. 7: Paradise Foods at 5627 Paradise Drive, Corte Madera from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.
For more information and upcoming events, go to www.roxannes.com. And to read the Marin IJ story about this launch of the new products, go to http://www.marinij.com/ci_8049307?source=most_emailed

Bay Area Vegetarians has their monthly veg outing--it will be at Cafe Gratitude on Feb. 28th at 6:30 in San Rafael. See www.bayareaveg.org for more info and to RSVP..

Vegans May Not (or May) Be Healthier than Vegetarians
In a fascinating and astute analysis of current studies of vegetarian and vegan lifestyles, Jeff Novick, R.D. (who is lecturing this month at Dr. McDougall’s Advance Study Weekend; See below) explains why vegan diets may not lead to longer lives than vegetarian diets. What is most important in any diet – vegetarian, vegan, or even omnivorous – is that there be an abundance of plant based foods, as close as possible to the way nature grew them, and a minimum of processed foods, fatty foods, and junk foods.

I am reprinting only the beginning of his Q & A below. What is not in Mr. Novick’s newsletter is what he shared with me personally when I asked if I could reprint his Q & A in this newsletter:
If you were a vegan for animal welfare reasons, would 100% be better? of course. (though nearly impossible to do so don't fret as almost everything in this world (including technology) uses animal by products)

If you were a vegan for moral or religious reasons, would 100% be better? of course (depending on your morals!)

If you were a vegan for health reasons, would 100% be better? We don't know. And, we do know that if you are a vegan for health reasons you still have to eat healthy because just being a vegan doesn't mean you are healthier. You have to be on a well planned vegan diet.

This is in keeping with my own belief that compassion for animals is the most important reason to become a vegan. There will always be scientists trying to grow meat with less fat, clone animals for economic gain, create eggs without cholesterol. Through all this "science" animals will be suffering. We can lessen the suffering. That's enough for me.

Here is an excerpt from Jeff Novick's newsletter:

QUESTION: "I am trying to adopt a healthy diet to improve my health and reduce the risk of disease and/or to control it. Is it necessary to be 100% vegetarian to accomplish this? Could similar or the same results be achieved with limited amounts of animal protein (i.e., organic meat form wild salmon, and/or range free chicken breast, and/or egg whites)?”

You ask a great question and if I understand it correctly, you are asking, "Is there any benefit to a 100% plant diet vs. a (let's say) 95-99% plant based diet, assuming both are equally planned to be as healthy as possible?"

Unfortunately, no one knows for sure. There is an abundance of evidence showing that reducing the amount of animal food and increasing the amount of plant food in one's diet brings tremendous health benefits. This is especially true if the plant food is based on unrefined/unprocessed plant foods that are in their more natural state without all the added sodium, refined sugars, saturated fat, hydrogenated fat and/or trans fat often found in processed plant foods. However, I do not know of any evidence supporting the assertion that making it a 100% plant based (or vegan) diet is required in order to achieve optimal health benefits. In addition, there are other non-dietary issues to consider, such as activity/exercise levels and nicotine and alcohol use.

There are some studies, like The China Study, by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, which supports the concept that the less animal food and the more plant foods in one’s diet the better. But interestingly, while some of these studies are often used to defend a vegan diet, none of the studies show that complete abstinence from animal food is best. Why? This is because in many of these studies, there were no groups in the studies that completely abstained from animal foods. Proving less is better doesn't automatically mean that none is optimal, unless, of course, there are studies to prove this assertion, also.

QUESTION: “Are there any studies done on the long-term health and mortality of vegetarians and vegans?”

Yes, there are studies done on vegetarians and vegans on this issue, and the best data comes out of the work done in The Seventh-Day Adventist Church Health Study. Seventh-Day Adventists are a unique population to study in this regard, because they are less likely to smoke and may exercise more than the typical person in the US and many follow a vegetarian diet.

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church Health Study (1), which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and was featured on the cover story of the November 2005 issue of National Geographic magazine, is the only major ongoing study in the U.S. on the general health and mortality of vegetarians that I know of. An overview of all the research on the Seventh-day Adventists can be seen at the website of Loma Linda University.
http://www.llu.edu/llu/health/index.html

This is Patti again: There is much more. I encourage you to read Jeff Novick’s entire newsletter with his whole answer about vegan and vegetarian diets at
http://www.jeffnovick.com/component/option,com_letterman/task,view/Itemid,342/id,16/

Jeff Novick to be a Guest Lecturer at McDougall Advanced Study Weekend
February 22-24, 2008 in Santa Rosa
Jeff Novick, R.D., formerly with the Pritikin Center, is going to be one of the guest speakers at the Dr. McDougall Advance Study Weekend this month. Jeff is an excellent speaker, lively, informative, compassionate and wise.

McDougall Advanced Study Weekends are dedicated to broadening the understanding of plant-food based nutrition and conservative medical care. Even though they are called “advanced study,” these educational events are designed for the benefit and enjoyment of those just beginning on the road to better health, as well as medical and nutrition professionals.

Cost for this weekend is $395 pp (includes all meals and education). Room is extra. Sign-up at www.DrMcDougall.com or by writing to Carol at carol@drmcdougall.com; or calling (800) 941-7111 or (616) 874-8155 and talking directly with Carol.

Food and Healing Workshop: Saturday, February 9
How to Have an Appetite You Can Trust
And a Body You Can Love
Do you despair of ever being the weight and size you'd like to be?
Do you find yourself with an irresistible desire to eat - and even overeat - foods you know are not good for you?
Have you tried exercise, meditation, diets, supplements and pills - and still can't keep your appetite and your body under control?

In this workshop you will discover the relationship between unhealthy eating and unconscious stress and learn how to relieve stress and anxiety without resorting to food.

WHERE: College of Marin, Kentfield, California
WHEN: Saturday, February 9, 10-5
COST: $93 which includes a $3 materials fee
FOR MORE INFORMATION: email juliemotz@fourenergies.com or call 415 256-2528
TO REGISTER: go to www.marincommunityed.org or call 415 485-9305

JULIE MOTZ, MPH, is an internationally known healer and author who first discovered the significance of prenatal and neonatal experiences while doing healing work in the operating room. For the past eight years she has given workshops and run groups on healthy eating and helped many individuals to change both their diets and their lives. Her book, Hands of Life, has been translated into four languages. She has taught at Columbia, Dartmouth and Stanford medical schools and worked in major medical centers all over the United States. She has been featured in the New York Times Magazine, Prevention, Psychology Today and the Utne Reader where she was named "One of the People who will Change the World in the 21st Century." She has also appeared on "Dateline" "Extra!" CNN, the ABC Nightly News and on national Canadian and French television. Through her non-profit organization, Health's Angels, she works to bring healing to underserved children and their families.

To read an excerpt from her book Hands of Life go to www.spiritsite.com/writing/julmot/

A New Book for Activists
An indispensable guide for anyone who wants to help animals has just been published. Mark Hawthorne’s new book Striking at the Roots, A Practical Guide to Animal Activism covers every tool in the toolbox for anyone who wants to be effective in stopping animal cruelty. From letter writing to leafleting, from corporate campaigning to using the media, this book demonstrates that everybody can find a way to speak out in defense of beings who cannot speak for themselves. You can be shy, you can be scared, and you can still be effective. Inspiring examples from people who are changing attitudes, laws, and conditions under which animals are suffering are included in every chapter.

Bruce Friedrich from Peta wrote the foreword, and leaders from virtually every animal protection organization in the country are featured in the book. Even the appendices are interesting (Appendix A: Recent Milestones for Animals is particularly heartening.)

The book is in paperback from Obooks in paperback for $19.95, but the information and inspiration it provides are priceless. It is available at bookstores or through any online bookstore. Or go to www.StrikingAtTheRoots.com to read more about it and to link to a bookstore.

Two brief excerpts from the introduction:
“People are revolted by animal exploitation – once they learn about it. So if we can educate people enough so that they can see that their daily choices are supporting practices that they actually oppose, then we an change them, one by one. And as more people change, society will change.”

“Being and advocate for animals is not always a popular activity, but that should not dissuade you from doing what is right. Every social movement that had any impact – whether it’s the abolition of slavery, the suffrage movement, civil rights, the child-protection movement or reforms for farm workers – was initially backed by a person or group thought to represent the minority opinion, an those opposed to them tried to provoke the fear that overturning the status quo would lead to chaos: the end of slavery would result in economic ruin, granting women the right to vote or banning child labor would weaken national strength, passing laws against child abuse would dissolve families and so on. Animal rights activists are now hearing the same sort of nonsense from those who profit by abusing animals. According to them, the only way to feed the world, cure diseases or advance scientific knowledge is by using animals. To them, animals are not sentient individuals with their own interests, but commodities to be exploited for human profit, amusement, convenience or taste.”

I am tempted to reprint the whole book here, but that would be illegal! Please read this important book and allow yourself to be inspired on behalf of the billions of animals who need us to be their voice.

Fish in Orange Juice
Tropicana now sells one variety of orange juice called "healthy heart with omega 3." It actually has tilapia, sardines and anchovy in it. Orange juice with fish in it! Disgusting! I suspect that many people will see the "heart healthy with omega-3" and buy it unknowingly. The ingredients are listed in small print, and there is even a tiny picture of a fish, but who reads ingredients when buying OJ? Who expects fish in oj? Of course eating oranges is better than drinking commercial orange juice, both for our bodies and the planet. But many of us do drink orange juice, so buyer beware.

Do Not Shop at PetSmart; Tell Them What You Think
New undercover video footage shows that one of PetSmart’s main animal suppliers is among the worst abusers of animals in an industry that is consistently abusive. To send an email to PetSmart and to learn more about the atrocious treatment of animals in the pet store industry, go to
http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/petsmart_investigation?rk=V7XYNp5qsXc0W From there you can link to the video footage, or not.

A Sacred Duty now on YouTube
A Sacred Duty is 59 minute documentary from Jewish Vegetarians of North America that shows us how to apply Jewish values to help heal the world. The film addresses the environmental crisis and how we can respond to it today with wisdom from the Torah and other ancient texts of Judaism. With actor Theodore Bikel reading from these sacred texts, the film also features leading environmentalists, medical authorities, educators, social activists and animal rights activists from the U.S. and Israel. To view the film visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9RxmTGHZgE or go to www.Jewishveg.com to learn more.

Raw Food Potlucks to Resume in April
The monthly raw food pot lucks in San Anselmo are scheduled to resume in April. For more information about them and about SFLife in San Francisco, write to Tarrawsun@g.mail.com

January News
The Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Your Input Needed
Next Meeting: Saturday, January 26 or Sunday, January 27?

We are thinking of changing our monthly gathering from Sunday to Saturday night this month, and would love to hear from you. Would you attend either night? Is one night better than the other? We will announce the date of the meeting the week of January 14 after tallying the responses and confirming the room availability. Send an email to VegetariansInMarin@Earthlink.net or leave a message with your preference at 459-1666. You will not receive a return call, and your email will receive an “out of office” response message, but your vote will be counted.

The meeting will be in San Rafael, a potluck dinner and a talk about new books of interest to vegetarians. All details will be provided before January 18. So vote today!

Farmed Animals Need Your Attention Right Now
As we begin 2008, farmed animals in California are counting on us to make their lives less miserable. We have only until February 22 to collect and turn in more than half a million signatures for the ballot measure that will require veal calves, egg laying hens and pregnant pigs be allowed enough space in their enclosures to fully extend their limbs or wings, lie down, stand up, and turn around. It is astounding that these minimum protections do not exist in California, and this ballot measure is the only way to change that. (Years of bills that would not pass the legislature have failed – because of intense industry lobbying.)

If you cannot gather signatures, please consider making a donation to help offset the cost of the campaign. Judy Countryman, a volunteer in San Francisco, has an injury that keeps her from gathering signatures. Knowing she could not contribute through signature gathering, she recently donated $1000 to the campaign to help pay for professional signature gathering. Even with paid signature gathering, Marin County needs more volunteers and financial support, as both are crucial to the effort. How much will you donate or collect for the animals? Every dollar helps, so even if you can send only $5 or $10, do it!

To donate funds go to: www.humanecalifornia.org/donate/index.php .

To collect signatures, go to www.preventcruelty.org to contact your local coordinator and begin collecting. If you do not have email, call 415-772-0952, the Bay Area office of Humane California. There is no better time than right now, and there is no more important work you can do to help alleviate animal suffering today.

Restaurant Outing: Thursday, January 31
Alicia Robb will be coordinating a dinner outing to Cafe Gratitude in San Rafael on Thursday, January 31 at 6:45 PM. Because a large turn out is expected, to ensure prompt service we will submit our orders in advance. You can pick up a menu at the restaurant (2200 Fourth Street, next to Phyllis’ Burgers on “the Miracle Mile") or choose your order from the “Take Out On Line” section of their website: www.CafeGratitude.com Then email Alicia Robb with your order before January 31. Send your order to Alicia@FSDInternational.org. If you do not have email, call in your order to: 457-7488, and leave it on the machine. Your order will be your RSVP, so be sure to remember to leave your phone number and name, too.

Realtor Will Share Commission
Meredith McCarty, founder of Healing Cuisine, not only teaches people how to shop, cook, and eat a health promoting diet. She contributes to wonderful organizations and sells houses, too! And she will contribute 25% of her commission to Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine – or the vegetarian group of your choice – when you refer someone to her who buys or sells a house with her as the real estate agent. To refer clients, contact Meredith through Coldwell Banker in Mill Valley at 415-381-7681 or meredith.mccarty@cbnorcal.com. And to learn more about Healing Cuisine, visit www.HealingCuisine.com.

Vegetarian Resource Group
Offers College Scholarships
The Vegetarian Resource Group will again award $10,000 in college scholarships this year. VRG will give two $5,000 college scholarships to graduating high school students who have promoted vegetarianism in their schools and/or communities. The students must be graduating high school in spring 2008. The deadline to apply is February 20,
2008. For more information or to read about past winners, go to
www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or
call 415-459-1666.

We appreciate contributions of any size. We will thank you for a
contribution of $20 or more with a 1-year subscription (or a 1-year
continuation of a current subscription) to VegNews magazine. Send
contributions to Marin Vegetarian Education Group, 12 Rally Ct., Fairfax, CA
93930.
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December news from the
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

December meeting
Vegan Holiday Potluck Luncheon
Noon to 2:30
Sunday, December 23
At a Private Home in Fairfax
RSVP required
Address given when you RSVP to VegetariansInMarin@Earthlink.net
or call 415 459 1666 and leave a message

Join us for a vegan holiday potluck lunch on Sunday, December 23 at a private home in Fairfax. Show off your best holiday recipe or bring a salad to share. Because so many people ask us what we eat at a holiday dinner when we don’t eat animals, we are encouraging you to bring your camera to this event so we can photograph the beautiful food before we partake. Then we can show the pictures to anyone who cannot imagine what we eat at the holidays.

December Already!?
Thirty days hath November doesn’t really hit home until it’s suddenly a new month, and the holiday season is upon us so quickly. Some of the events listed below are very early in December, so please read this newsletter as soon as you get it. And accept my apologies for not getting it out sooner.

Living Foods Picnic – New Time: 1:00
Saturday, December 1
Still on the first Saturday of the month, but now at 1:00 PM, raw food enthusiasts and anyone curious to learn more will meet to share food and fellowship on Saturday, December 1 at the bottom of the hill, below the gardens behind Robson Harrington House at 237 Crescent Road in San Anselmo. Most of the attendees do not eat all raw food all the time, but are trying to incorporate more raw food into their diets. Come learn some tips, recipes, and encouragement from others who are interested in the best the planet has to offer. If you don't know what to bring, a salad or fresh fruit is always appreciated. For more information, call Tara: 388-8933

A Message from Will Tuttle,
Author of The World Peace Diet
Many of you who have read my book, The World Peace Diet, have said you’d like to help spread the message and we are putting together a way for you to do so. We have a dream, and the dream is already beginning to materialize. The dream is of a growing network of people who are putting on classes on The World Peace Diet through their local churches, community organizations, colleges, veg societies, continuing education institutions, and peace, environmental, and social justice groups. One six-week class in Cincinnati has been successfully completed, and we see many more unfolding throughout North America and the world. Ideally, the classes allow for discussion and sharing of the main ideas in The World Peace Diet, together with teaching basic ways of preparing healthy and nutritious plant-based meals. Emphasizing both the theory and practice of the World Peace Diet, we see that we can build a movement that can transform our culture from the grass-roots level, furthering the benevolent revolution our culture yearns for.

If you would like to find out more about this opportunity, please contact us. (WillTuttle@earthlink.net) We are putting together a course outline and can provide books at a discount and help with ideas to encourage people to sign up for the class. We suggest that you be paid for facilitating the class, through course fees or donations. Please contact us if you have ideas or questions about these opportunities, and if you’d like to facilitate a class in your area. The time for a grass-roots educational movement to spread the message of the World Peace Diet is upon us. It addresses the roots of all our dilemmas: global warming, world hunger, pollution, disease, water shortages, deforestation, species extinction, war, domination of women, terrorism, drug addiction, and the pervasive mentality of reductionism and exploitation that drives our problems. By presenting both the underlying understanding of why plant-based eating is essential with some practical tips, the classes can contribute to the transformation of our world. Thankfulness is not just words, but actions. Can we build a movement that future generations will be thankful for? I believe we can.

New Book from Ingrid Newkirk - and Book Signing in Berkeley
Ingrid Newkirk, the founder and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has a new book for anyone who shares his life with a dog. Let’s Have a Dog Party! is a fun and practical guide to delighting your canine friends at any one of 20 tail-wagging celebrations. You can invite other dogs or celebrate alone with yours, but your dog is guaranteed to love you even more for it (as if that is possible). The book’s foreword is by Pamela Anderson and the introduction by Bill Maher. Included in the $12.95 paperback are silly dog riddles (Why do dogs wag their tales? Because no one else will do it for them.), recipes for dogs and humans, and great stories about dogs.

You and your dogs are invited to a book signing with Ingrid at Cody’s Books at 1730 4th St. in Berkeley on December 4 at 7:00 p.m.

Holiday Giving
I have found it helpful to stay out of the shopping and spending fray, and honor friends and family with contributions to social-benefit organizations. There is so much need among so many good organizations, and so much waste in the consumer culture that this seems like a win/win strategy. Here are some of the countless organizations that can use a contribution and will happily send a note to the honoree:
Animal Place, United Poultry Concerns, The Cancer Project (a division of Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine), The Marin Humane Society, The Food Bank, Food First, The Help Desk of San Rafael’s St. Vincent DePaul Society, Adopt a Family of Marin, Bay Area Vegetarians . . . The list, unfortunately, goes on and on. Pick a group whose work you admire and send them a gift in any amount. Tell them it is in honor of someone you care for and how to contact that person. (You can find these organizations and others by Googling them).

Holiday Music
Having nothing whatsoever to do with vegetarianism (except that this is also something joyful), Marin VEG's own Elizabeth Heitner and Patti Breitman sing with the Mayflower Community Chorus. The group will be performing December 13 - 16 in San Anselmo and December 15 in San Rafael. Please visit www.MayflowerChorus.org to find out where and to buy tickets. It would be wonderful to see some veg friendly folks in the audience!

An Amazing Animal
It has become an annual tradition to reprint this wonderful essay by C. David Coats, author of Old McDonald’s Factory Farm.

Peace on Earth
Isn’t man an amazing Animal? He kills wildlife—birds, kangaroos, deer, all kinds of cats, coyotes, beavers, groundhogs, mice, foxes, and dingoes—by the million in order to protect his domestic animals and their feed.
Then he kills domestic animals by the billion and eats them. This in turn kills man by the million, because eating all those animals leads to degenerative—and fatal—health conditions like heart disease, kidney disease, and cancer.
So then man tortures and kills millions more animals to look for cures for these diseases.
Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic animals.
Meanwhile, some people are dying of sad laughter at the absurdity of man, who kills so easily and so violently, and once a year sends out cards praying for “Peace on Earth.”
Old MacDonald’s Factory Farm by C. David Coats

Wishing you happy holidays! Hope to see you on the 23rd at noon!

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or
call 415-459-1666.

November news from the
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Marin VEG will not be meeting in November, but there are many opportunities to join with others to share good food and express gratitude for all we cherish.

Thanksgiving Celebrations
The San Francisco Vegetarian Society will once again be offering Thanksgiving Dinner at Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco (580 Geary Street at the corner of Jones in the Hotel California). This early bird dinner begins at 11:30 AM, and is in a private dining room at the restaurant. Paid reservations in advance are required. Make checks out to SFVS and mail to SFVS, c/o Joseph Cadiz, 73 Rondel Place, San Francisco CA 94103 by November 17. Due to limited space in the Banquet Room, those who get their money in first will have priority seating. The special SFVS price will be $45.00 per person; $25 for children under 12. Price includes vegan hors d’oeuvres, salad, entrée, dessert, vegan nog, and coffee or tea, tax & tip. Wine and extra beverages are extra. Call the SFVS veggie hot line for more information 415-273-5481

Be sure to check www. BayAreaVeg.org to see how many events they have scheduled throughout the month. These include at least two Thanksgiving Day food parties, one in San Francisco and one in Pacifica. You can register to host one of your own, or you can sign up for one already posted.

Wherever and however you celebrate, we wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving. May every day be cause for giving thanks.

Thanks to Kary Selman
Speaking of giving thanks, we are grateful to Kary Selman who volunteers every month to print out and mail this newsletter to the people who do not use e-mail. Thank you, Kary for your dedication and commitment to getting this news to everyone who wants it. Your efforts are very much appreciated!
.
Raw Foods Pot Luck Saturday, November 3
Its a new month, time to try new foods and meet new people! On Saturday, November 3, a group of raw food enthusiasts will be meeting for a pot luck picnic at 3:00 at the bottom of the hill, below the gardens behind Robson Harrington House in San Anselmo. Most of the attendees do not eat all raw food all the time, but are trying to incorporate more raw food into their diets. Come learn some tips, recipes, and encouragement from others who are interested in the best the planet has to offer. If you don't know what to bring, a salad or fresh fruit is always appreciated. For more information, call Tara: 388-8933

Robson Harrington House is at 237 Crescent Road in San Anselmo. For a history and historic photos of this beautiful building, visit http://www.sananselmohistory.org/robson1.html

Animals as Gifts
This holiday season, give a $25 Foster Parent Gift Package from Animal Place. Your contribution will help feed and shelter a pig all year long. You or the person you choose to honor will receive a certificate, wallet card, 2008 animal wall calendar, Animal Place newsletter, and a gift note. Choose from the many animals you can "adopt", including cows, chickens, rabbits and more. To adopt an animal from Animal Place, visit AnimalPlace.org or call 707-449-4814.

Farm Sanctuary is offering Turkeys for “adoption” this Thanksgiving. For a $20 contribution you will help to feed and shelter a rescued turkey throughout the year. You will receive a photo of the bird you choose to adopt (or the one they choose for you). Send your contribution to Farm Sanctuary, P.O. Box 150, Watkins Glen, NY 14891. For more information, visit www.AdoptATurkey.org

Feed a Turkey and Enjoy a Holiday Meal
On November 17 the California Farm Sanctuary in Orland, CA will host its annual Celebration For the Turkeys. This is a catered, vegan holiday meal at which guests will have the chance to enjoy delicious food meant for humans and then serve turkeys their own favorite meal on a silver platter! Watch the delighted birds enjoy cranberries, lettuce, and other delicious turkey fare. Meet and greet these friendly birds while tv news cameras show turkeys who are loved, not killed, at Thanksgiving. When you go to the Farm Sanctuary web site – www.FarmSanctuary.org - scroll down and look at the left side of the page. Click on Calendar of Events/Celebration for the Turkeys. The cost is $30 per person for the meal and sanctuary visit.

Veggie Awards Announced
VegNews Magazine has announced the winners of the 2007 Veggie Awards. Published in their November - December holiday issue (on newsstands now), the annual awards are the largest survey of its kind in the world, with 20,000 readers voting for their favorite veg products, people, and places in nearly 50 categories.

In addition to the readers’ picks, there are also editors’ picks. Because these editors see so many new books and products every year, it is a special honor to be named the best in any category by them. Colleen Patrick Goudreau’s new cookbook, The Joy of Vegan Baking was named best cookbook of the year by the editors of VegNews magazine! Congratulations to Colleen for her well deserved top spot. If you haven't bought her book yet, be sure to pick up a copy before the holidays. You will wow your friends and family with the desserts in this mouthwatering book.

For a sneak preview of the Veggie Award winners, go to http://vegnews.com/veggieawards_2007.html

Green Festival
Starting Friday, November 9 at 2 PM and continuing through Sunday, November 11 at 6 PM, The San Francisco Green Festival will be the hottest ticket in town. Come hear inspiring speakers, taste delicious food, and be heartened to discover how many businesses and organizations are working to solve our environmental problems. The festival is at The Concourse Pavilion (635 8th Street at Brannon), and the cost is $15 for one day only or $25 for all three days. Ordering tickets in advance from the web site will help you avoid long lines at the door.

Friday night's guest speaker (6 PM) is Deepak Chopra, and the lineup for the entire weekend is superb. Come say hello to the good people at the VegNews booth if you attend. To see the entire schedule of events and speakers, visit http://www.greenfestivals.org/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/ and click on “schedule.”

Have You Signed Up to Help Farm Animals?
Can you collect signatures?
There is an important petition circulating in Marin and all of California that would create a ballot initiative to help farmed animals. The measure would require that an enclosure or tether confining specified farm animals (calves raised for veal, egg laying hens, and pregnant pigs) allow the animals for the majority of every day to fully extend their limbs or wings, lie down, stand up, and turn around. It is not a perfect solution, but it would help farm animals tremendously. (Just the language in the initiative reminds us how awful life is for these animals every day.)

650,000 signatures need to be collected by February. To learn more about this vital effort to help animals, and to see how you can help collect signatures, please visit http://humanecalifornia.org/
You may not sign your own petitions, so be sure to find someone else who is collecting signatures and add your name to the growing number of people who oppose the horrid conditions on factory farms.

Finding Good Restaurants
If you need to find a veg friendly restaurant in the Bay Area, check out the Ultimate Guide at the BayAreaVeg.org web site. It is updated every month by people eat at the restaurants, and new restaurants are added as they are discovered.

Outside the Bay Area, visit www.HappyCow.net (one of the Veggie Award winners this year) or Vegdining.com. These two web sites helped us find good vegetarian food in Eastern Europe last year, and even our meat eating friends wanted to join us because these were the only non-smoking restaurants in town!

Helpful Holiday Reading
If you are dreading holiday meals with non-vegetarian family members or friends, you may want to consult Living Among Meat Eaters by Carol J. Adams. This invaluable book offers a helpful perspective for anyone who is discouraged, disgusted, or dismayed to share a meal with meat eaters. Carol Adams helps us see these people not as adversaries, but as “not yet vegetarians.” And she encourages us and shows us how to include them in our compassion. It is difficult to summarize the book, yet I cannot stress strongly enough how helpful it is. Order it early from a library or bookstore so you have time to read it before you arrive at a table with a bird carcass as the centerpiece!

Cooking for Thanksgiving
If you are cooking for Thanksgiving, we recommend the recipe below from the classic The Peaceful Palate by Jennifer Raymond. What she calls “dressing,” I call “stuffing.” Whatever you call it, this vegan version of it is delicious.

Turkey's Favorite Bread Dressing

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cups sliced mushrooms (about ½ pound)
2 celery stalks, sliced
4 cups cubed bread
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon marjoram
½ teaspoon sage
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (approximately) very hot water or vegetable stock

Heat the oil in a large pot or skillet and sauté the onion for 5 minutes.

Add the sliced mushrooms and celery and cook over medium heat until the mushrooms begin to brown, about 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir in the bread, parsley, thyme, marjoram, sage, black pepper and salt. Lower the heat and continue cooking for 3 minutes, then stir in the water or stock a little at a time until the dressing obtains desired moistness. Spread in an oil-sprayed baking dish, cover and bake for 20 minutes. Remove cover and bake 10 minutes longer.

Serves 8.

New DVD from John McDougall, MD
Dr. John McDougall has a new DVD called McDougall Made Irresistible. It includes 14 food demonstrations and 14 lessons from Dr. McDougall. The cost is $29.95. To order and to learn more about Dr. McDougall’s Health Center live in program, his other books and newsletters, visit www.drmcdougall.com. You can sign up for Dr. McDougall’s free monthly newsletter that explains so called “health news” with a perspective of genuine health, not industry and pharmaceutical bias.

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or
call 415-459-1666.
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October News from The Marin Vegetarian Education Group

There are many exciting events this month, but they are not listed in chronological order here. So please have your calendar handy as you read this newsletter. And note that our meeting is in just over one week..

Our Next Meeting: Sunday, October 7

Vitamins and Minerals in Healthy Food
A presentation by Steven Blake, Sc.D.

6 PM Vegan Potluck Dinner
7 PM Presentation by Steven Blake
Conference Room at the very back of La Plaza Office Complex
4340 Redwood Highway, San Rafael

Cost: $2 - $5 sliding scale and a vegan dish to share with 8 others
(See What Else to Bring and Directions, below)

Steven Blake has been a popular speaker for The Marin Vegetarian Education Group, and we are delighted to welcome him again. On Sunday, October 7 he will be teaching us about vital micro nutrients. Come learn which nutrients are crucial for enhancing energy and burning fat; which four nutrients strengthen bones and which three weaken them; can healthy food choices lessen your risk of infection? Steven Blake is the author of Healing Medicine and Vitamins and Minerals Demystified.
For more information about Dr. Blake’s work, visit www.NaturalHealthWizards.com

Bring your friends and neighbors to this lively presentation and delicious potluck dinner!

What else to bring:
While we will provide paper plates, cups, napkins and plastic forks if you forget, we try to minimize disposable waste by asking you to bring your own reusable tableware. So please bring a plate, utensils (including serving utensils), napkin and cup, plus a vegan dish to share with eight others. Also, one or more cans of vegetables or soup for the Marin Food Bank would be appreciated and rewarded. (Gene Kelly will provide an organic, vegan, fair trade chocolate bar to the person who brings the most cans.)

Directions to La Plaza Office Complex
Take 101 to the Freitas Parkway exit. Go to the frontage road on the east side of the freeway (Redwood Highway) and drive north, parallel to 101. After the light at Professional Parkway, La Plaza conference center is the second office complex. There are two driveways entering the Complex, one on each side of the first building. If you come to the bank, you just missed it. Drive to the very back of the complex and look for the well lit conference room.

This Coming Weekend: World Vegetarian Day Celebration
Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 29 and 30

San Francisco County Fair Building in Golden Gate Park, entrance at Lincoln Way & 9th Avenue, next to the Arboretum, San Francisco

A reminder that this coming weekend there will be a wonderful celebration of vegetarian living in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Terrific speakers, delicious food, earth friendly exhibitors, and information galore. Speakers include Howard Lyman, Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Michael Greger, Gabriel Cousens, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and more.

Sponsored by the San Francisco Vegetarian Society and In Defense of Animals, this two day long celebration is from 10 to 6 both days, with a dinner offered at 6:30 on Saturday. A suggested $5 donation is requested at the door, and there is no charge for seniors, children, or students with ID.. Reservations for dinner are required. For more information, visit www.sfvs.org/wvd/

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn Speaking October 1
The Commonwealth Club of San Francisco is hosting Caldwell B. Esselstyn, M.D. on Monday, October 1. He will be speaking on The Arrest and Reversal of Heart Disease: A 20-Year Experience. Dr. Esselstyn is Former Surgeon, Researcher and Clinician, Cleveland Clinic and the author, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

11:30 a.m., Check-in | 12:00 p.m., Program | Club office, 595 Market St., 2nd Floor, San Francisco
The cost is $15 (free for Commonwealth Club members) Reservations are recommended. Go to www.commonwealthclub.org/mlf/#esselstyn to make a reservation or call 597-6700.

Raw Foods Pot Luck October 6
On Saturday, October 6, join Tara and other raw food enthusiasts for a delicious pot luck picnic at 3:00 at the bottom of the hill, below the gardens behind Robson Harrington House in San Anselmo. From colorful salads to amazingly creative delicacies, there is something for everyone at this gathering of healthy and compassionate people. For more information, call Tara: 388-8933

Robson Harrington House is at 237 Crescent Road in San Anselmo. For a history and historic photos of this beautiful building, visit http://www.sananselmohistory.org/robson1.html

Cooking Class Thursday, October 25
If you have not yet taken Patti Breitman’s Fast and Easy cooking class, don’t miss this one! You will learn how to prepare delicious, filling, nutritious meals and snacks in a jiffy; how to cook without recipes; and which cookbooks to trust when you need recipes. You will come away from the class with a new understanding of plant based nutrition, and greater confidence in the kitchen. And you will get to sample the scrumptious food prepared in the class.

The class is from 7 to 9 PM in Patti’s Fairfax home. Directions will be sent when you register. The class is $30 ($26 for San Anselmo residents) and free for anyone who has or had cancer and anyone who cooks for someone with cancer. (You must mention this when you register.) Reservations are required through the San Anselmo recreation department at 258-4640, or go to www.townofsananselmo.org/recreation

Nutrition in Low Income Communities
The Environmental Education Council of Marin will be holding a presentation on Thursday October 11 from 6:30 until 8:30 PM at the College of Marin's Olney Hall Rm. 96 on Nutrition in Low Income Communities.

Chaired by David Escobar, Aide to Supervisor Steve Kinsey, panelists will include:
* Anna Patterson – Novato Healthy Food Coalition
* Denise Hardy Providing Healthy Food Outlets in Low Income Communities: The Marin City Farm Stand
* Julie Lehman, Nutrition & Garden Support for Low Income Schools
* Leticia Jones – The benefits of an after-school nutrition program for Families in Need

For more information, contact EECOM at 415-485-4908 or write to support@eecom.net

Joy of Vegan Baking
The Joy of Vegan Baking is now available wherever books are sold! Colleen Patrick Goudreau’s mouth watering recipes range from traditional treats to sinful sweets. Her commentary about animals and compassion are every bit as good as her recipes. For sample recipes and to see the table of contents, visit www.JoyofVeganBaking.com. It is well worth a trip to your local bookstore to buy this long awaited recipe book. The Joy of Vegan Baking will make a wonderful holiday gift for bakers in your family who still think eggs and butter are food for humans! Buy it early to help show booksellers that this book deserves front of store displays. And if you bring something to our potluck that was prepared from one of her recipes, you will be invited to go to the front of the food line!

Click to Feed Animals
The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals.

It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on the purple box "fund food for animals" for free. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising. You can visit and click every day. Go to www.theanimalrescuesite.com

Bay Area Veg
Remember to visit www.BayAreaVeg.org regularly to see which restaurant outings, letter writing parties, and other events are happening around the Bay Area! Every week there is a new listing of favorite restaurants, chosen by visitors to the site. If you want to find a new place to eat, new opportunities to help animals, or new people who share your love of vegetarian food, this is the site for you. Their Ultimate Guide to Bay Area restaurants is available at the site and now also in a pring edition.

Ongoing Thanks
As always, we offer abounding thanks to Drs. Rick and Karin Dina for the use of the conference room for our meetings. Rick and Karin are the directors of Vitality Wellness Center, helping people with nutrition consulting, chiropractic care, and classes and seminars on lifestyles for health. Visit www.vitalitywellnesscenter.com for more information.

Thanks also to Gene Kelly for the chocolate incentive at every meeting, and for reminding us that not everyone in Marin County is living in abundance.

And deep gratitude too, to Elizabeth Heitner for money management and tablecloth management every month.

To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or
call 415-459-1666.

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September, 2007
News from Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Next Meeting
New Location: Marin Humane Society, 171 Bel Marin Keys, Novato

What’s New in Vegetarianism?
Sunday, September 9
6 PM – 8 PM

We are disappointed that will not be hosting Dr. Michael Greger in September, as we had planned. He sent this email message this week:

I’m desperately sorry about the late notice. In a crazy sequence of events my scheduler Louisa’s dad fell ill and landed in the hospital, so she was forced to dump everything back on me, and by the time I was done with enough deadlines to look over everything MY dad fell ill too and I’ve spent the last 2 weeks days trying to get him straightened out, and so I just now have my life back and unfortunately, having just missed half a month, need to cancel San Rafael. I’m so sorry for the work you put into it, and I was so looking forward to it. Hopefully we can do something in the future.

Michael Greger, M.D.
Director, Public Health and Animal Agriculture
The Humane Society of the United States

As we had already arranged to meet at the Marin Humane Society, we will hold our meeting there with gratitude for their generous offer. We will meet to share good food in good company, discuss the latest news in vegetarianism, and try out this new venue.

If you can arrive at 5:15 to help gather nearby chairs and tables, you will go to the front of the line when it’s time to eat!

What to bring:
A vegan dish (8 or more portions)
A reusable plate, napkin, utensils, and serving utensils.
A cup
Cans of food for the food bank. Gene Kelley will provide a fair-trade, organic, vegan chocolate bar to whoever brings the most cans.

Directions:
In Novato, take the Bel Marin Keys exit from 101. Follow signs to Bel Marin Keys Blvd, and when you are on it, on the East side of the freeway, make the first into the campus of the Marin Humane Society. Go to the building to the left of the main building, and the meeting room and kitchen will be straight ahead on the left.

Raw Foods Picnic Potluck September 1
Reports on this raw food group are all positive: good people, good food, good times. You are invited to a raw food picnic on Saturday, September 1 at 3 PM at the bottom of the hill, behind the gardens at the Robson Harrington House at 237 Crescent Road in San Anselmo. On the first Saturday of every month this group meets to celebrate and share delicious food that has not been cooked. A salad is always a welcome contribution, so don’t stay away just because you are new to raw cuisine. Come prepared to discover a variety of creative dishes that are as tasty as they are attractive. For more information contact Tara at 415-388-8933.

New Vegan Baking Cookbook from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
Congratulations to Colleen Patrick-Goudreau on the imminent publication of her new book, The Joy of Vegan Baking: The Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets. This terrific book features recipes for 150 familiar favorites, from cakes and cookies to crepes, pies, puddings, and pastries. Plus it has the wisdom of its author extolling the pleasures and benefits of a plant based diet – even when it comes to desserts.

The book will be available in October, but you can pre order it on Amazon.com and help ensure that the publisher sees the demand for the book. It truly helps the book get a good send off if people order it in advance. Order two copies, and get free shipping! If you don’t want to order from Amazon, ask your local bookseller to order one for you and a few for the shelf.

And if you cannot wait until October, visit www.CompassionateCooks.com and sample a dose of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s entertaining and incisive perspective on food, animals, and the joy of vegan cooking. You can sign up for one of her upcoming classes at the website as well.

Become a Restaurant Reviewer
VegDining.com, an online service that helps you find vegetarian restaurants in any city
(like HappyCow.com), invites you to submit mini-reviews of your recent visits
to veg and veg-friendly restaurants. Until September 30, 2007 all
submissions will be entered into a prize drawing to be held on World
Vegetarian Day (October 1). Please go to
[ http://www.vegdining.com/Go.cfm?id=Review ] to submit your review.
You could win some exciting vegetarian prizes!

Also, VegDining is recruiting vegetarian freelance travel writers to
join its team, on a pay-per-article basis. If you've recently visited
or soon will be visiting destinations that might be of interest to
fellow vegetarians, send a note, with a brief sample of your writing,
to info@VegDining.com (no attachments please).

Dinner Outing with Bay Area Vegetarians
The September restaurant outing with Bay Area Vegetarians will be on Thursday, September 27 at 6:30 at Kamikazi Sushi Bar in the Montecito Plaza (where Trader Joe’s is) in San Rafael. This is on 2nd Street, east of 101. You must RSVP before September 26 to Alicia: alicia@fsdinternational.org If you want to meet some fun and friendly people and discover how many delicious options for vegans are available in nonvegan restaurants, RSVP today and join Alicia on Sept. 27.

Farmer Dave Blume’s New Book Available
Dave Bloom’s book about alcohol for auto fuel – the history, the process, the promise, the reality – is now available for sale. The $57 book is available for only $47 which includes postage and sales tax if you are among the first 1,000 people to buy it at
http://www.permaculture.com/site/book_menu/360/276

This meticulously researched, exhaustive book hopes to fuel an ethanol revolution in the 21st century. When you buy the book you will also receive a year's free subscription to Dave's alcohol fuel newsletter and a free copy of the 2:40 minute Alcohol Can Be A Gas DVD worth $20.

Hold These Dates for Dr. Steven Blake
Dr. Steven Blake, author of Healing Medicine, and creator of one of the world's most comprehensive data bases of herbal remedies, has been one of our most popular speakers over the years. This year we are helping to sponsor his trip the Bay Area so he can speak at the celebration of World Vegetarian Day in San Francisco on September 29 and 30. Then on Sunday, October 7, he will be the guest speaker at our monthly meeting.

If you have a spare bed, he and his wife Catherine Blake would love it if you could put them up for a few nights. If you can host them any time that week, please contact them through www.healthwizards.com.

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August, 2007

There will be no meeting in August, but there are plenty of opportunities to connect and share good food.

Raw Foods Picnic Potluck August 4
Join other friendly, health minded folks for a raw food picnic on Saturday, August 4 at 3 PM at the bottom of the hill, behind the gardens at the Robson Harrington House at 237 Crescent Road in San Anselmo. On the first Saturday of every month this welcoming group meets to celebrate and share delicious food that has not been cooked. A salad is always a welcome contribution, so don’t stay away just because you are new to raw cuisine. Come prepared to discover a variety of creative dishes that are as tasty as they are attractive. For more information contact Tara at 415-388-8933.

Restaurant Outing August 30 at SOL Food
Bay Area Vegetarians will be having dinner at SOL food in San Rafael, on Thursday, August 30 at 6:30. SOL is at 901 Lincoln Avenue in the bright green building at the corner of Lincoln and Third Street. The restaurant features Puerto Rican food in a Puerto Rican-styled restaurant. Note: There is another, very small branch of SOL food, also on Lincoln, closer to Fourth Street. This restaurant outing is at the larger restaurant on the corner of Third Street. You must RSVP if you plan to attend this dinner. Write to Alicia Robb at alicia@fsdinternational.org to let her know if you’re coming.

Nutrition for Optimal Vitality Raw Food Workshop August 11
Rick Dina and Karin Dina will be offering their popular one-day Nutrition for Optimal Vitality raw food workshop on Saturday, August 11th from 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM in San Rafael.

This workshop will answer important, raw food, vegan nutrition questions including: where do you get your protein and omega-3 fatty acids. It will address the role of diet in acid/alkaline balance and good raw food sources of calcium. Three meals are included, plus presentations and food demonstrations for $125 per person.

The Dinas have created several varieties of raw noodles along with raw vegan varieties of traditional pasta sauces including alfredo, pesto and marinara – all packed with flavor and vitality. They will demonstrate delicious and versatile hummus recipes suitable to be used as a dip, on sandwiches, or as salad dressing. In addition, they will offer a great fruit smoothie recipe that includes leafy greens! This may sound strange, but it tastes really great – even kids like it.

For additional information, visit www.rawfooddoctors.com and follow the link on the homepage to the class description. For further questions and registration, call Vitality Wellness Center at 415-472-7070.

For other classes with the Dinas and others, certification, and information on raw food and living well, the Living Light Culinary Institute in Fr. Bragg offers a wide variety of short and long programs. Visit www.rawfoodchef.com/CulinaryArts

Living Light Culinary Arts Institute
301-B North Main Street
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
800.816.2319 • 707.964.2420
info@rawfoodchef.com

Two Jobs Available at Animal Place
Marin County’s closest animal shelter is looking to fill two positions: Sanctuary Manager and Outreach Coordinator.

The Outreach Coordinator would promote Animal Place to the news media and general public.

The position calls for excellent writing and verbal communication and would entail the creation and implementation of outreach and legislative campaigns and activities, plus all media communication, sanctuary tours, tabling at national and local events, and working with the Executive Director.

If you are knowledgeable about factory farming issues, interested in and committed to animal protection and vegetarianism, and able to professionally advocate Animal Place’s positions on issues, consider applying for this paid position.

The Sanctuary Manager is a resident, live-in position for someone who has experience with animal care and handling and who is able to handle physically demanding labor and work outside. An interest in the animal protection movement and vegetarianism are required.

Top apply for either position, send a resume and cover letter to Kim Sturla, Animal Place, 3448 Laguna Creek Trail, Vacaville, CA 95688; Fax: 707.449.4814, Email: kim@animalplace.org

Food Empowerment Project
A new organization is working to bring awareness to how our food choices affect other people, animals and the earth. The Food Empowerment Project promotes the belief that one of the most important ways we can make a difference in the world is through our food choices.

“Every dollar we spend on food is essentially a vote for how we believe animals, workers, and the environment should be treated. We can all strive to ensure our food choices reflect who and what we stand for. We all need to do our best to use our dollars wisely to vote for justice and compassion.”

The Food Empowerment Project was created by loren Ornelas, formerly with Compassion Over Killing and Viva USA. She is a powerhouse of compassion and the woman who persuaded Whole Foods’ CEO John Mackey to become a vegan and to raise the standards for the treatment of farmed animals sold as food at Whole Foods.

Their preliminary web site is www.FoodIsPower.org.
To sign up for their free e-newsletter, visit www.FoodIsPower.org/fep

Green Fair and Party August 11
The nonprofit Marin Artists' International Network is holding a fundraising event, "Got Green Love" for green minded adults, Saturday, August 11th from 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. at the San Rafael Community Center, 618 'B' Street. Dance to live Caribbean, Reggae, rock and latin music with energetic World band "La Kay" and "Mystic Man and "Kemi. Organic beer, wine and food will be available, and 'green' networking tables will be provided Tickets are $20.00 at the event or at a special price of $10.00 when bought in advance or with a reservation, call 339-1379 or e-mail www.marinartists@hotmail.com Tickets online: www.eventbrite.com/event/63280273 This is a fundraiser for a new (forming) environmental organization, "One World-One Voice"

We offer congratulations to Mariposa de Los Angeles for winning first place in the healthy food category for her booth at the Marin County fair in July!

Veggie Awards – Time to Vote
The 2007 Veggie Award polls have officially opened, and it’s time to vote for your favorite products, people, services and businesses for vegetarians. The polls close on September 1, and winners will be announced in the November/December issue of VegNews magazine. To vote for your favorites, visit www.VegNews.com and click on the box on the right bottom corner of the screen. Great prizes are being offered in a drawing of everyone who votes.

Meet Terces Engelhart, co-creator of Cafe Gratitude
Terces Engelhart will be speaking at Book Passage in Corte Madera on Friday, August 24 at 7:30 PM.

Terces Englehart and Matthew Engelhart created Cafe Gratitude to appreciate and celebrate and dine on life’s bounty. Now they have written a book called I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude (North Atlantic Books, $24.95). The book presents their view of life and their business philosophy along with recipes, photos, and inspiration for anyone who likes to eat. If you want to recreate the restaurant’s delicious fare and joyful atmosphere at home, this book reveals the magic behind the success.

The Emotional Lives of Animals Author at Workshop and Fundraiser August 11
World-renowned animal behaviorist and author Dr. Marc Bekoff will share his unique exploration of animals as emotional beings a book-signing and reception in honor of his new book, The Emotional Lives of Animals: A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow and Empathy — And Why They Matter. Co-sponsored by the Marin Humane Society and Point Reyes Books, this event will take place Saturday, August 11 at 7 p.m. at Toby’s Feed Barn (11250 Highway 1, Point Reyes Station). A dessert reception will follow the presentation (not vegan).

Bekoff will show that the question is no longer whether animals have emotions, but rather why emotions evolved in animals, and why they are significant to them and to us. The author of 18 books, Bekoff has been featured on 48 Hours, Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel, as well as in Time and National Geographic. He is a professor emeritus of biology at the University of Colorado and co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Tickets are $25 and can be obtained by calling (415) 883-4621 ext. 363 or by visiting Point Reyes Books. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Marin Humane Society and Planned Feralhood.

Earlier that day at the Marin Humane Society, Dr. Bekoff will be holding a workshop covering Forgiveness and Morality in Animals and Animal Passions and Beastly Virtues. The cost is $50, plus an additional $10 for a vegetarian lunch. For more information and reservations to either event, call 415- 883-4621, ext. 363.

Action for Animals
If you want to help animals and don’t know how, try subscribing to the Action for Animals monthly newsletter. For $20 you will receive 12 monthly calendars listing events that benefit, celebrate, or somehow involve animals. Meetings and legislation that need attendance and attention are listed along with vegetarian cooking classes, tours of animal sanctuaries, habitat restoration projects, workshops, protest opportunities and more. And most months, articles are enclosed as well to make us think more critically about issues that affect us and animals. Learn when an animal circus is coming to town (Ringling Brothers will be in Oakland and San Jose in August, and Action for Animals is organizing leafleting to educate families who are attending about the abuses of animals in the circus life.); when a bill that could ban rodeos is up for a vote; and when a quick phone call can make a huge difference in the lives of countless animals. Send a check to Action for Animals, Box 20184, Oakland, CA 94620. Thanks to Eric Mills who has worked tirelessly for years to be a voice for animals through Action for Animals.

Save these Dates!
On Sunday, September 9 we will welcome Michael Greger, M.D., the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture for the Humane Society of the United States and the former Chief Medical Investigator for Farm Sanctuary. Watch this newsletter for details on the time and location. He is the author of Bird Flu : A Virus of Our Own Hatching and many important papers on the benefits of a plant based diet.

And on Sunday, October 7 we will once again host Steven Blake, author of Healing Medicine, who will be in town that weekend for the San Francisco Vegetarian Festival. Again, watch this newsletter for details about the time and place.

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July 2007
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

No Meeting In July,
But plenty of opportunities to gather and share good food

There will be no meeting in July, but there will be a raw foods afternoon picnic potluck on Saturday, July 7, a vegan cooking class the evening of Tuesday, July 10, and a restaurant outing for dinner with Bay Area Vegetarians on Thursday, July 19. Try to attend at least one of these terrific events. All the details are below.

Raw Foods Picnic Potluck July 7
Whether you are eating a mostly raw food diet or just enjoy a good salad from time to time, you are invited to join local raw food enthusiasts at 3 PM on Saturday, July 7 at the Robson Harrington Park in San Anselmo. This enthusiastic group celebrates community and radiantly healthy foods the first Saturday of every month. Bring a blanket, plate, utensils and at least one organic, uncooked dish to share. To learn more about this event or group, contact Tarra at 415-388-8933.

The Robson Harrington Park is behind the Robson-Harrington house at 237 Crescent Road in San Anselmo. If you have never seen this magnificent house and property, plan to attend this potluck and stroll the grounds. The following description is from A Historical Walk Through San Anselmo, published by the San Anselmo Historical Commission:

Lumberman Edwin Kleber Wood and his wife, Marian Thayer Wood, built the Robson-Harrington House in 1905-06. In 1923, the Wood’s heirs sold the property to Geraldine and Kernan Robson, avid gardeners who planted extensive orchards and a vineyard on their sprawling property. They also added the curving brick wall that surrounds the estate, using old bricks from houses destroyed by the 1906 earthquake. Stonemasons adorned the grounds with archways, fountains and elaborate wall niches, which contained imported European scenes and plaques. At one point, the Robsons had four fulltime gardeners on staff, along with a contingent of household help. Childless, they bequeathed the property to the Town of San Anselmo in 1967. The downstairs is used for events and Recreation Programs. Private offices are located on the second floor.

Cooking Class July 10
On Tuesday, July 10 from 6 to 9 PM, Patti Breitman will be teaching her popular Delicious Vegetarian Meals in a Hurry cooking class at her home in Fairfax. Discover some scrumptious recipes and easy meal planning techniques that will help you get dinner on the table in less than 15 minutes. Learn about the wealth of wonderful cookbooks available for eating a plant based diet and the health benefits that result when we focus on whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables. One woman who attended the class twice and has adopted many of the ideas and recipes she learned, saw her cholesterol drop from 265 to 185 over the course of that year.

This is a fun and informative evening. We will eat the dinner we prepare, but not until about 8:30.
Many attendees are repeat customers, so sign up soon to assure a place.

The class is offered through the San Anselmo Recreation Department, and registration is required. The cost is $30, or $26 if you live in San Anselmo. The class is free if you have or had cancer or cook for someone with cancer, but registration is still required. Be sure to tell whoever registers you that you are a cancer survivor, and they will waive the fee. To register, call San Anselmo Recreation: 258-4640 or go to www.townofsananselmo.org/recreation and look for adult classes. The address and directions to the class will be sent when you register.

Cafe Gratitude for Dinner July 19
Alicia Robb is organizing a dinner through Bay Area Vegetarians on Thursday, July 19 at Marin County’s only vegan restaurant, Cafe Gratitude. The restaurant is at 2200 Fourth Street in San Rafael, on the stretch of 4th Street west of downtown San Rafael, and almost at the border of San Anselmo. Anyone wanting to attend is asked to first consult the menu at
http://www.withthecurrent.com/menu.html and then RSVP to Alicia and tell her what you would like to order. There will be a chance to order additional drinks and dessert at the table, but appetizers and main courses should all be pre-ordered. RSVP with your order to Alicia: fsdmail@yahoo.com.

The restaurant can easily and promptly serve a crowd of hungry people with pre-ordering. Those of us who enjoyed dinner at Cafe Gratitude in June with Bay Area Vegetarians can attest to the good service and delicious food, even though we were a large group. If you were with a group that dined there months ago when the service was not so good, we encourage you to give it another try. Pre-ordering truly makes a huge difference!

For those who cannot attend the dinner on July 19, the restaurant is open from 10 AM to 10 PM every day.

Nutrition M.D.
Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine recently launched a web site for health care providers and consumers called NutritionMD.org, The site features vegan recipes, nutrition tips, and information about diseases. We have a link to it from our website (www.MarinVEG.org) or you can go directly to www.nutritionmd.org.

Save these Dates
There will be no meeting in August, but two wonderful meetings are being planned for September and October:

On Sunday, September 9 we will welcome Michael Greger, M.D., the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture for the Humane Society of the United States and the former Chief Medical Investigator for Farm Sanctuary. Watch this newsletter for details on the time and location. He is the author of Bird Flu : A Virus of Our Own Hatching and many important papers on the benefits of a plant based diet.

And on Sunday, October 7 we will once again host Steven Blake, author of Healing Medicine who will be in town that weekend for the San Francisco Vegetarian Festival. Again, watch this newsletter for details about the time and place.

Save those dates, and have a safe and fun summer!

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or
call 415-459-1666.

June Newsletter

Next Meeting: Sunday, June 17
Victoria Moran speaking on Fat, Broke & Lonely No More
Books will be available for sale; bring your checkbook!

6 PM Vegan Potluck Dinner
7 PM Presentation by Victoria Moran
Conference Room at the very back of La Plaza Office Complex
4340 Redwood Highway, San Rafael

Cost: $2 - $5 sliding scale and a vegan dish to share with 8 others

(See What to Bring and Directions, below)

Victoria Moran is an internationally acclaimed author, life coach and speaker specializing in how to live with joy and integrity. She is the author of ten books, including the bestseller Creating a Charmed Life and the brand new Fat, Broke and Lonely No More. Victoria Moran raised her 21 year old daughter as a vegan from birth, and is visiting us from New York City as part of her coast to coast book tour. We are extremely fortunate to have her as our guest, and I hope we fill the room to welcome her.

“This guide to getting back your life from the fears that hold you captive is funny, frank . . . simple, straightforward, and the perfect antidote to the struggles we all face.” – Mariel Hemingway

“Shines the light on pessimism and sends it scurrying back into its rat hole.” – W. Bruce Cameron, author of 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter

Do not miss this opportunity to meet and hear Victoria Moran speaking about breaking through the blocks that keep us from being all we can be. Bring friends to this meeting, as the topic is of interest to one and all, vegetarian or not. It's a great way to get your not-yet-vegetarian friends to sample the delicious food, too. Learn more about Victoria Moran at www.victoriamoran.com

What to bring:
While we will provide paper plates, cups, napkins and plastic forks if you forget, we try to minimize disposable waste by asking you to bring your own reusable tableware. So please bring a plate, utensils (including serving utensils), napkin and cup, plus a vegan dish to share with eight others. Also, one or more cans of vegetables or soup for the Marin Food Bank would be appreciated and rewarded. (Gene Kelly will provide an organic, vegan, fair trade chocolate bar to the person who brings the most cans.)

Ongoing Thanks
Thanks to Drs. Rick and Karin Dina for the use of the conference room at La Plaza for our meetings. Rick and Karin are the directors of Vitality Wellness Center, helping people with nutrition consulting, chiropractic care, and classes and seminars on lifestyles for health. Visit
www.vitalitywellnesscenter.com for more information.

Thanks also to Gene Kelly for the chocolate incentive at every meeting, and for reminding us that not everyone in Marin County is living in abundance. Thanks, too, to Elizabeth Heitner for minding our money and washing out tablecloths every month.

Discount Offer to Get Fit
Former local EarthSave chair Syndee Collison, CPT, CNC is offering a 10% discount on her one-on-one personal training, group fitness classes and nutritional counseling to anyone who tells her they found her through Marin VEG. Syndee has have over 15 years experience as a fitness professional. She is certified as a fitness instructor and a personal trainer. She is CPR certified and has not yet had to use it in any of her classes.

Here is her description of the outdoor fitness classes:

It's spring and the weather is perfect for getting out and getting fit! Allow me the pleasure of kicking your butt this Sunday, and if you
enjoy the experience, you can come back on Wednesday. Outdoor Fitness Fun begins this Sunday at McInnis Park in San Rafael from 9:00-10:30 am. We'll meet at the front of the McInnis club house which is at the very east end of Smith Ranch Road. We will be doing various wonderfully challenging cardio and strength activities. I promise never a dull moment and if you stick with it, you should see some very positive results. All levels and ages are welcome. There is no complicated choreography, just simple but effective exercises designed to help you with the following:

-Getting stronger and more lean
-Improving your stamina and energy
-Reducing your risk of injury
-Increasing your bone density
-Improving flexibility and range of motion
-Making you feel good and good about yourself

The classes are held twice per week and cost $14 each. If more than 10 students attend, I will extend a $3.00 discount, so I encourage you to tell your friends and family. If you attend more than 10 classes over a 3 month period, you will receive the 11th for free.

Wear layers, bring a towel, plenty of water, a yoga mat
and a set or 2 of free weights, if you have them. Please RSVP first
by calling Syndee at 415.215.9802

Left at Last Meeting
If you left a green Whole Foods bag and glass pie pan at the May meeting in Fairfax, please call 459-1666 to arrange to come get it. Otherwise, it will be brought to the June meeting, and, if not claimed, it will be given away.

Our Mailing List
The email list for the Marin Vegetarian Education Group is never shared nor sold nor used for any purpose other than this newsletter and one reminder of our meeting each month. A few times the list was mistakenly seen by all recipients when it was sent out without the blind copy only designation. Any such slip should NOT be deemed permission to use the list for any other purpose, even if you think it is a good cause. If you want to share an item that will interest the people on this list, please send it to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net and I will (usually) include it.

If you receive email from someone who mentions or implies that he got your name from this list, please let me know.

Dairy Council Pulls Ads
Thanks to relentless pressure from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the Federal Trade Commission insisted that the Dairy Council stop running ads that claim milk is good for weight loss. Thank goodness for PCRM, a voice for truth in a world of dairy industry myth and misinformation.

To read a New York Times article on this victory for truth, go to http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/kim_severson/index.html

Congratulations to Claudia Delman
Claudia Delman, PCRM’s Bay Area representative has just received her Master’s Degree in Public Health. Congratulations, Claudia! Claudia keeps Marin VEG well supplied with brochures about strong bones, the PCRM Vegetarian Starter Kit and other vital publications – including the new Nutrition Guide for Clinicians (see May newsletter at www.MarinVEG.org for more on this new book).

Animal Rights Conference next Month
Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM) will be holding their Animal Rights National Conference July 19-23 at the Westin LAX Hotel in Los Angeles. The four-day program features nearly 100 presenters from more than 60 organizations representing all sections of the animal rights movement. They appear in eight Plenary Sessions, 50 Workshops, 30 Campaign Reports, and 7 Rap Sessions. Other program elements include Exhibits, Videos, Newcomer Orientation, Group Workouts, Strategy Meetings, Networking Receptions, Awards Banquet, and entertainment by animal rights musicians. For more details, please arconference.org or call 888-FARM-USA (888-327-6872).

Bay Area Vegetarians
To join others in writing letters, learning new recipes, trying new restaurants, camping out and other social events, be sure to visit and support Bay Area Vegetarians. This is a huge consortium of groups and individuals throughout the greater bay area. Bay Area Vegetarians offers a restaurant guide covering more than 90 strictly vegetarian and 30 vegan restaurants plus scores of others that are vegan friendly. The online version is free and the new print edition is only $6 plus shipping and handling. Learn more at BayAreaVeg.org

No Time Like the Present
Mark your calendar now for Sunday, June 17 to hear Victoria Moran speak at our meeting. See top story, above for details. See you then!

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May, 2007

News from The Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Next Meeting

Saturday, May 26 – 12 Noon until 2 PM
Recipe Demonstration and Vegan Pot Luck Picnic
In the Home of Patti Breitman and Stan Rosenfeld
12 Rally Court, Fairfax

Cost: $2 - $5 sliding scale

Learn some quick and delicious recipes from Patti Breitman, the “Quick and Easy” food columnist for VegNews magazine and the founder of the Marin Vegetarian Education Group. Socialize with people who value good food and animals, and share a potluck picnic in the green courtyard behind the townhouse.

The cooking demonstration and talk will begin at noon promptly. The picnic will follow, at around 1:00. Because the speaker will come before the food this month, we ask that you arrive early or enter quietly.

What to bring:
A vegan dish to share (8 or more portions)
A reusable plate, napkin, utensils, and serving utensils.
A cup
A can of food (or many cans) for the food bank. Gene Kelley will provide a fair-trade, organic, vegan chocolate bar to whoever brings the most cans. We collected more than 40 cans at the last meeting, and want to break that record.

Directions:
12 Rally Court is in a townhouse community called Canon Village.
Take Sir Francis Drake Boulevard one mile west of The Good Earth in downtown Fairfax. Turn right onto Glen Drive and then immediately turn right again onto Mitchel Drive. Then another immediate Right to stay on Mitchel Drive. Rally Court will be the first street on your left. Park on Mitchell Drive near Rally Court. #12 Rally Court is behind the last carport on the right.

Go Green! Go Veggie! Go to San Rafael this Saturday!
On Saturday, May 5 Marin Artists will host a "Go Green Marin" event at the San Rafael Plaza (on the 1000 block of Fourth Street near the Bank of America) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Along with bubbles for children and music for everyone, there will be a contest for the best "Green" suggestion, and the winner gets $100. Let’s overwhelm the entries with suggestions to go vegetarian! According to a recent U.N. report, eating lower on the food chain is better for the environment than driving a hybrid car! Marin Artists International are the same compassionate people who run the only vegan food booth at the Marin County Fair every summer. For more information about this weekend's festival, contact Mariposa de LosAngelos by e-mail: MarinArtists@hotmail.com.

California Hoe Down at Farm Sanctuary
On Saturday, May 12 Farm Sanctuary will host its annual fun conference on animal issues, advocacy efforts and campaigns. In addition to informative presentations from animal protection activists, there will be a chance to tour the farm and meet the animals; a hay ride and vegan dinner, a barn dance with complimentary snacks and beverages. Farm Sanctuary is in Orland, CA. The cost is $30 which includes the catered dinner and barn dance. Free, rustic camping is available on the farm and hotels are a short drive from the shelter. For more information, call 1-607-583-2225, ext. 221 or visit www.FarmSanctuary.org.

Two Great Choices for Summer Vacations: East or West Coast

Healthy Lifestyle Expo in Los Angeles
Starting Friday night, June 1, through Sunday June 3 celebrate vegetarian living, learn more about raw food, discover new products, and become motivated at the Healthy Life Expo in Los Angeles. Speakers include John Robbins, Joel Fuhrman, Jefferey Masson, Dr. Caldwell Esselsyn, and more. More than 100 exhibitors are scheduled to attend as well. The cost is $50 per day or $132 for all three days. By request, for the first time we have a raw food chef who will be un-cooking up a storm Sunday morning for everyone to sample.

Those who sign up for the weekend and stay at the hotel, will receive both the 2005 and 2006 Get Healthy Now DVD sets FREE at check in (a $180 value).

This is a family-sponsored event, produced by Jeff and Sabrina Nelson who publish VegSource.com, a vegetarian/vegan web site that helps new and longtime vegans find news, information and inspiration. They are putting out a challenge: They are calling the Healthy Life Expo "Convert-a-Carnivore Weekend." Bring a non-vegetarian friend or family member and let the show work its magic on them. This weekend is an opportunity to show people that vegetarians are healthy, friendly, "normal" folk with a lot to offer the world! To register and learn more visit: www.HealthyLifestyleExpo.com

Summerfest in Pennsylvania
The 33rd annual conference of Vegetarian Summerfest is set for July
25-29, 2007. It will be at the Conference Center at Pitt-Johnstown on
the University of Pittsburgh campus in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. There are educational sessions, vegan meals, and exciting
speakers. For more information, please go to their web site www.vegetariansummerfest.org or call (518) 568-7970.

Tofu Haiku Contest
The Toronto Vegetarian Association is hosting a Tofu Haiku contest
which they call a "celebration of the classical poetic form of haiku
and the ancient culinary marvel known as tofu." Entries will be judged
by some well known members of North America's literary and vegetarian
communities. Winning submissions will receive tofu related clothing,
publications, and food products. The best Tofu Haiku will be published
on www.tofuhaiku.com.
Deadline for entries is May 21, 2007. More details are available on
www.tofuhaiku.com or call (416) 544-9800.

Drs. Rick and Karin Dina – And Living Light
Drs. Rick and Karin Dina generously invite us to hold many of our meetings in the San Rafael conference room of their office complex. We are most appreciative! Dr. Rick Dina and Dr. Karin Dina are offering fewer of their one-day raw food mini retreats as they are putting together a variety of classes for the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute in Fort Bragg, CA. They have a regular “Science of Raw Food Nutrition” class that they teach there nearly monthly. It is a two-day, 12 hour course covering the fundamental principles of the science of raw food nutrition. They are also preparing for a 5 and/or 7 day raw food leadership program that will be offered at Living Light in December of 2007. For more information on these classes, please visit www.rawfooddoctors.com, or www.rawfoodchef.com. To learn more about the doctors Dina, visit www.vitalitywellnesscenter.com

New Publications
EarthSave International has published a new, updated version of its wildly successful Realities for the Nineties. The new booklet is called OUR FOOD, OUR FUTURE: Making a Difference with Every Bite: The Power of the Fork! It is packed with hundreds of compelling facts about how food choices affect our health, our environment and the treatment of animals. This powerful booklet is $2.50, with discounts for bulk orders. To get a copy, call
1-800-362-3648 or visit www.earthsave.org.

Also from EarthSave is an updated version of HEALTHY BEGINNINGS CARE PACKAGE, the perfect guide for anyone wanting to move toward a plant based diet. This wonderful publication is available to download for free online at VegPledge.com

To support EarthSave in its successful and ongoing efforts to educate people on the value of a plant based diet, send a contribution to EarthSave International, P.O.Box 96, New York, NY 10108 or visit www.earthsave.org to contribute online.

PCRM Publishes Nutrition Guide for Clinicians
For the first time ever, every second year medical school student in the United States will receive a free copy of the 885-page paperback NUTRITION GUIDE FOR CLINICIANS, published by Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine. This is an invaluable and thorough guide to the role of nutrition in health and illness,and a great introduction to PCRM's work for medical students. Future physicians will now see the scientifically documented connection between diet and disease, even the diseases that many mainstream doctors believe are not affected by food choices. If you would like your own copy, the cost is $17.95. PCRM offers deep discounts for quantities of five or more if you are giving them to health care providers. For individual copies, visit www.pcrm.org. For the bulk discount, you must call PCRM: 202-686-2210, ext. 306..

McDougall Newsletter on Protein
The April issue of the McDougall Newsletter from Dr. John McDougall has a terrific article about protein and why the “experts” get it wrong. This is a good article to read and study, so as to better answer people who ask, “But where do you get your protein?!” To read the article, visit www.DrMcDougall.com and click on newsletter archives. While you’re at the site, you can sign up for this free monthly newsletter. In every issue Dr. McDougall comments on five articles that were recently published in medical journals. His perspective and his ability to frame and explain the articles for the lay reader are wonderful.

Two Angry Moms
Two Angry Moms is a new film about the fight for better school food. There will be a screening of this documentary on Tuesday, May 22 at 6:30 PM in Mill Valley as fund raising effort by the independent film makers. The benefit tickets are $50 - $100. Sign up at MarionInstitute.org or by sending an email to assistantproducer@angrymoms.org. Marin VEG's own Jill Harrington, author of The Lupus Recovery Diet is featured in this film.

April News from The Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Next Meeting:
Saturday, April 28
Vegan Potluck Picnic Lunch at Lake Lagunitas in Fairfax
11:30 AM Short, easy hike around lake
12:30 PM Picnic Lunch near Spillway
Cost: Entrance to Lake Area is $7 per car; free for bikes and pedestrians
Picnic and walk: Free

Join us for a spring picnic lunch at beautiful Lake Lagunitas! We will enjoy delicious vegan fare and frolic in one of the most lush and lovely picnic areas in the county. If you want to come early for a short, easy hike around the lake (only one hill at the beginning of the walk), we will work up an appetite while looking for turtles, otters, cormorants, herons, egrets, lizards, and wild flowers.

What to bring:
A vegan dish (8 or more portions)
A reusable plate, napkin, utensils, and serving utensils.
A cup (water and lemonade will be provided)
A can of food (or many cans) for the food bank. Gene Kelley will provide a fair-trade, organic, vegan chocolate bar to whoever brings the most cans.

Directions:
If you are not familiar with Fairfax, it might be helpful to consult a map. We will leave for the walk at 11:30 exactly, so allow plenty of time to find the parking lot.

Bolinas Road is perpendicular to Broadway which is parallel to Sir Francis Drake Boulevard.

From downtown Fairfax, travel South (the only direction it goes) on Bolinas Road 1.4 miles.
Turn LEFT at the sign for Lake Lagunitas (Sky Oaks Road).
Continue 7/10 of a mile SLOWLY (watch for deer and bikes!) to the entrance gate where you must show a season pass or pay $7 per car.
After the gate, continue 1.3 miles, bearing left at the gravel road to stay on the paved, winding road to the large parking lot at the end of the road.

We will meet by the shaded picnic area behind the parking lot. Hope to see you there!

Healing Cuisine’s Gourmet Vegetarian Cooking Classes for Health & Longevity
Meredith McCarty’s cooking classes are fun as well as educational. Menus and recipes are tailored to the American palate and will inspire you to get back in the kitchen. Based on the organic bounty of the season, each class is vegetarian, vegan (dairy-free vegetarian) and macrobiotic (features healing foods presented in balanced proportions). The demonstration-style classes include a complete meal, discussion of quick and easy menu planning and recipe conversion, and supportive scientific studies relating diet and health. Soup or hors d'oeuvre is served at the beginning of each class to satisfy hunger.

WHEN: Tues. evening, April 17, 6:00-8:30 PM
WHERE: Homestead Valley Community Center, 315 Montford Ave., Mill Valley (Turn off Miller Ave. at the 2AM Club near Whole Foods Market.)
FEE: $50
TO REGISTER: Visit www.healingcuisine.com and click on Classes, or call (415) 381-1735 and send a check to Healing Cuisine, P.O. Box 2605, Mill Valley, CA 94942.

Hold These Dates
Saturday, May 12: Hoe Down Conference to Help Animals (plus a hay ride, vegan dinner and barn dance) at Farm Sanctuary in Orland CA. Details next month or visit www.farmsanctuary.org.

Sunday, June 17: Victoria Moran to speak about her new book FAT, BROKE AND LONELY NO MORE at the potluck dinner meeting of Marin VEG in San Rafael. Details next month or visit www.armchairinterviews.com to read a review.

Two New Books to Save Lives
Two new books offer excellent advice based on studies that support vegan diets for optimum health.
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn’s PREVENT AND REVERSE HEART DISEASE reports on the physician's 20-year study of successfully reversing heart disease through dietary change. And DR. NEAL BARNARD’S PROGRAM FOR REVERSING DIABETES offers encouraging information from his study that was declared “three times more effective than the American Diabetes Association diet for controlling blood sugar,” according to the August, 2006 issue of Diabetes Care.

Slow and Steady
When we are fretting over how so few people are aware of the plight of animals raised for food, it is good to recognize where progress is being made. Last week Burger King announced that it would begin asking its sources of eggs and pigs to treat the animals more humanely. While this is a far cry from eliminating the slaughter and suffering of animals, it is an important first step. And while “cruelty free” pork and eggs is an oxymoron, the fact that Burger King actually listened to Peta and the Humane Society of the U.S. reflects a major change in the power of the public's awareness of where food comes from. Until more producers treat their animals more humanely, Burger King’s new plan is limited to only 2% of its suppliers. But because many suppliers want to supply Burger King, more and more will eliminate gestation crates for pigs and battery cages for hens. When it becomes profitable to treat animals humanely, more will be treated humanely. Burger King is making it more profitable to provide more humanely raised animals. Slowly, but surely.

We extend abundant thanks to Peta and HSUS for their tireless work on behalf of all animals, and we congratulate them on this major success on the road to a more compassionate world.

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Marin Vegetarian Education Group
March 2007

Our next meeting will be: Sunday, March 11
Dr. Steven Blake on How to Make Medicine Safer

6 PM Vegan Potluck Dinner
7 PM Presentation by Dr, Blake
Conference Room at the very back of La Plaza Office Complex
4340 Redwood Highway
San Rafael

Cost: $2 - $5 sliding scale and a vegan dish to share with 8 others
(See What to Bring and Directions, below)

Note: Daylight Savings Time begins the night before this meeting.
Set your clocks ahead one hour Saturday night, March 10 so you won't be late!

Last year, Dr. Steven Blake’s talk was acclaimed as one of the best we ever hosted. Join us this year when the author of Healing Medicine returns from Hawaii to talk about Making Medicine Safer.

Dr. Blake will discuss the true causes of illness and show us how to stay too healthy to get sick. He will talk about how to have safer medical tests and share his secrets on how to make surgery safer and hospital stays more safe and comfortable. Additionally, he will guide us to the safer use of pain drugs and look at some gentler natural alternatives. Bring your friends and family to hear this wise and dynamic guest.

Dr. Steve Blake has dedicated his life to helping people understand how easy it is to attain excellent health. He empowers people to learn natural medicine and prevent disease. Dr. Blake earned two doctorate degrees in natural medicine. He was director of the Maui Holistic Health Center on Maui and was the host of a popular radio show, "Natural Health Tips from Dr. Steve." Dr. Steve developed one of the largest databases of natural remedies in the world (and they will be on sale on CDs at this meeting). He also is the author of a dozen major publications including his book, “Healing Medicine, A Complete Guide to Safer Healing.”

To learn more about Steven Blake, visit www.NaturalHealthWizards.com.

Why a Can of Food?
Why do we ask you to bring cans of food for the Food Bank at our meetings?

While we enjoy one of the most privileged lifestyles on the planet, there are hundreds of people in Marin County who cannot afford to eat well without a helping hand. Imagine having to choose between buying new shoes for your children and serving a nutritious dinner. Or paying your rent instead of eating lunch every day. These are real choices that real people face every day in our county.

As Gene Kelley reminds us at every meeting, it takes very little money and effort to toss a few extra cans into our shopping cart whenever we are in a supermarket. Bring those cans to one of our meetings and Gene will be sure they are delivered to the Marin Food Bank. The food bank supplies groceries to people who need them, and donors to the food bank practice generosity in sharing their bounty. As an added incentive, Gene has promised an organic, free trade, vegan, dark chocolate bar to the person who brings the most cans to our next meeting.

Cafe Gratitude Now Open in San Rafael
Dinner Outing There on March 15
Congratulations and thanks to Matthew & Terces Engelhart for the opening of the San Rafael branch of Cafe Gratitude! With two locations in San Francisco and one in Berkeley, we have waited a long time for this popular restaurant to come to Marin. While this is a live food restaurant, it much more casual than the former Roxanne’s. The prices are more reasonable (entrees are $12; desserts $7), it is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and the experience of ordering, being served, and eating at Cafe Gratitude is a festival of gratitude. (If you clean your plate you will see that each plate asks “What are you grateful for?”)

This unique restaurant serves living food (and some cooked grains) in the most creative, delicious and soul satisfying way possible. The restaurant is a celebration of a world of plenty and our aliveness in that world. Every menu item is an affirmation. “I am elated” is the daily enchilada special. “I am abundant” is the sampler plate (with chili con queso with chips, Asian kale-sea veggie salad, hemp seed pesto crustini, live tapenade, live hummus and a mini soup of the day, all served with live crackers). “I am cool” is one of our favorites: a mint-chocolate milk shake made with soft serve, hazel nut milk, raw cacao and fresh mint. The key lime pie - "I am awakening" - is not to be missed!

Cafe Gratitude is an unusual operation. Their web site, www.WithTheCurrent.com, is designed to “support you in practicing keeping your attention on: Loving your life, adoring yourself, accepting the world, being generous and grateful everyday and experiencing being provided for, which we say is access to being in the flow of infinite supply.” Visit the web site to learn more about the Abounding River board game, the recipe book, and the philosophy behind this welcome addition to the dining scene in Marin.

Cafe Gratitude is at 2200 Fourth Street in San Rafael, west of downtown on “The Miracle Mile” at the site of the former Golden Nugget, Dipsea Cafe and Flying Pig restaurant.

Join Alicia Robb and Bay Area Vegetarians for a dinner outing to Cafe Gratitude on Thursday, March 15 at 7 PM. If you plan to come, RSVP by email to Alicia by Tuesday, March 13: Alicia@fsdinternational.org. We are grateful to Alicia for organizing restaurant outings every month and for choosing Cafe Gratitude this month!

John Robbins to Speak on March 17
John Robbins, the author of the new book Healthy at 100 and the classic books The Food Revolution and Diet for a New America, will be speaking on Saturday, March 17 a 3:00 PM at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center, 200 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael. The cost is $20 (suggested donation), and the event is sponsored by the Pine Street Foundation.

No reservations are necessary, but we are urged to arrive early to find parking and seating.

Healthy at 100 looks at four different cultures where the world's healthiest and longest lived people have thrived. John Robbins shows us what kinds of foods, relationships, physical exertion and other characteristics these peoples share, and points us toward how to learn from them to live more fulfilling and healthful lives.

For more information, call the Pine Street Clinic at 455-5878 or visit www.PSFoundation.org

Vegetarian Diets and Global Warming
For another look on how our food choices affect global warming, read the excellent article by Noam Mohr in Dr. John McDougall’s December newsletter. Noam Mohr is a physicist with degrees from Yale and Penn State. He has worked for the New York Public Research Interest Group on global warming, as well as the Humane Society of the U.S. as a state legislative specialist. Visit www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2006nl/dec/globalwarming.htm

I Love Animals and Broccoli Shopping Basket
As a sequel to the coloring book with a similar name, the I Love Animals and Broccoli Shopping Basket is an activity book for kids that promotes respect for vegetarian and other diets that seem different from any child's familiar fare. The best news about the workbook is that it has been approved by the 4-H Marin Farm Day people as a hand-out at our booth this year. To obtain a copy, send five first class stamps to The Vegetarian Resource Group, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203.

New Film About Slavery and Animal Abuse
The following is reprinted with permission from Colleen Patrick Goudreau’s marvelous newsletter from CompassionateCooks.com:

A couple of months ago, I formally recommended the book (and still do!) For the Prevention of Cruelty: The History and Legacy of Animal Rights Activism in the United States by Diane Beers. I'm so grateful to Diane for writing this book and think it's so important to know upon whose shoulders we stand.

Now you can get a little taste of the British animal protection movement. A movie called Amazing Grace chronicles the efforts of British parliamentarian William Wilberforce, a pioneering crusader who was the driving force behind the abolition of slavery in the UK as well as the co-founder for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. I'm very excited to see the film, especially since human rights/black history and animal rights are two issues I care very much about and which are inextricably linked.

Affordable Housing Available for Part Time Nanny
Vegetarian live-in nanny sought for 2 nights a week childcare. Housing would be a whole floor (600 square feet) that includes a private bath, master bedroom and a smaller bedroom. Rent would be $400/month; shared kitchen and laundry. Must have experience as a nanny or preschool teacher. Call Louise at 472-7786.

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or
call 415-459-1666.

We appreciate contributions of any size. We will thank you for a
contribution of $20 or more with a 1-year subscription (or a 1-year
continuation of a current subscription) to VegNews magazine. Send
contributions to Marin Vegetarian Education Group, 12 Rally Ct., Fairfax, CA
93930.
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February 2007
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

We will not be meeting in February.

Next Meeting Will be March 11
We will meet again on Sunday, March 11 for a return visit from Steven Blake speaking on How to Make Medicine Safer. Dr. Blake is the author of Healing Medicine, and an expert on alternative remedies. When he spoke to our group last year, he was engaging, informative, and very well received. Don’t miss him this year! Mark your calendar now for March 11 and watch for the March newsletter for more information. To learn more about Steven Blake, visit www.NaturalHealthWizards.com.

Michele Simon was a Big Hit
Thanks to Michele Simon for an incisive talk about a maddening situation. Food corporations seem to be “on board” with improvements for their customers’ health – such as breakfast cereals boasting whole grains along with their sugar and food colorings, and smaller portion sizes of potato chips – while at the same time they continue to lobby for ineffective or no rules regarding vending machines in schools, advertising to children and other nefarious advantages for the corporations. To learn more about this issue and other ways the food industry undermines our health, pick up a copy of Michele Simon’s book, Appetite for Profit. The good news is that the book shows us how to fight back effectively.

Required Reading
Two important articles were published recently, one about food choices and the environment, and one about food choices, health and nutritionism. The first is a short essay by Kathy Freston and the second a long piece by Michael Pollan. Both are worth reading.

Kathy Freston wrote a wonderful article for The Huffington Post on January 18 about how switching to a plant based diet is better for the environment than driving a hybrid car. This is a well written, pro-vegetarian piece that responds to a United Nations report about the environmental impact of livestock. “...at every scale from local to global,” the report found raising cattle for food to be among the top three significant contributors to serious environmental damage. To read this terrific essay, go to www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/vegetarian-is-the-new-pri_b_39014.html or simply do a Google search on Prius and Vegetarian and Freston.

In the January 28 issue of the New York Times Magazine, Michael Pollan wrote an award worthy cover story about the danger to our health in mistaking nutrients for real food. He discusses in depth the pivotal moment in 1977 when spin and industry first trumped science, leading to the omission of scientific advice to consume less meat and dairy foods. The article talks about packaged food, bad science, political meddling, caloric excess and more. Although this is a particularly long article, it is important and well worth reading in its entirety. Visit http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?ex=1170910800&en=06ba851f35f7fdf3&ei=5070&emc=eta1 or do a Google search on Unhappy Meals and Michael Pollan.

Fast, Easy, Delicious Cooking Class February 7
Marin VEG founder Patti Breitman will be offering her quarterly vegetarian cooking class on Wednesday, February 7 from 7 to 9 PM in Fairfax. Registration is required through the San Anselmo Recreation Department: www.townofsananselmo.org/recreation or call 258-4640. The address and directions will be given upon registration.

The cost is $30 ($26 for San Anselmo residents), and it is free for anyone who has cancer and anyone who cooks for someone with cancer. Everyone must register, and people with cancer must tell the San Anselmo staff that they are cancer survivors.

Discover new cookbooks, easy recipes, ease in the kitchen, and a new understanding of healthy based eating.

Marin Farm Day -We Need Two Volunteers
On Thursday, March 22 from 9 AM until noon, we will be hosting a booth at the twenty-third annual Marin Farm Day. Two volunteers are needed to help at our booth when close to 1500 school children will be coming by to guess by touching only which vegetables are in the paper bags and to name the grains. If you would like to talk to parents and children about healthy food choices, or if you would like to spend some time representing vegetarian choices in a dairy rich environment, this is a unique opportunity. Please call Patti this week to let her know if you can help at the booth: 459-1666.

Last year we made headline news when the coloring book we were handing out was banned for its page that showed a child saying, “Animals are my friends. I don’t eat my friends.”

This year we have been asked to have all our handouts pre-approved, and we believe that the I Love Animals and Broccoli “Shopping Basket” workbook will be approved. In our view it is less controversial and serves to engage conversation among children about their favorite foods and their attitudes about trying new things. Of course it is a publication of the Vegetarian Resource Group (www.vrg.org), so it is very pro-vegetarian, but it does not discuss what not to eat, only what is good to eat. We are awaiting the decision of the 4-H committee who is reviewing the publication.

World Peace Diet on Sale
As a special Valentine's Day offer, Will Tuttle, author of The World Peace Diet is offering the book at a reduced price of only $15 ($5 off the $20 usual price). This includes a signed copy of the book and a complimentary CD of "Living In Harmony With All Life."Shipping is only $2. He suggests that you buy one for your Congressperson or Senator, or your Valentine, friend, family member, or co-worker. We think that’s a great idea! This insightful book explores the consequences of not being willing to look at where our food comes from, and the implications of this denial on world affairs.

If you would like to order The World Peace Diet at this reduced price (good until February 14, 2007), please go to: http://willtuttle.com/WPD.htm

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau in Marin
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, of Compassionate Cooks will be bringing her popular East Bay cooking class to The Marin Humane Society on Thursday, February 15 from 6:30-8:30 PM. Colleen will be teaching a class called “Fast and Fabulous: Demystifying Tempeh and Tofu”. The cost is $40. Rsvp to mlance@marinhumanesociety.org To learn more about Colleen and the invaluable work she does, visit www.CompassionateCooks.com

The Marin Vegetarian Education Group is a 501(c)(3) not for profit and a project of the Veg News Network. While we are grateful for contributions of any size, for gift of $20 or more we will send you a one year subscription or renewal of VegNews magazine. Send a check to the Marin Vegetarian Education Group, 12 Rally Court, Fairfax, CA 94930.
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January 2007
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Next Meeting: Sunday, January 21
6 PM: Vegan Pot Luck Dinner
7 PM: Michele Simon speaking on
How to Take Power Back from the Food Industry

Conference Room at the very back of La Plaza Office Complex
4340 Redwood Highway, San Rafael
Cost: $2 - $5 sliding scale

Come here public health lawyer Michele Simon speak about her new book Appetite for Profit, How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health and How to Fight Back. As health conscious, concerned citizens it can feel that we are fighting a losing battle against junk food, fast food, marketing to children, and other nefarious practices of major food companies. Michele Simon will show us that there are many effective steps we can take to make progress against the industries that want to make more and more money at the expense of our health.

Marion Nestle of New York University describes Michele Simon as “one of the few people I know who has the courage to take on something like this and do it really, really well.” Frances Moore Lappe calls Simon’s book “Clear and convincing,” and urges us to “get reading, get angry, get active.”

The food is always great, and this evening promises to be empowering and interesting. We hope to see you there!

While we will provide paper plates, cups, napkins and plastic forks if you forget, we try to minimize disposable waste by asking you to bring your own reusable tableware. So please bring a plate, utensils (including serving utensils), napkin and cup, plus a vegan dish to share with eight others. Also, a can of soup for the St. Vincent de Paul Society help desk would be much appreciated.

Directions
Take 101 to the Freitas Parkway exit. Go to the service road on the east side of the freeway (Redwood Highway) and continue north, parallel to 101. La Plaza conference center is the second office complex after the light at Professional Parkway. If you come to the bank, you just missed it. Drive to the very back of the complex and look for the well lit conference room.

Two Umbrellas Left at December Gathering
If you lost an umbrella after our December meeting in Fairfax, please call Patti to describe and claim it! She will try to remember to bring them to the January meeting, but your odds of getting it back will improve greatly if you claim it before then. Call 459-1666 if you think one of these is yours.

Vegan News and Comments
Don’t be put off by the name! VeganPorn.com is an interesting web site where astute vegans with attitude post news of interest to other vegans. Comments are encouraged and visitors can correspond with one another. Signing up is free.

FDA Says Cloned Meat and Dairy Safe
As if milk and meat weren't dangerous enough, now the FDA has declared that it is safe to eat the flesh or drink the milk from cows who are cloned. Regardless of how a cow comes into this life, if it is being raised for food it will live a miserable existence, and die a miserable death. And its flesh and milk are not good food for humans. What the FDA calls “safe” contributes to heart disease, cancer, countless digestive disorders, strokes and osteoporosis. (see below). Cloned cows are no safer to eat than any other cow, and all cows are best left off the plate and out of the feed lots.

Quick Refresher on (only some) Horrors of the Dairy Industry.

The Dairy/Veal Connection
1. Cows produce milk for the same reason and at the same time that other mammals do; when they have recently given birth, milk is produced for food for the offspring..
2. Cows must continue to carry a calf to term and give birth frequently in order to continue “giving” milk.
3. If the calf is a female, she too will become a dairy cow. If the cow is a male, he will be sold for his flesh. Veal is the flesh of the male babies of dairy cows.
4. Whether male or female, the offspring of dairy cows are taken from their mothers within 2 days of birth. The milk intended by nature for the offspring is sold to humans.

The Dairy/Osteoporosis Connection
1. Even if the ethical questions could be put aside (and they cannot), milk and cheese are not ideal sources of calcium. The countries with the highest intake of dairy products are the same countries with the highest rates of bone fractures in the older population. How can that be?

2. When too much animal protein is consumed, the blood turns slightly more acidic than the body prefers. To neutralize the acid, calcium is taken from the bones (where we want it) and run through the blood. This calcium ends up excreted in the urine. No matter how much calcium we consume – in dairy or supplements – if we are eating animal protein with our calcium, we lose more calcium from our bones than we retain. This is called being in negative calcium balance. Dairy is a calcium delivery system that is high in animal protein.

3. The strongest mammals on the planet – elephants, horses, water buffalo – all get plenty of calcium without drinking the milk of another species. They do not eat cheese or ice cream and do not drink milk after weaning. Only humans do that. And only humans are subject to the life-long, multi-billion dollar advertising campaigns of the dairy industry. It is not a surprise that we believe strongly in the myth of cows’ milk for humans.

4. Humans are designed to meet our calcium needs the same way other strong mammals meet theirs: by eating dark, leafy greens. Elephants eat shrubs and tree branches, leaves and all. Horses and water buffalo thrive on grasses. Humans thrive on kale, collards, bok choy, broccoli, mustard greens, and other leafy greens.

5. While you won't hear it from the dairy industry, getting enough calcium is only one of many important factors in preventing brittle bones: weight bearing exercise; not smoking; ; limiting sugar, salt, caffeine and alcohol; avoiding animal protein, and eating plenty of dark greens are all effective and necessary steps for bone health.

Hold the Date: Cooking Class
There is neither sacrifice nor suffering in a dairy-free, meat-free diet. In fact, many people find that the variety and flavor of foods are much greater when dairy and meat are off the plate. Next month there will be a great opportunity to learn how to prepare and enjoy delicious, nutritious vegan food without spending all day in the kitchen.

Patti Breitman will be teaching her popular Fast, Delicious Vegetarian Meals cooking class again on Wednesday, February 7 at her home in Fairfax. Registration is required. The cost is $30 ($26 if you live in San Anselmo). Visit www.townofsananselmo.org/recreation or call 258-4640 to register. Or send a check to San Anselmo Recreation Department, 1000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo, CA 94960. Directions will be sent to you after you register. The class often fills up, so register soon to ensure a spot.

Remember Bay Area Vegetarians
Remember throughout the month to visit BayAreaVeg.org to see what outings, dinners, letter writing parties and other events are happening all around the Bay area. If you have not yet joined this terrific group, visit the web site and sign up. It costs nothing and by joining you show the world how large a group vegetarians have become.

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November, 2006
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

November meeting: Thanksgiving potluck in Patricia Murray's Home: Reservations required

Thanksgiving
Celebrate Thanksgiving with gratitude and delight at a potluck dinner at the Fairfax home of Patricia Murray. On Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 23 at 4:00 in the afternoon, gather for a vegan feast that will demonstrate how the earth’s many gifts nourish all our senses. Beautiful, bountiful, delicious and filling food will make this a feast to savor. This will be our only meeting in November, so we hope you will come if you can.

Marin VEG will provide beverages. Guests should bring at least one vegan dish for eight (more if you are feeling ambitious), a plate, cup and utensils, including a serving utensil. There will be no charge, but we ask for a donation of canned food for the food pantry at St.Vincent de Paul’s help desk.

Poetry, music and singing are encouraged, so if you play an instrument, sing, or have a favorite poem, please come prepared to share.

The address and directions will be given when you R.S.V.P. Call Patricia Murray by November 20 to reserve your spot and to get directions to her home: 454-5280.

Other Thanksgiving Dinners
Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco - the most elegant and delicious vegan restaurant in the world - is offering a Thanksgiving Supper from 2:30 until 7:30 on Thanksgiving. The cost is $60 per person, or $30 for children under 10. Reservations are required: 345-3900. Millennium is at 580 Geary Street, at the corner of Jones.

The San Francisco Vegetarian Society will be having its annual Thanksgiving day meal at Millennium restaurant at 11:30, but this is for SFVS members only. Paid reservations are required in advance and must be received by November 17. Space is limited. The cost is $45 per person or $25 for children under 12 (wine and extra beverages beyond coffee, tea and nog not included). Send a check payable to SFVS to Joseph Cadiz, 73 Rondel Place, San Francisco, CA 94110. Call the SFVS veggie hot line for more information 415-273-5481.

Membership in the SFVS is $20 a year (students and seniors, $10). To join, send a check to P.O. Box 2510, San Francisco, CA 94126. Please note that last month’s newsletter had the wrong P.O. box for SFVS. The correct one is Box 2510.

Celebration for the Turkeys at Farm Sanctuary
On Saturday, November 18, Farm Sanctuary will host its annual Celebration for the Turkeys at the sanctuary in Orland, CA. The day included a catered, vegan, holiday dinner and a tour of the farm. Meet the fortunate pigs, cows, and birds who were rescued from slaughter and are now ambassadors for a compassionate diet. Help feed the turkeys their own favorite dinner (cranberries and lettuce) as the media document the way Thanksgiving would be celebrated in a wiser world. The cost is $30 per person. For more information, visit www.FarmSanctuary.org or call (607) 583-2225 ext. 221. Reservations are required by November 10.

Think of the Turkeys
As Thanksgiving approaches people will start wishing us Happy Turkey Day. While there is much to be thankful for on Thanksgiving, the miserable lives and deaths of turkeys are not among them. Turkeys raised for food never have happy days. These birds are caged for life, deformed from selective breeding, and abused by workers at the facilities.

In addition to celebrating Thanksgiving without the corpse of an abused bird on the table, we can take action to help alleviate the suffering of the half a billion turkeys confined and slaughtered for food every year. United Poultry Concerns works year-round to improve the lives of turkeys, chickens, emu, ostriches and other birds that are bred and slaughtered for human use. This extraordinarily focused and effective organization will use every dollar it gets to help domestic fowl. UPC educates people about the abuse of birds in the food industry (and other industries) and about the friendly, curious, and companionable personalities of turkeys whose natural instincts are not thwarted. They support laws to protect birds, keep the media aware of issues concerning birds, publish books that offer compassionate views and recipes, and more. Visit www.upc-online.org to learn more about this unique and caring organization. Click on Turkeys at the top of the home page to learn more about turkeys.

When people ask you what you are doing for Thanksgiving, you can smile and tell them that you are making a contribution to United Poultry Concerns to help turkeys. Contributions can be made at their web site or by sending a check to United Poultry Concerns, PO Box 150, Machipongo, Virginia 23405-0150

November 8th Restaurant Outing
The Marin members of Bay Area Vegetarians have organized a food and fellowship dinner on Wednesday, November 8 at 7:00 pm at Avatar's, 2656 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 94965. RSVP to Alicia Robb at fsdmail@yahoo.com before November 8 if you'd like to join them. This was a popular outing the last time they went to Avatar’s, so RSVP soon to hold a place.

Appetite for Profit
Michele Simon, a public health lawyer and the founder of the Center for Informed Food Choices has written a new book that has just been published: Appetite for Profit – How the Food Industry Undermines Our Health And How to Fight Back. This book should be required reading for intelligent consumers. It is a well written expose of Big Food’s unethical behavior and devious marketing strategies, with wonderful suggestions for stopping them.

Marion Nestle has made it required reading for her public health nutrition class at New York University and Library Journal considers it “an essential purchase . . . recommended as a follow-up to Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation and Marion Nestle’s Food Politics.” Frances Moore Lappe calls it “clear and convincing,” and we agree. Appetite for Profit shows how insidious the food industry is in marketing junk to children, in adding “value” to foods, in packaging empty calories and in “greenwashing” their image – all strategies that work to make consumers spend more, eat more, and get less nourishment. The book explains why we cannot trust food corporations to do the right thing and tells the stories of many local food battles that are taking on powerful food lobbies. One of the best parts of the book alerts us to the misleading names and missions of organizations that allegedly are looking out for our interests, but are, in fact, agents of the food industry trying to end discussion and create confusion about what is genuinely healthy.

The book is a paperback, published by Nation Books, $15.95, and available at bookstores and on line. To read a sample chapter visit www.appetiteforprofit.com.

Café Gratitude
More and more people are discovering the benefits and flavors of living food. Whether you aim for a mostly raw food diet or enjoy raw food alongside cooked food, you will be glad to know that Café Gratitude will be opening soon in San Rafael at the former site of the Dipsea Café and Flying Pigs, on the Miracle Mile between San Anselmo and Downtown San Rafael. This is a popular restaurant with two branches in San Francisco and one in Berkeley. Anyone who wants to invest in this terrific restaurant can join the “Gratitude Builders Program.” You buy a prepaid food card for $1000 and get $1200 credit toward eating at any of their locations. That’s a 20% return on your investment! For more information, visit www.CafeGratitude.com. The food is wonderful, the menu is life-affirming and fun to read, and even receiving your food from the servers is a delight. Every plate asks "What are you grateful for?" We are grateful that the cafe is coming to Marin!

Holiday Raw Food Workshop
Our local living food experts, Dr. Rick Dina and Dr. Karin Dina, remind us that studies have shown that the holiday season is the most challenging time of the year to stay healthy. So, on Saturday November 18th from 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM in San Rafael he is offering a holiday raw food workshop designed to meet the challenges of holiday bloat and mid winter health. In this class, you will learn how to prepare great tasting healthy raw recipes that you can make for all of your holiday gatherings, including delicious entrees and two luscious holiday pie recipes. In addition, you will learn raw food sources of essential nutrients, so you will have answers to questions like, "Where do you get your _____?" (You fill in the blank). You will also learn strategies for keeping the holidays healthy and dealing with social pressures around food.

The investment for this class is $99, but for 2007 the cost for one-day workshops will be increased to $149. This is the last class offered at the 2006 price. Their next workshop is scheduled for March 31, 2007. For more information and schedule details, visit Dr. Dina’s web site at www.rawfooddoctors.com. For registration and questions, please call 415-472-7070, and ask for Dr. Dina.

Potluck with Raw Food
The Marin Raw Food Group meets for a potluck dinner on (usually) the second Saturday of every month from 6 to 9 PM in San Rafael at the Aldersgate Methodist Church, 1 Wellbrock Heights.

Dr. Greger’s New Book
Dr. Michael Greger’s new book about bird flu, is now available, in full, on line. Visit www.BirdFluBook to read the latest on the threat of a flu pandemic and how we can stop it. The advantage of an on-line book is that all the references are hyperlinked, and there are hundreds of full-text articles about bird flu.

Veggie Awards
The 2006 Veggie Awards are announced in the current issue of VegNews magazine. Check out the magazine or visit www.VegNews.com to see what foods, products, people and organizations have been voted the best by vegetarian readers. And congratulations to Millennium Restaurant, voted the best vegetarian restaurant in the country for the fifth consecutive year! (See above for Thanksgiving dinner opportunities at Millennium.)

May you have countless reasons to be grateful this Thanksgiving and every day!

To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or
call 415-459-1666.

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October, 2006

Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Next Meeting: Sunday, October 22
Vegan Potluck and Recipe Exchange, 6 – 8 PM, La Plaza Business Center, 4340 Redwood Highway, San Rafael
Cost: $2-5, sliding scale plus a dish to share

Join us on Sunday, October 22 to exchange recipes and taste one another’s best holiday recipes. Whether it’s a new recipe or an old favorite, we will share what we’d like to prepare for the holiday season. This will give us an entire month to experiment with new recipes at home before it’s time to present them at the holiday table.

Please bring enough food to share with eight others, 8 to 10 copies of your recipe, a plate and utensils, including a serving utensil. Please also bring a can of vegetables, beans or fruit for the pantry at St. Vincent dePaul Society’s help desk.

Directions:
Take 101 to the Freitas Parkway exit. Go to the service road on the east side of the freeway (Redwood Highway) and continue north, parallel to 101. La Plaza conference center is the second office complex after the light at Professional Parkway. If you come to the bank, you just missed it. Drive to the very back of the complex and look for the well lit conference room.

Thanksgiving
Patricia Murray has graciously offered to host a Thanksgiving potluck dinner in her Fairfax home in November on Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, November 23). That will be our only potluck in November. The November newsletter will include the time and RSVP instructions along with other vegan Thanksgiving opportunities in the Bay Area.

Friends of Animals
Friends of Animals has produced two new, wonderful publications. One is an attractive, full color pamphlet called Vegan Starter Guide. It includes well written, short essays on everything an aspiring vegan might want to know about animals, food, clothing, personal products and more. It also includes a section that debunks pervasive myths about nutritional issues, vegan athletes, the cost of a vegan diet and the challenges facing vegans. Best of all, it includes terrific recipes for breakfasts, dinners, and desserts. At the back of the brochure are T-shirts and baseball caps for sale. We like the message: Spare an Animal; Eat a Vegetable.

The second publication is a beautiful, over-sized paperback book called Dining With Friends. It includes 129 enticing vegan recipes, mouthwatering photographs, and a foreword by John Robbins. This book is a perfect holiday gift for yourself or for anyone who likes to cook.

Friends of Animals keeps members up to date on legislation and corporate policies affecting animals, and encourages actions (letters, boycotts) to bring about change. You can sign up for email action alerts on their web site. Membership is $25 ($15 for seniors and students and low income) and contributions of any size are always appreciated.

You can support their work and order the booklet ($2.50) or book ($22.95) at www.FriendsofAnimals.org or by writing to: Friends of Animals: 777 Post Road, Suite 205, Darien, CT 06820. Prices include shipping and handling.

Multi-Pure Water Filters
Maryanna Blair is a longtime supporter of Marin VEG and a distributor for Multi-Pure water filters. She tells us that the company is offering a special promotion – until December 31 – where if you buy replacement filters in advance, you will receive a water filter machine at no cost. There is no interest charged and no finance fee. Buying six filters costs $299.70 and gets you a plastic Aqua Dome Drinking Water Appliance (on the counter). Buying ten replacement filters costs $499.50 and gets you a Stainless Steel Drinking Water Unit for below the sink or on the countertop. These units cost $179.95 and $379.00 respectively, and they come with a filter worth $49.95. When you buy the filters you receive the unit and coupons to redeem for additional filters within the time indicated on each coupon.

To take advantage of this special sale, contact Maryanna at 455-0991.

Organic Athlete
How many times has someone told you, “I used to be a vegetarian, but I’m in training now and I need to eat meat.”? Now, thanks to bicyclist Bradley Saul in Sebastopol, there is an organization called Organic Athlete that puts that myth to rest. Runners, swimmers, bikers, weight lifters and other competitive, successful, healthy, vegan athletes have joined forces to educate people everywhere about the ease, joy, and suitability of an organic, plant based diet for athletes and everyone. While they recommend more supplements than we think are necessary, they are doing an outstanding job teaching others about the benefits of a plant based diet. Visit www.organicathlete.org to learn more about these outstanding, compassionate athletes who are using their brains as well as their bodies and who are opening their hearts (and arteries) by participating in Organic Athlete

World Vegetarian Day
Congratulations to the San Francisco Vegetarian Society for the successful San Francisco World Vegetarian Day celebration last weekend. In addition to our own Dr. Rick Dina (through whose generosity we are able to use the conference room at his office for our meetings – thank you, Rick!), speakers included many helpful and inspiring people who have spoken at our meetings. If you are not already a member of the San Francisco Vegetarian Society, consider joining this effective and active group. A timely reason to join is that only members are invited to attend their annual, private Thanksgiving meal at Millennium Restaurant! Look for details on their web site next month or in the next issue of this newsletter.

Membership is $20 a year ($10 for students/seniors). You can pay through PayPal on line by visiting http://sfvs.org/paypal.php or by sending a check to SFVS, P.O. Box 250, San Francisco, CA 94126.

Portion of House for Sale
If you want to own property in Marin County, but can’t afford it, consider a Tenants In Common arrangement with a delightful vegetarian who owns part of a home in Lagunitas. The co-owner is selling her 60% ownership and Lindsay will retain his 40% ownership of a beautiful home on a beautiful property. This is a duplex-like home, and you would have private space with a private entrance. Seriously interested parties can contact Lindsay at LDP@mcn.org.

Vegan Baking Classes
Bay Area Veg keeps getting better! Now they are offering vegan baking classes with Christine Dickson every month in Mill Valley. For more information, visit http://bayareaveg.org/veganbaking.htm. And if you are not already subscribed to BayAreaVeg, you are missing out on dozens of outings, actions and opportunities. Their monthly newsletter is the best in town, and since they cover the entire, extended Bay Area, it’s the best monthly newsletter out of town, too.

Vegan Radio
The San Francisco Bay Area now has access to Bob Linden’s Go Vegan radio show every Sunday from 9 to 10 PM on KQKE AM (960AM). Listen to interviews with experts, hear from callers, and learn more about living as a vegan. If you can’t listen on Sunday nights, you can listen to old shows at www.GoVeganRadio.com. The show is a 501c(3) not for profit and donations, listeners, and advertisers are needed to keep it going.

To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

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September, 2006

Next Meeting: Sunday, September 24

Favorite Fall Recipes & Summer Stories, Sunday, September 24 at 6 PM

La Plaza Office Complex, Conference Room at the Very Back of Complex,

4340 Redwood Highway, San Rafael, $2 – 5 sliding scale

Please bring a can of food for the St. Vincent DePaul free dining room

Join us on Sunday, September 24 at 6 PM for a vegan pot luck dinner where we will share our favorite foods for fall and tell stories about our summer adventures. Whether you were gardening in the yard, reading a good, new book (or trashy novel), traveling near or far, or working your fingers to the bone, we’d like to hear what you’ve been up to. Participation in the “What I Did This Summer” part of the evening is optional, but we will all be asked to listen attentively. Those who want to talk will be limited to 3 minutes each, with time for follow up questions and conversation after the presentations. This is a wonderful way to meet new people, get to know the people behind the faces you know, and spend some time with others who share your interest in vegetarianism. If you want to show your skeptical friends what vegans can eat, this is a wonderful meal to invite them to.

We meet at 6 PM at the conference room of La Plaza office complex, 4340 Redwood Highway in San Rafael , and we start eating promptly at 6. Please allow enough time to find the room and be ready to eat at 6:00.

Directions:

Take 101 to the Freitas Parkway exit. Go to the service road on the east side of the freeway ( Redwood Highway ) and continue north, parallel to 101. La Plaza conference center is the second office complex after the light at Professional Parkway . If you come to the bank, you just missed it. Drive to the very back of the complex and look for the well lit conference room.

Abundant, ongoing thanks to Dr. Rick Dina for inviting us to use his conference room for our meetings. Dr. Dina offers superb nutritional counseling, chiropractic care and other services for optimal health. Learn more about him by visiting www.vitalityhealthmarin.com.

Vote Now for Veggie Awards

This is the last week to vote for your favorite company, service, column, and restaurant in the VegNews annual Veggie Awards. Visit www.VegNews.com and click on the Vote button to participate. To encourage voting, VegNews is offering terrific prizes in a drawing for everyone who casts a ballot. Prizes include a vacation at a vegan Bed and Breakfast, shopping sprees, and gift baskets of vegan goodies. You do not have to be a subscriber to VegNews to vote (though it’s a great magazine)! Vote today, and tell us if you win one of the prizes.

Web Site Overloaded

Apologies to those who tried and were unable to listen to Will Tuttle’s talk on our web site last month. We exceeded the bandwith allowed for the site, and we set a new record for the number of visits to the site. We are working on getting the talk back up and trying to get more bandwith. Thank you for your patience while we work on this. And thanks to Chris James, Alicia Robb, and Ajay Naik for their technological know how and help.

New Book by John Robbins

John Robbins’ new book has just been published. Healthy at 100: The Scientifically Proven Secrets of the World's Healthiest and Longest-lived Peoples is a fascinating and engaging overview of the countries and cultures where people live actively and well into their eighties, nineties and beyond. Robbins writes with his customary compassion and wisdom to show us how the food choices, work choices, and exercise of these people offer lessons for everyone in developed countries today. There are and have been societies where Alzheimer's disease, cancer and heart disease are virtually unknown. There are and have been countries where strokes and osteoporosis are not found among the elderly. Healthy at 100 is easy to read, persuasive, and delightful. It’s a great book to share with family and friends, as it does not preach. It simply informs, engages and encourages the reader to learn from what works. It teaches us to look at the American way of aging – with its debilitating health crises - as an optional plan, not an inevitability. You can hear John Robbins talk about the book at the World Vegetarian Day celebration and the VegSource Healthy Lifestyle Expo (see below).

John Robbins is the author of Diet for a New America and The Food Revolution. He is the son of the founder of Baskin - Robbins ice cream company, and a passionate advocate for the earth and all its inhabitants. If you have not yet read The Food Revolution or Diet for a New America, you are in for a treat. If you are familiar with those books, you will be especially delighted with Healthy at 100.

Healthy Lifestyle Expo

You may know VegSource as the terrific web site promoting a healthy vegetarian lifestyle. But they are also the sponsors of the Healthy Lifestyle Expo, coming up on Saturday and Sunday, September 23 and 24 at the Burbank Hilton Convention Center in Burbank , CA. John Robbins will be among the featured speakers at this two day conference, along with Joel Fuhrman, T. Colin Campbell, John McDougall, Caldwell Esselstyn, and more. To visit the more than 100 exhibitors is free, and to hear the speakers the cost is $50 per day. For $132, you can hear the Friday speakers as well and enjoy a low fat vegan banquet before the Friday night keynote speakers. For more information and to register, visit www.HealthyLifestyleExpo.com or www.VegSource.com

World Vegetarian Day

Saturday and Sunday September 30 and October 1 are the dates for the World Vegetarian Day celebration in Golden Gate Park , sponsored by the San Francisco Vegetarian Society and In Defense of Animals. Guest speakers include John Robbins, Howard Lyman, Alan Goldhamer, Doug Graham and Joel Fuhrman. The event is free before 10:30 AM and after that the cost is $5. More details to follow, but do mark your calendar now and plan to attend.

The Strength of Many – Compassionate Living Festival

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 6 – 8 in Los Angeles, The Animals and Society Institute and the Culture and Animals Foundation will be presenting the twenty first annual international Compassionate Living Festival. This is one of the few events that recognizes and celebrates the common threads in issues of social justice and animal rights. There will be workshops, talks, exhibits and five vegan meals. Speakers include scholars, activists and artists and representatives from United Farm Workers, Worldwatch Institute, and many effective animal rights groups. Cartoonist Dan Piraro (Bizarro) and Author Jeffrey Masson are keynote speakers. Co-sponsored by Farm Sanctuary, The Humane Society, Lantern Books, VegNews magazine and many other groups working to end human and animal suffering, this conference offers a welcome and invaluable perspective on compassion.

The event is at the Renaissance Montura Hotel, 9620 Airport Boulevard , in Los Angeles . The cost is $169. For more information and to register, visit www.animalsandsociety.org/conference06.htm or call The Animals and Society Institute at 410-675-4566.

August news from the
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

No meeting in August
There will not be a meeting in August. Please visit BayAreaVegetarians (http://www.bayareaveg.org/) to learn what other activities and dinner outings are happening in August. You can also visit their Ultimate Guide, a listing and reviews of hundreds of restaurants in the Bay Area that offer vegetarian and vegan food. Click on "Resources" from their home page and choose Ultimate Guide. Consider subscribing to their excellent organization.

Will Tuttle's Talk on our Web site
Thanks to Will Tuttle for his wonderful presentation to the Marin Vegetarian Education Group in July. If you missed his talk, or want to hear it again, visit our web site: http://www.marinveg.org/. Then click on Guest Speakers. Will Tuttle is the author of The World Peace Diet, a book we wholeheartedly recommend.

Thanks to Jill Harrington (and Ajay) for helping us get Will Tuttle's talk onto our web site.

New Book Expands on Popular Pamphlet
For years we have been handing out and endorsing the booklet 101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian. This excellent brochure is a compilation of 101 short paragraphs explaining why choosing plant based foods is a good idea. Now, author Pamela Rice has expanded each paragraph into a short essay in a new book called 101 Reasons I'm a Vegetarian. It's a well researched, detailed, up to date account of how eating animals is destroying our oceans, our topsoil, our air, our health and our fellow beings. It also covers the benefits of foods from the plant kingdom. The book is $20, but the price is only $16 if you buy it from the publisher's web site: http://www.lanternbooks.com/.

VeganUnlimited
We are fortunate in the Bay Area to have so many farmers' markets, natural food stores and restaurants that provide good vegetarian food. But where do we go to find cruelty free nail polish, cosmetics, pet treats, handbags and shoes? There are a number of good companies offering these cruelty free wares, and one of the best is based right here in Marin County. VeganUnlimited offers gifts, supplements, accessories, footwear, bath products, books, DVDs and more, all without exploiting animals. VeganUnlimited offers superb customer service and a wide selection of items for your home, companion animals and wardrobe. Visit this award winning company at http://www.veganunlimited.com/. (If they don't have what you're looking for, you can also try Pangea at http://www.veganstore.com/)

Hold the Dates
Mark your calendar now for Saturday and Sunday September 30 and October 1. That's the weekend of the World Vegetarian Day celebration in Golden Gate Park, sponsored by the San Francisco Vegetarian Society and In Defense of Animals. Guest speakers include John Robbins, Howard Lyman, Alan Goldhamer, Doug Graham and Joel Fuhrman. The event is free before 10:30 AM and after that the cost is $5. More details to follow, but do mark your calendar now and plan to attend.

July, 2006 News from the
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

Will Tuttle, Ph.D.
Author of
The World Peace Diet;
Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony
And a vegan potluck dinner

Sunday, July 23
6 PM

La Plaza Office Complex
4340 Redwood Highway
San Rafael

$2-$5 sliding scale

Join us on Sunday, July 23 at 6 PM for a vegan potluck dinner followed by a talk by Will Tuttle. Will Tuttle’s new book The World Peace Diet; Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony is one of the best books we’ve seen on the wide-raging implications of our diet. While many books focus on our health, animals, and the environment, this book goes beyond these concerns. It addresses the effect on our culture, government, policies, and future when so many people are in denial of and compliance with a system at odds with what is sustainable and ethical.

The book explains how food is our most intimate connection with the world; how through meals we partake in, promulgate and replicate our culture's values; and how our food choices are taking their toll on our our culture of violence.

From the preface: “By placing humans at the top of the planet’s food chain, our culture has historically perpetuated a particular world view that requires from its members a reduction of essential feelings and awareness – and it is this process of desensitization that we must understand if we would comprehend the underlying causes of oppression, exploitation, and spiritual disconnectedness.”

Will Tuttle has a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley and trained in Korea as a Zen Buddhist monk. He is an accomplished musician and composer as well as an advocate for universal principles for all people of conscience.

Books will be available for sale at the talk. Mark your calendar today, and plan to join us on July 23rd.

Directions:
From 101 take the Freitas Parkway exit. On the East side of 101, go North (left) on the frontage road, also called Redwood Highway. Go 1/2 mile past the light at Professional Parkway, and La Plaza Conference Center is the second office complex on your right. Drive to the far back of the conference center, behind the last buildings, and look for the well lit conference room. We start promptly, so please come a few minutes early.

Gourmet Vegetarian Cooking Classes for Longevity from Healing Cuisine
Meredith McCarty, director of Healing Cuisine, will be offering three cooking classes in July on three Monday evenings: July 10, 17 and 24 from 6:00 to 8:30 PM at the Homestead Valley Community Center, 315 Montford Ave., Mill Valley (off Miller Ave., near Whole Foods Market).

The cost is $65 per class or $150 for the series. To register, visit www.healingcuisine.com and click on Classes, or call (415) 381-1735.
To receive the recipes only, the cost is $10. Go to www.healingcuisine.com and click on Classes.

Organic Tummies For Parents on the Go
A new local company, Organic Tummies, uses only organic ingredients to create seasonal fresh and frozen baby food. Additionally, they use no nuts, honey, meat/fish, gluten, or dairy, just a little water is used to steam the produce and cook the grains. The owner, Meredith Calhoun, reminds us that the ingredients and offerings will change with the seasons. Among the current offerings are purees of five different vegetables; mixed vegetable purees, and four “Textures” such as Soy Rice Puddin’ with Apples; Tofu Din Din (tofu carrot, spinach white potato, soy milk, nutritional yeast); Lentil & Rice “Loaf” and more. If you are looking for a GMO-free, pesticide-free alternative to brand name baby food, check out Organic Tummies at the Civic Center farmers' markets or contact them at www.organictummies.com.

Dr. Michael Greger’s Lists
In his handout called Stopping Cancer Before it Starts, Dr. Michael Greger lists the top twelve cancer fighting superfoods. At the top of the list are green vegetables. Here is the complete list, foods to include in your diet to reduce your risk of cancer:
1. Green vegetables
2. Oats and other whole grains
3. Berries
4. Garlic
5. Yams
6. Beans
7. B-12 fortified nutritional yeast
8. Ground flax seeds
9. Miso and other soy products
10. Green Tea
11. Shitake mushrooms
12. Nuts

He also lists the Top foods for Antioxidant Content:

1. Walnuts
2. Pomegranates
3. Sunflower seeds
4. Blackberries
5. Cranberries
6. Blueberries
7. Dried Apricots
8. Ginger
9. Raspberries
10. Prunes

For more information and other food lists, visit www.DrGreger.org

Those Annoying Stickers
When you buy fruit that has stickers stuck to it, you ought to know how to read those stickers. The price look-up code (PLU) is a key to how the produce was grown. According to the Produce Marketing Association, if there are five digits starting with 8, the produce was genetically modified. If there are five digits starting with 5, the produce was organically grown. If there are only 4 digits, the produce was grown conventionally (neither genetically modified nor organic).

What’s Wrong With Milk?
In an article from the spring issue of Health Science magazine, Dr. Alan Goldhammer writes about some of the most compelling scientific evidence showing that dairy consumption is strongly associated with the following conditions:
1. Childhood onset (type one) diabetes
2. Constipation
3. Ear Infection
4. Sinus congestion and Rhinitis
5. Skin problems (rashes, dermatitis, eczema, hives and acne)
6. Asthma
7. Digestive disturbance (Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Crohns’s disease)
8. Arthritis and joint pain
9. Cancer
10. Obesity

Health Science magazine is the quarterly publication of the National Health Association (formerly Natural Hygiene) and is distributed free to all its members. The NHA is a not for profit, national organization that promotes a plant based, whole foods diet. To join NHA, visit www.healthscience.org

Thanks to Dr. Rick Dina
Again we offer our gratitude to Dr. Rick Dina of the Vitality Health Center in San Rafael for sharing his conference room with us for our meetings. When you come to our meeting on July 23, be sure to introduce yourself to Dr. Dina and thank him for his ongoing generosity. To learn more about Dr. Dina and his classes, workshops, nutritional consulting and more, visit www.VitalityHealthCenter.com

Thanks to Jill Harrington and Kary Selman
Abundant thanks to Jill Harrington who, for the last few years, has mailed this newsletter to the people who do not use email. We greatly appreciate her dedication to keeping everyone abreast of vegetarian news in Marin. Jill is the author of The Lupus Recovery Diet and the creator of the DVD Healthy Cooking Made Easy and Delicious. If you know anyone with lupus or any other autoimmune health concern, send them to www.lupusrecoverydiet.com to learn more about these tools for healing.

Thanks also to Kary Selman who, starting this month, will be taking over from Jill in mailing the newsletter. Kary is a student at College of Marin and joined us last year for our trip to Animal Place. We are delighted and grateful that she has volunteered to keep the newsletter going out.

Beating the Heat – with Watermelon Juice
As we write this newsletter Marin County is experiencing a record breaking heat wave. While we highly recommend watching the film with Al Gore about global warming - An Inconvenient Truth - we also recommend that you stay well hydrated during this warm time of year. For a quick, cool and refreshing drink we like watermelon juice. It takes just one ingredient and three easy steps: Buy an organically grown seedless watermelon, cut it into small chunks (no rind) and blend them in the blender. You can strain the mixture for a thinner drink, but it is not necessary (and would eliminate fiber). Watermelon juice is naturally sweet, delicious, packed with vitamin C and a good source of vitamin A. Additionally, watermelon and its juice are a great source of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that can reduce inflammation and neutralize free radicals. Here’s to a sweet, well hydrated summer!

Do It Now
You have just about reached the end of this newsletter. Have you marked your calendar for 6PM on July 23? You will not want to miss Will Tuttle’s talk – or the delicious food at our potluck dinner. So before you read your next email, take out your calendar or your personal digital assistant and schedule in our next meeting now!

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To contact us, write to VegetariansInMarin@earthlink.net or call 415-459-1666.

We appreciate contributions of any size. We will thank you for a contribution of $20 or more with a 1-year subscription (or a 1-year continuation of a current subscription) to VegNews magazine. Send contributions to Marin Vegetarian Education Group, 12 Rally Ct., Fairfax, CA 93930.

June News
Marin Vegetarian Education Group

There will be no meeting in June.
We will meet in July with Will Tuttle speaking on his new book The World Peace Diet. Watch for details early in July.