Ultimamente mi capita spesso di discutere on-line e di persona a riguardo il vegetarismo , perchè ormai tutti si sentono in diritto di commentare questa scelta. Mi vengono poste maggiormente domande stupide, scontate, inutili e soprattutto curiosità su legende metropolitane, che purtroppo prendono per vere. “E’ vero che senza la carne si muore?”, ma quei due miliardi, circa, di popolazione mondiale che segue una dieta vegetariana/vegana non è ancora sparita, quindi probabilmente non è mortale. Ora non mi interessa raccogliere tutte le casistiche o le affermazioni che sento, ma almeno invitare la gente a non aggredire, per paura, chi ha fatto una scelta differente dalla loro. La più assurda è “ma quanti problemi bisogna farsi per mangiare”, appunto ma che te frega? Sei tu che devi criticare la nostra di scelta, sei tu che ti fai problemi, nessuno ti ha chiesto nulla. Il numero aumenta ogni giorno, sfioriamo i 7 milioni solo in Italia, quindi le preoccupazioni aumentano e si attacca. Ma vi pare normale? Invece di migliorare la convivenza trovando una via comune, si cerca di reprimere, senza nessun dato alla mano , ma ricchi di tante idee popolari . Molti si credono aperti ad ogni cosa, ma in realtà sono i primi che ostacolano questo percorso, senza cogliere il fuoco che stanno alimentando. “basta che nessuno mi rompa, ognuno può fare quello che vuole”, queste le parole dei più, senza pensare però che un vegetariano non può disporre di un menù in una mensa pubblica, di una scelta in un qualsiasi ristorante, fastfood, bar, ecc, ecc, quindi vorreste che non aprissimo bocca per richiedere un panino con le verdure? Chi è che rompe secondo voi? Organizzazioni come l’A.D.A ha finalmente dato parere positivo alla dieta vegetariana o vegana, se equilibrata, come dovrebbe essere quella non-vegetariana, ma si continuano a sfoggiare luoghi comuni, magari nati in discussioni casalinghe, come fossero legge.

Figli

La questione che più trovo più arrogante è quella che riguarda i figli, in cui molti si trovano contrari a dover obbligare la proria prole a non mangiare carne o pesce, dimenticandosi però che loro invece obbligano a mangiarla. Dove sta la retta via? Obbligando o no? Farla mangiare è tanto ingiusto quanto non farla mangiare è impossibile trovare un punto di equilibrio. Molti giustamente dicono che dovrebbero essere i figli a scegliere da grandi, ma nel frattempo gli hai obbligati a mangiarla, quindi? Quante le famiglie che non vogliono concedere questa possibilità di scelta? Tantissimi, voi la chiamereste democrazia? La strada più giusta? Insomma quello che voglio dire in soldoni è che se si cominciasse a pensare alla propria di vita, invece di essere sempre pronti a giudicare quella altrui sarebbe sempre ora e tempo.

Si predica bene e si razzola male

Mi fa ridere, perchè l’Italia è tra le nazioni con il numero maggiore di obesità infantile, quindi essere criticato da chi, magari, non riesce neanche a gestire una dieta non-vegetariana per se e per la propria famiglia è inacettabile.

New York, 2 nov. (Apcom) – Prima venivano usati i topi. Gli scienziati però avevano bisogno di animali più simili all’uomo e sono passati alle scimmie. Nel lungo viaggio verso Marte gli astronauti saranno esposti a radiazioni. La Nasa ha pensato: meglio testarne prima gli effetti su altri esseri viventi, il più possibile vicini all’uomo. Sono cominciati così degli esperimenti controversi in un laboratorio di Long Island. Le cavie sono 28 scimmiette amazzoniche. Gli animalisti sono infuriati.

“Ce n’era bisogno”, dice Jack Bergman, un farmacologo dell’università di Harvard. “Questi astronauti affrontano rischi enormi. E’ importante sapere quali sono le conseguenze di un viaggio nello spazio profondo”. Le scimmie saranno colpite con piccole dosi di radiazioni. Soprattutto sarà studiata la reazione del loro sistema nervoso centrale e come cambierà il loro comportamento nel tempo. L’esperimento non è letale. Ma è certo che gli animali si riprenderanno solo dopo lunghe cure.

Le associazioni animaliste, a cominciare da People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), sono scioccate da questa iniziativa. “Gli esperimenti radioattivi della Nasa su questi primati sensibili e intelligenti”, commenta Justin Goodman, responsabile delle ricerche di Peta, “segnano l’inizio di un altro sfortunato capitolo nella lunga storia di abusi di questa agenzia”, riferendosi alle decine di scimpanzé uccisi dalla Nasa negli anni ’50 per testare caschi e missili.

Fonte : Tendenze on-line

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I hope that President Obama, the members of Congress, and the rest of us will
all consider going meatless one day of the week. Pie-in-the-sky thinking?
Maybe, but I hope not. We only have one earth and we should try to do whatever
it takes to save it.

Heather Moore has written yet another very worthwhile article on Care2
called “Are Meatless Mondays Going Global? I think the best way I can condense
her article is by asking some thought-provoking questions for which- in my
opinion, she has very good answers.

1. Did you know that going vegetarian for at least once a week is becoming
the “green” thing to do in some countries? Israel began promoting Vegetarian
Monday in their upscale restaurants. Paul McCartney is spreading the message
in Britain and Australia and just recently the city of Ghent, Belgium urged its
citizens to eat vegetarian on Thursdays. Way to go!

2. Did you know that not surprisingly- we in the US are lagging behind in
adopting this concept? However, kudos to Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
which is sponsoring Meatless Mondays to help Americans eat healthier. This
will also help the environment and animals as well. The less meat we eat – the
less green house methane gas expulsed into the air. Also fewer animals will
need to suffer as a result of our intensive CAFO farming and slaughtering methods.
We can also help to halt water pollution as well.

3. Did you know that if meat-eating patterns don’t change -the world wide per
capita meat consumption is expected to rise by 14 per cent in 2030. And when
you factor in population growth- the rise equates to an increase of about 53
percent in global net consumption. Not at all what we need to lesson the continued
threat of global warming from the significant amounts of methane production by
the animals.

4. Did you know that ‘”The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook” states
that “refusing meat” is the “single most effective thing you can do to reduce your
carbon footprint?” But I have to interject here – how many of us truly care? How
many people even bother to read enlightening posts such as the one by Heather
Moore and others of her ilk? I don’t think even President Obama has given this
much thought either. How to get to him? What about his cabinet? What about
Congress? I think they pretty much are daily meat eaters with the one exception
that I know – my own congressman- Dennis Kucinich who is a vegan. Does
anyone know of any other exceptions? If our leaders don’t feel the need to curb
global warming by eating less meat – what kind of example are they showing to us
their constituents? Ms. Moore suggests we don’t wait for any politician to
designate a vegetarian day and that we should pick one ourselves. She even thinks
that once we mastered one day a week – we may “graduate” to two and so on.
What an optimistic thinker! God bless her.

5. Did you know that Care2 has a site where you can sign ”our vegetarian for a
month” petition? You’d be surprise – sometimes just such a signing may start
you on a course of hopefully no return to the over-eating meat habit. And Heather
even steers us to a place for recipes and product suggestions: www.VegCooking.com.

And lastly, I have to reply to a comment which asked – How is this a new concept?
The writer says “that the Catholic Church has suported meatless days as long as
I have been alive. They are certainly global and have lots of followers. I believe
1.3 billion Catholics was the last count.”

Well, whoever wrote that comment must have been born after 1966 when the Pope
at that time took away the obligation of 52 MEATLESS FRIDAYS each year for
Catholics. What an impact that would have made if that Pope had not lifted the
meatless Friday ban. Goes to show you Popes don’t always make wise decisions.

The 7 meatless Fridays during Lent we now observe are hardly comparable to the
impact of the the 52 meatles Fridays of the past. If we had been observing meatless
Fridays -can you imagine how many animal lives would have been spared? Can
you imagine how much less methane green gas would have been expelled into the
air since then?

Since I’m a vegan, I don’t have to pick a day – but if I did – I would choose Friday
again as remembering the day Jesus died on the cross.

I have been concerned about animal suffering ever since
I received my first puppy Peaches in 1975. She made me take a good look at the animal kingdom and I was shocked to see how badly we treat so many animals. At 77, I’ve been a vegan for the past 30 years and I thank God every day that I am. I am most disturbed at how little the Catholic Church and Christian churches generally give to concern re animal suffering in their ministry. I wrote to 350 bishops in 2001 and only 10-13 responded. I feel that the very least they can do is to instruct that the priests give one sermon a year on compassion to animals. I am still waiting for that sermon. I also belong to Catholic Concern for Animals – founded in England in 1929. (They are on the internet) I recently sent a sample copy of their bi-monthly publication called the ARK to the 8 Catholic bishops of Ohio. Only ONE kindly responded. Somehow we have to reach the Christian teaching magisterium. There is next to nothing re animal concerns and compassion for them. They basically believe that animals are the lesser of God’s creation and that gives us the right to do anything we want to them. Way wrong. We need to change their mindsets. The animals are God’s first and He expects us to treat them compassionately.

Fonte : OpEdNews

Fonte : La stampa

Although not a vegetarian, I have a longstanding interest in vegetarian eating. It has been fascinating to observe this pattern of eating become more widely accepted and understood. I think it would be fair to say that long ago, when I was studying nutrition at university, many people in that field looked askance at vegetarianism, viewing it as a fad that put people at risk of nutritional deficiencies. Since that time, more people in our western culture have chosen to be vegetarians, and many who are by no means vegetarian include plant-based dishes in their meals regularly. It’s been documented that a well-planned vegetarian diet can certainly support good health, and vegetarianism is viewed as one of several sensible choices. Brenda Davis, a registered dietitian who has been a vegan for decades and has written several books on the topic, including “Becoming Vegetarian” and “Becoming Vegan,” both co-authored by Vesanto Melina, presented a session at the Dietitians of Canada conference held in Charlottetown recently. Her talk was about the blunders that people who choose to eat a vegetarian diet sometimes make and how they can easily be corrected. The first blunder she discussed was assuming that a person can get enough protein on any vegetarian diet. People can fall short of meeting their need for protein when their diet is of poor quality or inadequate in quantity. Amino acids are the components of that proteins are made of, and there are some amino acids that humans cannot manufacture in their own bodies and therefore need to consume. All of these are available in plant foods. Davis says it is important to eat a wide variety of whole plant-based foods during the day, aiming for two to three servings of legumes or legume-based foods daily. Another blunder is to replace meat only with cheese and other dairy products. Many people see these foods as good meat substitutes because of the protein content. However, they lack the iron and zinc that meat are rich in, and therefore shouldn’t be the sole substitute. Better choices are chickpeas and lentils. Certain nuts and seeds are also good, especially pumpkin seeds. For best absorption, iron-containing foods should be eaten with fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamin C, such as citrus, tomatoes and peppers. Certain foods contain compounds called phytates that can reduce iron absorption significantly; wheat bran is the most concentrated source of phytates. Davis recommends that people who stick to a strictly vegetarian diet to get their fibre from whole grains rather than supplementing fibre intake with wheat bran. Likewise, tannins from regular tea can interfere with iron absorption, making it preferable for vegetarians to drink herbal tisanes with meals and save tannin-containing teas for at least one hour after eating. It can also be a blunder for vegetarians to ignore calcium. Though seldom an issue with vegetarians who consume milk products and eggs, it can be a problem for vegans. This can have major consequences for bone strength. Davis recommends vegetarians consume 6-8 servings per day of calcium-rich foods, and says that good sources of plant-source calcium are kale, broccoli, turnip and mustard greens, as well as tofu that is made with calcium sulphate, legumes and fortified soy beverage. Although spinach, beet greens and swiss chard contain calcium, it is poorly absorbed. Getting enough vitamin D is another important consideration. In Canada, we cannot count on sunshine to support our Vitamin D status, especially in winter. As most food sources of vitamin D are animal-based, vegans need to be especially watchful. There are plant-source vitamin D supplements that can be useful for them, as well as foods that are fortified with vitamin D. People who avoid animal products need to pay attention to their vitamin B12 intake, as whole plant foods are reliable sources of the vitamin. Using Red Star nutritional yeast is a good way for vegans to supplement vitamin B12. Meat analogs and fortified ready-to-eat cereals can also be helpful sources. It was clear, from Davis’ talk that people who consume vegetarian diets can easily gain all the nutrients they need for good health, as well as enjoy the advantages afforded by vegetarian eating. This is best done by learning about how to make healthy choices, rather than simply eating a “standard” non-vegetarian diet without the meat. The generous use of legumes, vegetables and fruits and regularly consuming a variety of foods seems to be key to success. For advice about healthy eating, as a vegetarian, contact a registered dietitian for a personal consultation or consult a publication from a reliable source. Margaret Prouse, a home economist, can be reached at RR#2, North Wiltshire, P.E.I., C0A 1Y0, or at prouse@pei.sympatico.ca Questo indirizzo e-mail è protetto dallo spam bot. Abilita Javascript per vederlo. .

Fonte : The guardian.pe.ca

Traduzione con Babelfish

SNA has tracked vegetarian meal choices in schools since 2003 as part of the School Nutrition Operations Report conducted every two years. The series of Reports, based on surveys of 1,200 school nutrition directors nationally, found that the number of schools offering vegetarian meals rose from 22.3% in 2003 to 63.9% in 2009 and increased over 12% since 2007. The 2009 Report also found that 20.5% of school nutrition programs offer vegan meal options (no meat, dairy or animal products). Additionally, these types of meal options are most common at the high school level and least common at the elementary school level. Vegetarian school lunches include entree salads and veggie pizza with whole grain crust as well as beans and rice, chef salads with yogurt and sunflower seeds, cheese stuffed shells, vegetable hoagies (with 2 cheeses, red and green pepper strips, cucumber, lettuce, and tomato) and lentil sauce with pasta.

While the 41.6% increase in vegetarian meal options available in schools has been dramatic over the past six years, challenges remain. SNA member school nutrition directors identified cost of vegetarian items as a significant barrier to making these choices available. Currently school nutrition programs receive $2.57 in federal meal reimbursement for each lunch served to students qualifying for free school meals. The average cost to prepare a school lunch during the present school year is estimated by SNA to be $2.92. Incorporating more whole grains, fruits and vegetables into meals often adds to the food and labor cost. The School Nutrition Association is calling for an increase of 35 cents in the federal school lunch reimbursement as part of the 2009 child nutrition reauthorization process in Congress.

Source
School Nutrition Association

Fonte : Medical News Today

Traduzione con Google-Translate

Ancora una volta i sostenitori della Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), tra i più noti gruppi animalisti al mondo, protestano per difendere i diritti degli animali. Stavolta, eccoli tutti nudi e sdraiati sotto la torre Eiffel per protestare contro la corrida e gli spettacoli, nei quali si sacrificano gli animali.

Fonte : ANSA

Fermate questi assassini!!

(ANSA) – ROMA, 16 GIU – L’omosessualita’ e’ un ‘comportamento’ universalmente presente nel mondo animale. Lo rivelano numerosi studi americani. Dai vermi alle rane, passando per gli uccelli, i moscerini e molti mammiferi fino a noi, praticamente ogni specie ha comportamenti omosessuali. E’ quanto emerge dall’analisi di numerosi studi sull’omosessualita’ condotta da Nathan Bailey dell’universita’ di Riverside in California e pubblicata sulla rivista Trends in Ecology and Evolution.

Fonte : ANSA
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