EarthSave Baltimore

Earthsave Baltimore E-News: Earth Friendly Food Choices

"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.
~Norman Vincent Peale~

Hi Earthsaver,

Here’s the latest news from Earthsave Baltimore. We are a completely volunteer operated nonprofit that helps people make healthier, earth friendly food choices. There’s lots of good stuff to report!

We’re excited to see the groundswell of interest in healthier eating. Hope that you’ve been watching “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” on TV. Jamie has been doing wonderful work with school lunch programs in Huntington, West Virginia, the city that had been designated as the fattest in our nation. And it’s great to see author Michael Pollan drawing huge audiences for his talks, most recently at Goucher College, about why we need to move away from our current system of industrialized agriculture. Michael’s documentary, “Food, Inc.”, was shown on PBS television just last week.

Hope you’re planning to join us on May 1st for Earthsave’s 5th annual Earth Friendly Food Choices speaking event (not a potluck) at the Women’s Club of Catonsville. This month we won’t be having our usual potluck event in Owings Mills. Instead, we’re giving folks the chance to hear presentations from two of the premiere speakers in the world!

We will have author and nutrition researcher T. Colin Campbell, PhD, speaking on "The China Study: Redefining Good Nutrition". Dr. Campbell is the nutritional biochemist from Cornell University who served as director of the prestigious Cornell/ Oxford/ China Health Project, which is best known as The China Study, the research project that provides some of the best scientific evidence available to show the health benefits of shifting toward a whole food, plant-based diet.

This is the most comprehensive large study ever completed on the relationship between diet & lifestyle and disease. Dr. Campbell’s book, “The China Study”, details the results of that huge project and explains why this eminent researcher has concluded, from his nutrition career of more than 50 years, that the consumption of animal products, especially dairy protein, causes more cancers than does any chemical carcinogen.

Our first speaker of the evening will be Bruce Friedrich, Vice President of PETA, and author of “The Animal Activist’s Handbook”, who will speak on “Veganism: The Only Diet for a Small Planet”. Friedrich spearheaded the PETA campaigns that resulted in reforms in the animal treatment practices of several huge fast-food corporations. Bruce Friedrich will share his vision of the importance of veganism and animal rights in the moral and spiritual evolution of human beings. We hope that you will join us on this very special evening.

There’s still time to order your tickets in advance and save $5 per ticket. You may order online or by mail. You may also purchase tickets at Your Prescription for Health, in Owings Mills, the Yabba Pot, on St. Paul Street, Emily’s Café & Desserts, near Sinai Hospital, and breathe books, in Hampden.

I‘m real pleased with the article I wrote for the new issue of On Purpose Woman. You can pick up a copy for free in most public libraries in the Baltimore and surrounding areas. The article text is included in this newsletter; there’s also a link that will let you see the entire April/May magazine issue.

Our next Veg Dinner Series potluck in Owings Mills will happen on May 29, and will feature a viewing of a PBS presentation by nutritional researcher Dr. Neale Barnard about his successful dietary program for preventing and reversing diabetes.

And here’s a reminder that we will soon begin our radio ad campaign. Please see the article below, check out our survey, and let us know which messages you find the most compelling.

Hope to see you soon! Be well!

Peace, Don Robertson

5TH ANNUAL EARTH FRIENDLY FOOD CHOICES speaking event will be held at the WOMEN’S CLUB OF CATONSVILLE on Saturday, May 1st, from 5:30 until 9:00. The event will feature two of the most popular and respected speakers that we could hope to present.

T. COLIN CAMPBELL, PhD, will speak on “Redefining Good nutrition” (talk begins at 7:30 pm) T. Colin Campbell, PhD, nutritional biochemist from Cornell University, has become one of the world’s most recognized nutrition authorities. Dr. Campbell is convinced that diet is by far the most potent weapon we have against the chronic degenerative diseases that are responsible for taking the vast majority of lives in this country each year.

Dr. Campbell was the lead researcher in the Cornell/ Oxford/ China Health Project, which surveyed a total of 170 villages in rural China and Taiwan to determine the relationships of diet and lifestyle to common diseases. This work became known as the China Study (published in 1990), and is regarded as the most comprehensive study of diet, lifestyle and disease ever completed. The New York Times called the China Study, "the Grand Prix of Human Epidemiology." This research suggests that even small increases in the consumption of animal-based foods are associated with an important increased risk of disease.

Study results seem to indicate that the more animal protein and fat we eat, the greater our risk for developing cancer, hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, kidney disease, osteoporosis and autoimmune diseases.

Dr. Campbell was raised on a dairy farm and began a research career of more than five decades with the intention of improving nutritional efficiency in animal agriculture. Over the years his focus shifted toward learning how eating animal protein, especially dairy protein, encourages cancer growth and threatens human health.

He’s been a major contributor on national and international food health policies, and has published hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific papers. Dr. Campbell has concluded, from a lifetime of research, that the consumption of animal products, especially cow milk protein, causes more cancers than does any chemical carcinogen.

Dr. T. Colin Campbell recently co-authored a book, The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted, and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health.

ANIMAL PROTECTION ADVOCATE BRUCE FRIEDRICH will speak on “Veganism: The Only Diet for a Small Planet” (talk begins at 6:00 pm) Bruce Friedrich, who is the Vice President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), has a wonderful way of communicating about food issues from a variety of perspectives, including the spiritual dimensions relating to the way we eat. Bruce spearheaded the PETA campaigns that resulted in landmark reforms in the animal treatment practices of several huge fast food corporations, and was named by Details magazine as one of the five most influential young men in this country. He recently co-authored “The Animal Activist’s Handbook”.

An exceptional speaker, Bruce Friedrich offers powerful facts to support a compelling message about the single most effective thing we can do to address the problem of climate change. But it doesn't stop there; his answer to climate change (the vegan diet and lifestyle) also provides one of the best ways we can deal with chronic illness; and it offers by far the best way we can reduce animal suffering. Bruce teaches with compassion and wit and shares his powerful vision of the importance of veganism and animal rights in the moral and spiritual evolution of human beings.

There’s a downloadable event flier available at http://earthsavebaltimore.org/node/47 which can be used to invite others to attend.

This event will include book sales and signings by both featured speakers. The evening will begin with complementary light refreshments at 5:30 pm, and the educational program will start at 5:50. Tickets are now on sale for $20 in advance, or $25 at the door. You may order tickets by sending a check or money order to Earthsave, 517 Talbott Ave., Lutherville, MD, 21093. Or order your tickets online at http://tinyurl.com/yl5h98o. Tickets are also available at Your Prescription for Health, in Owings Mills, the Yabba Pot, on St. Paul Street in Baltimore, Emily’s Café & Desserts, in Baltimore near Sinai Hospital, and breathe books, in Hampden.

"A MENU OF LOVE" is the title of Don Robertson's article in the April/May issue of On Purpose Woman Magazine:
What if one simple action had the power to change our lives and the lives of many others in deep and profound ways… I’m convinced that our food choices have that kind of power.

I believe that all creatures share a desire to experience joy and to be in loving relationships. I think that’s why I found it so repugnant when I learned from my mother, at the age of three, that we kill animals for food. I’d always thought of animals as our friends. And of course we don’t kill our friends and eat them, do we? That’s when my lifelong admiration for vegetarians began. (You may view full article and entire magazine issue at http://onpurposenow.com/opnmagazine/opn-4-2010.pdf. Article is on pages 8 & 17. Or you may read the article (text only) at http://earthsavebaltimore.org/node/53)

EARTHSAVE VEG DINNER ED SERIES: On Saturday, May 29th, from 6-9 pm, Earthsave will feature a video screening of the PBS production "Dr. Neale Barnard's Program for Preventing & Reversing Diabetes". Until Dr. Barnard’s scientific breakthrough, most health professionals believed that once you developed diabetes, you were stuck with it—and could anticipate one complication after another, from worsening eyesight and nerve symptoms to heart and kidney problems. Dr. Barnard’s dietary program has demonstrated that this is not true. Event details are at http://earthsavebaltimore.org/node/45.

JOHN ROBBINS’ EARTH DAY REFLECTIONS: 23 years ago in 1987, John Robbins wrote Diet for a New America, a groundbreaking book that made the connection, among other things, between dietary choices and environmental devastation. It became an international bestseller which prompted John to found our organization, EarthSave. The book is still selling well today because it is more relevant with each passing year, and John is still one of the most important and articulate advocates for a green, compassionate, healthy world. John was recently profiled in the Good Times Santa Cruz Magazine. You may read the full article at http://bit.ly/bzHfIV

EARTHSAVE HEALTHIER EATING RADIO AD CAMPAIGN has the potential to help awaken large numbers of people to the tremendous impact our food choices have on personal and planetary health. The messages will point out the wide-ranging advantages of shifting toward a whole food, plant centered diet.

Ads will run during prime time, 8am-8pm, on four popular Baltimore FM radio stations, 100.7, 104.3, 101.9, and 105.7. Each station will run ten 30-second ads per month, for a total of 120 ads over a three month period. Earthsave will use five different messages, and you can help us decide which ones to include. Please look over our suggested ads at http://earthsavebaltimore.org/ and pick the five that you find personally most compelling. Then email the topic titles to Baltimore@earthsave.org, or leave us a phone message at 410-252-3043.

If you’d also like to help out by making a donation toward this project, please do so here. http://tinyurl.com/ykuyl97. Or you may send a check or money order payable to Earthsave, 517 Talbott Ave., Lutherville, MD, 21093, with the note "Radio Ads" in the "for" space. Thanks for your assistance in moving the important project forward!

MONTHLY VEG DISCUSSION GROUP MEETUPS are casual and are held in restaurants over great vegetarian food. Attendance is usually around 8-20 people, and discussions include a wide variety of topics that support people in making healthier choices in diet and lifestyle. There are two different groups, one vegan and one vegetarian. The vegetarian group currently meets on the first Sunday at noon at the Kathmandu Kitchen in Towson, and the vegan group meets on the third Wednesday, at 7 pm, at Mr. Chan in Pikesville. Both groups welcome all who are interested in learning about healthier eating. For details, or to register and let others know you plan to attend, go to http://vegetarian.meetup.com/9/, or to http://vegan.meetup.com/29/.

COWS ON DRUGS: By Donald Kennedy; Op-Ed piece originally published in New York Times; April 17, 2010
(Donald Kennedy is the former Commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration)

Now that Congress has pushed through its complicated legislation to reform the health insurance system, it could take one more simple step to protect the health of all Americans. This one wouldn’t raise any taxes or make any further changes to our health insurance system, so it could be quickly passed by Congress with an outpouring of bipartisan support. Or could it?

More than 30 years ago, when I was commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration, we proposed eliminating the use of penicillin and two other antibiotics to promote growth in animals raised for food. When agribusiness interests persuaded Congress not to approve that regulation, we saw firsthand how strong politics can trump wise policy and good science. (Read full article at http://earthsavebaltimore.org/node/64)

VEGETARIAN SUMMERFEST AT JOHNSTOWN, PA, which will happen July 7th through 11th, is one of the very best educational events available on the veg/vegan lifestyle. Meet lots of friendly, like-minded people, and hear some of the best speakers on the planet. It’s a very pleasant 185 mile drive through rolling hills from Baltimore to the campus at Pitt/Johnstown, and we’ll be happy to help set up carpools. Learn more by going to http://vegetariansummerfest.org/

EARTHSAVE MEMBERSHIP is a great way for you to contribute to our important educational mission. All members may receive a free 12-issue subscription to Vegetarian Times magazine and Earthsave’s national bi-monthly newsletter. Folks who attend meetings may check out books from our well stocked EarthSave Library, they may place literature on our networking tables, may make a brief announcement to the group, and receive discounted attendance fees and EarthSave bookstore prices. You may join our group online at http://www.earthsave.org/, or you can send a tax-deductible check for $35, or $50 for family membership, or $25 for student or senior, to EarthSave at 517 Talbott Ave. Lutherville MD, 21093. Thanks for your kind support!

PLEASE REMEMBER to be the peace that you wish to manifest. Be well!

EarthSave … May all be fed, may all be healed, and may all be loved.

Baltimore Chapter events http://earthsavebaltimore.org/ Call us at 410-252-3043, or email us at Baltimore@earthsave.org