EarthSave Baltimore

Earthsave Newsletter: Earth Friendly Food Choices

“Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way."
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. –

Hi Earthsaver,

Here’s the latest news from Earthsave Baltimore, an all-volunteer nonprofit that helps people make Healthier, Compassionate, Earth Friendly food choices. We hope you will consider supporting our vital work by becoming an member, or by renewing your membership. Your annual dues support local chapters and the wonderful work Earthsave International is doing with their 30-day Meals for Health intervention program, which helps low-income participants reduce their health care costs, and puts them on a path of wellness and recovery with a low-fat plant-based diet. EarthSave is guided by the philosophy of our founder, author John Robbins: “May all be fed, may all be healed, may all be loved.” Membership info is included below.

We enjoyed a beautiful day and had a great time at third annual Baltimore Vegfest this year! The turnout was the biggest by far, with perhaps 2000 attendees enjoying the great speakers and venders and wonderful food! Can’t wait for next year’s event. Sending out a special thank you to organizers Kate St. John and Aaron Ross, of Humane League of Baltimore. Thanks also to UMBC Vegetarians.

We’re looking forward to several exciting Earthsave veg dinner events. Our May 25th dinner in Owings Mills will feature a screening of an outstanding documentary - Forks Over Knives, which is probably the best presentation we’ve seen on the health benefits of a plant-based diet. Hope you will join us!

Our June dinner will feature a screening of “Genetic Roulette”, a documentary that points out the dangers of producing and consuming genetically modified foods, which are made by altering and combining the building blocks of life from various plant and animal species. We’ll see why mandatory labeling of GMOs is so important.

And the one talk – the one that we all look forward to each year – Dr. Michael Greger’s annual update on nutrition research - is scheduled for July 27th. Dr. Greger’s talks are always loaded with fascinating and surprising info. And the good doctor never fails to bring levity and wit into the room. Can’t wait for that one! Hope to see you then!

And please come and hear my May 26th talk “A Menu of Love: Earth Friendly Food Choices”, at the Sunday services of One Wisdom Fellowship, a nondenominational spiritual center on Greenmount Avenue in Baltimore. I always enjoy the welcoming atmosphere and friendly folks there, and I’m especially looking forward to their annual Seeds of Peace festival on June 9th. Good vibes and great music! Be sure and visit the Earthsave information and book sales table.

Our veg Meetup discussion groups at restaurants continue to be very popular. Hope you will join us soon!
Be well!

Peace… Don Robertson

VEG DINNER SERIES Saturday, May 25th, 6-9 pm: vegan potluck in Owings Mills will feature a screening of the film documentary "Forks Over Knives", which examines the profound claim that the nearly all of the most common chronic diseases can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. Forks Over Knives focuses primarily on the careers of T. Colin Campbell, PhD, and Caldwell Esselstyn, MD, the nutrition researchers whose work inspired President Clinton to shift to a total plant-based diet in order to reverse severe cardiovascular disease. Forks Over Knives may well be the single best presentation on the health benefits of a whole foods, plant-based diet. Please RSVP and join us!

NEXT MONTH: Saturday, June 29th, 6-9 pm: vegan potluck in Owings Mills will feature a documentary screening of "Genetic Roulette". Pesticide manufacturer Monsanto has been experimenting with our foods… combining DNA from various plant and animal species, and patenting the resulting species. The US Government says there’s no need to label these modified foods. The film shows evidence to the contrary, especially concerning the health of children. Join us if you can!

MONTHLY VEG DISCUSSION GROUP MEETUPS are casual and are held in restaurants over great vegetarian food. Discussions include a 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 Meetup meets and enjoys the wonderful vegan cuisine of The Land of Kush at 840 N. Eutaw St. Baltimore, MD 21201, 410-225-5874 in downtown Baltimore, on the first Sunday at 12:30 pm. And the Vegan Meetup gets together at Mr. Chan Szechuan at 1000 Reisterstown Rd. in Pikesville on the third Wednesday at 7 pm. 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/.

REGISTERED DIETITIAN MARK RIFKIN: Those with questions about nutrition and meal planning might like to contact dietitian Mark Rifkin, who lives in Baltimore and has been vegan for 27 years. Mark loves his work and especially likes helping folks shift toward the veg/vegan lifestyle. He also focuses on plant-based nutrition for various chronic diseases and conditions, including diabetes, weight management, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, gout, women's health concerns, cancer, and early stage kidney failure. New Earthsave members are entitled to a free half-hour consultation with Mark. See webpage at http://preventivenutritionservices.com/. Contact Mark at preventive_nutrition@verizon.net, or call 410-764-8343.

HELPFUL BOOK ON DAIRY AND HEALTH - "WHITEWASH" by Dr. Joseph Keon: North Americans are among the least healthy people on Earth. One in three Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and 50 percent of US children are overweight. This is largely due to chronically poor diet and lifestyle choices. Nutritionist Dr. Joseph Keon shows how North Americans unwittingly sabotage their health every day by drinking milk. Earthsave founder John Robbins says "Whitewash is the best book yet written on the subject." http://www.amazon.com/dp/0865716765

VEGETARIAN SUMMERFEST is a wonderful educational conference in Johnstown, PA. The five-day event will go from July 3rd through 7th, 2013, and will feature the very best speakers and educational opportunities on veg/vegan lifestyle. It gives us a chance to connect with like-minded people and enjoy a nice variety of wonderful vegan cuisine! People are still raving about last year’s event, which set a new record with more than 800 attendees. See http://vegetariansummerfest.org/ Hope to see you there!

FREECYCLE.COM provides a real helpful service that finds new homes for our serviceable but currently unused items. Freecycle will list any items we have to give away, which of course will help slow the growth of landfills. We may also create “Wanted” listings for any items we might like to have. Those who would like to have our discarded item will contact us by email and tell us when they will be able to pick it up. Most Freecyclers will then leave the item on their porch for pickup. Our experience with this service has been very favorable. Here’s a link to a local Freecycle listing http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecyclebaltimore/.

Did you know that beef cattle feedlots typically use 12 pounds of corn, oats, and soybeans to produce just one pound of meat... So we're using twelve times the amount of resources it takes to grow plants for human consumption. That means 12 times the amount of land, 12 times the amount of water, 12 times the amount of fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, and fuel for farm machinery, to mention just part of the waste. The inefficiencies of animal agriculture account for the fact that we now utilize 80% of American farmlands to grow feeds for "livestock" animals, while animal products provide only about 27% of our food supply.

Did you know "The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that men and women obtain 5% of their calories as protein. This would mean 38 grams of protein for a man burning 3000 calories a day and 29 grams for a woman using 2300 calories a day. This quantity of protein is impossible to avoid when daily calorie needs are met by unrefined starches and vegetables. For example, rice alone would provide 71 grams of highly usable protein and white potatoes would provide 64 grams of protein.”
- John McDougall, MD, Clinical Nutritionist & Author –

Did you know that our number one killer, heart disease, is caused almost entirely by diet... Meat and dairy consumption was drastically reduced in Norway during the Nazi occupation. That dietary change resulted in the lowest rates of heart disease ever known in Europe. The end of the war brought a return to the old dietary patterns which led once again to high heart disease rates. http://www.heartattackproof.com/

One Wisdom Fellowship – nondenominational Sunday services - May 26th at 10:30 am, will feature Earthsave Baltimore founding director Don Robertson, who will speak on "A Menu of Love: Earth Friendly Food Choices", about the wide-ranging impact our food choices have on the environment, our health, and all life on Earth. Don will point to some of the best evidence favoring a shift to a whole foods, plant-based diet. The church is located at the corner of Greenmount Ave. and 39th St. http://onewisdomfellowship.org/

Seeds of Peace Community Festival - Sunday, June 9, 2013, from 12–5 pm – on the church grounds at One Wisdom Fellowship. This is a fairly small but pleasant event that we think you will enjoy. There will be live music, delicious food, children’s activities, community groups, visual arts, Kirtan, poetry readings, drumming circle (join the fun and bring your drum!), and more! Arrive Early! Celebrate peace at our 10:30am meeting inside with special keynote speaker. And please visit the Earthsave Baltimore tent for free info on healthier, earth friendly food choices. For information, call Dennis Sutton at 410-584-2574 or info@onewisdomfellowship.org. Visit them on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/SeedsOfPeaceCommunityFest See church website at http://onewisdomfellowship.org/

RICHMOND, VA, VEG FESTIVAL! Saturday, June 15, 2013 - Noon to 6:00 pm
Azalea Gardens at Bryan Park http://www.veggiefest.org/

NOTES TO EDUCATORS AND ACTIVISTS: Letting go of attachment to results is a difficult but powerful principle for vegetarian, vegan, and animal advocates. When we've learned the lesson, we can address non-vegans with the intent to only speak our truth, and not to convince others of it. The first step to incorporating this principle, this tool, is to fully accept the reality that it is not within our power to "convert" others. We are all at different stages of consciousness. And some are more ready than others to hear our messages of nonviolence, peace, and reverence for life. So we make our best effort to give them helpful information, and we listen carefully in order to learn how we might best support them in taking their next step toward a healthier, compassionate diet and lifestyle. Then we relax and trust them to use that information as they will. It's a powerful understanding, one that brings a heightened sense of ease, tranquility, and peace.

RECOMMENDED READING… These titles are available at Earthsave’s book sales table at all potlucks and tables at fairs, as well as in most bookstores and libraries.

“Food Revolution” by John Robbins; offers well-documented info on the wide range of compelling reasons to adopt plant based diet, including health, ecology, hunger, animal protection, and spirituality.

“The China Study” by T. Colin Campbell, PhD; provides powerful scientific evidence on the link between diet and the most commonly fatal chronic diseases. The China Health Study is the most comprehensive large study ever completed on the relationship between diet and disease.

“The New Becoming Vegetarian” by Vesanto Melina, RD & Brenda Davis, RD, is a popular, comprehensive manual, with recipes, for optimal nutrition at all stages of life.

“The World Peace Diet” by educator, pianist, and Zen Buddhist Master Will Tuttle, PhD, who sees the inherent violence in animal agriculture as root cause of oppression, exploitation, spiritual disconnectedness, and war.

PLEASE BRING EMPTY INKJET & TONER CARTRIDGES to Earthsave and Meetup events for recycling. Our nonprofit group is compensated for every cartridge we turn in. Thanks so much!

EARTHSAVE BALTIMORE FACEBOOK GROUP is a great place to go to connect with like-minded people for recipes, discussion, and support on plant-based eating. And it’s also a great place to share success stories. http://www.facebook.com/groups/EarthsaveBaltimore

EARTHSAVE MEMBERSHIPS help us continue our important educational mission. Members receive a free 12-issue subscription to Vegetarian Times magazine. And there are special benefits, including reduced attendance fees, for those who attend our monthly educational dinner series. New members also get a free half-hour consultation with Registered Dietitian Mark Rifkin. Join online at http://tinyurl.com/7e88ndb, or send tax-deductible check for $35. ($50 for family membership; $25 for student or senior) to “EarthSave”, 517 Talbott Ave. Lutherville MD, 21093. Thanks for your support!