"Vegan Vitality" members to offer forum on ethical eating Aug. 9

HOUGHTON -- Joanne Thomas, along with fellow "Vegan Vitality" group members, Anne Haywood and Gretchen Janssen, will give a forum on the purpose, philosophy, mission and activities of this area's vegan-interest group at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9, at the Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (KUUF), located in the BHK Building in Houghton.

The health, environmental, economical and ethical reasons for our society to make attempts to eat more plant-based foods, as well as common myths about vegans, will be discussed.

"We wish to offer the community a source of education, sharing healthful eating ideas, support and the promotion of more plant-based eating," Thomas explained.

Vegan snacks will be available for coffee hour. The event is free and open to the public.

The following is an article on "Ethical Eating" by Joanne Thomas, reprinted in part with permission from the KUUF newsletter for August 2009:

Ethical eating in the Unitarian Universalist community involves many topics, including hunger, free and fair trade, environmental sustainability, community supported agriculture, vegan/vegetarian diets and the ethical treatment of animals in our food chain.

In pondering the "interconnectedness" of our eating practices, habits and customs, I saw the "meatless-eating" topic to be highly connected to our health-care crisis (which is connected to our economic crises), to our global warming crises, as well as to ethics.

The meatless diet appears to be one apparent solution to our many social/global problems, yet the subject often appears to be avoided or minimized. I would guess that may be for the following reasons:

1. The meat industry is such a prominent and powerful force in the U.S. and in western society.
   
2. Americans are a highly compassionate people and are intentionally left incognizant of the factory farm abuses.
3. There are many false stigmas associated with being a vegan as well as labeling between meat-eaters and vegans.
4. The habits, social customs and traditions in meat eating are so deeply ingrained in various life styles that adopting a more plant-based diet seems uncomfortable, perplexing and subject to scorn from peer groups.

Our objective in offering this forum is to attempt to narrow the gap in understanding among all perspectives on the subject, as well as offer this simple message: the idea that each and every attempt at increasing the amount of plant-based foods in our diets -- and decreasing the amount of meat-based food items -- will have a direct effect at improving our health, helping our environment and reducing factory-farm animal abuses. Adjusting one's diet alone, to any degree, and in any comfortable way, will be a contribution to solving our many impending problems; and it doesn't even require money or effort.

Education, support, community and sharing the surprising good taste of plant-based meals are the ideals of the Vegan Vitality group. Folks of all diets are welcome to participate in the group's activities with freedom from any pressure or adverse attitudes about their food choices. We are a welcoming, inclusive and respectful advocacy group for healthy ethical eating.