In the News | Earthsave Canada

In the News...

March 2010

Manure Now One of America's Biggest Pollutants
That excess manure gives off air pollutants, and it is the country's fastest-growing large source of methane, a greenhouse gas.
And it washes down with the rain, helping to cause the 230 oxygen-deprived "dead zones" that have proliferated along the U.S. coast. In the Chesapeake Bay, about one-fourth of the pollution that leads to dead zones can be traced to the back ends of cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys.

Film Showing Today: Fowl Play
Fowl Play illuminates the plight of factory-farmed laying hens through interviews with people who are fighting diligently to save them and introduces us to animals who survive the system.
This film is screening in downtown Vancouver next Saturday. See Non-Earthsave Events, below, for more information.

Lawsuit claims Fish Oil Omega-3 supplements contain industrial chemicals
Big surprise. We've loaded the oceans with PCB pollution. Use algal long-chain omega 3's (e.g. http://www.v-pure.com/ ) and this cannot be a problem...
The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco Superior Court on Tuesday, alleges six U.S. manufacturers and two drugstore companies failed to warn the public that products made from fish or shark oil - long toted as a source of Omega-3 fatty acids - contained polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds.

Neal Barnard, M.D.: Settling The Soy Controversy
"After years of research, science is weighing in. Here is what the studies show."

The Wrong Kind of Green Organization
"Groups like Conservation International are among the most trusted "brands" in America, pledged to protect and defend nature. Yet as we confront the biggest ecological crisis in human history, many of the green organizations meant to be leading the fight are busy shoveling up hard cash from the world's worst polluters--and burying science-based environmentalism in return."

Making macaroni and cheese, vegan style
"Thiamin (B1): 640%
Riboflavin (B2): 565%
Niacin: 280%
Vitamin B6: 480%
Folic Acid: 60%
Vitamin B12: 133%"
Tastes good, too.

February 2010

Too Bad To Be True: Are Farm Animals Really Responsible for 51% of Global Warming?
In a word, "no." But that said, depending on how one figures methane's role in global warming, animal agriculture turns out to be responsible for 25 to 30% of the problem. (pdf file).

Fowl Play
Fowl Play illuminates the plight of factory-farmed laying hens through interviews with people who are fighting diligently to save them and introduces us to animals who survive the system.
This film is screening in downtown Vancouver next Saturday. See Non-Earthsave Events, below, for more information.

Breaking The Link Between Meat, Manliness
The unprecedented and rising rates of meat consumption are significant factors in the malnutrition of almost a billion people worldwide.
Movie stars, athletes, artists, popular novels, commercials and the like might be our best hope of transforming the next generation of (North) American boys from Ford F-150 driving, quarter-pounder-devouring beings into something far healthier and more environmentally acceptable.

Neal Barnard, M.D.: Settling The Soy Controversy
"After years of research, science is weighing in. Here is what the studies show."

From Oceans to Ozone, Earth's Life Support Systems At Risk
"The demands of nearly 7 billion humans are stretching Earth to breaking point. To what extent do pollution, acidifying oceans, mass extinctions, dead zones in the sea and other environmental problems really matter?"

Making macaroni and cheese, vegan style
"Thiamin (B1): 640%
Riboflavin (B2): 565%
Niacin: 280%
Vitamin B6: 480%
Folic Acid: 60%
Vitamin B12: 133%"
Tastes good, too.

Hannah Teter, Gold-Medal Snowboarder, Carves a Meaningful Life
"What you might not expect is for her to donate her Olympic winnings ($25,000), plus all her other prize money since 2008 (almost $75,000 from some 10 events), to charity. While growing up in Belmont, Vermont, a town she says had "more deer than people, Teter, 23, developed a reverence for the greater world."
"I went vegetarian after watching Earthlings," she tells the world.

The price of environmental destruction? There is none
"Putting a price on nature becomes meaningless if we treat the ecosystems upon which we depend as mere commodities with a price for trading"
See also World's top firms cause $2.2tn of environmental damage, UN report estimates

Jatropha biofuels: UK investors sell controversial crop as 'green'
“UK fund managers are selling investments in jatropha plantations as a wallet-swelling, planet-saving financial bonanza. But the reality for poor farmers is very different.” And UK financial firms are far from alone in pushing this extremely nasty stuff.
See also Jatropha biofuels: the true cost to Tanzania

Color of Climate Change speaker encourages students to become vegans to help the earth’s climate
"Converting land can release large amounts of greenhouse gases when vegetation is cleared. Plowing also exposes carbon stored in the soil to the air. In the lumbering jargon of emissions experts, these effects are known as indirect land use change." Best action? Minimize the use of all fuels.
See also Why don’t people engage climate change? Problem 1: Environmental Literacy

China using 'mind blowing' amount of fertilizer
"Overuse of nitrogen fertilisers in China is leading to rapid soil acidification and is causing lasting damage to ecosystems, according to soil study." In this, they are not that different than us ... just doing the damage a little faster.

Going vegan: Tackling an ever-growing stack of cookbooks
"When I decided to adopt a vegan diet, I worried that I'd have a hard time finding enough inspiration to challenge me as a dedicated home cook. So I popped into Powell's Books, and instantly realized that the problem wouldn't be a lack of resources, but sorting through all the vegan cookbooks that are already out there."

Celebrate Black History Month with Green Eco Chef Bryant Terry
"Bryant Terry is not your average vegan chef. Not only does he cook tasty meat-free meals, but he also juggles the role of award-winning author and food justice activist. So yes, one could say that he has all the right ingredients to be the Top Green Chef of all tim"

Eating on a dollar a day pays off for duo
“The project, which began as a way to cut food bills, led to worldwide discussions on the food justice movement and landed the couple a lucrative book deal.”

Questions About Biofuels’ Environmental Costs Could Alter Europe’s Policies
"Converting land can release large amounts of greenhouse gases when vegetation is cleared. Plowing also exposes carbon stored in the soil to the air. In the lumbering jargon of emissions experts, these effects are known as indirect land use change." Best action? Minimize the use of all fuels.
See also New Report Warns of Biofuels' Impact on Food

86 percent of dolphins and whales threatened by fishing nets
"A new report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) finds that almost 9 out of 10 toothed whales—including dolphins and porpoises—are threatened by entanglement and subsequent drowning from large-scale fishing operations ."

"Love at First Bite" Vegan Valentine's Day Dinner Recipes
The recipes include:
Artichoke and tomato bisque (complete with an easy cashew "cream" recipe)
Pine nut and basil crusted gardein(TM) chick'n scallopini over braised escarole blood orange beurre blanc
Hot Italian banana peppers stuffed with fresh herb risotto and soy mozzarella with fresh basil lime sauce

Going vegan gives a lot of green bang for the buck
"While not everyone can afford a hybrid car, solar panels or new energy-efficient appliances, reducing/eliminating the consumption of eggs, dairy products and meat is a cost-cutting measure from which we can all benefit."

Agricultural antibiotic use contributes to 'super-bugs' in humans
“It is well known that a high rate of antibiotic prescribing in hospitals contributes to the emergence of drug resistant bacteria. But for some antibiotics, an even more important factor contributing to such emergence is the use of antibiotics in agriculture…”

Professor Attempts to Convert Palin to Veganism - One Letter at a Time
Very soon, a letter from the University of Waterloo history professor should be landing in Sarah Palin’s postal box in Alaska.

The Prius-driving vegan vs. the meat-eating bicyclist: Who is the better environmentalist?
"While there's hardly anyone who could claim to be a perfect environmentalist, a moment of reckoning is probably in order for those of us who still make only minimal dietary choices."

Super Bowl of Dips
These vegan (with one exception) dips tend to be low-fat and high fiber.

January 2010

Haiti Emergency Relief
Food for Life Global is collecting funds for the Haiti disaster to support a comprehensive vegan food relief effort in the area. Please send donations now to help in this effort.
For more donation options, see http://www.cbc.ca/haitirelief/

Earthlings Playing at Vancouver Public Library, Downtown
EARTHLINGS is the most comprehensive documentary film ever produced on the correlation between nature, animals and human economic interests. The film is narrated by Academy Award® nominee Joaquin Phoenix and features music by platinum-selling recording artist Moby.
2:00 today (Saturday Jan. 30th), Vancouver Public Library, dowtown branch (Alma Vandussen room, lower level) Doors at 2pm, film starts at 2:30pm

Smarter Than You Think
The animal kingdom is home to much greater intelligence than has been previously acknowledged, with scientists seeing evidence of human-like traits everywhere.
See also If you think a crow is giving you the evil eye…

Is Whole Foods With the Organic Revolution or Against It?
"Whole Foods ... seems bent on frustrating consumer expectations, while craftily confusing conscientious consumers and limiting their revolutionary potential."

Why are BC's Collapsed Salmon Runs Getting Sustainability Certificate?
There's a federal judicial inquiry underway to find out why British Columbia's Fraser River sockeye salmon runs collapsed in 2009, but an international organization is within weeks of certifying the sockeye fishery as ecologically sustainable.

Eating Vegan: Answering the Egg Question
"While I can’t promise that there’s a reasonable vegan equivalent for something like deviled eggs, there are lots of options to satisfy your eggy desires without any animal products!"

One quarter of US grain crops fed to cars - not people - in 2009
"Continuing to divert more food to fuel, as is now mandated by the US federal government in its renewable fuel standard, will likely only reinforce the disturbing rise in world hunger." Canada has passed a similar mandate.

Grass-Fed Beef Won’t Save the Planet
"Beef consumption, whether grass-fed or grain-fed animals is neither healthy for the planet nor for humans. Reducing or eliminating red meat—whether grass or grain fed—from one’s diet is one of the easiest way to “save” the planet."

If bears were like humans, what a world this would be!
Ruben Boling's Tom the Dancing Bug turns the tables on humanity. I shudder to think what would happen if battery cage chickens were like humans, if feedlot cattle were like humans, if...

Celebrate Robbie Burns Day with Vegan Haggis
This stuff is delicious. Kinda rich, though. Not exactly sure it's good for you.

The Year in Meat
Erik Marcus' charts a year of progress in loosening industrial agricultures cruel hold on so much of what we eat.

Jonathan Safran Foer Speaks on Eating Animals
"This gentle man, with his reasonable message and his factual book, sheds light on the horrors of factory farming and the global destruction it causes."

Study compares greenhouse gas emissions from free-range, factory farmed cattle and sheep
All generating dangerous amounts methane, contributing very substantially to global warming.

What is Nutritional Yeast and How Does it Taste?
Nutritional yeast has a relatively strong flavor that is somewhat similar to that pungent taste found in cheese...

The Ecological Impacts of Animal Agriculture
"Numbers sometimes tell a story better than words can. First: 86 million. That's the number of acres planted with corn in the U.S. Next: 4.35 million -- the total number of U.S. acres planted with vegetables (130,000 of those acres are broccoli)...."

Food labels to show 'carbon footprint' under British government plans
Supermarket food will be clearly labelled to show its carbon footprint as well as country of origin and animal welfare standards as part of efforts to transform the British diet.

True sustainability needs an ethical revolution
"Society is a ship whose engine is technology and rudder is ethics; history bears plenty of witness to the wrecks caused by technologies that developed ahead of ethics. There is no reason to think sustainability is any different."
See also After this 60-year feeding frenzy, Earth itself has become disposable

Foer's Manifesto
Let's face the chilling truth, author says in exposé on eating animals

This Cat May Be The World's Most Inefficient Water Drinker
O.K. This really doesn't belong here. But a little levity can't hurt anyone and this cat is awfully cute.

Tennessee Town Passes Historic Sustainable Food and Climate Legislation
"The historic passage of the U.S.’s first Green Food Resolution in Signal Mountain, Tennessee marks a major milestone in the country’s effort to reduce its national climate “foodprint” — a more significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions than all transportation systems combined."

Vegetarianism and veganism on the rise in the US
Five percent of women aged 18 – 34 classify themselves as vegetarian, and 12 percent of women 18 – 34 say they do not eat red meat.

Pressure rises to stop antibiotics in agriculture
"Because of poor regulations and oversight of drug use in industrial farm animals, consumers in the U.S. do not know what their food is treated with, or how often," she said. "Nor is there a system in place to test meat for dangerous antibiotic resistant bacteria.

One man's beef with meat
"If someone told you that a particular corporation was trashing the air, water and soil; causing more global warming than the transportation industry; consuming massive amounts of fossil fuel; unleashing the cruelest sort of suffering on innocent and sentient beings; failing to recycle its waste; and clogging our arteries in the process, would you say, “Hey, that’s personal”?"

With these brownies, doing 'without' is no sacrifice
"This recipe from Alicia Silverstone's "The Kind Diet" is whole grain and vegan, but tastes decadent."

In the News: Archives 2009

In the News: Archives 2008

In the News: Archives 2007