VEGETARIAN SUMMERFEST 2014 LESSONS LEARNED ★ 40th Anniversary Celebration ★

VEGETARIAN SUMMERFEST 2014LESSONS LEARNED

★ 40th Anniversary Celebration★

What I learned about the vegan lifestyle and…

•Nutrition and Health• Environmental Impact• Ethics and Animal Rights

Nutrition and Health Sessions

• Conquering Food Cravings– Dina Aronson, MS, RD

• Nutrition: A Forgotten Medical Science– T. Colin Campbell, PhD

• Vegan and Vegetarian Diets and Disease Risk– Brenda Davis, RD

• The Autoimmune Epidemic– Wes Youngberg, DrPH


• A New HealthCare Delivery Model– Baxter Montgomery, MD

• The Pillars of Health– John Pierre

• Cardiovascular Counterattack– Brenda Davis

• Exciting Successes for Healthy School Foods– Amie Hamlin


• Ten Tenets to Optimal Health– Julieanna Hever, MS, RD

• Combating Common Diseases with Plants– Michael Greger, MD

• New Reasons to Go Dairy-Free– Mark Rifkin, RD

• Movement: It’s What’s for Dinner– Stephen Esser, MD


• Vitamin D and Health– Wes Youngberg, DrPH

• Tackling Diabetes– Neal Barnard, MD

• The Psychology of Joyful and Sustainable Diet Improvement– Howard Jacobson, PhD

• Including Wild Edibles in Our Diet– George Eisman, RD


• Gut Health and Probiotics– Jill Nussinow, RD

• What Vegans Need to Know About Gluten– Joann Farb

• The Latest in Nutrition 2014– Michael Greger, MD

• Stress, Emotions, Food, Adrenals, Caffeine, and Blood Sugar– Wes Youngberg, Dr.PH

Nutrition and Health Summary

• Protein consumption is over-emphasized• Funding for nutrition research accounts for

only 3-4% of medical research• WHO: Diet and lifestyle responsible for 70% of

deaths in US and 63% worldwide; recommends shift to plant-based diet

• Lifestyle trumps genes (Ornish): 5-10% genes and 90-95% lifestyle/diet


• Blue Zones – people live to be 90+ in good health; common factor – plant based diet, especially legumes

• Harvard (2012 study): One daily serving of meat increases mortality 13-20%

• Levine (2014 study): Animal protein intake >20% of calories = 74% increase in mortality and 4X increase in cancer death; no effect for high plant-protein diet


• Institute of Medicine (2010 study): PBD associated with significantly lower risk of stroke and heart disease

• Oxford (2013 study): Followed 45,000 people for 12 years; PBD eaters were 32% less likely to develop CVD; 28% less likely when BMI factored in

• Adventist Health Study: 73,000 people; Heart disease 55% lower among vegans; 24% lower among vegetarians


• Inflammation: CRP levels 0.58 in vegans; 0.75 in endurance athletes

• Plaque: Carotid arteries of vegans healthier than omnivore runners (average 30 miles a week for 15 years)

• Couch potato vegans are healthier than athletes!

• …but why not do both


• Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn – new 2014 study: PBD more effective for reversing heart disease than any medication

• World Cancer Research Fund recommendations: – PBD– 5 daily servings of non-starchy fruits and veg– Eat legumes daily– Findings: Vegans’ cancer risk 20% lower; vegetarians

11% lower


• Diabetes • Harvard (2013 study): Increase of 0.5 serving of meat

daily = 48% increase in diabetes• Diabetes risk for vegans is 62% reduced• Rate of diabetes among vegans = 2.9%• Diabetes is primarily a food-based disease – not

genetics• PCRM Study: participants ate unlimited amounts of

vegan food and no exercise – lost an average of 12 pounds in 6 weeks.


• Amount of neurotoxins we get from sprayed fruits and vegetables is far less than the amount in meats (even organic)

• Toxins in animal products are strongly associated with neuro-degeneration (Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia)

• Processed meats – highest category for inflammatory foods

• High meat consumers have 21X the risk of neurological disorders (including MS)


• There is only one chronic illness – and that is poor nutrition

• Chronic illnesses are essentially food-borne illnesses

• The public and healthcare professionals are misled about nutrition – even dieticians are trained to perpetuate meat and cheese myths

• 70-85% of fats in fish are the unhealthy kind (omega 3)


• What you remove from your diet is more important than what you add.

• Can’t undo the bad effects of eating animal products by eating more fruits and vegetables.

• Bad food is a thief in your body.• Myth: Everything in moderation• Dr. Baxter’s clinic: After 4 weeks of PBD,

significant improvement at cellular level


• 16 totally vegan schools in NYC• New federal laws and regulations related to

school lunches: soy products count as protein; water must be served with all meals

• Food is the most powerful control you have over your entire life.

• The healthier you eat, the better food tastes• Eat the rainbow (minimum 7 servings fruits and

vegetables) and 1.5 cups legumes daily


• Choose whole food sources instead of processed oils (olives, avocadoes…even greens have healthy fat!)

• Commit to 3 weeks to remove all refined sugars. Use whole food sweeteners (dates)

• Multiple sclerosis caused largely by consumption of animal fat; most effective MS treatment by far is PBD; MS and RA shown to be reversible on PBD

• Legume consumption is most significant predictor of longevity.


• 90% of heart disease…• 90% of diabetes…• 60% of cancer…• …can be prevented with PBD• Milk = opiate of the masses; cheese has

concentrated amounts of morphine• Dairy products block beneficial effects of

phytochemicals; Ca from milk not absorbed; trigger for arthritis


• 21 days is enough for your taste to change• Use transition foods (veggie burgers, etc.)• Be careful about adding too much gluten – 60% of

Americans carry gene to become gluten sensitive (untreated gluten sensitivity can develop into other AI diseases – Lupus, diabetes, osteoporosis) but gluten does not cause nearly as much inflammation as animal products do.

• $60 billion = cost of healthcare attributed to meat and dairy eating

• Vegan athletes: Carl Lewis, Serena Williams, Patrick Baboumian (World’s Strongest Man)

Environmental Impact Sessions

• Cowspiracy: Film Screening– Keegan Kuhn, Film Director and Howard Lyman

• Vegetarian Responses to Climate Change– Lee Hall, JD

• Toxins and Environmental Triggers– Michael Stepaniak

Environmental Impact Summary

• Our meat addiction is destroying the planet.

• “The only way to save the human species is to eliminate animal agriculture” – Howard Lyman

• 1 acre of rainforest is destroyed each second to make room for cattle industry

Environmental Impact Summary

• Animal agriculture is the largest user of water (2000 gallons to produce a pound of beef vs 43 gallons to produce a pound of beans)

• Perspective: average water use for showers in US is 4000 gallons per year

• Animal agriculture is responsible for largest amount of greenhouse gas production / climate change

• 16 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of beef

Ethics and Animal Rights Sessions

• Winning Compassion for Farmed Animals– Jenny Brown

• What Really Matters– Joann Farb

• Vegan on the Hot Seat– Rae Sikora and Marla Rose

• Relationships Workshop– Anne Dinshah


• Animal Intelligence– Rae Sikora

• After Meat: What Would Happen if Humans Suddenly Stopped Eating Animals?– Jonathan Balcomb, PhD

• Dynamic Harmlessness for Today’s World– Anne Dinshah

• What Animals Teach Us and Why It Matters: Life-Altering Lessons from Farmed Animals• Kathy Stevens


• My Journey in the Movement– Howard Lyman

• Liberating the Language of Animal Abuse– Karen Davis, PhD

• How to Produce Your Perfect Vegan Event– Marla Rose and John Beske

• Vegan Beyond Your Plate: Vegan Ethics– Rae Sikora

• Taking the Brilliance Home– Victoria Moran

Ethics and Animal Rights Summary

• “The disaster of animal agriculture is the fundamental challenge facing humanity.” – Joann Farb

• Arguments for animal exploitation similar to arguments for slavery; The Dreaded Comparison – by Marjorie Spiegel – compares animal slavery to human slavery

• Our culture teaches us it is okay to eat animals• Animals on organic farms suffer as much as those

on traditional farms (not allowed to treat with antibiotics, etc.)


• Veganism is the solution to world hunger• 800 million people could be fed with the plant

food fed to farmed animals.• When children are exposed to animal cruelty

and exploitation, they become desensitized and less compassionate towards humans and other animals


• Farm Animal Rights Movement – founded by Alex Hershaft, Holocaust survivor

• There is no such thing as compassionate exploitation or compassionate slavery.

• Spiritual aspect of veganism• “When our animal consciousness wakes up,

we become vegan” – Harold Brown

Websites

• http://www.vegetariansummerfest.org/details.htm• www.plantpeacedaily.org• www.nutritionfacts.org• www.pcrm.org• http://www.tugg.com/events/105113

http://www.vegetariansummerfest.org/details.htm



http://www.plantpeacedaily.org/

http://www.nutritionfacts.org/

http://www.pcrm.org/

http://www.tugg.com/events/105113



Documentaries

• Peaceable Kingdom• Speciesism• Cowspiracy• Earthlings• The Ghosts in Our Machine

Books

• The China Study• The Mad Cowboy• Animal Liberation• Eating Animals• Animals Matter• Creatures of the Same God

Signs of Change

• Meat and dairy consumption declining• We are making a difference; it took 50 years

for policy to catch up with science on cigarettes; the science for veganism is solid; public opinion is changing; industry and policy will follow

Signs of Change

• Our cultural indoctrination is constantly unraveling; we are awakening to our inner truth about animal rights

• We are recognizing and honoring animals as fellow sentient beings; a cow is a loving mother who grieves when her baby is taken away and killed. Animals are individuals with feelings, societies, families, a sense of self, and a desire to live

Building Bridges

• Invite friends to Tallahassee premier of Cowspiracy documentary, August 21, 6:30 pm at AMC Theatre (tickets by advance purchase – we need to reserve 62 more tickets in order for this to happen!!) http://www.tugg.com/events/105113

• Attend the Orlando Vegetarian Conference• Plan and support a Tallahassee VegFest!!• Start a Vegan book study/documentary group to learn and

share in the movement

Find joyful ways to spread the message and infuse our community with love and compassion


We are the ambassadors for compassionate change

Documents

VEGETARIAN SUMMERFEST 2014 LESSONS LEARNED ★ 40th Anniversary Celebration ★