You are what you eat, or something like that.

I’m thrilled to tell you that issue 3 of the LUV4All (Love Unity Voice) magazine is out now and free to read here. It’s full of wonderful articles by wonderful people and I’ve been given permission to share it with you. First up is something by Dr Will Tuttle that’s right on the money!

COVID-19: Our Banquet of Consequences, by Dr Will Tuttle.

“Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

The spinning fury at the core of our culture, animal agriculture, not only exploits and destroys the lives and purposes of animals, it does the same to humans as well, and we see this playing out now with this draconian lockdown of healthy people, eroding mental health, human rights, and economic independence, and destroying countless small and medium businesses (including vegan ones).

In my lectures over the years, I’ve described animal agriculture as a Trojan horse: on the surface it appears to be a helpful gift, but on closer examination, and with deeper understanding, we see clearly that it is an utterly harmful force in our individual and collective lives, incessantly damaging the health of our ecosystems and society, as well as our physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being.

Animal agriculture is also the hidden cause of the COVID pandemic, and of the dominant narrative that is imprisoning billions of people in fear and confusion in their homes, and eroding our capacity to speak up and defend our basic freedoms. We are reaping the harvest that we have been sowing for decades and centuries. This is our banquet of consequences. Our culture has created a vast system of animal enslavement that heartlessly condemns billions of sentient beings — whose interests are as significant to them as ours are to us — to lives of misery, terror, and pain. Their purposes are stolen and they are reduced to mere material units of production in a rapacious economic system that sells them by the pound. They are impregnated on rape racks, their offspring immediately stolen, exploited, and killed, and all are forcibly vaccinated and drugged, tracked, microchipped, mercilessly mutilated and oppressed, and brutally killed in an unnecessary, ugly, surreal prison-world devoid of meaning and respect. Animal agriculture defines our society.

Those of us who purchase the flesh and secretions of these unfortunate beings, which is most of humanity worldwide, are the causal forces propelling this system ever onward with the flood of money we spend — votes we cast — driving its ongoing and reckless devastation. Thus, as we persist in engineering and imposing a dystopian future on billions of beings, we now see the gaping maw of a dystopian future looming before our eyes. Mandatory confinement, separation of family members, loss of basic freedoms, forced vaccinations, routine microchipping, mass tracking and surveillance: all these standard factory-farm practices are now being openly discussed and planned by health officials, pharmaceutical representatives, and government agencies. What we relentlessly inflict on farmed animals we see manifesting in our human world, and, ironically, we seem powerless and strangely uninspired to stop it.

Why is this? Why are we so unable to see the obvious and respond with clarity, vitality, and solidarity to these insidious existential dangers to us and to our children? Why are we immobilized by fear and mesmerized by the voices of authority, unable to connect with either our intuitive wisdom or to think critically about our situation? Why the nearly-blind allegiance to mainstream media narratives and medical-pharmaceutical forces that we should by now have learned to question? Why do we find those relative few who dare to speak up and question the dominant COVID narrative to be so threatening?

It is because animal agriculture not only exploits animals, it exploits us. As we exploit and abuse, we will be exploited and abused. Each one of us, as we purchase meat, dairy, or egg products, becomes an invisible killer to the cows, pigs, hens, and fishes we are exploiting. We directly but invisibly cause terror, pain, and death, and we compound it further by eating it and feeding it to our vulnerable and innocent children, ritually indoctrinating them as we were. We are the invisible killers, but we repress this awareness, and project it outward, impulsively terrified of invisible killers, which seem to be everywhere.

We spend billions on military defense to protect ourselves from lurking terrorists, and now are even more frightened by microscopic enemies, the hordes of viruses, pathogens, and other unseen agents of death arising and projected from our unfaced violence.

This is our shadow: our repressed awareness, guilt, and shame, propelling us to give our power away to authorities in the vain hope they will protect us. At war with animals, nature, and each other, we make war on invisible viruses as well, completely failing to understand them in our fear-based materialist delusion. We see and suspect enemies and threats everywhere because we are the enemies and threats, and our fear sends us into the waiting arms of the merciless global conglomerates, who provide both the narrative and the toxic “solution.” They will profit from us more in power even than in dollars. They have purchased both media and government, and we find ourselves, the wounded and programmed dominators of animals, increasingly dominated by impersonal forces beyond our control.

There is but one way to human freedom, and to a world of health and harmony, and that is the way of ahimsa — non-harmfulness to other beings — a vegan world of respect for all. We will be worthy of understanding and appreciating ourselves and everyone on this beautiful and abundant planet when we dismantle the entrenched narrative of human superiority and entitlement. A new story is yearning to be born in our human culture. It has ancient roots, and this current emergency (emerge-and-see), if we respond appropriately, can put us on a higher path of liberation and healing.

*******

Click here for the conclusion of this article and links to more of Dr Tuttle’s writing.

***

Despite the fact that animal farming is the cause of COVID-19 and a myriad of other preventable infectious diseases; despite the fact that animal products weaken the body’s immune system; and that deficiency in the intake of whole grains, fruits, nuts, legumes, seeds and vegetables leads to degenerative diseases, we see daily, evidence that the general public have not been told how to protect themselves against the pandemic. My jaw drops as I pass the long lines of cars – people exercising their right to shop for basic necessities during lockdown – queuing to order ‘food’ at the McDonald’s drive-thru. It’s so long it goes all the way across McDonald’s car park and that of the neighbouring superstore, out onto the road and right up to the roundabout where it causes a traffic jam. It’s like most people are in The Matrix and they don’t want to take the red pill.

Vegan Jingle Bells

Vegan Feminist Bakers at the Female Glaze

When we went to the Be The Future vegan market on Saturday we were very fortunate that the Vegan Feminist Bakers from the Female Glaze were there too 😀

As you can imagine, Miranda went back and forth to their stall to buy vital sustenance for us …

and gifts for he who was not there 😉

If you live in London you might already know the joy of biting into a soft Marsha P Johnson chocolate & orange cookie, or a Melitta Bentz coffee and walnut cookie, but if you don’t you really should.

The Vegan Feminist Bakers, Alessia & Francesca, say The Female Glaze is not only a business that is kind to animals, but it also promotes women empowerment by sourcing from women-run and ethical suppliers. They further add –

Remember, women belong in the kitchen, men belong in the kitchen, non-binary folks belong in the kitchen… Everybody get to the kitchen: there’s cake in there!”

Francesca and Alessia will personally deliver your cookies if you live in London (zones 1 to 6), or you can opt for tracked delivery if you live outside London. Don’t be put off if everything in the shop is marked ‘out of stock’, they had to put a cap on their weekly deliveries as everything is handmade by Francesca and she’s only one human! So if the shop page says all items are out of stock, it means they have reached capacity and their delivery slots are full, but they’ll re-stock on Tuesdays at 10am. Cut-off for orders is 5pm on Mondays for Wednesdays delivery and 5pm on Thursdays for Saturdays delivery.

So now you know, if you didn’t already –

veganism is not a sacrifice,

it’s a joy ❤

Liberia Animal Welfare and Conservation Society

Liberia faces many challenges after the terrible civil war that ended in 2003. It is considered one of the poorest countries in the world. The country recovering process is faced with high unemployment rate, poor infrastructure, low literacy rate, and the Ebola crisis in 2014/2015 that killed over 4,000 people nationwide and further affected every sector of the country. Amidst all of these enormous challenges to national stability, animal protection is not considered as a priority issue. The animal protection issue is seen as a new concept and as a result many animals suffer needlessly.

The Liberia Animal Welfare & Conservation Society (LAWCS), is a local based registered and accredited non-profit animal protection organization in the country, and is run by volunteers without any national or local financial support. They have created Animal Kindness Clubs in 46 schools . LAWCS depends on outside animal lovers and donors to ensure that they can continue their vital animal protection work in Liberia.

The primary objectives of LAWCS are as follows:

  • To prevent cruelty to animals
  • To relieve animals’ suffering
  • To promote the protection of animals
  • To sensitize the public about the need to encourage respect for animals
  • To sensitize the public about the conservation of all natures
  • To create a bond between animals and humans
  • To awaken interest and compassion for animals
  • To engage in agricultural activities that promote animal welfare policies
  • To serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences related to animals and conservation
  • To spread knowledge concerning working animals, companion animals, wildlife and the environment among local communities
  • To undertake activities that directly contribute to habitat protection, and conservation for a better environment for all animals and humans
  • To promote the Universal Declaration of the welfare of Animals Rights
  • To engage in any and all activities that a Non-For-Profit corporation is authorized to undertake in keeping with the laws of the Republic of Liberia
  • To promote vegetarianism in schools and communities.

Help the Liberia Animal Welfare and Conservation Society reach more children

Thank you xx

Vegan Christmas Market

It’s that time of year again, although it might not feel like it, so we’ve decided to get Christmassy at the Be The Future vegan market in Stoke Newington this weekend 😀

If you’re mourning the loss of the usual big Vegan Christmas events this year [eg VegFest and the Animal Aid Cruelty-Free Fair] then this might make up for it in a small way. It’s nice to be among vegans. It’s nice to be in a friendly, welcoming, vibrant but cosy shopping environment where you don’t have to ask – “what’s in that?” or “is that tested on animals?”

At the Be The Future Market you’ll find all sorts of vegan gift ideas from small local businesses who produce high-quality products with loads of love. Sorry, I can’t tell you exactly who’s going to be there this weekend because their website doesn’t specify (I think they give more info on instagram but I haven’t been able to make instagram work 😀 ) but I can tell you that we’ll be there on Saturday and that’s reason enough to pop in! ❤

We’re going to be there, on Saturday 12th December, with loads of our colourful vegan children’s books, already wrapped and ready for Christmas morning 😀

So don’t miss out – be there between 11am and 5pm and get Christmassy – vegan style! 😉

We can’t wait to see you! 😀

Abney Public Hall, 73A Church Street, Stoke Newington, London, N16 0AS

11am to 5pm on Saturday 12th December and Sunday 13th December 2020

Go to bethefuturemkt.com and scroll to the bottom of the page for directions including buses and trains info.

*

Now I’d better get wrapping! 😉

Marcus’s Wishes read aloud

SIGN PETITION to support government’s proposed BAN ON LIVE EXPORTS.

The end of LIVE EXPORTS is on the horizon. Support the government’s proposal by signing the petition – don’t let it slip through our fingers!

Violet's Vegan Comics's avatarViolet's Vegan Comics

The UK government has unveiled plans to ban the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening.

The proposals form part of an eight-week consultation, launched by Defra secretary George Eustice in England and Wales on Thursday (3 December 2020), seeking views on how to better protect animal welfare during transport.

“We are committed to improving the welfare of animals at all stages of life. Today marks a major step forward in delivering on our manifesto commitment to end live exports for slaughter,” said Mr Eustice. “Now that we have left the EU, we have an opportunity to end this unnecessary practice. We want to ensure that animals are spared stress prior to slaughter.”

This is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC NEWSbut we must remember that nothing is definite yet. This is just a consultation and the government is also consulting on alternative proposals to further improve welfare for all…

View original post 174 more words

SIGN PETITION to support government’s proposed BAN ON LIVE EXPORTS.

The UK government has unveiled plans to ban the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening.

The proposals form part of an eight-week consultation, launched by Defra secretary George Eustice in England and Wales on Thursday (3 December 2020), seeking views on how to better protect animal welfare during transport.

“We are committed to improving the welfare of animals at all stages of life. Today marks a major step forward in delivering on our manifesto commitment to end live exports for slaughter,” said Mr Eustice. “Now that we have left the EU, we have an opportunity to end this unnecessary practice. We want to ensure that animals are spared stress prior to slaughter.”

This is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC NEWS but we must remember that nothing is definite yet. This is just a consultation and the government is also consulting on alternative proposals to further improve welfare for all animals in transport. These include:

  • Reduced maximum journey times
  • Animals being given more space and headroom during transport
  • Stricter rules on transporting animals in extreme temperatures
  • Tighter rules for transporting live animals by sea.

That’s why it’s vital we act now!

We have to let the government know just how much support there is for an outright ban of live exports.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) are saying that live exports are an “important trade option for farmers” and wants Defra to consider its alternative plan for an assurance scheme to “ensure all animals travel in the best possible conditions and that they arrive at the approved and final destination in the best possible health”.

If we don’t shout louder and harder than those farmers, we could miss out on this amazing and unprecedented opportunity.

TELL THE GOVERNMENT THAT NOTHING SHORT OF AN OUTRIGHT BAN IS GOOD ENOUGH!

Sign Compassion in World Farming’s petition NOW!

And please PLEASE share

Thank you ❤

********************

vegan, animals, live transport, animal rights, animal protection, end live transport

COMING SOON – More of The English Family Anderson!

30% OFF vegan children’s books!

Last chance! 30% off ends today! Plus – if you’re Christmas shopping – bear in mind that these books can take two weeks to reach you because they’ve got to be printed and bound. So order today and make sure they get to you in time! 😀

Violet's Vegan Comics's avatarViolet's Vegan Comics

Black Friday Books Sale!

For the next three day you can get 30% off all our books at lulu.com

and there’s so many to choose from!

Don’t miss out on this great Christmas shopping opportunity – offer ends November 30th at 11.59pm UTC!

Just enter the code BFCM30 at the checkout to claim your discount.

For easy browsing go to our little bookshop at little-chicken.net where you’ll find comics, storybooks, rhyming stories, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, funny short stories, colouring books and a couple of graphic novels!

Have a great weekend! 😀

************************

vegan children, vegan Christmas shopping, vegan books for children, vegan storybooks, Black Friday Sale, book sale, vegan Christmas gifts,

View original post

30% OFF vegan children’s books!

Black Friday Books Sale!

For the next three day you can get 30% off all our books at lulu.com

and there’s so many to choose from!

Don’t miss out on this great Christmas shopping opportunity – offer ends 1st of December at 11.59pm UTC!

Just enter the code BFCM30 at the checkout to claim your discount.

For easy browsing go to our little bookshop at little-chicken.net where you’ll find comics, storybooks, rhyming stories, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, funny short stories, colouring books and a couple of graphic novels!

Have a great weekend! 😀

************************

vegan children, vegan Christmas shopping, vegan books for children, vegan storybooks, Black Friday Sale, book sale, vegan Christmas gifts,

Stop them killing sharks for vaccines!

Post from National Geographic by JUSTIN MENEGUZZI

Trawling for prey at more than a thousand feet under the surface, scalloped hammerhead sharks rely on a special oil in their livers to survive the crushing pressures of the deep.

Shark liver oil, or squalene, is a fatty substance that provides vital buoyancy for this critically endangered species and many others. But it’s also used by humans as a boosting agent in vaccines, called an adjuvant, that improves the immune system and makes vaccines more effective.

As the world’s pharmaceutical companies scramble to create a vaccine for COVID-19, at least five of the 202 vaccine candidates rely on squalene sourced from wild-caught sharks.

One candidate is a vaccine developed in Australia by University of Queensland, in partnership with the Australian biopharmaceutical company CSL and its subsidiary Seqirus. The as yet unnamed vaccine contains the squalene adjuvant MF59, which is sourced from a variety of shark species. It entered human clinical trials earlier this year and, if successful, will result in an initial production of 51 million doses.

Tens of millions of sharks are caught and traded internationally each year—both legally and illegally—the majority for their meat and fins but roughly three million or more for their squalene. It takes the livers of between 2,500 and 3,000 sharks to extract about a ton of squalene.

Conservationists fear that increased demand for squalene for vaccines, among other uses, could further imperil shark species, a third of which are vulnerable to extinction.

“This is an unsustainable demand to place on a finite natural resource like sharks,” says Stefanie Brendl, founder and executive director of Shark Allies, a California-based conservation non-profit.

Only about one percent of squalene ends up in vaccines, and most goes into cosmetics such as sunscreen, skin creams, and moisturisers. Even so, as the global population booms, the need for vaccines will only increase in coming years, Brendl notes, adding that some medical experts suggest that people will require multiple doses of vaccines against COVID-19.

“We’re not saying that vaccine trials should stop, but if we keep viewing sharks as an easy solution and don’t consider the alternatives that exist, then we’ll just continue to use [squalene] as a template for vaccines,” Brendl says.

In light of declining shark populations, some biotech companies are looking for other sources of squalene. Plants such as sugarcane, olives, amaranth seeds, and rice bran, for instance, all contain the substance. While plant-based alternatives are being tested in studies and clinical trials, regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have yet to approve them as part of a final vaccine product.

Brendl says the onus is on pharmaceutical companies to begin developing viable alternatives to shark squalene to present to regulators. She points out that Novavax, an American vaccine-development company, is already using an alternative squalene adjuvant, Matrix-M, in clinical trials for its experimental COVID-19 vaccine. Matrix-M is made from the bark of the soapbark tree, which is abundant in Chile.

Though the company has deemed the soapbark adjuvant as safe, it has not yet been evaluated as part of a final product submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

However, the Infectious Disease Research Institute found that pharmaceutical-grade squalene produced by the American biotechnology company Amyris met, and in some cases exceeded, the safety and purity profiles of shark-based squalene, according to Chris Paddon, Amyris’s lead scientist.

Amyris is banking on sugarcane as a solution to shark-based squalene, he says. In southeastern Brazil, the company is growing thousands of acres of the bamboo-like sugarcane to be processed into squalene. Just 24 acres of sugarcane could, in theory, produce enough squalene to support one billion COVID-19 vaccines.

Because growers can control the way sugarcane is grown and harvested, it’s possible to ensure the quality of the squalene, Paddon says. “When you use animal products, there are impurities that come with them because of the environment they’re raised in and the places where they’re processed.” Furthermore, Paddon says, growing sugarcane is also cheaper than catching sharks and removing their livers.

Sign this Shark Allies petition demanding that the US/FDA (Food and Drug Administration of the United States of America), the UK/MHRA (The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency of the United Kingdom), the EU/EMA (The European Medicines Agency), the National Medical Products Administration of China, and all vaccine producing companies use non-animal squalene in all vaccines.

Thank you ❤

*******

animals, vegan, animal rights, animal protection, fish, sharks, oceans, covid-19, flu, flu vaccine, health,

4 DAYS TO SAVE 38 TOURIST ELEPHANTS FROM HORROR!

This post from JaneUnchained

YOU CAN SAVE 38 TOURIST ELEPHANTS FROM HORROR!

COVID-19 brought tourism to a halt in Thailand and put tourist elephants in danger of a fate worse than death! Many elephants and their handlers (mahouts) were forced to walk back to their villages but, at the camps on the route home, there was no food or work. It was heartbreaking to see and even harder to imagine that these gentle elephants would probably be forced back to work in the illegal logging industry once they reached the villages. While elephant rides involve tremendous cruelty, being forced into the logging trade is a ring even lower in the hellish inferno of animal abuse.

The Pandemic Is a Once in a Lifetime Chance to Save Pachyderms!
CLICK HERE NOW!

Facing such urgency, Thailand’s elephant lovers put on their thinking caps, scrambling to come up with a way to keep these innocent elephants from being sold into the unimaginably harsh logging trade. The new non-profit Gentle Giants was born, in partnership with Save Elephant Foundation whose founder, Lek Saengduean Chailert, is a world-renowned conservationist and elephant expert.

PARENT AN ELEPHANT FOR JUST $4 A MONTH! TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

On May 3rd, 2020, after walking for 3 days, a herd of 11 elephants reached their village. The tribe welcomed their elephants with open arms and so much love. For many of the elephants, like 7-month-old Lanna, it was their first time in the village. For others, like Mae Jaa who is the eldest elephant of the group, it was returning to a home she had left long ago.

The rescue group started with 11 elephants. In three short months, it was 38. They are trying to bring another 20 elephants in so they won’t be sold to the logging industry. There are hundreds of elephants in need. Many are being sold into the illegal logging business and to Chinese businesses. We must make sure that, when the tourism borders open, none of these elephants are sent to the circus or to beg on the streets. Gentle Giants is creating a beautiful ripple effect; a chain of love. They are not only helping the elephants, but their caretakers, the villages, local farmers, farm pickers, truck drivers, contractors, supply stores, etc.

THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN!

For just $4 dollars a month, or 50.00 dollars a year, you can sponsor Baby Lanna or any other of the gentle giants. By sponsoring these gentle giants, you are supporting them to remain home and out of the tourist and/or logging industry. Your sponsorship will give these gentle giants the opportunity to stay within the forest roaming free among their own. Each elephant has their own story and personality. Your sponsorship will go towards food, care, medical treatment and their mahout’s wages.

THE PRICE OF A CUP OF COFFEE A MONTH TO SAVE AN ELEPHANT!

Your sponsorship will include a Sponsorship Certificate, a photo of your sponsored elephant and a Gentle Giants personalized sponsorship badge, which you may use as your social media profile picture. Your sponsorship will keep these Gentle Giants in the forest and their natural habitat. They will be able to enjoy their lives as elephants; roaming free with their herd, their family. Their days of long hours walking under the scorching heat with tourists on their backs will have been left behind. Now, no chains will clank around their feet. You are saving these beautiful Gentle Giants and helping the community coexist and thrive with them. It also makes a great gift!

Thank you ❤ xx

Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er, chapter 8 read aloud

Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er, chapter 7 read aloud

All The Same

Listen to The King’s Three Sons

Violet’s Vegan Comics Awarded In The Share Your Veganism: 2020 Photo Essay Contest

Megan & Flos #6: Corruption

As soon as Megan returns home from her adventures in space in episode 5, she receives a plea for help from a friend who is a volunteer at the local animal sanctuary. Something very strange is happening that doesn’t make any sense.

Megan agrees to help with the investigation into the sanctuary’s new management which reveals something highly unexpected.

Something dodgy is going on and, if Megan and friends don’t put a stop to it, the consequences will be dire.

Megan & Flos is an old-fashioned adventure comic for kids. Recommended for children aged 8 and up. There’s also a wordsearch puzzle at the end.

Format: Paperback 33 pages, colour interior, dimensions: 8.5 x 11 in / 216 x 279 mm, vegan children’s book suitable for ages 8 and up.

£3.00 in UK. Prices may vary depending on where it’s printed.

Ships worldwide from international printer lulu.com

************

Comments from the web:

“OMG!!!!!! this is one of the best stories ever!! If you have read the others, every single second of this story will keep you tied on your seat and hats off to the illustrators who really did great illustrations. if you love conspiracy packed mysteries then you will really fall in love with this story…get on and read it, it’s really excellent.!!” – cwdoesmylaundry

**********************************

vegan, vegan comic, vegan children, vegan children’s book, vegan children’s story, animals, animal rights, animal welfare,

Visual Storyteller, Claudia Hirschberger, Awarded In The Share Your Veganism: 2020 Photo Essay Contest

Vegan Fairy Tale read aloud

Animal Rights Advocate Nikki Anniehs Awarded 1st Place Prize In The Share Your Veganism: 2020 Photo Essay Contest

AudioBook: Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er, chapter six

Megan & Flos: Beginnings

AudioBook – Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er, Chapter Five

Fairy Tale AudioBook: The Princess Who Liked To Be Popular

15% off! Offer ends Friday!

AudioBook – Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er, chapter four

AudioBook – Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er, chapter three

AudioBook – Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er, chapter two

AudioBook – Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er, chapter one.

A doctor’s response to proponents of school milk.

You might remember that back in August, Plant Based Health Professionals worked on the World Plant Milk Day Campaign and did an interview with the Times newspaper calling for a replacement of free school milk with fruit and vegetables or plant milk. Unbeknown to them, this prompted a letter to RT Hon Matt Hancock MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, from Dr Hilary Jones (TV doctor) on behalf of The School & Nursery Milk Alliance. Who even knew about this organisation?!

‘We are a coalition of organisations from the early years, education, health and dairy sectors who are committed to promoting the benefits to children’s physical and dental health and wellbeing that arise from drinking milk in learning environments’.

So essentially a dairy funded front organisation. The UK Government are of course complicit in propping up the dairy industry using tax payers’ money even though demand for milk is steadily reducing, excess milk is being thrown away, dairy farming is contributing to environmental destruction and it’s detrimental to human health.

The following is Dr Shireen Kassam’s response to that letter.

Dear Dr Jones,
I am disappointed to learn that you continue to promote cow’s milk consumption in children and the free school milk programme. You state that milk has ‘unrivalled nutritional content’. In my view, the nutritional content of milk is only unrivalled if you are a baby cow. There is no requirement for milk consumption beyond weaning, as evidenced by the fact that 70% of the global population have lactose malabsorption, which can manifest as intolerance. Europeans have indeed adapted to digesting dairy beyond weaning but even then, up to 30% are not able to digest the main sugar lactose. For those with lactose intolerance, consuming dairy can be distressing, leading to abdominal pain, diarrhoea and nausea. The school milk programme excludes and discriminates against those with lactose intolerance, often children from ethnic minorities in the UK.


With this is mind, Health Canada has removed dairy from its most recent food guide. The healthiest hydration for children and adults is in fact water. You however state various health benefits of dairy consumption for children, such as boosting energy, aiding concentration and maintaining a healthy weight but there is no such conclusive evidence. In fact, a review paper from earlier this year summarising the current evidence for milk consumption in one of the world’s most highly respected medical journals concluded that milk was not required for optimal health in children or adults. The authors conclude that there is no convincing evidence that milk consumption promotes a healthy weight, improves bone health or reduces the risk of any chronic illness. In fact, they highlight that milk consumption has the potential for harm, including an increased risk of eczema, asthma, acne, prostate and endometrial cancers.

You claim that dairy consumption helps maintain a healthy weight in children, yet a randomised study found no benefit of dairy consumption for reducing body fat or weight. You also state that omitting dairy from the diet could lead to malnutrition, including Kwashiorkor — a form of protein malnutrition — especially when consuming a rice-based vegan diet. Yet, when meeting calorie requirements, scientific studies have shown that a healthy plant-based diet provides more protein than is required for any age group.

Neither I nor Plant-Based Health Professionals UK are recommending a rice-based vegan diet in place of free school milk. The study you cite raising concerns about the use of plant milks leading to malnutrition was conducted in children aged 4 to 14 months, when breast milk is considered the optimal source of calories and nutrients, and these data cannot be extrapolated to school-aged children. Studies have shown that the growth, health and nutritional status of vegetarian and vegan children are within normal range and comparable with non-vegetarian children. It is widely accepted that nutrients found in milk, including calcium, can be obtained from whole plant sources and fortified plant milks if preferred. Fortified soya milk, the most appropriate alternative to cow’s milk, has similar quantities of protein and calcium as cow’s milk, with benefits for heart health and breast cancer reduction. The absorption of calcium from many green vegetables is also greater than that from cow’s dairy. This information is supported and endorsed by major dietetic associations around the world including most recently the BDA in the UK.

I agree wholeheartedly with you that our children need access to high-quality nutrient rich food. The foods most associated with health promotion in children and adults are fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans. Yet only 18% of children in the UK eat five portions of fruits and vegetables a day. We should be promoting the consumption of these foods in schools, which are inclusive of all communities and supported by strong scientific evidence. It is time we put children’s health before the vested interests of the dairy industry.

Yours Sincerely,

Dr Shireen Kassam,

Founder and Director of Plant-Based Health Professionals UK

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that the mainstream media were not interested in Dr Kassam’s response to Dr Jones’ letter so she has published it online here and on social media and hopes we will all share widely.

Please do.

Thank you.

Bridlington online Vegan Festival!

Roll up roll up! It’s time for the annual Bridlington Vegan Festival!

Normally it’s held at Bridlington Spa – oh don’t you wish you were there right now? 😀 – but this year, for obvious reasons, it’s going to be online so that means that even if you can’t get to Bridlington on Sunday, you don’t have to miss out 😀

What’s on at the 2020 Bridlington Vegan Online Festival I hear you ask?
Well, if you pop over here you’ll find out that there’s going to be posts from and/or links to:
* delicious vegan food providers
* businesses providing vegan, ethical, eco-friendly products and holistic therapies
* Information and advice about following a vegan lifestyle
* Local and national groups campaigning to help people, animals and the environment.

But that’s not all 😀

You can also enjoy:
Inspirational speakers,
Music from Tess Fletcher, Barbara Helen and His Witch

Cookery demonstrations
& Relaxing yoga sessions

And still there’s more!

If you go to the Bridlington Vegan Festival 2020 page you can see the whole timetable.

There will be instagram posts to enjoy from 9am onwards. There’s going to be sing-alongs, and yoga [via zoom and in real life on the beach!] There’s a children’s drama workshop and lots of other things for children to join in with. There’s even a juggler!

So come on down (to your settee) and enjoy this happy event 😀

Sunday 11th October, 9am – be there!

Happy Birthday Violet’s Vegan Comics!

Why are you a vegan? and other wacky verse for kids

How many friends could a Bibbolybob make if a Bibbolybob came to Earth?

Grandpa Wollemi’s Birthday

Colour By Nutrients: A Plant-Based Colouring Book

Reflecto Girl #7: Incidental

Venus Aqueous #5: Prison Break

What’s good for the goose is not good for the panda

Beans on Toast

Little Chicken Book of Fairy Tales

The English Family Anderson

Reflecto Girl #5 & #6

Reflecto Girl: Beginnings

Venus Aqueous: Beginnings

Little Chicken Classic – Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er

Luke Walker and the Secret Society of animal stick up for-ers

More Luke Walker: animal stick up for-er