transforming the planet:
vegan eco-villages offer methods for sustainability
On today's show, we will hear from residents of The Farm, an intentional community in Summertown, TN, established in 1971 around the shared visions of non-violence, veganism, and creating a better world. Having perfected methods of sustainable community living, The Farm's eco-village design offers solutions to a world of shrinking resources, urban sprawl and diminishing biosphere . Dr. Will Tuttle will also share remembrances of his visit to The Farm in the 1970's, and how the profound experience of meeting so many vegans for the first time started him on a journey of studying the links between violence and food. In anticipation of Dr. Tuttle's upcoming visit to Houston, we will take a closer look at his work in The World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony, as the first episode of a two part series.
with your host: Jerrilyn
The Farm Community
The Farm Experience Weekend
September 19-21, 2008
Relax and enjoy a peaceful weekend surrounded by our 4000 acres of wooded hills and clear running streams.
If you've ever wanted to visit, have considered making The Farm your home, or would like to learn first hand about life in community, then this is the weekend for you. A variety of planned activities gives you the best opportunity to meet us and find out what we are really about. We guarantee you an enjoyable and memorable exchange.
Learn more : The Farm Experience Weekend: thefarmcommunity.com
to visit contact: 931-964-3574
Alan Graf, hippielawyer.com
Radical civil rights lawyer and progressive journalist, Alan Graf will speak to us about his life and experiences in the community, as well as his radio podcast from The Farm, The Third Planet Report: Journalism from the Edge.
Hurricane Evacuation:
Make Plans Now to Protect Animals in Emergencies
There are effective ways to prepare for disasters. Most importantly, make arrangements ahead of time to ensure animals' safety in the event of evacuation. Fortunately, there are resources available to help you plan. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers excellent tips, a worksheet, and even online courses about disaster preparation for animal guardians. Whether the emergency is a flood, a fire, or a human-made disaster, evacuees should never assume that they will be able to return home soon, despite any assurances to the contrary.
www.HelpingAnimals.com.
Will Tuttle: The World Peace Diet
Today, in this first part of a two part series, Dr. Will Tuttle will expound the ideas in his book The World Peace Diet. Dr. Tuttle will be traveling to Houston in early December. Any organiztions that may wish to schedule a speaking appearance should contact Dr. Tuttle directly at WillTuttle.com, or visit WorldPeaceDiet.org.
Ellen & Oprah: Veg4Life?
Some months after television icons Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey both announced their initial experiments with the vegan diet, Ellen celebrates her wedding with exclusively vegan fare. The time is right for veganism. Please continue to suggest the World Peace Diet to Ellen and Oprah and recommend they interview Dr. Will Tuttle to explain the profound connections between eating and ethics.
Ellen DeGeneres's Wedding included an all-vegan meal & vegan cake! After exchanging rings, the couple and their guests, enjoyed an all-vegan meal prepared by their personal chef David Silberkleit. Sweet Lady Jane created a vegan red velvet cake for the celebration.
Send your letters to
Dallas city officials right now.
Mayor Tom Leppert
Dallas City Hall
1500 Marilla Street, Room 5EN
Dallas, TX 75201-6390
Fax: (214) 670-0646
tom.leppert@dallascityhall.com
Main Phone: (214) 670-4054
Jenny The Elephant
www.concernedcitizensforjenny.net
Please Take Additional Action to Save Jenny the Elephant
Despite the Dallas Zoo's recent announcement that Jenny the elephant would not be traveling to Mexico after all, her fate still hangs in a precarious balance. Your participation is urgently needed to help ensure that her best interests are considered by Dallas decision-makers, and that she is allowed a swift retirement to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee rather than being left to languish at the Dallas Zoo.
Many thanks for all your hard work so far advocating on Jenny's behalf! We must now keep the pressure on to bring about the best outcome for her, by imploring Dallas officials to intercede and convince the zoo to send Jenny to The Elephant Sanctuary.
Thanks to the strong public outcry of people like you, Jenny will no longer be going to Mexico, but we need your voice more than ever to ensure a successful outcome for Jenny.
Following post from...
zooleft.blogspot.com
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Jenny Elephant Deserves Better
... Jenny has lived at the Dallas Zoo for many years in an exhibit much too small and not at all suited to the largest land mammal. Her exhibit was at least updated since I worked there in the early nineties in an effort to meet the AZA's (American Association of Zoos and Aquariums) pitiful standards for this species. Their so-called standards still rate well below what the species needs for a healthy and long life. Most captive elephants die well before they reach the lifespan of their wild counterparts, and when you take into consideration that wild elephants face poachers, human encroachment, and predation to their young, a shorter life expectancy is pitiful indeed. However, only a very few forward thinking zoos have admitted what the industry has known for years. Elephants should not be kept in zoos. Perhaps the new sanctuaries cropping up around the country will provide what these animals need. It's too soon to tell for sure, but at least they offer something different, something new that comes much closer to giving these massive animals a chance for a longer, healthier captive life. What does all of this have to do with Jenny? Stick with me, I'm getting there, but first I have to give you some background.
Jenny, like many of her zoo counterparts, was taken from the wilds of Africa and brought to the Dallas Zoo through an animal broker. This does not mean that the Dallas Zoo necessarily sent someone out to hunt her down, wrangle her up, and load her into a truck. (There I go defending them again.) The truth is more likely something like this; Dallas put an add out via the AZA bulletin saying they were interested in acquiring an elephant, and the animal brokers contacted them listing what animals they had available. Jenny was one of two elephants the Dallas Zoo chose from the list. The other animal's name was Moja. I was told they were sisters by one of their keepers, but I have never verified this, and it could just be a romantic story passed down over the years. Regardless, I have often imagined Jenny and Moja huddled together in the back of some truck jarring their way out of the bush after having watched their mother die attempting to defend them. If this isn't truth, it's certainly plausible. I remember the two of them together, tightly bonded and affectionate. I have a photo of them on exhibit leaning side to side while they ate their hay. The day I took the photo, I watched them rub their trunks together and rumble, seeming more contented than I ever expected while standing in their tiny concrete world.
One morning I arrived at the zoo parking lot to hear a screaming sound rolling down the hill from the large mammal barn. It was followed by clashing and banging. I remember dropping my bag and running up the hill to find out what was happening. Although I was not an elephant keeper, I was close friends with the Animal Care Manager of the Large Mammal Barn, and I often accompanied him to feed Jenny and Moja treats and show my affection to them. Jenny liked to sniff my pockets and my shoes with her trunk and she often leaned against me and rumbled, a greeting elephants use among family members in the wild. Let's just say I'd grown very attached to her. I still have nightmares about the day I first heard Jenny's screams.
When I made it to the top of the hill, I realized Moja was lying dead in her stall. We later found out her heart had stopped due to a fast-acting disease that causes swelling and fluid in the linings around the organ. As was common practice in those days, Jenny was chained in the stall next to Moja unable to touch her friend. She would reach her trunk out, coming just shy of touching Moja, straining against her chains. Then, she would beat her head against the wall, scream, kick, and thrash around. A trail of wet was running down her face below both eyes. The keepers tried to calm her, but they couldn't. Eventually, the zoo administrators ordered Moja hooked up to a crane, and they dragged her out of the building and off exhibit where she wouldn't be seen by the public when they arrived. The whole time, Jenny beat her head, yelling and thrashing until the walls rattled. Jenny became volatile after that day, prone to uncontrollable rages, lashing out at her keepers. For safety, the zoo was forced to change their management style with elephants in order to keep all physical contact between Jenny and her keepers to a minimum. Jenny lost the touch of her companion and the touch of her keepers virtually on the same day. She has yet to fully recover. Over the years, the zoo has given her anti-depressants, even tranquilizers, to calm her. They have also tried several other companion elephants, but Jenny refused most of them. Sometimes, loud noises would set her off, things like music during special events, loud machinery, strange vehicles, or equipment being used in the area. She has broken the cables in her exhibit with her head more than once during her rages. Eventually, after tireless effort from her keepers, Jenny was introduced to and had finally accepted another African elephant companion...
(Amanda left the zoo industry after eighteen years as a zookeeper and returned to Randolph-Macon Woman's College to earn her degree in Creative Writing and Studio Art. She is the owner of Zoo Crew Pet Care pet sitting service in Forest, Virginia and a partner in The ARTiculates Studio in Lynchburg where she sells her paintings and hand-made jewelry. In addition, she is a freelance writer who has published creative non-fiction, environmental writing, poetry, and short stories in fiction.)
Go Vegan with Bob Linden
...The Planet's First and Only Commercial Vegan Radio Show!
What's more American than the iconic cowboy? Is that very image destroying the western US - and hiding the environmental devastation of cattle grazing? Don't miss guest MIKE HUDAK, Vice-Chair of the National Grazing Committee of the Sierra Club, founder and director of "Public Lands Without Livestock", and author of "Western Turf Wars - The Politics of Public Lands Ranching".
www.GoVeganRadio.com
www.WesternTurfWars.com
www.MikeHudak.com
No-Kill Houston Action Alert
Effective August 22, 2008 the current Bureau Chief of the City of Houston Animal Shelter (BARC- Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care) has resigned.
As Citizens and/or Taxpayers in the City of Houston, Texas, we now have the opportunity to voice our support to Bill White, City Council members and the Department of Health and Human Services for them to hire a new Bureau Chief that will develop a plan for the City of Houston Animal Shelter (BARC) to become a NO KILL Shelter.
Click here to sign a petition to make Houston No-Kill. Make sure to watch the movie, too.
Monthly Animal "Meet & Greet" Event
The Friend of BARC and Cooper Clinic Meet & Greet takes place on Saturday, September 6, 2008 in the Heights from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM (NEW SUMMER HOURS)! Meet homeless dogs and cats in need of loving families! All proceeds from the event will go to Friends of BARC, a non profit volunteer group, to purchase needed supplies for the city's shelter animals.
You can also drop off donations for BARC anytime or at the Meet and Greet at Cooper Animal Clinic, 1136 Heights Blvd. This will be another great opportunity to meet shelter animals in need of a second chance.
Call 713.861-1155 for more information or visit FRIENDS OF BARC to learn how you can help homeless animals in Houston through adoption or fostering. Be sure to also visit KPFT's "Adopt a Friend" page.
Support Austrian Political Prisoners
Take part in a demonstration at the Austrian consulate next Friday, Sept. 5. The detention of 10 animal rights organizers for exercising their human right of free speech against animal agribusiness is a crime that must not be allowed to stand. If you haven't heard about it check out www.AustrianSolidarity.com. Sept. 5th is the international day of solidarity with the Austrian 10. We should let the Austrian government know that their police-state type actions are shameful and unacceptable.
It will be at the Austrian Consulate on Friday Sept 5th.
Time: 11am.
Address: 800 Wilcrest, Suite 340
Houston, TX 77042
Tel: (713) 723-9979
list co-ordinated by Society of P.E.A.C.E.
The Houston Vegan Meetup Dinner The Houston Vegan Meetup group will be meeting this month for their social Dinner on Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 5:30 PM at Field of Greens Restaurant in Houston. Field of Greens offers a variety of vegan entrees, sandwiches & salads. Visit HOUSTON VEGAN MEETUP for more info and to RSVP. Reese is the organizer of the Houston Vegan Meetup. This is a large meetup group, so RSVP early to reserve a spot!
Vegan Cooking Classes through Leisure Learning
Meatless Halloween Treats
These spooky, fun, savory and sweet wholesome Halloween goodies that are meat, dairy and egg-free. These elegant dishes can be served as appetizers or combined to become a complete meal. They include Space Alien Lemongrass Gels (a vegetarian gelatin with lemongrass and green tea), Lemon-Artichoke Graveyard dip, Witches Fingers (a pastry with almonds), Filo Ghosts with Spinach Innards (a vegetarian Spanakopita), Mummies in a Rosemary Blanket (vegetarian pigs in a blanket...mummy shaped...a kids favorite). Combined, these low-fat dishes won't make you bust out of your costume.
R3164A1 Sun 3-6pm Oct 5
Thanksgiving Dinner the Vegan Way
Learn how to make a meatless gourmet feast that even devout turkey fans will adore. These dishes are easy to master and nutritious to boot. Included are a mock turkey with wild mushroom and sage gravy, maple roasted root vegetables, green bean and artichoke casserole, apple-beet Waldorf salad, and pumpkin pecan pie.
R3165A1 Sun 3-6pm Nov 9 Versatile Tofu: The Meat & Dairy Alternative
Learn to make chipotle chili, vegetable lasagna, silk pies, bread pudding and much more.
R3169C1 Sat 3-6pm Sept 20
Instructor for all classes: Staci Davis
to register visit www.llu.com
Farm Sanctuary President GENE BAUR visits
Hewill speak about his new book Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food will be in Houston Sept 18-20. Mark your calendars with the dates and check out www.SocietyofPEACE.org for the details of this and most local events here in Houston.