VSS eNewsletter 14 March 2010
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14 March 2010 |
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| VSS NEWS All Newsletter Readers Welcome at ‘More Than Just an AGM’ – 20 Mar 10 Tasty New Reasons to Join VSS! Part Time Job Opportunity with VSS Brown Rice King Speaks at VSS Library Talk The VSS InBox Interview for Business Traveller Magazine Yogurt Class Soy Good VSS Helps Open Ubin Green House GENERAL NEWS Japanese Vegetarian Cooking Classes at Biopolis from Enso Kitchen American Idol’s Simon Cowell Gives Meat the Thumbs Down People’s Association May Promote Raw Food Taiwan Organic Trip – 22-29 May Podcast with Cardiologist Who Does Triathlons Detox + Heal in Nature at Tg Sutera - 3-5 April The Gladiators Were Vegans Questions about the Validity of Global Warming Macrobiotics Cooking Academy in KL Save the Pigeons Vitamin B12 Recommendations Increased Study Compares Bone Fracture Rates According to Diets |
VSS rolls out new member privileges. But whether or not you're a member, join us on 20 March to share, discuss and celebrate. Expect food, goodie bags and some entertainment surprises! If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to drop us a line here. Subscribe to this newsletter here. Unsubscribe here Visit us at www.vss.sg |
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All Newsletter Readers Welcome at ‘More Than Just an AGM’ – 20 Mar |
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Anyone reading this eNewsletter, whether or not you’re a VSS member, whether or not you’re a vegetarian, is welcome to attend the VSS AGM. In addition to the usual AGM matters, the VSS AGM will also feature a talk about the animal welfare movement in Korea, food from Yuan Xiang, 30 free goodie bags and some entertainment surprises. Details are Sat, 20 Mar, 2pm-5pm at National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre, Level 4, The Central, above Clarke Quay MRT. Hope to see you there. Plus, we hope to debut our newest publication, the Meat Less in Singapore Starter Kit. |
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10 Tasty New Reasons to Join VSS! |
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VSS members now get to enjoy great food and fabuous savings when they dine at these 10 choice restaurants! This plus Food Vouchers, a Free copy of the Singapore Vegetarian Food Guide, special members-only events and so much more, makes membership an absolute steal. Best of all, by supporting VSS, you'll be helping to raise awareness to some of the most pressing issues of our time. |
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Part Time Job Opportunity with VSS |
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VSS is looking to hire someone with professional experience in doing accounts. Time required: approx 5 to 6 hours a week. Tasks include: a. maintain full set of accounts If you believe you have the necessary skills, time and interest, please send your background information and contact to jobs@vss.sg, latest by 20 March. |
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Brown Rice King Speaks at VSS Library Talk |
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When people complain that veg food at hawker stalls isn’t healthy, I point out that veg stalls and restaurants are almost the only places in S’pore where you can find brown rice. Thus, veg eateries are key path breakers in the journey of Singapore towards healthier grains. One of the people leading Singapore towards consumption of brown rice, and not just brown rice but organic brown rice, is Heng Guan Hou, who has been at this for many years, back to the days when brown rice was considered weird. Hou is doing a VSS Library talk entitled, To read more about Mr Heng, here are two pieces from the local media: http://www.todayonline.com/Business/Enterprise/ |
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The VSS InBox |
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The Food Outlets page is one of the jewels of the VSS website: http://www.vegetarian-society.org/?q=fdl But it’s a lot of work to keep the list up-to-date. That’s why we greatly appreciate email like the one from this reader. I found out the outlet at Emerald (Somerset) was closed when I went to Cuppage for training last week. I told my veg friends that the website was not updated. One of my friends commented that the site is not updated because we didn’t provide feedback to you & I totally agreed with him that we have a role to play too. Thus, I’m sending you all these updates. VSS replied: Yes, Orchard is surprisingly barren as to veg outlets. The good thing is that most non-veg restaurants now have veg food on the menu, or even if it’s not on the menu, they can make it. Last night, I was at a kabob place with some non-veg friends. When I told the waitress that I didn’t see any veg kabobs (although there were veg items in other parts of the menu), she quickly said that they did indeed have veg kabobs. Also, do you know about the veg restaurant in the basement of Cuppage Plaza: Nutri-Hub: http://www.vegetarian-society.org/node/733 |
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Interview for Business Traveller Magazine |
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Recently, a VSS Exco member was interviewed in preparation for an article on trends in veg for Business Traveller magazine. Here are the Qs & As. http://www.vegetarian-society.org/ files/interview-biz-trav.pdf  Top |
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Yogurt Class Soy Good |
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On Sat, 6 Mar, VSS organised another one of our cooking classes. This one, taught by Adeline Lo (in the accompanying photo), demonstrated how to make soy yogurt and then how it can be used is so many delicious ways. We hope that Adeline - adeline2611@gmail.com - will return to do more classes. Top |
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VSS Helps Open Ubin Green House |
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Nature Society (Singapore) - www.nss.org.sg - is now operating Ubin Green House, just a 3 min walk from where we alight from the bum boat on Palau Ubin. NSS has big plans for making the house a model, both as an environmentally friendly building and as a place for activities by green groups. VSS was invited to prepare a programme for the official launch of Ubin Green House on Sun, 7 Mar. Fortunately, Linda Loo (in the accompanying photo) - http://rawfoodlifestyles.com - agreed to lead a yoga session followed by a raw rojak workshop and lunch, with the rojak sauce kindly provided by Chef Dolly Wasan, 9069.1261. Everyone had a good time, especially the ten P4 students from their school’s green group, and the village headman graced the occasion by joining us to partake of the rojak. |
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Japanese Vegetarian Cooking Classes at Biopolis from Enso Kitchen |
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Enso Kitchen, which specialises in Zen vegetarian cooking, will be running a series of classes at Onaka which is located at Immunos [Biopolis]. The first classes, with Chef Danny Chu, at Onaka will be held on Mar 26 & Apr 3. For more details: www.ensokitchen.com/event.htm or contact Onaka: e: info@onakagroup.com / 6464-2007. Top |
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American Idol’s Simon Cowell Gives Meat the Thumbs Down |
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Even the hyper-critical American Idol judge, Simon Cowell, has been won over to the idea of taking at least one day a week away from meat. http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/people/simon-cowell- goes-vegetarian-for-leona-lewis-20100223-otbk.html Top |
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People’s Association May Promote Raw Food |
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Recently, VSS was contacted by People’s Association for help, as they are thinking of doing activities to encourage people to include more raw and other healthy food in their diets. PA is planning events from August at CCs and possibly at Lao Pa Sat. They are looking for people to do workshops/demos. VSS hopes to work with PA on this. If you know someone who might do an event as part of this, please contact Jean Heng at PA, jean_heng@pa.gov.sg |
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Taiwan Organic Trip – 22-29 May |
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Violet Lee, former VSS Treasurer, has organized many organic trips, both locally and abroad. This May, she and her brothers are doing another, even better, organic, Mandarin language trip to Taiwan. The dates are 14-21 May, and Violet is offering a special discount for VSS members who confirm before 25 Mar, as that date is the airline’s deadline. For more information, call Christopher Lee 9295.1648 or Violet Lee 9006.5525; email: chrislhh@gmail.com or violet_lyh@hotmail.com. Top |
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Podcast with Cardiologist Who Does Triathlons |
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Heather Shenkman is a vegetarian cardiologist who also does triathlons. You can listen to an interview with her from the Organic Athlete website at http://tiny.cc/vCfUm The interview starts at 1.30 mins and goes for almost 20 mins. Topics include how even vegans and athletes can be unhealthy if they eat the wrong foods. Top |
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Detox + Heal in Nature at Tg Sutera - 3-5 Apr |
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Last year, VSS had a trip to Tanjong Sutera. This year, our friends at Kampung Senang will be doing a 3-day, 2-night detox retreat there. For details and to register: ring 6749.8509 or email info@kg-senang.org.sg Top |
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The Gladiators Were Vegans |
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John McDougall, MD is a noted advocate of vegan diets. The following url links to an excerpt from a talk in which Dr McDougall reports finding that suggest gladiators ate a vegan diet heavy on barley and other grains. He also states that the Roman army went on a vegan diet whenever they went into battle: http://bit.ly/cijL0O Top |
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Questions about the Validity of Global Warming |
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Of late, doubts have been raised about whether global warming is really occurring and about the character and credibility of the scientists who are calling on us to act to slow global warming. Here are two forceful replies: http://stopglobalwarming.org/ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/ |
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Macrobiotics Cooking Academy in KL |
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The VSS website has a page listing local providers of cooking classes, and recently this eNewsletter had an item about a veg cooking school in the UK. Now, we are happy to inform you about the Woods Macrobiotics Cooking Academy of Southeast Asia - www.macrobiotics-malaysia.com - in KL offering courses on vegan, organic and macrobiotic dishes. From next month, Woods will be offering courses at certificate, diploma and advanced diploma levels. Top |
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Save the Pigeons |
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For many vegetarians and flexitarians, kindness towards our fellow animals is a key motivation behind our dietary choices. Thus, it’s no surprise that it was a VSS member who started this blog on the plight of local pigeons: http://savepigeons.blogspot.com No, people aren’t eating them, although that does happen in some countries. Instead, some pigeons here are being killed for being ‘pests’. Top |
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Vitamin B12 Recommendation Increased |
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Based on new research, Jack Norris, a registered nutritionist and president of the Vegan Outreach organisation in the U.S., has raised his recommendation for how much B12 we need. This is a serious matter, especially for vegans. Please visit http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/vitaminb12 Top |
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Study Compares Bone Fracture Rates According to Diets |
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Paul Appleby is not only a veg activist in Oxford - http://www.ivu.org/oxveg - he’s also a researcher in a major study of the links between food and health: EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) - http://epic.iarc.fr Here’s a summary of a recent report on which Paul served as first author. One of the health concerns relating to lactose intolerance appears to be the fear that persons who, for whatever reason, avoid dairy products (a major source of dietary calcium) will be at greater risk of bone loss and fracture. Our study of fracture risk by diet group showed that "among subjects consuming at least 525 mg/day calcium" (an amount equal to the Estimated Average Requirement in the UK - considered sufficient for 97.5% of the population) there was no difference in self-reported fracture incident rates between meat eaters and vegans. However, it did also emphasize the fact that "an adequate calcium intake is essential for bone health, irrespective of dietary preferences". European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2007) 61, 1400–1406 Comparative fracture risk in vegetarians and nonvegetarians in EPIC-Oxford P Appleby, A Roddam, N Allen and T Key Objective: To compare fracture rates in four diet groups (meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians and vegans) in the Oxford cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Oxford). Results: Over an average of 5.2 years of follow-up, 343 men and 1555 women reported one or more fractures. Compared with meat eaters, fracture incidence rate ratios in men and women combined adjusted for sex, age and non-dietary factors were 1.01 (95% CI 0.88–1.17) for fish eaters, 1.00 (0.89–1.13) for vegetarians and 1.30 (1.02–1.66) for vegans. After further adjustment for dietary energy and calcium intake the incidence rate ratio among vegans compared with meat eaters was 1.15 (0.89–1.49). Among subjects consuming at least 525 mg/day calcium the corresponding incidence rate ratios were 1.05 (0.90–1.21) for fish eaters, 1.02 (0.90–1.15) for vegetarians and 1.00 (0.69–1.44) for vegans. Conclusions: In this population, fracture risk was similar for meat eaters, fish eaters and vegetarians. The higher fracture risk in the vegans appeared to be a consequence of their considerably lower mean calcium intake. An adequate calcium intake is essential for bone health, irrespective of dietary preferences. |
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