IPBN Newsletter 2001 – Vol 2

IPBN Newsletter 2001 – Vol 2

PLANT-BASED NUTRITION

No Winter here.  It’s almost Spring.  No snow.  It’s hitting north, west, and south.  Somehow, every storm misses us this year.  We remember vicious ice and blizzards such as we’ve been reading about.  Even balmy New Jersey has had it worse than our area  – coastal flooding and beach erosion.  But for us, this is an amazingly benign Winter.  Then, we’ve seen snow here at the end of June.

IPBN Demonstration Garden One is providing winter kale, cabbage, broccoli and brussels sprout leaves.  We’ve had some delicious soups and salads.

Garden catalogs have been arriving since this new calendar year began.   Colorful, big, thick, beautiful picture books – and we’re learning, as usual, from the plant descriptions our horticultural expert friends have printed along with the photos which have us dreaming of the bounteous season to follow.  These have long been textbooks for us.  This year we’ll try to grow plants that look as good as the ones in the catalogs and advertisements.  They have our mouths watering for April lettuces,  May rhubarb, June blueberries, July corn, August tomatoes and September peaches.

Our blessings are many.  Readers have responded wonderfully.  Almost four thousand copies of the first newsletter, IPBN – 1 have been circulating and twice that many flyers.   Our mail deliveries are growing as people connect with IPBN from all over America.  Thank you for cards and letters, email, faxes, books to review, videos, telephone calls, nice notes with suggestions and 1998 Charter Membership checks.  It is the quality, of responses which delight us most and the quantity is respectable for a start-up effort.  The membership list can only be described as highly respectable.  We are awed.  There have been “donations” and a “scholarship fund” has been initiated.  The Internal Revenue Service has approved tax-exempt charitable educational scientific not-for-profit 503 (c) (3) association status for IPBN.  We appreciate everyone who has helped get this new organization up and running.   

The IPBN network is coast-to-coast and we have a couple of supporters in Canada.  Look out Mexico, we seek readers – and translators – everywhere possible.  Latin America, with volunteer help we’ll be on the way soon as possible.  We have a Brazilian relative who may give us some advice in Portuguese.  Our IPBN Board of Advisors is multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and includes a bus driver along with several healthcare specialties.  More nice people serving nice people.

Check out the IPBN website.  WOW.  Our first reaction was:  “LOVEIT!”  A

former secretary faxed, “I love your website!”  (She sent us two packets of fennel, one of sunflower seeds and a certificate for two weeks of lessons at Arthur Murray Dance Studios).  She’s full of life and so is this website.  It has color and real action.  Plant pictures, plant text and plant people.  The designer, a new father in Maryland, advised: “Hold onto your seat.”  He sought to create the “hottest vegan site on the web.”  How’d he do?  It’s lively and freely accessible globally through the internet at https://plantbased.org anytime.  Also, visit the linked sites which are provided to expand your horizons conveniently.  Enjoy.

In March we’ll host a visitor (28) from the Tartar republic whose wife says of our vegan food “It will be good for him.”  Victor Peppi wants to learn about “health foods” and we’re ready for him.  In the same month we’ll intermittently feed a Russian (50) “vegetarian.”   Pray for them.  Send letters of condolence, for we are going to overfeed and entice them to try every vegan food choice, visit every vegan restaurant, loan them every vegan book and tell every vegan joke we know of.  They’ll have stories to tell about nutraceuticals, phytonutrients and funny Americans to tell when they return to their homes in April.  Maybe they’ll translate issues of PBN into Russian and Tartar.  We aim to entice them into return visits and probably they’ll want to learn what’s going on where you live.  Your letters will be relayed to them.             

Oh, life is good.  We thoroughly enjoyed the people,  programs, and food at Whole Foods EXPO-East in Baltimore, Maryland in October; D.C. VegeFest and Vegetarian Union of North America meeting in Arlington, Virginia as well as Boston Vegetarian Food Festival in November; January meetings of Vegetable Growers Association of New Jersey, Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Association, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey Fruit Growers Association, and North American Bramble Growers Association in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  Friends keep us posted on the goings-on in Amarillo, Texas where we are headed in   late February.  We heard there was a huge vegetarian conference in Las Vegas, but know no details of it.  Can you educate us regarding this and other gatherings of importance?  Though we can’t be everywhere, we’ll go wherever we can and know that along with us, you and others will be looking  out for and representing plant-based nutrition at most of the get together on this continent.  Maybe we can meet in July at the American Vegan Society and North American Vegetarian Society annual conferences in Oregon and Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, let’s plant gardens where there haven’t been any and grow edible plants for our personal nutritional improvement as well as surplus to give away.  Besides love, is there a better gift than food?  Vegetables, fruits, berries, nuts, roots, tubers, grains, grasses, leaves, and herbs are even finer when shared.

This issue is loaded with information we hope interests.  Gleaned from a seven-foot pile of reading the material, it’s selected and phrased in hopes of interesting and leading you into still further adventures with plant-based nutrition.  Thank you for helping birth IPBN.

Peace and love to each of you,

Jim and Dorothy     

HEIRLOOM VEGETABLE GARDENING, A Master Gardener’s Guide to Planting, Seed Saving, and Cultural History (New York:  Henry Holt and Company, 1997.  430 text pages plus 24 in full color.  $45.00 U.S.)

This is an outstanding contribution to plant knowledge and understanding by seasoned author William Woys Weaver who lives at Roughwood, formerly an 1805 tavern and surrounded by plants in raised beds and a greenhouse, nearby in Devon, Pennsylvania.  The pictures alone are worth the price – photographs, historic woodcuts and etchings portray heirloom vegetables along with scientifically accurate descriptions keyed to related text.  This is an integrated handbook, well edited for practical use.  It’s easy to read and fascinatingly woven with stories, illustrations, references and recipes blended perfectly.  He gives histories of each heirloom vegetable in his collection and provides “commercial seed and plant stock sources.  His citations cover the history of plant literature beginning with Mattias de l’Obel.  Plantarum see Stirpium Icons published in Antwerp, Belgium in 1591.  The most recent citation is 1996.  A professional chef, food researcher and connoisseur, Will Weaver writes beautifully.  He offers recipes from the past and describes each vegetable lovingly.  From a boy gardener provided by his grandfather with small tools and heirloom vegetable seeds his Mennonite ancestors brought from Europe centuries ago, this master gardener is also a master teacher.  His mission in life is to save the irreplaceable diversity yet present in our declining plant stock.  Yes, unless we save the genetic material in these heirloom seeds, much and eventually most of the ancient variety will be gone forever.  Let’s join Will Weaver’s crusade and preserve heirloom vegetables. Every local library should have this reference on the shelves, each gardener a copy in hand and plant eaters will relish this guide.   Our advice is that one buy several copies for this is a treasure book in the plant-based nutrition library and suitable for gifting at any season.  Looks good, feels good, reads good.  Great book.

Where do I get calcium, iron, protein and Vitamin B12?  Plant sources suffice.  Really!

JUICEMAN IS 75

“Kale, Broccoli and Greens” to prevent or slow osteoporosis, “”carrot, apple, ginger [root] and parsley” for high cholesterol, he lists all the major diseases along with vegetables and fruits which his research indicates have positive effects on them.  Recently  Jay Kordich “The Juiceman,” enjoyed his 75th birthday in January 1998, “televised before a live audience.”  We were moved.  He looked good in the 1950s when we first saw him and he may be even fitter today.  “I wouldn’t be alive right now” without “juices” he says.   “When they go in my body, BINGO!”   “Pure energy.”  “It’s enzymes that stimulate the bowels.”  We believe him, having bought our first juicer (a used ACME) from ageless neighbors across the alley in Salt Lake City in 1959.  Since, we wouldn’t be without some kind of juicing machine. THE JUICEMAN is excellent for separating pulp and juice.  With literature it costs $198.00 U.S.  For further information call 800-313-2400 or write Box 380, Mt. Prospect, Illinois 60056.  A friend who works night shift at IRS and runs marathons raves about this machine.  His Mother likes it too, and they both claim improved health as a result of regular “juicing.”  They were healthy before, now they bounce and glow.  They’d dance your legs off and smile all the time.  It’s the “electrolytes” “nutrients according to Jay Kordich.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUICEMAN!  Take good care of your 11 year old child and invite us all to the party when you reach 100.

DR. JENSEN APPROACHES 90

We met juicing therapy advocate Bernard Jensen, Ph.D. last March at the annual WHOLE FOODS EXPO at the Doubletree Hotel in Philadelphia, sponsored by the Center for Advancement of Cancer Education.

Dr. Jensen  was ebullient, bouncy and he glowed.  Immaculate.  Not everyone looks good in a lavender suit, but he was radiant.

The sum and substance of his message was that he’d been wrecked along with his car, was wheel chair bound, suffered cancer and declared imminently dead.  Then he remembered that he should be taking his own advice.  So he “lived on carrot juice” and experienced diverse healing including cancer remission.  After all, he has a Ph.D. In Clinical Nutrition and should be eating properly – especially at his age.  Nearly 90, he’s prudent to be following the counsel he first espoused in the 1920s.  We believe he’s still alive and enjoying life in Escondido, California.

This giant in the common sense health improvement movement recommends that you take care of yourself wisely.  Juicing THERAPY, Health Through Nature’s  Most Natural Methods -The Ultimate in Nutritional Excellence, Extending a helping and for greater self-help health care and the pursuit of happiness (1992) is but one of his nine books currently in print and available through your health food store or directly from Dr. Bernard Jensen, 24360 Old Wagon Road, Escondido, California 92027.

Dr. Jensen maintains a traveling and speaking schedule which few could maintain.  Maybe you’d like to meet him too.  Really a sweet man.

Where do I get calcium, iron, protein and Vitamin B12?  Plant sources suffice.  Really!

Mad Carrot Disease?

“We are either part of the problem or part of the solution” according to Howard Lyman who spoke last July at the North American Vegetarian Society SUMMERFEST in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.  Believing him to be the latter, members of the International Vegetarian Union (IVU) elected him president and sent him off to Italy to meet with fellow plant eaters there.  Lately, he’s in Amarillo along with Oprah  Winfrey and a cast of thousands seeking truth through the legal system of Texas.  Fortunately, there’s a fine health food store and restaurant there.  It’s been serving the “Panhandle” with “whole foods” since 1947.  For extensive information on the “Oprah Case” look at these websites:   http://www.amarilloglobenews.com/oprah/        

http://www.dronezone.com/rv/

and check in regularly for updates.  If the law were followed in Texas, Governor George Bush Jr. would have to arrest his father for any disparaging comments regarding broccoli….  Already a USDA official in the role of witness for the prosecution has “broken down in tears” on the stand, “apologizing” for what some felt might have been “racist” testimony.  Is this a litigation about “food defamation” or what?  Get out your copy of the United States Constitution, read up on the First Amendment and be careful when driving through the Lone Star State and eleven others who have similar “food protection” laws.

Correspondence to Howard may be addressed to his office at the Eating With Conscience Campaign, Humane Society of the United States, 700 Professional Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20879.  Recorded messages may be left at TEL:  301-258-3051.                                                          

We appreciate his role playing martyr to restore sanity and humor.  “If this wasn’t so serious, it would be funny,” we’ve heard him say.  Indeed.  Costly, it could get dangerous too.  Suspending the First Amendment is serious business, but some do try to do that.  There are some who want freedom for themselves, but not for others.  Vigilance is warranted.  Keep in mind that most Texans and almost all Amarilloans are Constitution loving good citizens, nice neighbors and Oprah has said, great “hosts.”  She’s met nice “people.”  This comic opera can turn out well if law and reason prevail.  Here’s an opportunity for education.

BEST PRODUCT

*****

The Vita-Mix Super 500

Total Nutrition Center

Not a blender, not a grinder, not an extractor.  The Vita-Mix is in a class by itself, as always.  No other machine does all this: n juice, cook, freeze, chop, puree, mix, grind and knead, blend, crack and then clean itself.  Would you ask for more?  Well, it also whirls kitchen wastes into a slurry for use in composting, either to pour on your compost pile or directly at the base of plants.  Roses and tomatoes fed this slurry can produce maximally.  It also looks good.  Solid.      

Exemplary design.

Every kitchen needs one.

Though it seems expensive, when one first looks at the cost, this is a once-and-done long term investment.

To obtain The Vita-Mix Super 5000, call the manufacturer:  800-VITAMIX (800-2649) or write Vita-Mix Corporation, 8615 Usher Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44138.  They’re nice people who will treat you right.  If you’re not ready to buy, request the elaborate full-color brochure which teaches most everything about using this culinary tool.

We plan to use a Vita-Mix in IPBN food preparation demonstrations, having observed its outstanding performance in others’ workshops.  An IPBN Charter Member and dealer friend, Peter Sullivan, in Massachusetts, has  recommended that we consider selling these machines to raise funds for IPBN.  (He sells them  through his organization:  The Healing Energy Network, 14 Branton Street, Dorchester, MA 02122.  TEL: 617-825-7127)  Would members and other readers encourage us to do this?  If we sell anything, books or whatever, will you buy them?  Before any such move, we’d like to have your counsel.  Your views are important to us.  IPBN exists for you.   

~

Organic farming and gardening

can be very earth friendly.

~

TIME TO INVEST?

Which way is the wind blowing?  DUPONT has invested over a billion dollars aggregating plant protein production companies according to The Wall Street Journal, January 2X, 1998.

Apparently, leaders of this global corporation have sensed consumer market realities and are placing their very large bet on soy protein production.  Internationally.  They’ve bought the largest vegetarian entree producer in Great Britain among other capital placements.  Wise move.

Maybe someone left a copy of herbalist Jethro Kloss’s  Back to Eden (Santa Barbara, California: Woodbridge Press Publishing Company, 1983 [1939]) laying around  in the executive reading room.

Imagine.  Soy meat.  Soymilk.  Soy cream.  Soyogurt, Soy cheese.  Soy ice cream, Soy nuggets, Soy granules, Soy flour, Soy powder.  Don’t forget soy oil, soy sprouts, toasted soy beans and  plain  soy beans canned, frozen or dried.  Soy beans also taste good fresh, picked right off the plant.  You might grow one plant in a pot if growing ground is scarce.

Soybeans are protein, mineral and vitamin rich.  Most Vitamin E consumers purchase over the counter is squeezed out of soybeans by ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND, also the world’s largest producer of textured vegetable protein.

ADM in Decatur, Illinois is a major world producer of Vitamin E.  They squeeze soy beans to supply the wholesale market.  Others bottle, blend or encapsulated it.  One can argue that the best way to get Vitamin E would be to derive it from food and therefore eating lots of soybeans – and wheat which also contains Vitamin E – would be ideal.  Affluence and preferences allow us to pay the price of extraction, product refinement, packaging, labeling, advertising and transporting what nature provides cheap in the raw.  Popping Vitamin E tablets and also eating wheat and soy beans surely provides plenty of this essential (unless the person can’t assimilate…).

ADM’s Dwayne Andreas is said to have served a soy-based meal in the 1930s to President Franklin Delano Rosevelt and his guests in the White House.  “When you want to feed the world,” Andreas is reported to have said to the president, “we are ready.”  Andreas and ADM have been at ready over fifty years.

Wasn’t it Michigan farmer-industrialist Henry Ford who introduced commercial soy bean production in America to build soil and provide human food?  Soy-based cars?  Didn’t John Harvey Kellogg, M.D. research, write about and serve soy based products at his Battle Creek, Michigan sanitarium around a century ago?  What did George Washington Carver have to say about soy and other legumes in nutrition?  For how many thousand years have soy beans been harvested in Asia and been concocted into diverse food products?

Finally, soy beans are All-American food now.  They’re accepted in this new era with its rapid population growth, dynamic urbanization, educated affluence and increased nutrition awareness.  We are observing almost overwhelming sales growth of soy and other plant-based products and the consequent attraction of corporate investments in an expanding market.

Word is getting around.  Healthy foods are profitable, as well as the only ones worth producing.  Welcome DUPONT to the family of plant-based nutrition product producers.  If DUPONT makes vegetable protein foods, who will package them and in what?

They already wrap a great amount of food.  As their advertisement writers put it, “The tongue has 20,000 highly sensitive taste buds.  Packaging made with DuPont Surlyn [a trademark registered packaging resin] keeps food fresh.”  We thought the see-through film was just plain plastic.   

“Better things for better living.  Who will  be next?

EXXON!  Their 1997 Annual Report suggests those clear bags which hold salad greens at the market are polymers which have properties somewhere between plastic and rubber.  These new packaging films must control the respiration rates and maintain proper humidity for the produce they contain.  Whereas live plants absorb carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen, uncovered cut vegetables at room temperature consume oxygen at a high rate, speeding their own decomposition.  Since each vegetable, appropriately humidified breathes in and out at a different rate, bag makers must match the oxygen-carbon dioxide rates of the particular vegetable blend and volume.  Food scientists and polymer scientists have worked together many years to perfect the current freshness retaining produce packaging films and bags.

Vegan IPBN enthusiast Maida Genser in Michigan, where so much sound food technology has originated, provided the EXXON report information based on her reading of the company’s 1997 Annual Report.

If DUPONT can move from specialized package wraps to vegetable protein production, why couldn’t EXXON move from polymer wrap into quality proteins as well?  Rest assured their thinkers are aware of the possibilities.  Stay tuned.  Big profit opportunities present big challenges and big corporations are in play.

DUPONT.  ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND.  CON AGRA.  EXXON.  These are big players in the rapidly changing world of plant-based nutrition related product design and production.

WHOLE FOODS / FRESH FIELDS stock is up.  Surprised?

In this expansion of vegetarian food supplier prosperity, WORTHINGTON FOODS stock is way down.  How come?  What might WF do to run their stock price back up?

While we are thinking about the business and economic importance of plant based nutrition on the large scale, wouldn’t it be great to see a huge soy foods processing plant in Amarillo, Texas.  The soil around there grows great wheat, soy and other beans, corn, potatoes, onions, carrots, pretty much every other vegetable as well – and even pecans….  Arrowhead Mills in Deaf Smith County has done quite well since its start-up in the 1950s.  There’s undoubtedly room for more vegan food producers than presently exist on the Panhandle plains.  Chicago investors saw the opportunities and now control Arrowhead Mills.  Were ADM and  DUPONT, among other giants, to invest in vegetable protein production in the breadbasket between Amarillo and Lubbock, well, the world would be a better place.

There are vegans and vegetarians all over the area.  Perhaps they’ll organize and work with economic development councils in expanding plant-based nutrition product development on the Llano Estacado.  It’s time.    

There’s already a Texas Vegetarian Society centered on Austin.  Presumably, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth also have organized vegetarians and vegans.  A Texas Panhandle-Plains Vegetarian Society could probably help move things in further in a positive direction for human health.  Wouldn’t the participants get healthier and have fun? Cowboys and cowgirls slipping down the food chain and sidling up to the plant-based nutrition trough with mammalian cousin cows.  Soy products build strong bones and muscle, always did….

For current information on soy economics, contact the Soy Protein Council, 1255 Twenty-third Street, N.W., Washington, District of Columbia 20037, TEL:  202-467-6610 and ADM, Box 1470, Decatur, Illinois 62525, TEL:  800-447-2302

http://www.admworld.com

http://wwwdupont.com

http://www.exxon.com

~

The simplest truths often meet the sternest resistance and are slowest in getting general acceptance.

Frederick Douglass

~

CAROB FUDGE MALLOW

This is a simple recipe which requires no cooking.  Grace Lefever, of the Pennsylvania Natural Living Association, taught it to us as a “Carob-flax brownie” concoction.  It was beautiful and surprisingly tasty.  We experimented with variations and came up with the following formulation, a new name and various adaptations.

Berkeley nutritionist Clara Felix had taught us the virtues of flax seeds in the early 1980s, we’d been eating them since the 1930s but didn’t know how the omega 3 fatty acids build health.  We enjoyed the benefits, but didn’t know why.  Now we recommend flax seeds to everyone who will listen, and here’s an example of one of the ways we use them.

In a blender (or Vita-Mix) combine water and  flax seeds until a gooey mass is formed which holds together and could be spread out as fudge on a plate.  Don’t remove the product from the mixing container, but now add carob powder to taste, then do the same with maple syrup, Succanat or whatever sweetener you have handy.  Taste, mix, add more water, flax, carob, sweetener as you wish to produce a flavor and texture you’ll accept as “ok.”

Spread the stuff on a smooth surface, we use a plain white dinner plate.  Smooth it to a uniform thickness between a quarter and half inch.  Tuck in the edges neatly, use a wet paper towel to wipe off the smudges.  Let it air dry until pieces can be cut and picked up.

Eat a reasonable amount knowing the flax is rich in fiber and essential fatty acids including omega 3.  Here’s a nutritional bonanza in what appears to be simple fudge.

We roll it in balls and let them dry, sometimes roll these in chopped walnuts, peanuts or sesame seeds.  They can also be rolled in coconut shreds or date sugar, cinnamon can be added if you wish.

This process  of making carob fudge mallow is an adaptation of a basic goo which we used to add to baked good recipes as a “substitute” for the little white things stolen from hens.  In 1979, realizing these capsules were in fact liquid chickens, we never touched them again and have since found happiness with flax goo.  Initially, we blended flax seeds with orange juice, made the slurry to an appropriate consistency and never had a failure. At the time we were in a bran muffin phase and never heard criticism of our orangy, flaxy, bran loaded offerings. At bake sales, they went first.

For years, we’ve wondered why everyone doesn’t use pureed flax seeds, and the many other substitutes which work well in baking.  We concluded,  nobody told them yet.  So here’s our introductory lesson.

By the way, chickens, chicks, hens and roosters, thrive on flax seeds and so will you.  We chewed them along with the horses we were feeding in childhood.  There was no doubt about it, horses relished them and so did we.

After decades of using flax slurry in baking, we had the good fortune to meet Grace Lefever, at a PANLA Conference workshop in August, 1997, and started making her “carob brownies.”  She adds cashews and coconut for a memorable delicacy.   

Then Mort and Maida Genser, vegan friends living near Detroit, wanted to know how to puree the flax seeds, having learned a coffee grinder produced

only…granules….  Fearing maybe we’d lost the spirit, to the kitchen we went, playfully that day, and whipped up proof that water and flax seeds alone produce a fine goo for baking.  Rather than compost the replicated research findings, a touch of carob powder and Succanat (crystallized raw cane sugar juice) were added so we could try the stuff on an IPBN medical advisor, David Mattingly, D.O. who reviews our ideas.  “Can I use this recipe in food demonstrations for overweight patients?” he asked.  “Of course,” we replied, “you can use us as demonstrations also.”  To tantalize the doctor, we put some of the carob flavored and Succanat sweetened pureed flax seed goo in a bowl with strawberry Rice Dream.  We’d discovered what we felt was a nutritionally sound new version of the old hot fudge Sunday.  Before we quit he was eating carob fudge mallow balls rolled in sliced almonds, and others with walnut halves hidden inside.  “This is the best,” he exclaimed.  A new food was born.  We liked it.

Maybe you will too.

At midnight we were giddy and decided to come up with a name which would accurately describe the product, and have wide appeal.  Lefever, Felix, Genser, Osward, Mattingly goo was too long a name, and hardly descriptive.  “Flubber” came to mind, but this stuff has less bounce.  It took several tries, but the spirits were with us and we now offer the world our concoction:  IPBN Carob Fudge Mallow.

So there you have it folks: a hen and chick saving substitute for baked goods – in the plainest format, with two more ingredients a quick and easy uncooked brownie, carob fudge balls and a dessert topping par excellence. Here’s a nutritionally sound vegan dessert product which we suspect that you will enjoy as much as we do.  We hope you will make Carob Fudge Mallow a part of your repertoire.

The stuff will probably blend well with tofu and produce a nice cake icing.  Professional chefs could probably improve this product still more.  For added richness, blend in cashew and coconut puree.  That is for them and you to experiment with, and please let us know the results.

~

Water is composed of chemical elements and the only way in which it can become organic, or in other words be instilled with the life-principle, is through the vegetable kingdom.

N. W. Walker, D.Sci.  The Vegetarian Guide to Diet & Salad.  Prescott, Arizona:  Norwalk Press, 1995 [1940], page 22.

~

KIWIFRUIT

“Try eating the skin for more fiber,” so Knight Ridder News Service advises in a February, 1998 article by Carol J. G. Ward.  “Kiwifruit is the most nutrient-dense of the 27 most commonly consumed fruits, according to an analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.”  Further, “Kiwifruit has the highest level of vitamin C – almost twice that of an orange – and magnesium.  It is also a good low-fat source of vitamin E and an excellent source of fiber.  Low in sodium, kiwifruit contains only 45 to 55 calories per fruit.”   We eat a lot of them.  Organically grown.  When they’re cheap, we eat two to four a day, apiece.  We’ll try the peelings, little bites at first.  Anyone expert on this?  Aren’t these Chinese gooseberries dubbed “kiwis” delicious?  Mmmm.

OUR CHOICE

*****

BEST FOOD DEMONSTRATION

WORKSHOP

1997

“GREEN FOODS”

Grace Lefever, of Sonnenwald Foods, a master teacher, presented the best food demonstration workshop of 1997 at the Annual Pennsylvania Natural Living Association Annual Conference on the Cedar Crest College campus, August 1, 1997, in Allentown, Pennsylvania.  It was simply wonderful.

Grace harvests heirloom vegetables and herbs, those native to America and others brought over by early migrants, voluntary and involuntary, centuries ago.  They grow in her yard.  Neighbors call them “weeds.”  She knows that Queen Anne’s Lace is actually ancient carrot and dandelion is edible from flower to root.

Maybe the best single word to describe Grace’s workshops is “delicious.”  Add “nutritious.  We’ve never seen better.

No one sleeps in a Grace Lefever food demonstration, everyone eats their fill and goes away laden with every recipe observed and tasted.  Participants exercise.  They blurt out questions and Grace has them “Come up and look…taste it…and ’chew, chew, chew.’”  She teaches the “Chew, Chew, Chew” poem to reinforce the concept that the first stage of digestion occurs in the mouth.  “Chew every bite as long as you can.”

Let’s face it, Grace Lefever is an original, she’s endearing, bright and fun.  Demonstrating food preparation, she fairly dances from place to place in the room.  Total life force!  We learn from her and encourage others to get acquainted.  Grace is captivating, a great teacher.

To follow Grace, eat greens, drink greens, chew, exercise, laugh, garden, share, enjoy life and be enjoyable….

You’ll find Grace Lefever, between trips and when she’s not in the garden, at Sonnewald Service Natural Foods, R.D. 1, Box 457, Spring Grove, Pennsylvania 17362.  TEL: 717-225-3456.

We love you, Grace.

CALIFORNIA REPORT

From Los Altos Hills small-scale fruit growers Dick and Jane Gross comes this winter report.

“Greetings from soggy washed-out California!  El Nino has spared northern California until this week.  …The ‘Pineapple Express’ we have been experiencing has fooled many of the early blossoming trees.  Acacias and almonds are drooping in wet full bloom and our peaches and apricots are about to burst forth – all are signs of a poor fruit season as blossoms will be blown away and the necessary number of cool nights for proper fruiting have not occurred.

“Add to that the relative absence of bees across the country wiped out in spite of medication by a deathly virus.  Most wild colonies are gone and [we] lost [our] hive last year.  This disaster is far more serious than the publicized progress of the ‘killer-bees’ northward from Mexico.”

Here’s insight into the realities of plant culture.  West coast, east coast, south coast, northern and midwestern plant growers are doing their best to feed us, but nature and our own pollution create unavoidable problems between hopes and actual facts.

We pray for the bees.  These creatures are in trouble and very few people know what they’re going through.   

EARTH  HEART

“On average, Americans shop six hours a week and spend only 40 minutes playing with their children.”  Join The Earth Heart Foundation campaign  and ”CELEBRATE BUY NOTHING DAY” each November.  We can celebrate this event as opportunities occur throughout the year.

“Education Toward Healthier Food Choices for the Good of People, Animals and Our Planet” is the purpose of the Earth Heart message a newsletter you’ll want to read.  A trip to Wisconsin will be enhanced by a visit to Earth Heart.

Earth Heart NATURAL FOODS CAFÉ,  DELI, MARKET is a fine place to eat Risotto with Asparagus and Peas, BBQ Tofu on Basmati, Baked Tofu on Oregano Potatoes, soups, salads, beverages, desserts and a variety of other vegan delicacies.  Drive, don’t walk, to De Pere, Wisconsin soon as you can.  We’re aiming that way and sooner or later will appear, hungry and loaded with cash so we can try a little of everything these chefs know how to prepare.

EarthHeart is in a new location, with plants growing, video programs available, shelves stocked with good food and books, and in the kitchen – superb delicacies prepared with love.

To visit or contact the Foundation and Café write:  Steve and Christine Ketter McDiarmid, co-Directors, The Earth Heart Foundation, 416 George Street, DePere, WI 54115, TEL:  414-983-9609, EMAIL:  eartheart@juno.com     

Where do I get calcium, iron, protein and Vitamin B12?  Plant sources suffice.  Really!

WE ARE WHAT WE WEAR

Remember deva?  It was a community of cotton clothes makers which started with needles, thread, bolts of cloth and inspiration back in 1978.  Small sale and informal, they preferred to use lower case in advertising deva.

They’re big time now.

The newest catalog of “natural fiber wear for men and women” offers contemporary style along with the solid construction and durable, easy on earth fabrics of cotton and hemp.  We didn’t notice any linen goods or rayon (which is made of wood fiber), but, if anyone has them, deva life wear would be a likely supplier.

We are taken by the matching corduroy vests and blazers.  In fact, we’d like to have most every item in the colorful catalog.  It is not easy to be non-materialists when these adornment selections are reviewed.  Go for what you need.  Expect durability.

Deva Lifewear, Box 7A, 1101 Avenue, Westhope, North Dakota 58793-0266,TEL:  800-222-8024, FAX:800-251-1746.  (Nearly totally vegan.)

  BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

Mornings we usually eat oatmeal, wholegrain bread, fruit, and water – with carrot juice.  Day in, day out.  At home and while traveling.

Today, we tried a paper cup of FANTASTIC FOODS HOT CEREAL, Peachberry, wheat, and oats.  Organic.  Low fat.  Plenty good.  Along with this, we had  a slice of Mestermacher ALL NATURAL FAMOUS GERMAN Sunflower seed bread – with “whole kernels” and “no preservatives.”  Then a fresh pear – non-organic and peeled.  A tablespoonful of organic flax seeds.  Cloister Spring Water.  Finis.  This was a splendid breakfast in a house where they’re all good.

~

It is time to stand up and fight for a return to reason and plain common sense.  I feel the challenge that faces all people from all walks of life is to seek the truth, test the truth, and speak the truth.

Montaigne, 1580

~

ROCHESTER AREA VEGETARIAN SOCIETY

RAVS has a swell newsletter, the most recent is Volume IX, Number 1 of January 1998.  “Membership in RAVS is holding steady at over 100 members….” According to this latest issue, “Our members are the backbone and strength of RAVS.  Regardless of how often you can attend meetings, by joining RAVS you help us spread the good news about a vegetarian diet.”  Amen.

Let’s study RAVS and replicate their successes in our communities everywhere.

RAVS members enjoy monthly  potluck dinners and gather occasionally in support of local vegetarian restaurants.

Was the author of the “backbone” quote editor Ted Barnett, M.D.?  Who else would use the term so aptly.  He’s a vegan radiologist who sees x-rays of human bones all day.  Speaks publicly and well.  Gardens veganorganically.  An astronomer, philosopher scientist who “loves hospitals and working in them.”  Even “likes the way they smell.”  He knows all about bones, has a strong boned vegan wife and two strong boned vegan children.  The whole family looks good, feels good and acts good.  Strong vegan backbones.  Right foods – and exercise.

Might their diet be having to have some positive effects?

Hostess of the RAVS Winter Solstice Party and “Food Forum editor Flora Berg is working on “a RAVS cookbook” and suggests “Worthington canned Country Stew becomes a sumptuous pot pie with the simple addition of a pie crust top.”

RAVS, Box 20185, Rochester, New York 14602.  TEL:  716-234-8750  EMAIL:  Drveggie@aol.com

WEBSITE:  http://www..affiniti.com/ravs/

[What other exemplary vegetarian societies shall we feature in future issues of PBN?  Keep us informed regarding groups you participate in and let’s praise  efforts in behalf of plant-based nutrition, wherever they are occurring.]

~

A man can live and be healthy without killing [other creatures] for food; therefore, if he eats [them], he participates in taking…life merely for the sake of his appetite.  And to act so is immoral.

Leo Tolstoy

~

Where do I get calcium, iron, protein and Vitamin B12?  Plant sources suffice.  Really!

HEALTH AND NUTRITION

TIP OF THE DAY

True vegetarians are few and far between.  Fewer than 1% of Americans never eat [non-plant based products sold for human consumption].  You don’t have to be a purist to get in the game.  Reap the health benefits of eating lots of veggies.  When you order your next meal, try a[totally plant based], vegetable-rich entree….

Adapted from The Wall Street Journal, February 3, 1998, Page A4

American Heart Association “HEALTHY CHOICE”

public message

paid for by ConAgra Inc.

“Makers of Healthy Choice”

Diet and inactivity result in 300,000 preventable deaths in the U.S. each year.  It is second only to smoking at 400,000 deaths annually.  Prevent the preventable.  Eat low-fat and talk with your doctor about what’s a healthy weight for you.  Make physical activity a regular part of life.  Walk briskly for 30 minutes at least four times a week.

TWSJ January 19, 1998, Page A 4 

Most Americans eat 10 to 15 grams of fiber a day.  To get the bounty of fiber benefits – such as less risk of heart disease and certain cancers – you need twice that amount.  Add fabulous fiber to your fare – eat beans.

One cup of baked beans has

10 grams of fiber.

TWSJ, February 9, 1998, Page A 4.

For more:

TWSJ, Page A 4.

and

http://healthychoice.com

~

Like one awakened from a dream, the wise soul sees the truth….

Srimad Bhagavatam 11.11.8

~

MICROBE NEWS

.

Hello  friend.  Cobalamin here.  Too small to see.  I’m a microbe, tiny in size.  Think of me as a cobalt cocktail, rich in that chemical element.  I deliver that mineral in just the right dosage.  Some label me just plain old  “B 12.”   Frankly, there’s more romance in pronouncing Cobalamin.  Don’t you agree? You need me on a regular basis, but not to worry, I’m already in you, store well in your liver, and fairly well surround you as well.  I float in the air with the greatest of ease, get around pretty much everywhere.  Though you can’t see me, you’ll find me on leaves, grass, vegetables, fruits, grains, herbs, and on the back of your hand….  I‘m your friend and always have been.  Count on me to be along wherever you are, but if you’re wondering whether I’m definitely available every time you have need, check with your nutritionally educated doctor and dietitian.  They’ll help us to keep on dancing together all the days of your life.  Then I’ll move on and help someone new.

~

I heard a whisper softly sighing,

Lo, time’s sickle is near the lying.

Each moment is golden and none to waste.

Arouse thee, then, to duty haste.

George Washington Carver

~

THE FUTURE IS NEARING

Remember the Nearings when you plant a garden, extol the virtues of “organic” and “veganic” produce and find a variety of food wholesome alternatives not available in stores when they were young.

In their childhoods, white flour and white sugar were relatively new innovations.  Sears was selling Coca-Cola syrup with real cocaine, opium and morphine were easily available, tuberculosis widespread and lifespan rather brief compared with current expectations.  Children were sold into coal mine work by their parents for beer and whiskey money.  Radical Scott dreamed of the “good life” and protested using those under 12 years old.  Times have changed and the Nearings deserve considerable credit for pointing people in sane ways.

Scott and Helen Nearing were following the “Indore Method” of producing compost long before it was popularized in the “Victory Garden” era of the 1940s and through the work of J. I. Rodale’s book Pay Dirt and revolutionary new periodical Organic Gardening.

In early 20th century colonial India, Sir Albert Howard and staff, with the help of poor but smart traditional farmers, working near Indore, had developed what they termed the “Indore Method” of composting through experiments with alternate layers of nitrogenous green and carbonaceous brown, wet and dry plant materials along with locally available soils for mineral supplementation.   What is simple science today was revolutionary advancement at that time and in that place.  Their published agricultural improvement reports were distributed around the world and popularized in Britain and America.

Others who spread the gospel of composting in its early days were India experienced author Louis Bromfield at Malabar Farm, now an Ohio State Park south of Cleveland, and former Missionary to India, Susquehanna Valley Pennsylvanian Paul Keene of Walnut Acres.

Composting is often a missing link in American agriculture, currently being restored to popularity because of it’s non-toxic economical advantages in high quality food production.

If fact, composting is not new, though scientific measurement of its components and benefits are.  George Washington used it, so did Thomas Jefferson.  So did most everyone who grew a garden.  It was, and had been, a mainstay of agriculture for centuries.  Pilgrim gardens, at Plymouth, Massachusetts, were and are today composted.  Yet, people fall into bad habits and composting needed to be revived to produce healthier foods and get people working productively again.  Time for revolutionaries to remind how simple and good life can be.

We owe much to these pioneers:  Sir Albert Howard and crew, Scott and Helen Nearing, Anna, Jerome I. and Bob Rodale, Louis Bromfield, Paul Keene and others.  Nice people, every one, and practical.

Anna Rodale knew this ancient agricultural practice of composting ,in her bones, as a result of growing up with Polish immigrant gardening parents who taught her the old ways.  Her bones have held up well.

Always a good dancer, Anna Rodale is very much alive and kicking in Emmaus, Pennsylvania.  Follow her living and gardening guidelines and maybe you too can dance through your 90s.

Paul Keene is strong and vocal and his Walnut Acres organic food production community has never been more productive.

Louis Bromfield died years ago, yet strong boned Ohioans living around Malabar Farm continue to benefit from his soil improvement experiments and his books are still read.

The Nearings practiced what they preached and had long, healthy, happy lives.  Thousands continue to visit their Forest Farm in Maine.  Both Nearings have gone on, as Helen put it, “ into the light.”

Jay Dinshah had warned Scott that his vegetarianism could do him in.  And “it did,” Jay told a North American Vegetarian Society Annual Meeting audience in 1996.  He didn’t make 101.  “It finally got him at age one hundred.”

If you’re not afraid of this sort of a finale and rather relish such risks, in the future eat more than enough vegetables.  But remember Jay’s counsel to Scott.  Be forewarned that your future too might be “Nearing.”

COME TO OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON

AVS ANNUAL CONFERENCE

July 28 TO AUGUST 2, 1998

“Health, Harmony, Happiness” will be the themes of the 38th Annual Convention of the American Vegan Society on the beautiful campus of the Evergreen State College in July.  Six glorious days with friends you’ll want to meet again.

The food may be life prolonging, prepared as it will be by Chef Ron Pickarski, International Culinary Olympics Team Leader and Medal Winner.  “Total-vegetarian” vegan cuisine will be served three meals a day.

If you’ve never eaten with Ron Pickarskie, plan on an ecstatic culinary experience.  Walk, ride, fly… but get there and enjoy this opportunity if at all possible.  It’ll be a great vacation, educational experience, and investment.   Take family and friends.  Send your doctor and dietitian….

Participants will learn from Charles Attwood, M.D. George Eisman, R.D., Howard Lyman, Charles Vaclavik, D.O., Vesanto Melina, R.D., Marcia Pearson, Dixie Mahy, Jennifer Raymond, Bernard Unti, Elysa Markowitz, Eric Marcus, Gary Francione, Brad Wolff, Freya Dinshah, Jay Dinshah, Roshan Dinshah and others.  We hope to see you there.

For program and pricing details contact:  American Vegan Society, Box H, Malaga, New Jersey 08328.  Early birds get the best rates.

If you are not yet an AVS member, request a copy of the journal  Ahimsa,  listings of videocassette programs of presentations at past conferences and a book list.  Periodically, AVS also has weekend cooking school sessions.

~

Do not give to others what you yourself do not desire.

Confucius

~

JOIN VUNA

Consider investing in membership in the Vegetarian Union of North America.  It’s a double whammy, big bang for the buck, around $15.00 a year expenditure which is tax deductible and will provide double memberships and the regular publications of both VUNA and IVU ( International Vegetarian Union).  You’ll get news from abroad as well as this continent.

For a descriptive brochure and to join VUNA along with IVU contact:  Saurabh Dalal, VUNA,  9001 Good Luck Drive, Lanham, Maryland 20706.

~

Now is the time when we should stop to reflect upon the marvelous vitality of the earth, which expresses itself most profoundly in the cycle of the green leaf.

Yoshide Hagiwara, M.D.  NATURE’S SOURCE OF LIFETIME HEALTH, VITALITY AND WELLBEING: GREEN BARLEY  Essence, THE IDEAL FAST FOOD.  New Canaan, Connecticut,  Keats Publishing, Inc., 1985, page 20.

~

OUR CHOICE

*****

BEST RESTAURANT IN THE UNITED STATES

It’s Only Natural Vegan Restaurant

686 Main Street

Middletown, Connecticut 06457

860-346-9210

This is our decision based on several years of actual eating experience at various times over every season.  Our unannounced appearances have all been great feasts.  Simply wonderful and well worth the price.

We’re not alone in this acclaim.

Locals know good food and keep the place busy.  Folks drive in from Boston and New York, even Philadelphia and Washington.  Smart people know this is excellence.

We eat as much as we can and then carry home another meal or two.  ION staff knows how to pack food for the road.

Squash bisque soup…Ceasar Salad…Blackened Tempeh…Hummus Platter…Peanut Noodles…Pizza Rustica…Chilaquiles…Sweet and Sour Vegetables…Gado – Gado…Macrobiotic Platter…  All these are great.  Hold on for desserts, though.  These are superb:  Carob Orange Creme Cake…Banana Cake…Milano Cake…Lemon Tart…Fresh Fruit Crumb Pie…Amazake Pudding Pie.  Caffix or Peppermint Tea top off such a meal wonderfully.

If we seem ecstatic, try the food.  It’s even better than the descriptions.  We never tire of any of it.  That’s why we think this restaurant is the “best.”

Co-Owners, Co-Chefs Mark Shadle and Lisa Magee run ION well.  They’re young, work very hard, smile all the time and say, in 1992, when they became the owners, “we committed ourselves to providing people with health-supportive, inspiring whole foods – natural foods without compromise.”  They don’t believe in, eat or cater in any way to a “dead food diet.”

A chef for over fifteen years and “trained in the ‘classic French style’” Mark became a vegetarian in 1998, “no longer wanting to cook” fellow creatures.  He’s cooking on Main Street in the town where he grew up.  Married, a happily married  and proud father, Vegan Shadle has plans for “moving up the street to a larger location” and eventually having several restaurants.  “Good Living, Clean Cooking and Good Lovin” mark advises, “Lettuce Love.”

Describing her own transformation at age 16, Lisa explains “It became very clear to me at a young age that what you eat has a direct result on how your body feels and your mind functions” and on testing her hypothesis she experienced “a lightness of body and clarity of mind…”

Like Mark, Lisa knows, “’dead foods do not produce life.’”  Trained by Anne Marie Colbin and staff at the Natural Gourmet Cookery School in New York City, Lisa understands “it is possible to rebuild your body cell by cell with the proper foods.  She’ll be catering her own wedding in Spring 1998.

They’re great people, great cooks, healers, educators and community builders.  Visit them often, eat as much as you can and take plenty home.  If you can’t get to Middletown soon, order their two cookbooks:  inspiring vegan recipes (handwritten and illustrated) and

More INSPIRING RECIPES (computer typeset, hand illustrated,  spiral bound and colorfully covered with a colored sketch and photograph of the front window signage).

Order from:  Mark Shadlee and Lisa Magee, It’s Only Natural Vegan Restaurant, 686 Main Street, Middletown, Connecticut.  TEL:  860-346-9210, FAX:  860-346-6118.

~

UNBOUND BY EARTHLY TIES LET YOUR SPIRITS SOAR

Lisa and Mark              

~

DON’T CRY FOR ME

AMARILLO

Dana Lyons is still singing, throughout America – over the mountains and across the fruited plains.

“Regards from all at Cow command central” Dana’s Mom writes.  She sent a new brochure with updated information.

”At Night They Howl At The Moon,” “Animal,” “Turn Of The Wrench” and that most unforgettable album “ Cows With Guns” are all available from REIGNING RECORDS, Box 2627, Bellingham, Washington 98277 (TEL:  888-878-COWS, FAX:  360-733-7995, EMAIL:  dana@cowswithguns.com, WEBSITE:  http://www.cowswithguns.com

Lyons’ lyrical commentary “Our State Is A Dumpsite” is still available on a vinyl record.  “Really,” according to Dana’s Mom who will also send you “Organic” or plain cotton

t-shirts and an autographed “Cow Tse Tung Poster.”

Popular in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe, as well as America, tops in Seattle over ten months  and  “#1 on Dr. Demento,” Dana Lyons irreverent lilting music epitomized in “Cows With Guns” is deadly serious and fun.

“One of the biggest hits in the last decade, COWS WITH GUNS is absolutely huge in Tucson” according to Jerry Agar of KMXZ Radio.

Imagine an armed cow shouting “VIVA!”

VRG Food Service Update

Healthy Tips and Recipes

for Institutions

We wouldn’t be without it, or Vegetarian Journal.  Join us in joining with:

The  Vegetarian Resource Group, Box 1463, Baltimore, Maryland 21203.

If you aren’t familiar with VRG, VJ, or VRGFSU, write Charles Stahler and Debra Wasserman and become VRG volunteers, like we are, in your own community.

Maybe slip copies of VRG Foodservice Update to your local school board president, superintendent, cafeteria manager and dietitian.  After that, slip them sets of the large group VRG Menu Cards which will make them appear quite advanced in serving students’ nutritional needs.

Debra and Charles will be pleased to hear from you.  VRG needs the support of all of us.  Tell them we told you.

~

True love is undiscriminating, unattached, and unconditional, we should share this love with all beings.  This is called compassion.

Living Buddhism

~

IN THE 1890S

“A balanced diet and proper hygiene were essential

to good health”

  

Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 65, Number 4, Fall 1997, published an analysis of the health teachings of a pioneer educator in “Divine Duty:  Hannah Sorenson and Midwifery in Southeastern Utah.”  Authors Robert S. McPherson and Mary Lou Mueller cited and quoted Sorenson’s advice to women and others in the late 1800s:

“’Very little salt, no vinegar or pepper, nor anything strong and irritating to the delicate membranes lining the internal organs.’” (Page 346)

“The ideal diet should include plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, ‘as near their natural state as possible, as fresh as the season thereof, or in cans put up fresh, also dried fruit stewed.’”  (Page 347)

“She considered bread the most important food if it was prepared carefully from coarse flour, ideally graham, and baked well.”  (Page 347)

“White bread was to be  strictly avoided.”  (Page 347)

“Fruit sandwiches… ‘with fresh fruit jam lightly sweetened with fig sauce, or steamed figs, chopped steamed prunes, or sliced bananas…most relishable.’’ (Page 347)

“’We should teach our children to spare”’ lives of creatures and “’we cannot do it while kill[ing them].’”

(Page 347,  McPherson and Mueller quoting Hannah Sorenson, Notes Written for the Benefit of Members of the Woman’s Hygienic Physiological Reform Classes.  Provo, Utah:  Dispatch Press, 1892, page 11 and May Jones, notes titled “ “The Woman’s Hygienic Physiological Reform Class of Bluff, August 20, 1896,” page 11.)

So what?

Check Utahn lifespan statistics.

Another article in the same issue, Elaine Bapis, “In the Hands of Women:  Home Altar Tradition in Utah’s Greek Orthodox Homes” has little to say regarding plant based nutrition, yet this interesting comment:  “’The priest did visit our home with basil and holy water and blessed each room….’”  (Page 330)  Citing a “telephone interview with Gregoria Korologos, February 3, 1996, third generation [descendant] Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C.”   

The full UHQ issue in which this article appeared, and other publications are available through:  Utah Historical Society, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101.

{You may wish to research the symbolism and efficacy of basil in ancient and contemporary cultures.  It’s a member of the mint family of plants.  One variety of these revered plants is “tulsi” which is worshipped by millions of “Hindus” in India and wherever they live globally.  The mints have been treasured in many ways and basil is a widely grown and sought herb in more than a few cultures today.

According to Selene Yeager, et al, in Prevention’s New Foods for Healing, Emmaus, Pennsylvania:  Rodale Press, Inc., 1998,  pages 62 and 63, “The research is still preliminary, but laboratory studies suggest that compounds found in basil may help disrupt the dangerous chain of events that can lead to the development of cancer….  Basil’s ability to prevent cancerous changes [ by stimulating “higher levels of enzymes that are known to deactivate cancer-causing substances in the body”] was linked not to one particular compound in the herb but instead to several compounds working together, the researchers speculate.”

If anything is going to be waved around in purification rituals, basil is a noble candidate.  It has an honorable tradition of helping people in many ways.}   

~

There is no absolute fate.

Suma Ching Hai

~

IN THE 1990S

“’The best treatment for high cholesterol always includes a healthy diet and lifestyle.’”

So says Teresa Caulin Glaser, M.D., associate professor of cardiology of Yale University. “‘I encourage my patients to change their entire approach to diet and exercise, even if their cholesterol is relatively normal.’  By adopting a healthy lifestyle early on, it is more likely they won’t have to play catch-up when they’re in their late 40s or 50s, Dr. Causlin notes.  If a woman changes the kinds of food she feeds her family and gets the entire family involved, it will have a much better impact on her life than just giving her medication later on, she continues.

“Indeed, study after study has shown that a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet that’s high in fiber and includes mainly fruits, vegetables, and grains helps lower cholesterol and keeps heart disease at bay.  It has been shown that a vegetarian diet with less than 10% of calories from fat actually reversed cholesterol-clogging plaque and reduced recurrent heart attacks by 50% in patients with advance heart disease.”

(Barbara Tunick, “Women and Cholesterol,” The Female Patient, Total Health Care For Women: Supplement, Volume 23, Number 1, January 1998, pages 15-16.)

“THE VEGETARIAN CHRONICLES”

Four one-hour cassettes present plant based food alternatives and rationales – with some music in National Public Radio-style format.  Good for gifts.  Every library should have this set of educational media.  Nice listening while cruising down the road to everywhere.  Marvelous diversion during traffic jams.

Hear individual interviewees explain their food choice rationales and interject occasional mild humor.  Good background material for family dinner discussions.  Just great.

Order by telephone: 800-5-LISTEN or send a check for $24.95 to Far Reaching Communications , Department VPC, Box 185, Belmont, Massachusetts 02178.  “Everyday Healing Foods” is a one-hour cassette also available.

~

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Hebrews 12, 2

~

  CLONING

Plant Tissue culture is the propagation of plants through “cloning”, an asexual method of reproduction.  A portion (explant) of the desired plant is cultivated in vivo on a defined medium which promotes rapid multiplication. As the new plants develop, they are removed from culture and transferred to a standard potting medium.

Tissue culture is based on the theory of totipotency; that is the genetically based ability of an organ or cell to develop into a new organism identical to the original.  Currently, tissue culture is being used in both research and commercial applications.  Tissue culture not only provides a method of mass propagation but also makes possible the production of disease-free plants, mutants, and secondary plant products.  A single plant cell can be genetically modified and grown into a mature plant or plants having new characteristics.

Monograph (anonymous) from the free literature table of the Vegetable Growers Association of New Jersey Annual Conference at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, January 20-22, 1998.

~

If we help one person, we save the world

Hillel

~

HERB DEMAND GROWS

Word is that international corporations are providing growers with herb seeds and production advice to quality organic farmers.  It seems that dried herbs are used in a variety of products for their aroma and color as well as taste and health enhancement qualities….

There a special tomato which produces a pheromone a French perfume maker needs.  Green coloring can be extracted from many if not most herbs and is commercially valuable.  Then there are the oils, enzymes, vitamins….

There is a supply crisis which isn’t widely publicized.  Inspectors sometimes find heavy metals and refuse in many shipments from traditional herb suppliers in Eastern Europe, India and Egypt, to cite two examples.  Overheard is that some shipments from India have been found to have contained plant materials different from the labeling.  Some used automotive parts have raised the poundage of some shipments from Egypt.  Heavy metal residues in herbs from Eastern Europe have cut off some supplies.

As for what heavy metals, lead and cadmium are heavy and have ruined some soils, for example, and continue to plague from aerial and water pollution.  And, Consider the circumference of radioactive cesium 137 fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.  Not only have many people migrated from irradiated areas, who once grew herbs on small plots, but there’s a still wider circle of industrially polluted, contaminated and tainted land as far east as Austria.

Honorable herb merchants want the best for their customers and won’t compromise on quality.  New suppliers with pure soil and clean production techniques are in demand.

   

It has occurred to many worldwide that herbs are good nutrition and profitable.  So there’s competition, increased productivity and many efforts to shorten, stabilize, improve quality and profitability of the supply lines.  The business strives for efficiency.

Small farms can often make money selling herbs when their owners would go broke cropping corn.  These are specialty crops for niche markets.  USDA County Agents are learning how to advise their area farmers to tap into the rapidly growing herb markets.  Export demand is expanding.

For all our problems, American exports are growing and quality of imports is better regulated.  Exports are a major goal of the United States Department of Agriculture and herbs are no small matter anymore.

High-quality produce of every sort is in demand.  Now that transportation technology allows northern hemisphere residents to eat Chilean and New Zealand strawberries in wintertime, Australians and Argentinians can have peaches off season from North America as well.

As California and Mexican produce growers ship more product west to Asia, midwest and east coast demands encourage production in areas long abandoned.

There’s a new tolerance for produce variety  which has never before existed.

Thai durian and rambutan fruits are sold on the streets of  San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Miami.  People buy it and try it and increasingly they like the new choices.

A new global marketplace has evolved.

In a conversation with Korean friends visiting, the subject of “hundred dollar watermelons in Japan” came up and the counterpoint was “They cost more than that in Seoul, sometimes one hundred twenty-five and higher….”  There’s a real market for exceptionally high-quality produce.  A hundred dollar bill doesn’t buy much ginseng in some places.

Spearmint is the commonest herb grown globally and, fresh, dried or boiled down into menthol, is the most widely used.  Ordinary plants have values not yet fully realized or developed.  The future surely belongs to plant based nutrition as more and more people awaken to its benefits.

If you know a farmer who may need a profitable crop, pass the word:  herbs may have potential.  Consider growing your own, sharing with friends and selling small quantities at your neighborhood market.  The manager may be glad to sell your supply.  Even a small pot of mixed herbs in the kitchen window can enhance your foods and life.

We’re eating rosemary, thyme, sage, chives, peppermint and other herbs from potted plants shelved in an east window.  The first time we’ve ever done this.  They’re thriving.  We’re also doing fine.

~

Fresh fruit from Chile, at your supermarket.

ABC Radio Advertisement

January 30, 1998

~

PLANTFEAST

March 1998

Let’s pitch in and support the historic and persistent efforts of Dr. Alex Hershaft, Ph.D., president of the Farm Animal Reform Movement.   FARM sponsors a great effort every March and provides all the instructions, information, and materials needed to mount a local  fellow-creature-saving campaign and plant-praising celebration again this March.

It might be called a  “Flesh Out” and “Plant-In” action campaign as again national and community attention is focused on the value of avoiding carcinogenic, stroke, heart disease and diabetes correlated non-food products currently sold for human consumption.

Join the fun, raise voices to save fellow creatures entrapped in a merciless system.  There’s a death machine doomed to self-destruct and Alex Hershaft leads this movement to stop the killing of innocent creatures.   Citizens can cooperatively help society turn off the killing machines by educating, reminding of compassion, telling truth and thereby lessening its appeals. Feed a friend a vegan meal.

Time is of the essence, so if you will cooperate in this annual campaign to alert people to the dangers of non-plant based nutritional practices and importance of living in peace with fellow creatures, please contact Alex promptly.  Work with the FARM staff.  You are needed and every year to follow until our work is done.  Volunteer to represent FARM efforts locally.  Join in this long successful educational effort in 1998 and years to come.  Contact Alex  and FARM staff at:  Farm Animal Reform Movement, Box 30654, Bethesda, Maryland 20824, TEL:  800-632-8688.

~

Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree in which there is fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.

Genesis

~

   

   HEALTHY SOIL

   HEALTHY FOOD

     HEALTHY PEOPLE

John Haberern, Anthony Rodale, and the whole staff welcome your visits to the Rodale Institute Experimental Farm, 611 Siegfriedsdale Road, Kutztown, Pennsylvania 19530-9749.  TEL:  610-683-1400, FAX:  610-683-8548.

Learn about the virtues of leguminous trees.  (Ever tried carob?  It’s only one of many  pea trees.)  Want to know more about “corn-velvet bean intercropping” techniques?

Honor Jerome and Bob Rodale’s pioneering works on behalf of better nutrition by joining Rodale Institute and visiting the Experimental Farm west of Allentown.

The new full-color calendar and events schedule recently mailed to members is a treasure.  They have some left to send to you.  Visit.  Maybe even volunteer.  Bring the kids, they’ll love the children’s garden.

Write or call for a map, descriptions of educational programs and international projects which help subsistence level peoples grow healthy foods for their communities and income producing exports to the nearest urban areas.

~

Although plant breeders have greatly increased the share of the photosynthate going to the seed of various grains, they have not been able to fundamentally alter the basic process of photosynthesis itself.  The amount produced by a given leaf area remains unchanged from that of the plant’s wild ancestors.

Lester R. Brown

The Agricultural Link: 

How Environmental Deterioration Could Disrupt Economic Progress.

Worldwatch Paper 136

Washington, DC:  The Worldwatch Institute, August 1997,

page 35.

~

CHAMPION LUNCH

We deem lunch at an OLIVE GARDEN RESTAURANT the best vegan value offered by any national food service chain.  It wasn’t always so.  OGR management has made great strides since their first openings and their current performance is commendable.

We eat the $4.95 lunch at our local OGR, for two the bill comes to $10.08 with the 6% state sales tax.  We tip liberally, $2.00 to $3.00, depending on the service, and have never had a bad meal.

Someday, OGR should offer more vegan options, and in past years sometimes they have.  We raved when they introduced soy based vegan Raspberry Sorbetto and were disappointed when sales dropped off.  Vegan Spicy Sicilian sauce pleased us greatly with its capers, red pepper, and tomato base.  Someday, we’ve told several managers, “You ought to try making tofu lasagna and tofu cheesecake sometime.”  Hopefully, someday they will.  We’ve got the recipes.

Still, we’re grateful that the bread has been vegan from the beginning.  We order it “Plain, no oil of any sort on it.”  Though we wish it was made of fresh ground, whole grain flour, it’s nice to know the OGR bread product meets vegan criteria.

What we ate yesterday was the usual: “We’re ordering vegetarian,” one says, and we always see a smile.  “Most of us are vegetarian,” is a frequently heard response from the server.   “I know” is a response we often hear, “I’ve waited for you before”  We’re regular customers.

“Linguini Alla Marinara.”  One of us ordered the “Minestrone Soup”, the other ordered “salad without dressing or croutons….Please bring vinegar and oil, lemon and crushed red pepper.”  We share and leave very full – we believe very well fed.

It’s been years since any of this came out wrong and yesterday’s Minestrone was the best yet.  “Different cooks have different ways,” our server explained.  We’d like their recipe.

What did we eat in this OGR well-rounded meal?  Salad:  iceberg and romaine lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, red cabbage, carrots, pickled peppers.  Soup:  tomato base; fresh carrots, celery, onions red cabbage and spinach; garbanzo, navy and red kidney beans; spices; and tiny shell-shaped pasta.  No cholesterol, low fat, fiber galore and innumerable minerals and vitamins.  Maybe a bit too much salt; but, we use none at home – maybe this provides just what we need.

OGR provides a brochure with nutritional data for each “Garden Fare” selection.  Lunchtime Linguini Alla Marinara contains 302 grams, 330 calories, 6 grams of fat (17% of calories) including .5 grams of saturated fat, 0 cholesterol, 710 milligrams of sodium, 57 grams of carbohydrate and 10 grams of protein.  The Minestrone, 6 fluid ounces, contained 100 calories, fat 1 g., (10% of calories) including 0 saturated fat, 0 cholesterol, 550 mg. sodium, 17 g. carbohydrate and 4 g. protein.  One breadstick contains 140 calories, 1.5 g. fat (10% of calories) including 0 saturated fat, 0 cholesterol, 270 mg. sodium, 26 mg. carbohydrate and 5 g. protein.

We bring our own nutritional supplement, a homemade mix we call “sprinkles” which contains nutritional yeast, flax, and sesame seeds, crushed red pepper, blenderized bits of our favorite dried sea vegetables, powdered kelp and parsley, cilantro, dill, oregano, sage, rosemary, tarragon, turmeric and whatever other herb is on our shelf at blending time.  Sometimes we add calcium and magnesium-rich dolomite powder.  We carry this in a plastic container and self-sealing bags.  Shamelessly, we pour as much as we like, whenever we choose, over the OGR salad and Marinara sauce.  It goes fine atop soup.

Isn’t this a champion lunch?  We honor Olive Garden Restaurant staff who have made these options available to us as we’ve traveled all over the country and never been disappointed by either the food or service.  Nice folks.

We can help them do even better by telling them what we want and need.  OGR staff accept comments, criticism, and praise, and provide information through “Guest Relations Representatives” at 800-331-2729 (8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Mondays through Fridays).   

~

Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree in which there is a fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you, it shall be for food.

Genesis

~

Who Won the IPBN Fall

Essay Contest?

A copy of Debra Wasserman’s Vegan Handbook was selected as the prize book of choice by essayist Virginia Mead of Lancaster, New Hampshire.  She likes her selection very much.  We like her essay.  Ginnie is preparing to enter the commercial market as a vegan food producer.  See her essay on another page in this issue of PBN, correspond with her at the address provided.  Let us and Ginnie know how you like the essay.  Join us in offering her congratulations!

Let’s Have Another Competition:

It’s not too late for you to write an essay on “ethics, nobility, and plant-based nutrition.”  Just a page, at least three paragraphs.  Give it a try.

Need motivation?

George Eisman has sent a copy of one of his books as a gift for the first essay contributor.  You need to read it.  We already did and return to its pages frequently.  The text is strong, the recipes delightful.  We think the color cover is appealing and display it in the IPBN Library.  George Eisman’s book will motivate you to do much more than just write essays.  He’ll have you reflecting on your resources and acting positively in the noble vegan education effort to wake up America and feed everyone better.

It’s ready to ship.  This book can be yours if you write the best essay.  Imagine owning:   George Eisman, Registered Dietitian, with Anne Green, Ph.D. and Matt Ball, M.S., with a forward by Michael Klapper, M.D.  The Most Noble Diet, Food Selection and Ethics,  Fourth Edition Revised.  Burdett, New York:  Diet Ethics, 1994, 115 pages.  It’s on the shelf awaiting your response.  The text, drawings, data tables and recipes will win your heart and make you still nobler.

~

Justice begins with us.

George Eisman

~

OSTEOPOROSIS

“Physical activity promotes increases in bone mineral density or reductions of bone loss…making exercise a key strategy for preventing and treating osteoporosis….

“Osteoporosis is a metabolic bone disease characterized by a loss of bone architecture.  The loss of calcium and the alteration of bone structure combine to weaken bone in patients who have osteoporosis.  This condition afflicts about 25 million Americans, 80% of them women….

“Osteoporosis is the culmination of a process that typically begins in the third and fourth decades of life but starts earlier in some patients, such as athletes, who have the triad of disordered eating, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis….

“Debilitating bone loss is not inevitable.  The physiologic processes that cause osteoporosis occur over much of a patient’s lifespan and are amenable to interventions.  However, physicians’ awareness of osteoporosis risk factors such as loss of height, family history, and premature menopause must be sufficient to prompt testing of patients’ bone mineral density (BMD) by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry.  Such testing can help determine who is eligible for osteoporosis interventions, including medication, dietary measures, and exercise.  One of the most important preventions and treatment strategies is adequate weight-bearing and resistance exercise, which can help build bones….

According to the “’error stain distribution hypothesis’” “bone cells sense the mechanical strain induced by weight bearing exercise.  The cells then communicate load imbalances with each other on a local level.  In vitro. Mechanical strain causes a cellular influx of calcium ions, followed by production of prostaglandin and nitric oxide, increased enzyme activity, and the release of growth hormones; these changes may trigger bone remodeling.  The theory suggests that such changes also occur in vivo.  [Shimegi S. Yanagita, M. Okano. Et al, Physical Exercise Increases Bone Mineral Density in post-menopausal women”  Endocrine Journal, Volume 41, Number 1, 1994, pages 49-56. And L. E. Lanyon, “Using Functional Loading to Influence Bone Mass and Architecture:  Objectives, Mechanisms, and Relationship With Estrogen of the  Mechanically Adaptive Process in Bone,”  Bone 1996, Volume 18 (Supplement 1), pages 37s-43s.]

“Nutrition is important in preventing and treating osteoporosis.  Attaining optimal bone mass requires adequate nutrition, especially calcium intake, beginning in adolescence.  Unfortunately, most American teenagers, especially girls, consume inadequate amounts of calcium.  Though studies are few, an adequate daily intake of calcium (at least 1,200 mg) and vitamin D (400 IU) is essential to maximize the building of new bone.  Patients should be encouraged to get as much of these nutrients as possible from dietary sources…but most will also need supplements….”  Warren A. Katz,  M.D., “Osteoporosis, The Role of Exercise in Optimal Management,”  The Physician and Sports Medicine, Volume 26, Number 2, February, 1998, pages 33-41.

COME

TO

JOHNSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA

FOR

THE

24TH ANNUAL

NAVS SUMMERFEST

July 8-12, 1998

Learn from experts in the fields of health, nutrition, exercise, animal rights and the environment.

SUMMERFEST convenes again on the lovely Johnstown “Ecology Campus” of the University of Pittsburgh an hour east of that great city.

Access is easy by air, train, bus or automobile.  It’s hilly country, so if you bike or hike in, be prepared to have a good work out.  Just get there, however, you choose, and pleas bring family and friends.  Here would be a great place to send your nutritionally awakening doctor, nutritionist, dietitian and best friends.  Your local superintendent and School Board might want to send cafeteria employees to learn about nutritional alternatives which grow healthy kids.  Maybe your local newspaper editor needs an interesting place to vacation.   

Learn how to prepare delicious and nutritious vegetarian cuisine with renowned cooking instructors.

Eat great tasting total-vegetarian food prepared by Chef Ken Bergeron and his team of experienced vegan food preparers.  Three wonderful meals a day will have you in ecstasy.

Lectures, demonstrations, and programs fill the days and nights.  Young people get together at socials.  Children are cared for by cooperative collaborating parents in what might be called a childcare co-op which springs to life each summer.  Star gazers join evening astronomy programs.  The organic and veganic gardeners get together.  And there’s dancing, folksy, in which everyone can participate.

Exercise as you like.  Rest and enjoy the beautiful Appalachian  Mountain forest surrounds.  Meet, socialize and have fun with others who share your interests.  Hundreds on common sense people gather for this festival of health-related knowledge and expression.  Some walk, a few jog, there are light weight lifters, yoga devotees, and many nature trail hikers.  No matter what you like to do, there’ll be plenty of opportunities for growth during SUMMERFEST ’98.

Register early for the best rates.

Make new acquaintances, develop new contacts who can assist you in achieving your life goals and establish communications with the network of healthy people who will be your friends for life.

We are family.

Come, meet us there.

For full information contact:  Brian and Sharon Graff, Co-Directors,  North American Vegetarian Society, Box 72, Dolgeville, New York 13329.

Join NAVS, if you haven’t yet, read VEGETARIAN VOICE  quarterly.  Volunteer to represent NAVS in your community, as we do, and spread the word about rational perspectives on healthy, ecological and compassionate living.  Request a sample issue of VV and review the NAVS publications list.  Some of the very best inexpensive booklets on vegetarianism and vegan food preparation are available only through NAVS.      

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

FOOD FOR HEALTH

FOOD FOR LIFE

This will be the theme of an IPBN presentation at the Mid-Atlantic Consortium for Human Services, at an assigned time during the three-day conference, April 3-5, 1998, at the Community College of Philadelphia.

If you have interest in participating in our workshop of “Food for Thought, Food for Health, Food for Life – A Consideration of Mind, Body, and Spirit in the Context of Plant-Based Nutrition,” and diverse other program aimed toward sound mental heath, contact:  Douglas Whyte, MACHS Program Coordinator, Community College of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19030.

~

What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

~

CHAMPIGNON DINNER

It is our good fortune to live near the major mushroom production area of America.  Kennett Square in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, is the center of this growing agribusiness.  Considerable production is certified “organic.”

Fresh mushrooms of many kinds are available in our markets.  Champignons, French for edible fungi, can add delightful variety to the plainest of fare.

Polenta, for example, can be transformed from what we once called corn meal mush to haute cuisine when smothered in lightly braised mushrooms of any sort.  Pasta covered by or blended with mushrooms is splendid – use whatever sauce appeals to y from red tomato to white pureed tofu.  Add garlic, herbs, whatever you like.

Tonight, we’ve decided to have mushrooms over basmati rice.  It’s a quick meal to prepare, requiring only two pots – one for the rice (which with one part grain and two parts water cooks in 20-25 minutes) and another for four cups of fresh fungi simmered a few minutes in a little spring water, bits of Maine Coast Sea Vegetables (alaria and dulse work fine), a sprinkle of powdered kelp, and lightly sprayed with Bragg’s Amino Liquid and sprinkled with a few herbs.

We’ve fixed a simple green salad dressed only with fresh lemon juice, and have whole wheat rolls from Lanci’s old fashioned wood and coal fired brick ovens at 1716 Jackson Street in South

Philadelphia.  Our beverage is spring water, Cloister, from Lebanon and Lancaster counties.

Over the aromatic basmati, we pour the champgnions, hot and steamy.  We eat joyfully, chatting about ideas for this newsletter to which we will return after a marvelous adventure with enoki, so-called oyster-textured, portobello, shiitake and straw mushrooms.  Champignon fare and elegant.

~

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

French Proverb

GROW PLANTS VIGOROUSLY

There is “nothing purely organic in this world anymore, not since 1940.”  Wilbur Franklin was speaking at a Growers Nutritional Solutions conference for vegetable growers at the New Italy Society meetinghouse in Vineland, New Jersey, Friday, February 8, 1998.

We were there.

Mr. Franklin explained that the tern “organic” developed in chemistry to denote anything with “carbon” and that “urea” has a long carbon chain molecule yet is not permitted to be used in “organic” vegetable production under the various “organic” certifying agencies and new federal criteria for “organic” food production.  And some accepted contemporary “organic” materials may contain heavy metals, such as those possibly absorbed by seaweeds growing in polluted ocean waters, according to Mr. Frankin. He’s for the lowest toxicity healthful plant foods whether they are labeled “organic” or not.

The word “organic” can be misused and abused.

He described scientists searching for canned foods sealed before 1940 to indicate changes which have occurred in plants, people and other creatures since the dawn on DDT and atomic experimentation.  Since that period, he pointed out, we all carry around DDT, though it has been outlawed for many years, and we all carry atomic particles not present in earth’s atmosphere before 1940.  Polluted air, he notes, for example, flows over all our fields and don’t avoid those marked “organic.”  He’s a stay awake and listens speaker.  His points are very clear.

What Mr. Franklin advocates is the same as he suggested 45 years ago:  common sense, careful managing of plant environments, soil building to enrich depleted soils which are generally calcium deficient, ignoring of ph as an irrelevant expression which can’t help plants maximize growth or growers produce maximally, accepting each growing plot as unique and working with it to achieve deep root growth and healthy plants.  He favors building humus content of soil so that it holds water well.  He suggests liming provides calcium which is the basic structural component of strong plants and that so-called agricultural experts have underrated lime, ground up limestone, as a soil builder and plant grower.  Use the lime with the “smallest particles” he advises, and with a relatively low ratio of magnesium.  “Calcium opens up soils, lets them breathe.  And what do plants need?  Oxygen.”  Weak plants, fungi and bacteria, and insects, indicate illness which can often be reversed with calcium and other specific minerals added through root zone and foliar sprays at precise times.  Plants take in moisture from dew at night, he explains, don’t spray tender leaves with water during hot sunny days….

Club root, nematodes, bug invasions – these proclaim imbalance which Mr. Franklin describes in detail.  Farmers nod.  “You’ve got these problems.”  Farmers nod.  Some of you have tried our problem solving strategies and they’ve worked, he says and individuals testify of their more than satisfactory results.  Farmers listen.  You call us after you’ve tried everything else, he comments.  Farmers nod.  Don’t call us unless you’re serious.  There is quietness.  We can solve problems by working together and using science carefully.  No one has any objections.  Four hours and the audience is still with him.  He’s good.  He’s correct.  He’s experienced.  He offers nothing beyond successful vegetable production which doubters can “come see for yourself.”  In Canada, north, south, east and west in the United States, “visit our growing sites.”  He invites everyone to “take a look.  You be the judge.”

He builds soils with “active microbial populations” which decompose minerals and make them accessible to flourishing plant roots.  Plants take in nutrients, he explains, from the bottom through their roots and from the top through the leaves.  He understands roots and leaves, when he’s finished so do the experienced farmers in his audience.  After all these years as growers, now listeners literally feel as does a plant.  We respond as he says, “Roots pull in oxygen,” inhaling and pulling our hands toward our bodies.  Every hour, night and day, plants are behaving slightly differently, he suggests.  We feel hot sun bearing don on a sunny day and sigh in relief when cool night comes on and brings dew.

Mt. Franklin doesn’t tend plants, he lives with them and empathizes with their every need.  “Life force,” he interjects frequently, we are striving to preserve and nourish the “life force.”  Whatever will keep them healthy and grow at each developmental stage – “You can feel the blossoms ready to set.” – he is prepared to provide.

The man loves compost, he’s just careful to avoid using toxic materials even if they are suggested to be “organic.”  He’s not anti-organic, but merely favors using the word properly and not believing every claim made.  He’s for scientific evidence, improving soil, keeping earthworm populations healthy, raising vigorous healthy plants – providing nutrition as wisely and carefully as you would for a child. He’s weary of bureaucracies, charlatan power brokers, and pundits who preach  but haven’t  actually made a crop.  He’s a farmers’ farmer who feels, knows and loves the soil, treasures every plant and likes people.

“Are your fields earthworm tolerant?” we ask.  “Earthworms” indicate soil health, he exclaims.  Where we work, he goes on, “earthworms are an essential part of good soil management.  Without earthworms, you don’t have good enough soil.”  Farmers nod.  Earthworms open soils to air flow, help feed roots.

He wants people to be healthy and has demonstrated how food quality can be improved.  He’s tired of hearing the puffed up, vain and pretentious.  He’s weary of those who block good scientific ideas to get promotions in corrupt bureaucracies, defeat aspiring competitors on the faculty advancement ladders and avoid truth-telling even when it could be helpful.  White-headed, but not old in any sense, he’s amused by how some of us can get carried away to our own disadvantage.  What works and makes things better, that’s what he’s for.

If we have misrepresented any of his views, the error is our own and we will accept correction cheerfully.  We intend to present these views in a good light for reflection by all.  Mr. Franklin, in our view, deserves considerable recognition as does his mentor, soil scientist “Doc” V. A. Tiedjens.

For further information, Dr. Tiedjens’ More Food From Soil Science (1965, $15.00 postpaid), a basic book on the importance of calcium in healthy soils and plants contact: Growers Nutritional Solutions, 321 Huron Street, Milan, Ohio, 44846.  TEL:  419-499-2508.

NATIONAL ORGANIC PROGRAM STANDARDS

UNDER REVIEW BY USDA

The United States Department of Agriculture is currently reviewing “national organic program” standards for  the production of both creatures and plants.

At this writing, the proposed USDA “national organic program” regulations would allow labeling of irradiated foods, produce grown in sewage sludge fertilizer and products made of effluents from creatures treated with antibiotics.

Private “Organic” certification groups have many concerns about the proposed federal “standards” as written.  So do vegetable growers and other farmers.

To obtain copies of the proposed “organic” regulations contact USDA, your County Agent, congressional representatives or the internet.  Address requests and comments to Eileen S. Stomnes, Deputy Administrator, USDA-AMS-TM-NOP, Room 4007-So., Ag Stop 0275, Box. 96546, Washington, D.C. 20090-6456, FAX:  202-690-4632.

The “National Organic Program” Website is:  http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop   

Some are distressed and some are delighted to have federal involvement in defining, regulating and end enforcing “organic” agricultural production.  What you and every other citizen thinks are important and worthy of expression.

OUR PERSPECTIVES

Our personal values hold pretty closely with those of Scott and Helen Nearing.  Simply is best.  We strive to do the best we can, with what we have, wherever we are.  Since 1947 we’ve called ourselves “organic.”   J. I Rodale taught us the word.

We also consider ourselves “veganic” gardeners.  In growing food plants, we use homemade compost, ground up rock and seaweeds in our gardens, generally avoiding commercial manures from creatures.  However we will mix in composted manures, from a known source we respect, to inoculate a new plot of sterile ground with microbial activity.  And we transplant earthworms liberally.  We have no aversion to any fertilizer of mineral origin which contains nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium and preferably calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese zinc and other trace materials.  In particular, we like to use New Jersey greensand, granite dust and rock phosphate.  While we wouldn’t use blood or bone meal, we joke about finally residing in the compost ourselves.   

When we look into what we call “our” compost bin, we observe innumerable creatures living in a small scale universe where they experience life and death.  We can name only a dozen or so of the larger organisms and assume there are many microscopic organisms alive in this mix.  This is what we call our “vegan dilemma.”  We do not “own” the creatures, fungi or bacteria in the compost, rather we feel we are providing for them, literally “feeding the worms.”

Whatever others do, say and regardless of changing word usage, we will continue to grow as much of our own food as possible and purchase from produce growers and suppliers whom we know and whose practices reflect our values.  It’s an imperfect world and we are imperfect interacting in it.

THANK YOU

We appreciate your reading Plant Based Nutrition.  How do you like it?  Are this reporting and analysis interesting and useful in your life and work?  We want you to look with favor on our contribution, but tell us the truth.  If you enjoy, benefit, dislike or object, we need to know.  Your gain is our goal.

How about the format?  The last issue was in 10 point type, this is in 12.  Isn’t it easier to read the larger characters?

IPBN has 1998 Charter Members from coast to coast, but not in every state.  Donations to both operations and the scholarship fund have been received.  Responding to our invitation, numerous vegetarian, vegan animal rights and other organizations have made contacts and these are all appreciated.  We seek more.

Please help us expand IPBN membership.

7-11 STOCKS DR. MC DOUGALL’S RIGHT FOODS

Believe it or not, the 7-11 Corporation is moving into healthier foods and has contracted to retail Dr. McDougall’s Right Foods.  Hurrah!  Congratulations to everyone who has worked to bring about this wonderful situation.  Yay  McDougalls.  Thanks 7-11.

Quick as we can, everyone pleased should go to the nearest 7-11 store and purchase at least one of these healthy products.  We did, they’re there.  Should the local manager not yet have ordered and stocked these plant-based nutritional food products, a gentle suggestion regarding their availability will probably be appreciated.  Merchants respond to requests and market demands.   So let’s tell our friends the virtues of these products and having them accessible at mass market food outlets.

Which suggests that a “gentle suggestion” might also be made to each of the managers of local supermarkets and other chain stores which sell food products.  K-Mart?  Sam’s?  Safeway?  Acme?  Giant?  And do your area health food stores carry Dr. McDougall’s Right Foods?  Maybe you’ll put in a good word….

Why go all out for Dr. McDougall?  Because he’s a straight-arrow strong supporter of plant based nutrition?  Look how he has given himself to improving all people’s health through his medical practice, books, lectures, even vegan cruises and field  trips.  He’ll do anything to help his family, patients and friends get healthy and stay fit.  Lately, he’s following the advice of the physical trainer he’s long referred patients to.  Dr. McDougall follows his own advice.  Have you met him yet?  Seen his presentations?  He’s good.   We think he gets better each presentation.  In one hilarious video he  approached the order window of a well known fast food merchandiser and ordered a “Burger without….”  When he finished listing the items to be deleted, there wouldn’t have been much left.  Tomatoes, lettuce and onions as we remember.  He teaches through examples and bases every factual statement on scientific research.  He’s a champion –  and with a sense of humor.  So how can we not go all out to help Dr. McDougall’s Right Foods get a good start?

Need more persuasion?  The doctor began his health consciousness when a heart attack struck him, at 18.  It cost him much of the use of his left arm and awakened him to the reality that fat is not healthy.  In lectures he often describes what he was eating in those days and how he learned that excess cholesterol was not a friend.  After medical school he again learned from experience as low income agricultural laborers in Hawaii demonstrated the virtues of beans and rice through their lean healthy bodies and longevity.  The young doctor saw some patients healthier than himself.  Consider that as a family man John McDougall early on involved wife Mary in his health career, and they have involved all the McDougall kids in their joint enterprises.  Yes, McDougalls eat vegan foods, at home, in restaurants and on vacations.  Let’s call it the McDougall experiment.  Using themselves as human subjects, these researchers are laying out a simple pathway which any one of us can easily                                                                                                                               

master.  Let’s follow the McDougalls.

WHY I EAT AT LEAST TEN

SERVINGS OF PLANT FOODS EACH DAY

Virginia Mead

The main reason I eat plants is to save the lives of fellow creatures!  All of us are endowed with the will to live without suffering, captivity and confinement – without harassment, experimentation, torture and slaughter.  Anyone who has looked into the eyes of an another creature, visited a traditional or modern factory farm or slaughterhouse,  witnessed the hunting and killing of an animal may have felt the spirit, that connection that binds us all to each other.  When another dies, a part of us dies; when anyone suffers, part of all of us suffers.  We are inextricably linked and every person who shifts from a flesh  to a plant based vegan diet saves 2,600 animals over a single human lifetime.

My second reason is to help save the planet.  It takes 5,000 gallons of fresh water to produce one pound of cattle flesh product; every hamburger costs 55 square feet of rainforest; 70% of U.S. grain is fed to livestock to produce about one-eighth of our food; a flesh based diet uses 5-20 times more fossil fuel than a plant-based diet; animal waste and aerial pesticides are going into our water systems and atmosphere; the oceans are becoming giant sewage treatment plants.  Do we really want our land, water, and air to be consumed and misused this way?  To me, it is a greater joy to live simply, eat low on the food chain, and not participate in the activities which are destroying our planet with toxic  chemicals and waste products.

Thirdly, a plant-based diet is healthful!  Since going vegan, I have had not a single illness (not even a cold or a sore throat), feel energetic light and enthusiastic about life!  Can this healthiness and joy be coincidental?  Diets heavy in flesh and creature by-products have been linked to cancer, arthritis, osteoporosis, heart disease, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, obesity and other diseases.  Why would anyone encourage the development of such cruel diseases within their bodies, or those of loved ones, when reasonable prevention strategies are available which include a plant-based diet, clean water, and exercise.

Finally, I eat plants because they are delicious!  The variety of tastes, aromas, natural colors and textures, along with the combination possibilities of vegetables, fruits, grains, seeds, nuts, herbs and spices are infinite.  Never twice do I experience the same salad, soup, entree or dessert.  Plant ingredients are different each time, depending on the maturity of a tomato, juiciness of an apple, the way the food is prepared and flavored.  Vegan food is never boring, and we are just beginning to explore new horizons with organic produce, protein analogs, grain, soy and other bean products.  How fabulous to have such true wealth before us.

I hope people all over the globe will eat plants, not fellow creatures – for health and for taste, but mostly because it is the right thing to do.     

The author is New Hampshire Field Agent for THE FUND FOR ANIMALS INC, Box 91, Lancaster, NH 03584-0091, TEL/FAX:  603-788-3750, EMAIL:  cs@ncia.net

RIGHT FOODS

Believe it or not, the 7-11 Corporation is moving into healthier foods and has contracted to retail Dr. McDougall’s Right Foods.  Hurrah!  Congratulations to everyone who has worked to bring about this wonderful situation.  Yay  McDougalls.  Thanks 7-11.

Quick as we can, everyone pleased should go to the nearest 7-11 store and purchase at least one of these healthy products.  We did, they’re there.  Should the local manager not yet have ordered and stocked these plant-based nutritional food products, a gentle suggestion regarding their availability will probably be appreciated.  Merchants respond to requests and market demands.   So let’s tell our friends the virtues of these products and having them accessible at mass market food outlets.

Which suggests that a “gentle suggestion” might also be made to each of the managers of local supermarkets and other chain stores which sell food products.  K-Mart?  Sam’s?  Safeway?  Acme?  Giant?  And do your area health food stores carry Dr. McDougall’s Right Foods?  Maybe you’ll put in a good word….

Why go all out for Dr. McDougall?  Because he’s a straight-arrow strong supporter of plant based nutrition?  Look how he has given himself to improving all people’s health through his medical practice, books, lectures, even vegan cruises and field  trips.  He’ll do anything to help his family, patients and friends get healthy and stay fit.  Lately, he’s following the advice of the physical trainer he’s long referred patients to.  Dr. McDougall follows his own advice.  Have you met him yet?  Seen his presentations?  He’s good.   We think he gets better each presentation.  In one hilarious video he  approached the order window of a well known fast food merchandiser and ordered a “Burger without….”  When he finished listing the items to be deleted, there wouldn’t have been much left.  Tomatoes, lettuce and onions as we remember.  He teaches through examples and bases every factual statement on scientific research.  He’s a champion –  and with a sense of humor.  So how can we not go all out to help Dr. McDougall’s Right Foods get a good start?

Need more persuasion?  The doctor began his health consciousness when a heart attack struck him, at 18.  It cost him much of the use of his left arm and awakened him to the reality that fat is not healthy.  In lectures he often describes what he was eating in those days and how he learned that excess cholesterol was not a friend.  After medical school he again learned from experience as low income agricultural laborers in Hawaii demonstrated the virtues of beans and rice through their lean healthy bodies and longevity.  The young doctor saw some patients healthier than himself.  Consider that as a family man John McDougall early on involved wife Mary in his health career, and they have involved all the McDougall kids in their joint enterprises.  Yes, McDougalls eat vegan foods, at home, in restaurants and on vacations.  Let’s call it the McDougall experiment.  Using themselves as human subjects, these researchers are laying out a simple pathway which any one of us can easily follow.  Let’s follow the McDougalls.                                                                                                                                NUTRITIVE VALUE OF FOODS

This is the title of a valuable booklet which should be in every home.  It has been available for approximately three dollars, but is now out of print.  You may find a copy in your library.  Surely it will be revised and reprinted for it is valuable.

The data was compiled by private sector researchers working on contract for the United States Department of Agriculture.  “First published in 1960, the bulletin was last revised in 1981.”  Minor revisions occur periodically.  Values for “sodium and cholesterol have been added.”  Our newest edition is dated 1991.

The full title of this publication is Nutritive Value of Foods, USA Nutrition Information Service Home, and Garden Bulletin Number 72.  Washington, DC:  USDA/USGPO, 1991 [1960].   Formerly available in regional U. S. Government Printing Office Bookstores or by mail from the Superintendent of Documents, USGPO, Washington, DC 20402.  Your congressional representatives’ offices may have spare copies.  It’s worth asking.

You’ll find, on reviewing the tables in this document, that authors and publishers have been copying from this source for 38 years …  It’s the basic guide to how much water, food energy, protein, fat, fatty acids (saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated), cholesterol, carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorous, iron, potassium, sodium, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, and ascorbic acid are contained in each specified portion of the 908 commonest foods Americans eat.  Fascinating reading.  Great dinner table conversation promoter.  Fit for family discussions.  It’s a treasure trove no one should be without.

Alas, USDA has not provided “fiber” statistics, in this publication, on the premise that it is not considered in nutrition, according to correspondence we had with a Secretary of Agriculture named Michael Espy a few years ago.  Pity.  Maybe a committee is at work revising and adding fiber to the data tables.

Nevertheless, rush out and find a copy if you can.  We cannot recommend this resource too highly, for it is the basic reference used by researchers, manufacturers and publishers regarding nutritive value of foods.  There’s really no competition unless one goes into Asian, European or Russian sources for reliable scientific data on nutritional components of common foods.  (If you locate one, let us know if you agree or disagree with our enthusiasm for this  data reference booklet.)

The full title of this publication is:  Nutritive Value of Foods, USA Nutrition Information Service Home and Garden Bulletin Number 72.  Washington, DC:  USDA/USGPO, 1991 [1960].   Formerly available in regional U. S. Government Printing Office Bookstores or by mail from the Superintendent of Documents, USGPO, Washington, DC 20402.  Your congressional representatives’ offices may have spare copies.  It’s worth asking.

You’ll find, on reviewing the tables in this document, that authors and publishers have been copying from this source for 38 years …  It’s the basic guide to how much water, food energy, protein, fat, fatty acids (saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated), cholesterol, carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorous, iron, potassium, sodium, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, and ascorbic acid are contained in each specified portion of the 908 commonest foods Americans eat.  Fascinating reading.  Great dinner table conversation promoter.  Fit for family discussions.  It’s a treasure trove no one should be without.

Alas, USDA has not provided “fiber” statistics, in this publication, on the premise that it is not considered in nutrition, according to correspondence we had with a Secretary of Agriculture named Michael Espy a few years ago.  Pity.  Maybe a committee is at work revising and adding fiber to the data tables.

Nevertheless, rush out and find a copy if you can.  We cannot recommend this resource too highly, for it is the basic reference used by researchers,

SEED, PLANT, AND GROWING MATERIALS

SUPPLIERS

FOR

INSTITUTE FOR PLANT-BASED NUTRITION

DEMONSTRATION GARDENS

1998

Ambergate Gardens

8730 County Road

Chaska, MN 55318

612-443-2248

Ames’ Orchard & Nursery

18292 Wildlife Road

Fayetteville, AR 72701

800-443-0283

Alfrey Peter Pepper

Box 415

Knoxville, TN 37901

Baker Greenhouses, Inc.

1113 Herkimer Road

Utica, NY  13502-2793

800-444-9215

Basil Lovers

Box 1320

Lake Villa, IL 60046

www.lsecond.com/BasilLovers.htm

Bee Skep Herbary

Box 146

Lahaska, PA 18931

215-794-51620

Bluestone Perennials

7211 Middle Ridge Road

Madison, OH 44057

800-852-5243

Brittingham Plant Farms, Inc.

Box 2538

Salisbury, MD 21802

410-749-5153

Brown Hot/Sweet Peppers

2135 Westchester Pike

Martinsburg, WV 25401

Burrell Seeds

Box 150

Rocky Ford, CO 81067

Burpee Gardens

Burpee Heirlooms

300 Park Avenue

Warminster, PA 18974

800-888-1447

www.burpee.com

Busse Gardens

5873 Oliver Avenue SW

Cokato, MN 55321-4229

800-544-3192 TEL

320-286-6601 FAX

Carolina Seeds

Highway 105 Bypass

Box 2658

Boone, NC 28607

800-825-5477

Carter & Holmes, Inc.

Box 668

629 Mendenhall Road

Newberry, SC 29108

803-276-0579

Chiltern Seeds

Bortree Stile

Ulverston, Cumbria

LA12 7PB, England

011-22-958-4549 FAX

101344.1340@compuserve.com

Dep Diversity

A Planetary Gene Pool Resource

Box 15189

Santa Fe, NM 87506-5189

Edible Landscaping

Box 77

Afton, VA 22920

804-361-9134

Emergency Essentials

165 South Mountain Way Drive

Orem, UT 84058-5119

800-999-1863

Evans [Trans] Plant Company

Box 1649

Tifton, GA 31793

912-382-1337

Greenseeds

Endangered /Heirloom Seeds

Maple Avenue

Bensenville, Il 60106

EONS

Box 4604

Hallandale, FL 33008

954-455-0229

Evergreen  Enterprises Asian Seeds

Box 17538-G

Anaheim, CA 92817

Fairweather  Gardens

Box 330

Greenwich, NJ 08323

609-451-6261 TEL

609-451-0303 FAX

Ferry – Morse Seed (Commercial)

Box 4938

Modesto, CA 95352-4938

209-579-733

Ferry – Morse Seeds

Box 488

Fulton, KY  42041-0488

800-283-6400

Filaree Farm

Route 2  Box 162

Okanogan, WA 98840

Four Winds Growers

Box 3538

Fremont, CA 94539

510-656-2591

Forestfarm

990 Tetherow Road

Williams, OR 97544-9599

541-846-7269 TEL

609-451-0303 FAX

Fox Hole and Heirloom Seed Co.

Box 148

McGrann, PA 16236

Fungi Perfecti

Box 7634

Olympia, WA 98507

800-780-9126 TEL

360-426-9377 FAX

Garden City Seeds

1324 Red Crow Road

Victor, MT 5875-9713

Gardens Alive

5100 Schenley Place

Lawrenceburg, IN 47025

812-537-8650

Gardener’s Supply Company

128 Intervale road

Burlington, VT 05401

800-863-1700

Ginsing

Flag Pond, TN 37657

Girard Nurseries

Box 428

Geneva, OH 44041

Good Seed Company

Star Route 73A

Oroville, WA 98844

Grandview Farms Seeds

12942 Dupont Road

Sebastapol, CA 95472

Green Mountain Transplants

RR 1 Box 6C

East Montpelier, VT 05651

802-454-1533

Greenseeds

Underwood Gardens

4N381 Maple Avenue

Bensenville, Il  60106

Greer Gardens

1280 Goodpasture Island Road

Eugene, OR 97401

800-548-0111

Growers Nutritional Solutions

Box 1750

Milan, OH 44846

800-437-4769

Gurney’s Seed and Nursery Co.

110 Capital Street

Yankton, SD  57079

605-665-1671

Harris Seeds

60 Saginaw Drive

Box 22960

Rochester, NY 14692-2960

800-544-7938

Harris Moran Seed Co. (C)

Box 3091

Modesto, CA 95353

800-320-4672

Heirloom Seed Project

Landis Valley Museum

2451 Kissel Hill Road

Lancaster, PA 17601

Heirloom Seeds

Box 245

West Elizabeth, PA 15088-02451

Heirloom Tomatoes

Box1170

Loomis, CA 95650-7170

Heirloom Vegetable Seeds

http://www.bioreagent.com

Helianthus Sunflower Seeds

Box 262

River Falls, WI 54022-0262

Henry Fields Seed and Nursery

415 North Burnett

Shenandoah, IA  51602

605-665-4491

Henry Leuthardt Dwarf Fruit Trees

Box 666

East Moriches, NY 11940

Heritage Seed Company [Alliums]

Route 4  Box 245

Star City, AR 71667

Heronswood Nursery, Ltd.

7530 N.E. 288th Street

Kingston, WA 98346

360-297-4172 TEL

360-297-8321 FAX

Hidden Springs Nursery

170 Hidden Springs Lane

Cookeville, TN 38501

High Country Gardens

2902 Rufina Street

Santa Fe, NM 87505-2929

800-925-9387 TEL

800-925-0097 FAX

HYDROFARM East

208 Route 13

Bristol, PA 19007

800-227-4567

HYDROFARM Ohio

4967 North High Street

Columbus, OH 43214

800-833-6868

HYDROFARM West

1455 East Francisco Boulevard

San Rafael, CA 94901-5434

800-634-9999

Indiana Berry and Plant Co,

5218 West 500 Soth

Huntingburg, IN  47542

800-295-2226

Jackson and Perkins

Box 1028

Medford, OR  97501

800-292-4769

Jersey Asparagus Farms, Inc

105 Porchtown Road

Pittsgrove, NJ 08318

609-358-2548

J.L. Hudson, Seedsman

Star Route 2  Box 337

La Honda, CA  94020

Johnny’s Selected Seeds

Foss Hill Road

RR 1  Box 2580

Albion, ME  04910

207-437-4301

Joy Creek Nursery

20300 N.W. Watson Road

Scappoose, OR 97056

503-227-2160 TEL

503-543-6933 FAX

Jung Quality Seeds

335 High Street

Randolph, WI  53957-0001

King Grain [Buckwheat]

Box C

Beverly, WA 99321

800-378-1348

Le Jardin du Gourmet

Box 75

St Johnsbury Center, VT 05863

Louisiana Nurseries

5853 Highway 182

Opelousa, LA

318-948-3696

Meadow Valley Herb Farm

20 Olde Meadow Valley Road

Lititz, PA 17543

Mellinger’s Inc.

2310 West South Range Road

Lima, OH 44452-9731

Michigan Bulb Company

1950 Waldorf NW

Grand Rapids, MI  49550-0500

Milagro’s Gardens

4838 Douglas Avenue

Racine, WI 53402-2498

800-669-9956

Miles Estate

Herb and Berry Farm

4308 Marthaler Road N.E.

Woodburn, OR 97071

503-792-3898

www.herbs-spices-flowers.com

Miller Nurseries, Inc.

5090 West Lake Road

Canandaigua, NY 14424

800-836-9630

Musser Forests Inc.

Box 340

Indiana, PA 15701

412-465-5685

Native Seeds/SEARCH

2509 West Campbell Avenue #325

Tucson, AZ 85719

520-622-5561 TEL

520-622-5591 FAX

National Arbor Day Foundation

Nebraska City, NE 68410

Nichol’s Garden Nursery

1190 North Pacific Highway NE

Albany, OR 97321-4580

Nicklow’s Vegetables, Inc.

Box 475

Ashland, MA  01721-0457

800-NICKLOW

Northwoods Nursery

27640 South Oglesby Road

Canby, OR 97013

503-266-5432

Nourse Farms

41 River Road

South Deerfield, MA  01373

413-665-2658

Oakes Daylilies

8204 Monday Road

Corryton, TN 37721

800-532-9545 TEL

Old Sturbridge Village Seeds

1 Old Sturbridge Village Road

Sturbridge, MA 01566

Oregon Exotics Rare Fruit Nursery

1065 Messinger Road

Grants Pass, OR 97527

Ornamental Edibles

3622 Weeden Court

San Jose, CA 95132

Park Seed Co.

1 Parkton Avenue

Greenwood, SC 20647-0001

800-845-3369

Peace Seeds

A Planetary Gene-Pool Resource

Box 190

Gila, NM 88038

Peaceful Valley Farm Supply

Box 2209

Grass Valley, CA 95945

530-272-4769

Piedmont Plants

Box 424 – A

Albany,  GA 31702

912-883-7029

Pinetree Garden Seeds

Box 300

New Gloucester, ME 04260

Planet Natural

Box 3146

Bozeman, MT 59772

www.planetnatural.com/

P.L. Rohrer and Bro. Inc.

Box 250

Smoketown, PA 17526

Pomodori Di Marianna

1955 CCC Road

Dickinson, TN 37055

Raintree Nursery

391 Butts Road

Morton, WA 98356

360-496-6400

Richard Owen Nursery

2300 East Lincoln Street

Bloomington, IL 61701

309-663-9551

Richter’s Herbs

357 Highway 47

Goodwood, ON LOC 1AO

905-640-6641

orderdesk@richters.com

River Road Farms

Espaliered Fruit Trees

Route 2 Box 245-1

Decatur, TN 37322

800-297-1435

Rock Spray Nursery Inc.

Box 693

Truro, MA 02666

Rocky Meadow Orchard & Nursery

360 Rocky Meadow Road, NW

New Salisbury, IN 47161

812-347-2213

Ronniger’s Seed Potatoes

Star Route

Moyie Springs, ID 83845

Ron’s Rare Plants & Seeds

R.M. Werner Horticulturalist

415 Chappel

Calumet City, IL 60409-2122

RPM Raised Bed Kits

2829 152nd Avenue NE

Redmond, WA 98052

800-529-9110

Russell Graham

4030 Eagle Crest Road, NW

Salem, OR  97304

503-362-1135

Sakata Seed America

Box 880

18095 Serene Drive

Morgan Hill, CA 95037

408-778-7768

Saylor’s Farm Products

[Water Caps]

Rd 1 Box 130

Sligo, PA 16255

814-745-2306

SeedsWest

Heirloom Garden Seeds

317 Fourteenth NW

Albuquerque, NM 87104

Shepherd’s Garden Seeds

30 Irene Street

Torrington, CT 06790-6658

860-482-3638

Sandy Mush Herb Nursery

316 Surrett Cove Road

Leicester, NC 28748-5512

Siegers Seed Co,  (C)

8265 Felch Street

Zeeland, MI 49464-9503

800-962-4999

Seed Savers Exchange

Heritage Farm

3076 North Winn Road

Decorah, IA 52101

319-382-5990

Seeds Blum

Idaho City Stage

Boise, ID 83706

Seeds of Change

Box 15700

Santa Fe, NM 87506-5700

Seeds Trust

High Altitude Gardens

Box 1048

Hailey, ID 83333

Speedway (C)

1225 Zeager Road

Elizabethtown, PA 17022

800—952-7333

Seeds West

Box 27057

Albuquerque, NM 87125-7057

Select Seeds – Antique Flowers

180 Stickney Road

Union, CT 06076-4617

860-684-9310

Seneca Hybrids (C)

Box 128

Hall, NY 14463

716-526-6398

Seymour’s Selected Seeds

Box 1346

Sussex, VA 23884-0346

888-739-6687

Shady Oaks Nursery

112  10th  Avenue SE

Waseca, MN 56093

800-504-8006

www.shadyoaks.com/

Shepherd’s  Garden Seeds

6116 Highway 9

Felton, CA 95018

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Box 170

Earlysville, VA 22936

Siskiyou Rare Plant Nursery

2825 Cummings Road

Medford, OR 97501

541-772-6846

srpn@wave.net

www.wave.net/upg/srpn

Southmeadow Fruit Gardens

Heirloom Fruits and Berries

10603 Cleveland Avenue

Baroda, MI 49101

Southwestern Native Seeds

Box 50503

Tucson, AZ  97501

Spring Hill

110 West Elm Street

Tipp City, OH 45371

800-582-8527

Stark Brothers Nurseries

Box 10

Louisiana, MO 63353

800-755-6415 TEL

573-754-5290 FAX

Stokes Seeds, Inc.

Box 548

Buffalo, NY 14240-0548

Sunnybrook Farm

Box 6

9448 Mayfield Road

Chesterland, OH 44026

216-729-7232

Territorial Seed Company

Box 157

Cottage Grove, OR 97424

541-942-9547

The Early American Look

[Raised Planting Beds]

Box 921

North Adams, MA 01247-0921

The Bountiful Gardens

18001 Shafer Ranch Road

Willits, CA 95490

The Cook’s Garden

Box 535

Londonderry, Vt 05148-0535

800-457-9703

The Garden Store

324 Meadow Creek Lane

Grand Rapids, MI 49550-1000

800-582-8649

The Garlic Store

www.The GarlicStore.com

The Hybrid Vegetable Seed Company

Box 4206

Saticoy, CA 93007-4206

805-647-1188

The Natural Gardening Company

217 San Anselmo Avenue

San Anselmo, CA 94960

The Redwood City Seed Company

Box 361

Redwood City, CA 94064

The Territorial Seed Co.

Box 157

20 Palmer Avenue

Cottage Grove, OR 974224-0061

541-942-9547

www.territorial-seed.com

The Thyme Graden

20546 Alsea Highway

Alsea, OR 97324

541-487-8671

thymegarden@proaxis.com

The Worm’s Way

Urban Farming Sourcebook

7850 North Highway 37

Bloomington, IN 47404

800-274-9676

Thomas Jefferson Center

for Historic Plants

Monticello

Box 316

Charlottesville, VA 22902

Thompson & Morgan

Box 1308

Jackson, NJ 08527-0308

800-274-7333

Tomato Grower’s Supply

Box 2237

Ft. Meyers, FL 33902

Tomato Trove

Box 1170

Loomis, CA 95650-1170

Totally Tomatoes

Box 1626

Augusta, GA 30903-1626

803-663-0016

T-Tape Systems International

7545 Carroll Road

San Diego, CA 92121-2401

800-765-1860

Van Bourgondien Bros.

245 Route 109

Box 1000

Babylon, NY 11702-9004

Vermont Bean Seed Company

Garden Lane

Fair Haven, VT 05743-0250

803-663-0217

Plantation Sweets Vidalia Onions

Route 2 Box 374

Cobbtown, GA 30420

800-541-2272

www.plantationsweets.com

Walsenburg Seed Company

888-242-1665

www.seedco.com

Wayside Gardens

1 Garden Lane

Hodges, SC 29695-0001

800-845-1124

Well-Sweep Herb Farm

205 Mt. Bethel Road

Murray, NJ 07865

908-852-5390

White Flower Farm

Box 50

Litchfield, CT 06759-0050

800-503-9624

www.whiteflowerfarm.com

Wildseed Farms

425 Wildflower Hills

Fredricksburg, TX 78624-3000

800-848-0078

Wilhite Seed Inc.

Box 23

Poolville, TX 76487

817-599-8656

Wright Plant Growers

250 Wilson Street

Conklin, MI 49403

616-887-1844

www.rfbiimsn.com

ALSO VALUABLE FOR THE PLANT GROWER, VERY IMPORTANT DATA REGARDING PLANT PLANT GENE RESOURCES IS AVAILABLE THROUGH:

The American Genetic Resources Alliance, 2212 Griffiths Park Boulevard, CA 90039

213-913-2507

annemarier@aol.com

www.amgra.org

PLEASE JOIN IPBN.

ANY ERRORS ARE UNINTENTIONAL AND WILL BE CORRECTED ON REQUEST.

OTHER SEED, PLANT AND GARDEN MATERIALS SUPPLIERS CAN BE ADDED IN FUTURE EDITIONS OF THIS LISTING.

USERS’ COMMENTS ARE INVITED.

IBN SEEKS TO ENCOURAGE COMMUNITY AND SOIL BUILDING, GARDENING, FARMING AND PRODUCE DISTRIBUTION PRACTICES WHICH ARE BENEFICIAL TO  THE WHOLE EARTH:   SOIL, WATER, AIR, PLANT GENE DIVERSITY AND SURVIVAL, FELLOW CREATURES AND HUMANKIND.

IN SIMPLE PLOTS WHERE PLANTS ARE ALLOWED TO SURVIVE AND MULTIPLY, FOOD FOR THE WORLD CAN BE PRODUCED APLENTY.

AS WE ARE WHAT WE EAT, SO ARE OUR FELLOW CREATURES AND PLANTS.  WE ALL NEED SUNLIGHT, GOOD WATER, AMPLE MINERALS,  APPROPRIATE ENZYMES, IONS AND MICROBES TO FACILITATE  HEALTH.

WE HOPE  YOU WILL PLANT AN  IPBN DEMONSTRATION GARDEN IN 1998 TO ENJOY, GROW, EAT, AND SHARE.

IF ONE PERSON PLANTS ONE SEED, TENDS, AND RELISHES IT, OUR MISSION WILL HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL.

IF ONE COMMUNITY DEVELOPS A GARDEN, WE WILL BE SATISFIED.

IF ONE PLANT GENE SURVIVES, WHICH WOULD NOT OTHERWISE HAVE REMAINED ON THIS PLANET, WE ARE ECSTATIC.

PLEASE JOIN IPBN AND LET US KNOW ABOUT  HOW YOU ARE GROWING.

PLANT-BASED NUTRITION

a newsletter for people everywhere

Volume I, Number 1, Fall 1997

WELCOME!

It is an honor to serve you through this outreach effort of the Institute for Plant Based Nutrition  – a start-up charitable organization dedicated to spreading good news regarding vegetables, grains, fruits, roots, tubers, nuts, seeds, herbs, leaves and grasses in human diets.  Plants nourish.  Plants heal.  Plants are affordable.  Plants build soil, purify water and air, keep the planet habitable.  Plants are good for us and the globe.

Who are we?  Highly motivated, committed plant eaters and growers who bring over a century of  life experience to this service.  From coast to coast and globally we have lived or  traveled and have like minded friends who have encouraged us to make this commitment.  Ah, do we have friends!  And have we had mentors.  Scott and Helen Nearing  helped steer us into this good life and we have also been touched by the model behaviors of Richard Buckminster Fuller, J. I. and Anna Rodale, Margaret Mead, Louis Bromfield, Rachel Carson, Euell Gibbons, A. C. Bhaktivedanta, Rev. and Mrs. M. J. Divine, Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Dass and others who have taught us to care for earth and its inhabitants.  For them, family, friends and you, we are giving ourselves  to this effort.

You may already have received our flyer or introductory letter, corresponded by fax or e-mail.  Perhaps you have participated in one of

our plant-based food preparation demonstrations.  A few of you have seen our tiny bio-intensive demonstration garden.  But for most, this will be the first opportunity to share IPBN perspectives and we hope you will want further contact.  Indeed, we seek your partnership and participation in developing a network of plant-based nutrition enthusiasts “across America and around the world.”

Will you join us in learning, researching and improving ourselves while helping others realize the values and benefits of simple, old-fashioned, tried and true plant based nutrition?  With your collaboration and cooperation, enthusiasm and energy this effort can make significant contributions to human health and societal well-being.  Together we can help many discover the values of plants in the good life.

People are waking up.  Never before have we enjoyed such availability of high quality produce and other plant-based foods.  Will you help stir still greater interest in plant-based nutrition ?  If we can save one person from the miseries of  a plant deficient lifestyle the whole world will be bettered and isn’t this what we want to do?

Like Daniel and his friends, we are scared.  But, as they knew and demonstrated, a diet of plants and water will carry strivers through adversity.  It’s just that simple:  Beans, rice and vegetables are not just sufficient.  They are nutritious, beautiful, wonderful and aren’t we glad?

Help us remind the world.  There is enough for everyone and health can be the norm if we breathe, exercise, drink and eat right.  Let’s work together and demonstrate how lovely life can be with plant-based nutrition.

What will you do for this cause today?

Can you lead?  Organize?  Research?  Write?  Draw?  Speak?  Debate?  Model?  Demonstrate?  Will you share this newsletter with others?  This Winter, will you correspond and speak out on behalf of vegetables?   Next Spring will you plant a small demonstration garden on a nearby site – and share the produce?  In your family, community, organization, state, country, will you model the effects of plant based nutrition?  (Get in shape.  Breathe, drink, exercise and eat  right?)  If you haven’t, won’t you join at least one of the many fine organizations committed to plant-based nutrition?  As needed and appropriate in your area, will you start a local organization, or a club at your place of work or institution, to discuss and sponsor events teaching the benefits of plant-based nutrition?  And may we see, hear and share your letters, drawings, articles, recorded talks and speeches?  (Yes, we’ll also be pleased to view your videos.)   As possible, let’s also share gardening knowledge, recipes, and    sooner or later    food at IPBN coordinated feasts.

Please subscribe and let PLANT-BASED NUTRITION  serve you.  We hope you enjoy this first issue and approve of its tone.  We are positivists appreciative of this opportunity to   share good news.   

Kindest regards and peace,

Jim and Dorothy Oswald

FREE BOOKS!

The IPBN Library has some duplicate copies which will be mailed  gratis to the first four requesters who send a one page essay on “Five A Day?  Why I Eat At Least Ten Servings of Plant Foods Each Day.”  The books, slightly used by serious readers:  Frances More Lappe’, Diet for A Small Planet, 10th Anniversary Edition [“completely revised and updated] (1982), John and Mary McDougall, The McDougal Health and Weight Loss Class (1997)[Cover slightly damaged], Earl Mindell, Earl Mindell’s Soy Miracle [Westbrae WestSoy Soymilk sponsored edition] (1995) and Debra Wasserman and Reed Mangels, Vegan Handbook  [From the Vegetarian Resource Group] (1996).  If possible, and only with explicit permission from the author, we will print these essays or excerpts in subsequent issues of PLANT-BASED NUTRITION.

NUTRITION TRENDS?

The American Dietetic Association has issued  a 1997 Nutrition Trends Survey which can be obtained through ADA, 216 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606 (312-899-0040).  Also request position papers on plant-based nutrition.

TRY IT TEN TIMES

To develop a new food tolerance and preference typically requires about ten trials.  “It takes about ten introductions to a new food “ to establish a new habit according to Althea Zanecosky R.D. (A.D.A.) speaking as a professional dietician on  “Radio Times” (NPR), September 8, 1997.

AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

TIPS OF THE DAY

“American households spend more than one-third of their total food expenses on food away from home….”  (The Wall Street Journal, September 8, 1997.)

“Only 20% of children eat five or more servings of fruit and vegetables a day.  School lunches include at least one fruit or vegetable every day, but often lunches packed at home don’t include any.  Try these kid-tested favorites:  Fill celery sticks with peanut butter and dot with raisins.  Smear peanut butter between apple slices.”  (The Wall Street Journal, September 10, 1997.)

These tips are “a public service of Con Agra Inc., makers of  Healthy Choice” which invites internet users to contact www.healthychoice.com

For information and extensive publications relating to plant-based nutrition contact AHA, 7272 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX  (214-373-6300 TEL, 214-706-1341 FAX).

SCHOOL LUNCHES

In “Lunchroom Revolution” Energy Times, September 1997, Catherine Heusel reviews the history of the United States Department of Agriculture National School Lunch Program which commenced as experimental local efforts in the 1930s and was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in 1946.

“For almost half a century, the NSLP continued virtually unchanged, providing …six ounces of vegetables and/or fruits… “ daily to “millions of children.”   Over the years “hunger and overt  malnutrition yielded to ‘overnutrition’” as “obesity linked to too much dietary fat and too little exercise grew into the most prevalent juvenile concerns.”  In 1995, USDA launched an attempt at its “first large-scale reform” through its “School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children” aimed toward conformity with its          “Dietary Guidelines for Americans (as illustrated in the USDA Food Guide Pyramid)….”  Enter USDA’s “’Team Nutrition,’ a multi-disciplinary education program to provide technical assistance and training to food service” personnel.”

And so it goes.

For a copy of  this excellent well written article, send a self-addressed number ten envelope containing one dollar in loose stamps to cover photocopying and postage to:  Institute for Plant Based Nutrition, 333 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004-2606.

Thanks to Energy Times for granting us permission to share this article with you.  If this publication is not available at your local health food store, contact the publisher for free subscription information:  ENERGY TIMES, 2500 Grand Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90815-1764.  (Please mention IPBN.)

DEHYDRATED VEGETABLES

We asked Don Pectol to make more dried vegetable products available for serious survivalists and others who want plant-based foods available in convenient, storable forms.  He has amazed and pleased us with his current catalog of alternatives.  Thank you Don.  For a few examples consider “whole grains and beans…gardenseeds…broccoli…carrots/diced…corn/sweet…beans/green…onions/chopped……sweet garden peas…diced potatoes…potato flakes” and “peach flavored apple flakes…apple drink mix…apple slices…applesauce…banana slices…fruit mix…orange drink mix…peach drink mix…raisins/golden…strawberry flavored apple flakes.”  And he offers a “kitchen Sprouter Set” along with “Sprouting Seeds.”  Need a manual  “Wheat Grass Juicer” or “Apple/Potato Peeler, Corer, Slicer”?  Of course he has more, 48 pages of choices with a respectable range of plant-based nutrition options.  For additional information call Don at 1-800-999-1863, internet www.beprepared.com, or write EMERGENCY ESSENTIALS, 165 South Mountain Way Drive, Orem, UT 84058-5119.

o0o

The influence of a beautiful, helpful, hopeful character is contagious.

Eleanor H. Porter

(Quotation found on a “Lemon Zinger” herbal tea packet from Celestial Seasonings, Inc., 4600 Sleepytime Drive, Boulder, CO 80301-3292.  Here’s an honorable entrepreneurial herb merchant with much to teach us all.)

DID YOU KNOW THIS?

Irradiation is “a safe, effective technology…already permitted by the United States Food and Drug Administration for…fruits, vegetables, spices and grains” according to Steve Forbes in “Fact and Comment,” Forbes, September 22, 1997, p. 27

(www.forbes.com).  Safe?  Effective?  Already Permitted by FDA?  We didn’t know.

Are you sure?

“A safe, effective technology” is not the same as  “the safest and most effective technology.”  That’s what we’re looking for.  What’s best?  What’s best for the consumer, processors, producers, fruits, vegetables, spices and grains?

More.

“The fact is, the …fruit, vegetable and other industries got the federal go-ahead to irradiate their products years ago, yet there have been few takers. Why?  Perhaps companies don’t want to make the huge investment in a strange new technology or risk accidental exposure of their workers to radiation.  Or perhaps they don’t want to jeopardize sales due to flavor changes or nutrient losses.. Or perhaps they suspect that consumers want food that is free of fecal matter, whether the germs it harbors are dead or alive.”

(“Your Food May Need A Good Bath,” in Letters to the Editor, The Wall Street Journal, September 12, 1997, p. A23.)

Who wrote that?

Thank you Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., Executive Director, Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, DC.

Try this?  ORGANICLEAN (888-VEG-WASH)

“Removes E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella and other bacteria after 30 seconds in laboratory testing.  Enhances the removal of surface pesticides.  Naturally derived from fruit and coconut extracts.  Works instantly -spray on and wash off.”   Of course harvesting those coconuts could be dangerous.  Wear helmets harvesters.

Who’ll donate a bottle for Steve?

Might Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Soap work as well?  Who’ll research this?

RECORDED DIALOGUES REGARDING PLANT BASED FOOD ALTERNATIVES AND RATIONALES – WITH SOME MUSIC

Far Reaching Communications will send you four one-hour audiocassettes for $24.95 including postage.  “The Vegetarian Chronicles” interviews individuals who describe their dietary reasoning and debates food choices,  educating and entertaining in a light-hearted, debonair way.  [NPR style format.]  Call 1-800-LISTENS if you have interest in ordering, and consider donating a set to your local library.

Family discussion material interestingly put.

SIMPLE RECIPES

Peanut butter is to peanuts as tahini is to sesame seeds.  Why not mix them for variety?

Feed your blender dried seaweed and herbs, then mix the flakes with nutritional yeast, flax, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.  Carry the mix in a plastic bag, tin or jar.  Use this topping in salads and on spaghetti marinara.  Restaurant servers will request taste samples; many of ours have promised to go home and make it themselves.

Helen Nearing gave us this one:  Quarterfill a jar with fresh blueberries, then pour boiling water to the top.  Put on a lid and ring.  Twist tight.  She was not one to go on and on.

Blend a can of garbanzo beans to a puree.  Add the herbs you like.  Lemon juice will make it tart.  Garlic is traditional.  So are tahini (sesame seed puree) and parsley (fresh or dried).  Paprika is nice.  Cayenne?  A little seaweed.  If you need  oil, use the one you prefer.  Thick or thin, as you like it, this is hummus.  Slather on bread, crackers, vegetable slices.  Try the same with other kinds of beans.  Hummus blends well with roasted red peppers  Great for sandwiches, dipping and pouring over anything edible.  A spoonful before bedtime can be exquisite.

GET IN THE NET

Have a look at this internet website – http://www.vegsource.org/klaper/study.htm

for information on health and nutrition related research being conducted by  Michael Klaper, M.D.  [This website also briefs you on the works of EarthSave and Howard Lyman.]  You may wish to participate and offer support for this baseline research effort.  The aim is to gather hard scientific data, reliable and replicable, on effects of plant-based nutrition among humans.

Cornell University’s Colin Campbell, Ph.D., has educated us regarding correlations between diet and health among people in the vast provinces of  China.  It seems that plant-based nutrition has real, not imagined, benefits.

John McDougall, M.D., Mary McDougall and the McDougall children have demonstrated how quickly benefits can begin when one switches to a plant based diet.  (For books, audio and video cassettes, television and radio shows, newsletter, personal appearances  and quick preparation foods contact:  The McDougalls, PO Box 14039, Santa Rosa, CA 95402 (800-570-1654 or 707-576-1654 TEL, 707-576-3313 FAX).

COMING IN WINTER ISSUE

Updates on what’s going on in the plant-based nutrition movement

More references to growers, processors, distributors and retailers of wholesome foods from the plant kingdom

Addresses of associations and societies which serve plant-based nutrition education

Recipes which are easy and practical

Interpretations of the good news

God willing, and with your encouragement, there can be more pages in Spring,  Summer and Fall.   IPBN membership, $12.00 per calendar year, provides outreach activities and four issues of

PLANT-BASED NUTRITION, a newsletter for people everywhere.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Pray and work for world  peace.

DIRECTORY

OF

PLANT-BASED NUTRITION CENTERED

ORGANIZATIONS, PUBLICATIONS AND NETWORKS

JOIN, SUBSCRIBE, PARTICIPATE, CONTRIBUTE AND HELP FURTHER BUILD THE PLANT-BASED NUTRITION MOVEMENT FOR IMPROVED HEALTH AND HAPPINESS, SATISFACTION AND JOY, SHARING AND GROWTH, ECONOMIC AND SOCIETAL SECURITY, PRESERVATION OF SPECIES AND THE PLANET, INTUNENESS WITH THE UNIVERSE.  EVERYONE NEEDS YOU!

Academy of Nutrition, 7436 Fraser Park Drive, Burnaby, BC V5J 5B9 (604-435-1919 TEL, 604-435-4888 FAX).  Provides “Vegetarianism, The Diet for all Reasons” home study course based on American and European documentation.

American Vegan Society, 501 Old Harding Highway, Malaga, NJ 08328 (609-694-2887 TEL) Ahimsa journal, books, audio and video cassettes, monographs, information, food preparation demonstrations, vegan cooking classes, annual Summer Conference, Freya and Jay Dinshah speaker service.

American Vegetable Grower, 37733 Euclid Avenue, Willoughby, OH 44094. Commercial growers journal,  monthly.

Animal Place:  Farm Animal Sanctuary and Education Center, 3448 Laguna Creek Trail, Vacaville, CA 95688 (707-449-4814 TEL, 707-449-8775 FAX) {Porcilina@aol.com}

[www.envirolink.org/arrs/animal_www.htm].

Animal Rights Resource Site [www.envirolink.org/arrs/index.html].

Australian Vegetarian Society of New South Wales, PO Box 65, Paddington, NSW, Australia 2021 (02-9698-4339 TEL, 02-9310-5365 FAX) {avs@moreinfo.com.au}.

Backwoods Home magazine, practical ideas for self-reliant living, Box 40, Montague, CA 96064 (800-835-2418).  Bi-monthly independence centered free thinking articles, some on vegan and vegetarian how-to-do-it topics.

BAER’S GARDEN NEWSLETTER, Box 328, Lancaster, PA 17608-0328.  Quarterly free newsletter.

Bertoia Studio, 644 Main Street, Bally, PA 19503-0383.  Plant-based environmental sculpture art specialists

CARE, Box 847, West Chester, PA 19381.

Boston Vegetarian Food Festival (617-424-8846) {foodfest@mit.edu} [www.mit.edu/activities/vsg/foodfest98].

Annual vegetarian education activity for the Greater Boston Public at Bunker Hill Community College on a Fall Sunday.

Center for Advancement in Cancer Education, PO Box 48, Suite 100, 300 East Lancaster Avenue, Wynnewood, PA   19096-0048 (610-642-4810 TEL) [www.lifeenrichment.com/cancer].  Health News &Views newsletter quarterly, Immune Perspectives journal quarterly, monographs, programs on cancer prevention and plant based food centered nutrition, raw food preparation training programs, Whole Foods EXPO annually.  Susan Silberstein speaker services.   

Center for Science in the Public Interest, Suite 300, 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009-5728 (202-265-4954 FAX) {circ@cspinet.org Email} [www:cspinet.org Website] Since 1971.  Nutrition Action, ten issues annually.  Nutritional research information.

Central Jersey Vegetarian Group, Box 952, Manville, NJ 08835 (908-281-6388).  Newsletter quarterly, vegetarian books in libraries project, restaurant trips, tabling, coordination of speakers and social activities.

Community Agriculture Project, Wilson College Center for Sustainable Living, 1015 Philadelphia Avenue, Chambersburg, PA 17201-1285.  Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Project organizers and coordinators [Over 600 CSA Farms feed over 100,000 North Americans].

DELICIOUS, Your Magazine of Natural Living, 1301 Spruce Street, Boulder, CO 80302 (303-939-8440 TEL, 309-939-9559FAX) {delicious@newhope.com} [www.newhope.com/delicious].  Consumer journal monthly.

Earth Heart Foundation, 416 George Street, DePere, WI 54115 (414-983-9609) {eartheart@juno.com}.  The Earth Heart Message newsletter quarterly, Natural Foods Café and Deli Market, program development, Steve and Christine McDiarmid speaker services.

EarthSave, 620 B, Distillery Commons, Louisville, KY 40206  {800-362-3648} (502-589-7676) [www.earthsave.org].  Newsletter, Healthy School Lunch Program, publications and organizing projects.

EarthSave Connecticut, Box 331, North Branford, CT 06471 (203-985-1135 TEL, 203-483-5527 FAX). Distributes EarthSave publications, special plant-based nutrition brochures, educational programs and workshops.

Eating With Conscience Campaign, Humane Society of the United States, 700 Professional Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20879 (301-258-3051).  Information, publications, programs, coordination, consultation. Howard Lyman speaker services.

ECO-AG Conferences on Ecological Agriculture, ACRES USA – A Voice for Eco-Agriculture, Box 8800, Metairie, LA 70011 (800-355-5313).  Acres USA monthly, books on eco-agriculture, regional conferences.

ENERGY TIMES, ENHANCING YOUR LIFE THROUGH PROPER NUTRITION, 2500 Grand Avenue, Long Beach, California 90815-1764 (516-777-7773).  Consumer journal ten issues annually.

ENVIROLINK internet web site [www.envirolink.org].

European Vegetarian Union [ivu.org.evu].  Interlinked with International Vegetarian Union, Vegetarian Union of North America and other affiliates globally.

FARM:  Farm Animal Reform Movement, 10101 Ashburton Lane, Box 30654, Bethesda, MD 20824 (800-632-8688) [http://envirolink.org/arrs/farm].  Newsletter  quarterly, educational campaigns, programs, conferences, books, organizing, consultations.  Alex Hershaft speaker services.

Farm Sanctuary -East, PO Box 150, Watkins Glen, NY 14891 (607-583-2225 TEL) [www.farmsanctuary.org]  Farm Sanctuary-West, PO Box 1065, Orland, CA (916-865-4617 TEL)  Sanctuary News, quarterly.

Food for Life, International Vegetarian/Vegan Food Relief, 10310 Oaklyn Drive, Potomac, MD 20854 (301-983-6826 TEL, 301-299-5025 FAX) {Priya.ffl@com.bbt.se} [www.ffl.org].  Food for Life Friends Newsletter monthly, “Feed the Wold Week” annually, mass feeding projects in poor and distressed areas globally.  Paul Turner speaker service.

Gourmet Vegetarian Dinner Parties by Meredith McCarty, Box 2605, Mill Valley, CA 94942 (415-435-4102).  Organizes and presents special plant food menus and dinners in San Francisco Bay area.

Green Earth Travel, 6505 Democracy Boulevard, Bethesda, MD 20817 (888-2GO-VEGE) {greeneatvl@aol.com}  Vegetarian travel specialists.Health Foods Business, 2 University Plaza, Suite 204, Hackensack, NJ07601 (201-487-7800 TEL, 920-563-1704 FAX).  Industry business journal, monthly.

Healthwatchers Newsletter, HCR 77 Box 12A, Kirby, WV 26729 (304-822-7219).  Monthly.

Herb Research Foundation, 1007 Pearl Street, Suite 200, Boulder, CO 80302 (303-449-2265 TEL, 303-449-7849 FAX) [www.herbs.org].  HerbalGram peer-reviewed research quarterly, Herbs for Health bi-monthly, Herb Research newsletter, Herb World Update, Tech Notes, Herb Alerts which “educate the world about herbs” and customized botanical research services.

HSR Health Supplement Retailer, Virgo Publishing, Inc., 3300 North Central Avenue, Suite 2500, Phoenix, AZ 85012 (602-990-1101 TEL, 602-990-0819 FAX).  Industry retailer journal, monthly

Institute of Nutrition Education and Research, Box 1055, Makawao, HI 96768.  Conducting scientific vegan  and vegetarian health study to establish base data for medical and nutritional research, seeking volunteer participants.   Michael Klaper, M.D. books and speaker services.      

Institute for Plant Based Nutrition, 333 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004-2606 (610-667-6876 TEL, 610-667-1501 FAX) {jmoswald@bellatlantic.net} [www.plantbased.org].  Since 1996.  PLANT-BASED NUTRITION, a newsletter for all people quarterly, monographs, vegan cooking demonstrations and workshops, tabling, displays at nutrition related conferences, organizational development consultations, program development.  James and Dorothy Oswald speaker services.

International Vegetarian Union, PO Box 38.130, Madrid, Spain 28080 (34-1-331-99-60 TEL, 34-1-332-14-16 FAX) {frmartin@ctv.es} [www.ivu.org].  Membership includes concurrent sub-membership in Vegetarian Union of North America.  [Howard Lyman, president.]  Since 1908.  IVU News, quarterly.  Coordination, information, facilitation.

MACRO CHEF, Macro News, 243 Dickinson Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147 (215-551-1430 TEL, 215-551-9498 FAX)  Six issues annually.

Maine Coast Sea Vegetables, RR 1, PO Box 78, Franklin, ME (207-565-2907) {mcsv@acadia.net} [ww.seaveg.com/harvest.html].  Newsletter periodically.

Michigan Vegetable Council, Inc., 343 South Union Street, Sparta, MI 49345 (616-887-8615 TEL, 616-887-2666 FAX)           

{gip@iserv.net}  The Great Lakes Vegetable Growers News,  Newspaper monthly.

National Nutritional Foods Association, 3931 MacArthur Boulevard, Suite 101, Newport Beach, CA 92660 (800-966-6632 TEL, 714-622-6266 FAX) {nnfa@aol.com}  Since 1936, Natural Products Industry trade association.

National Peach Council, 12 Nicklaus Lane, Suite 101, Columbia, SC 29229 (803-788-7101 TEL, 803-865-8090 FAX)  Peach Times newsletter, quarterly.

Natural Foods Merchandiser, New Hope Natural Media, 1301 Spruce Street, Boulder, CO 80302-4832 (303-939-8440).   Retailer, wholesaler and broker journal monthly, and annual Whole Food Industry EXPO-EAST and EXPO-WEST.

Natural Health, 17 Station Street, Brookline, MA 02146 (Subscription 800-526-8440 , Editorial 617-232-1000).

Six issues annually.   

Nearings Forest Farm, The Good Life Center, PO Box 11, Harborside, ME 04642.  Periodic letters.

New Jersey State [Fruit Growers] Horticultural Society, Box 116, Clayton, NJ 08312.  Horticultural News [for fruit growers] quarterly.

North American Vegetarian Society, PO Box 72, Dolgeville, NY 13329 (518-568-7970) [www.cyberveg.org/navs/]  Since 1974.  Vegetarian Voice quarterly, books, booklets, annual Summerfest conference with vegan food service, coordination, facilitation, information on vegetarian movement.

Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey, 330 Titus Mill Road, Pennington, NJ 08534 (609-737-6848 TEL, 609-737-2366 FAX) {nofanj@aol.com}, NOFA-NJ’S Organic News newsletter quarterly, certification, education, marketing, policy conferences and consultation services.

North Hastings-Haliburton Vegetarian Association, 37 Pine Road, Cardiff, Ontario KOLIMO (613-339-2789).

One Peaceful World Society, Box 10, Becket, MA 01223 (413-623-2322 TEL, 413-623-8827 FAX) {opwmacrobiotics.org}.  One Peaceful World newsletter quarterly reports on international society of macrobiotic friends and families, books, workshops.

Penn Herb Co. Ltd., 10601 Decatur Road, Suite #2, Philadelphia, PA 19154-3293 (215-632-6100 TEL, 215-632-7945 FAX).  Since 1963.  Catalog  of domestic and imported herbs, nutraceuticals and books.

Pennsylvania Natural Living Association, 109 Monteith Avenue, West Lawn, PA 19609.  Since 1954.  Newsletters and annual conference.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, 501 Front Street, Norfolk, VA 23510 (757-622-7382 TEL) [www.envirolink.org/arrs/peta ]  Animal Times, quarterly.

Pittsburgh Vegetarian Society, Box 44276

Pittsburgh, PA 15205 (412-734-5552/5554 TEL), Newsletter quarterly, meeting coordination, tabling, food-centered events.

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

5100 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Suite 404, Washington, DC 20016 (202-686-2210 TEL, 202-686-2216 FAX) [www.sai.com/pcrm/].  Good Medicine, quarterly, monographs and institutional food service education programs.

Produce Quality Testing, 3301 Kirchwood Street, Plainview, TX 79072-6651.  Refractometer produce nutritional quality assessment devices and  publications.  Seaweed soil builder products.  Willis R. Winters speaker services.

Reigning Records, PO Box 2627, Bellingham, WA 98227 (888-878-COWS TEL, 360-733-7995 FAX) {dana@cowswithguns.com}[http://www.cowswithguns.com]

“Cows With Guns,”  “At Night They Howl at the Moon,”  “Animal”  CDs/Cassettes.   Dana Lyons concerts and educational program services.

Rodale Institute Experimental Farm, 611 Siegfriedsdale Road, Kutztown, PA 19530-9749 (610-683-1400 TEL, 610-683-8548 FAX).  Healthy Soil, Healthy Food, Healthy People newsletter quarterly, books, monographs, cropping demonstrations in developing countries and communities, workshops, organic plant growing demonstrations, John Haberern and Anthony Rodale speaking services.

SATYA, A MAGAZINE OF VEGETARIANISM, ENVIRONMENTALISM AND ANIMAL ADVOCACY, Prince Street Station, Box 138, New York City, NY 10012 (212-674-0952 TEL, 212-598-1856) {stealth@interport.com} [www.montelis.com/satya/]  Newsprint magazine distributed free at health-centered locations in New York City, monthly.

Sea Change Urban Horticulture Center Inc., 1608 North Carlisle Street, Philadelphia, PA 19121 (215-978-5930 TEL, 215-978-5937 FAX) {seachang@aol.com}.  Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) engaging investor consumer shareholders and plant growers in self-sustaining inner city urban neighborhood development producing more than 25 vegetables for immediate local consumption.

Sonnewald Service Natural Foods, Route 1, Box 457, Spring Grove, PA 17362 (717)225-3456).  Books and monographs,  Grace Lefever vegan raw food preparation demonstrations, consulting and speaking services.

Starting Point, Looseleaf Press, Route 2, 624 Maple Street, Stockton Springs, ME 04981 {207-567-4194 TEL/FAX).  Newsletter bi-monthly, books, analyses of Scott and Helen Nearing lives and influences.

Syracuse Area Vegetarian Education Society, Box 302, DeWitt, NY 13214 (315-437-2163)  The SAVES Paper, The Vegetarian Voice of Central New York, quarterly.

TEACH Services, Inc., Route 1, Box 182, Brushton, NY 12916.  Publishes Healthful Living Series publications including “The Eight Laws of Health” pamphlet.

The American Genetic Resources Alliance, 2212 Griffith Park Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90039 (213-913-2507) {annemarier@aol.com} [www.amgra.org].

The Beaver Defenders, Box 765, Newfield, NJ 08344.

The Elephant Sanctuary, Box 393, Hohenwald, TN 38462 (931-796-6500).  Newsletter regularly.

The FELIX Letter, A Commentary on Nutrition, Box 7094, Berkeley, CA 94707.  Newsletter issued regularly, reports on Omega 3 and 6, vitamins and other nutraceuticals.

The Fund for Animals, Box 91, Lancaster, NH 03584-0091 (603-788-3750 TEL/FAX) {cs@ncia.net}.   Vegan educational programs.  Researching vegan food production business opportunities for entrepreneurs.  Consultations and Virginia Mead speaker service.

The Greater Boston Vegetarian Resource Library, Strawberry Fields, Two North Main Street, Sherborn, MA 01770 (508-650-3659).  A program of the Peace Abbey,  near The Pacifist Memorial [Ghandian],  supports The Animal Rights Peace Memorial Project in collaboration with Farm Sanctuary, free membership, provides access to publications such as “Peace Seeds”.

The Great Lakes Fruit Growers News, 343 South Union Street, Sparta, MI 49345 (616-887-8615 TEL, 616-887-2666 FAX)           

{gip@iserv.net}  Newspaper monthly.

The Grower, Profitable Business Strategies for Fruit and Vegetable Growers, 10901 West 84th Terrace, Lenexa, KS 66214 (913-438-8700 TEL, 913-438-0697 FAX).  Monthly.

The Healing Energy Network, 14 Branton Street, Dorchester, MA 02122 (617-825-7127).  Vegan activities and program coordination.  Peter Sullivan speaker service.

The McDougall Newsletter, The Newsletter with John and Mary McDougall, Box 14039, Santa Rosa, CA 95402

(707-576-1654 TEL, 707-576-3313 FAX) [www.drmcdougall.com] [www.naturallnd.com]  [www.rightfoods.com].  Newsletter quarterly, books, St. Helena Hospital live-in programs, vegan cruises, Dr. McDougall Right Foods (800-367-3844).  John McDougall, M.D. speaker services.

0The Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Health, 48 West 21st Street, Second Floor, New York City, NY (212-645-5170).  Wholistic and vegetarian cooking classes, curricula and Friday Night Vegetarian Vegetarian Feast dinners, lectures, consultations and Annemarie Colbin speaker services.

The Rochester Vegetarian Society, Box 20185, Rochester, NY 14602 (716-234-8750) {drveggie@aol.com} [www.affiniti.com/ravs/].  Newsletter quarterly, restaurant, pot luck and other social events.

The Shuman Life Center, 11900 Messick Road, SE

Cumberland, MD 21502 (301-777-3719 TEL).

The Vegan Society, Donald Watson House, 7 Battle Road, St. Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, TN37 7AA, United Kingdom (+44-1424-427393 TEL, +44-1424-717064 FAX) [www.vegansocety.com/mem/memfull.html].  Since 1944.  Publications and organizational consultation.

The Vegetarian Club of C.V.W., Wolverton B.3031

Boca Raton, FL 33434 (561-487-4281 TEL).  Condo Floridian vegetarian retirees.  Information and programs.

The Vegetarian Society, Parkdale, Dunham Road, Altrincham, Cheshire, United Kingdom WA142BR (0161-962-9182 FAX) Since 1842.  The Vegetarian, quarterly, books.  Regularly scheduled Food and Nutrition cookery courses at Pernhos Court Hotel and Restaurant on Hertfordshire, England [www.kc3ltd.co.uk/local/penrhos/food.html].

The Vegetarians of Philadelphia, Box 24353, Philadelphia, PA 19120 (215-276-3198).  Veggie News quarterly, restaurant meetings, pot luck dinners, tabling, coordination, facilitation, participation in community activities.

Toronto Vegetarian Association, 736  Bathurst Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2R4 (416-533-3897 TEL, 416-533-3897 FAX) { lifelines@veg.on.ca} {tva@veg.on.ca} [www.veg.on.ca].  Since 1945.   LIFELINES, Six issues annually, restaurant meetings, annual Fall Vegetarian Festival..

Triangle Vegetarian Society, Box 3364, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-3364 [www.webslingerZ.com/shoff/tvs/].

Twin Oaks Community Foods, 138 Twin Oaks Road, Louisa, VA 23093 (540-894-4112),  Intentional community produces soyfoods, “tofu sausages”.

Vegan Action, PO Box 4353, Berkeley, CA 94704 (510-843-6343 TEL) {vegan@mellers1.psych.berkeley.edu} [www.vegan.org].  The Vegan News, “All The News That’s Fit to Eat” quarterly.

Vegan Awakening [www.vegan.org/awakening/].

Vegan Outreach, 10410 Forbes Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15235 (412-247-3527 TEL){mba@andrew.cmu.edu}. [www.envirolink.org/arrs/vo/ind ex.html]  Vegan Outreach  newsletter quarterly, vegan-centered publications and activities.

Vegan Standards and Certification Project, 91Jaralemon Street, Suite 4, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (718-246-0014 TEL, 718-246-5912 FAX) {VeganStandards@ibm.net} [www.veganstandards.org].  Pioneering effort to assure quality foods, and benefit all.  Works with producers, manufacturers, packagers, labelers, distributors, retailers and consumers.

Vegetarian Resource Center, Box 38-1068, Cambridge, MA 02233-1068 (617-625-3790).  Internet vegetarian organization information coordination.

Vegetarian Resource Group, PO Box 1473, Baltimore, MD 21203 (410-366-8343 TEL, 410-366-8804 FAX {vrg@vrg.org} [www.vrg.org]  Vegetarian Journal, six issues annually; Foodservice Update, Healthy Tips and Recipes for Institutions quarterly; books and monographs; tabling; displays at American Dietetic Association Annual Meeting.  Debra Wasserman and Charles Stahler speaker services.

Vegetarian Society of Colorado, Box 6773, Denver, CO 80206 (303-777-4828) [www.vsc.org].  Vegetarian Living bimonthly, “Of These Ye May Freely Eat” recipe book, unified membership incentives for participation in NAVS and VRG.

Vegetarian Society of Hawaii [www.envirolink.org/orgs/vsh/events/tvlisting.html].

Vegetarian Society of South Jersey, Box 272, Marlton, NJ 08053 (609-596-3269 TEL, 609-988-6579 FAX) {vssj@hotmail.com}[http://123easy.com/vssj.html]. Newsletter quarterly, food-centered events, educational programs.

Vegetarian Society of the District of Columbia, Box 4921, Washington, DC 20008 (202-362-VEGY) {vsdc@envirolink.org} [envirolink.org/arrs/vsdc/index.html].  Since 1927.   VSDC News, newsletter quarterly.

Vegetable Growers’ Association of New Jersey

377 North Locust Avenue, Marlton, NJ 08053

(609-985-4382 TEL/FAX).  Publications and meetings.

VEGGIE LIFE, EGW Publishing Company, 1041 Shary Circle, Concord, CA 94518[www.veggielife.com]

Six issues annually.

Veggin’ on the Border Social Events in Queens and Nassau, New York City (718-939-7116) {dmarie65@aol.com} or

(516-569-4199) {dougl28027@aol.com}.

Veggies Unite! Your on-line guide to vegetarianism, Box 5312, Fort Wayne, IN 46895-5312 [www.vegweb.com/].

Vegetarian Pages [www.veg.org./veg/veg/].

Vegetarian TIMES, 4 High Ridge Park, Stamford, CT 06905 (800-829-3340 Subscriptions, 800-829-3340 Editorial, 203-322-2900 Business TEL,  203-322-1966 FAX) [www.vegetariantimes.com] Twelve issues annually.

Vegetarian Union of North America [www.ivu.org/vuna].  Interlinked with International Vegetarian Union.  Membership in either includes both IVU and VUNA concurrently.

YAMS ARK, 48 Maplewood Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19144 (215-844-YAMS) Vegan education programs for youths, African American curriculum and nutrition specialists.

PLEASE ADD TO THIS LIST

SUGGEST CORRECTIONS, ADDITIONS, DELETIONS

HELP MAKE IT COMPREHENSIVE

LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY   

SEND INFORMATION TO ADDRESS BELOW

MICROBE NEWS

.

Hello  friend.  Cobalamin here.  Too small to see.  I’m a microbe, tiny in size.  Think of me as a cobalt cocktail, rich in that chemical element.  I deliver that mineral in just the right dosage.  Some label me just plain old  “B 12.”   Frankly, there’s more romance in pronouncing Cobalamin.  Don’t you agree? You need me on a regular basis, but not to worry, I’m already in you, store well in your liver, and fairly well surround you as well.  I float in the air with the greatest of ease, get around pretty much everywhere.  Though you can’t see me, you’ll find me on leaves, grass,

vegetables, fruits, grains, herbs, and on the back of your hand….  I‘m your friend and always have been.  Count on me to be along wherever you are, but if you’re wondering whether I’m definitely available every time you have need, check with your nutritionally educated doctor and dietitian.  They’ll help us to keep on dancing together all the days of your life.  Then I’ll move on and help someone new.

[From Plant-Based Nutrition, a newsletter for people everywhere, Winter, 1998, Page 15.]

PLANTFEAST

March 1998

Let’s pitch in and support the historic and persistent efforts of Dr. Alex Hershaft, Ph.D., president of the Farm Animal Reform Movement.   FARM sponsors a great effort every March, and provides all the instructions, information and materials needed to mount a local  fellow-creature-saving campaign and plant-praising celebration again this March.

It might be called a  “Flesh Out” and “Plant-In” action campaign as again national and community attention are focused on the value of avoiding carcinogenic, stroke, heart disease and diabetes correlated non-food products currently sold for human consumption.

Join the fun, raise voices to save fellow creatures entrapped in a merciless system.  There’s a death machine doomed to self-destruct and Alex Hershaft leads this movement to stop the killing of innocent creatures.   Citizens can cooperatively help society turn off the killing machines by educating, reminding of compassion, telling truth and thereby lessening its appeals. Feed a friend a vegan meal.

Time is of the essence, so if you will cooperate in this annual campaign to alert people to the dangers of non-plant based nutritional practices and importance of living in peace with fellow creatures, please contact Alex promptly.  Work with the FARM staff.  You are needed and every year to follow until our work is done.  Volunteer to represent FARM efforts locally.  Join in this long successful educational effort in 1998 and years to come.  Contact Alex  and FARM staff at:  Farm Animal Reform Movement, Box 30654, Bethesda, Maryland 20824, TEL:  800-632-8688.

[From  PLANT-BASED NUTRITION, a newsletter for people everywhere, Winter, 1998, Page 28.]

PLANT-BASED NUTRITION

a newsletter for people everywhere

Volume II, Number 1, Winter 1998

*****

BEST RESTAURANT IN THE UNITED STATES

It’s Only Natural Vegan Restaurant

686 Main Street

Middletown, Connecticut 06457

860-346-9210

This is our decision based on several years of actual eating experience at various times over every season.  Our unannounced appearances have all been great feasts.  Simply wonderful and well worth the price.

We’re not alone in this acclaim.

Locals know good food and keep the place busy.  Folks drive in from Boston and New York, even Philadelphia and Washington.  Smart people know, this is excellence.

We eat as much as we can and then carry home another meal or two.  ION staff know how to pack food for the road.

Squash bisque soup…Ceasar Salad…Blackened Tempeh…Hummus Platter…Peanut Noodles…Pizza Rustica…Chilaquiles…Sweet and Sour Vegetables…Gado – Gado…Macrobiotic Platter…  All these are great.  Hold on for desserts, though.  These are superb:  Carob Orange Creme Cake…Banana Cake…Milano Cake…Lemon Tart…Fresh Fruit Crumb Pie…Amazake Pudding Pie.  Caffix or Peppermint Tea top off such a meal wonderfully.

If we seem ecstatic, try the food.  It’s even better than the descriptions.  We never tire of any of it.  That’s why we think this restaurant is the “best.”

Co-Owners, Co-Chefs Mark Shadle and Lisa Magee run ION well.  They’re young, work very hard, smile all the time and say, in 1992, when they became the owners, “we committed ourselves to providing people with health-supportive, inspiring whole foods – natural foods without compromise.”  They don’t believe in, eat or cater in any way to a “dead food diet.”

A chef for over fifteen years and “trained in the ‘classic French style’” Mark became a vegetarian in 1998, “no longer wanting to cook” fellow creatures.  He’s cooking on Main Street in the town where he grew up.  Married, a happily married  and proud father, Vegan Shadle has plans for “moving up the street to a larger location” and eventually having several restaurants.  “Good Living, Clean Cooking and Good Lovin” mark advises, “Lettuce Love.”

Describing her own transformation at age 16, Lisa explains “It became very clear to me at a young age that what you eat has a direct result on how your body feels and your mind functions” and on testing her hypothesis she experienced “a lightness of body and clarity of mind…”  Like Mark, Lisa knows, “’dead foods do not produce life.’”  Trained by Anne Marie Colbin and staff at the Natural Gourmet Cookery School in New York City, Lisa understands “it is possible to rebuild your body cell by cell with the proper foods.  She’ll be catering her own wedding in Spring 1998.

They’re great people, great cooks, healers, educators and community builders.  Visit them often, eat as much as you can and take plenty home.  If you can’t get to Middletown soon, order their two cookbooks:  inspiring vegan recipes (handwritten and illustrated) and More INSPIRING RECIPES (computer typeset, hand illustrated,  spiral bound and colorfully covered with a colored sketch and photograph of the front window signage).  Order from:  Mark Shadlee and Lisa Magee, It’s Only Natural Vegan Restaurant, 686 Main Street, Middletown, Connecticut.  TEL:  860-346-9210, FAX:  860-346-6118.

~

UNBOUND BY EARTHLY TIES LET YOUR SPIRITS SOAR

Lisa and Mark              

~

[From PLANT-BASED NUTRITION, a newsletter for people everywhere, Winter, 1998, Page 22.]

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