Regina Vegetarian Society

The Hartford Courant (Connecticut, US) has recently run a story about a second-grader’s stand on behalf of animals:

Recently, my son Noah ran afoul of his school’s curriculum when he refused to classify an animal as a “thing” during a grammar lesson.

Thing, as in “person, place or thing,” a time-worn method of identifying whether something is a noun. Noah, being 7 and an animal lover, would not back down and “correct” his classification of animals, which he felt should be regarded as “beings,” and he was less than fully cordial when his teacher gently insisted he change his response. Noah felt that, rather than “persons, places and things,” the classification system should be “Beings, Places and Things.”

As Noah’s mother, it is my responsibility to instill in Noah the proper habit of cordiality and respect when disagreeing with others. I encouraged him to show greater respect for his teacher in the style of his response, but I also told him I was proud of him for speaking up on behalf of beings who cannot speak up on behalf of themselves.

Language is powerful. I am raising Noah with an abolitionist ethic. He is conscious of the vulnerability experienced by any being on this earth who is regarded as a thing, as an “it,” rather than as a sacred companion in our midst.

Read the rest of the article (Is An Animal A ‘Thing’ or a ‘Being’?) and more of what Noah has to say by clicking here.

Via the most recent issue of The VegE News (published by the Toronto Vegetarian Society).

The Regina Vegetarian Society invites you to a potluck on Saturday 24 November 2007 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Cathedral Neighbourhood Centre (2900 13th Avenue).

This event is open to the public; everyone is welcome. Admission is free. Please bring a vegan dish to share (no meat, eggs, or dairy products). Please also bring your own plate, cup, and cutlery (and CDs, if you like!).

There will be a short talk on vegetarianism.

For more information, please feel free to E-mail us.

According to the Winnipeg Free Press, after her talk on vegetarianism resulted in heckling, hassling in the hallways, and a lack of support from teachers and administration, a Winnipeg teen chose to be homeschooled.

Click here to see the full story.

We’ll be celebrating World Vegetarian Day on Sunday 30 September, and we’re hoping you’ll join us.

We’re meeting for dinner at Selam Ethiopian Restaurant (2115 Broad Street). Drinks are
at 5:30 and dinner is at 6:00 p.m. The buffet will include 8-10 vegan dishes, dessert, and traditional Ethiopian coffee or spiced tea.

Tickets are available at Selam and are $14 in advance or $16 at the door. Children under 2 receive free admission; for those under 12 admission is half price. Those who purchase a RVS membership ($10) will receive a $2 refund on their ticket at the door.

Vegetarians and non-vegetarians are welcome. We hope to see you there!

For more information, send us an E-mail!

The Regina Public Library will offer a talk called “Vegetarianism and Teens” tomorrow, Tuesday 18 September, at 7:00 p.m. at the Sunrise Library (3130 E. Woodhams Drive, Regina, 306-777-6095).

Here’s the description from the Regina Public Library website:

Do you know or are you a teen that would like to start leading a more vegetarian lifestyle? Adine Enns, a Public Health Nutritionist, will talk about how to meet teens’ nutritional needs while fitting vegetarianism into family meals.

Admission is free.

The September meeting will take place on Thursday, 13 September, at Campion College (University of Regina). We’ll be meeting in the Student Commons area (just beside Hendersons Cafe).

Time TBA 7:00 p.m. There’s lots of metered parking.

We hope to see you there!

The latest issue of the Toronto Vegetarian Association’s The VegE-News is up. Check out articles such as the following:

• Is a vegetarian diet healthier?
• Factoring meat into our carbon footprint
• Go vegetarian to save money
• An ambivalent vegetarian
• Pet the dog, eat the cow: Our confused relationship with animals

You can also subscribe to this free newsletter and it will be E-mailed to you.

If you’re a fan of fresh corn (and who isn’t?), set aside some time next Saturday morning (18 August) to attend the Regina Farmer’s Market Corn Festival.

It runs from 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. beside the Copper Kettle (1900 block Scarth Street, Regina).

Here’s what you can look forward to:

The Lajord Hutterite Colony will be cooking and buttering fresh cobs of Sheba corn for $1.50. All proceeds from the sale go to the Cosmopolitan Learning Center. Come and enjoy the sweetest corn in the province, and support a good cause too!

For more information call 581-7408 or send an E-mail here.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday 14 August at 7:00. If you’d like to attend, please send us an E-mail for the location.

As well as considering several other interesting initiatives, we’ll be discussing our plans for World Vegetarian Day (01 October).

Now’s your chance to vote for your favourites in the 2007 Veggie Awards:

Welcome to the 2007 Veggie Awards™, the largest survey of its kind in the world. By voting, you and thousands of VegNews readers will select today’s most popular vegetarian products, people and places. The annual celebration has become one of the magazine’s most anticipated features, with winners announced in the November+December “Best of Vegetarian” holiday edition of VegNews.

Need an extra incentive to vote? All submissions will be entered into our Grand Prize Drawing for fabulous prizes.

We now have our own group on Facebook. If you’d like to check us out, click here.

Please join us!

We’ll be having a meeting on Thursday 21 June 2007. If you’re interested in joining us, E-mail amynelsonmile at hotmail dot com for the details.

A huge bouquet to the Vegetarian Film Festival organizers: The Regina Vegetarian Society Inc. and Regina Ecoliving Inc.

Thanks to the VFF organizers, little known, yet important, informative and entertaining films were made available to the general public.

The film Eating was particularly impressive, and we hope to show the film again at some public event in the near future.

Thanx too to all those who attended!

Vegetarian Film Festival

May 4-5, 2007

Regina City Hall Forum

2476 Victoria Avenue

FREE ADMISSION!

May 4
7:00 PM
Remembering Bob (U.S.A, 2004)

‘Remembering Bob’ won the inaugural Genesis Outstanding Student Award (USA) for first time film director Maria Brenner. This sensitive film that is apropos for all ages, depicts the true story of a farm boy’s affection for a young pig and how the boy is forced, as he grows into a hardened teenager, to accept his destined role as a hog slaughterer. The viewer senses that Clifford is a real person struggling with an ethical dilemma that people around him are ignoring. He makes no pronouncements about animal rights, but his actions clearly convey the theme of the film.

Duration: 13 min.

“I wanted to make this film to empower people to really examine the world around them and to think for themselves,” “There are many behaviors in society that many of us accept blindly.” says Brenner.

Via the Remembering Bob website.

*****

May 4

7:20 PM
Total Health Solution Five Dietary Myths (U.S.A, 2001)

Scientific truth is buried in the medical journals. Unfortunately, because it is unprofitable to industry, this lifesaving information is rarely told. Instead, misinformation prevails and prevents people from taking action that will allow them to regain their health and appearance. This video corrects common dietary myths.

Duration: 55 min.

*****

May 4

8:25 PM
A Cow at my Table (Canada, 1998)

A Cow at My Table explores Western attitudes towards farm animals and meat, and the intense battle between animal advocates and the meat industry to influence the consumer’s mind. Five years in production took Director Jennifer Abbott across Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand to meet with the leaders of the animal rights movement, animal welfare advocates as well as spokespeople from livestock industries. A Cow at My Table intercuts these diverse perspectives with archival films, images from modern-day agribusiness and footage of farm animals shot from uncharacteristic vantage points. The result, say critics and programmers, is a documentary that is “brilliant,” “visually smart,” “extremely accomplished” and “extraordinarily compelling and powerful.” In the words of Toronto’s NOW Magazine film critic Cameron Bailey, “Like all the best documentaries, this film offers more questions than answers.”

Duration: 90 min.

*****

May 5

7:00 PM

The Emotional World of Farm Animals

Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of When Elephants Weep and Dogs Never Lie About Love, leads viewers through the personal journey he underwent while writing his book, The Pig Who Sang to the Moon. This journey takes Masson to animal sanctuaries around the country, including Animal Place, Farm Sanctuary, and United Poultry Concerns, where caregivers share harrowing stories of rescue and escape and describe their daily lives with their charges. You’ll also meet the animals themselves, like the two pigs who love their ice cube rubdowns in the summer and the cow who escaped slaughter and ran through the streets of New York City. Masson delves into the ancestry of these animals, before domestication, to give us a better understanding of what a pig really likes to do and how chickens would behave if given the chance. This section includes interviews with top experts in animal behavior, who offer their perspectives on these amazing creatures.This film contains no graphic footage of cruelty to animals.

Duration: 52 min.

Synopsis from PETA Catalog.

*****

May 5

8:00 PM

Eating

This stunning video uncovers the many facts that the meat and dairy industries do not want you to know: that their products are the biggest cause of disease, disability, and death in the U.S. today. Michael Anderson not only answers basic questions about how easily protein and calcium needs can be met on a vegan diet and the link between diet and America’s biggest diseases, he also goes a step further, explaining how the typical American diet is destroying our environment and exposing factor farms as “concentration camps” for animals.

Duration: 60 min

Synopsis from PETA Catalog.

*****

May 5

9:10 PM

Jill’s Film (U.K. 2005)

An inspiring and beautiful film about the life and tragic death of animal liberation activist, Jill Phipps. The film tells the life story of this incredibly dedicated activist, while weaving in the history and achievements of the animal rights movement in the UK, and the wider social and political issues and movements of the time. A personal window to the often hidden history of resistance movements.

Duration: 39 min.

Synopsis from the Vegetarian Film Festival 2006 in Auckland

The Regina Vegetarian Society is pleased to invite you to a Vegan Potluck with live music!

Date: Saturday February 24th

Time: 6:00 PM

Location: Cathedral Community Centre, 2900 13th Avenue

The potluck will provide a fantastic opportunity to taste a variety of delicious vegan entrees and desserts and to exchange recipes. We will be entertained by the musical stylings of local musician Jeff McLeod.

Invite your friends and family and expose them to great food and new ideas. Children are welcome.

Since this potluck is promoting the exchange of vegan recipes, please bring:

- a vegan dish. Dishes should be free of animal meat, and direct animal derivatives such as dairy products and eggs. It doesn’t have to be complicated. If you don’t have a recipe you want to make, just bring fruit, a salad, or a vegetable dish.

- your own plate and cutlery.

See you there!