VUNA People

VUNA VIEWS - July 1998

VUNA People

* VUNA Vice President Kevin Pickard and his wife, Gwyn Treharne, are the proud parents of Sara Brittany Pickard, who was born at home on June 1, 1998. She weighed in at 7 pounds and measured 21 inches. Kevin reports that the whole family is doing well, being Sara's dad is "a lot of fun," and she is sleeping well during the night. Those of us lucky enough to be on Kevin's e-mail list were treated to JPG photos of newborn Sara and she is truly a beautiful baby.

* Regional Council member Ruth Heidrich, a world-class runner and triathlete, is recovering after a bone-breaking encounter with a truck. See her account of the accident and her amazing ongoing recovery in this issue. We wish her a speedy and complete healing and many more medals in the future.

* While press coverage concentrated on Oprah Winfrey in the recent food defamation lawsuit brought against her by Texas cattlemen, not so often mentioned was that Oprah's co-defendant, Howard Lyman, is President of the International Vegetarian Union.

As just about everyone has heard, the judge ruled that the cattlemen did not have a case under the so-called veggie libel law of Texas, designed to protect perishable food products from false and defamatory statements. The judge allowed the case to continue under general business libel laws, which require proof that the defendants knowingly made false statements with the intent to damage the plaintiffs' economic interests. On February 26, a jury ruled that the defendants were not liable for statements made on the Oprah Winfrey Show questioning the safety of beef and were not responsible for the steep drop in cattle prices that happened after the broadcast of the show.

Far from being intimidated by his brush with food defamation law, Howard is continuing to speak out. He tells about how he went from being a fourth-generation cattle rancher to a vegan in his book Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat, published by Scribner. His Web site: http://www.madcowboy.com/ contains information, reviews, an order form, an excerpt from the book, and a discussion board. You can also find details of Howard's busy speaking schedule at http://www.vegsource.org/lyman/sched.htm

FROM THE DESK OF PETER MCQUEEN

*New Council Members
It is my pleasure to introduce you to two new members of the VUNA Council. In the past several months the Council voted to fill two vacancies. The appointees are Gerry Coffey and Paul Turner. Gerry is an experienced journalist who, together with her husband, promotes vegetarianism and natural healing in Decatur, Alabama. Paul Turner of Maryland is the director of Food For Life Global, a vegetarian food relief organization affiliated with ISKCON (The International Society for Krishna Consciousness). Welcome to both new Council members!

*Seeking Proposals for 1999 Regional Congress
Since its founding in 1987, VUNA has hosted or co-hosted a North American Regional Vegetarian Congress every two years. These events have ranged from multi-day residential conferences to one-day, regionally focused festivals/mini-conferences. The next opportunity for such a congress will be in 1999. Any North American group interested in organizing and co-hosting such an event should without delay send a proposal to me at: Peter McQueen, VUNA President, 33 Karnwood Drive, Scarborough, ON Canada M1L 2Z4; or by e-mail: pmcqueen@interlog.com..

*Can You Help with the Food Fair Manual?
One project VUNA would like to undertake is the production of a Food Fair/Festival Manual. We have a volunteer writer, but are in need of one or two volunteers to help co-ordinate the gathering of information from groups which have put on such events. The manual will examine how groups organize different vegetarian food fairs and thus help groups run their own. The experience of Toronto, Boston, and other groups shows that food festivals are one of the most effective ways to expose the public to vegetarian food and vegetarian information. Please help VUNA make this proposed project a reality.

*One More Time--VUNA Needs a Treasurer
Our calls for a volunteer to assume this important position have gone unanswered. Maybe you think it would take too much of your time. Actually, steady and conscientious attention to the job is more important than a large time commitment. You do not have to be a professional financial manager, just have familiarity with keeping financial records and the ability to do some planning with regard to income and expenses. For information or to volunteer, contact me, Peter McQueen, at the address above.

Maintained by Judy Miner jwminer@accessvt.com