Home Page
About Us
Calendar of Events
Columbia County
Discounts
Membership
Newsletters
Picture Book
Topical Subjects
(d-2)
Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society, Inc.
47 South Street, Rhinebeck, New York 12572 USA -
845-876-2626
Vegetarian - Vegan - Animal Rights - Health - Nutrition - Environment
The mission of the Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society, Inc. is to promote the vegetarian ethic in the Mid-Hudson (New York) region, educate the community and aid anyone in the pursuit of a totally vegetarian (vegan) cruelty-free and healthful lifestyle.
Newsletters
Articles From
the Winter (4th quarter) 2000 Newsletter
Message from the President
Calendar of Events
Web Sites
Voting for Vegetarianism (and Animals)
It Wasn't Chopped Liver!
Nix Milk from Your Diet
Help Needed
Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
President's message:
It's that time of year again. Holiday Time. Right now we are getting ready for our Vegan thanksgiving. It's wonderful for so many who want to spend this special Holiday with like-minded people. This year Jay Mankita will entertain. Richard Williams and Jean Daniels will chair the kitchen crew. Hope you will be there.
We all have so much to be thankful for, that we have seen the light and are aware of the harm to our bodies that eating animal products does. We know that we are not responsible for the agony, pain and violence of the slaughtering of animals. Mother Earth thanks us also for being Vegetarian. We don't abuse the land as those who raise animals do.
No sooner are we finished with Thanksgiving, than we have our annual Holiday Dinner Party. Make reservations soon. Joan McPartlin will be entertaining us. This will be a treat and really get us into the holiday spirit. Everything is Vegan. (Even the songs). A big Thank You to all who have helped make the MHVS grow (we now have 136 paid members). Some do a lot, some not, but together we are making a difference.
The Cooking Class we had in October was a huge success. Andrea Feldman was great. Those of you who were there had a grand time and learned a lot. Let me know if you would like to see more cooking classes.
Happy Holidays to all, with love from Rae
Calendar of Events:
December 16, 2000
Annual Holiday Dinner
5:00 PM
Casa Mia Restaurant
Route 9W Highland (see flyer inside)
Reservations (due Dec. 8 ) are secured with your check to:
MHVS
PO Box 3021
Kingston, NY 12402
January 27, 2001
5:00 PM
Roadhouse Grill
14 Thomas St.
Kingston, NY
We will order from the menu + specials. Call Virginia for directions & reservations by Wed. 1/24/2001 845-338-4990
February 24, 2001
5:00 PM
Rosendale Cafe
Main St.
Rosendale.
We will order from the menu. Call Virginia for directions and reservations by Wed. 2/21/2001 845-338-4990
March 10, 2001
Great American Meatout & Pot Luck Dinner, with speaker. Unitarian Church, Kingston. Save the date!
Web Sites:
Have you tried these two web sites for great articles and recipes?
1.) www.PCRM.org (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine)
2.) www.all-creatures.org ( Site sponsored by MHVS members Mary and Frank Hoffman)
Voting for Vegetarianism (and Animals)
by Constance Young
For some of us this election meant more than just choosing between Gore or Bush (or Nader, Hagelin, or Buchanan). It meant picking the candidate who would help animals the most. Because MHVS can't endorse any political party I won't say whom I finally voted for, but my decision was based partly on an endless series of e-mail discussions.
The silliness began some time in June when I was asked to consider the following: "McCain has fifteen cats. ..all declawed. Bush has three cats, none declawed. Alan Keyes had a retriever that died after twelve years. Steve Forbes has fifty chickens that he keeps as pets. Pat Buchanan has three cats and is apparently a serious cat lover. Gore has one dog and just adopted a stray. Bill Bradley has no pets." (Nader wasn't polled, but I doubt that he has room for a companion animal in his tiny apartment.) If my decision hinged on this data, I would have voted for Steve Forbes or Pat Buchanan; but I don't like their politics.
So you see the choice wasn't easy. The major candidates weren't shy about talking about how they wanted to save guns for the hunters, with Bush gloating over what a good killer he is -of people, not to mention non-humans (that's at least a minus four for him; minus one for Gore).
Now the "meatier" stuff (pun intended) -none of the major candidates are vegetarians, although rumor has it that Chelsea Clinton is a vegetarian. I was therefore excited when Nader's staffer told me that Nader might be a vegetarian. Yeah ...he was caught eating a roast beef sandwich (minus one). Then the online debate of the day became who eats the most roast beef sandwiches -Nader or Gore?
Enter John Hagelin (the Natural Lawand Independent party candidate). Scuttlebutt had it that Hagelin is a vegetarian. But no, our own Robert Cohen (who wrote the book on milk being poison) said, "Hagelin told me personally that he eats chicken." Back to square one.
OK -so none of them are true vegetarians. What about other issues? I wrote to Ralph Nader, as did many others, asking for his position on animal issues. No response. But when confronted by the media, Nader said he supported the traditional killing of whales by the Makah Native Americans (minus three). On the other hand, although I never saw the actual speech, Nader was quoted as being against factory farming. But that's not surprising, since factory farms are corporations, and we all know how he hates them.
Back to the major players. None of them commented on animal cruelty as an issue, but here is what my sources found: "George Bush's family owns a pork casing company...and got the most contribution from the slaughterhouses, butchers, factory farms, Texas cattle ranchers," said one. "In Texas every year nearly half a million white tail deer are legally killed. ..Texas is one of the biggest hunting states in the nation," said another. Not to be outdone, another source reported that "Gore: proposed $ 1.3 billion pork, beef and other subsidies to meat farmers."
At this point I was leaning heavily towards Hagelin when he was quoted as saying, "The solution to world hunger is to eat less meat."
When Senator Joe Lieberman entered the scene the e-mails proliferated. They said that Lieberman "supported every pro-animal bill introduced in Congress" and he opposed the steel-jaw leghold trap, cockfighting, and opening Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. "The other creatures we share this earth with face absolutely unprecedented threats from our own activities," he said. But he wasn't running for President. Then an animal rights PAC (Humane USA) came out in favor of the Gore/Lieberman ticket.
But the Naderites countered, "Forget about it, Nader is best for animals because by legislating against big corporate money, all beings benefit."
With all of this in mind, I made my choice. I am not sure if my vote will favor vegetarianism -or animals for that matter. But (no thanks to Bush, Gore, Nader, and all of the above) there were several good "wins" for animals on ballot initiatives across the country which opposed trapping and the aerial killing of wolves.
This frustrating experience has convinced me that one vote will not change things much, but it might help. The real struggle to protect animals must be fought in the grassroots --the grocery store, the classroom, the streets, and the courtroom -as well as at the polls.
It Wasn't Chopped Liver!
ANDREA FELDMAN NATURAL FOODS COOKING
(A review of the Cooking Class and Dinner Party on October 21, 2000
featuring chef Andrea Feldman; e-mail:
AndreaFeldman@aol.com )
"Oh dear, am I too late?" A woman flew into the room, running from side to side. All she saw were the backs of heads hunched over in two separate clusters on either side of the room .
In one area, Rae was holding court at the book table. On the other, the crowd was three deep. They were tasting and retasting the punch and hors d'oeuvres. A woman broke away from the feeding frenzy long enough to ask me in a whisper, "I know you won't give me the recipe but can you at least tell me what this is that we're eating?"
I laughed. "Of course, I'll tell you everything and give you the recipes, too." Another woman was puzzled. "What is it? It's like chopped liver, but I don't eat that anymore. What is it?"
"OK everybody. Come sit down and let's begin." There were recipe packets on each seat. The house lights went down. The camera was rolling. Show time! I talked. I demonstrated. Lots of questions were asked. We laughed; we commiserated. Even after eating all those hors d'oeuvres, the crowd was still hungry for dinner! We dined by candlelight and flowers. Everyone ate very well. What made the event successful? It wasn't just the recipes -you can get thousands from books. It was the experience. It was the energy. It was the exchange of ideas and the sharing of knowledge.
One woman told me, "This is certainly a good value. You can't buy a dinner like this anywhere." So what was that mystery hors d'oeuvre?
It wasn't chopped liver .
PO BOX 152 .BECKET , MA 01223 PH/FAX 413-623-0173
E-MAIL AndreaFeldman@AOL.COM
Nix Milk from Your Diet
Without commenting on their methods for attaining attention, I would like to say PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) correctly advocates elimination of dairy from our diet.
For years, I've been advising my patients that milk is unnecessary for good health and, like meat, can actually lead to health problems including cancers of the prostate, ovary and breast, heart disease, strokes, type II diabetes, arthritis and obesity. In children, cow's mild can cause anemia, asthma, colic, ear infections, eczema and type I insulin-dependent diabetes.
Caring, knowledgeable physicians would do well to heed the group's message by encouraging their patients to adopt a healthy vegetarian and most importantly, a dairy product-free diet.
John McDougall, MD, author and internist
Medical director St. Helena Hospital
Santa Rosa, California
Help Needed !!
Linda Brandt is resigning as Secretary effective March 1, 2001. Linda has been our Recording Secretary for the past four years.
We will miss Linda and the great job she has done on the minutes and getting our corporate papers set up and typed. She is taking classes for her day job and is stepping up her Photography business. Thank you, Linda, for all you have done for MHVS.
We will need to replace Linda as Recording Secretary and on the Board of Directors.
We also need a Corresponding Secretary and some one to do Publicity.
Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
This pie is fantastic and very easy to make. Serve this at your next party and then explain that THIS is what a Vegan eats!!
Ingredients:
1 Graham cracker crust (vegan)
1 or 2 ripe bananas
1 cup melted Vegan chocolate
21 ounces Firm Silken Tofu
3/4 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)In a food processor, blend the tofu, peanut butter and chocolate. Add the maple syrup if you would like but it's plenty rich without it. Line the pie crust with sliced ripe banana. Pour the tofu mixture into the crust. Chill for at least 2 hours. If you are talented enough you can decorate the top before chilling with melted chocolate, but it probably won't be around long enough for anyone to notice it.
Recipe from SUNY New Paltz Food Service
We look forward to
hearing from you
