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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
Fall 2002 Issue
President's Message
During
the end of June and the beginning of July, I attended the Animal
Rights 2002 Conference in McLean Virginia (near Washington D.C). Also
attending were MHVS's past president Rae Schlecht, Columbia-Greene Chapter head Joan Zacharias, and
MHVS members Peter Muller and Melanie Carpenter. Overall, the meeting
gave me a deeper understanding of the connection between Animal Rights and a vegan
lifestyle.
In general, I found the sessions informative. The exhibitors also provided many excellent instructional materials that MHVS will find valuable as giveaways at future meetings. Although I expected the larger groups like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and Fund for Animal to be there, I was pleased to learn about some of the smaller organizations that are working on behalf of animals. For example, I enjoyed meeting and taking aerobics classes from Brenda Shoss from St. Louis. (Check out her website www.kinshipcircle.org for well written, insightful letters about almost every animal rights issue.)
Then later in the month, at the end of July and in early August, another
group of MHVS members could be found in Johnstown, Pennsylvania at the
annual Vegetarian Summerfest. Rae, Joan, and Melanie were there also
along with Joan's husband Tom Lyons, Zinnia Konvisor, and Mary and Frank
Hoffman. Rae and Zinnia are on the board of the sponsoring organization,
North American Vegetarian Society. For this honor, they arrived early,
stayed late, and volunteered behind the scenes.
One of the most moving events, for which there were few dry eyes, was
our own Frank and Mary Hoffman's powerful memorial service for animals
on Sunday morning, which drew an impressive crowd despite the early 6:30
AM hour.
One of the highlights for me was Dr. John McDougall's presentation. Dr. McDougall is the author of Total Health Solutions. With utmost conviction, he told the audience that because of his mid-life crisis, he will no longer stand by as the Arthritis and Lupus Foundations inform us that diet has nothing to do with the conditions they represent. He will challenge the American Heart Association on its recommendation that 30% fat is low enough. Although he has helped thousand with these conditions improve their health, he was reluctant to speak out before ? but now he will.
At both conferences, I met Norm Phelps, spiritual outreach
director of The Fund For Animals. He is the author of the recently
published "The Dominion of Love." He and many others at the conference,
including Mary and Frank, believe that activists must reach out to all
religions, asking them to look at the teachings of love, compassion and
kindness that are at the core of all theologies. We must ask people to decide if these spiritual
teachings are compatible with the way we raise and slaughter
animals to be used as food.
If you want a copy of Phelps's comprehensive pamphlet "Love for All
Creatures," call or e-mail me.
Our best wishes for a continued good recovery go to MHVS member Andy Glick from Woodstock, who had planned to attend both conferences but was in a serious automobile accident just before AR2002.
See the listing for all our upcoming events; take special note of the
first one, a tabling near Kingston High School on School Outreach Day.
Young people form lifelong values while in school, and this is the best
time to get our message across to those students who want to forge a lifetime lifestyle of health and
compassion. If you have some time on Tuesday, September 17, please help
us staff the table. Contact me at the numbers listed on the masthead.
Roberta Schiff, President
There will be an article on vegetarianism by our own Connie Young in the fall issue of About Town.
We look forward to
hearing from you
