![[Valentine's Day - recipes, aphrodisiacs, gifts and more]](images/side_buttons/button-valentine.jpg)
![[Our vegetarian nutrition page -- protein, iron, calcium, D, iodine, omega-3, zine, B12.]](images/side_buttons/nutrition.jpg)
| eLifelines May 2009 - Looking Forward to Celebrations with TVA |
| Wednesday, 06 May 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
May 2009 Welcome to the May edition of eLifelines. Spring has truly sprung, but believe it or not, Don't Miss These Upcoming Events!Do you know someone who is diabetic? Bring them to Healthy Eating for Diabetes: Introducing the Glycemic Index (May 26). Find out more in the TVA in Action section or on facebook. This Month...TVA in Action - Our monthly healthy eating talks continue with Dr. David Jenkins' lecture on Healthy Eating for Diabetes. Hear about the new and exciting events planned for the Resource Centre, such as how-to nights and recipe samplings. Get inspired by the great work TVA volunteers have been doing at outreach events and even the Sporting Life 10K, educating the public about the benefits of a plant-based diet. And make sure to read about upcoming events of our TVA social groups. In the News - More studies point to the deadly side effects of eating red meat, and the healthy benefits of going veg. May is Respect for Chickens month. Hear some ideas of how to celebrate! Check out Farm Sanctuary's new online Virtual Experience, which brings both factory farms and their sanctuary to life with images and information. Nutrient of the Month - Zoom with Zinc Recipe - Totally Nutty Bars from Dreena Burton's Vive le Vegan. Save the Date- A celebration of the 25th Annual Vegetarian Food Fair on September 11th, 12th and 13th. eLifelines Readers Corner - Who have you inspired?
TVA in ActionUpcoming EventsHealthy Eating for Diabetes: Introducing the Glycemic Index
When? Tuesday, May 26th, 6:30 to 9 pm Where? The Palmerston Theatre (inside the Palmerston Library Branch) at 560 Palmerston Avenue. To register, please phone the TVA office at 416-544-9800, or send an email to Barbi Lazarus, Administrative Assistant: blazarus@veg.ca. This is a 'pay-what-you-can' event, with all proceeds going to the Toronto Vegetarian Association. Keep up to date as we announce more Healthy Eating Talks at www.veg.ca/healthyeating. Find other veg-related event listings at veg.ca/events. New Happenings at the RC
On Saturday, April 25th they hosted "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over Your Stomach", where samples of recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World were offered free of charge to visitors. On May 6th, at 6 pm, they'll be hosting a how-to event on making marvelous meals for mom on Mother's Day. They'll be sharing samples of their favourite Mother's Day brunch recipes, along with take-home copies of the recipes themselves. Visit the Resource Centre blog on a regular basis to keep up to date on these and other special events! TVA Group EventsThe TVA Dinner Social Group will hold their next meeting at Full Moon Vegetarian Restaurant (638 Dundas Street West, at Denison) on May 21st at 7pm. Please RSVP at 416-544-9800 or tvadinner@veg.ca. The Durham Lakeside Vegetarian Group will hold their next social dinner at Cyrus Persian Restaurant (563 Ritson Road South, in Oshawa) on May 6th at 7 pm. Please RSVP. Find all the details on the Durham Lakeside Vegetarian Group's page . Join one of TVA’s social groups. TVA Donations at Work
Funds from donors like you sent us to the Holistic World Expo, the Total Health Show and the Green Living Show, as well as smaller events such as the Halton Ecofest and the Spring Market at Toronto Sprouts. In April alone, we distributed almost 1000 vegetarian directories and hundreds of nutritional fact sheets, and signed up well over 100 people to take the veggie challenge, committing to trying a vegetarian diet for one week. Through attendance at these events and more, together with our dedicated volunteers, we are inspiring people to choose a healthier, greener, more peaceful lifestyle. Veggie Runner's Team Takes Part in Sporting Life's 10K
As always, the Veggie Challenge Team was there to cheer them on, waiting at the finish line where they signed up many new people to take the Veggie Challenge! Be sure to check back at veg.ca/foodfair mid-summer to find out how you can join the Veggie Runners in a special 5K run in celebration of the 25th Annual Vegetarian Food Fair. In the NewsPCRM Report Concludes a Plant-Based Diet Helps Those With Type-2 DiabetesThe Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine's latest study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition confirms that a low-fat, plant-based diet helps people with type-2 diabetes lose weight, and improves their blood sugar and cholesterol levels. This study is of course the latest in a number of recent reports, including mainstream media reports, of the benefits of a plant-based diet on preventing and reversing type-2 diabetes. That's why we've been focusing some of our healthy eating talks on this topic, with more on the way! Visit veg.ca/healthyeating often for updated information on future workshops. Celebrate Respect for Chickens MonthThe United Poultry Concerns has declared May "Respect for Chickens Month". Visit their website for a list of suggestions for how you can celebrate, and bring attention to all that chickens have to offer the world as living beings, not as a meal on your plate. Farm Sanctuary Launches "Virtual Experience"Farm Sanctuary has launched a new online, digital program that gives people an inside look at both factory farms and a farm sanctuary. Virtual Experience includes 14 different areas that people can explore as briefly or as in depth as they like. U.S National Cancer Institute Concludes That Meat Consumption Shortens Lifespan It may come as no surprise that yet another scientific study, this time conducted by the U.S National Cancer Institute, has concluded that red meat is not only unhealthy, it's deadly. The study observed people over a ten-year period, and found that people who ate more red meat had between 31% and 36% higher risk of death. While the release of the study is a step in the right direction, it's unfortunate that the recommendation is still often to simply replace red meat with white meat. Read the full article here. Nutrient of the MonthCare of Karen Soper, RNCP and Lisa PitmanZoom with ZincWith the rise in awareness of soil degradation due to modern agricultural practices, for many people buying organic foods to get the natural health benefits of the vitamins and minerals in foods (and to avoid pesticides) has come to make more sense. However, organic fruits and vegetables might not be enough for vegetarians when it comes to ensuring 15mg’s/day of zinc. Zinc is an important mineral and plays many roles including: There are a few reasons vegetarians in particular need to look at zinc intake. Only 20 to 40% of ingested zinc is absorbed, and it is not absorbed well from grains, fruits and vegetables. Additionally, calcium provides competition to get absorbed, so consuming milk and dairy products at the same time as zinc-containing foods reduces its bioavailability even further. Furthermore, as zinc is water soluble in food, original amounts in food can be decreased due to cooking practices. Find more nutritional information at veg.ca/nutrition. RecipeTotally Nutty Bars from Dreena Burton's Vive le Vegan
These fantastic bars freeze well, making them a great grab-and-go, energy and zinc-full snack for days spent on an urban hike in Toronto. To make these bars even more zinc-rich, replace the raisins with dried figs and the almonds with cashews. • 1 cup sunflower seeds • 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds • 1/2 cup toasted pecans • 1/2 cup toasted almond slivers • 1/4 cup sesame seeds (or hemp seeds) • 1/4-1/2 cup raisins or dried apricots, chopped • 3 tbsp flax meal • 1/4-1/2 brown rice syrup • 2 tbsp cashew butter (or almond butter) • 1/2-1 tsp blackstrap molasses • 1/4 tsp cinnamon • 1/8 tsp sea salt In a large bowl, combine the seeds, nuts, raisins, and flax meal. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the brown rice syrup, cashew butter, molasses, cinnamon and salt. Stir until it is just heated through and well combined (do not boil). Remove from heat and immediately add to the dry mixture. Stir through, then transfer to a lightly oiled 8 x 12 inch baking dish (or smaller dish for thicker bars). Press the mixture down into the dish until evenly distributed (use a small piece of parchment paper to help press it down). Refrigerate until completely cooled, then cut into squares or rectangular bars. If you freeze some, be sure to separate the layers with parchment paper so they don't stick. Makes 10-12 bars Find links to more recipes at veg.ca/recipes. Save the Date!Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Annual Vegetarian Food Fair
The 25th Annual Vegetarian Food Fair will take place on September 11th, 12th and 13th, 2009 at the Harbourfront Centre. The first promotional materials have arrived, and plans are in the works for making this special anniversary a truly unique and spectacular experience. We have dreams of bringing top-notch speakers like T. Colin Campbell , Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Romero to present talks and cooking demonstrations on everything from healthy, vegetarian living to how to create sweet and tantalizing, cruelty-free baked goods. But we can't turn these dreams into reality yet! Our goal is to raise $10,000 so that we can afford to bring these speakers and more to Toronto the weekend of September 11th - 13th. To date, we've raised approximately $2200. You can bring us a step closer to reaching our goal by making a donation today. For as little as $5 a month, you can build stable support and help cover the costs to bring health professionals like Brenda Davis and Brendan Brazier back to the food fair. If ten people join our monthly giving program with a donation of $10 a month, we could bring baking experts like Colleen Patrick Goudreau and Fran Costigan. If you can’t become a monthly donor, consider making a one-time gift to help cover the costs of bringing back Gene Baur, to provide first-hand accounts of the importance of farm animal advocacy. We're eager to get the ball rolling on creating a fabulous schedule of speakers and cooking demonstrators for the 25th Annual Vegetarian Food Fair, but we can't do it alone! Please consider making a donation today.
Reader’s CornerOne of the things that TVA does to inspire people to choose a healthier, greener, more peaceful lifestyle, is attend outreach events where we communicate our message to the general public. But, just through daily conversations with friends, family and co-workers, we all influence the people in our daily lives on a regular basis. We want to hear your story of how you have inspired someone to adopt a vegetarian diet. Maybe it was all the delicious food they saw you bringing to work to lunch, or maybe it was your amazing energy and stamina that they envied. Send us your story and we'll publish the top three in the next issue of eLifelines. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
we're already thinking about the fall! The Annual Vegetarian Food Fair is never far from our minds here at TVA. Read on to hear about what we've been up to in the past month, what our plans are for the future, the latest updates on the Annual Vegetarian Food Fair, and of course some tasty recipe ideas to keep you healthy through the month of May. 
