Going Vegan: 'It's a win for everybody'
EUGENE, Ore. - Lin Silvan and her husband had a hard time finding information on the vegan lifestyle when they retired, so they took matters into their own hands, dedicating their lives and their retirement to educating others.
They set up the Eugene Veg Education Network, or EVEN. It is a non-profit organization with a simple mission: make transitioning into a vegan lifestyle as easy as possible for people.
"It's more peaceful, it's more healthful, everyone benefits," says Silvan, "It's a win for everybody."
Not everyone agrees or is interested in a vegan lifestyle, so in order to help spread the word they held a Share Fair inside the McNail-Riley House. Putting together a collection of all things veg. From meatless meat, cookies made with potato starch and even make-up, they had a little bit of everything.
Every magazine, pamphlet and recipe is provided free of charge by EVEN to anyone interested in learning more.
I love vegans.. It's all I will eat.. Vegans that is..
Just give me the meat.>.deer..elk..rabbit..snake..hog..steer..fish..its all good..even dog is edible.. oooops.. my ancestors ate that...lol... Vegan lifestyle is nothing but a hypocritical and contradictory way of life.When those who want to call themselves a vegetarian just have to have a meat substitute,, they aren't really being 100% vegetarian.Real vegetarians do not crave the taste of meat.
 @Whitehawk I`m Vegan and I love the taste of meat...it`s the Cancer and the heart disease and the animal cruelty and the destruction of the Planet that I try to avoid.
@ken burns @Whitehawk You know ken you are not going to live another 100 years no matter how many veggies you eat, so why torture yourself, if you like meat eat it, it won't hurt you in moderation. Don't be so quick to buy into all this nonsense that is spewed by people who have no proof, it is just another agenda.
"It's more peaceful, it's more healthful, everyone benefits," says Silvan, "It's a win for everybody. That is not a true statement. It may be an opinion, but it is not a true statement. There is hardly anything one can't eat if done in moderation. Excess is the problem, eating, smoking, drinking, all can be bad if done in excess. If one can control their intake they are absolutely find, and healthy eating pretty much any of today's foods. Seems like there always has to be an agenda these days. Live and let live is a thing of the past. Mind everyone elses business but your own.
 @souptonuts do you feel we should bring back smoking into public places?live and let live?People who eat meat are destroying the planet, read the post by Jim below.
@ken burns @souptonuts Ken you sound like a really nice guy, and I respect your opinion. No I do not believe we should bring back smoking in public places, on the other hand smoking is legal, the government collects taxes on it, and it kills people just like cars do, but as long as something is legal and the person doing that act is legal it is not yours or my business to tell them to stop. As for meat no one has proved or come even close to proving that eating meat will destroy the planet. None of us reading or writing on this page is going to be here in 100 years, but I would be willing to bet you that the planet will be. People have been eating animals for thousands of years. So this Jim would advocate that farmers and ranchers go out of business,(âIf every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetables and grains...) more bad economy. Now as far as the UN being involved in anything Americans do, those are fighting words in my book. Have a nice day, and stay in moderation on all things, and we will be fine.
A bigger win than most folks know!
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"As environmental science has advanced, it has become apparent that the human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future: deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease." Worldwatch Institute, "Is Meat Sustainable?"
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"The livestock sector emerges as one of the top contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. The findings of this report suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Livestockâs contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale and its potential contribution to their solution is equally large. The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with urgency." UN Food and Agricultural Organization's report "Livestock's Long Shadow"
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âIf every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetables and grains... the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S. roads.â Environmental Defense Fund
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Why would someone choose to be vegan? To slow global warming for one! Here are two uplifting videos to help everyone understand why so many people are making this life affirming choice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKr4HZ7ukSE and http://www.veganvideo.org
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"Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." ~ Albert Einstein