EarthSave Baltimore

"This we know - the Earth does not belong to man - man belongs to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected."
– Chief Seattle –

Happy Earth Day!

Here’s the latest news from Earthsave Baltimore, the all-volunteer nonprofit that helps people make healthier, compassionate, earth friendly food choices. Our Veg Dinner Educational Series meets on the last Saturday of each month, giving people a chance to sample a wonderful variety of tasty vegan cuisine and meet like-minded people.

Hope that you were able to make it to our March Earthsave dinner event. What an inspiring film we were treated to! “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead” is a must see for all those who are serious about wanting to make healthier diet and lifestyle choices. It’s available on Netflix, and it’s a great film selection for group or family viewings.

Our next vegan potluck dinner event in Owings Mills is set for Saturday, April 28th, when we will feature the live talk “Getting Out of Your Own Way” by Ginny Presley Robertson, the founder of On Purpose Networking for Women, and publisher of On Purpose Woman magazine. Ginny will provide us with some tools to help us avoid self-sabotage in personal and spiritual growth. Hope that you can join us.

If you have a success story you’d like to share online with our group members and friends, please join the Earthsave Baltimore Facebook page. It is purely for the purpose of supporting people in shifting toward a healthier diet and lifestyle. My own Facebook page also serves to educate and support people in making healthier food choices. To find my page, just do a Facebook search for earthsaverdon.

Be well! Hope to see you soon!

Peace… Don Robertson

DINNER THIS SATURDAY, April 28th from 6-9 pm - potluck dinner in Owings Mills will feature a live talk and workshop by Ginny Presley Robertson on “Getting Out of Your Own Way. Ginny is the founding director of On Purpose Networking for Women, and is editor and publisher of On Purpose Woman magazine. Ginny has been helping women connect with their passion, their purpose, and each other for twelve years. She was recently honored by being named by Daily Record as one of “Maryland’s Top 100 Women”. Ginny will share some words of wisdom and provide us with some tools to help avoid self-sabotage in personal and spiritual growth. Please join us if you can!

MAY 26th DINNER in Owings Mills, from 6-9 pm, will feature a video screening of the environmental documentary "The Last Mountain", which is about the grass roots struggle in West Virginia to end the devastating practice of mountain-top-removal coal mining. It's also about the threat that powerful corporations can pose to democracy.

Dinner Guests are asked to bring a dish made without animal products to serve 6-8, along with a donation of $5 (members $2). Or guests may attend without bringing a dish for a $12 fee (members $10). Please give 1 day notice if paying for dinner. Suggested donation for those attending only the presentation is $5. You may RSVP by calling 410-252-3043, or by emailing Baltimore@Earthsave.org. These monthly dinner events are usually held on the last Saturday at the Learning Center of Your Prescription for Health, 10210 S. Dolfield Rd. in Owings Mills. Please RSVP, and join us if you can!

DIRECTIONS From Beltway 695: take exit 19 onto I-795 (Northwest Expressway). Get off at Exit 4 (Owings Mills Blvd). Bear right when exit splits. Take right at first traffic light (South Dolfield Road). Travel approximately l/2 mile. Flying Avocado Café and "Your Prescription for Health" pharmacy is on the right after Gold’s Gym (which is on left). The Learning Center/Yoga Studio entrance is at the opposite end of the building.

DIRECTIONS From Reisterstown Road: Travel West on Painters Mill Road. Turn right at 2nd traffic light onto S. Dolfield Road. Go left at the second driveway into the parking lot of Your Prescription for Health.

MONTHLY VEG DISCUSSION GROUP MEETUPS are casual and are held in restaurants over great vegetarian food. Attendance is usually around 10-20 people, and discussions include a wide variety of topics that support people in making healthier choices in diet and lifestyle. There are two different groups, one vegan and one vegetarian. The vegetarian group currently meets on the first Sunday at 12:30 pm at the Café Zen in Towson, and the vegan group meets on the third Wednesday, at 7 pm, at Mr. Chan Szechuan in Pikesville. Both groups welcome all who are interested in learning about healthier eating. For details, or to register and let others know you plan to attend, go to http://vegetarian.meetup.com/9/, or to http://vegan.meetup.com/29/.

EARTH FRIENDLY FOOD CHOICES: DID YOU KNOW…

“Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is needed to remedy the situation.” That's from the 2006 UN report "Livestock's Long Shadow". The report says livestock produce more climate changing greenhouse gases than all forms of transportation combined. The human appetite for animal flesh is also a driving force behind air and water pollution, soil erosion, fresh water scarcity, and deforestation.

"There can be no question that more hunger can be alleviated with a given quantity of grain by completely eliminating animals [from the food production process]…grain eaten directly will feed 5 times as many people as it will if it is first fed to livestock and then is eaten indirectly by humans in the form of livestock products." - M. E. Ensminger, PhD, former Department of Animal Science Chairman at Washington State University.

Did you know that consumer demand for fish has brought 29% of fish species to utter collapse... We have entered an unprecedented phase of extinction. It's true that occasional fish consumption can provide us with important essential fats, but plant-based omega-3 fat sources, such as ground flax seeds, chia and hemp seeds, walnuts, and dark green leafy vegetables, can give us the same benefits without the dangers of mercury and other highly toxic contaminants.

"We will find we can no longer subsidize or ignore the costs of mass-producing cattle, poultry, pigs, sheep, and fish to feed our growing population. These costs include hugely inefficient use of fresh water and land, heavy pollution from livestock feces, rising rates of heart disease and other degenerative illnesses and spreading destruction of our forests on which much of the planet's life depends." - Time Magazine - 11/8/99

Did you know that for every pound of shrimp that we take from the ocean for food, we throw back another 20 or more pounds of mostly dead and dying sea life... Fish are being harvested in much the same irresponsible way, with devastating results for marine ecosystems.

Did you know that meat production is the leading cause of global deforestation, including the burning of our rain forests in order to grow feed for livestock…

Did you know that "just moving away from meat for one day a week is more effective [in terms of energy efficiency and environmental health] than buying everything you eat locally." - Harvard Business Review.

Did you know that meat production involves the use of massive amounts of water, grains, fossil fuels and other resources to convert plant foods, which are naturally low in fat, high in fiber, and contain no cholesterol at all, into a substance that is high in fat, high in cholesterol, and contains no fiber at all... Animal products also require far greater energy use for refrigeration than does food from plant sources.

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet."
- Albert Einstein - Physicist, Nobel Prize 1921

FREE ONLINE VIDEOS

VEGAN VIDEO: Cartoonist Dan Pirrarro, who is best known for the Bizarro comic strips, created this humourous video about why meat is bad for you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05zhL1YUd8Q

GARY YOUROFSKY LECTURE: Gary Yourofsky is an exceptional speaker with an unforgettable message about vegan philosophy and justice for farmed animals. If you'd like to shift toward a plant-based diet, take some time to watch this 70-minute video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6U00LMmC4

PEACEFUL PLANET PHOTO ALBUM contains many touching animal photos and messages of Peace, Compassion, and Justice.
http://tinyurl.com/6rwkmer

EARTHSAVE FACEBOOK GROUP provides activity & event notices for the Baltimore chapter of Earthave, and will allow members to exchange recipes and health and nutrition tips. It will also serve as forum for veg/vegan, farmed animal, and environmental advocates to share information, ideas, and opinions. This site should be helpful to those who wish to get a quick answer to most any question with regard to plant-based nutrition or the veg/vegan lifestyle. And it’s also a great place to share success stories. http://www.facebook.com/groups/EarthsaveBaltimore

PLEASE BRING EMPTY INKJET & TONER CARTRIDGES to Earthsave and Meetup events for recycling. Our nonprofit group is compensated for every cartridge we turn in. Thanks so much!

EARTHSAVE MEMBERSHIP is a great way for you to contribute to our important educational mission. All members may receive a free 12-issue subscription to Vegetarian Times magazine. Folks who attend meetings may check out books from our well stocked EarthSave Library, they may place literature on our networking tables, may make a brief announcement to the group, and receive discounted attendance fees to most Earthsave events. You may join our group online at http://tinyurl.com/7e88ndb, or you can send a tax-deductible check for $35, or $50 for family membership, or $25 for student or senior, to EarthSave at 517 Talbott Ave. Lutherville MD, 21093. Thanks for your kind support!

PLEASE REMEMBER to be the peace that you wish to manifest. Be well!

EarthSave … May all be fed, may all be healed, and may all be loved.

Baltimore Chapter events http://earthsavebaltimore.org/ Call us at 410-252-3043, or email us at Baltimore@earthsave.org

The Comparative Anatomy of Eating, by Milton R. Mills, M.D., was originally published on 11/21/09 by VegSource.com.

Humans are most often described as "omnivores." This classification is based on the "observation" that humans generally eat a wide variety of plant and animal foods. However, culture, custom and training are confounding variables when looking at human dietary practices. Thus, "observation" is not the best technique to use when trying to identify the most "natural" diet for humans. While most humans are clearly "behavioral" omnivores, the question still remains as to whether humans are anatomically suited for a diet that includes animal as well as plant foods.

A better and more objective technique is to look at human anatomy and physiology. Mammals are anatomically and physiologically adapted to procure and consume particular kinds of diets. (It is common practice when examining fossils of extinct mammals to examine anatomical features to deduce the animal's probable diet.) Therefore, we can look at mammalian carnivores, herbivores (plant-eaters) and omnivores to see which anatomical and physiological features are associated with each kind of diet. Then we can look at human anatomy and physiology to see in which group we belong.

See full article at http://www.vegsource.com/news/2009/11/the-comparative-anatomy-of-eating....