More than simply eating greener

[Guest guest]

Sherwood Park AB??????

NEWSTART course gives participants the tools to begin a vegan lifestyle and teaches how to throw out old habits Victoria HandysidesNews StaffWednesday September 05, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

Last year’s NEWSTART class, who learned how to make vegetarian food.

Photo SuppliedTake cover, because an arsenal of fresh produce will be calling an area community hall home this fall. No, it’s not Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, but NEWSTART, a seven-week session on how to make the transition into veganism and how to make healthier choices. Organizers of the course say that there is no better way than to go not only meat-free, but animal-product free. The group promotes a healthy lifestyle, which centres around the preparation, selection and sampling of natural and organic foods. “We give our class positive reasons for being there and not really any of the negative reasons why they should be there,” said NEWSTART co-ordinator Jenafor Siemens. At 56, Siemens has been a vegetarian for over 30 years and a full vegan for 20 years. She says she decided to take the plunge into a non-meat and non-dairy lifestyle when she

realized that she was playing a game of Russian roulette with the animal products she put in her body. “When these animals go into the food chain, you and I don’t know when we go buy a roast, what the roast was like when it was taken from the animal,” she said.After living life as a long-haul semi driver, Siemens says that she has even seen animals that she had to transport come off the truck with cancerous sores on their bodies and straight on to the killing floor of a packing plant. With the threat of BSC, heart disease and the growing number of mutating and multiplying diseases that animals can transmit to humans, she says that not only is meat an inhumane choice, but a potentially deadly one as well.

 

When she decided to start holding NEWSTART sessions (which is an acronym for nutrition, exercise, water, sunshine, temperance, air, rest and trust in divine power), she had no idea the buzz about going green would catch on so quickly. The new classes, starting Oct. 14 and every

Tuesday thereafter for eight weeks, focus on preparing of-the-earth foods, sampling foods and information sessions on living a healthy lifestyle. “Everybody would benefit by changing to a more vegan lifestyle,” Siemens said. “I know that a lot of people coming to our classes are looking for a healthier way and don’t want to make that total step. That’s okay because for some people, it’s a gradual thing just like when you quit smoking.”Dishes from each daily meal are covered in the course, including how to make delicious animal-free desserts and breakfasts. Veggie cheeses, french toast, rice dishes, soups, meatless meatballs, veggie lasagna and dairy-free banana ice-cream are a few of the dishes featured in the health-conscious program. The eight-week course costs $100. It includes a number of books and hand-outs on eating green, all the food sampling and a graduation night potluck to which participants are invited to include

friends and family. Among the countless environmental advantages going completely green create, Siemens says, anyone that decides to take the plunge will notice their grocery dollars stretching farther as well. She says that demonstrators will also teach participants how to turn traditionally time-consuming food preparation into a time-saver.Above all things NEWSTART will provide, Siemens says, is a peace-of-mind achieved by making healthy decisions. Enhancing mind-body connections, coping effectively with stress, becoming more physically active and achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight are also among the benefits of taking the course.“People are desiring better health and this is a social fun time of being together and learning new things,” she said.NEWSTART will hold their first meeting at the Whitecroft Community Hall on Sunday Oct. 14 and will meet each Tuesday following. For more information about how to get involved

Siemens can be contacted at 662-9345 and her associate Marieann Hussell can be reached at 662-4402.

 

For ideas on reducing your carbon footprint visit For Good this month.

[Guest guest]

ALBERTA peter...

Canadia.....

Peter VV Sep 6, 2007 12:52 PM Re: More than simply eating greener

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sherwood Park AB??????

NEWSTART course gives participants the tools to begin a vegan lifestyle and teaches how to throw out old habits Victoria HandysidesNews StaffWednesday September 05, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

Last yearÂ’s NEWSTART class, who learned how to make vegetarian food.

Photo SuppliedTake cover, because an arsenal of fresh produce will be calling an area community hall home this fall. No, it’s not Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, but NEWSTART, a seven-week session on how to make the transition into veganism and how to make healthier choices. Organizers of the course say that there is no better way than to go not only meat-free, but animal-product free. The group promotes a healthy lifestyle, which centres around the preparation, selection and sampling of natural and organic foods. “We give our class positive reasons for being there and not really any of the negative reasons why they should be there,” said NEWSTART co-ordinator Jenafor Siemens. At 56, Siemens has been a vegetarian for over 30 years and a full vegan for 20 years. She says she decided to take the plunge into a non-meat and non-dairy lifestyle when she realized that she was playing a game of Russian roulette with the animal products she put in her body. “When these animals go into the food chain, you and I don’t know when we go buy a roast, what the roast was like when it was taken from the animal,” she said.After living life as a long-haul semi driver, Siemens says that she has even seen animals that she had to transport come off the truck with cancerous sores on their bodies and straight on to the killing floor of a packing plant. With the threat of BSC, heart disease and the growing number of mutating and multiplying diseases that animals can transmit to humans, she says that not only is meat an inhumane choice, but a potentially deadly one as well.

When she decided to start holding NEWSTART sessions (which is an acronym for nutrition, exercise, water, sunshine, temperance, air, rest and trust in divine power), she had no idea the buzz about going green would catch on so quickly. The new classes, starting Oct. 14 and every Tuesday thereafter for eight weeks, focus on preparing of-the-earth foods, sampling foods and information sessions on living a healthy lifestyle. “Everybody would benefit by changing to a more vegan lifestyle,” Siemens said. “I know that a lot of people coming to our classes are looking for a healthier way and don’t want to make that total step. That’s okay because for some people, it’s a gradual thing just like when you quit smoking.”Dishes from each daily meal are covered in the course, including how to make delicious animal-free desserts and breakfasts. Veggie cheeses, french toast, rice dishes, soups, meatless meatballs, veggie lasagna and dairy-free banana ice-cream are a few of the dishes featured in the health-conscious program. The eight-week course costs $100. It includes a number of books and hand-outs on eating green, all the food sampling and a graduation night potluck to which participants are invited to include friends and family. Among the countless environmental advantages going completely green create, Siemens says, anyone that decides to take the plunge will notice their grocery dollars stretching farther as well. She says that demonstrators will also teach participants how to turn traditionally time-consuming food preparation into a time-saver.Above all things NEWSTART will provide, Siemens says, is a peace-of-mind achieved by making healthy decisions. Enhancing mind-body connections, coping effectively with stress, becoming more physically active and achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight are also among the benefits of taking the course.“People are desiring better health and this is a social fun time of being together and learning new things,” she said.NEWSTART will hold their first meeting at the Whitecroft Community Hall on Sunday Oct. 14 and will meet each Tuesday following. For more information about how to get involved Siemens can be contacted at 662-9345 and her associate Marieann Hussell can be reached at 662-4402.

 

For ideas on reducing your carbon footprint visit For Good this month.

 

 

 

I never thought about the universe, it made me feel small

Never thought about the problems of this planet at all

Global warming, radio-active sites

Imperialistic wrongs and animal rights! No!

Why think of all the bad things when life is so good?

Why help with an 'am' when there's always a 'could'?

Let the whales worry about the poisons in the sea

Outside of California, it's foreign policy

I don't want changes, I have no reactions

Your dilemmas are my distractions

I never looked around, never second-guessed

Then I read some Howard Zinn now I'm always depressed

And now I can't sleep from years of apathy

All because I read a little Noam Chomsky

I'm eating vegetation, 'cause of Fast Food Nation

I'm wearing uncomfortable shoes 'cause of globalization

I'm watching Michael Moore expose the awful truth

I'm listening to Public Enemy and Reagan Youth

I see no world peace 'cause of zealous armed forces

I eat no breath-mints 'cause they're from de-hoofed horses