Become a Friend of V for Life

V for Life (VfL), the advocacy charity for older vegans and vegetarians, are looking for new Friends to help make a difference to the lives of older veg*ns. Friends have helped by:

• Visiting local care homes and encouraging them to become UK List members.
• Alerting VfL head office to local news stories that concern the diets of older people, or relate to examples of how care establishments cater for older vegetarians and vegans.
• Distributing VfL literature to places where they will be noticed such as doctors’ surgeries, farmers markets, health food shops and lunch clubs.
• Speaking to local groups and organisations to find out if they would like to have a VfL staff member come and talk to them about the charity’s work.
• Helping us to run stalls at exhibitions, fêtes and fairs.
• Sharing your experience of veg*n-friendly accommodation and eating places on our Blog.
• Supporting our ‘Write to Smile’ campaign by writing cards for isolated veg*n care home residents.

For more information, please call 0161 257 0887, email info@vegetarianforlife.org.uk or visit https://vforlife.org.uk/friends.

Georgia Soley

(Paul Appleby adds: VfL have an extensive range of publications aimed at older veg*ns, their carers, and persons catering for them. Younger veg*ns will also find much to interest them in booklets such as Vegan Baking and Veganising Classic Dishes. All the publications can be downloaded free of charge or, in some cases, printed copies can be purchased for £2 each.)

Oxfordshire County Council to serve plant-based meals at full council meetings

Congratulations to Oxfordshire County Council which has decided to serve only plant-based meals at Council meetings and catered chair of council events. At its meeting on 15 March, the Council’s Cabinet also gave approval for officers to begin work on a broader approach to plant-based and locally sourced food as part of a new food policy framed by the need to tackle climate change, reduce food waste and support healthy eating. Whilst admitting that she is “not a vegan or a vegetarian”, Council leader Liz Leffman recognised the “need to eat less meat [in order] to reduce carbon emissions and be more sustainable in food production.” The decision means that exclusively plant-based food will be served at seven meetings of full council each year and at occasional events held by the chair of council that involve catering. Plant-based options will also be added to the menu for part of the week at the 14% of Oxfordshire schools (all primary schools) at which the council currently provides school meals. Green Party councillor Ian Middleton hailed the decision, declaring that “dealing with climate change is something we should all be choosing to do.”

Paul Appleby

Vegans urged to get vaccinated against Covid-19

The recent death from coronavirus of a 54-year-old vegan man who refused Covid vaccinations because they have been tested on animals reminds us that there is no evidence to suggest that being vegan can stop you getting Covid-19, or suffering serious illness or death as a consequence. According to the victim’s ‘double-jabbed’ widow, he “begged for the vaccine when he was in intensive care before he went on life support but … it was too late”.

Perhaps the story would have had a happier ending if the unfortunate man had followed the advice of the vegan and animal rights groups that have encouraged everyone who is eligible, including vegans, to be vaccinated against Covid-19. Writing in euronews.green, Dr Julia Baines, science policy adviser at PETA, urged readers to “get vaccinated and go vegan”, pointing out that: “as long as tests on animals are a legal requirement, refusing to take a medicine on ethical grounds will not help the animals who have already been used in tests or spare any the same fate in the future”. In their statement on Covid-19 vaccines, the Vegan Society encourage “vegans to look after their health and that of others, in order to continue to be effective advocates for veganism and other animals”, reminding readers that “the definition of veganism recognises that it is not always possible or practicable for vegans to avoid participating in animal use, which is particularly relevant to medical situations”. The Society also point out that, contrary to misinformation spread by anti-vaxxers, there is no ‘vegan exemption certificate’ from Covid vaccination. The Vegetarian Society are more forthright in their advice, declaring that “everyone should take the medicines and vaccines they need”. Whilst acknowledging that all three Covid-19 vaccines currently available in the UK (Pfizer, Astra-Zeneca and Moderna) have been tested on animals, “which is a regulatory requirement of any vaccine released to the public in the UK”, they point out that none of them contain any animal ingredients, unlike many common and readily accepted medicines.

Paul Appleby

Respect for vegetarian/vegan beliefs while living in care

The advocacy charity for older vegetarians and vegans, V for Life, have launched a hard-hitting inquiry report around dignity in care on behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vegetarianism & Veganism (VegAPPG). Respect for religious and philosophical beliefs while eating in care makes four recommendations that can be summarised as follows:

1 and 2. Strengthening care regulations and related guidance – By recognising that philosophical beliefs are as important as an individual’s religious beliefs or cultural background;

3. Introducing mandatory training – Helping carers to learn more about, and fully understand the importance of, religious and philosophical beliefs;

4. Dietary guides in kitchens – Ensuring that dietary practices arising from protected philosophical beliefs such as veganism and vegetarianism are easy to understand and accessible for chefs. 

V for Life are asking supporters to contact their MP, urging them to support the recommendations and to attend a forthcoming closed session of the VegAPPG that will plan specific steps for the recommendations to become law. Readers can also watch and share this 6-minute campaign video.

Paul Appleby

OxVeg records archived at the Oxfordshire History Centre

On 4 May 2021 I took nine lever arch files of OxVeg records to the Oxfordshire History Centre (OHC) in Temple Road, Oxford.  Described by OHC as “Records of OxVeg including newsletters, correspondence, publicity and membership lists, 1983-2009”, the archive has been allocated accession number 6867.  The records cover the years when I served on the OxVeg committee, mostly as secretary (1983-2008), and also include events diaries, minutes of meetings and other paperwork connected with the group, which was called Oxford Vegetarians for much of that time.

The records are a deposit, which means “an indefinite loan of the records to OHC, ownership remaining with the depositor.”  Thus, ownership remains with OxVeg (currently under my name and address), although they may be transferred to another OxVeg official or person connected with the group.  OHC may not dispose of the records “without the owner’s consent, unless all reasonable attempts to contact the owner fail”, in which case ownership would pass to OHC.  Copyright of the material is retained by the owner, but “access will normally be granted to members of the public to materials held in OHC, subject to the requirements of the Data Protection Act and other legal stipulations”, and the “deposit of archival records is deemed to imply permission to reproduce deposited material, subject to copyright provisions.”  In other words, OxVeg supporters and other members of the public will be able to inspect the records, and records can be copied at the discretion of OHC staff “for private study with a non-commercial purpose”.  Over time the records “will be listed or catalogued by professionally qualified archivists” working at the OHC, although no fixed date is given for the completion of cataloguing.  Additional records, for example newsletters from 2010 onwards, may be added to the collection over time.

Paul Appleby