Sir Paul McCartney praises Meatless Monday effort in Metro Vancouver
Former Beatle sends message to Vancouver Humane Society
Sir Paul McCartney has sent a message via the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) praising the cities of Vancouver, New Westminster, North Vancouver and Port Moody for proclaiming Meatless Monday on May 15th in their communities. Meatless Monday raises awareness about the links between diet and the environment, health and animal welfare. The superstar and animal lover wrote:
“Congratulations to Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, New Westminster and Port Moody for going meat free on Monday 15 May. A great step forward in showing how easy and fun it is to have meat free days and help protect the planet from climate change. Well done. Love Paul and family.” – Paul McCartney
The proclamations were inspired by the ongoing Meatless Monday initiatives of VHS and local schools. To date, eleven secondary and post-secondary institutions are pairing meatless options on Mondays with information on the benefits of plant-based eating. VHS is sharing Sir Paul’s message with the four municipalities and the participating schools.
Meatless Monday is a global initiative, active in more than 30 countries and growing in popularity in Metro Vancouver. The campaign is aimed at increasing awareness about the impact of food choices and improving access to humane, healthy and sustainable food options. Reducing our overconsumption of animal products and increasing our consumption of plant-based foods helps fight climate change, protects individual and public health and reduces the demand for cheap meat that drives factory farming.
UBC hosts Canada’s first-ever plant-based culinary training and summit for food service professionals
Vancouver – Chefs and food service professionals from across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island and from as far as Winnipeg will be gathering this week at UBC for Canada’s first “Forward Food Culinary Training & Summit”. This workshop has helped over 1,100 food service professionals in the United States meet growing demand for healthier, more sustainable and cost-effective menu items.
Hosted by UBC Food Services, in partnership with Humane Society International/Canada, The Humane Society of the United States, and the Vancouver Humane Society, the two-day culinary experience will help chefs refine their plant-based cooking skills and will offer hands-on training, led by Chef Wanda White, former Executive Operations Chef at the University of North Texas who opened the U.S.’s first vegan university dining hall. Chef Wanda will instruct attendees on how to prepare delicious meatless, eggless, and dairy-free entrees that will appeal to guests of all dietary preferences.
“It’s wonderful to see the high level of enthusiasm for plant-based meals among chefs and food service managers in BC,” said Gabriel Wildgen, Campaign Manager for HSI/Canada. “We expect this event to be the first of many across Canada. Together with our partners in the education and nutrition, we’re creating healthier, more sustainable communities, all while providing delicious meals that cut costs.”
Following the May 29th and 30th culinary training will be a Forward Food Summit on May 31st, geared towards food service professionals and offering insights into the latest trends in both implementing and marketing plant-based menu items. The summit includes a series of speakers, a cooking demonstration, lunch at the UBC Farm (weather permitting) and opportunities for attendees to share skills in a peer-to-peer environment.
“UBC Food Services is passionate about this topic,” said Melissa Baker, Registered Dietitian and Manager of Nutrition and Wellbeing with UBC Food Services. “We know about the many health benefits of eating a primarily plant-based diet, including a reduced risk for chronic disease. Plant-based diets are also more sustainable. This event is an opportunity for our food services team and other institutions to raise awareness of these benefits and to better meet the growing demand for plant-based offerings in food service operations across Canada.”
UBC Food Services intends to incorporate some of the recipes being featured in the culinary training into campus menus, including at a dedicated vegetarian stations at all three residence dining halls starting September 2017.
Plant-based eating is gaining momentum throughout Metro Vancouver and beyond, with new veggie-based restaurants and meat-alternatives launching on a regular basis. Meanwhile, meat-reduction initiatives like Meatless Monday are being embraced by local students, who are helping add plant-based items to cafeteria menus with the help of the Vancouver Humane Society.
“We’re thrilled to be supporting eleven local schools with their Meatless Monday campaigns and the feedback so far has been very positive,” said Emily Pickett, Program Coordinator for the Vancouver Humane Society. “Students passionate about health and sustainability have been keen to introduce their peers to the delicious world of plant-based eating and Meatless Monday is a great way to do just that.”
In an effort to support the participating schools and to highlight the benefits of reducing our overconsumption of animal products, the cities of Vancouver, North Vancouver, New Westminster and Port Moody each passed proclamations earlier this month declaring Monday, May 15th as “Meatless Monday.”
All of this makes veg-friendly Vancouver the prime location for Canada’s first “Forward Food Culinary Training & Summit” and organizers are excited to help attendees get creative with plant-centred plates at this sold-out event.
Students lead the way, as more schools offer plant-based meals
Vancouver – In an effort to raise awareness of the links between diet and the environment, health and animal welfare, the Cities of Vancouver, New Westminster, North Vancouver and Port Moody have proclaimed today Meatless Monday. Students in Metro Vancouver are leading the way in introducing the concept, with a number of secondary and post-secondary schools offering plant-based meals in their food facilities on Mondays.
To mark the occasion Vancouver Councillor Adriane Carr will visit David Thompson Secondary at 1755 E 55th Avenue at 11:30 a.m. to congratulate students and staff on the success of their Meatless Monday initiative.
Eleven Metro Vancouver schools will be participating by offering at least one meatless dish on their menu in addition to their regular menu items. Two of these schools, Argyle Secondary and Lord Byng Secondary, are launching their initiatives today.
The Carnegie Community Centre, which serves the Downtown Eastside, will be offering a special Meatless Monday menu today. The centre aims to offer healthy, culturally diverse and delicious food on a daily basis for the community.
Meatless Monday is a global initiative, active in more than 30 countries and growing in popularity in Metro Vancouver. The campaign is aimed at increasing awareness about the impact of food choices and improving access to humane, healthy and sustainable food options. Reducing our overconsumption of animal products and increasing our consumption of plant-based foods helps fight climate change, protects individual/public health and reduces the demand for cheap meat that drives factory farming.
Vancouver – The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) is questioning claims by the Vancouver Aquarium that its marine mammal rescue program is threatened by a ban on cetacean display at the aquarium. The Vancouver Park Board voted in March to amend a bylaw to ban the display of cetaceans at the aquarium.
VHS points out that other major wildlife rehabilitation facilities in British Columbia do not put rescued animals on public display, despite dealing with many more rescues than the aquarium.
“Wildlife rehabilitation is not about rescuing animals to put them on display,” said VHS spokesperson Peter Fricker. “The mandate is to rehabilitate and release animals.” He said the aquarium’s current non-releasable rescued animals do not need to be on display to meet their welfare needs.
VHS argues that the aquarium should seek to work with the Whale Sanctuary Project, which is proposing to establish sea-pen sanctuaries for former captive cetaceans and non-releasable rescued cetaceans.
Vancouver Aquarium should end cetacean captivity now
Vancouver – The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) says the Vancouver Aquarium should end cetacean captivity now and not import more beluga whales to the facility. VHS says the aquarium’s announcement that it will import several belugas and put them on display until 2029 appears to be a tactic to pre-empt a potential decision by the Vancouver Park Board to end cetacean captivity much sooner. VHS spokesperson Peter Fricker said the aquarium should not waste its resources on expanding its captive cetacean facility. “The tanks should stay empty and the money should instead be used to work with the Whale Sanctuary Project.” The Whale Sanctuary Project is a non-profit group of scientists and other professionals working on the development of a seaside sanctuary for whales and dolphins who might be retired from entertainment facilities or rescued from injury or sickness in the wild. VHS is also concerned that the aquarium may use its rescue program as a loophole to acquire cetaceans for its new facility. “We worry that rather than aim for genuine rescue and release, the aquarium will aim for rescue and retain. They haven’t promised to end captivity, only the display of belugas.” VHS is skeptical about the aquarium’s claims to use the imported belugas for research. A report published by VHS and Zoocheck found that the value of the aquarium’s captive cetacean research to date is questionable.
REPORT CHALLENGES CLAIMS THAT KEEPING WHALES AND DOLPHINS CAPTIVE IS JUSTIFIABLE
The recent deaths of beluga whales Qila and Aurora have thrust the issue of captive display of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) in Vancouver back into the spotlight. The Vancouver Humane Society and Zoocheck Canada are holding a media conference to discuss captive cetacean issues and release a new report, A Crumbling Case for Cetacean Captivity? that specifically examines the kind of cetacean information provided to the general public and the impact of captive cetacean-associated research, and challenges some of the industry’s claims.
“Whale advocates, experts and members of the public have long been skeptical of the industry’s publicly-stated reasons for keeping cetaceans captive,” states Debra Probert, Executive Director of the Vancouver Humane Society. “Many of those arguments are now being vigorously challenged. We decided to look into a couple of key aspects of education and research at two captive cetacean facilities to see if they are really making a difference in the lives of wild cetaceans.”
“Given that the biological and behavioural needs of whales and dolphins cannot be met in an aquarium and there is little, if any, value in the education or conservation programs associated with keeping cetaceans on exhibition, it is time to empty the tanks,” said Zoocheck Campaigns Director Julie Woodyer.
According to marine mammal scientist Dr. Naomi Rose, “Society’s attitude toward whale and dolphin captivity is changing rapidly. Recently, Ontario banned the possession of orcas, the National Aquarium announced plans to retire its dolphins to a seaside sanctuary, SeaWorld pledged to end the breeding of its captive orcas, the State of California codified this corporate policy in law, the Whale Sanctuary Project was formed to establish the first cold water cetacean sanctuary in the world and the US government designated the Sakhalin-Amur population of belugas in Russia’s Sea of Okhotsk as depleted, meaning the import of these animals is prohibited. The times they are a’changin’ and Vancouver needs to evolve and change as well.”
Speakers include Debra Probert, Executive Director, Vancouver Humane Society; Julie Woodyer, Campaigns Director, Zoocheck Inc.; Dr. Rebecca Ledger, animal behaviourist; Dr. Sara Dubois, Chief Science Officer, British Columbia SPCA, and; Dr. Naomi Rose, Marine Mammal Scientist, Animal Welfare Institute.
When: Wednesday, December 14, 2016, 11:00 AM
Where: 1430 Segal Centre, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings St.,Vancouver
Vancouver Humane Society urges Whistler Film Festival to resist pressure to withdraw sled dog film
VANCOUVER, Dec. 1, 2016 – The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) is urging the Whistler Film Festival to resist calls from the sled dog industry to withdraw a documentary questioning the treatment of dogs within the industry. The film, Sled Dogs, is set to premiere at the festival this Saturday.
According to media reports, the festival has received letters from lawyers calling for the film to be withdrawn and has attracted opposition on social media. VHS, which was interviewed for the film, says it’s important that people see what the documentary reveals and make up their own minds.
“This is a matter of free speech,” said VHS spokesman Peter Fricker. “The plight of dogs used in this industry needs to be exposed. We hope the festival will not succumb to pressure to silence those who question the treatment of sled dogs.”
VHS campaigned for a ban on sled dog tours and races in 2011, following revelations that dozens of sled dogs belonging to a Whistler tour company had been brutally killed. Despite public outrage, new regulations introduced by the B.C. government did not end the industry practice of tethering dogs for long periods and it remains legal to kill dogs by gunshot.
VANCOUVER, Feb. 2, 2016 /CNW/ – Six leading Canadian animal protection agencies today called on A&W Food Services of Canada to stop using eggs from caged-hens. A joint letter – signed by Animal Justice, the Canadian Coalition for Farm Animals, Canadians for the Ethical Treatment of Farmed Animals, Humane Society International/Canada, Mercy for Animals Canada and the Vancouver Humane Society – urges the fast-food chain to join the growing number of food companies switching to cage-free eggs.
Despite announcements by other restaurant chains, including Tim Hortons and McDonald’s Canada, that they will go cage-free, A&W has committed to using “enriched cages” for laying hens, which are only slightly larger than the notoriously cruel battery cages that have been widely condemned.
The joint letter, addressed to A&W CEO Paul Hollands, states: “Enriched cages severely restrict important physical activities including running, flying and wing-flapping and do not permit unrestrained perching and dustbathing.” The letter says consumers have turned against eggs from caged hens and that, “To them and to the wider public, a cage is a cage.”
An online petition calling on A&W to go cage-free has gathered more than 6000 signatures.
Vancouver – The Abbotsford News has refused to print a full-page ad from the Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) that raises concerns about the treatment of animals at the upcoming Agrifair rodeo (July 31-Aug 3) in Abbotsford. VHS says the rejection is a denial of free speech.
The ad shows a photo of steer-wrestling taken at the Agrifair rodeo in 2008 with a caption asking: “That’s entertainment?” It states that rodeo animals are subjected to fear, pain and stress and urges people who care about animals not to attend the event.
VHS spokesperson Peter Fricker says the ad has been checked by VHS’s lawyers and contained nothing that should preclude publication. “This is simply fair comment on a public issue but it appears the Abbotsford News has a problem with freedom of expression,” said Fricker.
Fricker said VHS had offered to consider amending the ad to meet the newspaper’s concerns but had received no response.
VANCOUVER, July 13, 2015 /CNW/ – The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) is calling on the Canadian public to express its outrage at the death of four horses in the Calgary Stampede chuckwagon races, following the death of yet another horse in the event on Sunday.
“The Stampede has made endless excuses about the continued loss of chuckwagon horses and has failed to stop these deaths,” said VHS spokesperson Peter Fricker.
“The race is fundamentally unsafe and horses just keep dying,” said Fricker. “People need to let the Stampede know that this is unacceptable.”
VHS has repeatedly called on the Stampede to suspend the race and establish an independent panel of experts to determine if anything can be done to make the race safer.
Meanwhile, more than 10,000 people have signed a VHS online petition calling for CBC Sports to stop television coverage of the Calgary Stampede rodeo: http://tinyurl.com/pebwa5t
