Twitter co-founder, Biz Stone, went vegan in 2001 after visiting Farm Sanctuary.
Biz Stone is also lobbying for vegetarian meals in school lunches. He sent a letter to Rep. George Miller, chair of the House Education and Labor Committee, writing: “Hundreds of thousands of students across the country don’t eat meat, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study. However, these young vegetarians often can’t find healthy, meatless meals in the school cafeteria.”
Biz Stone obviously believes in the power of lunch, because Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters provides free vegan lunches to its employees.
My wife and I are looking to see if anyone is interested in renting a room with us. We are vegans for ethical reasons,and are looking for like minded people. Our house is undergoing changes but you will have access to a nice bathroom,greenhouse and plenty of garden space as well as lots of vegan gadgets in the kitchen such as filtered ionized water. House is 4 bedroom so depending on whats what rent would be around £200-£300 per month including bills
SPACIOUS DOUBLE ROOM WITH MEZZANINE SLEEPING PLATFORM ABOVE
CLEAN ROOM SKYLIGHT ABOVE IN NEWLY REFURBISHED ECO-HOUSE. SHARE WITH ONE OTHER. SUNNY BATHROOM WITH BATH SEPERATE SHOWER WC AND LARGE WASHING MACHINE. KITCHEN/LIVING ROOM 2 FRIDGES/ GAS COOKER/ WOOD BURNING STOVE DOUBLE AND TRIPLE GLAZED THROUGHOUT. EXTRA WC DOWNSTAIRS. LEAD FREE WATER PIPES. SECURE BIKE PARKING IN SMALL REAR YARD. CAR PARKING SPACE IN STREET AT FRONT. SOME BUILDING WORK IN HOUSE STILL TO BE COMPLETED. £280 PCM IN ADVANCE + £200 DEPOSIT
Veggies Chris features in Nottm Evening Post, Saturday, January 08, 2011
Guerilla gardening arrives in Nottingham
AN undercover gardening movement has arrived in Nottingham.
Armed with “ammunition” of seeds, the group Guerillas of Love aims to transform derelict public spaces into beautiful and productive gardens.
Known as guerilla gardening, the national movement started in New York in 1973 and has spread across the world, with the practice of secret cultivation first being recognised in the UK in London in 2004.
It has now appeared in Nottingham for the first time and the Guerillas of Love group is planning to turn rundown spaces in the city into fruit and vegetable gardens.
Click here for more
The group’s actions are technically illegal because it is transforming land it does not own. But Guerillas of Love founder Chris Tomlinson, 40, of Forest Fields, said he would challenge anyone who tried to arrest him.
“I have been stopped by police two or three times before because they said that I was trespassing,” said Mr Tomlinson, who, before moving to Nottingham, concentrated on creating gardens in Hastings.
“It is trespassing but I’ll challenge anyone who says they are going to arrest me because how do you make it stand up?
“What I’m doing is in my heart and that is creating a really nice area to live in.”
He has already planted seeds in some of the barren areas of Forest Fields but said the results would probably not be seen until spring.
His first big plant will take place within the next few weeks, with the arrival of fruit trees bought with donations of £300 from cosmetics firm Lush and £200 from green electricity company Ecotricity.
“We can live on a planet of colour and life if we choose and it only takes a pocket of seeds to do it,” said Mr Tomlinson, who has been gardening since the age of 12, when his grandfather taught him.
“I’m not on a political movement or anything. People do see it as that but I try to live my life through following my heart and I do it because I love doing it. It’s as simple and mundane as that.
“There are also a lot of other benefits.
“A lot of areas which I choose to plant are deprived, so I’m enhancing the wildlife, feeding the community and, while I’m doing it, I’ve got people coming up to me and asking what I’m doing, so through it I’m also building communities.”
Anyone interested in becoming involved in Guerillas Of Love should contact Chris Tomlinson on 0845 458 95 95
From 2005 – 2009 the East Midlands’ Vegan Festival welcomed 2000 or more members of the public to the Council House on Nottingham’s Old Market Square on the 2nd Saturday in December.
However the Council House have refused to host further EMVFs so, to maintain public engagement on the urgency of dietary change for the health of people, other animals and the environment worldwide, Nottingham’s vegan campaigners held 9 Vegan Free Food Give-Away and campaign stalls on December 11th, each aiming to reach some 200 members of the public.
The success of the day depended on the support of autonomous self-contained teams of volunteers, each with 3 people including one adult confident to explain the ‘political campaign’ status of their stall to anyone official that might ask.
On the Friday cakes, pizza and other food samples were prepared at the Sumac Centre, and each stall kit was sorted out with tables, literature and utensils.
We then gathered at Sumac from 10am on Saturday to tour around the City, dropping off each stall in turn and collecting each one back as and when time, crew or supplies run out. Base camp was at the Old Angel, Stoney Street off Hockley, opposite the end of Broad (Broadway) Street, with a sampling stall nearby.
Please contact nottsfreefood[at]gmail.com if you are interested in supporting future giveaways, providing some food samples, or helping out in any other way. Or call 07870 861837.
LUSH CAMPAIGN – GREYHOUNDS NEEDED ON OCTOBER 13th!
We are delighted to announce that Lush Cosmetics is launching an in-store campaign “to highlight the cruelty that is going on in greyhound racing”.
The campaign, which will run in more than 90 Lush stores throughout the UK and Ireland from October 11th – 17th, is aimed at helping Greyhound Action in their mission to educate the public about the problems with betting on greyhound racing and going to the tracks.
Lush’s most important date and time for the greyhounds is Wednesday, October 13th at 12 noon, when the media will be invited to stores that are running the campaign. Lush shop assistants will be wearing running numbers and carrying placards saying “Don’t bet on it! Help end greyhound racing!” and customers will be invited to join in and try to win a small prize by participating in a human race. Where possible, Lush would also like rescued greyhounds to be present.
** If you intend taking greyhounds along on October 13th, please tell Greyhound Action as soon as possible, to give Lush some idea of how many dogs will be at each store.
If you can’t make it along to a Lush store on the 13th, but can do so on other days during the week (with or without greyhounds), your support will still be appreciated, as each store will have hundreds of leaflets for distribution to customers and passers-by.
Shark Friendly Nottingham plans to campaign at restaurants currently selling sharks fin soup and talk to managers/owners etc in the hope that they will adopt a policy not to sell sharks fin soup again in the future, we will also hold demonstrations at restaurants selling the soup to bring awareness to the public about this cruel so called delicacy.
Every second, 3 sharks die at human hands. The vast majority are “finned” so that their fins can be used for shark fin soup. Sharks are becoming extinct and it is affecting all ocean life.
Every year tens of millions of sharks die a slow death because of finning. Finning is the inhumane practice of hacking off the shark’s fins and throwing its still living body back into the sea. The sharks either starve to death, are eaten alive by other fish, or drown (if they are not in constant movement their gills cannot extract oxygen from the water). Shark fins are being “harvested” in ever greater numbers to feed the growing demand for shark fin soup.
Not only is the finning of sharks barbaric, but their indiscriminate slaughter at an unsustainable rate is pushing many species to the brink of extinction. Since the 1970s the populations of several species have been decimated by over 95%. Due to the clandestine nature of finning, records are rarely kept of the numbers of sharks and species caught. Estimates are based on declared imports to shark fin markets such as Hong Kong and China.
Sharks have been around for 400 million years. Are we going to let them die out because of ignorance about the origins of what we eat and because of human arrogance? Would this still be going on if the soup was made with tiger paws instead of shark fins? Act now and find out what you can do to help save sharks.
Meanwhile Sumac veteran and Veggies associate, Wietze, announces launch of The Black Fish, a new European ocean conservation project, at recent Nottingham Animal Rights meeting.
The Black Fish is an organisation set on a mission to change attitudes towards our precious oceans and work to protect the unique life within them.
Vegan Camp is a well-deserved break for vegans, or anyone willing to be vegan during their stay, including many active campaigners, for 2 weeks, or for a day or two.
The 31st consecutive camp in 2011 is proposed to be held either Chichester in Sussex, South Derbyshire or Kent
All ages are welcome, many children attend, about 35% are under 18. Campers will be welcome for any period of stay within the fortnight.
Seeking Camp Site in Derbyshire
Heather writes:
Hope you’re all well and have had a fab Summer? Been talking to Daniel from Newcastle about vegan camp next year and the venue is hopefully Derbyshire!
They have a potental one at Moira bordering North West Leicestershire, yet has to be checked out, but options are open; so just to let you know if you notice anything on your travels, to let me or Daniel know pleeeeeez!
If the word is spread, someone else who is familiar with beautiful Derbyshire may also know of somewhere. Thought I’d let you know anyway.
TTFN
Heather xx
Criteria are as below : -
________________________________
Criteria, in no particular order, by which sites for the annual (established 1981) vegan camp are chosen:
Please do not mention any issues below to a campsite that may mean they refuse us – better to let John (Dan) mess it up, as he has had plenty of practice! Remember 1983 and 1999!
a. At least Dan (John), the general organiser since 1982 and maybe other committee members are to have visited and assessed the site, not limited to the committee, all welcome to do this, either alone or together with us or others. No site is used without one or more visits.
b. Site is to be vegan friendly, Dan mentions our veganism when booking, but it is not the first thing we say!
c. Site is to have trees/shelter from the winds if possible and to be fairly flat and well drained.
d. Facilities are to include at least laundry and showers and toilets.
e. The site must be able to accommodate up to 65 units over the fortnight, about 100 to 150 people. (NB a unit is either a single, a couple or a family).
f. The camp is to be relatively easy to access by public transport.
g. We request but are seldom given the opportunity, to have an organised camp fire.
h. An on-site swimming pool is to be considered a bonus and is favoured when choosing.
i. Sites to be selected are not to be near main roads or motorways, cities or airports etc., if at all possible.
j. Our standardised dates are the first two full weeks in August, Saturday to Saturday, annually.
k. The site is to allow us to bring our own two small marquees for wet weather.
l. The site is to allow us to organise and sell our own sourced vegan produce and camping accessories.
m. The site must be happy that we shall likely charge our campers different rates to what they charge. (NB this is mainly because we consider children to be aged up to and including 17, most sites don’t agree, and we do not charge for ages under six although the sites charge us for both. Also, adults are often charged at the same rate as couples or families, as they are being charged for the space taken up, not per person. So adult and other prices need to be re-calculated to create a fair balance for our singles, couples and families).
n. Site may need to be encouraged to accept a mixed group of adults, children, singles and couples and families, especially one like us who can provide references from at least last year.
o. We prefer sites which will allow us to organise our bookings centrally throughout the year, meaning that we give them no work to do on our behalf all year till camp.
p. We don’t usually consider fields owned by farmers or other owners with whom we may not see eye to eye, but take care not to offend anyone in the b=name of veganism.
q. We check out and avoid any animal connected activities on site or nearby, like farming etc.
(NB this would include sites with zoos, animal corners, birds of prey centres, factory farming.)
r. We try to avoid sewerage plants and cement factories being located nearby.
s. We avoid all areas where there may be the proximity of a nuclear site.
t. If at all possible we are to have a field or part of a field to ourselves, being aware of any internal roads which may cause a problem especially where children are concerned, so we usually look for a site with no or few internal roads for the safety of all.
u. We like our sites to have a play area or adventure playground.
v. We try to ensure that sites are either by rivers or near running water or are near the coast.
w. We try to use sites that also have alternative accommodation to camping for those who require such.
x. Added 2009 – we check with sites as to whether they have any plans for future developments on site, especially those which may involve animals.
y. Added 2009 – we check out the existence/proximity of a pond or lake and any fishing activity and consider it in our decision.
z. Added 2010 – we need to ensure that there is alternative accommodation either on site or very close nearby for those who do not want to camp.
It is nearly 5 years since the launch of the Notts Indymedia website.
Nottingham Indymedia has very much been the news site for Veggies, the Sumac Centre and related campaigns, replacing Nottm Alternative News and Notts FIN, the news forums previously hosted by Veggies.
Veggies has been pleased to support Notts Indymedia, in particular with the linked events listings and the paypal/plastic donations facility. The new Nottingham Indymedia can be quickly accessed via the featured link on our homepage, via the campaigns section of our website and though Networking Directory.
News from Nottinham Indymedia
There have been a lot of developments on the internet since Notts Indymedia was launched 5 years ago. We wants to stay at the forefront of future innovation, as Indymedia was before the popularity of blogging and social networking. We want to make sure you, the users, get the most out of the site.
We think that it’s easier to use and has better features than our old site. The new site runs using the Hyperactive content management system currently used by London, Northern and Denmark IMCs. Many thanks are due to Northern and London for giving us loads of help in getting up and running.
In many ways the new site works in the same way as the old site did. There is still newswire on the right hand side (which now includes links to other useful media sources) but events are listed in a separate wire on the right of the page. You will now be able to publish events to this calendar yourself without having to wait for a moderator to manually transfer the info.
To publish your news just click the big button on the top right that says ‘Publish’!
This will give 5 different options depending on what you want to publish:
select ‘Article’ for a news story
select ‘Video’ to upload a video
select ‘Event’ to put your event in the diary
select ‘Printed Media’ to upload a zine or leaflet as a PDF
select ‘Link’ to link to useful or interesting media from other sources.
Whilst, as ever, users can post anonymously, there is now the option to create a user profile. If you post with a profile you will be able to go back and edit your posts if you make a mistake, or change the details of events, etc.
Users can also create groups to collect group postings and media on a particular page e.g. for Nottingham Animal Rights or Notts Indymedia.
Site users will have a more direct link with moderation of the site than before. If you see an article or a comment that is problematic you can report it directly to the moderators by clicking ‘Edit or administer this’ at the bottom of the article.
Rather than being sorted into static topics the new site is organised by user generated tags for the location of the event (e.g. Radford or Leicester) and topic (e.g. Animal-liberation or Anti-racism). The most commonly used tags will appear in a cloud underneath the newswire. Click the links to read more articles about a particular area or campaign.
Obviously we’d like to hear what you think about the change and to help with any problems.
For more information on upcoming events or to make a donation, please visit our website.
Indymedia is an independent media network that aims to facilitate the creation of free media and communication. Indymedia covers stories that you won’t find in the corporate media. Check out the site for the latest or help create YOUR local media by publishing your news on http://nottingham.indymedia.org.uk
Vegan Camp is a well-deserved break for vegans, or anyone willing to be vegan during their stay, including many active campaigners, for 2 weeks, or for a day or two.
