Bec Wonders tells her vegan and activist story.
Listen to this show here!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
To start the show, our guest co-host Jen speaks about the Dairy-Free Living half-day course that she attended last week, and how that went. If you want to learn more about this event, which will feature follow-up events in the future, please check out our show from last week here.
Then we welcome back guest co-host Bec Wonders to the show, and take some time to hear her story of how she came to veganism and activism in her life. We hope you will draw some inspiration from learning the pathways of other fellow animal and social justice advocates.
The Verdict is in on “Vancouver Aquarium Uncovered”
As previously covered on the show, the Vancouver Aquarium had filed a lawsuit against local filmmaker Gary Charbonneau, calling for his documentary film exposé “Vancouver Aquarium Uncovered” to be taken off the internet. He had made it available, for free viewing, on both Vimeo and Youtube this January.
Last week, this case was taken to trial, and the judge made her decision this Monday. We have Gary’s lawyer, Arden Beddoes, on the show to speak about the outcomes of the trial, the court’s decision, and how it will ultimately affect the film for public viewing, and thus the advocacy for the cetaceans in captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium.
Guest co-host and the film director’s assistant Jen Dobell, who has been a major support throughout this case, also gives us info on the trial and for current and future campaigns against the cetaceans in captivity at the aquarium.
Being a Vegetarian Could Kill You, Science Warns – or Not
Last week, the New York Post published a scathing article claiming that “Being a Vegetarian Could Kill You, Science Warns“. But could this possibly be true?!
Dr. Michael Greger, Director of Public Health and Animal Welfare of The Humane Society, says “no”.
“The study by Kothapalli et al does not present any evidence linking vegetarianism to cancer. The researchers compared a genetic marker in a population in India (most of which ate meat) to a U.S. population and found higher rates of a gene variant that facilitates the elongation of omega 6 fatty acids. They found higher rates in India, which they speculated may have come from natural selection over generations of a population which historically has been about 40% vegetarian. The study says nothing about the health of U.S. vegetarians (or Indian vegetarians for that matter). People who have this gene variant would simply need to avoid omega 6 rich oils like sunflower, safflower, and cottonseed oil, which is a good idea anyway.”
Dr. Greger joins us on the show to discuss the study behind this article, and we also discuss the validity of scientific studies when it comes to health and nutrition, and how one should interpret and discern them, especially when they are presented in such a blatant manner in the mainstream media.
The moral of the story is: don’t believe everything you read, and consider what you read with due care.