Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 17, 1993 TAG: 9303170260
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
OR MEATOUT
"What did the butcher say to the steer?" asked Larry Wolitz from Martinsville."Nice to MEAT you," he answered mirthfully when no one in his audience responded.
Most of the 50 or so people attending the first gathering of the Virginia Vegetarian Society just groaned good naturedly and shook their heads at his joke. But they take seriously increasing numbers of studies and reports that link meat consumption to poor health and environmental depletion.
On Saturday, they'll join an estimated 200,000 people nationwide in observing the eighth annual Great American Meatout. The grass-roots campaign is coordinated by FARM, the Bethesda, Md.-based Farm Animal Reform Movement, and aims to get Americans to give up meat for one day.
Mary Clifford, a registered dietician with Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley, gave up meat more than a decade ago. When she and her husband, Kevin, moved to Roanoke from New York two years ago, they were impressed with the quality and availability of the area's vegetarian foods.
"But we never actually saw people buying them," Clifford said. "Yet we knew somebody had to be using them."
She and Kevin decided to put out feelers for fellow vegetarians. They arranged for a meeting site at a library, gathered information and periodicals from several vegetarian-oriented groups and put out notices of an inaugural meeting in January. They expected only a handful of people to come. They were wrong.
A jovial group of folks from as far away as Martinsville and Radford filled the room to capacity. They ranged from those just weaning themselves off meat to those consuming neither meat, dairy, fur, leather or wool.
They talked about the nutritional values of a vegetarian diet, food-preparation methods, vegetarian organizations, publications, recipes and restaurants. They also discussed the impact of dietary choices on the environment.
"There are obviously a lot of reasons why people become vegetarians, including weight management, cutting food costs, personal convictions and allergies," Clifford said.
To those FARM adds new evidence linking cholesterol with risk of chronic diseases, continuing exposes of meat-inspection scandals, reports of safety violations by the meat-processing industry and reports of growing environmental devastation by the meat industry.
FARM literature claims that more than 1.5 million Americans are crippled and killed each year by heart failure, stroke, cancer and other diseases linked with eating animal fat and meat. It also says that raising animals for food depletes irreplaceable topsoil and ground water, pollutes lakes and streams, levels forests and other animal habitats and inflicts suffering and death on billions of animals.
The 12-year-old organization lists among its members and supporters many celebrities including actors Doris Day and Kevin Nealon, radio host Casey Kasem and Buffalo Bills head coach Marv Levy. All are on its national council and will headline some of this year's Meatout events.
Clifford said the fledgling vegetarian society has not had time to plan anything formal for this year's Meatout. But it plans to make ousting meat an ongoing pursuit.
The group will continue to gather at the Roanoke County main library on the third Tuesday of each month from 6:30-8 p.m. to share recipes and fellowship and present lectures, films, reading materials and other information on vegetarianism. Pot-luck suppers and vegetarian-restaurant outings are planned. \ Meatout events and observations\
On Thursday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-7 p.m., New River Valley Coalition for Animal Rights and the Environment will have Meatout pledge cards, meat facts, related information and possibly vegetarian food samples at two Virginia Tech dining halls. For details, call 552-6397 or 232-1939.
On Saturday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., vegan foods samples, free recipes and nutritional information, as well as cookbooks for sale at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-Op, 1330 Grandin Road, Roanoke. Call 343-5652.
On Saturday, vegan dinner at Charlottesville Salvation Army. Voices for Animals, (804) 979-0890; (804) 977-8547.
Gourmet vegetarian cooking class taught by Clifford and Community Hospital executive chef Jay Brinkley. The class on Thursday is filled, but to be notified of future classes, call 981-7641.
Virginia Vegetarian Society, 772-3316.
New River Valley Vegetarian Society, Linda Ruth, 552-6870
Vegetarian Resource Group, (410) 366-VEGE.
Farm Animal Reform Movement, (301) 530-1737.