The NESX vegans are a social and active group for vegans and vegetarians in North-East Essex, based in Colchester.
The group is listed by the Vegan Society and affiliated with the Vegetarian Society, and holds group membership of the Vegan Organic Network.
Jill Adams is a Vegan Society Network Contact.
go vegan!
4 the planet
4 people
4 animals
4 your health
We are a small friendly group of
vegans and vegetarians, ranging in age from 4 to 70 -
come along and meet us at one of our
events! There is no membership fee if you want to
get involved.
Our upcoming events are listed with a * under Events in the bottom right-hand corner of the home page or via Events at the top of the navigation bar. Our next meeting is on 7th May. We will be having a stall at the Ipswich May Day festival on 4th May and a stall at the Wivenhoe May fair on 26th May.
We have 126 news items - why not take a look at some of them?!
See Contact page on this web-site for our contact details.
News
new online petition - 4th April
A new online petition has been started on the
Downing Street web-site: 'We the
undersigned petition the Prime Minister to find an
alternative to killing Grey Squirrels' - this is in
response to the large numbers of grey squirrels
which are being culled in northern England,
supposedly to protect red squirrel populations;
however, the negative impact of grey squirrels is in
question - and it is never right to use slaughter as a means
of control.
The deadline to sign this petition by is 4th June 2008.
Sign the petition now at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Grey-Squirrels/
The deadline to sign this petition by is 4th June 2008.
Sign the petition now at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Grey-Squirrels/
volunteers wanted to help badgers
The Essex Badger
Protection Group, which is affiliated to the Badger
Trust, is looking for volunteers. The Badger Trust rescues and
rehabilitates injured badgers and releases them back into the
wild. They also carry out sett and habitat surveys
and raise funds for their work. Spring and summer is the
time when badgers are most at risk from accidents and injury. If
you can volunteer for a few hours a week, the EBPG would be
very pleased to hear from you.
For more information, 'phone Frank Last on 01375 670733 or 07966378366
For more information, 'phone Frank Last on 01375 670733 or 07966378366
world premiere of 'Meat the Truth'
The world premiere of 'Meat the Truth' is on
Monday 19th May in London. It is being hosted by the Vegetarian
Society and the Nicolaas G. Pierson Foundation, to launch
National Vegetarian Week.
'Meat the Truth' is a thought-provoking documentary film presented by Marianne Thieme (a Dutch MP and leader of the Party for the Animals in the Netherlands). The film looks at meat consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and demonstrates how the livestock industry causes 18% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide while the whole transport sector causes 13%. The film considers the fact that climate policy has failed to address the necessity of reducing the consumption of animal protein, and is therefore like a postscript to other documentary films such as 'An Inconvenient Truth', which omitted the impact of livestock production on climate change from its presentation...
National Vegetarian Week, sponsored by Cauldron Foods, is 19th-25th May and this is its 16th year.
'Meat the Truth' is a thought-provoking documentary film presented by Marianne Thieme (a Dutch MP and leader of the Party for the Animals in the Netherlands). The film looks at meat consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and demonstrates how the livestock industry causes 18% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide while the whole transport sector causes 13%. The film considers the fact that climate policy has failed to address the necessity of reducing the consumption of animal protein, and is therefore like a postscript to other documentary films such as 'An Inconvenient Truth', which omitted the impact of livestock production on climate change from its presentation...
National Vegetarian Week, sponsored by Cauldron Foods, is 19th-25th May and this is its 16th year.
NESX vegans stall at Ipswich May Day festival
On Bank Holiday Monday (4th May) we had a stall at
the Ipswich and District TUC May Day festival.
As ever, this was a great event to be a part of. Last year over 11,000 people came to the festival and this year, with the fine weather, it was necessary to restrict entry to the festival, so that people couldn't come in until other people left! We think that the crowd must have exceeded 12,000 - and we spoke to a lot of them!
The Ipswich Food Co-op. are now running a vegan café at public events from their Bramford Road HQ in Ipswich. This was their first vegan café - vegan pizzas baked in a clay oven, and snacks and drinks as well. Congratulations to the Food Co-op.; this is a very exciting venture.
Ipswich Animal Rights also had a stall at the festival.
We received two invitations to do our stall, at events in Ipswich and Stanway later this summer (to be continued!)
Many thanks to Annette and Graham for all their hard work on the day.
As ever, this was a great event to be a part of. Last year over 11,000 people came to the festival and this year, with the fine weather, it was necessary to restrict entry to the festival, so that people couldn't come in until other people left! We think that the crowd must have exceeded 12,000 - and we spoke to a lot of them!
The Ipswich Food Co-op. are now running a vegan café at public events from their Bramford Road HQ in Ipswich. This was their first vegan café - vegan pizzas baked in a clay oven, and snacks and drinks as well. Congratulations to the Food Co-op.; this is a very exciting venture.
Ipswich Animal Rights also had a stall at the festival.
We received two invitations to do our stall, at events in Ipswich and Stanway later this summer (to be continued!)
Many thanks to Annette and Graham for all their hard work on the day.
-
Party for the animals
On Saturday 26th April there was a 'Party for the Animals' in Kennington Park in London, hosted by the political party AnimalsCount. The political party was launched in December 2006, and its leader, Jasmijn de Boo, will be contesting the London Assembly elections on May 1st for the constituency of Southwark and Lambeth.
For more information go to www.animalscount.co.uk -
new law in Switzerland
On 26th April, 'The Times' printed an article about a new law in Switzerland which is designed to protect the rights of 'social' animals. The law comes into force from September 1, and includes regulations on the treatment and welfare of all kinds of animals. The law will affect pet owners, farmers, and even anglers. The law has been welcomed by animal protection groups, but has also been criticised.
Read the article in full at www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3818457.ece -
Battery chickens and eggs in the news
The headline on the front page of 'The Independent' yesterday, on Sunday 27th April, was 'How do you like your eggs?', and the article was about CIWF's undercover investigation into British battery chicken farming. 'The Independent' concluded by making eight demands of British food companies to improve conditions for egg-producing chickens.
The leading article in the newspaper was 'Going to work on the egg', and Joanna Lumley contributed a comment called 'Be a good egg. Join me as a free range warrior', describing the CIWF's campaign against battery chickens and egg production. The National Trust has banned the use of battery eggs in any products sold in their shops and are to receive a 'good egg' award; Tescos has refused to stop selling battery eggs on the grounds of consumer choice, and are to receive a 'rotten egg'.
Joanna Lumley, speaking in support of the CIWF campaign on BBC 1 'Breakfast' today, on 28th April, said that the issue is cruelty and not price.
To read 'The Independent' online article or the front page article and/or post a comment online, go to www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/how-do-you-like-
your-eggs-read-our-undercover-investigation-into-britains-battery-
farming-816214.html
To read the leading article online, go to www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-
going-to-work-on-the-egg-816120.html
To read Joanna Lumley's comment, go to www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/joanna-lumley-
be-a-good-egg-join-me-as-a-freerange-warrior-816215.html -
'Our daily bread'
This is a documentary film by Austrian director Nikolaus Geyrhalter, to be shown on Channel 4's more4channel tomorrow, on Tuesday 29th April, at 10.00pm.
A short feature about the documentary has been posted online:
'... This ... documentary is a powerful look at the industry of agriculture... in various farms, slaughterhouses and food processing plants around Europe ... he simply shows the viewer various stages in food production, from artificial insemination of cattle stock to abattoirs... Most of the images wouldn't look out of place in a science-fiction film ...
Geyrhalter reveals a strange, complex automated world, generally illuminated by discomforting artificial lights and full of strange technology. Computers flicker as a bull is brought in to have its seed captured in a stainless steel room; thousands and thousands of chicks roll past on conveyor belts; salmon are sucked out of the water with a huge vacuum and then chopped up and eviscerated within seconds by a machine ...'
To read the feature in full and/or post a comment on the online forum, go to www.channel4.com/more4/documentaries/doc-feature.jsp?id=204 -
Urban veg. production course
On 27th June, the Vegan Organic Network will be holding a one-day course on organic food growing called 'Urban veg. production: tools, techniques and theory', from 10.00am till 4.30pm, in Sale in Manchester. The cost of the course is £45 and it includes a vegan lunch.
For more information go to www.gardenorganic.org.uk/organicveg/events/event.php?id=287