Political Subsidies on Meat and Dairy are Deadly! By Sharon Leontine Wallenberg

Last year, 149 million children had stunted growth due to poor diets.  Almost half of the children under 5 years of age that die, have undernutrition as cause of death.  One third of all people around the world are affected by malnutrition. Over 40% of all men and women, approximately 2.2 billion people, are currently overweight or obese.

The unhealthy, government subsidized, fat, cholesterol, hormone, antibiotic, and disease ladened meat and dairy based diet causes at least 8 million deaths per year.  In the next decade, one in two people will be malnourished, and an estimated 40 million children will suffer from obesity or overweight.

Eliminating government subsidies on meat and dairy in the high-income nations will substantially improve human health and save lives worldwide.  Politically induced subsidies promote deadly disease by making unhealthy food choice artificially affordable.  Worldwide, they force low- income nations into poverty and starvation by keeping world produce prices artificially skewed.

We all need to rethink our relationship to each other – of all incomes and species – to our shared scarce resources, to the treatment of flora and vegetation, to the planet, and everything on it.  We need to eat plants, not animals.

 

Low and Middle Income Countries Benefit from Generosity of USA Research by Sharon L. Wallenberg

United Nations World Health Organization and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in the USA, founded by Danny Thomas to advance research and treatment of childhood cancer, created a platform to dramatically increase access to childhood cancer medicine.  The Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines will provide an uninterrupted supply of quality-assured childhood cancer medicines to low- and middle-income countries. 

 “Close to nine in ten children with cancer live in low-and middle-income countries,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “Survival in these countries is less than 30%, compared with 80% in high-income countries. This new platform…will help redress this unacceptable imbalance and give hope to many thousands of parents faced with the devastating reality of a child with cancer.”

 Each year, an estimated 400 000 children worldwide develop cancer. The majority of children living in low-and middle-income countries are unable to consistently obtain or afford cancer medicines. As a result, nearly 100 000 children die each year.  This initiative strives to end this inequity.

 

St. Jude is making a six-year, US$ 200 million investment to launch the platform, which will provide medicines at no cost to countries participating in the pilot phase. This is the largest financial commitment for a global effort in childhood cancer medicines to date. 

 

 

WHO Recognizes Animal Exploitation as Cause of Pandemics by Sharon L. Wallenberg

Vegan International has applied to the World Health organization (WHO) Scientific Advisory Group for the origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO).

Vegan International is a United Nations Economic and Social Council Non-Governmental Organization applicant.  One of the most important issues VI works on is the elimination of zoonotic disease: pandemics transmitted from exploited animals to humans.

Zoonotic disease has its origins in animal exploitation, including use of animals for food, clothing, medicine, entertainment, and experimentation. habitat destruction and species extinction.  Zoonotic diseases are the deadliest in the history of the planet.  They will become more frequent and deadlier if the root cause is not recognized and addressed.

WHO is calling for applications from the fields of social science/anthropology/ethics/political science and biosafety/biosecurity.  The rapid emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 has highlighted the importance of being prepared for any future event, to be able to identify novel pathogens early and to address the risk factors that contribute to their emergence and spread.

World Health Assembly requested the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) to continue to work closely with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and countries, as part of the One Health approach, to identify the source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the route of introduction to the human population.

There have been an increasing number of high threat pathogens emerging and reemerging in recent years with, for example, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, Lassa, Marburg, Ebola, Nipah, avian influenza, the latest being SARS-CoV-2.

There is not only need for robust surveillance and early actions for rapid detection and mitigation efforts, but a need for a robust and systematic processes to establish the study around the emergence of these pathogens and routes of transmission from their natural reservoirs to humans.

 

Halloween is a favorite fall holiday! Is it Vegan? By Sharon L. Wallenberg

We all love the crisp Autumn weather, the bright orange pumpkins, clear blue skies, and crisp fall apples!  But where did Halloween originate and is it a vegan holiday?

Halloween is a contraction of All Hallows’ evening, and is the celebration observed on October 31, the evening before the Christian feast of All Saints Day, November 1.  This is the liturgical time of the year dedicated to remembering the deceased, including all saints, martyrs, and the faithful departed. 

Many Halloween traditions have been influenced by harvest festivals, particularly the ancient Celtic Harvest festival, Samhain.  This Gaelic festival which originally had pagan roots and was Christianized as All Hallows Day by the early Church.

Originally many Christians abstained from eating meat on All Hallows’ Eve and chose instead certain vegetarian foods such as potato pancakes, soul cakes and apples.  These soul cakes were traditionally given out to children who would go from door to door and are the origins of the modern tradition of Trick or Treat.  Every soul cake eaten was believed to represent a soul freed from Purgatory - a place of purification or temporary punishment for souls to be made ready for Heaven.

Trick or Treat For UNICEF, an idea started by the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund, is a way for children in the developed nations to share their Halloween bounty with children in dire circumstances.  It not only benefits children at risk but also teaches the happy Trick or Treaters the important concept of sharing with others who are in need.

There are recipes for vegan soul cakes – in fact, I am publishing one in my next book.  Pumpkin pie and other pumpkin treats can be made vegan, and apples - a fall favorite - are always vegan!  Enjoy your vegan Autumn and Halloween!

 

"A Plant-Based Lifestyle For You And the Planet"

 

“A Plant-Based Lifestyle for You and the Planet” by Author Sharon L. Wallenberg will help you explore alternative ways of living, ones that are more healthful for individuals, more beneficial to others, including planet Earth.  It will educate on the basics of Nutrition, how dietary choices affect the human body for better or worse, how those choices affect unseen others in the developing nations, as well as the global issues we face today.  It will show how to live a fuller life, without contemporary illness, dissatisfactions, and emptiness, a life that includes not just health, but happiness and purpose, one that is lived with courage and conviction, is meaningful and enjoyable and includes the satisfaction of knowing that your life makes a difference for many more besides yourself.  It is called the Plant-Based (Vegan) Lifestyle.   It is about compassion, not just diet.  It is a Lifestyle that not only involves diet, exercise, and health and making the world a better place, not only for people, but for the billions of other inhabitants we share this planet with.  It is about providing simple solutions to complex global issues.  What I am suggesting is that we go beyond ourselves to create a better world with a Plant-Based Lifestyle.

 

A Must Read! Sharon Leontine Wallenberg

“A Plant-Based Lifestyle for You and the Planet” is a new book just published by Author, Sharon Leontine Wallenberg.  It is available for purchase on Amazon.  This book will help you explore alternative ways of living, ones that are more healthful for the individual, and more beneficial to others, including planet Earth.  It will educate the reader on the basics of Nutrition, how dietary choices affect the human body for better or worse, how those choices affect unseen others in the developing nations, as well as affect the global issues we face today, including global warming, deforestation, rising waters and others.  The book also explores how governments influence dietary choices, and who benefits from this manipulation, which is usually not the consumer.  It explains the dynamics of pandemics, their causes, their unpublicized consequences, and how they can be avoided.  It is a great read, both informative and entertaining, and written for all readers.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO FAIL

 DON’T BE AFRAID TO FAIL

You’ve failed many times,

although you may not remember.

You fell down the first time you tried to walk.

You almost drowned

the first time you tried to swim.

Did you hit the ball

the first time you swung the bat?

Heavy hitters, who hit the most home runs,

also strike out a lot.

R,H. Macy failed seven times

before his store in New York caught on.

English novelist John Creasey got 753 rejections

before he published 564 books.

Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times,

but he also hit 714 home runs.

DON’T WORRY ABOUT FAILURE.

WORRY ABUT THE CHANCES YOU MISS

WHEN YOU DON’T EVEN TRY.