The Master Vegetarian Program

a sustainable approach to food

Sponsored by Northwest VEG

Co-sponsored by People's Food Co-op and the National College of Natural Medicine

The goal of the “Master VEG” Program is to provide information on following a plant-based diet. It is aimed at people who want to find out how our food choices affect our health, the environment, and our relationship with animals. The program is also service-oriented, and attendees will be expected to contribute volunteer hours to a nonprofit organization that concerns itself with one or more of the issues discussed in the course.

The next Master Vegetarian Program class begins February 12, 2008, and runs through April 8.

Overview

• Sessions will be held one night each week from 6:45 to 8:45 pm for nine weeks. Classes will meet in the People's Food Co-op Community Room, 3029 SE 21st, Portland, OR 97202, or at the National College of Natural Medicine, 049 SW Porter, in Portland.
• Each session will have an introduction by the coordinator and then a talk by one or two guest speakers knowledgeable about each subject, followed by discussion.
• There will also be two field trips occurring on Saturdays.
• The main subject areas will be nutrition, effects of diet on health and chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, the environmental effects of food choices, issues on animal treatment and animal agriculture, and information on how to demonstrate a healthy diet, including limited cooking demonstrations
• Resource lists will be provided for each session, and there will be short bonus activities to be worked on between sessions.
• Registration for the program is $50 per person, or $25 for students and low income, and scholarships for people who help organize. "Low-income" is self-determined, but for guidelines, we suggest using twice the federal poverty guidelines, included in a table at the end of this summary.
• Persons completing the course work are expected to contribute at least 16 volunteer hours to sharing the information learned or assisting in events or activities as part of their certification.
• A "Master Vegetarian" certificate will be presented on completion of training and volunteer work.

Details for each of the 9 sessions are shown below, but the order in which they are presented may be subject to change based on scheduling of the speakers

Day 1: Introduction

• Introduction to the program. Overview, logistics, schedules, and expectations.
• Quick class introduction and activity
• Why Go Veg: Introduction to a Plant-based Diet" by Maggie Raczek. Brief introduction to program, overview of environmental, health, and animal treatment issues. Remarks about what will be discussed, and what will be omitted due to time constraints (we are dealing primarily with food and food production issues)
• Joys of Vegetarian Food: A fun introduction and cooking demonstration by Chef Al Chase and Donna Benjamin

Day 2: Vegetarian Nutrition. Tammy Russell, R.D.

• Basic nutrition concepts
• Discussion of vegetarian nutrition, including the vegetarian food groups.
• Address issues such as getting enough calcium, protein, B-12, Omega 3, fat.

Day 3: A Vegan Approach to Chronic Disease Prevention. Ole Ersson, M.D.

• Diet and chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis

Day 4: A Naturopath's View of Vegetarian Living. Sussanna Czeranko, N.D.

The Cancer Project Cooking Demonstration. Wendy Abraham, N.D.

Day 5: Environment

Diet Effects on Environment and Global Warming. Peter Spendelow, Ph.D.

• Introduction to Ecological Footprints and food choices
• Environmental impact of plant and animal-based agriculture: water pollution, air pollution, animal agriculture and global warming, resource consumption, habitat loss, water conservation, use of toxic substances in agriculture.
• Disease transmission and creation in animal agriculture
• Other environmental aspects of food choices - buy local, buy seasonal, buy organic

Organic Standards and Organic Agriculture. Andrew Black, Oregon Tilth

• What is the National Organics Program?
• How is organic food certified
• To what extent does the Organic Food Act concern itself with animal welfare?
• Oregon Organic Farming

Day 6: A New Species of Thought. Philosophy on the rights of animals

A Brief Introduction to Animal Consciousness and Awareness. Peter Spendelow, Ph.D.

Animal rights vs. animal welfare. Carrie Packwood Freeman, Ph.D. Candidate

• Overview of major philosophical objections to meat-eating: that animals have inherent moral value (Tom Regan), animals are equal beings, utilitarianism (Peter Singer), feminist perspectives (such as Carol J. Adams’ analysis of the sexual politics of meat-eating, as well as holistic and more emotionally-oriented approaches).

• Speciesism.

• How to Communicate on Vegetarian Issues

Day 7: Animal Farm. Living Conditions for Farm Animals

Industrialization, Corporatization, and Globalization of Animal Agriculture. Peter Cheeke, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Animal Sciences Department, Oregon State University.

Understanding the Lives of Farmed Animals. Marsha Rakestraw, Certified Humane Educator

Day 8: Vegging Out: Social and Vegetarian Living Issues

GMO foods, Fair Trade Issues, Farm Bill update. Don Merrick, Vice President, Northwest VEG

Nutrition for the Athlete. Robert Cheeke, Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness Inc.

Living and Traveling as a Vegetarian. Donna Benjamin

• How to eat out and travel as a vegetarian.
• How to be a vegetarian around meat-eaters (possibly social conflicts that could arise, and how to talk about vegetarianism).

Days 9: Education and Promotion Marsha Rakestraw, Certified Humane Educator

• Communication
• Vegetarian activism; introduction to non-profits who work for health, consumerism, ecological, sustainable living, and animal welfare/rights issues.
• Discussion of possibilities for volunteer opportunities for serving the 16 hours needed for earning the Master Vegetarian certificate.
• Course wrap-up

Field trip ideas:

We have not yet finalized the field trip locations, but here are some of the areas being considered

• Portland Permaculture Institute
• Proper Eats Market & Cafe
• Ayres Creek Farm - Anthony Boutard
• Oregon Tilth’s Luscher Farm
• Zenger Farm http://www.zengerfarm.org/
• The Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary
• A soy processing plant
• a farmers market
• Eugene-area businesses
• Oregon State University Animal Agriculture Department

Resources:

A resource notebook will be provided with class outline, articles, reading list, samples of materials

Registration:

Registration for the Master Vegetarian Program February 2008 session is now open. To register, send an email to Susan Hanson at Susan@nwveg.org or call her at 503-521-1941, and provide all of the information from the registration form below but do not send payment at this time. The cost is $50 or $25 for students with ID and people on low income. On receiving your registration information, Susan will let you know if there is still space available in this class, and will give you a mailing address for your payment.

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Registration

Name________________________________________

Address_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

Email _______________________________________________

Phone No. ___________________________________________

Paid _____$50 ______$25

Note - All participants in the Master Vegetarian Program agree to complete 16 hours of volunteer service as part of obtaining the Master Vegetarian Certification

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"Low Income" guidelines. You can make your own determination of "low income" based on your own individual circumstances. For guidance though, we suggest using two times the federal poverty guidelines level for family household income

Federal Poverty Guidelines are available online at aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/07poverty.shtml. The numbers in the "Family Household Taxable Income" column are twice the Federal Poverty Guidelines for 2007.