Friends' Gazette Sep/Oct 2014

8/10/2019 Friends' Gazette Sep/Oct 2014

1/11

FG Sept/Oct 2014

1

Friends

GAZETTEY O U R V I T A L A L T E R N A T I V EACTION OVER

FOOD SHOCKHEALTHY eating advice,dished out by the govern-ment, is 'not fit for purpose'

a nutrionist and vegan au-thor has claimed.The Eatwell Plate on the NHS

website recommends eating "just asmall amount of foods and drinksthat are high in fat and sugar". But Tony Bishop-Weston told :"One could argue that an Eatwell Platethat advises you to include 7% foodsand drinks that are high in fat andsugar and encourage you to obtain onethird of your calories from foods noto-

riously rich in saturated animal fat isbreaking the terms of trading stand-ards and trade descriptions as not fitfor purpose. "Public Health England argues theplate should reflect a normal diet butits a normal diet that is killing peopleand enabling record rates of obesityand disease in children."Government dietitian Sian Porter says:"Not all processed food is a bad choice. Some foods need processing to

make them safe, such as milk, whichneeds to be pasteurised to removeharmful bacteria. Other foods needprocessing to make them suitable foruse, such as pressing seeds to makeoil.

"Freezing fruit and veg preservesmost vitamins, while tinned produce(choose those without added sugarand salt) can mean convenient stor-

age, cooking and choice to eat all yearround, with less waste and cost thanfresh." Bishop-Weston and his nutritionistwife Yvonne have launched a petitionto try and get the government tochange its mind.

"The campaign stimulated an articlein the and interest from afew politicians but thus far has beenlargely ignored - only 30 signatories

and we need 100,000 for a discussionat Westminster, said Bishop-Weston. "The Green Party have raised similarquestions in parliament but not onespecifically about the Eatwell Plate."

Not Shaw about those whiskers

Petition launched as government advises nothing wrong with processed foods

See story on page 9


2/11

FG Sept/Oct 2014

2

ALLERGY victims in the UK andEurope could soon find theyhave to watch out for anotherdanger product if the Europe-an Commission has its way. Lavender and products made from itlike honey and soap could soon jointhe likes of peanuts, wheat and milkand have allergy warnings slapped onthem by Euro food bosses. The proposed EC move comes as a

UK survey shows doctors are diagnos-ing allergies as a health condition andthat a number of people are seekingmedical advice for allergic conditions. The Food and You survey, conductedby the Food Standards Authority,questioned, 3,453 adults in the UKover the last two years. It shows 4% (138) reported havingan allergy. Of that 4%, nearly twothirds (66%) said they had seen a

doctor abouttheir allergy with40% saying thatit had been clini-cally diagnosed.Overall, 11% ofrespondentsreported living ina household inwhich someonehad a food aller-

gy (not neces-sarily clinicallydiagnosed). If these figuresare spread even-ly across the UKpopulation itwould meanmore than a quarter of a million peo-ple in Britain are allergy sufferers. According to information at s dis-

posal this is thefirst time allergy

information hasbeen publishedby the Food and

You survey whichis conductedevery two years. Lavender,grown mainly inthe Provenceregion of France,produces oilswhich have been

valued widelysince ancienttimes for theirfragrance and arenow in an amaz-ing array of con-sumer productsfrom soap tohoney. The oils are alsoused as a mildantiseptic and

anti-inflammatoryagent. According to

Alex Scott, a sen-ior editor at

, the weekly news maga-zine of the American Chemical Societythe lavender alert comes from a laven-der producer himself. Scott claims the producer has noti-

fied the European Chemicals Agency(ECHA) that the essential oils from theplant can cause allergic reactions. If the move goes through users oflavender products could see the warn-ing labels on goods early next year. The move will classify the oils as a"skin sensitizer." Officially categorised as such, theEuropean Union will have to requirewarning labels on associated productsstarting in 2018.

But lavender growers in France areputting up a fight, and some are eventhreatening to quit the business alto-gether if the rules go into effect. In response, an industry group repre-senting 1,500 growers of fragrant andmedicinal plants in France launched acampaign this summer to fight thelabeling requirements. Some have said if the guidelines gointo effect, they would rather switch togrowing a different plant than put a

warning label on their lavender-oilproducts. But so far, regulators aremoving forward as planned, workingon what the labels should say. They are set to complete talks nextyear.

Lavenders blueEuropean crackdown set to put French bloom on allergen list as survey reveals 250,000 UK sufferers

Lavender fields of Provence


3/11

FG Sept/Oct 2014

3

SUICIDAL cows which sacri-fice themselves so that theirhides can be used to makeleather goods, proved onestep too far for devotees of

an Indian cult. But the co-ordinator of the RadhaSoami Dayal Bagh, Agra group haspartially defended the claim. Speaking to in London recently,actress and businesswoman, SorayaRadford, said: "My great auntie was100 per cent vegan [a follower ofDayal Bagh] which has a tannery. She said: 'No, we don't kill them.They [the cows] commit suicide.'" And mother, Rani Chandy, added:

"How is that religious? Killing cows?"Chandy, an animal activist who de-scribes herself as 'spiritual but notreligious', said: "I hate religion. Ihate organised religion. I am spiritual but not religious."Guru Pyara Satsangi, co-ordinator forthe Radha Soami faith and its activi-ties in Agra pointed out that the tan-nery had closed around 15 years agobecause it had become a "prohibitedactivity" in Agra. Speaking with he defended theidea that the cows had died natural-ly. "It could be old age or disease orsomething," he suggested. And he added that the group wouldnever kill animals on purpose be-cause they are "100 per cent purevegetarians. The group was founded in the1850s by Indian holy man Shiv DayalSingh in Agra, home of the worldfamous Taj Mahal. There are numerous sects which go

under the title Radha Soami, allbased in India. However, the Dayal Bagh group in

Agra promotes itself as the "head-quarters of the Radha Soami com-

munity".

Death wish cows?

Not on your Nellie!

Rani Chandy

(left) with her

daughter, Soraya

Radford


4/11

FG Sept/Oct 2014

4

SIX priests and six monkshave been suspended bytheir bishop for leavingtheir churches and monas-

teries without first seek-ing permission of theirsuperiors.The Chaldean Christians fledtheir posts as the Islamic Statein Iraq and Syria (ISIS) continuetheir bloody mission to establisha Caliphate across both countriesand in an area known as theLevant. A coalition of Western nations in-cluding the UK, France and lead bythe United States has been carryingout air strikes against the militantsto little effect. Recently at least 34 people werekilled and dozens injured followingtwo bomb blasts in and aroundIraq's capital, Baghdad. Hundreds have been killed inbomb attacks across Iraq in recentmonths.But Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako Isaid: "When he is ordained, the

priest offers his whole life to Godand the church. It is an offering grounded in theobedience to their superiors withoutany reservations. The ministry that has been dele-gated to him by the bishop, succes-sor of the Apostles is holy and thepriest has to remain faithful to itduring his whole life. For monks, the vows are abso-lute; chastity, obedience, and pov-

erty. Looking for substitutes is consid-ered a grave violation to the vow."The Chaldean Catholic Church,originally called The Church of As-Syria and Mosul was once part ofthe Assyrian Church of the East.

It merged with the CatholicChurch between the 16th and 18thcenturies.

ISIS terror priests

suspendedSpecial reportby FG writers

Christian clergy flee as Muslim jihadists slaughter hundreds

Louis Sako I

AN INVESTIGATION into the deathof a voluntary worker at a spiritualcentre in Bedfordshire, set for nextmonth, has been put off until 2015. The pre-inquest review into thedeath of Amrit Blaggan was set forNovember 4th but did not proceed. Blaggan, 57, of Broad Street,Kidbroke, south east London, suf-fered severe head injuries in anincident at the Radha Soami Sat-sang Beas India UK headquartersin Haynes Park on Friday, April 4th. He was attended by helicopterambulance and then taken to Ad-denbrookes hospital in Cambridgewhere he died on Sunday, April6th, the day after his birthday. An inquest into the death wasopened at Bedfordshire CoronersCourt on April 11th.

Volunteer death -

inquest postponed


5/11

FG Sept/Oct 2014

5

DEAR Thanks for the PDF [i-mag]. I'm not sure what the aim of thearticle is but Im not too happy aboutthe tone of the

FGSpecially the anti-Modi tone. If you are supporting the secularplatform then [you must] INCLUDEthe BJP.

Otherwise its a bigoted secular plat-form.Naresh LathiaGoogle Mail

FG

Deras slip land rights noose (FG Au-gust 2014)

DEAR Steve, Thank you. How interesting this gazette is. So now I understand what youre upto, and I guess youre doing quite agood job, congratulations! As for les Voisins Vigilants, yourreport

FG is veryinformative (but no image of the

plaque, though it would certainly bemore interesting for your readers thanmy portrait) and I wonder whetherany of them will feel the intrusion itrepresents, as I do, and resent it. It seems few people do, in fact. However, Voisins Vigilants is not alaw; its just a local association, underthe umbrella of the mairie. Which makes it even less controlla-ble, it seems to me, and even moreopaque. The other shots and interviews,among them the brocante, are alsoquite good, as well as the info and thewhole thing is really a pleasure, bra-vo!Nelcya DelanoVilleneuve-les-AvignonFrance

FG

FRIENDLYFEEDBACK

[email protected]

FRIENDLYCOMMENT

THE call to duty is strong. Whether it is a vocation toGod or country or anything elseyou give up family and friendsand in order to serve. But what about when yourcalling means your life's in dan-ger. What do you do then? Do you lay down your life foryour friends?

The Christian faith is basedon just such a sacrifice. Andmany mystics of all faiths andnone have gone willingly totheir deaths. Recently a dozen Christianpriests and monks fled the on-slaught of ISIS fanatics in Iraq.

Had they stayed decapitationor a US bomb awaited them. So they took to their heels

without asking. They knewwhat the answer would be!For this they have received thecastigation and suspension oftheir church bosses. It is doubtful now they willever be able to go back. Human beings cannot beforced to act like saints. The survival instinct is deepwithin every one of us. To try and stamp it out forci-

bly is not only unreasonable,but inhuman in itself. The hierarchy which so easilycastigates and sanctions shouldlook at its own actions. Shouldnt they have beenaware of what was to comeand acted sooner? Werent they duty-bound tobe on the lookout for their rep-resentatives sakes let alonetheir flocks? It's so very easy to pontificate

from above. What about understandingthe needs, values and plight ofthose on the ground. After all, we're only human!

After all, were

only human
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


6/11

FG Sept/Oct 2014

6

THE ICONIC London Light-house in west London couldsoon get a brand new look,the can reveal. Present owners, the TerrenceHiggins Trust, a charity that cam-paigns on various issues related toAIDS and HIV, put the building,

once visited by Princess Diana, upfor sale last summer. Now it seems it has been sold forover 5m to the Museum of Brands, acharity focussing on the history ofpackaging and advertising. Chris Wools, director of the CaraTrust, an HIV support charity whichhad hoped to buy the building, said:"I think it's the Museum of Brandswhich is buying it. They are complet-ing the sale but it's not concluded yet.I guess it's at the itty bitty 'getting allthe legal things tied-up' [stage]. Of-ten that is quite complicated."Wools said that Cara which is havingto move from the Methodist Church inNotting Hill could now be looking torent premises at the Lighthouse. "Our backers were going to go up to3m but not 5m. If it had been inanother borough then we'd be inthere now, but in this borough there'sa massive premium [on property]."Francesca Stracqualursi, events man-

ager at The Brands Museum, said:"We are looking for a new locationbut we are not moving any time soon." Asked whether the planned movewould be to "the Ladbrooke Groveterritory" she replied: "One of thepossibilities is there." Further asked whether it would beThe Lighthouse she replied: "It mightbe." Speaking in July 2013, when thesale was first announced, Paul Ward,

deputy chief executive at TerrenceHiggins Trust, said: A recent reviewof our freehold properties in Londonconcluded that Lighthouse West Lon-don requires considerable financialinvestment to bring it up to scratch.

Unfortunately, with ongoing pres-sure on our finances, we cannot af-ford to give the building therefurbishment it deserves.

Therefore, a decision has beenmade to close the centre and sell thefreehold. This will not only help our

charity to sustain vital services forpeople living with HIV, but will alsogive Lighthouse itself a much-needednew lease of life."

A spokesman for the Terrence Hig-gins Trust was not available for com-ment at the time went to press.

BRAND NEW LOOK FOR

LONDON LIGHTHOUSE

EVER wanted to kick back andenjoy Gallic sunshine, cultureand lifestyle but worried aboutthe French reputation for eatingmeat? Now can offer tosmooth your way and make sureyour diet is catered for! We can advise on travel, accommo-dation and, most important of all,where to eat.

editor, Steve Ward, said: Wehave found that the French andFrance in general is much more veg-

gie friendly than they are given cred-it for. There are plenty of bio shopswhich stock all the usuals such astofu and meat substitutes. Some

have restaurants in them very similarto the organic shops in the UK. We are happy to advise hands-onor hands-off and can arrange accom-modation with veg-friendly tabledhotes (B&Bs), point you in the di-rection of good value-for-money res-taurants and, maybe even suggestsome interesting sightseeing. Thing is weve done it all ourselvesso we know what were talking aboutfrom EXPERIENCE. These guided breaks take place inand around the medieval walled city

of Avignon with the Palais de Pape,magestic river Rhone and world fa-mous Pont on your [email protected] break in the subject window.

VEGETARIAN BREAKS IN

THE SOUTH OF FRANCE
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


7/11

FG Sept/Oct 2014

7

A DIRECTOR with a working knowledge of Welsh isbeing sought by a charity for elderly vegetarians. Vegetarian for Life (VfL) aims to improve the quality oflife of the UKs older vegetarians and vegans. VfL was formed in 2008 with resources from the Vegetar-ian Housing Association (VHA), which provided shelteredhousing and meals to older vegetarians. Its goals include:

Raise catering and food standards Encourage healthy living Promote independent living, and Foster understanding.

The director would be expected to boost the charitysWelsh profile. Attendance at events and catering courses would be partof the job. The VfL website explains: Currently, there are no fullyvegetarian care homes in the UK. One of our major goalsis to improve the standard of vegetarian and vegan cater-ing by maintaining and promoting the UK List, a directoryof care facilities and food suppliers that follow our bestpractice guide.

Ydych chi'n gallu

siarad Cymraeg?


8/11

FG Sept/Oct 2014

8

THERE should be no doubtin any health professionalsmind now that many of thepreventable health prob-lems that afflict our mod-

ern world are diet related. Of course exercise and reducingstress is important too but in order toreduce the risk of heart disease, typetwo diabetes, stroke, osteoporosis,some cancers and even perhaps

Alzheimers we need avoid the foibles of the standardAmerican diet (SAD) and eat more fresh fruit andvegetables. We need to eat fewer foods containing saturatedanimal fat and vegetable fats processed to bemore like saturated animal fats and less foods rich

in processed sugars that are low in vital nutrientsand fibre. We need to eat more foods that are the way na-ture intended them to be rich in vitamins, miner-als, anti-oxidants, fibre and essential fats. We need to plan our meals and take control rath-er than just put up with what the nearest shop hasleft on the shelf. Health professionals need to stop pretending thatdiet doesnt matter and that calories are all equaland that the nutritional value of a doughnut (340calories) is roughly the same as a plateful of fruit

and vegetables (one portion each of broccoli, car-rot, lettuce, fried mushrooms, peas, red pepper,grapes, kiwi, strawberries and some sunflowerseeds) Its time to address the myths that health prob-lems are all down to one of two problems:

1. a lack of drugs or2. a lack of surgery.

A very good place to start reform is The NHS Eat-well Plate (now administered by Public Health Eng-land) used ubiquitously by charities, supermarketsand health professionals to educate people andchildren in school on what a healthy diet looks like.

If you are providing a representative plate toshow to children and adults what they should as-pire to when planning a healthier diet then itshould surely be representative of the foods weneed more of not the foods we need to avoid.

One could argue that an Eatwell Plate that advises youto include 7% foods and drinks that are high in fat andsugar and encourage you to obtain one third of your cal-ories from foods notoriously rich in saturated animal fatis breaking the terms of trading standards and trade de-scriptions as not fit for purpose.

Public Health England argues the plate should be reflecta normal diet but its a normal diet that is killing peopleand enabling record rates of obesity and disease in kids. Please sign the petition to the UK Government PublicHealth England to #changeyourplate

With just 30 signatures in the bag and 100,000 needed before Parliament will even start talking about it

TonyandYvonne Bishop-Westonhave a huge task in front of them. But that isn't putting them off.

Here Tonytells it like it is in his own words.

Time to explode the myths

about eating a healthy diet

Tony Weston-Bishop

Tony Bishop-Weston


9/11

FG Sept/Oct 2014

9

FILM-MAKER extraordinaireand regular contributorNigel Lesmoir-Gordon issticking to his guns despiteadvice that his movie Nothing& Everywhere would workbetter on the small screenand that star Martin Shaw

should lose his beard! As reported in last month'sGordon's film deals with the topicalsubject of space-age weapons fallinginto evil hands and aims to alert theworld to a possible Armageddon ofits own making. A potted version or 'teaser', featur-ing Shaw, is set to go up on thecrowd-funding internet site wherefans of Gordon's already impressivebody of work can back his latest ven-ture with personal donations. But the teaser was also sent toMike Heap, top executive at Hand-

made Films, founded by BeatleGeorge Harrison and backers ofBritish blockbusters like Lock,Stock and Two Smoking Barrelsand Monty Python's Life of Brian. After viewing the potted ver-sion Heap told Gordon, througha mutual friend: "Not for us I'mafraid. Looks like a good tv plot

and [I] like Martin Shaw (but notwith a beard!)" Gordon, who gave the no face-fungus suggestion pretty shortshrift, commented: "Typical stufffrom lazy, play-safe people who

just want to regurgitate old ma-terial. That's the Brit film indus-try for you. "Anyway, they are not the onlygame in town by a long way."

Friends Gazette.

ASDA has recalledbatches of ProseccoSpumante Extra Dry75cl because of the risk

of the pressurised bot-tles shattering. According to the FoodStandards Authority Prod-uct recall notices are beingissued to their customersand placed in-store, tellingconsumers about the recalland what they can do ifthey have bought the af-fected products. If you have bought the

product, do not drink it. Instead, return it to yourlocal Asda store or contactthe company itself on 0800952 0101 free, for a fullrefund.

The bottle just cracked open

by itself, dont you know.

Really! Whered you get it oldchap?

Asda!

CHEERS!

BUBBLY RECALLED

YOURE NOT THE ONLY

GAME IN TOWN, DUDE!

Nigel Lesmoir-Gordon


10/11

FG Sept/Oct 2014

10

CONCERNSabout the fateof the NHS andthe whole ofthe publicsector areSurfacingalmost con-stantly,

Registeredhomeopath LouiseSalmon discusseshow privatisationaffects the com-plimentary healthcurrently offeredby the NHS.

There are now fewer NHS funded complimentaryhealth services available, Salmon says. While the UK hub for publicly funded complementarytreatments is undoubtedly the Royal London Hospital for

Integrated Medicine, the largest of its kind in Europe,there are a few NHS-funded complimentary projectsbased in community health and GPs scattered around thecountry. However, In times of shortage, Salmon predicts, fund-ing cuts are most likely to hit alternative and/or comple-mentary treatments first. Salmon says: For example, ten children presenting withasthma may well need ten entirely different homeopathicremedies - each child is unique, with their own physical,emotional and mental make-up. It takes time and skill to select the correct remedy and

treatments are not necessarily quick fixes but assessedboth in the short and long term improvements of patientsoverall health and well-being. This fact makes homeopathy more vulnerable to cutsthan more conventional treatments. Approved by NICE, (National Institute for Clinical Excel-lence), most treatments and drugs funded by the NHShave been subjected to controlled trials and have an evi-dence-base that demonstrates effectiveness for treatinga specific illness. Complementary treatment cannot be tested using thesame kind of tests which conventional medicine uses;

You cannot run controlled research on individuals, as

everyone is different, so a different type of researchmethodology is needed. Another factor is that increasingly, NHS funding is beingdiverted away from longer term treatments to short terminterventions.

For example, one of the main reasons why long-termpsychotherapy services are so diminished in the NHS isbecause funding has been diverted into IAPT services[Improving Access to Psychological Therapies] consistingof short-term cognitive therapies with relatively quickresults, that may not be sustained.Nobody would disagree that its logical for the govern-ment to look for ways to make this vital national servicemore cost effective - but the privatisation route has al-ready had dire consequences across the board. Already,

she notes, [there are] signs of how private health com-panies have siphoned off large amounts of NHS funds toprovide the easy clinical services or operations - leavingthe NHS to foot the bill for much more complex, expen-sive treatments. It seems likely then, that if the Coalition governmentsmyopic campaign of privatisation continues despite publicopposition, even if every sector of the NHS is in the sameboat when it comes to the cuts, alternative health caremay very well be the first to walk the plank.

Comps - amongst the

first to walk the plankLouise Salmon


11/11

FG Sept/Oct 2014

WHO WILL

THE LUCKY

WINNER BE?AS HUNDREDS signed up for a copy of

, the question on everyones lips isWhos the winner?

Reason is the tempting offer made at the stand atlast months VegFest show in Olympia in London. Now all those who signed up not only get to read thelatest news and features on alternative living they arealso in with a chance to win a 10 refund on a veggieor vegan dinner at the restaurant of their choice. Earlier VegFest boss Tim Barford praised for itsunique compassionate take on vegetarianism. The result of the competition will be announced innext months I-mag. Judges decision is final. No asso-ciate of Friends Gazette is permitted to enter. The first name to be picked out of the hat will be in-formed by e-mail. Payment will be made on productionof the receipt.

FG

Lucky draw winners to be

announced next month.

Documents

Friends' Gazette Sep/Oct 2014