RAVS continues its high level of involvement in the community; our meetings are well attended and our outreach opportunities just keep growing. We plan to carry this energy and enthusiasm into the autumn, when we celebrate our 25th anniversary.

At our May meeting, we had a talk by Susie Coston, the National Shelter Director of Farm Sanctuary, about farm animal sentience. Susie’s heartwarming images and stories reminded us that each farmed animal is an individual who experiences pain and seeks pleasure and affection. In June, our program was a panel discussion by experienced vegan cooks from our own group. Thanks to Handy Cowles, Meg Hurley, Deb Kiba, and Carol Manuel for sharing their recipes and tips (and their stories of how they came to be vegan). 

In July, the following RAVS members    were in attendance at the Vegetarian Summerfest: Ted, Carol, Rebecca and Elizabeth Barnett, Jennifer, David, Pahz and Tia Cherelin; Ellie Cherin, Handy Cowles, Jacki and Michael Hagelberg, Lori Miller, and Canden and Elijah Simmons. See the full report on Summerfest on page 4. Our July RAVS meeting was a picnic at the Barnett home.

Our late summer and fall will be a cornucopia of wonderful speakers and events, in keeping with our anniversary celebration. In August we’ll be at the Buffalo area VegFest, and Will Tuttle, Ph.D., who will be speaking at VegFest, will also come to Rochester to speak to RAVS (not on 3rd Sunday–see calendar p. 8). Our August picnic will be at the home of Kimber Gorall. On Saturday, Sept. 6, RAVS will be the guest chef at the Rochester Public Market.

In September, RAVS will again have a table at the Greentopia Festival, where we’ll seek to persuade people that the single most powerful thing they can do to protect the environment is to go vegan (plus they can save their health and the animals, and they can make the change  overnight, without any capital expenditure).

At our RAVS autumn meetings, we will have an all-star lineup of speakers: Gary Francione, J.D. in September; John Morlino, M.S.W. in October; and Milton Mills, M.D. in November. Please continue reading this page and consult the calendar on page 8, for full information on all these events and speakers.

OUTREACH: RAVS continues to spread the word about vegan diet wherever we can. In June, Ted Barnett, M.D. spoke to members of the New Bethel CME    church; Carol Barnett tabled at a Latino Family Fair; and Katherine DaCosta, Sara Gale, Kimber Gorall, and Charles Worl staffed a health fair at Inner Faith Gospel Church. In July, Carol Barnett tabled at the family health and safety fair at Ginna nuclear power plant.

UPCOMING EVENTS!

VEGFEST WNY is a first-time-ever veg festival in the Buffalo area, but within striking distance of the Rochester area (RAVS will have a table there). This FREE event will take place on Sunday August 3rd from 11 AM to 6 PM, and will feature guest speakers including Victoria Moran, Seth Tibbott, and Will Tuttle; live music; a fun children’s program; rescue animals for adoption; many exhibitors; and delicious vegan food. Location is Delaware Park in Buffalo. The festival will kick off with a Tofurky Trot cross-country 5K run/walk at 11AM (registration 10AM) with prizes (including best costume prize) and a dog-friendly course. Visit wnyvegfest.com and tofurky.com/trot

FLAVORS AT THE MARKET is a demonstration series at the Rochester Public Market from 10AM to noon on summer Saturdays. On Sept. 6, RAVS will be the guest chef and will be preparing a vegan dish to sample.

A PLANT-BASED DIET: EATING FOR HAPPINESS AND HEALTH will be offered again at the JCC with instruction by Ted D. Barnett, M.D and recipes and food samples by Carol Barnett. The course will be offered on six  Mondays in a row, September 22 to October 27, from 6:45-9:00 PM. This course is open to the general public, and is also available for continuing education credit for physicians, dietitians and other health professionals. Call the JCC at 461-2000 to register. v

OUR CONDOLENCES to Nancy Hallowell, whose mother, Virginia Fox Maier, died on March 12 at the age of 97.

OUR CONDOLENCES also to Martha Sullivan, whose husband Edward Sullivan died on June 27; and whose mother, Jean Krebs, died on July 12.

THANKS to Margie Campaigne  for helping to guide, during his stay, a young environmental activist, Charles Orgbon III, who was brought to town by the local Sierra Club chapter and who spoke at five local schools as part of Earth Day Week. Democrat and Chronicle (D&C) 4/22/14

THANKS to Meg Hurley for responding to an online editorial on the D&C website which asserted that “vegetarians are depressed because they can’t eat bacon.” See details on page 4.

THANKS to Gloria Foster for her part in the protest against oil trains which took place in Fairport on July 6. A color photo of Gloria appeared in the D&C on 7/7/14.

CONGRATULATIONS to RAVS Co-Coordinator Ted D. Barnett, M.D., whose profile (with photo!) appears on the back cover of the current (Summer 2014) issue of PCRM’s Good Medicine.

THE RED FERN restaurant received a glowing review in City Newspaper, 5/28/14 (“Vegan, Served with a Smile”). The reviewer, Laura Kenyon, singled out the Compost Plate, a “winking take on the Rochester staple [Garbage Plate],” the Kale Chips, and the French Toast for special praise, and said “The Red Fern is worthy of attention from vegans, carnivores, celiacs, carb-lovers, and eaters in between.” Kenyon also loved the restaurant’s “light and airy” decor. Owner and operator Andrea Parros named The Red Fern after a novel by Wilson Rawls, in which the plant symbolizes eternal love and peace–an ethos that Parros wants to see reflected in her restaurant.

The Red Fern also received a glowing review in the D&C on 7/4/14, in which the  author, Amanda Antinore, reported on her “fulfilling, and perhaps surprising, meal that dispelled any stereotypes tied to the term vegan.”

Carol Barnett