vegetarian milk policy
Here is the letter asking Vegetarian Society members
to encourage Vegsoc to introduce a minimum standard for cows.
Currently Vegsoc have a standard for hens but not for cows.
Dear Fellow Vegetarian Society members
Below are three motions that are being brought before the membership at
this year’s Annual General Meeting of The Vegetarian Society on Saturday
20 September 2008. These motions all seek to rationalise the Society’s
commercial activities, and to protect the Society from the potential for
negative publicity, owing to its commercial interests and relationships
with companies that many of us would see as less than ethical. One of the
resolutions seeks to improve the welfare conditions of animals which
produce Vegetarian Society ‘approved’ products.
If you are a member of the Society please try to attend this year’s AGM
– even if you do not usually attend – to vote on these important
matters and make a difference to the Society and to the welfare of animals.
If you are unable to attend the AGM please consider sending your proxy vote
to the Society – a form of words can be found below which you can print
out, fill in and return to the address at the bottom of the form. You do
not need to obtain a proxy form from the Society – this form of words
will suffice. You can appoint any member who is attending the AGM to vote
for you. If you do not know any other member(s) attending the AGM, and
wish to vote in favour of the motions, you might consider naming one of the
two proposers as your proxy. Please contact us for address and membership
number details to complete the form – our contact details are at the
bottom of this email. If you have any queries about these resolutions or
would like additional information about the rationales please contact us
and we will try to provide more information.
In addition to this information members might also like to consider that
only one resolution will have a substantial effect on the Society’s
income streams – the resolution to approve only dairy products and eggs
that meet more humane standards for animal welfare. The Society is better
able to afford to make this important ethical decision today than at any
time in its 160 year history. The Society’s latest accounts are publicly
available at www.vegsoc.org/members and show that the Society has net
assets approaching £3.4m and net current assets of £1.5m. The Society
has received £800,000 of a legacy that is expected to exceed £3m. In
this unusually strong financial position it can afford a little largesse
towards the animals producing egg and dairy foods. It is surely no more
than those members leaving legacies to the Society would have expected from
an ethical and above all compassionate registered charity.
Thank-you for taking the time to read this email – it is appreciated. It
is impossible for us to reach all the members of the Society with our
rationales without paying for a large mailing to the membership. We would
be grateful, therefore, if you could forward this email to other members of
the Society or to message boards/discussion groups where members of the
Society are likely to be found. Thank-you.
Kind regards
Samantha (Sam) Calvert
samcalvert@samcalvert.freeserve.co.uk
Tony Bishop-Weston (Tony Weston) tony@foodsforlife.org
Motion 1
:
That The Vegetarian Society should develop and enforce
animal welfare and GM free criteria for egg laying hens and dairy
animals and therefore products containing eggs and dairy products
licensed to use the VSUK Seedling Symbol. These standards to be
not lower than that of the ‘organic’ welfare standards as
defined by the Soil Association.
Rationale: This motion seeks to rationalise the Society’s Seedling
Symbol guidelines on ethical issues. It is illogical for the Society to
have a rule about the welfare of hens, and even about the use of GM
material, and yet not on the equally pertinent issue of the welfare of the
nation’s dairy herds.
The Soil Association’s standard for hen welfare is higher than that of
The Vegetarian Society’s – a fact that may surprise some members. For
example, the current Vegetarian Society standard allows hens to be
‘tipped’ (tip of beak removed) and to be kept in larger flocks than the
organic system. At present The Vegetarian Society can ‘approve’ dairy
products produced by zero grazing (cattle housed indoors with no access to
grass) and where the calves have been sent for continental veal or other
intensively reared systems: practices that are forbidden in the Soil
Association system.
It is also important that the Society is consistent regarding GMOs. If GM
material is not suitable to be included in ‘approved’ products then
surely it is not acceptable that it is fed it the dairy herds and laying
hens that produce eggs and dairy that are approved by The Vegetarian
Society either. Similarly, as the Society does not permit ‘Vegetarian
Society approved’ laying hens to be fed animal or fish feeds then dairy
animals producing Vegetarian Society approved products should not fed them
either. The Vegetarian Society is aware that the Soil Association’s
welfare standards are the highest of any UK accreditation system and admits
as much on its own website
(http://www.seedlingshowcase.com/corporate/faq_detail.asp?faqid=8); so
acknowledging that it ‘approves’ many cruel practices in animal
husbandry in the name of its membership.
More information on these issues and the guidance and views of a number of
organisations – from animal welfare groups, to retailers, to those
concerned about GM fed dairy cows can be found at the following links:
http://www.gmfreeze.org/page.asp?ID=257&iType=1083
http://www.fawc.org.uk/freedoms.htm
http://www.redtractor.org.uk/site/rt_page_wide.php?section_id=3&page_id
http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=welfarestandards&marker=1&articleId=1125906255581
http://www.soilassociationscotland.org/web/sa/saweb.nsf/a71fa2b6e2b6d3e980256a6c004542b4/09c73a034b80306580257149004cb42f!OpenDocument
http://www.marksandspencer.com/gp/node/n/46589031
Motion:2
To avoid indirectly profiting from animal slaughter, VSUK Seedling
Symbol income from companies that are not exclusively vegetarian, such as
McDonald’s Corporation, should be ring-fenced to be spent on
educational vegetarian or vegan projects.
Rationale: The Vegetarian Society currently licences many products and
services to use the Seedling Symbol that are manufactured or supplied by
companies that are not exclusively vegetarian.
The Society is vulnerable to criticism in obtaining part of its income in
this way. By ring fencing these monies for educational work fees from
companies that are not fully in line with the primary objectives of the
Society can be shown to be spent exclusively on promoting a compassionate
and healthy vegetarian or vegan diet to the nation rather than on running
costs for the Society such as administration or salaries.
This motion would not deprive the Society of its income stream but would
ensure that all income from these sources is spent on promoting the
Society’s charitable objectives.
Motion:3
That The Vegetarian Society change its Seedling Symbol logo,
artwork and trademark so that no approbation of a product or service is
implied. In particular the words ‘Vegetarian Society approved’
should be removed and replaced with ‘licensed by The Vegetarian
Society’ or ‘registered with The Vegetarian Society.’
Rationale: The Vegetarian Society’s Seedling Symbol implies approval of
a product or service by including the words ‘Vegetarian Society
approved’. This is dangerous to the Society because it leads the public
and food professionals to believe that the Society thinks that a product is
‘good, acceptable, satisfactory or right’. However the Society’s
‘approval’ confirms only that the product meets the criteria for such
matters as vegetarian ingredients. It does NOT confirm that the service is
good, that the food is healthy and well-balanced for a vegetarian diet,
that dairy herds are treated well, that it tastes nice, that it is made
with good-quality ingredients, that it is produced under fair-trade
conditions, that the workers are well treated, that there is no child
labour, that the company is not involved in producing other products that
may be objectionable to vegetarians or that are routinely tested on
animals, that the company does not have investments in other companies that
may be objectionable to vegetarians nor that the product contains no
poor-quality additives etc.
It is clearly not feasible to take on board every issue that may arise and
it could be argued that it would be outside of the Society’s charitable
remit to do so. However what the Society CAN do to protect itself is to
‘license’ or ‘register’ products and services – or use another
term that does not imply approbation on behalf of its membership. This is
the practice of both the Vegan Society and the Soil Association.
Proxy Form
To be valid a proxy document must be received at the Society’s registered
office no later than 48 hours prior to the time appointed for holding the
meeting or adjourned meeting at which the ballot or vote is to be taken.
This means that it must reach Parkdale by the morning of Thursday 18
September 2008. Please print out and complete the document below. Please
ensure that you have signed it and had it witnessed and that you send it by
post and not email or fax. Thank-you.
The document appointing a proxy shall be in the following form:
I (full name) _______________________________________________
of (full address) _____________________________________________
a Member of The Vegetarian Society with Membership Number ___________
Hereby appoint (proxy Member’s Name) Tony Bishop-Weston
a Member of The Vegetarian Society with Membership Number - 30389
of (proxy Member’s address) Exmouth Cottages, Croydon CR0 4LJ
and failing him/her The Chairperson of the Meeting referred to below …
to vote on my behalf at the Annual General Meeting of the Society to be
held on the 20th day of September 2008 and at any subsequent adjournment
during the validity of this proxy.
As witness my hand this _______ day of _______ 2008.
Signature ____________________________________________
Name (BLOCK CAPITALS) _______________________________________
Witnessed by (Signature) _________________________________________
Name (BLOCK CAPITALS)
Return to: Dr Annette Pinner, CEO, The Vegetarian Society, Parkdale, Dunham
Road, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 4QG.
Or Fax to
www.poor-cow.co.uk on
08712884643 or Annette Pinner Vegsoc CEO on 0161 926 9182