Geneva, Friday 17th May 2013 at 2 PM (Place des Nations)
Eating together: Speech at the Place des Nations
“Presentation of the outcome of a European partnership called Eating Together.
We have gathered official food based dietary guidelines for vegan diets worldwide.
As several national authorities have stated, well chosen and properly balanced vegan diets have proven to be healthy at all stages of life.
As with any other diet, however, an ill chosen one can be disastrous, particularly for infants and young children.
Fortunately, advanced nations provide vegans and their medical advisers with the best possible scientific and practical advice.
So far, let us officially thank United kingdom’s National Health Services, Those of Scotland too, the Health and the Agriculture Department of the United States of America, the National Food Agency of Sweden, Health Canada for their particularly protective approach and the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations. Other nations may soon be part of this list as our work makes progress.
Other authorities deliver potentially dangerous information or denigrate plant based diets, thus pushing vegans into the arms of quacks.
We believe that the World Health Organization can help to disseminate good practice to give equal protection to the health of people who choose to live on a plant based diet worldwide.
Meanwhile, may I very officially thank and encourage the French National Food Agency who have only just recently addressed advice to pregnant and breastfeeding vegan mothers, while emphasizing that further steps are still needed.
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The United Nations too will benefit from appropriate scientific background on balanced vegan diets, because the different cultures that are working together at the United Nations will then be able to eat together.
Our European partnership has listed foods that meet the needs of the freedom of conscience of everyone. This means that everyone can share the same meal, if it’s made from this list of eating together ingredients.
In institutional catering, a well balanced plant-based option also is a relevant requirement worldwide. Groups who may be relieved to have access to catering in schools, cafeterias, nursing homes, hospitals, prisons, etc. add up to many millions.
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Vegans are people who try to live without exploiting animals, to the benefit of animals, humans and the planet.
Very many thanks to the European group who have worked very hard to turn vegan cultures into general interest projects for nations, people and the animals.
This international literature has been published in several languages. It now is available at www.dietethics.eu.”
