Letters to the Editors
From Russia, with Love
December 16, 2001: Dear friends! We have received your parcel with the books and magazines! You have made us very happy. We are very grateful to you and we send a huge thank you from all the members of the Eurasian Vegetarian Society. Your books will be read to us in the library. These are the first and only books we have from your country, and in them there is a lot of important information for the Russian vegetarian. We shall distribute the information among all our friends.
January 24, 2002: Once again, many thanks! My colleagues and I are amazed by excerpts from the book [Vegan & Vegetarian FAQ] that answer many of our questions.
As you may know, the situation with the promotion of vegetarianism in Russia is quite poor. For the last eighty years, some vegetarians were prosecuted and the concept of vegetarianism was referred to as harmful and dangerous. Since the political changes that took place in the Soviet Union in 1991, the situation has slightly improved. At least, people are not being put in prison for promoting vegetarianism, and a couple of books [about the subject] have appeared. However, the public opinion is still quite cautious and the awareness is very low. That is why we need help in promoting vegetarianism in Russia.
Nikolai Kalanov
President of the Eurasian Vegetarian Society
Moscow, Russia
(To donate to the EVS, please call The VRG at (410) 366-8343 for information)
Notes to the Young Essay Winners
I got my new copy of the Vegetarian Journal last night and loved it as always, especially the recipes. I loved the essays as well. Sage [Newell] wrote that she sometimes wants to know what it’s like eating meat. Dear Sage, I’ve been vegetarian for only four years (vegan two years) and you have no idea how much I envy you for not knowing what meat tastes like. I wish I could say that I never ate meat in my life. You are a lucky and wonderful person. I liked Nicole [Guenther]’s essay as well. I do congratulate and thank you for being a vegetarian. I’m sorry that you saw your hand-fed cows taken to the slaughterhouse. I cried when I read that. But dear Nicole, I hope that someday you’ll learn more about veganism and maybe you’ll become one and save even more animals.
Arezoo Rahmim, MD
Houston, TX
