September 12, 2019: Literary Sala Readings

Two Authors: Why Eat Vegan? And The World Refugee Crisis

By Carole Schor

On September 12, the Literary Sala invites you to join two committed individuals working to save the world through nutrition and humanitarian relief.

Michael Dorfman: The Thriving Vegan

Michael Dorfman, author of The Thriving Vegan believes humanity can be saved if we rethink our views on food and how we eat for health and for world preservation. Why go vegan? A plant-based diet has been proven to reduce disease, maintain healthy weight, and promote longevity. But veganism, as opposed to vegetarianism, which is based solely on not eating animal protein, is more complex than that. Vegans argue against the exploitation of animals, believing all sentient creatures have a right to live, and that killing to eat (or wear) is cruel. Many vegans find the surge in factory farming to be cruel and inhumane. Climate crisis spurs others to become vegans and reduce their impact on the environment. The amount of water and land needed to support and feed livestock is wasteful, and the pollution caused by the use of pesticides and fertilizers is killing our planet. Michael Dorfman, a committed vegetarian since the 1970s, will talk about his own conversion to Whole Food Vegan Nutrition, a diet he finds not only beneficial to his own health and the health of our world, but nutritious, versatile, easy and most of all, delicious!

Kim Malcolm: The Country Within

Kim Malcolm, author of The Country Within, is saving the world in another timely fashion, helping refugees escaping from the terror and death in their homelands caused by war, disease, and famine. In 2015, overloaded boatloads of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan began washing up on the shores of Lesvos, a Greek island just off the coast of Turkey. Kim felt the need to do something – anything – if only to wash the dirty clothes and feed the starving babies. Once Greece closed its borders, refugees were stuck in Athens, many living on the streets, in temporary camps or abandoned buildings. Malcolm worked independently as a volunteer, using her own funds to help wherever needed, purchasing medicine, produce and dairy products to supplement the refugees’ barebones diet and paying for taxi rides to the hospital. “What impressed me the most,” she says, ”was that the residents of Lesvos were taking in refugees who washed up on the beaches. They were feeding them, offering dry clothes, and finding ways to get them across the island to get to the mainland. I went as a volunteer to observe the community that had been so generous with their resources and their time.” Right now, before she once again returns to Greece, Kim is here in Mexico where the border is in crisis and refugees are in the same dire straits as those in Greece, and she is on the frontlines working with ABBA House in Celaya and Caminos Juntos and the Latin American Relief Fund, aiding deportees and immigrants pouring in and out of Central America, looking only for a better life for their families.