On 30 June 2018 at Glasgow Royal Infirmary health professionals will gather to share knowledge about the human health benefits of adopting a plant-based diet. The full conference details are TBC (see Plant-based health professionals, UK event linked below) but the aim will be to gather as many health professionals together to hear from experts in plant-based nutrition.
We all have the right to know about plant-based nutrition and currently our education on nutrition and food, including the education our doctors get at university, is sorely lacking. People have the right to know about the research and data accrued from studies that have led a number of health professionals to advocate a plant-based diet. If you know any health professionals, doctors, nurses, midwifes etc please let them know about the event. We need medical professionals in every area of our health service to have an understanding of this. We will also be encouraging MSP's to attend as it's essential that they update themselves and realise the impact of our current policies and the benefits to be gained from promoting plant-based eating (through the entire system, encouraging farmers to switch to growing food, promoting local community farms and educating our children in growing food and cooking skills, supporting cooking skills classes in our most impoverished areas so that everyone has the means to improve their health, providing plant-based meals in all our public institutions - and ultimately make them exclusively plant-based - revise our food plate recommended eating guidelines to take account of the research and data etc) A plant-based diet is not veganism. Veganism is the way we recognise the rights of non-human animals. However, following a plant-based diet is a key component of how vegans live and the reality is that many non-vegans have genuine concerns about the nutritional adequacy of a plant-based diet. This is largely because of the misinformation in our schools and the way our doctors are educated. We must address this. There is a clear intersection between the aims of making the benefits of plant-based eating known to all and promoting veganism. We would never water down our vegan advocacy to talk about a plant-based diet, as that's not the point, but we will support and promote education in plant-based nutrition alongside our vegan advocacy. We will have a Go Vegan Scotland Vegan Information Stall at the event. Please share far and wide and let's draw attention to this event and, as our government begins consultation on Scotland being a Good Food Nation (likely to commence around March 2018), let's advocate for recognition of the benefits of plant-based eating. There are around 100 seats in the lecture theatre where this will be held. Priority is getting medical professionals / student doctors and nurses to attend, but we expect there to be room for others too. At the moment Plant Based Health Professionals, UK are focused on their London event in March, which will be the first event of its kind in the UK. Meantime it would be great to get the Glasgow date in the diaries of as many people as possible and especially anyone involved in health in Scotland, doctors, nurses, midwifes, student doctors and nurses, so if you know of a good way to share this event with them that would be great. Maybe there are noticeboards in hospitals, GP practices, student areas etc and maybe there are online groups where it could be shared. We appreciate it’s only a save the date at the moment with more details to come, but it would be good to advertise the event widely and generally get a bit of attention drawn to it as we head towards Scotland’s Good Food Nation consultation. Thank you 😊
https://www.facebook.com/events/1672380982829051??ti=ia