Thinking Green at Mealtime! 

Vegetarian meals will be offered at the 2008 ACM.  Eating a vegetarian diet is an ethical choice made by some of our members to avoid eating meat and / or animal products.  Before you pick up your fork – consider the following:

• Killing a sentient being is seen by some to be unethical / immoral;
• Animal rights: The treatment of animals raised for mass-produced meat, milk and eggs is often cruel, or at least very restrictive while they are alive;
• Environment: The production of meat uses much more in the way of the earth’s resources than the production of vegetable protein;
  • According to the National Audubon Society, raising animals for food requires about as much water as all other water uses combined – and 14 times as much water is needed to feed a meat-eater than a vegan (dairy-eating vegetarian is about 4 times)
  • Water is also polluted much more quickly by raising animals – manure eventually seeps into the water-table, bringing with it pesticides, hormones, antibiotics
  • Animals create much more methane gas, a great contributor to greenhouse gases
  • Large amounts of the Amazon rainforest are being cleared to grow crops to feed animals for meat
  • Everywhere, feed for farm animals requires land, water, fertilizer, and other resources that could otherwise be used for producing human food
  • Land can grow many more pounds of vegetable protein per acre than animal protein – 15 to 20 times as much
  • Fish farms have dumped antibiotics into waters that are also used by wild fish
  • Damaging effects will be felt sooner and more acutely by those living in the global South, than by us in the wealthy North; and
• Health: The choice of meat for the main source of protein usually results in a higher level of fat-intake for the eater.  The residual antibiotics and hormones found in some meats are not beneficial to humans, and potentially harmful.

 

Saturday 10:30 am - noon

A5. Coming Home – Community Supported Housing and Mental Illness – a proven model: An Ottawa Interfaith group with many members from the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa are launching an organization that offers long-term, community-supported housing for people with a serious mental illness. Our model is based on Montreal’s L’Abri en Ville and we will join with their group on presenting the ways and means of creating an authentic community of support and recovery. Come to learn how your congregation could undertake this proven model. Eleanor Beattie, Richard Haughain


Saturday 10:30 am - noon
A6. Living our Principles through Voluntary Simplicity: This interactive workshop explores how we can live our faith through the practice of living simply. Simple living provides a supportive framework of ideas, attitudes and practices to help live in enriching and ecologically sustainable ways. Fiona Heath

Saturday 10:30 am - noon
A9. Greening our Sacred Spaces: An information-sharing workshop of green sanctuaries. Members of the Environmental Working Group of First Unitarian, Ottawa, will present highlights of our own efforts and will invite other congregations engaged in this process. At the session, those currently greening their sanctuaries can learn from each other, and those considering doing so can find out how to start. Debra Mair & Pauline Heinonen

Saturday 10:30 am - noon
A12. Fighting Crime Sustainably – invest in youth & women, not police and prisons: Too much violence in Canada – eg. 500,000 victims of sexual assault annually. Politicians waste taxes on Police and prisons. Irvin Waller – author of “Less Law, More Order: The Truth about Reducing Crime” – will share good news on how investing in young men, women and neighbourhoods helps prevent violence. Irvin Waller


Saturday 10:30 am - noon
A13. A Need to Address North American Aboriginal Concerns within the Context of UUism: The plight of North American Aboriginal First Nations people has long been a standing issue. While UU social outreach has been mainly focused beyond North America, it is time to address the problems and issues that our First Nations peoples face within a social and spiritual context. Rev. Raj Hathiramani


Saturday 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
B3. The Mindless Pursuit of Growth in Canada: The destructive impact of human activities on the planet has become undeniable. Yet, even in the face of “Peak Oil”, the paradigm of continuous growth as the key to human well-being persists. We must develop new modes of thinking that sustain the web of life that sustains us. Madeline Weld, Jon Legg, Tony Cassils


Saturday 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
B6. Hijacked Future: How our Food System is under Threat (and what we can do about it): Screening of the 60 minute documentary – “Hijacked Future”, a 2008 film by Asterisk Productions that features Canadian and global issues and USC – Canada’s work in Ethiopia. The film will be following by discussion and networking around seed systems, food security and food sovereignty in our own communities. Kate Green, Susan Walsh, & Awegechew Teshome


Saturday 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
B9. The Available Energy Web for our Hands: Geothermal energy reserves exist below our cities. With recent advances in drilling technology and subsurface engineering, these reservoirs could provide an affordable alternative energy source to carbon and nuclear based energy production. The panel will define this system of energy production and compare environmental health and financial advantages and costs to existing carbon and nuclear methods. Panel of Experts


Saturday 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
B10. The Earth Charter and U and U: A multigenerational workshop to help us understand the Earth Charter. Hands on activity to create touchstones for remembering how the charter defines a new approach to our relationship to the interdependent web of all sentient and non-sentient life on this planet and the planet itself. Julia Anne Varga

Saturday 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
B12. The Refugee Sandwich – a dramatic performance and lecture: A play about the twists and turns of the refugee claims process presented by immigration lawyers. Peter Showler, former Chair of the Immigration and Refugee Board, and an advocate for improvement to the system will give a presentation on refugee concerns. Question and answer session follows. Peter Showler

Saturday 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
B13. Developing a Multigenerational Social Responsibility Program: Is your congregation like most? Where social action is largely in the hands of those who have been social activists since the sixties or earlier? How do we pass the mantle to harness the energy of every generation? Come and share experiences about using social action to build a multigenerational community. Philip Nagy, Katherine Gunn, Joan Turner


Saturday 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
C1. Can Eco-SpiritUality Grow Eco-JUUstice? (Confluence Lecture ’08 -sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Ministers of Canada): ‘Confluence’ is bringing together one or more streams of water/ideas/influences. Enter into the confluence of perspectives from the co-presenters. In the 21st Century, we are both in a climate crisis and in a heightened state of eco-awareness. Could we, as Unitarians in Canada, create confluence of these divergent streams---if there is the necessary will among us, how could we achieve this? We recommend you attend the worship session, "Weaving the Web of Life Together: an alternative eco-spirituality experience." Rev. Brian Kiely and Rev. Meg Roberts.


Saturday 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
C3. Easing the pain of HIV/AIDS in Africa: The Grandmothers’ Campaign Needs You: The Grannies Group affiliated with the Ottawa First Unitarian Congregation will describe the HIV/AIDS situation in Africa, the work of the Stephen Lewis Foundation with Grandmothers in Africa and how anyone of any age can help. Jane Lindsay & Beth Elliott


Saturday 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
C10. Sanctuary – A Transforming Experience: The Sanctuary Committee of First UU Congregation of Ottawa tells how to provide sanctuary to a worthy refugee when all other options have been exhausted. The experience is multi-faceted and demands perseverance and patience. Seeking a better solution is part of the package. Question and answer session follows. Joan Auden


Sunday 9:00 am – 10:30 am
D6. Natural, healthy cancer treatments that are effective: There is much evidence that there are a number of natural treatments that are effective, have minimal adverse effects, and cost much less than conventional treatments. This session will include a presentation and discussion. Bill Van Iterson

Sunday 9:00 am – 10:30 am
D10. A Social Justice Connect the Dots: Connecting the dots is more than a child’s game. At this session, we will explore the connections between the SPP and climate change, between tar sands development, water resource preservation and militarism. Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice has supported the Polaris-led coalition opposing further expansion of the tar sands. Jessie Kalman and another speaker from the Polaris Institute will present. Debra Mair


Sunday 2:45 pm - 4:15 pm
E2. World Café: This workshop will feature you, in dialogue, in small tables exchanging ideas and learning more about real issues, climate change, diversity, drug addiction, etc. Witness and be part of a simple methodology for having conversations about questions that matter. The conversations link and build on each other as people move between table groups, cross-pollinate ideas, and discover new insights into the questions or issues that are most important in their life, work, congregation or community. The World Café promises to evoke and make visible the collective intelligence of the group, thus increasing your capacity for effective action in pursuit of common aims. Leslie Kemp, Forrest Smith & Bob Manson

Sunday 2:45 pm - 4:15 pm
E8. Sustaining Wonder: Deepening Commitment to our Natural World: This workshop combines reflective journey and encouragement to action. Drawing on my own experience from paralyzing apathy to a deep commitment for change, participants will explore ways to grow and strengthen strong roots of commitment and action. Karen Stevenson

Sunday 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
F3. Banking on the Poor in the World: Village Banking and Micro-financing is a program connected with FINCA (Foundation for International Community Assistance) which creates loaning institutions for women in developing countries. Congregations can create these micro-banks for as little as $5,000, thereby allowing people to obtain loans for their small businesses. Recipients of these loans have an exemplary pay-back rate of 98%! Dr. Muhammad Yunus, recent Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has been a model in creating these micro-banks, particularly the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Betty Morrow & Rev. Felicia Urbanski


Sunday 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
F4. Faithful Fools Ministry: An experience of walking with intentional presence, a chance to reflect on poverty, joy, suffering and whatever else you may encounter in the streets of Ottawa. This workshop stream will last 8 hours and will be led by Rev. Laura & Karen Fraser-Kitlitz


Sunday 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
F9. Passing the Torch to the Global Leaders of Tomorrow - The Role of the UU-UNO: Our UU principles encourage us to embrace diversity and respect the inherent worth and dignity of every person. But how can we actively dismantle oppression in our lives, in our congregations, and in the larger community? Working from participants’ experiences and identities, we will explore how we can truly create a more equitable faith and society. Sumon Vangchuay-Berse


Monday 9:00 am - 10:30 am
G5. Passenger Screening and Border Patrols – Impacts on Human Rights & Civil Liberties: The workshop will examine the phenomena of No Fly lists, biometric identifiers, computer-based profiling of travelers, interoperable watch lists, and other border controls and their impacts on human rights and civil liberties, including the rights of migrants, privacy rights, mobility rights and the right to political dissent. Roch Tassé, Maureen Webb


Monday 9:00 am - 10:30 am
G6. Multi-faith Housing Initiative – Faith Community Action on Affordable Housing: MHI (registered charity) encourages /supports individual faith communities to help provide affordable housing. MHI provides info, training and resources to faith communities engaged in affordable housing initiatives, and raises funds in support of affordable housing solutions. MHI is involved in sustaining relationships with those being housed and does public education on affordable housing in healthy communities. Gay Richardson & other members of MHI