Product Reviews

The Vegan Society Interactive CD-ROM
www.vegansociety.com
Review by Loraine Speck

The Vegan Society Interactive CD-ROM Review

The Vegan Society (formed in 1944 in the UK by Donald Watson) has created an Interactive CD-ROM filled with a plethora of information on the disastrous effects the industry of raising animals for human consumption is having on our world.

The CD is broken into seven segments: Animals, People, The Environment, Food, Going Vegan, Health, and Press for Change. Each segment includes a help button, the "Delve Deeper" feature, entertaining interactive games, and a photo show which connects ideas like the images of free-range chickens pecking in a field to the same animals being cruelly transported in crammed crates on the backs of flatbed trucks, and the feathers and feces that follow.

The Animals sub-segments provide the details on how cows, pigs, chickens, turkeys, sheep, ducks and geese are raised and slaughtered. The end of each sub-segment provides information on what the reader can do to better the lives of animals living on factory farms by either consuming free-range products, becoming a vegetarian or (the option that will bring about the most effective change) by becoming a vegan. Sub-segments on honey bees and fish are also pointedly included and incorporate some jarring fact this almost 20-year vegan wasn't aware of, the most shocking being that farmed fish are fed wild fish. Well, that and it takes 3 tonnes of wild fish to produce 1 tonne of farmed salmon! That tidbit really made me shake my head. It was also disturbing to learn that male honey bees may have their heads decapitated in order to collect their sperm (the decapitation causes its release), which is used to artificially inseminate the queen.

There are 840 million people living upon the Earth that are undernourished - about 14% of the world's population and there are millions in developing countries who don't have access to clean water (killing 2.2 million a year Ð most of them children). These and other staggering statistics are included in the sub-segments Feeding the World and Water for Life in the People segment of the CD-ROM. The Environment segment also includes similar "inconvenient truths" (supported by references) about factory farming and its link to (sub-segments) Land Degradation, Global Warming, Biodiversity, Deforestation, Water, Suffering Seas and Wasteland. Again, at the end of each sub-segment the reader can see which of the three options of "Eat Organic", "Eat Vegetarian" or "Eat Vegan" will have the least damaging impact on our world and those living on it.

The Food segment contains the sub-segments Nutrition, Shopping, Recipes and Eating Out and together they provide the reader with the tools to successfully switch to and maintain a vegan lifestyle. The Nutrition segment shows the building blocks for a life and what a balanced (vegan) diet looks like, including sunshine, water consumption and exercise. I loved the interactive game in the Shopping sub-segment where I correctly identified and placed into my shopping bag all of the vegan grocery items on the virtual store shelf. It was as intensive as real-life shopping with the highs of finding "unintentionally" vegan food items and the lows of discovering fish oil in your orange juice.

The Go Vegan segment describes a vegan as "lipsmacking, cake scoffing, life affirming, chip munching, salad crunching, tofu frying, animal respecting, planet loving, soya shake slurping"! Inspired by this and armed with the vegan shopping list and glossary provided here, veganism must become that much easier for the reader to at least consider. If they do decide to try it the Vegan Society icon will direct them to the books on veganism that the Vegan Society produces and sells, their magazine (titled Vegan) and membership, contact information, and pamphlets on such topics as wool, silk, milk, honey and health that are downloadable and printable.

In the Health segment the CD-ROM the reader is given a medical scanner with which to scan a virtual body. Areas such as bowels and immune system are highlighted and the choices of "Eating More" (fruits, vegetables, grains) and "Eating Less" (meat, cheese, fried foods) for optimal health are discussed. This area may have been more effective if a few semi-graphic photos (suitable for children) on the affects of a meat-and-dairy-laden diet were available.

The last segment, Press for Change, encourages the reader to be the creator of change by "knowing the facts, educating people about the issues, having a discussion, writing a letter, and raising funds". This should be the mantra of all vegans, whatever your reason for being one. There's always more to be done, but the rewards will make the efforts worth it in the end. It's never too late.

The CD is geared towards students in grades 3 and 4, but it can benefit a person of any age interested in knowing more about factory farming. Additional information can be also be found on the Vegan Society's webpage, including lesson plans, activity sheets and resources. I found it to be easy to navigate, and well pleasing to the senses. The font is large and easy to read and the graphics are well done. The background music is soothing and inspiring or actually applauding and best of all, it's narrated by the "give me the giggles" author of "Steven the Vegan" Benjamin Zephaniah.

I am thankful for the privilege of reviewing the Vegan Society Interactive CD-ROM which identifies in a very interesting and educational way not only what a vegan is, but what it means to be one. This is an incredibly comprehensive compilation of information and would be an asset to any vegan home, classroom or library collection.

Note: when you've finally managed to get through the bounty of information on this CD, reward yourself by clicking on the About the CD icon. At the bottom of the page you will find a red button - click on it! The interactive game of "Can You Land on the Planet of the Emonkeys" will have you wasting away entire afternoons and burning your lunch of spicy baked beans.

Editor's Note: The cost of the CD is £4.99 but free to schools and educators. Contact youth@vegansociety.com for more information.

Loraine Speck quit her cushy library job in 2006 to become a stay-at-home mom to her two beautiful lifelong vegan boys. She lives in Southern Ontario with her children, her husband and her many, many rescued cats and recently adopted fish.

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