The Chautauqua Vegetarian-Vegan Society will hold their monthly meeting on Wednesday, April 18, at 6 p.m. at the YWCA, 58 S. Portage St., Westfield. The evening's program will be a talk by Professor Sherri "Sam" Mason of SUNY Fredonia. She will speak on synthetic chemicals in the environment. Are food and water safe from hazardous additives and waste chemicals? What about chemicals that get into public water supplies and can't be filtered out? There are more than 100,000 different synthetic chemicals in use in consumer products every day. How prevalent are they and should they be cause for concern?
Mason is an associate professor of chemistry at SUNY Fredonia. She also serves as the coordinator of the Environmental Sciences program and the sustainability coordinator for the FACE Center. As one of the founding members of Fredonia's Sustainability Committee, she initiated Earth Week in 2008 as a series of campus and community events meant to highlight and heighten awareness about the plethora of environmental issues facing the world.
The menu for the evening will be healthy pot-luck. Those attending are invited (but not required) to bring a nutritious dish to share which will serve eight to 12 people, as well as the recipe. All food should be vegan (no meat, eggs, milk, butter or other dairy used in preparing it), and organic if possible.
The cost of the dinner is $6 per person or free if bringing a dish to share, with reduced rates for children. For more information or to make a reservation, call Gail at 753-7761 or at 326-2524 (noon to 8 p.m.), or Anne at 782-4334, giving a name, the number attending and phone number.
All meetings are open to the public. It is not necessary to be vegan or vegetarian to attend the meeting. It is open to anyone who is interested in learning about healthy eating and living. The Vegetarian Society is an information and support group for individuals seeking to explore healthy eating through vegetarian, vegan or raw food lifestyles. The group meets monthly for a vegan dinner.
