Media Release

For immediate release 16 December 2004

The Incredible Veggie Roadshow comes to Solihull!

Everything you ever wanted to know about going, being or staying veggie/vegan will be on tap at the Shirley Methodist Church, Stratford Road, Shirley, Solihull on Saturday, January 29, 2005 from 10am to 5pm. Organised by campaigning animal welfare group Viva! as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, entry is free. There will be a variety of delicious free food tastings from vegan food manufacturers and all the advice you could ever want on changing your diet or improving your health will also be available, free.

A brilliant family day out, there will be cookery demonstrations, veggie stalls, competitions, mother and baby section, beauty products, vegan food products, books, information and campaign news.  There will also be talks on healthy veggie diets for mums and mums-to-be; five easy steps to going veggie; going veggie - the way to health, happiness and better sex! There will also be a qualified nutritionist on hand all day to answer all your questions.

The roadshow will make appearances in cities all over the UK in the year ahead before culminating in the massive Incredible Veggie Show at London’s Wembley Conference and Exhibition Centre in November 2005.

Viva! (Vegetarians International Voice for Animals) is an international animal campaigning group with offices in the UK, USA and Poland. It carries out undercover investigations to expose animal abuse and successes include ending the sale of ‘exotic’ meats such as kangaroo and crocodile by all big supermarkets, stopping the debeaking of ducks in the UK, slashing the export of Polish ‘meat’ horses to the EU and persuading a US supermarket chain to entirely rewrite its animal welfare codes. Viva!’s most recent victory was this year when it exposed cruelty at a duck supplier to Marks & Spencer.  The store dropped all factory-farmed whole ducks as a result and the supplier went bust. Viva! also produces a wide array of materials on going vegetarian and vegan.

“This is essentially a fun day out which is a celebration of veggie living”, says Juliet Gellatley, international director of Viva!.  “For the increasing numbers of people who want to find out more about improving their health, saving animals and protecting the environment, this is an upbeat event which will entertain and help. And it’s all free of charge!” 

For further information and a map to the roadshow, log on at www.viva.org.uk/solihull

The Incredible Veggie Roadshowis organised by Viva!, and sponsored by Viva! and the Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation.

To find out more about the day, contact:
Angie Greenaway at Viva! on: 0117 944 1000

For broadcast interviews, contact:
Juliet Gellatley, Viva!’s director or Justin Kerswell, Viva!’s campaigner on: 0117 944 1000

For nutritional information, contact Lee Jerome or Tony Wardle on 0117 970 5190

 www.viva.org.uk/solihull

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