Doctors Mandated to Inform and Educate - Imagine That!

The mission of Compassionate Cooks is to "empower people to make informed food choices." How can any of us make "informed" decisions about our health if we aren't given the tools, resources, options, and information to do so. Believing their doctors to have all the information about what it takes to live healthfully (by the way, they don't!), they also believe their doctors would give them all the information they need to make critical decisions about treatment and prevention. By the way, they don't.

When diagnosed with coronary artery disease, patients are told about surgery (specifically angioplasty and bypass) but rarely about the role the typical, rich Western diet plays in the *cause* of coronary artery disease. And they are rarely told that they may prevent it, treat it, and reverse it with a low-fat, plant-based diet. Diabetes patients are led to believe their only option is lifelong dependence on pharmaceutical drugs. They are not told that a whole-foods, low-fat, plant-based diet is effective in treating and preventing diabetes.

Now, thanks to California state assembly member Tom Ammiano, a new bill (Assembly Bill 1478) has been introduced that will require that a "physician and surgeon obtain a
patient's written acknowledgment confirming the receipt of information, as specified, regarding treatment through medical nutrition therapy prior to delivering nonemergency treatment for diabetes or heart disease."

According to the American Heart Association, in the US in 2006 there were about 1.314 million angioplasties and 448,000 bypass operations performed. Many hospitals derive 80% of their income from the treatment of heart disease. And yet these interventions do nothing to treat the underlying disease or to prevent future blockages from occuring.

If this law passes, it could potentially save billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives every year. If people had the information they needed to take their health into their own hands and realize they can actually prevent PREVENTABLE diseases such as heart disease, it would mean a monumental shift in how people perceive themselves and the power they hold.

Please contact the members of the Business and Professions Committee, which will consider the bill very soon. Urge them to pass the bill. Keep your email brief, but please write. It will take all of 5 minutes of your time.

For Mary Hayashi:
Assemblymember.hayashi@assembly.ca.gov
916 319 2118

For Bill Emmerson:
Assemblymember.emmerson@assembly.ca.gov
916 319 2163

For Connie Conway:
Assemblymember.conway@assembly.ca.gov
916 319 2134

For Mike Eng:
dave.maritn@asm.ca.gov
916 319 2149

For Ed Hernandez:
Assemblymember.hernandez@assembly.ca.gov
916 319 2157

For Pedro Nava:
Assemblymember.nava@assembly.ca.gov
916 319 2135

For Roger Niello:
Assemblymember.niello@assembly.ca.gov
916 319 2105

For John Perez:
Assemblymember.John.Perez@assembly.ca.gov
916 319 2146

For Curren Price:
Curren.price@asm.ca.gov
916 319 2151.

For Ira Ruskin:
Assemblymember.ruskin@assembly.ca.gov
916 319 2121

For Cameron Smyth:
Assemblymember.smyth@assembly.ca.gov
916 319 2138

For Sarah Huchel B&P Consultant:
sarah.huchel@asm.ca.gov
916 319 3306

A Veg Escapade on the California Coast

My hubby and I spent our 13-year anniversary at The Stanford Inn by the Sea, an incredibly beautiful place in a breathtaking location, on a pristinely kept property overlooking the Pacific Ocean and tucked into the woods. What more could you ask for?

Well, plenty more, it seems, because not only is the hotel vegetarian-owned, but the award-winning restaurant, The Ravens, is worthy of its many accolades. It is vegetarian and vegan, leaning more toward the latter.

The breakfasts do include eggs and dairy products, along with a bevy of vegan dishes, and the delectable dinners are ALL VEGAN. The menu is extensive, and the dishes are creative but familiar.

For dinner the first night, we enjoyed an appetizer of Japanese sushi, a salad of fennel and mixed greens, and two delicious entrees: one a ravioli in a wonderful cream sauce and the other was a vegetable-filled phyllo wrap. Though there were more decadent items on the menu, for dessert, we each enjoyed a frozen treat: David had the special cashew-based nutmeg ice cream in a delicious anise-flavored tuile, and I had the selection of sorbets. (I got the ice cream the second night, because it was so delicious!)

For dinner the second night, the prie fixe Mushroom dinner special was the route we took, and it was just incredible. Each course was more flavorful than the last, and we had the pleasure of thanking the chef in person.

Breakfasts consisted of pancakes, waffles, scrambles, muffins, and roasted potatoes, and everything was divine, including the views and the service.

I can't recommend this place enough. If it didn't rain virtually every moment we were there, we would have hiked and canoed, but as it were, we settled for shopping in town (which was quite adventuresome of us, considering the wind, which caused the rain to hit us horizontally) as well as an hour-long massage. Just walking the grounds is enjoyable enough, and the gift shop is packed with veg- and animal-friendly items and books.

But that's not all, you can bring your pooch, too! Though kitties abound for those of us who crave kitty love (and one sweet girl, Callie slept in our room one night), the place is kept so clean, you'd never know this was a retreat for human AND non-human animals. The rooms are just so lovely, including wood-burning fireplaces that just increase the romantic feel of The Stanford Inn.

A delightful way to spend a special weekend. Book your reservation today! :) And tell them Compassionate Cooks sent you!