This issue brings you articles from last month’s fascinating spring retreat on the ethics of what we eat. As you’ll read, the retreat theme has stimulated lots of thought and discussion.

During the retreat, I remembered visits as a child to my father’s village in Italy, where I watched my uncle milk each of his dairy cows by hand. My uncle named each cow and knew its character. I had a glimpse into what was already a world largely gone by, for – as we heard during the retreat – at the time, factory farming was taking over not only in North America and Europe, but around the world.

Some of the conversations that started at the retreat continue on EUU’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/EUUGroup, where the discussion has touched on still more topics, such as whether laboratory meat provides an option in the future.

Our retreat leaders asked us to think what we should do personally and what we should do in our organizations. What should EUU do?

We’ll explore this when we again organize in-person retreats. Though we’ve had difficulty convincing some sites to provide good vegan and vegetarian options for our meals, we’ll try to promote change.

Please join in the conversation and consider what you can do for our future retreats and events. If you’re interested, the committee for our fall retreat is looking for volunteers – please write to them at retreatcommittee@europeanuu.org

Tony Zamparutti
President@europeanuu.org