CD-ROM Aktief 1995 #3/CDA3.iso/cooking/vgol9501.zip/VGONLINE.TXT

Text File | 1995-01-31 | 26KB | 482 lines

ONLINE RESOURCES FOR VEGETARIANS
(Updated 1/28/95)

by Bobbi Pasternak <[e-mail]>

       While vegetarians are not regarded with as much suspicion as
we were in the past, it is not unusual for us to find ourselves feeling
isolated.  We may be the only vegetarian in the family or the community or
at work.  I was the only vegetarian I knew for seven years.  Then I
discovered cyberspace, that place between you and whoever you communicate
with via telecommunications.  To participate, all you need is a computer,
a modem, a telephone line and the appropriate software.  There's some money
involved too, but connecting to the Information Highway is becoming less
costly all the time.

       There are abundant resources available online for vegetarians. This
article provides a sampling of those currently available.  The areas
discussed will be commercial online services, the Internet, bulletin board
systems and electronic mail.

        Please bear in mind that things change quickly in the online world.
Electronic mailing lists come and go.  Resources change addresses.  If you
have a problem accessing a resource listed in this article, please let me
know so that I can let you know its status or check on it and make a
correction in the next revision.

COMMERCIAL ONLINE SERVICES

       Commercial online services include America Online (AOL), CompuServe
(CIS), Delphi, Genie, eWorld and Prodigy.  Their pricing structures and
available services vary.  All services offer electronic mail, enabling
subscribers to exchange e-mail messages within the service and with people
who have an Internet e-mail address. Special interest areas contain
message boards where members may post messages, read and respond.  Real
time conferencing or "chat" allows users to carry on "conversations" with
others online at the same time.  Real time conferences may be informal
gatherings or formal meetings.  A feature available on all services except
Prodigy is the file library which allows users to place (upload) or
retrieve (download) text files and software.

       In deciding which service is right for you, consider the time of day
you will be online, how much time you will be online, what services you
will use and your comfort level with the service's interface.  The best
way to determine all of this is to call the service and ask a lot of
questions.  If it sounds good, find out about free or reduced rate trials,
go online and see how you like it.  Once you're on a service, here's what
you'll find available for vegetarians.


       CompuServe has a well established vegetarian area in the Cooks'
Online Forum with a core of friendly and supportive members.  There is a
vegetarian message board and library.  A monthly conference is held at
noon, eastern time, the first Sunday of each month.  Unlike the other
commercial services based in the USA, CIS is international in scope and
there are vegetarians from Germany and England who participate in the
forum on a regular basis.  On CIS, the message sections and libraries
are searchable by keywords, making it easier to find exactly what you're
looking for.  While great recipes and cooking tips abound, discussion in
the Cooks' vegetarian section is not restricted to cooking and food topics.
Any topic of interest to vegetarians is permitted (as long as it is carried
on in a responsible and respectful manner) and there have been discussions
of many ethical, environmental and lifestyle issues.

        Due to the success of Cooks' Online Forum's Vegetarian section,
CompuServe will launch the Vegetarian Forum (GO VEGETARIAN) February 2,
1995.  This forum will include 17 message and library sections
dedicated to vegetarian topics as well as a chat area.  In addition to the
sections dedicated to various vegetarian foods, there will be sections
titled Nutrition & Health, Vegetarian Children, The New Vegetarian,
Outreach & Resources, Issues & Lifestyles and In Print & On Disk.

       CompuServe has a reputation for being expensive, but there have been
two reductions in the hourly rates in the past couple of years, making it
more affordable.  Another price reduction has just been announced as this
is written.  In addition, there are several affordable software packages
available which can automate your sessions, allowing you to save money
by doing your reading and writing offline.

       Vegetarians on America Online can be found in several places, but
most of AOL's vegetarian activity is centered in the Cooking Club. You'll
find the Vegetarian Lifestyle message folder in The Cupboard/Health and
Nutrition Trends section.  Other folders of interest to vegetarians also
come and go in the Cupboard.  The Cookbook houses the club's recipe posts
and there is a section for special and vegetarian diets with several
folders each for vegetarian recipes and vegan recipes.  Two discussion
folders have been added to the Cookbook's Special and Vegetarian Diets
section recently. They are titled "Diet & Health" and "Diet & Ethics".
The file libraries contain text documents with vegetarian recipes and
vegetarian nutrition information.  There is a weekly conference for
vegetarians in the Cooking Club Kitchen conference room on Wednesdays
at 8:00 pm Eastern time.

       America Online's Pet Care Forum Message Center has a section
dedicated to discussion of Animals and Society.  In this section, several
folders deal with animal rights and animal welfare topics.

       AOL's advantages include a pleasant and easy to use interface,
expanding Internet access, and pricing that does not include surcharges
for prime time hours, 9600 baud modem access or Internet access.  The most
common complaint I hear regarding AOL is that it is often difficult to
find the special interest group you seek.  I've heard former AOL members
complain they found nothing on the service for vegetarians.  We were there,
but they couldn't find us.

       While Prodigy lacks the file libraries of the other services, it
boasts a friendly and active message board. The Vegetarian section of the
Food Bulletin Board is hosted by Member Reps Cath and Rona who set the
tone and provide an abundance of helpful information and recipes.  Live
chat capability was added to Prodigy recently.  Check in the message area
to find out if regular vegetarian chats are scheduled yet.  A disadvantage
to Prodigy is the constant barrage of online advertising and electronic
junk mail.

       Delphi has at least two areas of potential interest for vegetarians:
Custom Forum 112, Animal Rights and Vegetarian Living, and Custom Forum 39,
Hearth and Home.  These areas offer message boards, file libraries and have
live chat capabilities.  In addition, Delphi offers a complete gateway to
the Internet.  If you plan on spending time online during Monday through
Friday business hours, though, beware of the significant prime time
surcharges.

       GEnie's Food and Wine Roundtable has two vegetarian areas with
messaging, file libraries and real-time conferences:  a general vegetarian
section and one for those following the McDougall Plan.  Again, it is the
prime time surcharge that keeps me off this service.

       New on the scene is Apple Online Services' eWorld.  Coming to eWorld
in the first quarter 1995 will be The Natural Connection with many features
for the health-conscious public.  The following features are planned.  A
holistic "mini-mall" will offer catalog shopping and classified advertising.
The Holistic Resource Center will contain directories of holistic product
and service providers, a Reference Library, and publications.  There will
be discussion areas and real-time conferences.  The Natural Connection will
have a special Institutes and Organizations area where vegetarian and
health-related organizations can publish their newsletters and hold
meetings.  Currently, eWorld is only available to Mac users, but DOS and
Windows software is planned.

THE INTERNET