essence_uk
Jul 17th, 2005, 09:29 PM
By Chidanand Rajghatta
Times News Network
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
WASHINGTON: Several Hindu and vegetarian groups in the
United States had a happy surprise in the mail last week.
Healthy cheques for sums ranging from $50,000 to $1.4
million - part of the $10 million court-ordered
settlement in the case involving their beef against
McDonald's.
Some four years after Seattle-based Indian-American
lawyer Harish Bharti sued the fast food giant for
misleading customers by claiming their French fries were
vegetarian, McDonald's mailed out the cheques, in
addition to the apology it issued in March 2002.
The money, McDonald's said, will go "to Hindu, vegetarian
and other groups whose charitable and educational
activities are closely linked to the concerns of these
consumers (having dietary restrictions)."
Among the groups that benefited from the class-action
bonanza are International/American Gita Society, which
got $50,000; Hinduism Today Endowment, $250,000;
Supporting Excellence in Education, $900,000; Council of
Hindu Temples of North America $200,000; SSV Temple,
$50,000; and Hindu Students Council, $500,000.
Vegetarian groups that were awarded include Vegetarian
Resource Group ($1.4 milion), ADAF Vegetarian Nutrition
Dietetic Practice Group ($600,000), Preventive Medicine
Research Institute ($550,000), North American Vegetarian
Society ($1 million) Vegetarian Vision, Inc.,($250,000);
and American Vegan Society, $500,000.
They are among the 24 groups selected to receive
compensation from over 250 groups that were initially
considered under the terms of the settlement.
Also among the beneficiaries were Jewish, Muslim and Sikh
groups which joined the lawsuit claiming that the fries
were not kosher/halal etc.
"It was quite a surprise," said Paramacharya Palaniswami
of the Hindu Monastery in Kaui, Hawaii, which received a
check for $ 254,773.19 drawn on Chicago's Banco Popular.
"I guess we will be inspired to do more things for
vegetarianism."
As a first step, the monastery plans to place the amount
in an endowment for publication of its Hinduism Today
magazine.
None of the principle will be touched, so that it will be
a perpetual source for funding outright 1,000 or more
free subscriptions a year forever, or subsidize a larger
number, the Paramacharya told TNN in an interview from
Hawaii.
He also said the "the supersized endowment will educate
Americans, especially youth, about the merits of a veggie
lifestyle, which has been a Hindu ideal for 6,000 years."
The victorious groups have however asked customers to
take note of the fact that McDonald's made no changes in
their fries, which still have beef-flavoring.
Under the terms of the settlement, McDonald's is only
required to make a better disclosure, not change the way
its fries are made.
"Sure, the oil is vegetable. But make no mistake about
it. There is meat in those luscious Golden Arches french
fries," Paramacharya Palaniswami said.
Attorney Harish Bharti did not return calls seeking
comment.
Times News Network
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
WASHINGTON: Several Hindu and vegetarian groups in the
United States had a happy surprise in the mail last week.
Healthy cheques for sums ranging from $50,000 to $1.4
million - part of the $10 million court-ordered
settlement in the case involving their beef against
McDonald's.
Some four years after Seattle-based Indian-American
lawyer Harish Bharti sued the fast food giant for
misleading customers by claiming their French fries were
vegetarian, McDonald's mailed out the cheques, in
addition to the apology it issued in March 2002.
The money, McDonald's said, will go "to Hindu, vegetarian
and other groups whose charitable and educational
activities are closely linked to the concerns of these
consumers (having dietary restrictions)."
Among the groups that benefited from the class-action
bonanza are International/American Gita Society, which
got $50,000; Hinduism Today Endowment, $250,000;
Supporting Excellence in Education, $900,000; Council of
Hindu Temples of North America $200,000; SSV Temple,
$50,000; and Hindu Students Council, $500,000.
Vegetarian groups that were awarded include Vegetarian
Resource Group ($1.4 milion), ADAF Vegetarian Nutrition
Dietetic Practice Group ($600,000), Preventive Medicine
Research Institute ($550,000), North American Vegetarian
Society ($1 million) Vegetarian Vision, Inc.,($250,000);
and American Vegan Society, $500,000.
They are among the 24 groups selected to receive
compensation from over 250 groups that were initially
considered under the terms of the settlement.
Also among the beneficiaries were Jewish, Muslim and Sikh
groups which joined the lawsuit claiming that the fries
were not kosher/halal etc.
"It was quite a surprise," said Paramacharya Palaniswami
of the Hindu Monastery in Kaui, Hawaii, which received a
check for $ 254,773.19 drawn on Chicago's Banco Popular.
"I guess we will be inspired to do more things for
vegetarianism."
As a first step, the monastery plans to place the amount
in an endowment for publication of its Hinduism Today
magazine.
None of the principle will be touched, so that it will be
a perpetual source for funding outright 1,000 or more
free subscriptions a year forever, or subsidize a larger
number, the Paramacharya told TNN in an interview from
Hawaii.
He also said the "the supersized endowment will educate
Americans, especially youth, about the merits of a veggie
lifestyle, which has been a Hindu ideal for 6,000 years."
The victorious groups have however asked customers to
take note of the fact that McDonald's made no changes in
their fries, which still have beef-flavoring.
Under the terms of the settlement, McDonald's is only
required to make a better disclosure, not change the way
its fries are made.
"Sure, the oil is vegetable. But make no mistake about
it. There is meat in those luscious Golden Arches french
fries," Paramacharya Palaniswami said.
Attorney Harish Bharti did not return calls seeking
comment.