Books

The Animal Activist's Handbook

We’re thrilled to announce the arrival of The Animal Activist’s Handbook, coauthored by Vegan Outreach’s Matt Ball and PETA’s Bruce Friedrich. Copies are now on sale in our catalog for 33% off cover price!

The Animal Activist’s Handbook punches way above its weight. Rarely have so few pages contained so much intelligence and good advice. Get it, read it, and act on it. Now.
—Peter Singer, Princeton University professor of bioethics, and author of Animal Liberation, hailed as“the most influential philosopher alive” by the New Yorker

This book is so much more than a “how-to” guide for activists. It is an inspirational and motivational opus from the two gentlest yet most effective giants in the movement. The Animal Activist’s Handbook will elevate your activism and forever alter who you are and who you want to be.
—Rory Freedman, #1 New York Times best-selling coauthor of Skinny Bitch, with 2 million copies in print

Read more endorsements and reviews.

Becoming Vegan

Eat This Book!
Becoming Vegan by Brenda Davis, RD & Vesanto Melina, RD
Reviewed by Matt Ball
March 2001

In his review of Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating, comedian Kevin Nealon wrote,"This book was so good, I wanted to eat it." The same is true of Davis and Melina's "sequel" to Becoming Vegetarian.

Becoming Vegan represents the very cutting edge of vegan nutritional research, a currently fast-paced field. Davis and Melina share Vegan Outreach’s conviction that it is of the highest importance to be the best-informed—and thus healthiest—vegan possible, even if doing so undercuts the fantasies about veganism being easy, perfect, and infallible. They don’t treat animal products as poison, and don’t contend that just removing these products from one’s menu leads to a healthy diet. Rather, they methodically discuss all the various aspects of good nutrition (including phytochemicals and functional foods) from a vegan perspective. Once they have built a solid understanding of the issues, they conclude the book with systematic plans for working toward optimal health, offering tips, shortcuts, and a few recipes.

In their writing, the authors don’t try to sugarcoat the truth. They summarize the results of research on vegans—including the negatives as well as the positives—and spell out the limitations and shortcomings of the research to date. Treatment of the myths is anything but reverent, from raw foodism and ultra-low-fat diets to “milk causes osteoporosis” and other correlation-based claims. Many people will be surprised at what studies actually say about vegans (for example, a 1999 analysis showed vegans to have a higher rate of heart disease than lacto-ovo vegetarians or fish-eaters).

Their take on the role of fat in the diet is very balanced and illuminating. Although ultra-low-fat diets have been found to have some level of effectiveness in treating people with pronounced coronary disease, it doesn’t follow that this is the optimal diet for healthy people, any more than saying that, because chemotherapy has some level of effectiveness against cancer, everyone should be on chemo! The book's treatment of essential fatty acids (EFAs) is the most thorough I have ever read, explaining very clearly the problems with maintaining the appropriate ratio of omega-6 to omega-3.

Perhaps the highest praise that I can offer is that, after being vegan for many years, reading Becoming Vegan has altered how I eat—for the better. Vegan Outreach now sells Becoming Vegan (see catalog).

Videos

Maximum Nutrition

Review of Dr. Michael Greger’s Vegan Nutrition DVD
by Jack Norris, RD
October 2003

Michael Greger is a dedicated animal activist who promotes a vegan diet to help the animals. He and I share the goal of preventing animal cruelty while making vegans as healthy as possible. Maximum Nutrition: Transitioning towards a Plant Based Diet with Michael Greger, M.D. is a great tool for people who want their family or friends to learn more about a vegetarian diet in a convenient, entertaining way. And if you’re like me, you’ll also learn some valuable information about vegan nutrition and cooking!

Anyone who has seen Dr. Greger speak knows he is entertaining, and his DVD lives up to his reputation. I found myself laughing out loud throughout.

The DVD covers the latest research on vegetarian diets and shows what vegans can eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Finally, Dr. Greger gives some quick, helpful cooking demonstrations and recipes for salad dressing, hummus, and other dishes. It is filled with helpful meal ideas, cooking tips, and pointers on how people can eat to maximize their health.

Dr. Greger spends a lot of time rightfully pointing out the benefits of whole foods. He told me that he was gearing the DVD to people who tend to have poor diets. But many vegans who are thin, physically active, and/or have a high metabolism should feel safe eating processed foods such as white pasta in order to meet their daily energy needs.

The 2-hour DVD is packed with interesting dialogue from beginning to end. You can order Dr. Greger’s DVD from the Vegan Outreach catalog.

[Note: Maximum Nutrition is now available from our catalog in both VHS and DVD format.]

Meet Your Meat

From the July 15, 2002 Vegan Outreach Enewsletter:

When possible, video is almost always the most powerful means of conveying to people the conditions of factory farms and slaughterhouses. Bruce Friedrich and colleagues at PETA have finished the latest version of the incredibly powerful 13-minute video, Meet Your Meat (you can see the new version online at their site).

Vegan Outreach now has copies of the 2-hour loop of this version—perfect for tabling. You can order a copy (and other materials) from our catalog. A narrated version (for talks) and a sub-tittled version (for Faunavision/ Faunette situations) are in the works, as is a new CD-ROM edition.

If you have the chance to use a TV and VCR in your outreach efforts at any point, there is no better tool available than Meet Your Meat—it is the most profound voice we can give the animals!

We currently offer the 2-hour VHS tabling version of Meet Your Meat (looped, with narration).

Vegetarian Cooking

From the December 1, 2004 Vegan Outreach Enewsletter:

The Compassionate Cooks DVD Is Excellent!

One of the most common questions vegans get is "What do you eat?" There is a seemingly insatiable desire for recipes and cooking demos.

With the release of Compassionate Cooks Vegetarian Cooking DVD, you don’t get just recipes, cooking and shopping tips, but acres of additional information and, perhaps most importantly, a real appreciation for the joy of vegan cooking. Along with Michael Greger’s Maximum Nutrition, this is an amazing tool for anyone who wants to learn more about vegetarianism, or who wants to fully enjoy the cheer and fun of compassionate cooking!

Please see our catalog to order the 70-minute Vegetarian Cooking DVD.

Vegan Outreach Shirts and Bag

VO T-Shirts

Ellen Green – 5' 4" 105 lbs (age 13)
Ladies-cut S	Ellen’s pick: Unisex S

We offer two styles from American Apparel’s “Sustainable Edition” line:

• Unisex
  (2001ORG) is a fine-jersey, short-sleeve tee with a slim fit
• Ladies cut
  (4305ORG) is a baby-rib basic tee with true short sleeves and a contoured fit

Both styles are

• natural/light-beige color
• made in the USA, sweatshop-free
• 100% USDA-certified organic cotton
  (Note: fabric is a lightweight cotton)
• printed front & back using water-based inks (no PVC or phthalates)

Click here for larger view of design.

Anne Green – 5' 7" 130 lbs
Ladies-cut large (front & back)		Ladies-cut medium

Unisex small	Anne’s pick: Unisex medium

Matt Ball – 6' 2" 160 lbs
Unisex large (front & back)

See catalog to order. Please be sure to specify size; if ordering multiple sizes of the same style shirt, please indicate the quantity per size in the comments field of the order form.

VO Tote Bag

Click image for larger view.

Advertise compassion while you shop!

• Size: 15.5" x 15"
• Self-material handles measure 26"
• Comfortable, easy-care cotton fabric
• Fold-flat construction for easy storage

Available from our catalog thanks to the generosity of Vegan Outreach supporter Becky.

Displays

Display Prints

Set of 10 letter-sized color prints with photos, quotations, and captions—ideal for tabling.

Display prints can be downloaded from our resources page or ordered from the catalog.

VO Bumper Sticker

All-weather vinyl sticker, measures approximately 8.5" x 3.75"; choose from two designs:

Order from our catalog—free S&H!

Booklet Holder

Clear plastic stands for displaying our booklets—visit the catalog to order.