Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • March 22, 2006 | ||
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Notes from Vegan OutreachAAC Reaches New Milestones!
By the first day of Spring, activists had distributed over 105,000 booklets already this term, with Jon Camp (at right; photo by Joe Espinosa) having distributed over 30,000 at 50 different schools, and Stewart Solomon (a full-time teacher, husband, and father) over 17,000! Based on our calculations (see here), since the fall of 2003, the Adopt a College program has led to over 14,000 new vegetarians, sparing more than 500,000 birds and mammals from the horrors of factory farms and industrial slaughterhouses. Over the next 50 years, more than 25,000,000 animals will be spared! 25,000,000! None of us can experience the alternate universe where millions more animals would have suffered in factory farms. But if we are to bring about a vegetarian world, we need to do the hard, slow work of person-to-person outreach. Thanks to everyone who takes the animals' message to the public and to all of you who make it possible by financially supporting this necessary work!
Attention: St. Louis!Vegan Outreach co-founder and President, Jack Norris, R.D., will be the featured speaker at the St. Louis Vegetarian Society's Meatout Celebration. There will be two seatings for this all-you-can-eat gourmet vegan dinner! Details here. Jack will be leafleting in the St. Louis area on Friday, March 24. Contact him at jack (at) veganoutreach.org if you would like to join him.
Product of the WeekMaya Davis: "I think Luna bars should be the product of the week. They feature many organic ingredients and are vegan. These delicious bars are specifically designed for women." Send your nominees for Product of the Week to product (at) veganoutreach.org; previous products can be found here.
Notes from All OverAn Ethical Diet: The Joy of Being VeganFrom The Independent (UK); excerpts: "There are estimated to be at least 600,000 vegans in the UK, although there may be up to one million. The number is certainly growing sharply. Food surveys suggest that there were just 100,000 in 1993. The shelves of supermarkets are increasingly being stocked with products designed for vegans and the market for vegan food is thought to be growing by up to 15 per cent a year. Although there are no specific figures for veganism, the market research group Mintel estimated the meat-free market to be worth ?626m in 2004 -- a rise of 38 per cent in five years."
Unsurprising SquealsThe mindset of animal scientists: "Yes, they really did study the squeals piglets make when their testicles are chopped off. They conclude, somewhat unsurprisingly, that: 'The observed changes of acoustical parameters during the surgical period can be interpreted as vocal indicators for experienced pain and suffering.'" From issue 2541 of New Scientist magazine, 04 March 2006, page 96.
"Meat and You: Partners in Freedom"From the Simpsons
Notes from Our MembersWe're just about to
finish leafleting
the 400 Even If You Like Meat
booklets you sent us in February
for Hunter College. We've had MULTIPLE
people tell us that they made the
switch to a veggie diet. Thanks
so much! At West Valley College,
I met one girl who was "happy
to see someone doing this."
She mentioned that she had tried
being vegan but that it was too
hard. I gave her a GCFE,
and she flipped through it as we
talked. When she came to the heading
"I Was Vegan for a While, But...",
she laughed and said, "This
is totally me! I really need this." At the Galleria shopping
mall today, a young
woman told me that I changed her
life. She used to be a vegetarian,
but went back to eating meat. "But,
because of you today, I am going
to stop again." I then gave
her a GCFE. She opened
it to the center flap, and read
the caption "I Was Vegan for
a While, But...", and she then
happily told me that the GCFE
was just what she needed. When I was at Laurier
University, a man
walked past me, but when he heard
what I was handing out, he quickly
turned around. Taking a copy of
Even If You Like Meat,
he said that he taught animal rights
philosophy at the university, and
was also doing work on communication
in chimpanzees. After glancing at
the booklet, he gave praise, saying
it was definitely the right approach
to take and that if you tell people
that what they are doing is wrong,
they will be quick to throw it back
at you.
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Security
at Columbia College in
Chicago told me I could not leaflet
in front of the doors. I pointed
out to them that I was standing
on a public sidewalk, and was 12
feet from the door. They insisted
on calling the Chicago police who
responded with a paddy wagon. The
police officers let the security
team at the school know that I was
not harassing students, which was
the charge that the security team
dreamed up, and that I could continue
doing what I was doing as it is
a public sidewalk. One officer even
took a booklet.