Enewsletter

For modern animal agriculture, the less the consumer knows about what’s happening before the meat hits the plate, the better.
      If true, is this an ethical situation? Should we be reluctant to let people know what really goes on, because we’re not really proud of it and concerned that it might turn them to vegetarianism?
-Peter Cheeke, PhD, Oregon St. U. Professor of Animal Agriculture, Contemporary Issues in Animal Agriculture, 2004 textbook

Notes from Vegan Outreach

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving can be a rough time for vegetarians, but we have a lot for which to be thankful. It has been a tremendous year, with ever-increasing numbers of people learning the realities of modern animal agriculture and choosing to no longer support it.

We at Vegan Outreach are thankful, every day, to be part of the expanding circle of ethics, working as hard and as smart as we can to bend the arc of history towards justice.

Again last week, more than 30,000 students were handed booklets on campuses across North America. By the time you read this, the semester total will have passed 300,000.

At right, Moni Woweries leaflets at Borough of Manhattan Community College.

We are creating a generation for whom the incredible horrors of factory farms and industrial slaughterhouses are no longer hidden. Of course, progress won't be as fast as we would like, but we can be sure that the current practice of breeding, raising, and butchering animals for the taste of their flesh won't be able to stand the light of exposure.

Everyone at Vegan Outreach is truly thankful, every day, for the volunteers and donors who do so much for the animals.

Product of the Week

Sean: "Winter is coming, and EcoLips Bee Free Lemon-Lime is one of the many reasons I enjoy the season. My lips crack easily, and this lip balm stick melts to your lips and has a fantastic lemon-lime flavor, and it works really well."

Send your nominees for Product of the Week to product (at) veganoutreach (dot) org; previous products can be found here.

Notes from All Over

Will the Government Stop This?

Understandably, people expect the government to stop the worst abuses by regulating the meat industry. However, the only major law that applies to some food animals -- The Humane Slaughter Act, which applies only to mammals -- is basically unenforced. As conceded in the meat industry journal, Meatingplace (Nov. 2006, pp. 10-16, emphasis added):

"The [undercover] video [of the slaughterhouse for beef processor Agri-Processors] caught the attention of USDA's Inspector General, who investigated the matter. The picture the resulting report painted was of government inspectors playing video games while Agri-Prccessors employees violated provisions of the Humane Methods and Slaughter Act. The report, however, concluded that the actions didn't amount to a 'prosecutable offense.'

"'Why is it," PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich wants to know, "that even on occasions when USDA agrees there were egregious violations, it doesn't hand down any kind of criminal prosecution, despite the fact that it's a criminal offense? USDA has never bothered to criminally prosecute anyone for violating the Humane Slaughter Act."

Salmonella on the Rise in Chicken Meat

excerpt: "A type of salmonella found in eggs is turning up more often in chicken meat and needs to be reduced, according to the Agriculture Department. From 2000 through 2005, there was a fourfold increase in positive test results for salmonella enteritidis on chicken carcasses. Salmonella sickens at least 40,000 people and kills about 600 every year in the United States."

Notes from Our Members

I'm so inspired by what you are doing. You are a keystone species in progressive society. Such a brilliant and effective use of money.
-MS, 11/16

While leafleting at the mall, two people told me that they got the pamphlet from me earlier in the day, and they are now going to have to go vegan. Many others told me that it was great what I was doing.
-Eugene Khutoryansky, 11/19/06

At Western Michigan University, Kaya and I handed out over 1,400 booklets, and heard from about 25 vegetarians, about 5 vegans, 10 hunters. One of the first of several good conversations was with a student who was handed a booklet and came back some minutes later with a look of disturbed concern. He stated he had no idea that farm animals were subjected to this brutal treatment and it did not sit well with him.
     The second really neat conversation started with a student laughingly asking me if I really thought that everyone should be a vegetarian. I explained that I doubted that I could reach everyone, but I was talking with him and had handed him a booklet, so the burden of this moral issue was now on his shoulders as well. A second student stopped to listen as student A tried to squirm out of the ethical dilemma by stating that animals eat each other. I reminded him that we do not look to nonhuman animals as our moral leaders, as most seem to lack the capacity to think in moral terms, while we know we can live perfectly well without harming others like this. He admitted to this point and stated he would read the booklet. Student B then asked a few questions about modern farming procedures and stated that he was impressed with our apparent commitment to the cause, as we stood out in the chilly weather for hours handing out these booklets. On his way back from class student B thanked me for the booklet stating that he had read it and "it was a real eye opener."
-Joe Espinosa, 11/15/06

Two great quotes from SUNY Fredonia:
     Student 1: (upon receiving EI) This is totally going on my refrigerator!
     Student 2 (snidely): Oh, I heard about this brochure. Aren't there carcasses in it?
     Me: Well, yes, there are pictures of animals, living and dead -- but if you can eat them, shouldn't you be able to look at them?
     Student: Touché. (takes a brochure)
-Jenna Calabrese, 11/18/06

At Portland State U, I heard many people say an enthusiastic "Sure!", "Definitely!", or "You bet!" I ran into a few people who said they were vegetarian but were in the process of going vegan. I gave them a GCFE, and that made them happy. One man browsed through an EI and said "Awww... I know, I need to clean out my refrigerator and stop eating meat." I told him how it's not an all-or-nothing situation -- he can still help animals by just eating more vegetarian meals. He said, "No, I want to stop eating meat all together." (All the better!) He was happy to get some recipes (I gave him a GCFE).
-Jessica Dadds, 11/16/06

At the University of Kentucky today, eight of us gave out a grand total of 2,672 EI booklets. One man came up to say he was still grappling with some AR arguments. I said that VO's sole argument is that animals suffer unnecessarily on factory farms and slaughterhouses and that we can reduce this by reducing our animal product consumption. I said that we have the capacity to think about these things and act on the ethical decisions that we come to. After conversing for a bit, he said, "These are the best answers I've heard on this. I'm going to really think about this."
      One man who appeared to be a professor walked by and belligerently said, "You should care about human suffering," and, for whatever reason, I said in an uncharacteristically forcible, but still very calm manner, "And we cure human problems by raising and slaughtering animals, sir? Is that right? -- we make the world better by being brutal to animals?"
      One young woman walked up to volunteer Emily and said that she was horrified by what she read and was not going to eat animals anymore. And a nice pair of women helped out with the leafleting today (both in their 70's and very sweet) and a young woman came up to them and stated, "I got a booklet earlier today and am now going to go veggie!" This meant a great deal to the volunteers as they saw the concrete results of their work.
-Jon Camp (at U Kentucky), 11/16/06

Vegan Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the suffering of farmed animals by promoting informed, ethical eating. All donations are tax-deductible. Vegan Outreach POB 30865, Tucson, AZ 85751-0865