Notes from Vegan
Outreach
Holy Booklets, Batman!
New Records!
 As
of August 22, Vegan Outreach had
already sent out more booklets
than last year (click the image
for a larger
version)!
Many of these booklets were distributed
at concerts, festivals, and other
venues this past summer. Since May
1, AAC
activists reported handing out over
300,000 booklets
at non-college venues -- including
161,276 at Warped Tour stops across
North America.
Fall semester has also gotten off
to a record-smashing pace, with
65,000+
booklets already handed directly
to students. This is more
than 2x last
Fall's total at this time! (Please
see the front
page for most recent actions.)
Thanks so much to everyone out
there reaching new people every
day, as well as those of you whose
generous donations have allowed
us to print more booklets each year.
You make this happen!
Activist Profile: Nick Cooney
Continuing our series of profiles,
here are some excerpts from Nick
Cooney's:
What made you decide to start
leafleting?
I actually remember Jon Camp standing
up at a lecture at Rutgers University
and telling the audience that the
best way to create change was by
distributing Vegan Outreach pamphlets.
This was close to four years ago,
and at the time I thought the idea
was silly. But over the years I've
realized more and more that veg
outreach is one of the most effective
ways -- and sometimes the most
effective way -- of helping as many
animals as possible.
What was your most positive
leafleting experience this year
and why?
Earlier this year, a couple attended
a foie gras protest we were having
in Philly. It was the first protest
the two had ever attended. The guy
stated that he had gone veg about
6 months ago after getting a leaflet
at West Chester University, where
he went to school. Turns out I was
the one who had given it to him!
Also, this past spring a family
approached one of our leafleters
here in Philly and said that after
receiving a pamphlet a few months
ago, their entire family had gone
vegetarian. Pretty awesome!
What would you say to individuals
hesitant about leafleting?
Jump in the water! Once you're
in, you won't want to get out because
a) you'll realize how effective
it is and b) you'll probably have
some fun doing it. Once you flip
into highly social mode, you won't
care so much about what people think
of you, or about the occasional
negative comments. Get out there
and do it! It really is one of the
most effective things you can do
to help animals.
Read
the entire profile here!
Where There's a Will...
Want to make sure that your estate
goes to speaking for the animals?
Vegan Outreach has put together
a short
page on how to put
the animals into your will.
Products of the Week
VO's Operations Officer Anne: Any
company who thinks they can bribe
their way to a spot in our eN by
sending us samples is absolutely
right ... as long as their products
are as good as
Tofurky Jurky!
Perfect texture and very flavorful,
it is a great food for travel, school
lunches, hiking, you name it. High
in protein, low in fat, too.
Executive Director Matt: Trader
Joe's Vegetable
Masala Burger has no
soy or wheat -- it is truly a vegetable
patty. Unlike any other "burger"
my family has had -- all three of
us like them! Delish!
Send your nominees for Product
of the Week to product
(at) veganoutreach (dot) org;
previous products can be found here.
Notes from All
Over
Via Dawnwatch.com,
B.R. Myers annihilates Michael Pollan's
animal-eating anti-vegetarian rationalizations:
"One debates the other side
in a rational manner until pushed
into a corner. Then one simply drops
the argument and slips away, pretending
that one has not fallen short of
reason but instead transcended it.
The irreconcilability of one's belief
with reason is then held up as a
great mystery, the humble readiness
to live with which puts one above
lesser minds and their cheap certainties.
As Pollan writes:
"'I have to say there is a
part of me that envies the moral
clarity of the vegetarian, the blamelessness
of the tofu eater. Yet part of me
pities him, too. Dreams of innocence
are just that; they usually depend
on a denial of reality that can
be its own form of hubris.'"
Myers comments:
"How arrogant, in other words,
how pitifully close to mental illness,
to want to be a better person!"
Read
more.
Notes from Our
Members
Your group inspired
us to become vegan, and most of
the rest of our family too!
 -MH,
8/31/07
Prabhu Raman, vegetarian since
given a booklet on campus two years
ago, makes his leafleting debut
at George Mason U; photo by Jon
Camp.
At East Carolina U
today, one student
said he couldn't get those disturbing
images out of his head. This was
followed-up by the exchange of the
day:
Me: Brochure to help animals?
Her: Oh, you already gave me one.
I'm never eating meat again in
my life.
Two days ago at Winston-Salem U
(an historically black college),
I was able to reach about 20% of
the students. Three teachers took
booklets to use in their classes.
At another point a student climbed
up on a trashcan and held the brochure
up high, saying "These animals
are no different than Michael Vick's
dogs. Don't eat these animals!"
He went on for a minute or two.
Many students thought the booklet
was about Michael Vick, one said
"Michael Vick is getting pummeled
on this campus!" But many were
questioning me why he is in so much
trouble in light of what happens
to farm animals.
-Jeff Boghosian, 8/29/07
At Brown, I
handed out 150 pamphlets in less
than a 1/2 hour. I had great reception.
And to think I was nervous! I would've
been able to distribute all 300
if I had brought them, but I didn't
expect it to be so easy.
-Tisa Smith, 9/3/07
Written to Anne Green:
I really respect your
work in animal rights. I have been
a vegetarian since the age of six.
(I asked my dad what tree hamburgers
grew on and was so horrified to
find out that meat comes from animals
that I immediately gave up meat.)
I actually became vegan in college,
largely due to information I received
from Vegan Outreach! I think the
work you are doing through Vegan
Outreach is wonderful and so very
important.
-MM, Apple Creek, OH,
9/4/07
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Vegan Outreach
P.O. Box 30865
Tucson, AZ 85751-0865
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