Enewsletter

Notes from Vegan Outreach

Final 2007 Numbers

In 2007, distribution was 1,821,437 -- an average of 4,990 detailed, graphic, and documented booklets each and every day!

This is a 56% increase over 2006, which matches, exactly, the 56% increase in FY 2006 to 2007 donations.

Fall semester of Adopt a College smashed previous records, with 415,312 booklets handed directly to students, bringing the 2007 AAC total to 758,432. Reported non-AAC leafleting broke the half-million booklet mark, at 538,227.

A student reads an Even If at Assumption College; photo by Mike Benedetti.

Thanks so much to the many hundreds of leafleters and donors who have made this possible!

Together, we'll make 2008 even better!

A Meaningful Life

At Vegan.com, Erik Marcus read A Meaningful Life as part of his New Year's Eve podcast. He has also made it available as a stand-alone mp3 file.

Product of the Week

New bumper stickers are now available from the Vegan Outreach catalog. Thanks to designer extraordinaire Lauren Panos!

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

Notes from All Over

Pig Abuse in North Carolina

Warning: Graphic Video. "In the black-and-white video, a supervisor can be heard bragging to the undercover PETA investigator that he brutally beats the animals. 'I ain't going to lie to you; I've done it,' he says. 'My temper is about that long. I get f-- frustrated and I have knocked the s-- out of them. Like that one bit me the other morning, that mother f--.... I cut the s-- out of his G--d-- nose with a f-- gate rod.'

"In other segments, pigs who have the word 'KILL' spray-painted on their backs screech in apparent pain as they're dragged to slaughter with a heavy metal prodder attached to their legs, ears and snouts, and women laugh as they castrate one piglet after another without anesthesia or painkillers." Full story; see this follow-up and also this story about Finnish animal farming.

Taking Global Warming Personally
(and Shedding Some Holiday Weight at the Same Time)

From Huffington Post: "A U.N. report from just this past November found that a full 18% of global warming emissions come from raising chickens, turkeys, pigs, and other animals for food. That's about 40% more than all the cars, trucks, airplanes, and all other forms of transport combined (13%). It's also more than all the homes and offices in the world put together (8%).

"So, one of the simplest and most elemental (and most delicious) things you can do to decrease your carbon footprint is to choose a veggie burger over a hamburger, "un-chicken" patties (try Garden Protein, the new and much talked about faux chicken/turkey) over actual chicken, or some grilled Portobello mushrooms with marinated tofu (I swear it's really good!). Order the vegetarian option whenever you go out to a restaurant -- and ask everywhere you go that they expand the vegetarian section on their menu, since it's good for owners of restaurants, hotels, airlines, etc. to know that there is consumer interest for tasty plant-based entrees." Full story.

Look for Garden Protein when it comes to your area (it is already widely available in Canada) -- it is a game-changer!

Should Animals Be Doing More?

Video report from The Onion.

Notes from Our Members

At the Rockville Metro station, a nice young woman stood outside reading the booklet for what must have been 15 minutes. She then said to me, "I don't think I'll be able to eat any more chicken after reading this." I gave her a Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating. She was very sincere and read some of the GCFE for about 5 minutes, and came back asking for one more Why Veg and one more GCFE for her boyfriend.
-Jon Camp, 12/27/07

Paul Shapiro leaflets at the Shady Grove Metro stop; photo by Jon Camp.

My first leafleting went really well. It only took a little over an hour for my roommate and me to pass out about 300 of them. I got quite a bit of positive feedback, too, which I was really happy about since my school (University of Northern Colorado) is somewhat on the conservative side.
-Megan McNeil, 12/21/07

While showing Meet Your Meat on the street, we handed out all the booklets we brought (850). There was a consistent crowd of at least 15 people watching at any given time [see video of people watching here]. I'd estimate around 10,000 people got at least a glimpse of the video. Next time, we'll bring a lot more booklets.
-Andre Inglis, 12/28/07

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