Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • March 18, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||
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The
students were incredibly receptive
at the University of North Texas
today. Two ROTC uniformed men took
a look through the Even If You
Like Meat, and, to my surprise,
one sadly said, “I hate to see this."
He was very disturbed about how
farm animals are treated and asked
for more information, so I gave
him a Guide.
He said, “But what’s this on the
front?!” pointing to the veggie
burger. I told him what it was and
said how easy it was, nowadays,
to find alternatives. He asked for
an Even If and Guide
for his friend, too. They walked
away reading the brochures. In another
misguided “leaflet profiling” incident,
I assumed this tough-looking man
would say “I like meat!” when offered
an Even If, but instead
said, “Thanks! I just went vegetarian
a few months ago.” One student walking
by said to her friend, “That’s why
I am vegan,” pointing to the brochure
her friend received. Rob [Gilbride]
and I both met students interested
in leafleting, one vegan, and one
vegetarian who told me, “People
need to know about this.” I received your pamphlet
about the treatment that pigs, chickens,
and cows get right before they're
killed and boiled for us. It got
me really upset, and now that I
see how those poor animals are treated,
I do not want to eat meat again.
I am a college student and want
to help you to stop this cruelty.
It was right around
freezing most of the
day at Augsburg College, with a
misty fog hiding the sun. One student
said, "I grew up on a farm
like that, so I know how bad it
is. I'm glad you're out here. People
need to know where their food comes
from." The
highlight of leafleting today
was meeting Linsey, who became vegan
(from being a meat eater who only
ate two vegetables, according to
her mom) after reading an Even
If You Like Meat she found
at Whole Foods. She is now going
to college for animal law, and is
going to help us with future outreach! Jessica
[Dadds], Yvonne [LeGrice], Nettie
[Schwager], and I played hooky today
to leaflet Oregon State. Outside
the library, a young man told me
that he remembered receiving a leaflet
while standing in the exact same
spot 12 months ago. He said he became
a vegetarian shortly afterward,
and he is now working toward becoming
vegan. Leslie
[Patterson] and I handed out over
1,000 booklets today at the University
of Wisconsin, Madison, and heard
from dozens of vegetarians/vegans.
One student told her, “You won me
over with that booklet last time.
I have been clean for six months.” Had some awesome
responses at
Iona College, including a student
I met who wants to start an AR group
on campus. A student receiving a
booklet said, “Damn straight! I’m
on board with your cause -- I’m
totally against any cruelty to animals.”
One girl asked, “Hey are you a vegan?
Because I think I’m headed that
way too!” (She got a Guide.)
A security guard approached me:
“Excuse me, miss? Can I get a few
of those? I want to give them to
the lady who runs the animal group
at the high school.” 
It was slow
at West Virginia State University
-- only 121 booklets -- but the
person who made my day was a student
who said she was going veg after
reading the booklet in class. We
talked for about 10 minutes. I used Compassionate
Choices for four humane
education presentations at a Philadelphia
high school. The students were really,
really moved by the booklets and
many said they wanted to go vegetarian.
It was very positive. Great acceptance rate
today at Reedley College.
Met even more folks who were excited
and surprised to see me. They said
things like, "Wow, it's so
weird that you're here, I was just
thinking about this / talking about
this with a friend / writing about
this in a report," etc. Alabama State is
an historically black school; the
receptivity was pretty great. One
guy who plays on the school football
team told me he has been thinking
a lot about this issue. He had a
number of questions about which
plant-based foods were good for
building and maintaining muscle
mass. His friend came up about an
hour later with similar questions,
saying he heard about me through
his friend. I got both of their
email addresses and will contact
them with more information.
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