Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • October 28, 2009 | ||||||||||
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Notes from Vegan OutreachLink of the Week: Animals as the Bottom Line
Last year, Vegan Outreach published “Animals as the Bottom Line: Global Warming, Human Psychology, and Net Impact for Animals.” In it, we warned about using climate change as our primary argument, and showed examples where it leads to the suffering and slaughter of many more chickens. (It takes about 190 very intensively raised chickens to provide as many meals as one steer.) A recent front page of the New York Times reported yet another example – Sweden’s government telling people to eat more chickens to combat global warming. As “Bottom Line” concludes: “Although the global warming / food connection seems clear to us, the bottom line is how it actually plays out in people’s minds. When used on its own, the diet / global warming angle can easily do more harm (increase in chickens eaten) than good (people going veg). Instead of an oblique anti-beef message, we can present a direct anti-cruelty / pro-animal message, and convince more people to eat fewer or no animals.”
Products of the Week
Jon: “This Silk soymilk is a convenient way to get omega-3s and calcium.” Kristen: “I am pregnant and craving vegan desserts. Thank goodness for Nasoya Silken Style Creations. These fantastic vegan recipe starters come in chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. Each package contains recipes that are simple, vegan and delicious!” Send your product of the week to product (at) veganoutreach (dot) org; previous entries here.
Notes from All OverLightning Round
Notes from Our Members
Joe (Espinosa)
and I took three vacation days
to leaflet Ohio State, the University of Illinois
in Urbana, and Purdue. While on the road, we
saw a trailer full of baby pigs, a devastating
reminder of why we leaflet. Over
the three days at Austin City
Limits music festival, lots of people told me
they had received one the previous day, and
that it made them cry. One person told me she
is definitely going to be a vegetarian now.
I overheard another person telling her friends
that she got this pamphlet when she was little,
and that it is the reason she doesn’t eat meat
anymore.
At Suffolk
County Community College, Luna
(Foxx), Jennifer (Greene) and I heard many positive
responses. A security guard stopped to talk
to me and Luna for a bit, very supportive and
interested, and told us to keep up the good
work. Another student simply stopped, asked
us a few questions, and then she said, “Okay,
I’m going to try it!” (going vegan) –
right on the spot! At the
University of Wisconsin, La Crosse,
I talked to a former hog farmer who got out
of the business awhile ago because he didn’t
like the way the industry was going. He said
the cruelty and confinement just weren’t right.
He said free range and organic weren’t any better.
The animals were still packed in sheds full
of manure and dust. While leafing through the
flier he said he could see how being vegan was
probably the best option for the animals and
the planet too. Phil
Letten and I had an awesome day
at Wayne State, Oakland University, and Oakland
Community College – so many interactions.
For example, one student at Wayne said he got
a leaflet last year, and after reading it, the treatment of animals
haunted him until he eventually went veg.
Students
seemed very receptive at Rhode
Island College. I had a good conversation with
a student who’s interested in starting an animal
advocacy group on campus. One woman asked for
a booklet and was still intently reading it
about 15 minutes later. I also heard someone
say to her friend, “Let me see that!!!”
Great
day at Monterey Peninsula College and
CSU Monterey Bay. Lieutenant Colonel Robert
Lucius (right), Dean of Students at the Defense
Language Institute and my gracious host, was
able to join me today in his Vegan Outreach
leafleting debut. Bob has been a Marine for
over 20 years, so was easily able to approach
young male students who potentially may have
a bit of a “macho complex” and show
them that real men are kind to animals.
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