Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • December 22, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||
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The brutality of factory farms and industrial slaughterhouses is far from public view, hidden behind walls both physical and psychological. The cruelty to chickens, turkeys, and pigs that occurs on factory farms is every bit as horrible as any act of barbarism that turns the stomach of any ethical person. Even worse, the cruelty to farmed animals is done on a scale that vastly exceeds all other acts of cruelty to animals, combined; indeed, ninety-nine percent of animals killed in the U.S. are slaughtered for human consumption. Since agribusiness
won’t bring the public to factory farms
and slaughterhouses,
Notes from Vegan Outreach
Fact: You Make the Difference!For years, as donations to Vegan Outreach increased, the number of people receiving booklets increased. With the economic collapse and the subsequent crash in contributions, 2009 reversed this trend. But despite the horrible economy, you stepped up in the past 13 months and opened your hearts and wallets for the animals. And now, distribution is growing again! This is proof positive your contributions make the difference.
The graph clearly shows that your donation goes right to focused, efficient advocacy for the animals – giving you the biggest bang for the buck, every day. Put another way:
You make the change happen!
Please join your fellow members of the Vegan Outreach team who have contributed to the matching challenge by making a fully tax-deductible contribution that will be matched, dollar for dollar! You can use a credit card to make a secure donation online, or send a check or money order to: Vegan Outreach | POB 30865 | Tucson, AZ 85751 How
many new people we reach in 2011
From “Your Daily Dose of Vegan Outreach!” Blog
Notes from Our Members
Jovan Jimenez (right)
and I met tons of nice families, groups, and couples at
Water Tower Place on this super cold day. Hundreds
accepted booklets despite the subfreezing temperatures.
Good conversations and really positive remarks
– the holiday spirit prevailed! The Humane League of Philadelphia
and the Animal Awareness Project joined
forces for an incredible day of outreach at
Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity. From
9am to 4pm, we continually leafleted until we had
no more booklets to hand out, and reached nearly
11,000 people! The people who took a leaflet
seemed to genuinely want one. We definitely
made an impact and hopefully restored the sanity
of people’s eating habits!
Good leafleting today at
Boca Ciega HS. I recently mentioned
something about wishing I could physically rescue
animals from slaughterhouses. But I know rescues
would never stop the endless flow of animals,
and working at the root of the problem – the
consumer demand for animal products – is the
best way to help the most animals in the long
run. Fantastic reception and conversations
at Cal State Fullerton. The token
male of a well-dressed pod of leaflet-deniers
felt the need to say, “I eat meat.” To which I said, “That’s
OK sweetie, that’s why I’m here.” Later, two of them returned
– the sassy male included – to retrieve their
booklets, apologizing for not doing it earlier.
In fact, they’re in student government and would
like me to speak on campus. Also had a groundbreaking convo with a hunter
who is seemingly on the cusp of giving up eating all “farmed”
animals! I am finding it easier and easier
to hand brochures to people in public places.
For example, at a supermarket last week, I gave
an Even If You Like Meat to both the
checker and the bagger. I went to my car and
realized I forgot stamps. When I returned, I
overheard the distressed bagger showing the
opened brochure to the lady at the courtesy
desk, pointing to a page while exclaiming, “Look
at the blood!” Here is a young girl who
bags countless packages of fresh meat each day
(obviously seeing some blood in them), but never
made the connection to the slaughtered animal. Long day at Grand Valley State,
with many highlights. Had a fantastic number of
one-on-one interactions and overheard a number
of students discussing the issue. One woman
came back and said, “I’m done! I cried
and I am never eating meat again.” Our
host Lena said her class of 30 people spent
the class talking about factory farming. Really
great to get some real-life evidence of the
buzz effect leafleting creates on campuses.
At the University of Hartford,
I was joined by Teresa, who went vegan
after previous discussions with Aleta and me.
Very receptive crowd. Got names and emails of
five students who want to leaflet and want to
get veg options in the cafeteria. At the University of Nebraska,
Kearney, one guy came back and said, “It
was a real eye-opener. I had no idea any of
this was going on. It’s sad, real sad. It is
all about the mighty dollar.” He said he
had grown up on a farm, but it was nothing like
it is now. Just as I was about to leave, a girl
told me, “I just wanted to let you know
I read the booklet, and now I’ve decided to
go vegetarian.” I congratulated her and
gave her a Guide
to help her make the change.
At Queens College,
the students were very receptive, and I was
lucky to have Marissa join me. One student was
so moved that he helped us out for an hour and
a half. Other good conversations, too. One elderly
couple stopped by and asked questions; it turns
out they were auditing a class about farming
and took some extra leaflets to share with the
professor. Had good luck today at
Howard Community College – positive feedback
from people who had gotten the booklet in the
past. For example: one guy told me he was “devastated,”
and had passed his copy on to his parents to
look at as well. Tabling at tiny Notre
Dame de Namur University, loads of students
remembered me from previous semesters (one student
told me that since meeting me, he’s gone vegetarian
and is working on vegan). I talked to quite
a few almost-vegetarians, vegetarians, and vegans.
One gal said she had read the brochure and was
really considering going veg; she got a Guide.
Many took info to show to friends/family. In the past, the
Boulder High School crowd was not very receptive,
but today the students were interested in taking
literature. A number of “already veg,”
and one student said his whole family is veg.
The students were extremely receptive
at both Shoreline Community College
and Edmonds Community College. At Edmonds CC
I met a 64-year-old guy who had been vegan for
the last 40 years. Met another guy who had been
vegan for the last 20 years. Quite a few other
vegans and vegetarians. A few people expressed
interest in going veg. I am so happy to be part
of this and be leafleting every day. More
people, more results!
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