Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • April 6, 2011 | ||||||||||||||
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Notes from Vegan OutreachPhoenix RisingContinuing our series of activist profiles, we turn today to one of the new Arizona powerhouses, John Oberg! Since November 2009, John’s already taken the animals’ message to 17,550 folks.
Here’s an excerpt: What made you decide to start leafleting? Shortly after going vegan I googled “Phoenix” and “animal rights” and the meetup.com site came up. I discovered Jeff Boghosian’s group, came out for an event, and loved it. After more reading and actually seeing direct results, I came to the determination that this was the single best way to create social change. Societal attitude is really shifting and we’re constantly contributing to more and more social change; we just need to keep on getting the word out and letting the public know what’s going on behind closed doors. If they know, they will change… What would you say to those who want to help but can’t get out and leaflet? Donate! Everyone can help the cause in some way. If you have some sort of restriction preventing you from getting out leafleting, you can still help the cause greatly by donating. Your contribution will help save so many animals and reduce so much suffering. Read the full interview.
From “Your Daily Dose of Vegan Outreach!” & Jack Norris RD Blogs
Products of the Week
John: “Two books I’ve been reading (and rereading): The Animal Activist’s Handbook by Matt Ball and Bruce Friedrich and Change of Heart: What Psychology Can Teach Us about Spreading Social Change by Nick Cooney. Both excellent resources for activists everywhere and great tools for creating change.
“In terms of food: Tofurky kielbasa is something I’ve been eating all the time recently. Polish kielbasa is something I loved as a kid and it’s great to still be able to enjoy it while not contributing to such an exploitative system. Sauté some up and throw it on spaghetti and you’re golden.” Please submit your nominees for product of the week via this page; previous entries here.
Notes from All OverLightning Round
Notes from Our Members
When
I was a sophomore in high school
in San Diego, I was walking around a mall with
some friends and someone gave me a pamphlet
called Why Vegan? I continued to walk
with my friends and started looking through
the pamphlet. I was three pages in when I decided
to become vegan. That day I gave up all animal
products and the next day donated my leather
shoes to charity. That pamphlet changed my dietary
life and I ended up going to a vegan cooking
school right after high school. I am now 27
and a marine biologist finishing my school at
UCSC and I am still creating new vegan dishes. Yesterday
at the University of Wisconsin, Eau
Claire, a girl said, “I looked at (the
booklet) during biology. It made me cry.”
Another girl said, “Every time I read that
it makes me puke.” Today at UW Stevens Point, one woman liked
that we didn’t present it as an all-or-nothing
issue. She said she would be able to make incremental
changes. One guy said factory farming was the
moral issue of our age. He said we definitely
need to do more to get rid of it, so I gave
him an AML.
Met a bunch of vegetarians/ vegans at both
schools.
Ran
into Rachel at the University of North
Carolina, Wilmington, and she helped between
her classes. Together, we reached 1,275 students.
Watched students reading, and could tell they
were really being influenced. A student came
up to me and said, “I don’t know if you
know this, but this booklet is awesome.”
He is going vegetarian, so I handed him a Guide. Cobie
and I were thanked multiple times
at Western Oregon University, where we met a
number of vegetarians and vegans. One guy took
an Even If You Like Meat and a Guide to use to write
a paper on vegetarianism for a writing class. Later
Cobie and I met another student who said she
used a booklet she had gotten previously
for a presentation. Cobie met a student who
took 10 booklets to give to friends.
Students
at Evergreen Valley College were
super receptive! A number of people mentioned
recognizing the booklet. I overheard a young
lady say to her friends, “This is why
I became a vegetarian,” so I snapped a
picture of her (right). Her name is Crystal
and she’s been veg for over a year after
receiving a VO booklet at EVC. Good
day leafleting Broward College’s
different campuses. Two Marines got pamphlets
and they both sat on a bench to read them. A
man pointed to the pictures of the pigs and
said (in a very sad tone) that he eats a lot
of pork. We talked for a bit and he said, “Thank
you for informing me about these things. I didn’t
know about it.” A woman said her family
is currently transitioning to being veg. She
appreciated receiving a Guide. I talked with
another woman for a while, and she told me that
I have a pleasant demeanor and she thought I
would probably influence/ inspire a lot of people. Brian,
John, and I reached 2,675 students
at York University, and had many productive conversations.
A human rights major tried getting into a debate,
asking if my shoes were leather, etc. I told
her that even if my shoes were leather, the
point is not absolute purity or a fundamentalist
veganism but to reduce as much unnecessary suffering
as possible. After 10 minutes, she came to
see being veg as a big part of making the world
a better place and that all issues are connected. From recent online requests for the Guide:
Got
your booklet at San Jose State
University. Two students did a great job of
NOT forcing the flyer, so I took one to be polite.
Hated the pictures, loved the solution. A person on campus (Bloomington,
IN) was handing out booklets. I used to be a
vegetarian and this inspired me and reminded
me why I want to send more positive light into
the universe by avoiding cruelty. I received a booklet about
factory farming (in Grand Rapids, MN), and have
been doing a lot of research. I’ve now been
vegetarian for about five months and am seriously
considering going vegan. Thank you! At Carleton
University, some students were
handing out booklets. I already cut down my
meat consumption for a year now, I'd like to
see how far I can push myself to completely
reduce my meat intake.
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