Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • October 19, 2011 | ||||||||||||||
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Notes from Vegan OutreachActivists Profile: Kate St. John and Aaron Ross
Continuing our series of activist profiles, we feature the amazing duo Kate St. John and Aaron Ross, longtime dedicated activists who are co-directors of the Maryland office of The Humane League. Excerpts: Why do you leaflet? We used to leave leaflets around town and pass them out at educational events. VO’s Adopt a College inspired us to do it on a much larger scale. What was your most positive leafleting experience and why? By far, leafleting the Warped Tour year after year and meeting all the kids who tell us they have gone veg and vegan after reading a leaflet. Plus, it’s uplifting to connect with all the movers and shakers across the country. What would you say to individuals hesitant about leafleting? You will be empowered by how easily you can change someone’s life and save a number of animals by simply handing someone a piece of paper. It’s powerful stuff!
From “Your Daily Dose of Vegan Outreach!” & Jack Norris RD Blogs
Product of the Week
Kate and Aaron: “We have been using Bob’s Red Mill TVP a whole lot. It is so easy to make, dirt cheap, and packed full of protein.” Please submit your nominees for product of the week via this page; previous entries here.
Notes from Our Members
Brigham
Young University was pure gold.
I talked to two separate students who are seriously
considering going vegetarian; gave them Guides. One of the guys had tried veganism but said
he couldn’t stay vegan, so I talked to him about
making a shift that he could sustain for the
long haul. Each conversation held some of those
beautiful “Ah-ha!” moments. Friends,
we have some new vegetarians in the making.
Yesterday,
Sen and I reached over 750 students
at Anoka Ramsey Community College. Talked to
one girl very interested in being vegan. And
after giving another girl an Even If You
Like Meat booklet, she said “I’m gonna
be vegan. I just can’t bear the thought of eating
a dead animal.” Both she and a friend wanted
Guides.
Nettie and
I got good feedback at Willamette
University and Linfield College. One student
said the pictures were sad. Nettie said to her,
“Yes, it’s sad, but it’s important information.”
Another student said, “I’ll read this,
but it will make me cry.” Nettie told her
that shows that she’s a caring person. The highlight
was when Nettie asked a student leaving the
cafeteria whether she had gotten a booklet.
The student said, “You gave me one earlier,
and I didn’t eat meat for dinner.” Mara,
Katie, and I reached 4,275 students at
Montclair State. Saw so many reading, pointing
at pictures and showing friends. One student
and her fiancé wanted to get involved with
VO and leaflet in NJ. One girl teared and came
up to Mara saying she never knew about this,
and she wants to go vegetarian, and wanted to
know how to do it. Alexandra
(Who Killed the Electric Car?) and
friend joined me at Occidental College today.
Great conversation with members of the newly formed
student group. Then, at Blair High School, one
young lady stopped, asked about my eating habits,
and then said, “I want do it, I want to
go vegan.” John,
Ashley, Ben, Jacqueline, and I had
a great day at Arizona State’s downtown campus,
with a number of positive interactions. Ashley
met a young athletic guy who went vegetarian
after reading the booklet. John met a student
who ate organic chicken, but after reading the
brochure and talking to John, came back later
to say she was going vegetarian!
Reached
2,150 students at North Carolina
State. I met a student who said she immediately
went vegetarian four years ago (at age 14) after
she picked up a booklet in the NCSU library
and read it while eating lunch. She was really
excited to see someone handing out booklets
and happily took a Guide. A vegan student
was surprised to see me handing out booklets
as well and was interested in getting involved
in the student AR group to connect with other
vegans. One student told me she had just been
in a discussion about the booklet in class.
I overheard another student who got a booklet
earlier in the day tell his friend, who had
just taken one, “That’s actually not bad
reading.” At
the University of Connecticut,
we met a number of vegetarians and vegans, some
who said they changed their eating habits as
a result of receiving leaflets from our previous
efforts. One guy said he got the booklet yesterday,
pledged to cut back eating animals, and asked
for a Guide. A
great few days of leafleting –
hit Christopher Newport University, Old Dominion
U, Elizabeth City State, and UNC Wilmington.
ECSU, a mostly African-American school, had never
been leafleted before; a lady wearing a white
apron came running out of the cafe after me.
I thought I was going to get yelled at, but
it turned out that she wanted to pass out leaflets
to the students inside (she’s veg). I also had
some great interactions with athletes who thought
they needed meat for protein. After giving them
a Guide and relating examples of vegan
weightlifters, etc., they seemed really open
to the idea of a vegetarian diet. And at UNCW,
a student came up to me and said that the booklets
are really opening up a dialog and making them
think about their food choices. She stated that
she overheard some students who said they aren’t
going to eat meat anymore.
Diane,
Lori, and I set a huge new record
at West Valley College, reaching 1,676 students.
We all had fascinating conversations. One guy
came back to me to ask about the work; the gears
in this kid’s head were seriously turning.
He told me straight up he knows he needs to
go vegan. I kind of felt like I was talking
to a version of myself from six years ago.
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