Enewsletter
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Enewsletter • February 8, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||
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Notes from Vegan Outreach
AAC Powers into 2012!No winter doldrums here! Even though it’s only early February, Adopt a College activists have already reached 147,784 students at 182 schools in 2012. And right now, Jeni and Vic are leafleting in Mexico. Huge thanks to VO supporter Drew for making this possible! And thanks so much to every donor and activist who is a part of this amazing and necessary work for the animals!
Housekeeping NotesPlease don’t reply to this email (we won’t see your email); use this page to contact Vegan Outreach. Also, there will always be a secure unsubscribe link at the bottom of every issue, if you ever decide you no longer want to receive the VO enewsletter. Thanks!
From “Your Daily Dose of Vegan Outreach!” & Jack Norris RD Blogs
Product of the Week
Deborah: “Match meats are amazing enough to fool meat eaters! It was especially nice being able to enjoy an old comfort food like meatloaf for a Sunday meal. My non-veg husband and mother-in-law had seconds. My non-veg friend was so taken with the burger she bought some Match meat for herself. Some Whole Foods carry it; I buy it here in Indiana at a small vegetarian market. Also available via online stores. Expensive, but it is worth it for an occasional meal.” Please submit your favorite products; you can view previous entries here.
Notes from Our Members
A post to the Adopt a College email list: Sometimes my posts from the road
don’t list many details, often because I’m tired
after a day of driving and leafleting and because
I’ve actually gotten used to how positive leafleting
is. I’ve gotten used to the surreal drop in
antagonism over the years, the large number
of students who thumb through the booklets and
tell me this is an important issue, the large
number of kids who tell me that the booklet
really got them thinking, that they’re now vegetarian
or vegan (often as a result of our work), etc.
The most important change is often the silent
change – individuals mulling over new ideas
and figuring out how to go forward with the
moral conflict that has been brought to their
attention. So while it would be exciting to
say otherwise, a lot of this work is just getting
out there, getting the right materials in the
right hands, and letting individuals think through
these things on their own terms – which they
do. Absolutely
fantastic acceptance rate at Bakersfield
High School and Bakersfield College. At the
college, a guy stopped to tell me that he had
gone veg after getting a booklet from us at
the Warped Tour a few years ago. He now has
a two-year-old daughter and she has never eaten
meat! Two lives changed from one brochure! Another
guy was listening to our conversation and came
up to me afterwards and said he had done a fast
recently, specifically cutting out meat. He
also had a 15-month-old daughter (random!) and
her nutrition is a top priority for him, so
he got a Guide
as well. Very cool to have these two conversations
back to back.
I
was leafleting on the sidewalk
at Morehouse College (a private school), when
a man named Mr. Walkins asked me what I was handing
out. I explained what it was and he said, “I
went to school here with Martin Luther King.
Come on campus, he wouldn’t mind. No one will
bother you, you are with me. I know people.”
He was waving at people, shaking hands and smiling
at folks as I leafleted a bunch of students
(a high school crowd, too). He even leafleted
a few students as well. I
got tons of thank yous at CUNY
Hostos, with students waiting for the booklet
when I couldn’t get to them in time. Many people
who passed the first time only to request the
information from me on their way out. Others
asked for an extra copy to take home to their
children or other family members. One professor
stopped and told me that he showed the film
Food, Inc. in his classroom. After
speaking to him, he spoke to one of his students
right in front of me, telling her about the
horrors of factory farms. One lady didn’t take
a booklet at first but stood and spoke to me
about how much she loved her dog. I explained
to her that I love dogs, too, but my love doesn’t
stop there. After I explained to her why I am
vegan, she took a leaflet and said she would
read it, consider it, and even share it with
her son. Tina,
Mary, Jamie, John, Jennifer, and I reached
nearly 1,500 more students at Northern Illinois
University. One woman said that she went vegan
after getting a VO booklet last semester –
sweet! One of Jennifer’s friends took the booklet
after she gave him a hard time for turning her
down; he contacted her that night and asked
for more info on how he could start a vegetarian
diet. Awesome.
Cold
but excellent day at Harold Washington
College – very receptive students. Within minutes,
a vegan woman thanked me for the work. A couple
students asked about volunteering. Others stopped
with questions about the booklets, or said they
care about animals and told me they are interested
in moving toward vegetarianism. One girl told
me proudly she just went veg a month ago. I
ran out of booklets at 1:50, having only been
able to bring 1,000 with me on the train. At
Heritage University, I spoke with
a Yakima tribe student who said some powerful
things about how he sees industrial farming
(it’s a nightmare). Other students listening
in as he spoke. Coolest conversation I’ve had
in a while. Met
over a dozen vegetarians / vegans
at the University of Minnesota, where Mike,
Sen, and I reached over 1,900 students. Also
met a woman who went veg after getting a VO
booklet before. This was Mike’s first time leafleting.
He did an excellent job and had a good take
rate. He said at first he wasn’t sure if he’d
be able to do it. He tried it and immediately
saw how easy it was to get leaflets into students’
hands. We can definitely expect more from him
in the future. At
Miami Dade’s InterAmerican Campus,
there were many moments I wished I had a camera,
as many students stopped in their tracks to
read the booklets. Most seemed to be seeing
this information for the first time, and so
I’m sure many today gave consideration to animals
in a way they had never before. Always such
a great sight to see!
At
North Carolina A&T State, Markie
got a booklet from me earlier in the day, read
it, and came back and asked if there was any
volunteering he could do. I asked if he wanted
to help me leaflet the campus and he gladly
agreed. Another student came back to say he
got a booklet earlier in the day and was converted.
I heard other comments from those who said it
was “sad” or “interesting”;
I was able to offer a Guide to many
of them, as well as to others interested in
learning more or already vegetarian or vegan.
I had a long conversation with a student who
said she had lots of friends and extended family
members who were vegetarian or vegan but still
wasn’t sure whether she wanted to make the change.
We talked about the sentience of fishes, vegan
substitutes, living in a non-vegan society,
“happy” animal products, etc. She
left with a Guide.
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