Enewsletter
 |
Enewsletter • April 18, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||
Notes from Vegan Outreachexcerpts from A Real Earth Day EthicIn many cases, “environmentalism” in the US is just a different expression of narcissism. We want charismatic macrofauna to entertain us. We want wild spaces to use. We want clean air and water for our children and friends. We want others to change to be like us. But true ethics aren’t a question of what “we want.” [S]tatements and sayings are superficial; intentions and ideology are irrelevant.… Actions – indeed, our very lives – matter only because of their consequences for feeling beings.
All creatures – not just wild or endangered animals – desire to live free from suffering and exploitation. Cruelty is wrong, whether the victim is an eagle or a chicken, a wolf or a pig. The rest is just noise and obfuscation.… Veganism is a statement against “we want.” Veganism is the embodiment of a consistent, universal ethic. Veganism is a real choice with real consequences. At the end of the day, we can each look in the mirror, knowing we are good people making choices that won’t lead to more suffering for our fellow feeling beings. Being vegan is only the beginning, however. Those of us who are already vegan have many further opportunities to make the world a better place. Even if our food choices aren’t directly causing animals to be slaughtered, our other choices – setting an attractive example, optimizing our time and resources to have the greatest impact – have consequences even more important than what we eat.
From “Your Daily Dose of Vegan Outreach!” & Jack Norris RD Blogs
Product of the WeekGina: “Kiss My Face is the best vegan shave cream I’ve tried yet. It actually foams up nicely!” Please submit your favorite products; you can view previous entries here.
Notes from Our Members
Huge
record day at Pasadena City College.
Not one Tu/Th student will remain in
the dark about factory farms on this campus
thanks to today. I was there and rockin’
by 7:45, handing out 50 booklets in 4 minutes.
Wow-ee-wow! Heard from numerous veg / vegan /
veg-in-training peeps. So many conversion stories
at Ohlone College, with Katie and Alex. Alex
had also helped out last year, and has since
gone vegan. A student waived me over inquiring
about the recipes on the back. He said, “I
might want to try this vegan thing out.”
Sweet! I gave him a Guide. Alex texted me later
and told me that he was watching 4 people in
his English class read the brochure while class
was going on. He texted again a few minutes
later and said the guy in front of him had turned
around to ask him about the brochure. They chatted;
he was really impacted by it and said he’s
going to go veg!
At City
College of San Francisco, we were
joined by an enthusiastic volunteer, Danielle
(courtesy of Brian G.). Great busy leafleting
the whole time – lots of vegetarians and vegans,
lots of good conversations! We reached nearly
1,700 students, and handed out at least 15
Guides, and could have used more if
we didn’t run out. Cold
but record day at Queensborough
Community College, where Lisa, Lisa, and I reached
1,563 more students. Many thanked us for being
there. Also met Emily, who received a booklet
from us four months ago and has been vegan ever
since! This made our Valentine’s Day. Marine
and I met a lot of vegetarians and vegans,
and we also heard a few people say, “I’ve
been wanting to go vegetarian.…” We also
talked to a few guys who don’t live up to the
stereotype of your “average vegetarian
guy,” so that was nice to see stereotypes
broken and people who don’t typically take an
interest in going vegetarian stopping to ask
us questions and meal ideas, and thanking us
for our work.
At
the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee,
more students than ever expressed support for
our work. One of the many vegetarians I met
stated that getting the booklet from me last
semester is what moved her to stop eating animals. Great
day at Morgan State, where we
reached a record 2,100 students. One student
said she ate a vegetarian lunch today because
of us, and another student said he was going
to cut back his meat intake dramatically. Wide
support at the University of Mississippi.
Many people mentioned the booklet was sad, or
offered an approving “Thank you.”
I met a vegetarian of 8 days and one of 7 months;
both had many questions. I also had several
great conversations with people aware of the
issue from getting a booklet in the past.
Over
500 students reached at Johnson
County Community College. One student said that
she wasn’t going to eat chicken anymore, and
another student said that he was going to go
back to being vegetarian again. I answered a
lot of questions. Victoria
and I set a new record at the
University of New Mexico – over 2,000! One
girl came back and said she read the whole thing,
it made her cry, she is going vegan. Another
male student said that he was going vegan. The
take rate was very high at WT White High School
in Dallas. One girl wanted to get involved, so
I took her email. Talking to two boys, one called
a friend to tell him someone was giving out
info about vegetarianism and to come over to
where we were; his friend came over right
away to talk to me and told me he has been cutting
out meat since he witnessed his grandmother
slaughter a chicken and felt terrible about
animals getting killed. Big
day for John, Parker, and me;
reached over 1,700 students at York College
and Millersville University. Many great encounters.
A pair of young women stopped by to say that
they read the booklet and are both going vegetarian
as a result. A dude stopped by to say that he
used to be veg, and the booklet was going to
push him to go back to being veg. A young woman
said that she would not be able to go completely
veg, but, as a result of the booklet, was pledging
to cut back on her meat consumption. Accompanying a donation and order for booklets: I’m so thankful I
got the booklet at my college. After I read this (and
cried for a few days), I immediately swore off
meat and eggs. I just had no idea about these
atrocities. Now I want to show others. Thank you,
thank you, thank you.
|
||||||||||||||||||
