Enewsletter

Notes from Vegan Outreach

	Casey reports from Times Square: “Natasha on left is goin veg now; friend on right, who has been since November, got helpful info to stay on track.”

Two Takes on Vegetarians

Psychology Today: Empathy is What Really Sets Vegetarians Apart (at least Neurologically Speaking)

NPR: Do Vegetarians and Vegans Think They Are Better Than Everyone Else?
(Warning: graphic picture)

Two quick points about the latter story:

By living ethically, those who don’t eat animals represent an uncomfortable truth to people who still eat animals. One common defense mechanism is to change the subject. When dealing with a vegetarian, it makes sense for the non-veg person to make the vegetarian the issue and to ignore the plight of the animals. It is hard not to take attacks like this personally, and thus conversations can quickly degrade into insults.

However, we all know angry, arrogant vegans [cough YoungMatt cough]. (If you don’t know any angry vegans – and don’t want to – avoid the comment sections on any and all pages that deal with animal issues or veganism!)

As we make clear in the prior two links, being angry is entirely justified. But as should also be clear, the furious, judgmental vegan makes it easy for non-veg people to ignore the animals’ plight and continue to eat them. Thus, anger (and arrogance, and self-righteousness) hurts animals.

If we care more about the animals than our personal veganism or righteous anger, our singular purpose must be to help others open their hearts and minds to the animals’ plight. From the “Countering the Stereotype” portion of A Meaningful Life:

It is not enough to be a vegan, or even a dedicated vegan advocate. We must remember the bottom line – reducing suffering – and actively be the opposite of the vegan stereotype. Just as we need everyone to look beyond the short-term satisfaction of following habits and traditions, we need to move past our sorrow and anger to optimal advocacy. We must learn “how to win friends and influence people,” so that we leave everyone we meet with the impression of a joyful individual leading a fulfilling and meaningful life.

From “Your Daily Dose of Vegan Outreach!” & Jack Norris RD Blogs

• Most Commented Facebook Post Ever
• Mikael and Malcolm

Product of the Week

Janet: “Tofurky Chorizo – just made an enchilada casserole with it, and we couldn’t get enough.”

Please submit your nominees for product of the week via this page; previous entries here.

	Rachel Atcheson sends this pic of a “guy who went vegetarian after reading the leaflet the last time we handed him one on MIT’s campus!”

Notes from Our Members

My best friend from high school just started at MIT, and just messaged me: “So, there’s this one spot at MIT that basically every undergraduate crosses multiple times a day to get from dorm to class and there are almost always people handing out things. I took one yesterday, and it was a Vegan Outreach booklet!”
—Ellen Green, 9/17/12

Today at Mt. San Antonio College was one of those days. Everything Kassy touched turned into tofu. Morale booster is an understatement. After handing a booklet to a guy at the University of La Verne, a guy behind me called out: “Hey what about me? I wanna help animals.” HA! LOVE THE LOVE TODAY!
     We were in place by 7:30 and the Earth shifted – not by her plates – by the consciousness of her most virulent species. Almost immediately a woman stopped to chat when I offered her a booklet. She was asking me what to do to help w/o going veg. While discussing the issue with her, THREE other people came up to listen / discuss this issue too. Kassy held the fort while I took on these eager young folks. In the end, all except one requested a Guide, and one is returning to veg. Hip hip!
     Katherine [below] stopped after Kassy handed her a booklet, chatting about how much she loves animals and was excited to hear the veg options and advice from K. Long story short she dropped her bag and grabbed booklets to help for 30 minutes before her next class. IS A NATURAL TOO!!
     Amazing day!
—Nikki Benoit, 9/12/12

Here is a picture of Cesar Sanchez [right] leafleting like a champ!! He started leafleting with me after he got a booklet. We then were approached by 3 freshman girls asking if there was an animal welfare club on campus – the 3rd time today we were asked that! Cesar told the girls he would help them start one!!
—Kassy Ortega, 9/12/12

Matt and I reached over 300 people outside Chicago’s only Chick-fil-A (at Loyola’s Water Tower Campus), and everyone was nice and positive. I did have one guy who made a silly comment going into the restaurant, but then apologized for it when he was leaving: “Sorry bro, I didn’t mean to be an asshole, but I was just super hungry after work.” I told him that it was no problem and that perhaps tomorrow would be his meat-free day. He smiled and said that perhaps it would. Another lady stopped to chat for a bit about how she used to be vegetarian, but then went back to eating meat, but was trying to get back to being vegetarian again. She said that she had cut out beef and pork, but after telling her that the best thing to cut out would be chicken, she said that she would try to focus on that. Matt had a conversation with a lady that had gotten a booklet about a month ago and hadn’t been able to eat meat since. After they got a booklet, several people actually decided to not go inside for dinner, which was great to see. A very positive night of outreach and this location should be continued to be hit. I know Mr. Espinosa is already doing this, so kudos to him.
—Mikael Nielsen, 8/6/12

Nancy joined me at Chick-fil-A, and we reached 500 more people. One woman, after getting a booklet, came back and declared, “This is it, I can’t eat meat any longer.” I gave her a Guide and encouragement.
—Joe Espinosa, 8/7/12

Took only 45 minutes for Kristie, Milena, and me to reach 300 people in downtown Oakland. One woman came back 10 minutes later to say that she was “seriously considering going vegan because of this booklet, it was eye-opening!”
—Alex Bury (left), 8/10/12

Jon B and I reached 679 new people with Would Jesus Eat Meat Today? in our fourth year at the Ignite Chicago Christian Rock Fest. The crowd can be tough and react angrily to the message. But both days, we encountered a few people who said they were veg or gave us a thumbs-up. Overall, great outreach!
—Darina Smith, 7/22/12

Solid night of leafleting at Fountain Square. Met lots of vegetarians, some of whom took a booklet to share with friends. The highlight of the evening was a man who told me his daughters received booklets earlier in the evening and now they don’t want to eat the steak he planned on cooking tomorrow. We actually spoke for about five minutes about meat alternatives, health benefits and such, and it sounds like the family wants to start moving toward a meat-free lifestyle!
—Rich Sheer, 8/11/12

The best reception I ever had at Oregon State. Met loads of vegetarians, and almost everyone took a booklet, often with an enthusiastic “awesome” or “oh yeah” when I offered info to help animals. It was such a good day I think I should go buy a lottery ticket.
—Nettie Schwager, 8/9/12

	Never mind the strobes, this Cleveland concertgoer is entranced by our Warped Tour Why Vegan?

Strangely pleasant day of leafleting at Union Square – many people were coming up to me asking questions and thanking me for what I do, very cool. Met two women who said they are starting their vegan journey this week and that seeing the booklet helps.
—Nathan Shin, 8/9/12

The Bud Billiken Parade is the largest African-American parade in the country. Leafleting was pretty fun! People were friendly and receptive, and a number stopped to ask questions.
—Leslie Patterson, 8/11/12

John sends this pic from the Scranton show: “Jo Jo, a girl who expressed thanks to me for being out there and was very impacted by the booklet.” And shown below are Victor Sjodin, Pauline Lombardo, Lesley Parker-Rollins, Jon Camp, and Jay Kristensen leafleting the Warped Tour’s stop outside Baltimore.

Another 8,550 rockers reached at Cleveland’s Warped Tour stop – Nathan, Jennifer, Vic, Dan, Mandy, Lisa, and I formed a wall of leafleting prowess. We heard many positive comments, including “This made me go vegetarian!” and “This is nasty as hell, it makes me not want to eat meat.”
     The Scranton Warped leafleting was the quintessential day of efficiency – 8,100 more young people had their eyes opened. Ben, Kathy, Will, Ali, Vic, and I had an extremely high take rate. One girl was about to throw the leaflet away, saying, “This makes me so sad.” I replied, “Yes, it’s sad, but you directly impact the lives of dozens of animals every year and you owe it to yourself and those animals to be aware of what’s going on behind closed doors.” It was a mouthful, but she seemed to really take it to heart and vowed to read the leaflet. Her friends also seemed much more inclined to read up on how their dietary preferences impact the lives of hundreds of animals.
     On my last day of the 2012 Warped Tour (Columbia, MD), I was fortunate enough to have some of the biggest players and pioneers in the movement to leaflet alongside – Nick, Kate, Aaron, Sally, Nathan, Pauline, Josh, Jay, Jon, Lesley, and Vic. We reached 11,725 more people, with a very high take rate. Damn it feels good to be a leafleter!
—John Oberg, 7/24/12

	Vegan Outreach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the suffering of farmed animals by promoting informed, ethical eating. All donations are tax-deductible. Vegan Outreach POB 30865, Tucson, AZ 85751-0865