By Lisa Rimmert, VO Director of Development

Now is not the time.

This is not the place.

Those thoughts entered my brain last night and this morning as I considered bringing up a sensitive topic at the Animal Rights National Conference (ARNC), which begins today in Los Angeles.

The topic? Police brutality. State sanctioned violence against black men. Racism in general. What white animal rights activists like me can and should do about it.

Perhaps now you’re thinking, “It has nothing to do with us.” I have felt similarly. I too have those thoughts inside my head, telling me that this isn’t my business, that it’s not my place to say anything, that violence against black people has nothing to do with violence against animals. But after listening to black voices, including those of my coworkers, I will make it a point to ignore those thoughts in my head.

As many people have said, “Black lives matter more than white feelings.” People are being murdered. It’s too important not to address. And I’m precisely the person to say something.

As an animal rights activist, I stand for justice—for everyone. I stand against oppression in all forms. I speak up against violence, period.

As a white person, it’s my duty to use my privilege to speak up. And if you’re a white person reading this, it’s your duty too.

Yes, it’s uncomfortable to wade into the racial justice “arena.” I worry that I won’t say the right thing, do the right thing, be a perfect ally. I worry that people will judge me or misconstrue what I say. I worry that people will think my support of the Black Lives Matter movement means I condone or support killing cops (I don’t). But I need to recognize that, while I have the luxury of deciding whether to address this issue, my black friends and colleagues don’t have that choice. They’re living this. There’s no “arena” for them—there’s just everyday life. The black men who are being shot and killed by police are their brothers, fathers, uncles, and sons. With privilege comes responsibility.

There’s a lot of information online about what white people can do right now. A Google search will yield many great results. Some actions seem too small, but it’s the little things that accumulate to create cultures of injustice, so we need to change the little things to dismantle it too.

I won’t try to say what others have already said very eloquently. Instead I will do some reading and invite you to do the same. And when we’re mingling and listening to presentations at the ARNC, let’s have some of this information in our minds. Just like in our activism for animals, there’s a lot we can do if we put aside fear of judgment.

When we’re talking with fellow activists, let’s gently call them out if they make an unintentionally racist comment. Let’s question our own use of words that may perpetuate oppression. Let’s support activists of color by letting them know we’re here, and listening to them when they tell us what they need.

As I head to the conference, I do so knowing that it is the time. It is the place. There are too many people today who are grieving loved ones—the families of black men and the families of police officers—and it’s fitting and necessary that we include humans this weekend in our discussions about justice.

By Alex Bury, VO Organizational Development Consultant

Go Big Or Go Home. This is a common idea in our movement. And to be fair, we have achieved great things for animals by taking on big projects!

But you know what? It was a lot of the smaller projects that got us to where we are today. If a lot of dedicated grassroots activists hadn’t slowly convinced their offices, families, or local restaurants to become more vegan, we probably wouldn’t be seeing today’s huge demand for vegan foods.

And that demand fuels some of the big projects.

Take the sweeping corporate changes we’re seeing now. Companies would never return our calls if they weren’t first seeing a demand for vegan food. That demand would not have happened without individual people changing their eating habits because someone in their community impacted them.

For example, Chipotle, a thriving restaurant chain worth hundreds of millions of dollars, would not have added sofritas to their menu—and the word “vegan” to their menu—if vegans hadn’t first made it known that they really like Mexican food!

It’s hard to encourage people to go vegan if the products aren’t convenient and delicious. We’d be lost without all the wonderful corporate work. And the corporate victories wouldn’t be happening without first creating a grassroots demand for change. Our movement needs a diversity of strategies and campaigns just like we need a greater diversity of people leading the groups and the campaigns. Different forms of activism complement each other. Together they work hand in hand to change society.

I was reminded of this last week while I was eating lunch at ChickPeas restaurant here in little Davis, CA. It’s amazing how fresh, warm pita bread can fire up the brain neurons.

Anya McCain is a local Davis resident who has a demanding, full-time job. She’s vegan and active. She doesn’t work for a vegan group and she doesn’t have hours and hours every week to volunteer. So she created something super effective—COOL Cuisine.

COOL Cuisine is an initiative Anya started that focuses on getting Davis restaurants to add vegan food to their menus. Anya teaches them what vegan means and gets them to mark dishes “vegan” on their menu—she also gives them high praise when they do all of these things. She makes sure they get new business when they agree to sign up for the COOL Cuisine initiative, and she organizes group dinners where 25+ vegans show up to support the restaurant.

Selfishly, I like her work because it’s easier for me to eat vegan in Davis now. I was at ChickPeas because they’ve added a new vegan shawarma plate thanks to Anya, and I wanted to show my support for their efforts.

Not only had ChickPeas added a new vegan dish, but when you walk up to order you see a big sign that reads: “New! Vegan Shawarma!”

And this is how it spreads to non-vegans. A meat-eater who’s been reading about vegan eating will read this sign and see that vegan food is more convenient and popular, thus, more attractive to try.

Anya’s done this at several other restaurants and the local farmers market, which now offers a ton of vegan options! When I moved to Davis three years ago I didn’t see any of those options. She’s really done great work! Her social dinners are one more step in the process. She makes vegan eating warm and welcoming, and offers newbies a community to help their transition.

More people will try vegan food because of Anya, and some of them will end up ordering vegan food often—and even become vegan—because of her social events.

When vegan food seems inconvenient or bland, meat-eaters are less likely to consider a change. Anya is removing this hurdle. These new vegans and flexitarians are going to add to the increased demand for vegan entrees, and that in turn will make it easier for big corporate campaigns to succeed.

One person + one local grassroots campaign = many animals saved!

“Go big or go home” might sound exciting for a group or team, but let’s not forget how powerful individual grassroots activism can be—our entire movement rests on it.

Anya proves you can do effective activism and still have a life. Anya, from all of us at Vegan Outreach, thanks for your hard work and all the good food we’re eating in Davis now!

By Lauren Sprang, VO Board of Directors Secretary

Welcome to my third and final post on traveling to Utah’s national parks (see Part I here and Part II here). Last time we left off in Moab where we visited three parks. My sister-in-law, Heidi, headed back to Colorado and my husband, Steve, and I continued on toward Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon National Parks.

Along our drive we stopped in Goblin Valley State Park. It was a little out of the way, but it has some awesome rock formations! We hiked approximately 3.5 miles round trip to Goblin’s Lair, an exposed hike with a final scramble up to look into a slot canyon. With a permit you can rappel into the canyon, but we just looked down into the cool dark and returned the way we’d come.

At the parking lot you can wander around the goblin-like hoodoos. They’re unlike anything I’ve ever seen. They’re fun for all ages and you can get up close. Quoting Capitol Reef Country:

These eerie hoodoos were formed over millions of years, as layers of Entrada Sandstone eroded and alternating layers of silt and shale were deposited with the changing climates and landscapes. The weaker sandstone layers eroded from water and wind quicker than the harder rock, resulting in these exceptional formations.

The park was also used as a location for Galaxy Quest, a favorite movie of mine!

We left Goblin Valley to spend about a day total at Capitol Reef National Park. Not many people have heard of this park, but it’s worth a visit! We stopped to look at some petroglyphs on the drive in. Then we drove the “Scenic Drive” in the late afternoon, which branches off onto dirt roads that we skipped. Sudden, intense thunderstorms are common and the rangers advise keeping out of the side canyons in case of rapid flooding. The views of dramatic red rock hills and junipers were stupendous along the drive. We stopped at the end to rest and listen to the quiet.

We stayed overnight in the town of Torrey. There weren’t many vegan options in this small town, but we had a tasty pizza at Red Cliff Restaurant. It’s a simple place with only a couple of other diners.

The next day we hiked about a mile into Cohab Canyon and took a spur trail up to a lookout. The canyon wasn’t too narrow, but it was picturesque! And the hike gave us some exercise and nice views of the winding road through Capitol Reef.

In the late morning we headed to Bryce Canyon National Park, driving over Boulder Mountain, which is full of aspens and would be beautiful in the fall.

We stopped briefly at Calf Creek Falls to eat lunch. Soon after leaving Calf Creek Falls we were surprised to come across an espresso shop, called Kiva Koffeehouse. It is located on a hill with nothing but wilderness around it. It’s beautiful, totally out of place, and worth a 15-minute stop. They showed me their buyer form so I could see which coffees were organic and fair trade.

We finally arrived at Bryce Canyon, and it’s spectacular! We hiked a very popular loop that goes down into the amphitheater and connects Sunrise Point and Sunset Point. We walked along a pathway that feels like a platform for viewing the park. I highly recommend it.

We also drove the full length of the park and stopped at most of the lookouts.

We stayed overnight outside Bryce Canyon in a vacation rental in the town of Tropic. For dinner at Bryce Canyon we ate at the lodge in the park itself. It’s pricey, but they have a few vegan options. My quinoa primavera dish was soupy, which we couldn’t understand, but I had a delicious salad and Steve’s linguini pomodoro with added Gardein chicken was incredibly tasty—that’s right, they had Gardein!

Bryce Canyon National Park—with its complicated rock formations, mountains, and pine trees—was my favorite park on the trip. I’m more of a mountain woman than a desert woman. My only caveat is that Utah is cattle grazing country, so be prepared to see endless miles of cows (and calves in the spring). Also, outside of the Salt Lake City/Provo area, Utah is very rural. But if you fly into Las Vegas and drive up through Arizona, you may avoid some of the cows and catch the Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks along the way. That’s how I’d recommend visiting Utah’s national parks.

We visited in the spring, which is probably the best time. Keep in mind that it’s snowy and cold in the winter, and many of the attractions may be closed. Mid-summer is hot and dry; so bring lots of sunscreen, water, and a hat. Then put on your hiking or mountain biking shoes and have a blast!

Yuri Mitzkewich, VO’s Southeast Outreach Coordinator, is this semester’s most prolific Adopt a College leafleter—he’s traveled to 116 different schools, handing out 66,230 booklets! Activist Doris Schneeberger joined Yuri for a few weeks of his tour, and by the time her internship was over, she’d handed out 17,668 booklets at 26 different campuses!

On March 22, Yuri and Doris handed out 2,026 booklets at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa:

Doris [below, left] got her first chance to leaflet a heavy flow of student traffic and really did amazing, getting a better take rate at times than I was working. Very calm in meeting students too, she answered questions in a friendly way and got many here to take the literature, more interested than initially to check out the info. The Compassionate Athlete booklets were especially great to have here, she reported, as this campus has a heavy percentage of students dressed to work out or with sports gear on their backs.

One of the last to receive an Even If You Like Meat here was Paige [below, right], who came back right away after looking through the info. She’d already cut out most animal products, only still consuming fish, which she’d wanted to eliminate but was having difficulty. I let her know that was fine, that many transition in steps, reducing the animal products they consume as they learn about new products and find recipes that replace the foods they’re most accustomed to. She took a Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating and was very excited about trying the new Gardein seafood items I mentioned, plus having access to the Vegan Mentor Program if she needed help. Very happy we held on the few extra minutes to get the chance to meet Paige. She was inspired to go the rest of the way to full vegetarian, and to begin working towards dropping cheese and eggs also. Super cool ending to a great day of outreach!

On March 23, Yuri and Doris teamed with Candice Paschal, and together they reached more than 4,100 students at Mississippi State University:

Arriving early we got busy on what was to be another outstanding day at MSU. Again Doris and I took on different traffic flows at opposite sides of the drill field to great effect, both of us finding different crowds and getting out hundreds here per class change.

Around 10 am we were happy being joined again by Mississippi State/Starkville’s energetic leafleting machine, Candice [below, left]. She’s amazing to see at work, enthusiastically approaching everyone crossing within 20 feet of her, getting what had to be a 99% take rate. For the class changes she was working, we did nearly a full box in the hour she was able to free up to join us!

Always a very friendly crowd here, and we began getting more and more conversations going through the afternoon—many students interested in learning more, a few very inspired to begin trying to eat better, and even a pretty decent amount of ag majors stopping to politely discuss the issues with us.

Sarah [below, right] was especially moved by the Even If You Like Meat booklet she got. Already having given the suffering inherent in the meat industry some pondering on her own, she was thrilled to meet us, saying she’d be giving up meat from today. Beautiful experience finding her out here and connecting during our visit!

On March 25, Yuri and Doris handed out 371 booklets at the University of West Alabama. Doris writes:

A situation that stood out for me on this day was when one of the students who had taken a leaflet returned a few minutes later to ask me some questions [below, right]. He was friendly and wanted to find out more about veganism. He found the pictures and information in the brochure horrifying. He asked me whether I was vegan and said that he had never met one before. I told him about the manifold advantages of a vegan diet, the suffering of animals in factory farms and the environmental impact of eating meat and animal products. We also talked about health issues; I mentioned that many people have to go through a major health scare before they start gathering more information about healthy nutrition and change their diet. We talked about vegan substitutes for animal products. He, for example, didn’t know that there is almond or soy milk that you can buy instead of animal milk. In a somewhat apologizing manner, he told me that he likes meat and I then told him about diverse meat substitutes and he said that he would try them.

Another student asked me about the ingredients of a veggie burger and I told him that you can make it with beans, peas and other veggies and/or tofu for example. He didn’t know what tofu was and after I explained it to him he also said he’d try one.

On April 13, Yuri and Doris got booklets into the hands of more than 3,400 students at Louisiana State University. Doris reports:

Although we gave out a lot of leaflets, this university doesn’t seem to be the easiest to inspire people to go vegan, as the agriculture faculty is big, biomedical research is prominent and they’ve also got a tiger in a cage on campus. The leaflets inspired a discussion among students which we could track on the app Yik Yak.

Yuri adds:

I met Tommy [below, right], who was very interested. He’d been researching for fitness reasons, and had been thinking about cutting down on animal products. He responded well to everything we talked about and said he’s going vegan. Met a handful more students who we had very productive conversations with as well.

Later in the day we noticed social media activity focused on our visit, with three different students commenting dismissively, “I’ll never go vegan,” “Animals don’t have the mental capacity to suffer,” etc. It was awesome to see several students commenting back in defense of animals here, actually making better, way more eloquent points for more consideration for them. Pretty cool to see such responses at a major ag university like this.

On April 15, Yuri and Doris reached more than 700 students at Nicholls State University. Yuri reports:

Pretty great short morning visit to this southernmost Louisiana university, only 25 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico. A good amount of students interested here. Christine [below, right] was super interested and said it was a wonderful coincidence we met. She told me she was ready to transition to vegetarian, so I was looking for a Guide to give her but had left them all across campus with our other supplies. She said she’d wait and as I went off to get her the info she sat and read the Your Choice and Compassionate Athlete I’d given her. By the time I returned she said, “Really I need to go all the way vegan, don’t I?” We talked a little more and by the end she said she was ready! Awesome ending to our short but sweet stop here!

Donate to Yuri’s Team Vegan page and spare twice as many animals from suffering:

Any support you generously give towards Team Vegan will be doubled for this fundraising drive and will go directly toward supporting Vegan Outreach’s life-changing work, making the world a kinder place for animals. Thank you for your support and for being a voice for the voiceless!

By Alex Bury, VO Organizational Development Consultant

On Sunday, June 12, Vegan Outreach had a very special fundraiser for Team Vegan 2016. Ari and Becky Nessel, long-time supporters of our movement, hosted VO at their gorgeous home in Northern California.

Our event was one of many Ari and Becky will host this year. They support multiple non-profits and their deep generosity has touched most, if not all, of the major animal victories of the last decade. We’re honored to work with them.

After Ari kicked off the event, VO Executive Director Jack Norris said a few words about all the new VO work. He told the guests about great new hires like Greater Ohio Outreach Coordinator, Sean Hennessy, Canada Outreach Coordinator, Jevranne Martel, and Community Engagement Coordinator, Brenda Sanders. He talked about the incredible growth and effectiveness of the Vegan Mentor Program, coordinated by Jean Bettanny. We heard about the Leafleting Effectiveness Study and, of course, the new focus on equality.

Jack said:

At VO, we recognize that we have a diverse world and we need a diverse movement if we’re going to bring about a vegan society sooner rather than later. A significant part of this is having the men in the movement recognize that the women who do so much of the work and donate so much of the money should have more influence in positions of power.

In the past two years I’ve made a strong effort to include women on Vegan Outreach’s Board of Directors. We’ve gone from having only one female board member to four out of six. In the same time we’ve hired six men, but we’ve hired thirteen women. We’ve made a concerted effort to try to hire women.

VO’s Director of Outreach, Vic Sjodin, Motivational Speaker and Diversity Specialist, David Carter, and Diversity and Community Expansion Specialist, Paige Carter, all traveled from Los Angeles to attend the event. We also had some brand new people join us—it was fun to see how inspired they were by Jack’s comments!

David and Paige spoke about what made them vegan, and of course David spoke about eating vegan as an elite athlete. Which wasn’t very fair because he was so busy talking at the event he could barely eat, and later he came in the kitchen searching for leftovers!

Mostly, though, they talked about the need for our movement to be more inclusive and how looking at other social justice issues—like food deserts in low-income neighborhoods—will help us become more compassionate and effective.

I stood up at the end to ask for donations. VO Board Chair, Mark Foy, and his partner, VO Statistician and Researcher, Eric Roberts, made a special pledge to match up to $5,000 and the money was also being doubled again by our current Team Vegan challenge donors!

I can’t resist pointing out that for all the talk about gender equality, VO had stuck me in the kitchen all day and I wasn’t cool with that!

I’m just kidding, of course—I had chosen to cater the event myself to save VO money. Catering bills can be pretty steep!

I love being in the kitchen for events like this and Ari’s house is particularly nice because of the big open kitchen that looks out onto the yard. I could see Ari and Becky’s sons feeding the rescued chickens while I cut onions, and if I looked a little emotional, it might not have been just the onions!

I made:

Usually the Reubens are the most popular dish I make, but this time the winners were by far the mushrooms with Miyoko’s cheese and the curried salad.

We also served an incredible platter of Miyoko’s other vegan cheeses—thank you Miyoko!

That was fun because we had some non-vegans there who couldn’t believe the cheese wasn’t dairy-based. I sent the empty boxes home with guests so they could easily find the products.

Thanks to Mark scoring big at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market we had an incredible bowl of sliced nectarines, plums, and blueberries. I know that sounds too healthy for a party, but trust me, we made up for it by also serving…wait for it…vegan cronuts!

Cronuts are a cross between croissants and donuts. They came from Julien & Noe in Berkeley, and they were out of this world!

I ordered enough so our guests could each take one home for a Monday morning treat, and I saved the very last cronut for myself because I had jury duty the next day. I’ve never enjoyed sitting in a courthouse at 8:00 am so much!

I’ll share the recipes soon on the Vegan Outreach blog, and keep your eyes peeled for special deals and more information from Miyoko’s Kitchen!

Including Mark and Eric’s match, we raised $15,000 at this wonderful event!

Thank you to my volunteers Mark and Eric, Sahra and Dave, Milena and Yolanda, and Lester! And thank you to Miyoko’s, Julien & Noe, and especially Ari and Becky! A special shout-out to the super talented Michelle Cehn of World of Vegan for all the great photos and videos.

We’re so close to meeting our goal—if we can raise a full $230,000 by June 30 it will all be matched!

Please donate today, and thank you!