Today is the last day to get $100 added to your Team Vegan campaign – bringing you closer to raising $500 and winning a coveted Team Vegan cap!

Thanks to a generous donor, your campaign will get $100 of “seed money” if you sign up for Team Vegan and post a photo and text by today, May 20. Raise $500 total between now and the end of the campaign on June 30, and receive a Team Vegan cap like those pictured above.

So far – since May 1 – VO supporters have donated more than $41,000 to fund our effective grassroots, person-to-person activism. Together, we’re exposing the horrors of animal ag, inspiring more people to adopt a cruelty-free lifestyle, and reducing the suffering of animals.

And every dollar raised up to $150,000 will be doubled, thanks to a handful of generous donors who have pledged to match it. That means you can enable twice as much outreach and inspire twice as many people to make positive changes for animals!

Together we have accomplished so much. But we need your help now to raise $150,000 for animals – which will be matched to become $300,000.

Help us reduce as much suffering as we can.

Join 80 fellow animal advocates by signing up for Team Vegan today.

Two years ago, Ashley was handed a Vegan Outreach booklet. Not only did she go vegan, she also started handing out VO booklets herself! Click the image above to hear her story.

VO’s grassroots, person-to-person approach means that not only do people learn about factory farming and cruelty-free eating – they also get to meet and interact with a friendly animal activist, ask questions, and get tips and advice on the spot!

And since VO leaflets even in really remote areas, we’re reaching people who are meeting an animal activist for the first time!

Celebrate Ashley and all the others who have gone vegan and become activists upon receiving a VO booklet. Donate to our Team Vegan campaign and your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar, doubling your impact for animals!

Choose a Team Vegan member to donate to, or make a general donation at TeamVegan.biz. Thank you for helping us to reduce animal suffering!

By Josie Moody, Office Manager

In November 2014, Vegan Outreach launched its Vegan Mentor Program, a program that connects vegans with people who want to eat less meat, become vegetarian or become vegan. Vegan Mentors provide guidance to mentees on all things vegan, from what to eat to how to participate in social gatherings. As we’ve continued to develop the program, we’ve realized that we want to provide more resources to people in various stages in their lives, and in various living situations.

As a result, we’ve decided to create the blog series “How Do YOU Vegan?,” hearing directly from real vegans about how they incorporate veganism in their lives, complete with meal ideas. In our inaugural post, we are pleased to have activist and mother Lesley Parker-Rollins share her experiences raising and feeding a vegan family.

About Lesley and her Family:

We live in Lutherville, Maryland, a suburb 15 minutes north of Baltimore and an hour outside of DC. Baltimore suburbs are not nearly as veg friendly as DC. That said, the grocery stores in the area have exploded with vegan fare so that is fantastic!

I became vegan in 1998, married Ray (who was not vegan or vegetarian)in 2000, and by February of 2001 he became vegan. We had Tyler in December of 2001, Will in April of 2003 and Maya in October of 2007 and they were all healthy vegan pregnancies. Tyler is now 13 1/2, Will is 12 and Maya is 7 1/2.

Since we are ethical vegans first and foremost and we also don’t have a lot of money, we don’t own a Vitamix but still should try to incorporate more fresh and whole foods into our diet! Everyone has a different way of doing things but eating without contributing to animal cruelty and overall eating healthily is a way of life for us and works for all five of us just fine.

It’s definitely fair to say that we eat a lot of typical American meals simply veganized. Other than MOM’s Organic Market and Whole Foods Market we mainly shop at Wegman’s, Giant and Safeway to save money. We are big fans of Indian, Thai, and Italian and Mexican as well and incorporate at least two or three of these types of cuisines into our weekly dinner. Here is an example of what each of us eats in a typical week:

Breakfast Monday-Friday
Lesley: Nature’s Path Pumpkin Flax Granola with almond milk, orange juice and coffee with almond milk and sugar.
Ray: Cinnamon Raison Bagel with Earth Balance, grapefruit juice and coffee with soy milk and sugar
Tyler: Raisin Bran with soy milk, banana and apple juice
Will: Bagel with Earth Balance, cantaloupe, yogurt and apple juice
Maya: Whole grain Bagel with peanut butter, yogurt, banana and apple juice

We all take a vegan multivitamin, calcium, DHA and B12 supplements.

Weekend Breakfast for Ray and kids (I’m boring and eat the same thing for breakfast everyday!)
Pancakes or waffles with Earth Balance, tofu scramble, sausage crumbles or links and juice

Lunch
Lesley & Ray: Whole grain bread, Veganaise (or Just Mayo!) Tofurky slices, lettuce and avocado. Sometimes I add a slice of vegan cheese and love the new Follow Your Heart Provolone slices.

Tyler, Will & Maya: Gardein Chiken Sliders and a generally a couple of the following sides: strawberries, carrot sticks, Nutter Butters, granola bars, Oreos, cantaloupe/melon

Other lunches on Weekends
Tofu salad sandwich, mock tuna or mock chicken sandwich, grilled cheese, soups, veggie burgers, Tofu Pups, salads, Sloppy Joe’s, couscous and veggies with almonds, three bean salad, potato chips and fried onion rings.

Kids Snacks:
Clif Bar Builder Bar, pretzels, Wheat Thins, fresh fruit, cashews, trail mix, celery with peanut butter, peanut butter crackers

Dinner (We all eat the same dinner every night)
1. Tofu Stir Fry with Vegetables over brown rice
2. Coconut curried chickpeas, onion and petite green peas over brown rice
3. Eggplant Parmesan with salad
4. Spaghetti and vegan meatballs with salad or coleslaw, or fresh carrot, celery and green/red pepper sticks
5. 11 Bean Soup and whole grain bread
6. Gardein Chiken Tenders, Tater Tots and petite green peas
7. Lasagna with ground “beef” crumbles and raw veggies
8. Chiken/Beef/Veggie Quesadillas
9. Pizza – Maya and Will like plain and Ray, Tyler and Les like it topped with mock sausage and vegetables like spinach and black olives or green pepper and onion. Usually served with fresh raw vegetables or salad.
10. Thai Curry Chiken stir-fry
11. Gardein Fish Filets with spinach, and baked potato.
12. Pasta with field roast sausage, red sauce and green pepper
13. Macaroni and cheese with broccoli
14. Black bean burgers with house salad, chips and guacamole.
15. Lentil loaf or Field Roast Celebration Roast with mashed potatoes and garlic zucchini and onion

Desserts

I always keep a freezer full of vegan cupcakes/desserts for the continuous slue of birthday parties so I don’t have to make cupcakes at 7am to send into school with the kids if a birthday is being celebrated that day. The teachers are happy to have a shelf in the classroom with the kids’ names on it stocked with vegan snacks for them for any occasion.

Vegan sweets we enjoy include ice cream, ice cream sundaes, brownies, cookies, cake, cupcakes, Sour Patch Kids, lollipops, chocolate covered pretzels, popsicles, Jolly Ranchers and more.

Dining Out:

We don’t have a ton of money to go out but , we like most people, love going out for pizza. We love Homeslyce Pizza in the city and the kids will have lemonades and Ray and I will have a couple of beers. Homeslyce isn’t a vegan restaurant but they have great vegan options for pizza. (Most pizza crusts are naturally vegan, and if you can start with a marinara sauce and start building your pizza from there).

We love Great Sage’s all-vegan restaurant for brunch, lunch, dinner and dessert. www.greatsage.com My favorite lunch there is the Tempeh Rueben and our favorite dessert there without a doubt is their Chocolate Lava Cake. The kids love their Mac n Cheese and Ray loves their Barbecue Southwest West Wrap.

Our family loves Thai food and will often pick up the Kung Pao Vegan Tofu from Whole Foods and have that over rice with veggies when we can’t go out to Thai Arroy for dinner.

Mock Tuna (or Chiken) Salad
2 cans rinsed and drained chick peas*
1/4 red onion diced
2 stalks celery diced
3 Tbsp. Veganaise or Just Mayo
1/2 Tablespoon Pickled relish
Salt and pepper to taste

*For a mock chicken I substitute “Wegman’s Meatless Chicken Style Strips” after sautéing with onion and garlic.

The sandwiches taste great on Whole grain bread with green leaf lettuce! Yum!

Vegan Bisquick Pancakes:

We substitute Ener-G Egg Replacer for eggs and soy milk for dairy milk. You can add whatever fruit you like (we like blueberries) and sometimes add flax seeds, maple syrup and Earth Balance margarine (available at most grocery stores).

By Toni Okamoto

My favorite long-time animal lover, Morrissey, has arranged Madison Square Garden to sell exclusively vegan food while he plays his concert on June 27th! How cool is that?

Excerpts from The New York Post, May 1st, 2015, MSG is Ditching Meat Because Morrissey is Vegan:

“Not only is it possible for venues to provide a 100 percent meat-free menu — as is done now at every concert venue in which I perform, including Madison Square Garden, where I have a show at the end of June — it’s also a moral duty.” -Morrissey

From now until June 6th – the last day of horse racing’s Triple Crown – author Kristine Oakhurst is donating to Vegan Outreach 100% of her royalties from the book Tall Omaha, a touching story that sheds light on the horse racing industry.

Who is Kristine Oakhurst, how did her love for horses inspire her to write Tall Omaha, and why is a horse enthusiast donating to an organization focused on getting cows, pigs, chickens and other farmed animals off of plates? Sure, she’s vegan, but is there more to it? We talk with Kristine to find out more about her story – and the connection between horses and food.

Kristine, tell us about the path that led you to write Tall Omaha.

I had a rough go as a kid. Later, when I was a cop, I saw even more kids with rougher goes. Somewhere along the way, a story synthesized between the overlap of child abuse and animal abuse. [Editor’s Note: The book follows the almost-parallel stories of a young woman and a red filly, both of whom are discarded in their own ways.]

Additionally, most horse stories—novels or movies—are much too saccharine and really gloss over the horse-industry machinery. Tall Omaha is pretty dark. Bleak. But it’s real. A certain type of person really digs it. It mixes personal stories, horrors from my time as an animal cruelty investigator, and realities that are all too common.

Max and the red filly are both near and dear to me. Max is most definitely not autobiographical—she’s much smarter than I was at her age! The book and the main horse protagonist are both named after my own Thoroughbred rescue—Mara—a friend and partner who helped me heal, grow up, and look to the future. Mara was another lady with a rough go; along with vegan/animal welfare issues, I think my pro-woman stance is pretty obvious throughout the book.

What are you most proud of about the book?

I’m proud that it’s not just for horse people. I’m proud that it’s not just for feminists. I’m proud that people like the story. I’m proud that Tall Omaha has spurred a real dialogue about horse industry abuses. Some horse lovers are afraid of truth and conflict and acknowledgement of bad things. Bad things exist; don’t our animal friends know it?!

More than a few people have told me the chapters around the horses being transported from auction or feedlot to slaughter was the final straw in cutting meat out of their diet. So that’s nice!

Why partner with a vegan advocacy organization? What does horse racing have to do with veganism?

Education is stronger than judgement. We need to bring people into the fold, not admonish them for being less-than-perfect vegans. VO does a really good job of this.

Very few people really understand the impact horses and horse racing have on the meat industry. Many people assume horse meat is used for pet food; however, horse meat hasn’t been used in pet food since the 1970s. Instead, the horse meat from unwanted racehorses is used for human consumption.

Wild horses that roam Bureau of Land Management owned lands are routinely rounded up due to overgrazing. However, this overgrazing is a direct result of cattle grazing, not horses. These wild horses are held in small pens and often euthanized. Wild horses are branded and are not supposed to end up at slaughter houses, but there is no oversight, so they end up on dinner plates. All because of the beef industry.

People don’t think of horses being consumed by humans, but they are. Over 200,000 American horses end up on dinner plates each year. Worldwide, around 4.5 million horses are consumed by humans. Horses are the under-defended meat in the vegan/vegetarian fight.

How and when did you become vegan?

I stopped eating meat over 25 years ago. I just couldn’t square loving a cat and eating a pig. As I grew up, I never did consume large quantities of dairy. However, I adopted a completely vegan diet five years ago.

My food choices need to be kind; a vegan diet is the only option. Too many people underestimate the power of their purchases. I want my spending to be a voice. I purchase compassionate products, including my food. And we vegans do make a difference. Every additional person who stops paying for cruelty opens the doors for more compassionate products and options. Look at the proliferation of our food options over the last 25 years. We’re doing good for animals! And our bodies.

What’s one thing that everyone reading can do to help with these huge issues?

Boycott any horse racing, especially the Kentucky Derby, while also educating those around you on the fact that racehorses make millions of dollars for people and often end up tortured, at the end of their lives, at a slaughterhouse.

And buy a book to support Vegan Outreach! It’s a donation for VO, and a gift for you. All the money, 100% of my royalties, will go to VO during this year’s Triple Crown. When you get invited to a derby party, support VO instead.

Finally, describe your perfect vegan meal.

Right now I’m on a Roobin (that’s how I spell it) sandwich kick.

Vegan Reuben (Roobin):
Rye Bread
Daiya Swiss Slices
Tempeh
Sauerkraut
Vegan Thousand Island (Veganaise, sweet relish, smoked paprika, garlic salt, lemon juice, ketchup)

Welcome to another edition of our Supporter Spotlight posts!

We have so many supporters, all of whom have interesting stories about how they got involved with animal advocacy and Vegan Outreach! These posts let us take a moment to shine a spotlight on our members, whose hard work and generosity truly enable the work of VO.

This time we talk to Jean Bettanny and her husband Tom. They’ve supported Vegan Outreach in many ways over the years, and it’s such a pleasure to work with them to reduce suffering. Let’s get to know them!

Tell us about yourselves, Jean and Tom.

I am a retired computer programmer / hair stylist, age 70. Tom, my husband of 30 years, age 55, is an intellectual property attorney. We love Latin and Swing dancing, Dj-ing local dances, tennis, travel, movies, bridge and online chess. In addition, Tom is a boating and outdoor enthusiast.

I also volunteer for Vegan Outreach, have burned and distributed thousands of factory farm DVDs, write letters to the editor, and speak up for animals whenever I can.

Share with us the story of your vegan journey.

Tom and I are in our 21st year of plant-based eating and could not imagine going back to the standard American diet (SAD). Even as a child, the thought of killing innocent animals for food bothered me, but I bought into the myth that meat, dairy and eggs were required for human health. Indeed, these foods were listed as the major food groups when I was in school. Butter had its own food group!

Tom had experimented with veganism as a teenager and was also sensitive to the treatment of animals.

In 1995, at age 50, I gathered the courage to read Diet for a New America by John Robbins. It sat unopened on my bookshelf for 6 years because I knew I would have to finally confront details of the nightmarish cruelty inflicted on farmed animals. The book was life-changing however, by making it clear that one could be perfectly healthy on a vegan diet, and that was enough to make the change a no-brainer. We continued our research, reading many other authors, Peter Singer, Gail Eisnitz, Carol Adams, Howard Lyman, etc. and learning how to “veganize” our meals.

How did you first get involved with Vegan Outreach?

I supported all the animal rights groups I could find before discovering Vegan Outreach around 2000 via internet search, and was so impressed with their philosophy that I decided to focus exclusively on this organization.

What inspires your support of VO?

The Henry David Thoreau quote appearing in Vegan Outreach’s early literature: “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”

The root cause of 99% of animal suffering is eating them. By focusing exclusively on veganism and targeting the audience most receptive to change, I believe Vegan Outreach’s grassroots approach is the best strategy to reduce the most animal suffering in the shortest amount of time with the least amount of resources.

What advice would you give to someone reading this who is considering adopting a vegan diet?

Vegan recipes and advice on how to “veganize” your existing recipes are readily available on the internet. I would advise every aspiring vegan to watch Michael Greger’s video Maximum Nutrition. Near the end of the video he demonstrates how to prepare some easy meals to get you started.

If, like me, you don’t care for cooking or complicated meal preparation, keep a freezer full of Amy’s frozen sandwiches and meals, veggie sausages and salami, baked tofu, seitan, Trader Joe’s vegan meats, frozen fruits and veggies and just heat everything up quickly in the microwave oven. If you don’t want to buy meat analogues, cook a large pot of rice or other grain and serve with beans and veggies, flavor with olive oil and nutritional yeast (tastes like Parmesan cheese) and spices.

For snacks, keep on hand varieties of nuts and seeds, fresh fruit, corn thins, bread, nut butters, cereal, soymilk, raisins, etc. A typical small meal for me is a microwaved sweet potato with margarine.

Finally, share with us your absolute favorite meal.

Jean: A large bowl of fresh or frozen mixed berries (thaw in microwave) topped with vegan sour cream and maple syrup. I have to add that I’m addicted to nutritional yeast flakes and sprinkle it on everything from veggies, potatoes, grains, popcorn, etc.

Tom: Tofu Reuben sandwich – toasted sourdough bread with a slab of tofu sautéed in onions, sauerkraut, mustard, Vegenaise and pepper with a Greek-style salad on the side.

Thank you, Jean and Tom, and thank you to all our wonderful supporters!

Team Vegan begins today, and if you’ve been on the fence about signing up to raise funds, here are ten reasons you should register now!

1. Donations will be doubled.  A handful of incredibly generous donors have agreed to matching donations dollar-for-dollar up to $150,000. That’s $300,000 we can raise for animals!

2. Our outreach counts on it. Team Vegan donations fuel our Fall outreach – and we want to beat the record we set last Fall, when we handed booklets to more than one million individuals!

3. Farmed animals count on it. It’s up to us to do what we can to be voices for the voiceless. And raising funds to encourage and help people go vegan is one of the best ways to make sure they’re heard.

4. You can win prizes! The top five volunteer fundraisers will receive a $100 gift card to Vegan Essentials, Pangea, or The Vegetarian Site. Fundraisers who raise $500 by June 30 will receive a Team Vegan hat. And everyone will receive a coupon for a free Tofurky product and be eligible for even more prizes!

5. You could start off with $100! A very generous donor has agreed to “seed the pots” of Team Vegan fundraisers who sign up and have a picture uploaded and blurb written by May 20th.

6. It’s a great “gateway” for your non-vegan friends and family into doing something kind for farmed animals. Get them involved in supporting VO, and they may decide to take a next step: reading about factory farming on our website, ordering a Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating, or just paying more attention when you post recipes online.

7. You’ll be representing VO, which has been around since 1993, putting farmed animals front and center and conducting strategic and effective grassroots vegan activism.

8. You won’t be alone! Each week, you’ll receive an email from me – Lisa – with tidbits of inspiration, tips about effective fundraising, and some fun surprises!

9. It’s inspiring! You will be surprised and delighted by the generosity of your friends and family. They’ll give because they want to support you, and what a great way to do so.

10. The math sums it up: More donations = more outreach = less suffering!