If I told you that shopping online could inspire new vegans, would you think it was an April Fools Day joke?

It’s true!

When you shop at The Vegetarian Site in the month of April, they will donate 10% of your sale – in fact, all sales! – to Vegan Outreach, so we can continue spreading the message of compassion and inspiring more people to go vegan!

So whether you need some new shampoo, a pair of boots for upcoming Spring hikes, or chocolate syrup to drizzle on your vegan ice cream, head over to The Vegetarian Site and help reduce animal suffering while you shop!

Buy vegan goods. Inspire new vegans.

The Vegetarian Site will donate to Vegan Outreach 10% of all sales made in April – regardless of what is purchased, by whom, or through what link.

Check out the great products available now at The Vegetarian Site!

By Toni Okamoto

I’m currently in Maryland visiting some friends, including my pal Bella (photographed above).

Bella’s guardians introduced me to an amazing line of 100% plant-based “rawhides” for dogs called Whimzees. They’re a cruelty-free alternative with healthy, natural ingredients, and Bella LOVES them!

If you’re looking for vegan-friendly dog treats, check them out! Here is some important info from their website:

“We’re a company of dog-lovers, people-lovers and Earth-lovers. We’re obsessed with bringing only the best, healthiest and most-fun dog products to the world. And we do it in a sustainable, socially-responsible way.”

You can find WHIMZEES at Petco, PetSmart, Pet Supplies Plus, Pet Valu and independent pet retailers.

Vegan Outreach is a proud sponsor of the 2015 National Animal Rights Conference and we hope you’ll join us there!

The conference, held this year at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center outside Washington, DC, July 30 – August 2, is the go-to conference for people who want to learn more about animal rights issues, find ways to get active for animals, and meet new and longtime activists from all over the world. The sessions teach effective practices and new approaches to animal advocacy.

Check out the 2014 program schedule to get an idea of what 2015 might offer. There is a lot of information to learn, a lot of people to meet, and – of course – a lot of vegan food to eat!

Vegan Outreach will have a table in the exhibit hall – complete with booklets, t-shirts, and more, as well as friendly faces waiting to say hello to you!

Our President, Jack Norris, RD, and our Executive Vice President, Jon Camp, will each present a session at the conference. Those who attended last year may remember helping us celebrate Jon’s achievement of handing out one million VO booklets and being inducted into the Animal Rights Hall of Fame.

The conference is always full of fun, so we hope to see you there!

As a sponsor of the conference, Vegan Outreach can offer its supporters (that’s you!) $20 off the price of full registration. Register online using the discount code VO20.

We’re happy to present our brand-new Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating booklet!

The Guide includes easy, tasty recipes for people moving towards a vegan diet, and other helpful tips on how to live a compassionate lifestyle. Guides are typically handed out to people we come across while leafleting who express interest. Because the Guide has information on why dairy causes suffering to cows, we especially like to get them into the hands of anyone who tells us they’re vegetarian. And if someone says they don’t want to take one of our other booklets due to the graphic pictures, we’re able to offer them a Guide.

One big change from the old Guide is that the booklet is now the same size as all of our other booklets – 16 pages. This has reduced the cost of printing, shipping, and overhead. In the past, due to the increased cost, we asked people not to leaflet with the Guide, but now if people feel that a crowd is particularly educated and would benefit most from a Guide, it won’t be any more expensive than one of our other booklets. Another change is that the nutrition section is much condensed, hopefully giving people what they need to know in a more concise, less scary way.

We hope you’ll like the new Guide! You can download a PDF from our Booklet PDFs page or order print copies from our Order Form.

Written by Laura Morse

Michelle Obama kicked off her time as first lady by launching ‘Let’s Move,’ a campaign that promised to reduce the obesity epidemic among children in America by bringing together a group of the country’s top nutrition advisors to help make policy changes for the American public.  Although there’s still a long way to go when it comes to offering children healthy vegetarian options at their schools, progress has definitely been made in the direction of promoting plant-based food.  Here are five reasons to celebrate the ‘Let’s Move’ campaign:

1. The New Executive Director of ‘Let’s Move,’ Debra Eschemeyer is a food justice activist who encourages educators and parents to teach children where their food comes from. As the co-founder of Food Corps, Eschemeyer educated a division of AmeriCorps workers about the value of providing fresh and local produce to all children.  She recently launched team Fruits ‘n Vegetables (FNV) a program to expose children to healthy produce commercials, seeing as they are currently exposed to over 5,000 unhealthy food ads per year.  Get ready to see more marketing for healthy produce!

2. With the latest meeting of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, nutritional experts recommended eating more fruits and vegetables and cutting back on the saturated fat found in meat. As more and more scientific evidence is revealed in favor of a plant-based diet, more schools will adopt Meatless Mondays Resolutions.

3. Michelle Obama recently partnered with singer and actress Beyoncé to promote healthy eating habits.  Beyoncé supports a plant-based diet and started her “22 Days Nutrition Vegan Meal Delivery Service” this year,  which delivers vegan meals to people’s homes.   As a result, vegan meal deliveries are on the rise with delivery services like Veestro, Lighter, Green Lite Meals, and Forks Over Knives Meals-to-Your-Door, which are perfect for people who are new to a vegetarian lifestyle.

4. Just last week, the “Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools Initiative” celebrated installing its 4,000^th school salad bar at a school in Baltimore, Maryland. Thousands of children will now have access to healthy produce when they enter their school dining hall. Additionally, studies show that with access to these salad bars, children are increasing their produce consumption.  Give it another decade, and pretty soon we’ll be moving Vegetarian Hot Food Bars into schools, too!

5. New Jersey Senator, Cory Booker, who is a vegan, presides on the leadership committee for Partnership for a Healthier America, which is an organization that works in conjunction with Michelle Obama’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign. As a member of this committee, Cory Booker has the potential to get dozens of large, private companies, such as Sodexo, to move towards adding more sustainable vegetarian options.

There’s no doubt that we still have a long way to go to reduce the obesity rate in America, which remains around 17% for children between the ages of 2 and 18.   But let’s take a moment to praise the small steps that are moving us in the direction of a sustainable and compassionate plant-based future.  Let’s celebrate these national food policy victories that are bringing us closer to our goals of a more compassionate vegetarian world!  Please provide comments on this blog post (below) about the school lunches being served in your cities and what plant-based options are available for kids.

Laura Morse is currently a student at The Natural Gourmet Institute, where she studies plant-based cooking and nutrition. She’s a Vegan Outreach volunteer and the former President of the Penn State Vegetarian Club.

By Josie Moody, Vegan Outreach Office Manager

When I first became vegan four years ago, it was after meeting my boyfriend, Mitch, who had been vegan for over 17 years. I felt so lucky to have someone in my life that I could ask all sorts of questions, from what he ate to how to handle specific situations I found myself in.

For me, having a vegan partner made it especially easy to adopt a vegan lifestyle. I considered Mitch my Vegan Guide. Sometimes, as vegans, it’s pretty obvious what you can eat, or substitute, or what you can tell someone who doesn’t understand why you don’t eat animals. But sometimes it’s not, especially in the beginning.

I went vegetarian a few years before becoming vegan. When people would ask me why I didn’t eat meat, the only thing I could say was that I felt weird eating animals. I felt like that wasn’t an easy enough reason to understand. However, years later, I know that it’s a perfectly acceptable answer. As a vegan, you don’t have to know everything there is about veganism  (or vegetarianism, or reducing your consumption of meat). All you need to know is that you don’t feel right eating animals, and that you don’t have to.

That’s why I’m so grateful to help out with Vegan Outreach’s Vegan Mentor Program. Launched earlier this winter, this program pairs up people who either want to eat fewer animal products, become vegetarian or go vegan with people who are already vegan.

The majority of vegans out there likely didn’t have a lot of support when they wanted to make this particular change in their lives. Though they weren’t afforded this luxury, they can use their knowledge and experience to help more people become vegan. To me, the best part of this is that people who are seeking mentors are already open-minded—they know what goes on in factory farms, and they want to make a difference. But they have a lot of questions and fears—What will I be able to eat? Will I be hungry all of the time? Will it be hard? What if my family doesn’t support me?

The good news is the number of vegans and amount of resources is growing daily. There are websites, new food products, meet ups, and more … all dedicated to veganism! We’d like to ask you to participate in this trend by either signing up to be a vegan mentor, or, if you’re looking for support yourself, as a vegan mentee. Just take two minutes to complete the brief form, and we will work to pair you up with your match as soon as possible.

If you’re interested in signing up as a mentor, please click here: http://veganoutreach.org/mentor-questionnaire/

If you’re interested in signing up as a mentee, please click here:  http://veganoutreach.org/mentee-questionnaire/

If you have any questions about the Vegan Mentor Program, feel free to contact Josie Moody at [email protected] or Lisa Rimmert at [email protected]

Welcome to the “Supporter Spotlight” post for March! In these new monthly blog posts, we take a moment to shine a spotlight on our members, whose hard work and generosity truly enable the work of Vegan Outreach. Let’s peel back the curtain and get to know one of these champions for animals, Todd Hilson.

Tell us about yourself, Todd.

I am 17 years happily married with three growing boys (ages 13, 10 and 6) and three furry babies (two kitties and a rescue greyhound). I am a walking oxymoron… I’m a vegan Christian crossfitter with an MBA. I enjoy coaching my boys in soccer and playing tennis with them, playing fetch with Dolly (our greyhound) in our backyard, drinking craft beer, and participating in muddy obstacle course races. I work for our family’s chemical distribution business that my father started in 1973 and am responsible for purchasing and inventory management.

Share with us the story of your “vegan journey.”

It all started with reading Gail Eisnitz’s book, “Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry.” Upon reading this book (and several others afterwards), my eyes were opened to the immense suffering farmed animals endure. I became lacto-ovo vegetarian in March 2000, and then went vegan in January 2006 and haven’t looked back since. My 13-year-old has joined me on this quest and has been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for a few years now!

You’ve given monthly to Vegan Outreach for years. Why do you support VO?

I love the mission, message, and distribution of VO. I think targeting college-aged students is a great idea and I like the language in VO’s materials. It’s not an “all or nothing” approach to veganism so people are more open to it.

What advice would you give to someone considering vegan eating?

Don’t be afraid to try new foods and don’t worry about what other people think! You will soon realize that there are many new foods you like, and once you’ve had tofu prepared properly at a good Asian restaurant, your opinion of it will change forever! Life’s too short to worry about what other people think of your lifestyle choices.

Finally, share with us your absolute favorite meal.

While I have many, I would have to say that my absolute favorite is a dish served at a local Thai restaurant. The dish is called Rama Delight and it is part coconut milk curry, part peanut-sauce with tofu and broccoli. It’s simply amazing.

Thank you, Todd, and thank you to all our wonderful supporters!

Join Todd in supporting the work of Vegan Outreach by signing up for a monthly donation today.