Vegan Outreach 2829965 186313133 2008-01-23T09:30:02Z OrphanBot 621721 Removing [[:Image:Miranda_robbins.jpg|image]] with no copyright information. Such images that are older than seven days may be deleted at any time. '''Vegan Outreach''' is an American [[animal rights|animal advocacy]] group working to expose and end cruelty to animals through the widespread distribution of printed informational booklets<ref>[http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/resources.html "Advocacy resources"]</ref>. As of December 2007, over seven million hard copies of Vegan Outreach brochures have been handed out by the local members of Vegan Outreach around the world since the group's inception <ref>[http://www.veganoutreach.org/enewsletter/20071205.html "Vegan Outreach eNewsletter - December 5, 2007"]</ref>. {{Animal liberation movement}} ==History== Vegan Outreach founders Matt Ball and Jack Norris met in in [[Cincinnati, OH]] in 1990. As members of the Animal Rights Community of Cincinnati, Matt and Jack (along with Phil Murray, now co-owner of Pangea Vegan Products) spent the winter of 1990-1991 holding fur protests outside of cultural events. Their focus turned to [[vegetarianism]] in 1992, and the Animal Rights Community of Cincinnati funded the printing and distribution of 10,000 pro-vegetarian flyers entitled "Vegetarianism." <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:Animal_rights_06.jpg|left|frame|Vegan Outreach founders Matt Ball and Jack Norris are inducted into the Animal Rights Hall of Fame in 2005.|{{deletable image-caption|1=Thursday, 24 January 2008}}]] -->In June of 1993, twelve activists -- including Matt and Jack -- held a three-day "[[fasting|Fast]] for Farm Animals" in front of a Cincinnati [[slaughterhouse]] (the logic behind this being that most animals typically go three days without food before slaughter). On the last day of the fast, some of the protestors took a large banner reading "Stop Eating Animals" to the [[University of Cincinnati]] campus. Though the fast itself generated some media coverage, many of the people involved felt that holding the banner in the university district was the most effective part of the fast. Following this event, Matt and Jack formed Animal Liberation Action (ALA) and started a campaign of holding "Stop Eating Animals" banners on street corners. This would become the foundation of Vegan Outreach's current tactic of disseminating information on [[college campus]]es and in other high-traffic areas. In conjunction with an upswing in [[civil disobedience]] relating to the [[animal rights]] movement, in 1994 ALA developed a booklet called "And Justice For All." It focused on the reasons to adopt a [[vegan diet]], including the abuse of the animals involved, the impact of industrialized farming on the [[Natural environment|environment]], and the benefits of consuming a plant-based diet. The following year, ALA's name was officially changed to Vegan Outreach, and the campaign to hold banners -- generally poorly received by the public, who did not understand the reasons behind the request -- was set aside in favor of the distribution of printed booklets. Another revision of the booklet, now called "Vegan Outreach," was printed in 1995. The initial 10,000 copy run was stapled, folded, and collated by hand to save money. That autumn, Jack Norris embarked on a tour of the Midwestern United States, distributing the Vegan Outreach brochure at nineteen universities. The first "Why Vegan" was printed in 1996 and distributed at 171 colleges during that year. Jack continued his traveling until funds ran out in 1997. Jack decided to become a Registered Dietitian, which entailed three years of school and an internship. He did this to become educated on the science of nutrition and to figure out what could be done to minimize the number of failed vegetarians in the future. <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:Eugene_K.jpg|left|frame|Volunteer Eugene Khutoryansky leaflets at a concert in Texas.|{{deletable image-caption|1=Thursday, 24 January 2008}}]] -->In their June 1998 newsletter, Vegan Outreach published a very long article called "Veganism as the Path to Animal Liberation" (now called "Activism and Veganism Reconsidered" <ref>[http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/path.html "Activism and Veganism Reconsidered"]</ref>). This article questioned the priorities of the [[animal rights|animal rights movement]] (in part by pointing out that ~99% of all animals killed in the U.S. died to be eaten, while only a minority of the movement's attention went to exposing factory farms and promoting vegetarianism) and also argued against the movement's focus on trying to get media attention through [[protests]]. The essay also questioned the effectiveness of [[civil disobedience]] and [[direct action]], and a perceived tendency towards self-delusion and dogmatism in vegetarian and animal rights promotion. Until veganism was more widespread, Matt argued, animal liberation could not succeed on any major front. The essay made a wide impact on activists and shaped Vegan Outreach's guiding principals of advocacy <ref>[http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/ "Guiding Principles of Advocacy"] "Vegan Outreach"</ref>. New booklets were developed in 1999 and 2000, including a Vegetarian Starter Guide (now the "Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating") for people who were interested in following a veterarian diet and "Vegetarian Living" (now "Try Vegetarian") which had none of the graphic photos contained in the "Why Vegan" brochure. In 2001, over 330,000 copies of "Why Vegan" and "Vegetarian Living" were distributed. <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:Jon_camp.jpg|right|frame|Vegan Outreach's first full-time leafleter, Jon Camp, has distributed hundreds of thousands of brochures during his employment with VO.|{{deletable image-caption|1=Thursday, 24 January 2008}}]] -->In the fall of 2003, Vegan Outreach launched its Adopt-A-College program, the [[animal rights|animal advocacy movement]]'s first systematic attempt to reach large numbers of students in the [[united states|U.S.]] and [[Canada]] in an organized way. The program's first year saw 22,000 brochures distributed at 63 schools; most recently, 344,000 brochures were distributed at 385 schools during the fall 2006 semester <ref>[http://www.veganhealth.org/colleges/semtotals "Adopt-A-College semester totals"]</ref>. Vegan Outreach was able to hire a new employee, Jon Camp, whose focus was entirely on leafleting at colleges. In his first two years of employment with the group, he handed out over 145,000 brochures. Another big change for Vegan Outreach occurred in 2005, when the first copy of their new brochure, "Even If You Like Meat," was printed. The brochure is explained in this way: {{Quotation|After many years of leafleting, we realized that students had started to erect a number of mental barriers to prevent them from seriously considering their part in supporting factory farming and slaughterhouses.... One major barrier is that people have convinced themselves that [[boycott]]ing animal cruelty has to be an all or nothing proposition, and, since they cannot go all the way, they will do nothing. Thus, a big emphasis of EIYLM is to let people know that not supporting cruelty does not have to be an “all or nothing” proposition. Any amount of animal food reduction helps prevent suffering. Another problem we encountered was that people would see the word “vegan” or “vegetarian” on our flyers and assume we were just do-gooder busybodies trying to get them to improve their health, so they would not take a flyer. With EIYLM, we put pictures of factory farms on the front of the brochure so people would immediately see we were talking about a serious social issue in which animals were being treated cruelly. At first, we worried that this might decrease the acceptance rate. But we found that if anything, the reception rate actually increased. The cover pictures also prevent the previous, occasional problem of someone taking a happy looking flyer and then feeling duped when they open it to see graphic photos.|Jack Norris, RD [http://www.veganoutreach.org/articles/history.html "A History of Vegan Outreach"], ''veganoutreach.org''.}} <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:Miranda_robbins.jpg|left|frame|Miranda Robbins, one half of 'Team Oakland,' distributes Vegan Outreach literature on a full-time basis.|{{deletable image-caption|1=Thursday, 24 January 2008}}]] -->Vegan Outreach continues to grow, as an organization, in leaps and bounds. In 2006, Vegan Outreach was able to hire two more full-time leafleters: Victor Tsou covered the western [[United States]] while Jenna Calabrese leafleted throughout the northeastern region of the country. Anne Green was hired full-time as Vegan Outreach's vice president in 2007 after many years of unofficially contributing to the planning and management of the organization. In the fall semester of 2007, new full-time leafleters Miranda Robbins (teaming up with Victor in the west) and Brian Grupe (replacing Jenna in New England) came on board to continue distributing these pamphlets to college students around the nation. <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:Brian_grupe.jpg|right|frame|Brian Grupe leaflets full-time at high schools, colleges, and concerts.|{{deletable image-caption|1=Thursday, 24 January 2008}}]] -->Today, Vegan Outreach continues its mission of disseminating this information on college campuses and at other busy venues across the globe. Their brochures have been distributed in all 50 states, [[Puerto Rico]], ten [[Canada|Canadian]] territories and provinces, [[Mexico]], and numerous other countries (including [[Australia]], [[Austria]], [[Brazil]], [[Denmark]], [[Egypt]], [[England]], [[Finland]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[India]], [[Ireland]], [[Italy]], [[Japan]], [[the Netherlands]], [[New Zealand]], [[Norway]], [[Singapore]], [[Slovenia]], [[Slovakia]], [[Spain]], [[Sri Lanka]], [[South Africa]], and [[Taiwan]]) <ref>[http://www.veganoutreach.org/about/ "About Vegan Outreach"]</ref>. Many of Vegan Outreach's pamphlets and articles are available in multiple languages, thanks to the translation efforts of volunteers and supporters. The rate of distribution is increasing every year, limited not by demand -- there are many individuals, student groups, and organizations who would like to distribute as many as possible -- but by availability (i.e., resources for printing and distribution). ==Tactics/Philosophy== Vegan Outreach's mission is the reduction of the amount of suffering in the world. They have chosen to focus on people's food choices for three reasons: - The number of animals raised and killed for food each year in the [[United States]] alone vastly exceeds any other form of exploitation, involving numbers far greater than the total human population of the entire world. Ninety-nine out of every 100 animals killed in the United States each year are slaughtered for human consumption. - The intensity of farmed animal suffering: the overcrowding and confinement, the stench, the racket, the extremes of heat and cold, the attacks and even cannibalism, the hunger and starvation, the illness, etc. - Exposing [[factory farms]] and advocating ethical eating is perhaps the most readily accessible option for reducing animal suffering. Every day, every single person makes decisions that affect the lives of farmed animals. Inspiring someone to change leads to fewer animals suffering on [[factory farms]]. By choosing to promote cruelty-free living, every person is a potential major victory. All of Vegan Outreach's printed materials advocate for a reduction and eventual elimination of animal products from one's diet. Furthermore, suggestions for alternative foods, information on staying healthy on a plant-based diet <ref>[http://www.veganhealth.org "Staying Healthy on a Plant-Based Diet"] Jack Norris, RD</ref>, and tips for advocacy are included in the brochures. Vegan Outreach suggests that one's guide shouldn't be an endless list of vegan ingredients but rather doing his or her absolute best to stop cruelty to animals. {{rquote|right|Veganism is important, not as an end in itself, but as a powerful tool for opposing the horrors of factory farms and industrial slaughterhouses.'''''. &mdash; <ref>[http://www.veganoutreach.org/howvegan.html Matt Ball, "How Vegan"].</ref> Matt Ball, "How Vegan"}} In other words, the focus isn't so much personal beliefs or specific choices but rather the animals and their suffering. Vegan Outreach encourages people to become [[vegan]] advocates because if someone believes that being vegan is important, being the most effective advocate for the animals must be seen as even more important. The impact of one's individual veganism -- several hundred animals over the course of a lifetime -- pales in comparison to what he or she can accomplish by being an example to others. For every person inspired to change his or her habits, a vegan's impact on the world multiplies. Matt Ball suggests that minutae will actually hinder the animal advocacy movement: {{Quotation|Conversely, for every person convinced that veganism is overly-demanding by obsessing with an ever-increasing list of ingredients, we do worse than nothing: we turn someone away who could have made a real difference for animals if they hadn't met us. Currently the vast majority of people in our society have no problem eating the actual leg of a chicken. It is not surprising that many people dismiss vegans as unreasonable and irrational when our example includes interrogating waiters, not eating veggie burgers cooked on the same grill with meat, not taking photographs or using medicines, etc. Instead of spending our limited time and resources worrying about the margins (cane sugar, film, medicine, etc.), our focus should be on increasing our impact every day. Helping just one person change leads to hundreds fewer animals suffering in factory farms. By choosing to promote compassionate eating, every person we meet is a potential major victory.... It is not enough to be a righteous vegan, or even a dedicated, knowledgeable vegan advocate. The animals don't need us to be right, they need us to be effective. In other words, we don’t want to just win an argument with a meat-eater, we want to open people's hearts and minds to a more compassionate lifestyle. To do this, we have to be the opposite of the vegan stereotype. Regardless of the sorrow and outrage we rightly feel at the cruelties the animals suffer, we must strive to be what others want to be: joyful, respectful individuals, whose fulfilling lives inspire others. Only then can we do our best for the animals.|Matt Ball [http://www.veganoutreach.org/howvegan.html "How Vegan?"], ''veganoutreach.org''.}} ==Programs== The booklets that Vegan Outreach prints are primarily distributed by individuals and groups through leafleting. This person-to-person, grassroots approach to activism ensures that each person who interacts with a Vegan Outreach distributor is given comprehensive, complete information that they can consider on their own time. The group's major program is called "Adopt-A-College," in which volunteers disseminate the booklets on college campuses. Vegan Outreach has chosen to focus on students (especially college-age), for three main reasons: [[Image:Ssolomonaac.jpg|left|frame|Volunteer Stewart Solomon leaflets for the Adopt-A-College program]] - '''The Relative Willingness and Ability to Change''': Of course, not every student is willing to stop eating meat. But relative to the population as a whole, college students tend to be more open-minded – even rebellious against the status quo – and in a position where they aren’t as restricted by parents, tradition, habits, etc. - '''The Full Impact of Change''': Even if students and senior citizens were equally open to change, over the course of their lives, students can save more animals. Young people not only have more meals ahead of them, but also have more opportunities to influence others. - '''The Ability to Reach Large Numbers''': College students are typically easier to reach in large numbers. For a relatively small investment of time, an activist can hand a copy of "Even If You Like Meat" or "Why Vegan?" to hundreds of students who otherwise might never have viewed a full and compelling case for compassion. The early half of 2007 saw Vegan Outreach teaming up with [[Compassion Over Killing]] to embark on the organization's first non-leafleting campaign: encouraging Morningstar Farms to eliminate its usage of eggs in its products and introduce more [[vegan]] foods to its product line. Shortly thereafter, Morningstar Farms and its parent company, [[Kellogg's]], agreed to "reducing the amount of eggs we use in our Morningstar products by a minimum of one million eggs"<ref>[http://www.veganoutreach.org/enewsletter/morningstarnews.html Victory! Morningstar Farms agrees to reduce egg usage and introduce more vegan products]</ref> by the end of 2008. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.veganoutreach.org Vegan Outreach] *[http://www.whyvegan.com Why Vegan?] *[http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/meaningfullife.html A Meaningful Life] *[http://www.veganhealth.org VeganHealth.org] - by Vegan Outreach co-founder, Jack Norris, RD *[http://www.veganhealth.org/colleges Adopt-A-College] *[http://www.veganoutreach.org/enewsletter/ Vegan Outreach weekly eNewsletter] *[http://www.morningstar-egg-facts.com/ Morningstar-Egg-Facts.com] [[Category:Animal rights|*]] [[Category:Bioethics]] [[Category:Political movements]] [[Category:Rights]] [[Category:Animal rights movement]] [[Category:Veganism]]