Tips From A Leafleting Pro

A one-man leafleting machine, Vegan Outreach’s own Vic Sjodin has handed out over 720,000 leaflets since 2008. How did Vic get interested in leafleting? By receiving a leaflet himself!

In his interview with VegFund’s Rachel Curit, Vic shares tips on how to be a more effective leafleter and animal advocate.

For People Who Love Animals and Numbers

Harish Sethu of Counting Animals has a most engaging interview with Erin O'Sullivan online now at Animal Voices Radio.

Well worth the listen for all animal advocates!

You can listen online or download to your iPod.

Vegetarian Butcher and Vegan Grilled Cheese

YamChops Vegetarian Butcher Opens In Toronto

Yep, you read that correctly. What exactly then, is a butcher shop without a Butcher?

YamChops creates plant-based versions of traditional butcher shop offerings, as explained in Meet the meat-free options at Toronto's first vegetarian butcher shop.

"David Alexander, executive director of the Toronto Vegetarian Association explains, 'Vegetarian butcher shops are a novel concept that aligns with two rising food trends — the spread of boutique food shops and great tasting meatless alternatives. By tying the two together, YamChops should be able to reach beyond vegetarians and vegans to flexitarians and anyone else who enjoys meatless meals.'"

(Thanks, Paul!)

Vegan Grilled Cheese Recipe from Vegan.com

Can't make it to Toronto to sample vegan versions of your favorite food? Luckily you only need to trek as far as your kitchen to make this easy and delicious Vegan Grilled Cheese recipe, compliments of Vegan.com.

Karen James: Spring 2014

Karen James at SUNY Old Westbury.

VO Mid-Atlantic Outreach Coordinator, Karen James, has leafleted 30 campuses this semester, reaching more than 19,000 students with Vegan Outreach booklets!

Since the spring of 2010, Karen has gotten booklets into the hands of over 134,000 individuals!

On 2/18/14, Karen leafleted two community colleges and reached more than 800 students:



“Cold day, so not a lot of conversations at Housatonic CC, but I met Joyce, who received a Compassionate Choices from me last year and went vegetarian. We discussed dairy, I gave her a Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating, and she is going to cut out milk, and work on reducing cheese by trying some of the vegan options I pointed out! Also, Matt remembered me from last semester; he cut out pork and red meat altogether, and has reduced eating fish and chicken to 2x a week! Gave him a Guide, and again, pointed out alternatives and congratulated him on his efforts!



“Students were rushing by in the cold at Norwalk CC, but I met Jaime, who said he received a booklet a year ago and went vegan! He’s been doing good with the change and feels much better, healthier, and lost 15 pounds that he had difficulty losing before going vegan!”

On 3/4/14, Karen reached 750 students at Central Connecticut State:

“Chilly, but busy. I met Ariel, who wants to go vegan after reading the Even If You Like Meat. She thought it was horrible how the animals are treated so cruelly. I gave her a Guide. Jeff said he got a booklet from me last semester and stopped eating all meat! He is now working on eliminating dairy and eggs, heading toward vegan! I also gave him a Guide.

“ONWARD!!!”

Help push the spread of veganism onward: Click here to have your donation doubled today!

USDA Not Enforcing Humane Slaughter Act

In 2013, the USDA's Office of the Inspector General released a report in which it accused the food safety division of not enforcing the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, and not even understanding what is legally required to be in compliance with the act. One meat plant in North Carolina has had several horrifying, repeat violations which should result in criminal charges.

"My organization is calling on USDA to refer egregious cruelty to federal prosecutors, as the agency is statutorily empowered to do, and also to withdraw federal grants of inspection from repeat violators," writes Bruce Friedrich, director of policy and advocacy at Farm Sanctuary. "USDA should start with this North Carolina plant, and unless it does, the agency should not be believed when it claims to take its humane slaughter mandate seriously."

Read Friedrich's full response to the report here.

Matt Corriveau: Spring 2014

Matt Corriveau.

Vegan Outreach intern Matt Corriveau has hit 67 different schools this semester, handing booklets to more than 19,000 students!

On 2/20/14, Matt and VO Outreach Coordinator Chris Guinn handed out over 1,600 Your Choice booklets at Kent State University. Chris reports:

“Who remembers the monsoon scene from Jumanji? That was our leafleting weather today at Kent State; but nevertheless, we still had a pretty big day! Matt had about a half-dozen conversations with students curious about going veg and got out a few Guide to Cruelty-Free Eating booklets. I had a girl ask me if our ‘Text for a Guide’ was legit, and if she’d have to pay; it was cute, I was like, ‘Nah, of course not!’ and gave her one of the Guides in my hand. I’ve heard through the grapevine that we got several text-for-Guide requests in from Kent already this afternoon – pumped about that!

“Our outreach for the day didn’t stop at Kent either. I had a guy in the locker room at the gym ask me about my Vega protein, which was cool; I left him a Guide and a Your Choice, which I keep in my gym bag now. Matt also spoke with several people in the sauna about veg eating. Can’t stop our outreach! BOOM!”

Matt, Chris, and first-time leafleter Karen Blanco – who helped out before and in between her final exams! – reached 1,510 students at the Rochester Institute of Technology on 5/12/14. Santiago (above) let them know he got a booklet from Chris on campus last semester and has been vegetarian ever since! Chris also reports: “I met a vegan named Tony, who was super psyched to see me leafleting. I asked if he was part of a veg club and he told me that, to his knowledge, there wasn’t one at Kent State. I told him to email me for some handy resources on starting one and getting active on campus – he was interested!”

You can inspire more students like Santiago to go veg and more vegans like Tony to get active for animals by supporting VO’s Adopt a College program: Click here to donate to Team Vegan!