Thank You Vegan Outreach Activists!

I thought I'd give a shout out to a few remarkable activists that I've had the privilege of leafleting with:


The amazing Lana Smithson:


How long have you been involved in animal rights and how did you get interested? 


In January of 2002, I watched a short video of a cow being dragged to slaughter and I stopped eating meat that day. I went vegan about a month later. I don’t know why it took so long in my life to reach that point. I had always claimed to love animals but didn’t think about the animals in agriculture. Even in college, when my minor was animal science, my mind didn’t really open to the “food animals.” For some reason, seeing that video years later just clicked for me and I had to align my ethics with my food choices. I also felt compelled to get active to raise awareness about the suffering. I believe the images and information in the VO booklets are doing the same for many people as that video did for me. 


The dynamo Nikki Benoit:



What was your most positive leafleting experience and why?


At St. Pete College – Gibbs campus, I leafleted a group of students and kept walking. Fifteen feet away I overheard, “That’s IT! I CAN’T do this anymore, damn it! I can’t contribute to this abuse! I’m DONE!” She went veg on the spot! Her friends were moaning that their lunch plans would have to change, so I told them about local veggie options. After lunch the new veg and a friend walked past me, and the non-veg said, “She’ll have me changed by the end of the day…guaranteed.” BONUS ROUND, WOOT WOOT!


The incredible Vic Sjodin:



Who has been a major influence in your life and why?


I am inspired by anyone who has the courage to follow their heart, especially people who go veg. People who feel uncomfortable sitting in their car but overcome the inertia and go out and leaflet. People who sacrifice for others. Ideas are not enough, we have to sweat to make things happen. Everyone who sacrifices for the movement is a friend of mine.


And just last week the very kind and gently persuasive Jeff Boghosian:



What made you decide to start leafleting, and, if you were nervous the first time, how did you get over it?


I decided to start leafleting because I was searching for new ways to reach people in an effective and direct way, but not through the media. To me, promoting veganism is about getting people to make different choices – but first they need to hear our message. So instead of protesting or going through the media, both of which have their places, I decided the best thing to do is to distribute flyers – asking people directly if they'll learn about the issue and consider a change.


More activist profiles for Vegan Outreach can be found here and here. Hat's off to these phenomenal, inspirational advocates who put their dedicated time and energy into making the world a better place!

“The Vegan Outreach team serve as a vital cog in the rapidly expanding vegan movement. Smart, smiling, happy, healthy and fit people on university campuses handing out a colorful booklet carefully designed to inform but not offend – it’s a winning formula. The sky’s the limit. Their ultimate success will come when there will no longer be any demand for their booklets, because everyone has already read it and changed their lives.”

Jonathan Balcombe

author of The Exultant Ark

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An Observation About Kind People Who Eat Animals

Here's a video from Daynamoot on Youtube who says "My eye opener on the animals we consume and the information that changed my life. Go veggie".

And here's the Vegan Outreach brochure that made her aware of things she had not known before about the way animals are raised/killed for "food".

Why Vegan? Boycott Cruelty

It is obvious through this video and other vegan stories that when the reality is revealed most people are shocked... The new awareness of the exposed truth compels them to make the necessary changes to remove themselves from these brutal institutions.

And as in this video there is a need to want to tell others so that they too will commit themselves to ending these unnecessary horrors. And so an advocate is born. There is a passion and a dedication that causes the person with the new knowledge to speak out against it... It changes and reshapes the most "normal" of lives.

That was the case with me too... In a matter of days my world transformed itself to accommodate my compassionate decisions. And I suppose to friends and family this abrupt change should have seemed out of character for me who was otherwise, a conventional, "typical", "average", well grounded person.

So, you'd figure that friends and family would desire to know and hear what exactly was it that caused such a "radical" shift? What could possibly "change" a person so abruptly and completely? If a friend or acquaintance of mine went through a life changing "shock", I'd want to know what it was that caused it... I'd be curious... I'd want to know what "truth" it was that I might not be aware of. But this isn't usually the case with people once they know your "discovery" is about "food animals". Suddenly, the most caring, concerned, inquisitive and responsive "friends" abandon all interest. Why is that?

They either say "I already know" - In which case the logical question has to be - Well how can you continue to condone such practices? Most know they have no logical "reason" and so opt out of the whole conversation...

Others might say that they don't want to "know"... In which case they probably already "know" but have compartmentalized the information somewhere between the McDonald's farm fantasy and their taste buds. In both cases though... They just don't care enough to make a difference, even if only in their own lives.

Now, that has to be okay... It's their choice and thus far, they can find tons of legal "sanction" with others who continue to look away, to not know and to continue to eat animals. But my gripe is with what they wish to call themselves. What they perceive themselves to be. It's just not the truth!

They want to be called thoughtful, compassionate people - But this is not reality.

It is not "kind" to continue a practice that causes suffering and killing. And while these people may be able to delude themselves with words that really mean nothing in honesty... I'm also free to call them on it. If you deliberately pay someone to slit a cow's throat - even though it's entirely UNNECESSARY - It is NOT kind - It is cruel.  And I know how you all like to think of yourselves as "animal lovers"... But it's just not reality.  You only want to wear that fake mask that everyone else who eats animals hides behind... It's an illusion - And I call you on it!

Either killing innocent animals needlessly concerns you enough to stop doing it... Or you just don't care "enough" to experience any inconvenience that you think you might suffer should you cease to eliminate  animal slaughter.

So if anyone truly wishes to be compassionate... To be just and fair they will go vegan.  All the rest is lip service...

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