By Melissa Li, Vegan Outreach Board Member

Finally—a vegan with a sense of humor!

I’m joking, of course, but as many of us know, vegans are often accused of taking things too seriously and lacking a sense of humor.

In The Skeptical Vegan, Eric Lindstrom proves that one can be vegan and also skilled at making other people laugh. Providing hilarious anecdotes and advice, he details the journey from someone who could’ve easily entered—and won—a chicken wing eating contest to a full-time animal advocate.

The author makes it clear from the beginning that he didn’t go vegan to improve his health, or out of love for animals. His vegan journey started because he made a bet with his girlfriend—now wife—that he could eat vegan for 30 days. If he won the bet, they agreed he wouldn’t have to do house chores for three months.

A few examples of humorous topics in the book include a classification system for different types of vegans—the Freegan Vegan, the Beegan Vegan, and others most people have probably never heard of—and eating vegan at popular fast-food chains.

Reflecting on his vegan journey, Lindstrom describes what it’s like for an over-the-top meat-eater to overcome the challenges of becoming vegan. And although he mentions his personal history of hypertension and high cholesterol, he doesn’t lead heavily with discussions about the health benefits of eating a vegan diet, animal rights, or other dietary ethics—which makes this a great introductory and non-threatening resource for vegan skeptics!

In the midst of reading Lindstrom’s book, I had the pleasure of attending the 2017 Animal Rights National Conference. To my surprise, he was one of the speakers at the conference. His presentation was titled, “The Power of Art and Photography,” and he discussed his individual advocacy. Later in the conference, he was one of the emcees for the closing banquet. He had a comedic timing that was instantaneous and spontaneous, making the audience burst out in laughter.

After a previous career as a content strategist at Cornell University, Lindstrom is now the marketing director for Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM). His book doesn’t delve into his current work with FARM, but it compellingly narrates a life transformed by veganism. And with a sense of humor firmly intact!

To get your own copy, of The Skeptical Vegan, click here. You won’t regret it!

Vegan Outreach has conducted a large randomized, prospective study examining diet changes three to five months after reading a variety of booklets promoting veganism and awareness of animal suffering.

We compared four booklets: Your Choice, Even If You Like Meat, Speciesism, and A Simple Way to Live (focused on chicken reduction).

Although few significant differences between booklets were observable in a population of this size (n=1,539), large, measurable decreases in animal consumption were readily seen.

The study also showed that people who newly avoid eating mammals due to reading the booklets are also likely to avoid eating chickens.

In this population, an average of one person reduced their consumption of all non-vegan foods to less than once per week for every 75 Vegan Outreach booklets read.

Details Here

By Lisa Rimmert, VO Director of Development

If you’re trying to cut dairy out of your diet, it won’t be much of a sacrifice with all the great plant-based cheeses on the market today!

There’s such a wide variety and—thanks to websites like Vegan Essentials—they’re even accessible to those who don’t live near a grocery store that carries them.

Right now, get 10% off your order of vegan cheese—and any other vegan products—from our friends at Vegan Essentials!

Use the discount code “VO” for 10% off your order.

I recommend starting with Field Roast’s Vegan Chao Cheese Slices and Kite Hill’s Artisan Vegan Cream Cheese Style Spreads.

While you’re shopping, check out Vegan Essentials’ selection of vegan meats, like Gardein’s Crispy Chick’n Sliders, Match Meat’s vegan Ground Beef, and, of course, Tofurky’s delicious Deli Slices.

Enjoy your vegan meats and cheeses, and let us know how they tasted!

On Saturday, August 12, Vegan Outreach staff, board members, and donors attended a workshop by racial and social justice educator, Dr. Robin DiAngelo, and Liz Ross, co-founder and director of Vegan Advocacy Initiative.

It was ironic to leave the workshop and find out that—while we were talking about how to challenge racism—a crowd of white supremacists was rallying in Charlottesville, VA.

Of course, we’re appalled by blatant racism, but it’s easy to forget that racism is a systemic issue that operates in subtle ways that are largely invisible. It’s not about good or bad intentions—it’s about the systems we live and work within and the unconscious biases that, by definition, we don’t even know we have.

Until it’s pointed out, it’s not obvious how much easier being white can make moving through society. White people usually don’t have to be afraid of the police when engaging in activities such as leafleting or protesting. White people don’t have to deal with residents wondering why they might be in a wealthy neighborhood, or whether their race will be a problem in a job interview.

We don’t know the right words to say, but we believe that not speaking out against racism is the worst choice we could make. It’s uncomfortable to talk about, but being silent only maintains the status quo. By feeling this discomfort and acknowledging these issues we’re widening our capacity for compassion.

Here’s what that looks like for Vegan Outreach—

There will always be room to grow and more to learn. None of us can individually end racism, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but we can each play a role by doing something.

By Kimberly Moffatt, Outreach Coordinator

A few weeks ago, I detailed my vegan food adventures for the early summer trip my partner and I took to the beautiful country of Costa Rica. This week, I’ll fill you in on the types of activities we did while visiting.

As many of you can probably relate, we didn’t want to go to tourist attractions that exploited animals or humans. We were careful in our planning and found some fun activities that allowed us to explore different parts of the country and see many different types of animals in their natural environment.

Jon and I knew that we wanted to hike, spend a lot of time outdoors, and hang around the beach, so we decided to start off by doing the Two Volcano Extreme Hike in Fortuna. There were three guides that took us on a 12-mile hike through Cerro Chato—a dormant volcano—which offered incredible views of Arenal Volcano.

When we got to the top of Cerro Chato, we scrambled down to Emerald Lake for a quick dip and lunch break. After splashing around in the lake, we spent a good three hours hiking back down to what looked like the gallimimus herd flocking scene in Jurassic Park. We had one more view of the Arenal Volcano before we were taken to a hot spring to relax.

Our next stop was Monteverde, where we did a night hike to see nocturnal animals. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the ecosystems and animals in the area. We saw many spiders and frogs, a sleeping motmot bird, and two kinkajous. The next day, we hiked the Sky Walk Hanging Bridges, and let me tell you, it’s a surreal world up there.

In between each bridge, we walked through lush jungles. We saw a family of howler monkeys moving through the treetops, hummingbirds—who were not shy at all, toucans, and other types of birds. On the taller bridges, we watched the clouds roll in and out, and we were blown away by the beauty.

At the end of our trip, we decided to head to the town of Manuel Antonio. We spent an entire day wandering around, enjoying the beach, and hiking in Manuel Antonio National Park. The trails were relatively easy and we saw a lot of wildlife, including a poison arrow frog, sloths, squirrel monkeys, raccoons, a coati, iguanas, and capuchins—just to name a few. The beaches were beautiful, as were the views from higher elevations. We relaxed on the beach and watched raccoons and capuchins try to steal people’s belongings and food.

Overall, Costa Rica is a great place to visit! There are several animal and human-friendly activities to do. And with a little bit of preparation, there’s good vegan food to enjoy while touring the country. If you’re like me and enjoy traveling, I highly recommend adding Costa Rica to your list of places to go! You won’t be disappointed!

By Lori Stultz, Communications Manager

When I think back on my journey to veganism, I feel an extreme amount of gratitude for the local vegan group that was already established in the city I was living in. I had people around me who could answer my questions and recommend different resources to help me better understand the wide scale violence against animals.

Thankfully, I never lacked a community or felt completely alone. And having met many other vegans over the course of my vegan journey, I know my experience is not typical. A good majority of them are quick to tell me how they feel lonely and isolated.

That’s why I’m taking the time to introduce Vegr, a soon-to-launch online tool where vegans will be able to connect with other vegans based on specific interests and locations. Whether you’re looking for a vegan running partner, someone to share vegan recipes with, or you’re needing advice on how to organize a circus protest, Vegr will be able to meet those needs.

And while Vegr can act as a tool for vegans to seek out a like-minded romantic partner, its primary goal is to provide resources for those wanting to find and build a vegan community.

Founders, Gerry Warren and Alex Moller describe it best—

The world does not need another dating app. Vegr is a tool. A tool that will be used to connect plant-based people all over the world… and pave a road for, as they put it, ‘us to meet more of us.‘

Before sending you off to the Vegr website, here are a few other things you should know—

• Vegr is in the process of building an online movement before launching an Indiegogo campaign. The goal of the campaign is to bring the Vegr project to life to then deliver it to the vegan community and backers who believe the world benefits when the plant-based community is united.
• They’ve been featured in large media publications, including Vegan Magazine, About Time Magazine, Global Vegans, Living Clean Now, and Gary TV.
• Vegr plans to give 10% of their profits to support vegan related causes.

We’ll announce the launch of Vegr’s Indiegogo campaign in the coming months, as well as the release of the tool itself. In the meantime, check them out their website, Facebook page, and other various social media channels.