Leafleting for an hour on a college campus can immediately open people’s eyes to the suffering caused by eating animals. Visit Adopt-a-College to get started. Below are some tips from veteran leafleters.

Best time to leaflet colleges

Be sure to first check the school’s academic calendar to make sure classes are being held. Some normal weekdays can be faculty in-service or study days, such that few students are on campus. It’s best not to leaflet after the first day of final exams, Fridays before long weekends, or the day before Thanksgiving.

Weekdays are best. 8 AM is usually the first class start time, and it slows down around 3 PM. While 8 AM is early, leafleting before other groups get active, usually after 10 pm, can result in a higher take rate.

If you can’t be there in the morning, lunchtime (11 AM–1 PM) is also active. And some large schools and many community colleges have student traffic past 5 PM.

Permission

We generally use the strategy of showing up and leafleting and if someone asks you to stop, worry about it then. Adopt-a-College has information on the rules for most colleges.

Public universities are supposed to allow leafleting according to federal court decisions, but some don’t follow the rules. Others require that you register and limit where you can stand. Often, security will tell you that you can’t leaflet even though the rules say you can. Asking to see the leafleting or free speech policy can sometimes result in the school letting you leaflet.

Many schools within cities provide a flow of students on public sidewalks where they can easily be handed a leaflet.

Some private schools allow leafleting, but many don’t.

If you’re unsure, it’s best to wear a backpack and keep moving, handing off leaflets to students as you pass them; it’s best not to leaflet security or staff.

Where to stand

At large schools, generally the most students will be found near the student union or library. However, it may be wise to try and find alternative spots to leaflet if the school is constantly leafleted or petitioned because students will be used to rejecting leafleters in these common spots.

At smaller schools, or schools that are not leafleted often, the busiest spots are often the best. Consider staking out a few different spots and rotating between them during busy class changes to reach the maximum number of new students.

Keep in mind that class changes yield the heaviest foot traffic. This is definitely your best time to make an impact!

While leafleting, it’s best not to stay completely stationary. A wider walkway may require you to constantly walk back and forth, approaching as many students as possible. It’s important to stand in the center of the walkway and not off to the side.

Keep in mind that the traffic flow will be going in two directions. You’ll reach the largest number of new students and avoid repeatedly asking the same students if you only leaflet in one direction of the flow.

What to say

The following phrases have been effective:

• Info to help animals
• Hello
• Info on nonviolent eating
• Info on helping animals and the environment
• Especially for later in a leafleting session or if there are multiple leafleters: Did you get one of these?

Keep your arm straight!

It might seem random, but handing a booklet with a straight arm, not bent at the elbow, can make a big difference in whether someone takes it.

For a video of successful leafleting techniques, check out Vic Sjodin’s How to Leaflet? on YouTube.

Nervousness will quickly fade

You might feel out of place, but remember that students are offered things all the time and it doesn’t seem out of place to them to come across someone handing out leaflets. If you feel nervous at first, it should fade once you’ve offered the booklet to a few people.

Don’t be concerned about knowing every tiny detail about the issues. The majority of students will simply politely accept or decline a booklet.

Very few will grill you on facts. But if someone does and you don’t know the answer to a question, just say you don’t know. It’s best not to try to win an argument with someone but simply be friendly and tell them you’re trying to give students information you wish someone had given to you.

Our most important tip is to have fun!

If you have a buddy or two (or more) to help you leaflet, it will be more enjoyable and easier to reach a larger number of people in a shorter amount of time.

Leafleting is generally a very rewarding experience. And you might change someone who goes on to be a prolific leafleter themselves—it’s happened numerous times!

The post Tips for leafleting appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

If you’ve been feeling burned out from witnessing animal cruelty or from everything else wrong with the world, like raging wars and leaders denying climate change, I hope this brings a bit of light to you.

Lighting the Path for Future Culinary Experts

Last quarter, we launched our new Vegan Culinary Advancement Program (VCAP) to bring plant-based culinary education into mainstream hospitality training.

In September, the NIMS Institute of Hotel Management, Jaipur, and the St. Joseph’s Institute of Hotel Management & Catering Technology, Palai, signed Memoranda of Understanding to integrate VCAP into their degree programs. Together, over 700 students each year will now learn plant-based cooking as part of their curriculum, shaping the future of India’s food industry.

Sharing the Light: Changing the Narrative

Through our media outreach, we continue to engage regional journalists to highlight the connection between animal agriculture, climate change, and human health. Regional newspapers play a vital role in shaping public opinion, as their stories reach people in their local languages and contexts.

In the last quarter, we received 16 media mentions, amplifying awareness and helping more communities understand why transforming our food systems matters.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs Has Extended Its Collaboration With Us for Three More Years

Our Food Planet Health Awareness sessions continue to engage approximately 50,000 students annually. The impact of this work has led the Ministry of Youth Affairs to extend our collaboration for an additional three years.

As part of this partnership, we support the ministry in incorporating plant-based diets as a key strategy within the Indian government’s Fit India Movement, helping drive lasting, systemic change at the institutional level.

In the last quarter alone, we:

• Helped 15,691 students try vegan
• Organized 84 webinars
• Reached out to 382 colleges

Stories That Shine: A Dedicated Page for Impact Stories

Last quarter, we launched our Impact Story page, featuring testimonials from individuals who have transformed their lifelong beliefs about animals and adopted a vegan lifestyle.

Learn about their journeys and the stories of how they overcame their challenges!

Meet One of Our Team Members, Inspiring Thousands of Such Individuals

Headshot of Varsha Shankar, our newest Outreach Coordinator.
“Veganism unlocked a playful curiosity in me, and now the kitchen is my canvas. For me, veganism is repair in action. A plate that refuses harm, a habit that protects futures, and a promise to the voiceless. As an outreach coordinator at Vegan Outreach, I aim to educate and help shift norms toward food that harms none and returns life to animals, to people, and to the Earth.”

– Varsha Shankar
Outreach Coordinator

Your support is like a Diwali lamp, fueling hope, strength, and positivity in us. In the same way, we hope our work brings light to you. This Diwali, continue believing in us and help us save more animals across India.

If our work inspired hope and positivity in you, consider sharing it with someone who might need to read this.

Learn more about our work in India!

With gratitude,

Richa Mehta

Director of Programs, Asia-Pacific

The post Wars. Climate Denial. Cruelty. Still, We Choose Light. appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

Breakfast and Savory Eggs

For the main course, eggs can be replaced with tofu scramble or chickpea flour omelets. There’s also a commercial brand of eggs, JUST, with a more egg-like taste and consistency. Their JUST Egg can be used for omelettes or scrambled eggs and their JUST Egg Folded is typically used for breakfast sandwiches.

Vegan Egg Substitutes for Baking and Cooking

Replacing eggs in baking is a bit more complicated because eggs provide several functions, including:

• Leavening to make the food rise
• Moisture
• Fat to make the food soft
• Binding to hold the food together
• Flavor

But you don’t have to give up mouthwatering cakes and cookies to go vegan! Here are some basic egg substitutes:

Rather than making things up as you go, it’s best to use tested vegan baking recipes and follow the recipes carefully. Start by using tried-and-true recipes from vegan baking cookbooks or by searching the Internet for recipes with positive reviews. If you’re new to vegan baking, skip the recipes without any reviews!

The post Replacing Eggs appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

Doubling Down on Progress

Thanks to donors like you, we scaled up the Green Tuesday Initiative to double its impact this year. This means we are on track to reduce 2.2 million pounds of animal products and spare twice as many animal lives.

Here are some of the major updates:

• 41% of goals achieved
• 4,47,748 kg/987,115 lb of animal products reduced
• 65 Green Tuesday Initiative partners obtained

That’s one animal life spared every 3.5 minutes so far this year.*

*Calculated using our impact data from the past 6 months.

Our Newest Partner

Our biggest recent victory was partnering with Carelon. Through this collaboration, Carelon will reduce 59,520 kg/131,219 lb of animal products annually. They’ve also introduced vegan milk alternatives in their cafeteria.

16,354 Students joined the 10 Weeks to Vegan program

As you may have heard, recent tensions between India and Pakistan brought us dangerously close to conflict. Thankfully, it didn’t escalate into a full-scale war, but the impact was deeply felt, especially by communities in India’s border states. Our Food-Planet-Health program was not untouched. Many colleges and universities remained closed for over two months, significantly disrupting our outreach efforts.

But we’re not backing down. We remain committed to our mission, and we’re determined to make up for lost ground in the months ahead, with even more urgency, heart, and resilience. Here’s what we achieved in the last six months:

• 16,581 people, including students, joined the 10 Weeks to Vegan challenge
• 117 webinars were organized
• 282 colleges participated in webinars

Raising the Bar for Plant-Based Culinary Education

Our Vegan Culinary Advancement Program partner, SRM Institute of Hotel Management (SRM IHM), made history by setting a Nova World Record with its “Fueling 2025 with 2,025 Plant-Powered Kathi Rolls” event. At the Ekkatuthangal campus, 160 students prepared 2,025 plant-based multigrain kathi rolls in record time, a world first in plant-based culinary innovation.

Read about this delicious record-breaking moment!

Meet Our New Staff Member

We’re thrilled to welcome Kalpana Gupta to the Vegan Outreach team! With a strong background in outreach and community building, Kalpana will play a critical role in scaling up the Green Tuesday Initiative, bringing sustainable food choices to more institutions across the region.

“It’s a fulfilling experience to enable tangible changes, like a campus reducing its carbon footprint or a company introducing plant-based meals. I’m proud to be part of a mission and a purpose-driven team that helps animals and promotes environmental responsibility. Every small step we take feels like progress toward a better future.”

– Kalpana Gupta
Project Specialist (Outreach and Engagement), Vegan Outreach

Your support means the world. Have feedback, questions, or an idea you’d like us to explore in the Asia-Pacific region? Just drop us a line. I love staying connected with the people who make this work possible.

Every reply helps us do better. Tell us what you think!

Thank you for being part of this journey,

Richa Mehta

Director of Programs, Asia-Pacific

The post What Six Months of Your Support Has Made Possible appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

Students Choosing Compassion

So far in 2019, we’ve reached over 400,000 students with the message of veganism!

We’ve shown virtual reality videos to over 11,000 students this year. Students are often moved to tears after watching the videos and tell us that they want to go vegan right away. Our humane education program is also changing hearts and minds across the country, with nearly 22,000 students attending classroom presentations in 2019!

All our outreach is aimed at signing up thousands of people for our 10 Weeks to Vegan program, so they receive information and motivation to make the switch to vegan eating. So far in 2019, we’ve signed up 13,000 people in India!

I love hearing from people who complete the 10-week program and I want to share some of the responses with you:

“It’s amazing to know about all the non-dairy products! I thought I would have to forget all those tasty dishes made from milk, but it seems like I don’t have to!”
— Radhika, Bhopal

“Thank you for adding me to this program. My family and I have been vegan for the last five days.”
— Shailendra, Lucknow

Exciting Campaign Successes

Green Tuesday Initiative is a new campaign to help institutions in India reduce their environmental footprint by making small changes in the food they serve.

Here are some of the exciting victories we’ve had in the last few months:

• 91springboard, one of the largest co-working spaces in India, will replace all animal products with vegan options every Tuesday.
• Hyderabad Trekking Club, a popular trekking and tourism company in India, stopped serving meat and dairy to nearly 8,000 travelers every year in an effort to reduce their environmental footprint.
• Zostel, Asia’s largest chain of backpackers’ hostels, introduced vegan menus at eight locations in India and Nepal.

Lives You’re Changing

Meet Ranik, a student whose life was changed by Vegan Outreach.

Richa Mehta writes from Agra: “Ranik attended my humane education presentation and asked for more information after the session. A few days later, he got in touch with me and told me that he had stopped eating animals that day.

“Ranik has been vegan for two months now with the help of 10 Weeks to Vegan and he regularly volunteers with me. Witnessing this impact is truly motivating!”

Help us inspire more students like Ranik by donating today!

Warmly,

Aneeha Patwardhan
Director of Programs, India

The post India News: Inspiring Students to Try Vegan appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

On this special occasion, each of us wants to share what your support means to us.

You’re Helping Us Save Animals

“Hi, we’re the newest members of the college outreach team, and we’re so excited to share that in 2024, our team inspired 54,000+ students to try the 10-week challenge through the Food-Planet-Health Awareness Program.

More than 25,000 students participated in our survey after attending the webinars, and 91% said that they would like to adopt a plant-based diet. Over the past 3 years, you’ve helped us double our impact.”

You’re Helping Students in India Go Vegan

Learn more about our work! 

You’re Helping Institutions Implement Plant-Based Food Policies

• Removed 6,32,918 kg/1,395,345 lb of animal products through new partnerships in India and Vietnam
• Partnered with 12 institutions across India and Vietnam
• Secured an 80% renewal rate among previous partners, reducing 16,64,448 kg/3,669,479 lb of animal products
• Supported Sourcebynet Pte. Ltd. in serving and promoting plant-based food across 8 countries

Our Total Impact!

Your unwavering support has driven real change—helping institutions adopt sustainable food practices, empowering students to explore plant-based living, and reducing the demand for high-carbon-footprint foods. None of this would be possible without you. As we step into 2025, we look forward to expanding our reach and deepening our impact together. Thank you for being a part of this journey.

Richa Mehta

Director of Programs, Asia-Pacific

Vegan Outreach

The post This is Who You Pay to Help Animals appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

When Curiosity Meets Awareness

One of the most powerful things we can do through outreach is create space for questions about the food on our plates, the systems behind it, and the impact it leaves behind. For thousands of students across India, those questions begin with Vegan Outreach’s Food Planet Health Awareness Program.

For Jagruti, a tourist guide from Ektanagar and a student pursuing a Master’s in Social Work in Dabhoi, it all started with one webinar. Already a vegetarian, she joined out of curiosity. Here’s what she learned!

What was the most shocking thing you learned during the Food-Planet-Health webinar? 

I’m a vegetarian, but I hadn’t realized how much damage even vegetarian foods like dairy can cause. The webinar made me realise that when the demand for animal products like milk and meat increases, more animals are bred, and they are given chemical injections (oxytocin) to boost production. After learning that, I’ve started switching to plant-based options.

What changes when awareness becomes a daily habit?

I’ve reduced dairy since the webinar. Outside the house, I’ve stopped eating things like butter and cheese, especially from places that serve food that isn’t organic. I’ve even made almond milk at home. It takes a bit of time, but I really liked it.

Since making these changes, my migraines have gone down, and my menstrual cycle has become more regular. I didn’t expect that. I just feel like my health has improved a lot. These small changes matter.

Can small food choices really impact animals and the planet?

The amount of water used in dairy production and the injections (oxytocin) given to animals harm both our bodies and the environment. It not only affects the health of the animals, but it also affects ours. I started thinking, if I keep supporting this system, I’m part of the problem. So I decided to stop consuming these products. I feel like even these small changes in my food habits are helping the environment, animals, and my own body.

A Bigger Picture

For Jagruti, the webinar exposed the hidden costs of dairy, including its significant water footprint and the routine use of hormonal inputs to increase production at the expense of animal and human health. 

Jagruti also shared how the webinar helped her understand the wider ethical and systemic issues tied to animal agriculture. She reflected on how demand fuels production, and production often comes at a cost to both animals and people.

“The demand for milk and meat means more animals are bred, and to produce more, they’re given chemical injections. That harms them and us. These products should really be stopped.”

Her story is one of many inspired by our Food Planet Health Awareness Program. It’s a reminder that when students are given the facts, they’re more than ready to make compassionate, informed choices for themselves, for animals, and for the planet.

With your support, Vegan Outreach is able to reach thousands of students every month with life-changing information about sustainable, ethical, and health-conscious eating.

Want to help us reach more students like Jagruti?

Become a Monthly Sustainer!

The post What One Webinar Taught Jagruti About Food, Health, and the Planet appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

This month, I want to share the kind of impact that doesn’t usually make it to the headlines. The kind that starts quietly, asking a decision-maker a difficult question, starting a dialogue about speciesism in a classroom, or inspiring journalists to write a small article about plant-based eating in a regional newspaper.

It’s the kind of work that moves slowly but steadily. And you’ve been part of it all along.

Changing Menus, Shifting Mindsets

The Green Tuesday Initiative is one of the quiet ways we create profound change. It starts with a simple shift: making plant-based food easier to choose at work. And that’s where the conversation about what’s on our plates begins.

Our New Partner: Vamsiram BSR Tech Park

At Vamsiram BSR Tech Park in Hyderabad, a single cafeteria shift is expected to drive significant environmental savings. With 7,000 employees, the scale of change is just beginning to unfold:

• 43,680 kg/96,298 lb of chicken reduced annually
• 36,000 kg/79,366 lb of paneer (cottage cheese) reduced annually

This change is expected to spare ~28,803 animal lives. That’s the size of one large commercial poultry farm in India.

What Happens After the Webinar

Each week, students join our Food-Planet-Health webinars looking for answers. This quarter, 145+ teachers joined them too, opening doors to campus partnerships, deeper engagement, and year-round events. Our Food-Planet-Health webinars are creating impact beyond university campuses. Extensive coverage in regional newspapers takes the vegan conversation beyond campuses and into everyday life. Local media speak directly to families and communities in familiar languages, making plant-based eating feel relevant and grounded in local realities and traditions.

Here’s what happened in just the first quarter of 2025:

• 55 webinars conducted
• 5,371 students reached and inspired to try plant-based meals

From Awareness to Action

Attendance numbers tell us how many people showed up to attend the Food-Planet-Health webinar. But the real story begins after the session ends.

This quarter, 1,364 people joined our 10 Weeks to Vegan Facebook group, each one taking a step toward change, like Ajay, who logged on out of curiosity and walked away rethinking his plate.

Your support is what makes every ripple possible. Thank you for everything you do to help animals! Giving each month helps our daily fight for animals. Please join our monthly sustainers now!

We would love to hear from you with any feedback, suggestions, campaign ideas, or maybe a couple of encouraging lines for my team. I will share it with them.

With gratitude for every wave you’ve initiated,

Richa Mehta

Director of Programs, Asia-Pacific

The post The Change You Sparked Without Even Realizing It appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

Quick Snacks and Handy Travel Foods

• Hummus with veggies, chips, or pretzels. Most airports in the United States have convenience stores that sell small tubs of hummus with pretzels in the refrigerator cases.
• Tofurky Deli Slices sandwich with mustard or vegan mayo. I usually fly cross-country with two Tofurky sandwiches because you never know what might be available in airports or on planes.
• Many coffee shops, including Starbucks, sell oatmeal which can be a great breakfast option when traveling by car or plane.
• Trail Mix of nuts and dried fruit. In the United States, Trader Joe’s sells a wide variety of relatively inexpensive nuts and dried fruit.
• Energy bars like Lärabar or Clif Bars. Clif Builder Bars are very high in protein (20 g).
• Vegan jerky.
• Popcorn with nutritional yeast to give it a cheesy flavor.
• Vegan cheese and pepperoni on crackers.
• Celery sticks stuffed with peanut butter and raisins.
• Corn chips with guacamole and salsa.
• Dates stuffed with almond or peanut butter.
• Apple with peanut butter. These taste surprisingly close to caramel apples.
• Peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. Some prefer dill, others choose sweet pickles. One of our staff members insisted we include this option. Where do you stand on peanut butter and pickle sammies?

The post Vegan Snacks and Travel Foods appeared first on Vegan Outreach.