Vegan New Year’s Resolutions

As I look back on 2006, it was a great year — I had an opportunity to work with some amazing people to promote veg*nism and raise awareness of the horrors of industrialized animal agriculture. I found some yummy new vegan recipes. I read & discussed some good books about veg*nism/AR at the book club. And it was a good year for Bay Area Vegetarians (our local group, too!)

As I think about 2007, I know I definitely have some New Year’s resolutions. Has anyone else been thinking of this? Do you have any resolutions regarding veg*nism or advocacy? If so, maybe we can support each other in our goals for 2007.

Here’s what I think my goals are for 2007:

1) I want to do more cooking (so I am excited to see that already we have 2 Vegan Food Parties in January, and another 2 being planned for February) and try more new recipes. Being more confident and skilled in vegan cooking makes it easier for me to talk to others about how easy (and cheap) it is to eat vegan. Plus, in all honesty, I also enjoy eating

2) I want to do more outreach, including getting back to college leafleting every month. I’m the first one to admit that leafleting isn’t my favorite activity, but the reasons to leaflet at a college are so compelling, that I overcame my reluctance and pledged (to myself and to the animals) to leaflet once a month on my lunch hour. With 30 minutes, I distributed over 400 leaflets in Spring 2006. Fall 2006 was an overwhelming time at work for me, and I ate lunch at my desk every day, so I only went out once (100 leaflets). But, starting in January, I’m going to go back to leafleting at the college every month and try to do at least one other leafleting or advocacy activity on the weekend. Recent leafleting for Thanksgiving and today on New Year’s Eve was excellent!

Outreach is important to me because when I reflect on why I wasn’t a vegan earlier, it’s simply because I didn’t know. So now I want to share what I learned with others.

3) I want to meet and work with others who share my commitment to be an activist for the animals. When I make my annual sojourn to Animal Place, I want to know that I’ve helped in some small way to create a more compassionate and peaceful world for the animals.

This is the summary of events for 2006 for Bay Area Vegetarians.

- 85 Social Events (Restaurant Dinner, Vegan Food Party, etc.)
- 66 Advocacy Events (Letter Writing, Animal Cruelty protest)
- 32 Outreach Events (Tabling, Leafleting)
- 19 Education Events (Presentation, Class)

I continue to be inspired by the animals to promote veg*nism.
These photographs are critters that live happily at Animal Place, a sanctuary in Vacaville.

The animals shown here live at Animal Place, a sanctuary for rescued and abused animals in Vacaville, within an easy drive of the Bay Area. The critters who live at Animal Place are ambassadors of their species who have not been so fortunate, but they grace us with their presence as we strive to make the world a more compassionate place for all beings.

After listening to lauren Ornelas talk about her undercover investigation and seeing the video When Pigs Cry, reading The Pig Who Sang to the Moon, and being able to meet a pig in person: how can I not spend a few hours of my life every month working on their behalf. As my favorite PETA sticker says, Pigs are Friends, not Food!

I am grateful for the opportunity to work with so many other wonderful volunteers to help make the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond a more peaceful and compassionate world.

I wish you all a veggie happy new year!

And remember, Perform a Death-Defying Act: Go Vegan!