High Fiber, High Fun Advocacy

Alex talking veg with interested John Q Public

In 2007, I noticed that I wasn’t doing as much veg outreach via  leafleting as I wanted. So I decided to take some of that generic advice given to people going on a diet.  While that’s to keep track of what you eat, and to exercise with a buddy, I applied that to being an activist.  With one addition:  make sure the advocacy activity is one that is enjoyable and sustainable.  For me, leafleting with PETA’s Vegetarian Starter Kits or Vegan Outreach’s Even if You Like Meat is the high fiber activity that’s also fun when you combine it with meeting new people and yummy vegan food afterwards.  (i.e. “Will leaflet for vegan food”)

So, I found a leafleting buddy to keep me from falling into my natural state of eating chocolate chip cookies and reading novels with a feline laptop.  Her name is Alex.

Starting in January 2008, Alex and I committed to leafleting once a month (on a Saturday or Sunday, since we both work full-time), and we also invite others to join us.  I also leaflet sans buddy at a local college (i.e. Vegan Outreach Adopt-a-College program).  But because I do this one on my lunch-hour during the work day, it tends to be sporadic as to when I can do it (i.e. lunchtime meetings are common, pressing work deadlines, and I’m not always in the office); this doesn’t lend itself to leafleting regularly with a partner.

Ready-Set-Go-Vegan!

Here’s a comparison of how that worked:

Alex and I planned to leaflet 12 times.  And we actually leafleted 12 times, and have met a lot of new friends along the way, too.  This isn’t part of the diet plan, but part of the fun plan, after we leaflet, we go out and eat vegan food.  Fortunately for us, there are 22 vegetarian restaurants in San Francisco (and 10 of those SF restaurants are vegan). (Oh, and for anyone who is counting calories, leafleting also offers exercise since I usually walk around to pass out information.)

For my college leafleting, I have a general goal to leaflet once a month for 30 minutes during my lunch hour.  I got out 4 times during the same period.  (Actually 5 times, because I used a floating holiday and took a day off work to leaflet at SFSU with another friend, and then we had some wonderful battered and deep-fried food.  I wonder if deep-fried Why Vegan booklets would be irresistible?  Hmmm…) The bonus with participating in the Vegan Outreach AAC program is they keep track of your leafleting for you.  It’s kinda neat to look back and see I’ve been participating since 2003.

Anyways, it worked well for us in 2008, and 2009 is already off to a good start!  These photos are from various 2008 leafleting events, and our next one is planned for Saturday, February 21st in San Francisco.  So, if you’re another local veg activist and looking to connect with others for vegan advocacy, please join us!

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Just call us Leafleting Leprechauns

Vegan Sandwich, redefined

Tammy's Vegan Sandwich

Last summer, I finally made it to a little vegetarian cafe in Oakland called “The Breakroom Cafe“.  It’s primarily a sandwich shop, with soups, side salads, and some excellent vegan desserts.  Having grown up eating sandwiches my entire life, and having eaten numerous sandwiches at Herbivore restaurants, I don’t think I had any huge expectations for the meal.  It was primarily just a convenient meeting location to enjoy some vegan food and conversation with a friend who lives in that neighborhood.

Little did I realize, this was to be an “Aha!” moment for me.  For when the sandwich arrived, the faux meat ingredients were warm, on toasted bread, stuffed full of sandwich fixings with a center slice of bread and little toothpicks to hold it together.

That redefined how I would now make my sandwiches at home.  I’m too much of an environmental frugalist to waste tiny processed shards of trees merely to hold the sandwich together, but that center slice of bread is so important to provide extra traction to hold all the ingredients.  This was my “aha” learning on how to stack as many ingredients into the sandwich as I wanted without it all slipping out as I ate it.

For myself,  I toast the outer slices of bread, and ingredients could include fresh tomatoes (only during the summer), avocado, green onions, spinach, 4-5 slices of hickory-smoked tofurky slices, and Galaxy American flavor soy cheese slices. Tofurky is a faux meat product made from gluten and tofu, and can be purchased in “slices” at Trader Joe’s and most natural food stores.  The soy cheese that I use is entirely non-dairy, and vegan.  (Many soy cheeses still contain casein, which is derived from cow’s milk.)

For condiments, my favorite vegan mayonnaise is “Nayonaise” made by Nasoya.  I’ve tried Vegenaise, made by Follow Your Heart, but it’s so rich, that I’d liken it to sandwich frosting.

I also like to heat the slices and soy cheese (microwave for 30-40 seconds does well) then I just pile it all on.  There’s no shortage of different ideas to include in such a sandwich, maybe a layer of olives, marinated tofu, shredded carrots, arugula … I have a reliable source that tells me swapping out the avocado for jalopenos is also yummy.

I haven’t yet reached Dagwood status with my sandwiches, but maybe one day.

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Hear Mite Roar – no tax on CA vet services

Mite says: "No tax on veterinary medical services!"

Mite read about the Governor’s plan to add a 10.5%  tax on veterinary medical services for critters like him.  He wasn’t very happy about it. He doesn’t consider medical care as a “luxury” service that needs a 10.5% tax — healthcare is a basic necessity for all animals who are injured and ill.

To aid our state in its budget shortfall,AnimalRighter suggests instead that fines be collected from factory farms that break laws.

Please call Governor Schwarzenegger at 916-445-2841 and urge him to remove the “Fido Fine” from the budget proposal.  The vote on this could happen soon so please don’t delay in calling.  You can also help by contacting your state representatives.  Contact info can be found at votesmart.org

Source:  Animal Place alert

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Whale Wars, the Rebel Force

Citizens of all ages and nations root for the the good guys in the Lucasfilm Star Wars Trilogy, the rebel forces fighting against the Evil Empire.  So, while watching Animal Planet’s Whale Wars, it was a fitting tribute to that spirit of justice to see one volunteer with the rebel imperial symbols emblazoned on his helmet as he engaged in direct action to protect animals.

The Sea Shepherd Steve Irwin crew, using non-violent tactics, engages the Japanese ships in the open ocean to prevent the Japanese from killing whales under a loophole permitting slaughter for  “research”.  (Each whale sells for a minimum of 250,000.00, up to $1,000,000 each, with 1,000 killed each season.)

But sometimes the good guys can also be cloaked in the imperial force’s symbols, too.  Well, sort-of.

It’s vee-gun

One of the idiosyncrasies with the the word “vegan” is saying it properly. It confuses new vegans, as well as family and friends of vegans.

Despite what the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary’s audio pronunciation says, I’m “vee-gun” not vej-an.

New Year (Re)Solutions Dinner/Meeting – San Francisco

Tammy & Chris at BAVeg booth at SF Pride

We want to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and hope that 2009 will be a great year for vegan advocacy across the nation!

For San Francisco Bay Area activists:

This is a beginning of a new year, and we’re in search of fresh ideas, energy and talent to help shape the direction of BAVeg for the future.

See the full blog post on the Bay Area Vegetarians website for info

I rescued a human today (poem)

I share my home and heart with 4 rescue cats, and found this poem (sent to me by email, thanks Dana) very touching and I wanted to also share it with you. See the end of this post for related links.

I rescued a human today.
Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels.
I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her.
I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn’t be afraid.
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