Answering the question of how a construction contractor from a tough Brooklyn neighborhood becomes an impassioned animal advocate, in the award-winning documentary THE WITNESS, Eddie Lama explains how he feared and avoided animals for most of his life, until the love of a kitten opened his heart, inspiring him to rescue abandoned animals and bring his message of compassion to the streets of New York. With humor and sincerity, Eddie tells the story of his remarkable change in consciousness.  You can watch a preview below, and see the entire film at the Tribe of Heart website

THE WITNESS
A Tribe of Heart Documentary
43 minutes, 2000

Director: Jenny Stein
Producer: James LaVeck
Photography: Jason Longo
Sound: Jane Greenberg

1) Give birth to a new veg*n
2) Convince someone to adopt veg*nism

Well, #1 is definitely not for me and #2 is why I do outreach.  There are various strategies and discussions about what is the best way to do this.  My personal philosophy is to just decide on a strategy and do it.  As a direct result of my “doing” at Maker Faire 2009 at the San Mateo Expo Center, here’s some people reading their new PETA Vegetarian Starter Kits.  I hope this is their first step towards veg*nism.

For me, I’ve been vegan since late 1989.  The Animals Voice Magazine, and two landmark book, Diet for a New America by John Robbins and Animal Liberation by Peter Singer,  contributed to my evolution to veganism.

Soon after, in early 1990, PETA hosted an “AR 101″ which made a lasting impression on me.  At this day-long conference, four PETA staffers gave the conference at a university lecture hall (I think it was UC Berkeley).  This was the days before email was widely used, so cleverly they seated us by zipcode so we could connect with others near us.  The topics included the basics of animal rights, advocacy, and an awesome vegan lunch.

I remember it to this day.  It was a vegan lasagna (from Tofu Cookery) and Joan’s Grandmother’s Cake (in PETA’s first cookbook, Compassionate Cooks).  After that lunch, I finally knew how good vegan food could be, and I knew about advocacy.   I was living in Concord at that time, and through the conference, connected with others who were aware of and working for the animals in Contra Costa. I subsequently attended an animal rights conference organized by a student group at SFSU, and that’s where I met Paula.

This was 1990, and Earth Day was having a rebirth and communities across the nation were hosting them.  Paula already had a PETA tabling starter kit and proposed that we do a booth at the Concord Earth Day at Todos Santos Park to promote veg*nism. It would be Paula, Sally, Karla, Mike and myself.

At that time, I had a PC at home that I used for word processing, no email or Internet access. Our signs were hand-lettered on poster board using magic markers; the table for the banner was printed on a dot matrix paper (remember, the paper with the holes running down the side to feed the paper through the printer) .

We most likely had a sign-up sheet at that first tabling event, and I remember Sally hosting the first vegan potluck at her home in Pittsburg, CA.  Then the potluck series evolved into what is today the Contra Costa Vegetarians (still active today and hosting monthly vegan potlucks in Contra Costa).

And for me, that was how it all vegan …

Super Vegan: Protecting animals from scumbags like you

WonderCon describes itself, on its official website, as a combining ” the worlds of comics and the popular arts to offer a lively and exciting mix of shopping and stargazing.”

Caped crusaders, jokers, and astromech droids of all types were seen on Saturday, Feb 28th.  It was a fun opportunity to show up amidst them, disguised in ordinary, every day street clothes, and ready at hand with Vegan Outreach’s Even if You Like Meat booklets.

With responses ranging from “This is so cruel!” to politely discarding the leaflets on a nearby railing or not so politely discarding it in the trash,  135 people received information about a wonderful new way to live — a life without eating animals.

So, while without a cape, I did manage to channel my inner super vegan for that brief moment in time.

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Leafleting at Maker Faire

The primary focus of my efforts in leafleting is to promote veganism to those who otherwise would not receive the information.  A secondary benefit is providing an opportunity for leafleting virgins to participate.

Some first-timers are apprehensive about the response they will get from the people whom they are trying to reach.  In my experience with leafleting, these are the some of the common responses and interactions:

• “Thank you” and takes the leaflet
• Walks right by me, like I’m the invisible vegan
• “No”
• “No, I like meat” (in which case, it’s great to have Vegan Outreach’s “Even If You Like Meat” booklet to offer as an alternative)
• I’m already [ vegetarian | vegan ]
• I already have that

Goal Reached! Four people read their new VSKs

I once leafleted someone who glanced through the information, and then turned around and leafleted it to someone else.  Now that was really neat.  But, for 99.9% of these interactions, it’s a very narrow window of opportunity to talk to people and offer information, as most often people are on their way somewhere.  And nearly every time I leaflet, I will get a few people who initially say “no” or walk right by my (in)visible self, then turnaround and ask for a leaflet.  And what’s what leafleting is all about — giving people information to make informed choices.

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For many leafleting activists, a “Why Vegan” is the perfect tool to dispense this information.  Weighing in at approx 3/4 of an ounce, the 16-page 5″ x 8.5″ color booklet produced by Vegan Outreach is brimming with information and pictures.

I was on public transit last weekend, and I observed someone reading a “Why Vegan” from cover to cover. I know in that split-second decision he made to accept the booklet from me that he is someone who is curious, open-minded or maybe just wanted something read.

Will those ten minutes spent reading a “Why Vegan” change his life?  Or the lives of the animals he could choose not to eat or drink?  Only he can decide.

Why Vegan? [PDF ]

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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

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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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