I had an overwhelmingly positive reception handing out free cookies and Vegan Outreach "What is Speciesism" leaflets at Lincoln Land Community College! I went to this school off and on for 5 years and never met another vegetarian or vegan, but I had well over a dozen in-depth conversations and handed out 337 booklets. Here's some highlights:
- A student named Josiah remembered me from another semester and was interested in the leaflet but didn't go vegan yet. I asked if he had a pet, and he said he had a dog. Then, I asked how he'd feel if we farmed dogs like cows - they could even be milked too! He agreed that it would be nasty and wrong. He said he was interested in reading more and he seemed open to my suggestion of trying 10 Weeks to Vegan. He happily posed for a photo!
- Michael approached me quietly but was moved by the content of the leaflet and by seeing me out raising awareness for farmed animals. He said he'll start 10 Weeks to Vegan and posed for a photo!
- Two faculty members spoke to me and are now interested in 10 Weeks to Vegan! One said she was previously vegetarian and that receiving the What is Speciesism leaflet may be the push she needed to get back on track and even try going vegan. The other told me he ate a carnivore diet when he was younger and now eats small amounts of animal products. He realized animals went through a lot of suffering on commercial farms and said he tries to buy animal products like eggs from small local farms to mitigate the harm. I explained while they may have some better treatment, even small backyard egg farms purchase their chicks from hatcheries that almost universally gas or grind male chicks at birth. He said he heard his grandfather mention sorting the male and female chicks at birth when he was much younger but didn't think about what happened to the males and both faculty members were surprised to learn more about the egg industry. Both had some realizations in our conversation and I hope they stick with trying 10 Weeks to Vegan!
- A student came back outside from inside the building and said she liked the leaflet. Even better, all her friends talked about going vegan while reading it and she said she'll try 10 Weeks to Vegan! I said what made going vegan easy for me was imagining if dogs were in the farms we raise cows in and realizing how disgusting meat was. I also said learning how much delicious and filling vegan food was out there was just as important. She appreciated the advice and was motivated to make a change for the animals!
- A student remembered me last year and found the leaflet interesting but didn't go vegan. They're now interested in trying 10 Weeks to Vegan when I talked about the program!
- A pescatarian named Kelly was interested in our What is Speciesism leaflet and even had a vegan brother, but she struggled to give up fish. I said I used to eat fish too, but now I enjoy vegan seafood like Gardein Fishless Filets and vegan sushi and she was interested in trying those too.
- Mae approached from inside the building and said vegetarian and wanted to learn more about our nonprofit! She said she's studying for a Zoology degree and was passionate about helping animals before asking more questions about animal products. We talked about the information in the leaflet about dairy and eggs before she asked how vegans felt about honey since she had a beekeeping class and didn't understand the harm. I explained while some vegans aren't as strict on honey, I avoid it since I don't believe in taking from animals when I don't need to and even though bees may experience less of the world than larger animals, they still have brains and nervous systems and I believed taking what they spend their life making when I had alternatives was wrong. She seemed to agree, and also was excited to keep learning more with our 10 Weeks to Vegan program!
- A student named Zach approached with curiosity and had a respectful debate using the bible to defend eating animals. I explained while some parts of the bible give permission to eat animals, it also isn't required at all and some Christians actually made their decision to go vegan since they found it aligned well with their faith. I told him I know of several people who eat vegan with their church annually as a part of the Daniel Fast and have went on to try eating more vegan food throughout the year because they didn't want to hurt animals and the diet benefited their health. I also explained it was prohibitively difficult to for most to eat vegan 2,000 years ago, but some in that time still strived to reduce or eliminate the consumption of animals such as Jesus's brother Saint James and he could check out the documentary Christspiracy to learn more. He ended the conversation a lot more open to veganism being compatible with Christianity and something to strive for!