Posts tagged as "Environment"

Last weeked, in celebration of Earth Day and to help kick off VegWeek (April 23-29), COK's volunteer team in Los Angeles hit the streets to hand out pro-veg literature and impossible-to-resist vegan food samples to show others that the best way we can protect the planet is by simply leaving animals off our plates.

Volunteers Stefani Aguallo and Melissa Rivera served nearly 300 pieces of Gardein’s savory all-vegan 7-Grain Crispy Tenders (along with Gardein coupons) to Whole Foods shoppers.

The response was great! “I can’t believe this isn’t really chicken, it’s so good! I’m definitely going to buy this!” exclaimed one woman. She, along with a number of others, came out of the store with Gardein in hand, having used the coupons they just picked up from us. Another customer was so excited about COK’s work and to see us sampling veg foods on Earth Day, she signed up to volunteer at the next event.

April 20 Update: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Sunday's “Vegan Day” at Bread & Brew has unfortunately been cancelled. However, stop by ANY day during VegWeek to order anything off their vegan menu and 20% of your bill will still be donated to COK’s work for farmed animals!

While a growing number of restaurants are eager to tout more sustainable business practices, such as serving local foods or buying organic produce, perhaps the most important step that businesses can take to demonstrate their commitment to helping protect the planet is simply offering meat-, egg-, and dairy-free meals.

Numerous reports have concluded that raising animals for food is considered one of the leading causes of pollution today, and it takes more land, water, and energy to produce meat, milk, and eggs that it does to produce plant-based foods.

What we eat matters, and that's why DC's Bread & Brew not only offers vegan meals on a daily basis, every Monday you'll find a 100% meatless menu.

For over 40 years, Earth Day—celebrated on April 22—has been inspiring people everywhere to take steps to help the environment. Did you know that perhaps the single most important action each of us can take to protect the planet is simply to choose meat-free foods?

Animal agriculture is considered one of the leading causes of pollution and resource depletion today. According to the United Nations, raising chickens, turkeys, pigs, cows and other animals for food contributes nearly one-fifth (18%) of all global human-induced greenhouse gas emissions.

By contrast, producing a veggie burger requires 93% fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than it does to produce a hamburger.

It also takes more land, water, and energy to produce meat, milk, and eggs that it does to produce plant-based foods. In fact, it’s several times more efficient to eat plants directly rather than funnel them though farmed animals.

When you think of where the fish on your plate comes from, you're probably conjuring images of the great wide ocean where the animals live free until a few small boats come along and scoop them up. In reality, huge nets are often cast into the open waters that catch everything and anything that get in their way, including millions of "nontarget" animals. And even this reality, which is already questionable because of the environmental havoc it wreaks on the entire marine ecosystem, is now changing. 

You might be surprised to discover that just as birds, pigs, and cows are crammed inside massive facilities known as factory farms, an increasing number of fish are, too. It's referred to as aquaculture. In fact, aquaculture accounts for nearly half of global fish production, to the tune of about 57.8 million tons per year.

For many of us, this time of year is one of reflection: Are you pursuing your passions? Making a difference in the world around you? Feeling fulfilled by your work? 

All year long, the COK Baltimore team has been doing just that -- by showing Charm City the far-reaching impacts of our dietary choices and empowering people to make healthier and more humane food choices. You can see them in action in COK's 2011 year-in-review video!

How did you guys first get involved in animal advocacy?

How has your advocacy changed over time?

What's the best feedback you've heard during your outreach?

What would you say to someone who is interested in advocacy but not sure where to start?

What is your favorite thing to do outside of advocacy?

Sign up for our Baltimore Newsletter and you'll get updates about upcoming events in 2012 like Leafleting at the Martin Luther King Junior Parade on January 16th, or the "Bring the Heat" Chili Cook-Off and Feed-In on January 21st.

Earlier this month, the award-winning documentary Vegucated premiered in DC at the vegan-friendly Landmark E Street Theater. Not only was COK on hand to introduce the film, give out free food samples, and hand out pro-veg "diplomas" to film-goers, we were lucky enough to score two free tickets, which we decided to give away!

The winners? Stephanie and Rob.  Stephanie is a long-time vegetarian and recent vegan. Rob is her husband who eats vegan at home but that's where it ends. She's hoping that by watching this film, which documents the real life ups and downs of three meat and cheese-loving omnivores who go vegan for six weeks, it might make a difference. So we decided to follow up with them to see if it worked. Here's what Stephanie had to say:

How did Vegucated impact you and did it change Rob's dietary choices?

Today is Meatless Monday. Tomorrow is America Recycles Day. 

They're both very important ways to protect our planet, but you've probably been recycling for over a decade, so let's talk about the growing Meatless Monday movement.

Over 50% of Americans are familiar with the concept and nearly 1 in 5 are already doing it. Even your grandmother has read about it in her AARP magazine. This Meatless Monday thing? It's BIG.

Who's into it? Oh, just people like Oprah, Gywneth Paltrow, Al Gore and Sir Paul McCartney. Even big-name omnivore chefs and foodies like Mario Batali, Padma Lakshmi and Wolfgang Puck are doing it.

And it's no wonder, because according to the UN, raising animals for food is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. It's also one of the leading causes of resource depletion as it takes more land, water, and energy to produce meat than it does to grow foods for a vegetarian diet.

We have 2 FREE tickets to the DC premiere of the award-winning documentary, Vegucated, to bestow upon one very deserving, yet randomly chosen, individual! See below for details on how to enter our Get Vegucated content.

If somehow, you haven't heard about Vegucated until now, here's the premise of the film, which will be premiering next Wednesday, November 9th at Landmark's E Street Cinema:

There’s Brian, the bacon-loving bachelor who eats out all the time, Ellen, the single mom who prefers comedy to cooking, and Tesla, the college student who avoids vegetables and bans beans. All 3 of these meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers will agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks, while being filmed for the guerilla-style documentary, Vegucated.

Lured with true tales of weight lost and health regained, they begin to uncover hidden sides of animal agriculture and soon start to wonder whether solutions offered in films like Food, Inc. go far enough.

On Sat., Sept. 24, 2011, more than 6,000 visitors joined us at the DC VegFest, making this event—the largest vegetarian celebration in the nation’s capital— even bigger than last year’s festival!

The excitement started even before the event officially kicked off as hundreds of people lined up hoping to take home one of the 500 free commemorative bags, loaded with free vegan food samples, product coupons and more.

Offering a warm and enthusiastic welcome to festival-goers was NBC4 anchor Wendy Rieger who shared her story about transitioning to a vegetarian diet in 2007. Other dynamic speakers took the stage throughout the day, including Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Wayne Pacelle, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and Jonathan Balcombe who all signed books to the throngs of people waiting in line after their presentations.

Dr. Michael Greger also shared his latest in human nutrition to a packed audience as well as offered free cholesterol tests at his NutritionFacts.org booth.

This was Compassion Over Killing's (COK) third year in a row at the eco-conscious Abbot Kinney Festival, one of the biggest street fairs in Los Angeles attracting 150,000 attendees to the sunny Venice community. It also marked our 50th event of the year!

With the help of 11 amazing volunteers, we handed out approximately 3,000 pieces of literature, including COK's Vegetarian Starter Guides, Eating Sustainably brochures, Easy Vegan Recipes booklets, Vegetarian Guide to Los Angeles, WeLoveSubway.com campaign flyers, restaurant manager cards, and TryVeg.com business cards to educate people about the many benefits of choosing vegetarian foods.

We also referred hungry festival-goers to two great food vendors serving vegan fare on site: Samosa House and Strictly Vegan Jamaican Cuisine (which some of us may have eaten twice).