But who we are extends far beyond the plate.
The average American consumes about
thirty land animals every year. By
choosing to be a vegetarian, you will accomplish a great deal over the course
of your life – you will spare many hundreds of animals from the malicious maws
of modern agribusiness.
But get this: In just one hour, you
could accomplish much, much more!
This may sound like an informercial
scam, but it’s true – for every person you convince to go vegetarian, you
double the impact of your life’s choices. It’s simple math!
Close your eyes and think about
everything you will do, every day, every year for the rest of your life, so to
make sure you don’t support factory farms. Every label you’ll read, every
special shopping trip you’ll take, every dish you’ll bring to a gathering – everything you’ll do to avoid causing
animals to suffer.
Now, if you hand out 60 booklets to
new people, and just one decides to go vegetarian, you will have saved, in only
one hour, just as many animals as you will save with every single choice you
make over the rest of your life.
In other words – and this is the
most important point – if we agree that being a vegetarian is important, then
we must also recognize that being an effective advocate for the animals is many
times more important. Effective, efficient outreach has truly enormous
potential, and can change the world far, far more than our personal food
choices.
In his book, Meat Market, Erik Marcus writes:
When I was a
teenager, my greatest ambition was to one day be a millionaire. [Later] I
adapted the millionaire concept for purposes of activism.… I wanted to [keep] a
million animals out of slaughterhouses.... But is it realistic to think that a
typical person could keep a million animals from slaughter? Absolutely! At two
thousand [land] animals saved per new vegetarian, this means that during your
life, if you convince five hundred young people to become vegetarian, a million
animals will be saved.
With a reasonable level of
investment, each one of us can do this. You don’t need to start a group. You
don’t need to pass a law. You just need to make the choice to join with the all
the others who are dedicated to making a real difference. We can provide you
with lessons from decades of experience and all the tools you need. Vegan
Outreach exists to help everyone and anyone, in every situation, be the most
effective advocate possible – for a world not just a bit less bad, but for a
fundamentally better world.
Ahhh – but leaflets don’t print
themselves. Vegan Outreach is dependent upon the financial support of those who
recognize the central importance of effective advocacy. There are many demands
on our limited time and money, and we must
choose to invest our scarce resources to do the most good. Working to expose and end the hidden horrors of factory
farms is the best possible investment. Every
new vegetarian pays huge dividends every
year, in terms of their food choices and the example they set.
This isn’t just a pitch. For all the activists involved, distribution of
booklets is directly tied to donations. As donations go up or down, so do the
number of new people we reach. This means that every donation you make really does make a real difference, and writing
a simple check or making an online donation can multiply your life’s impact
many times over! A donation today leads to more booklets to more people
tomorrow, which leads to more new vegetarians and more animals spared this year
– and every year!
In the end, in our hearts, we know
that, regardless of what we think of ourselves, our actions reveal the kind of person we really are. We each determine our life’s narrative. We can, like
most, mindlessly accept the current default, follow the crowd, and take
whatever we can.
Or we can determine for ourselves
what is important. We can live with a larger purpose, dedicated to a better
world for all. We can join with all the great people who have bent the arc of
history toward justice.
This is our choice today. I hope
you join us!
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