Why I Went Veg or A Tale of a College Potluck May 22, 2008

Posted by Lara Sanders at May 22, 2008 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 3 ) | TrackBack

Sometimes I suffer from vegetarian longevity envy. I wish I could compete with Marta, who went veg at age 4, but that was just not the case with me. I decided to go vegetarian in college. A bit late in the game, but better late than never!

Now I used to be one of those obnoxious people who always made fun of vegetarians. I would mock the lone vegetarian in my high school by eating meat in front of him and saying how good it tasted. Lame right?

Flash forward to my freshman year at American University (AU). My next door neighbor, Tara, invited me to a potluck being thrown by AU's animal rights group AUARE. I didn't go because I was interested in learning about animal rights; I went because I was just plain hungry.

There was one catch though. Before we could eat, we had to watch a video. Can you guess what video it was? It was 'Meet Your Meat'. I had never seen anything like 'Meet Your Meat' before. I had no idea that what I saw was what went on in factory farms. I was appalled, grossed out, and lost my appetite.

I didn't go vegetarian right then and there. It happened about a week later when I was in the dining hall about to get a chicken sandwich. I then thought back to the horrific images I saw in the video, and decided to stop eating animals.

I went vegan a few months later. I am not going to say that the transition from meat eater to vegan has been the easiest for me (before I went vegetarian I hated most vegetables). It was slightly hard for the first few months, but as time went on, it became like second nature to me. It actually became easy to be vegan!

So here are two words of advice if you are trying out vegetarianism for the first time:

1. Don't get discouraged! For some people (like me) it takes some time. Don't give up! It really does get easier.

2. Try out my patented recipe for "Vegan Pigs in a Blanket" below. It will prove to you that being vegan is delicious!

Vegan Pigs in a Blanket!

Ingredients:

8 veggie hot dogs (try my fav Tofu Pups)
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 F
2. Separate dough into triangles. Wrap dough triangle around each hot dog. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake at 375 F. for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

*For a cheesy take on the old standard, try wrapping a slice of Tofutti American Soy-Cheese Slices on the veggie dog before wrapping in the dough.

xoxo-Lara

P.S. Happy World Vegetarian Week!

Posted by Lara

Students Vote to Keep KFC Off Campus! January 31, 2008

Posted by Ryan at January 31, 2008 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 17 ) | TrackBack

After gathering over 500 petition signatures from their fellow students, the Power of One student animal rights group at Florida Gulf Coast University has successfully passed a bill in their student government stating KFC is NOT welcome on their campus, for reasons of cruelty to animals!

The true beauty of all this is that KFC never even released plans to move onto the campus in the first place. But by the students passing this amazing bill, they have sent a VERY strong signal to the CEOs of KFC that until they clean up their act, they had better stay FAR away from this campus! :) Not to mention, they educated thousands of college students about the abuse KFC suppliers inflict on animals in the process.

Make sure to check out all of the details on the "Student Spotlight" section of our site, written by the student group president, Regina, herself! While you're there, check out some of the other amazing activism reports from college students worldwide. You'll be inspired, I promise!

- Ryan!

P.S. - This activism also caught the attention of media outlets ALL across Florida. Check out a video from a local station by clicking on the newspaper clip below:



P.P.S. - To run a similar campaign on YOUR campus, email me to get started!

Posted by Ryan