what are the steps to going veg?

April 13, 2003

Hi all,

Bay Area Veg booth at We the Planet will have a " Meat Eater's Anonymous "

theme with " 12 reasons to go veg " and " 12 steps to veg " , and we'll be

encouraging people to take a meat-free pledge with us (For Earth's Sake, For

the Animal's Sake, Make the Pledge, Go Veg). Once people make the pledge, if

they don't know any other veggies, we'll hook them up with a " mentor " or

" veg buddy " who can help them out...

I have the 12 reasons to go veg but I am stuck on 12 steps to veg. I have

only NINE steps! Twelve was picked to resemble the famous 12 steps for AA.

So for MA, I need three more steps.

Please send me your ideas for what the 12 steps to veg should be, or what

they were for you. All help would be much appreciated! Otherwise I will

have to resort to steps 10 through 12 will be remarkably similar.... " stop

eating animals " .

And if you'll be at We the Planet, we'll be near this huge GMO chicken near

the food vendors. Should be easy to find us :-)

Thanks!

Tammy

Join the vegan r/evolution!

http://www.generationV.org/

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

FREE vegan info kit:

http://www.veganoutreach.org/starterpack/free-vsp.html

April 13, 2003

What an EXCELLENT idea. I'd enjoy reading everyone's twelve steps, as

well as Tammy's 9. Indeed, maybe 9 is enough--it's a way of living so

life affirming, that you start out three steps ahead? Anyway, I'll get

thinkin' on it. NO guarantee, but I just wanted to say that's a great

idea.

See-ya.

Sam

April 13, 2003

> What an EXCELLENT idea. I'd enjoy reading everyone's twelve steps, as

> well as Tammy's 9. Indeed, maybe 9 is enough--it's a way of living so

> life affirming, that you start out three steps ahead? Anyway, I'll get

> thinkin' on it. NO guarantee, but I just wanted to say that's a great

> idea.

Thanks Sam!

I originally didn't post my thinking of the " 12 steps " because I didn't want

to influence what people may come up with. But since you asked, here's what

I'm working with now. These are all just bullet points (meant to translate

to a poster). We'll be giving out literature with more supporting info

(like " Why Vegan " from Vegan Outreach).

If any of you recently became veg or vegan, I would be especially interested

in hearing from you. As I've been vegan for over 10 years, your perspective

on the 12 steps may be more relevant than mine.

12 steps to veg

1. take the veg pledge! for earth's sake, for the animal's sake, for YOUR

sake!

meat eaters, go vegetarian! if you're veg, go vegan!

2. attend MA support meetings

Meat-Eaters Anonymous meetings are held monthly, aka Vegan Food Parties

(VFPs)

3. clean the carcasses out of your freezer & pantry

give it to food shelters or the neighbors you don't like

4. read a good book and learn about the issues

Diet for a New America, Animal Liberation, Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating,

Fast Food Nation...

5. hook-up with a veg buddy/mentor

someone who can answer questions or give you helpful tips, let us know if

you need one...

6. find good recipes

try Peaceful Palate by Raymonds, ask your veg buddies, attend VFPs...

7. shop at stores with good produce and foods

all stores have veggies, grains, legumes; natural food stores like Rainbow

Grocery usually have lots of organic produce and yummy commercial vegan food

products

8. celebrate at some of the best veg restaurants!

Herbivore's (SF), Millennium's (SF), Golden Era (SF), Cha Ya (Berkeley) --

too many to list...

9. listen to what the experts say

get audio or video presentations, or listen to experts when they tour the

Bay Area

10.

11.

12. make a commitment -- you CAN do it!

let us help you! membership to Bay Area Vegetarians is free.

12 reasons to go veg

1. improve your health

2. compassion /respect for life

3. live lightly on the earth

4. social justice/human rights

5. avoid harming animals

6. tastes good

7. spiritual reasons

8. costs less

9. cultural

10. feels good to save an animal's life

11. free membership to BAV!

12. all of the above

April 14, 2003

Hi Tammy and other veglist friends!

** A step I would recommend, similar to listening to lectures, is visit Farm

Sanctuary.

Collect all their free literature there, meet the animals, watch their

(inexpensive--hint,

hint--to inspire to purchase and show others...) videos on animal cruelties in

the industry

which, to me, can really help motivate one's self to go at least vegetarian, if

not vegan.

Picking up Farm Sanctuary's brochures " The Truth about Dairy, " " Beef " , etc at a

lecture I

went to in Palo Alto in '99 really helped me make the fairly quick transition

from veg to

vegan. For example, reading about what happens to male chicks at the egg

hatcheries made it

easy for me give up eggs big time.

** I definitely agree with arming yourself with VEGAN recipe books (and they

make it easy to

stay off eggs!). So many more vegan cookbooks have come on the market just in

the last 4

years or so. They make it so much easier for me as I don't even have to think

about how to

substitute the right ingredient for eggs, or yogurt, etc. That's just a

stumbling block that

I eliminated simply by getting vegan cookbooks. No muss, no fuss! (and the more

one reads

about the horrible dairy industry, speaking for myself, the easier it was for me

to give up

milk and cheese...thus, the vegan cookbooks made that so much easier!). I

personally prefer

having these books readily available on my shelf rather than spend a lot of time

searching on

the Internet--but that's a great place for recipes, also, of course.

** Definitely attend events like VegFair in Feb, VegSource in LA in Sep, and

World Veg Day

in Oct, for example, which are wonderful in providing literature, networking,

books,

lectures, cooking demo's, listings of local organizations' future events . I

first saw a tiny

ad in May of 2000 in Sierra Club's 'Yodeler' newspaper about SFVS's vegfest in

SF which

really was a great stepping off point for me. I collected information on

EarthSave, SFVS,

Farm Sanctuary; and, from literature I picked up there, I learned about the

great potlucks

that were beginning at David and Liz's house in Alameda where I've made many

friends; the

Farm Sanctuary Hoe Down in June, at which I met my good buddy, Ron, and Joe and

Colleen just

as they were going to launch their first issue of VegNews!

** SUBSCRIBE TO VEGNEWS!!!

** Attend Colleen Patrick's e-a-s-y and reasonably priced vegan cooking classes

each month in

Oakland. She holds a wealth of knowledge on cooking tips and information.

** An excellent weekend event I attended and a great step that I would highly

recommend for

people wanting to learn how to become veg and why is the Healthy Lifestyle

weekend at

Millennium. I HOPE (hint, hint Ann) they still do it. It was held in January.

** The mentoring idea is a GREAT idea. I would be honored to be a mentor for

someone if

anyone was interested. I did not really have a mentor. I just read and

read and read

and listened to lectures. I think a step related to this concept is just finding

out about

contacts (while attending potlucks and dinner treks) and getting on email lists

to learn

about dinner out gatherings, potlucks, picnics to meet LIKE-MINDED people. They

are ALL so

supportive and the nicest people I've met. Once I got into the veg diet, I

really felt the

need to be with other vegetarians. That is what I like best about being

vegetarian--well, you

know besides all the other reasons! And just think, this great veg list I'm

writing to now

didn't even exist when I got started networking in 2000. What a boon this is for

veg

newbies--you are soooo lucky to have this resource right off the bat!!! :-)

Okay, I'm done for now. Sorry that I got carried away. Vegetarianism, I guess,

has that

effect on me.

Lori

Tammy wrote:

> I originally didn't post my thinking of the " 12 steps " because I didn't want

> to influence what people may come up with. But since you asked, here's what

> I'm working with now. These are all just bullet points (meant to translate

> to a poster). We'll be giving out literature with more supporting info

> (like " Why Vegan " from Vegan Outreach).

>

> If any of you recently became veg or vegan, I would be especially interested

> in hearing from you. As I've been vegan for over 10 years, your perspective

> on the 12 steps may be more relevant than mine.

>

> 12 steps to veg

>

> 1. take the veg pledge! for earth's sake, for the animal's sake, for

YOUR

> sake!

> meat eaters, go vegetarian! if you're veg, go vegan!

>

> 2. attend MA support meetings

> Meat-Eaters Anonymous meetings are held monthly, aka Vegan Food Parties

> (VFPs)

>

> 3. clean the carcasses out of your freezer & pantry

> give it to food shelters or the neighbors you don't like

>

> 4. read a good book and learn about the issues

> Diet for a New America, Animal Liberation, Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating,

> Fast Food Nation...

>

> 5. hook-up with a veg buddy/mentor

> someone who can answer questions or give you helpful tips, let us know if

> you need one...

>

> 6. find good recipes

> try Peaceful Palate by Raymonds, ask your veg buddies, attend VFPs...

>

> 7. shop at stores with good produce and foods

> all stores have veggies, grains, legumes; natural food stores like Rainbow

> Grocery usually have lots of organic produce and yummy commercial vegan food

> products

>

> 8. celebrate at some of the best veg restaurants!

> Herbivore's (SF), Millennium's (SF), Golden Era (SF), Cha Ya (Berkeley) --

> too many to list...

>

> 9. listen to what the experts say

> get audio or video presentations, or listen to experts when they tour the

> Bay Area

>

> 10.

>

> 11.

>

> 12. make a commitment -- you CAN do it!

> let us help you! membership to Bay Area Vegetarians is free.

>

April 14, 2003

There is a book called " 12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Cooked Food

Addiction " by Victoria Boutenko.

Here are her 12 steps -- maybe it will give you an idea for your 12 steps to

being veg:

1. I admitted that I have lost control of my addiction to cooked food and

my eating has become unmanageable.

2. I believe that live, vegan food is the most natural diet for a human

being.

3. I shall gain the necessary skills, learn the basic raw recipes and

obtain equipment to prepare live food.

4. I shall live in harmony with people who eat cooked food.

5. I shall stay away from temptations.

6. I shall create support for myself.

7. I shall find alternative activities or hobbies.

8. I shall let my higher self lead my life.

9. I shall make a searching and fearless inventory of the real reasons for

seeking comfort and pleasure from cooked foods.

10. I shall let my intuition help me.

11. Through clarity I will gain happiness.

12. I shall provide support to other raw fooders.

Best regards,