Guest guest Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 I'm wondering if I should support the Sierra Club or not. Does anyone know if The Sierra Club is not animal friendly for any reason? I believe that years ago there was an issue in which they were supposedly in favor of trapping animals or something of that nature but I think that has all changed and that now they are very pro animal but I could be wrong. If anyone has any info please let me know. Thanks. Warren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 9, 2005 Report Share Posted April 9, 2005 Hey Warren, I wouldn’t call the Sierra Club “pro-animal” by any stretch. A good portion of their members are “sportsmen”—hunters and fishermen—and the Sierra Club never takes any stance against hunting and even occasionally has articles glamorizing hunting in its newsletter. They do have a campaign against factory farms, which is great, but they’re advocating for family-farmed animals/meat as opposed to veg’ism or even reduced meat consumption. Sierra Club gets a B- from PETA on its stances on animal testing, which is actually better than most envi groups, according to www.meangreenies.com. Unfortunately, most envi groups are not pro-animal at all, and many animal groups do not involve themselves or take positions on critical envi issues that clearly affect animals too. If you’re just feeling philanthropic and want to make a contribution somewhere, the Sierra Club is certainly not at the top of animal-friendly nonprofits, and since they’re so large individual donations may not mean as much. I’d give my money to one of two local envi groups that support and promote veganism: Circle of Life www.circleoflife.org or Small Planet www.small-planet.org, or to animal groups advocating things that would help the environment, like Vegan Outreach www.veganoutreach.org, which focuses exclusively on reducing meat/dairy/egg consumption, which would be great both for the environment and animals. If, on the other hand, you’re trying to figure out whether you’d actually oppose your money going to Sierra Club (like if you’d want to avoid going to a fundraiser for Sierra Club, or if you’re trying to decide whether to join to vote for the new Board of Directors—local animal attorney Christine Garcia is running!) that’s a different story. I don’t think there’s much harm in a small amount of money falling into their hands, though I believe any money going there would be better spent and is more needed by animal groups. The more mainstream the group, the larger their donor base and the more likely they are to get grant money from foundations and corporations, and unfortunately any group that advocates vegetarianism is usually considered radical/fringe/outside the mainstream and therefore has less funding opportunities and needs our help more! My $.02! Nora biguyskrsf [biguyskrsf] Friday, April 08, 2005 10:05 AM Sierra Club I'm wondering if I should support the Sierra Club or not. Does anyone know if The Sierra Club is not animal friendly for any reason? I believe that years ago there was an issue in which they were supposedly in favor of trapping animals or something of that nature but I think that has all changed and that now they are very pro animal but I could be wrong. If anyone has any info please let me know. Thanks. Warren ____ BAY AREA VEGETARIANS (BAV) is a non-profit community group for veggies to network, find support and promote veganism. Events Calendar - http://bayareaveg.org/events.php Newsletter - http://bayareaveg.org/news Veg Mentor Program - http://bayareaveg.org/mentor Charter & Post Guidelines - http://bayareaveg.org/charter.htm ____ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2005 Report Share Posted April 11, 2005 I wanted to comment that Sierra Club's first issue in their national magazine was a self-proclaimed 'Green Issue'. However, although it is well documented about the *environmental* impact of eating plant based foods versus animal based foods, there still wasn't any coverage of how eating plant foods is an environmental (and more compassionate) choice. So, since my membership was up for renewal, I wrote to their membership services department expressing why I wasn't renewing. My Email: ======= "I was really disappointed in this self-proclaimed 'green' issue and its lack of coverage as to how a plant-based diet is beneficial for both planet earth as well as the animals we share it with. It is very inefficient to grow plants to feed animals to humans. And the waste from animal agriculture is a huge issue in terms of polluting groundwater, how its managed, etc. It's really a shame that Sierra Club missed this opportunity to educate its members as eating is something that we all do, and our choices do have far-reaching impacts and implications." Sierra Club response =============== Dear Tammy, Thank you for contacting the Sierra Club. We appreciate your feedback, and respect your difference of opinion. I have coded your membership so that no further renewal notices will be sent to you. Though the Sierra Club is an environmental organization, we are not an 'animal rights' organization, like PETA for example. We do care about animals and work hard for their protection. We facilitate endangered species' and habitat programs that have helped conservation efforts of overfishing of salmon, grizzly bears, the California Bald Eagle, etc., But telling our members what food they should eat, is not within the scope of our conservation platform at all. We work with lawmakers to influence public policy, environmental law, and support conservation efforts. I agree with all you said about the meat issues (I don't eat meat either) - it is true that the entire fish/poultry/pork/meat industries are bad news for the environment, but so are most agricultural practices! American forests are being chopped down as well to make way for more fertile soil farm land. And genetic engineering, cancer causing pesticides, and farm workers labor rights are also very important issues, but Americans will always eat veggies and fruits, just as many Americans we will always love steak and bacon. The Sierra Club has no interest in attempting to change that. What we do have a passion for changing is the issues you mentioned - We have an expansive CAFO/Factory Farm program under our Clean Water program campaign that has been very successful in blowing the whistle on companies that pollute rivers and treat animals beyond cruel, and making them accountable to the government for their practice. Here are some links: http://www.sierraclub.org/cleanwater/ http://www.sierraclub.org/sustainable_consumption/ http://www.sierraclub.org/environment/more_issues.asp We are sorry to lose your support, but I'm sure PETA would love to have you as an activist. Your support of the Sierra Club is greatly appreciated. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns. "Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet." So, based on their response, it seems like they see advocating a plant-based diet (even for environmental reasons!) as 'radical' and associate it with 'animal rights'. Cheers,Tammy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 11, 2005 Report Share Posted April 11, 2005 My experience has been that the Sierra Club is not veg*n friendly at all. Years ago I participated in gathering petition signatures from Sierra Club members requesting that the organization add to their mission statement that they supported consuming a plant based diet for the good of the environment. I collected many signatures, as did others, but it went nowhere. When my renewal notice next came up I also told them why I wasn't renewing. At some time later I received a phone call to donate/renew and reiterated my reasons for withdrawing support from the Sierra Club. The gentleman I spoke with tried to convince me that the Sierra Club did many OTHER things for the environment but didn't really listen to my reasoning. For people who want to participate in their hikes I can see joining but, given that there are so many worthy charities (vegan promoting and human helping that don't hurt animals) I cannot see ever donating to such a group. Just my information and thoughts. Lisa In a message dated 4/11/05 4:57:17, writes: << Message: 4 Sun, 10 Apr 2005 19:00:38 -0700 " Tammy, Bay Area Vegetarians " <t RE: Sierra Club I wanted to comment that Sierra Club's first issue in their national magazine was a self-proclaimed 'Green Issue'. However, although it is well documented about the *environmental* impact of eating plant based foods versus animal based foods, there still wasn't any coverage of how eating plant foods is an environmental (and more compassionate) choice. So, since my membership was up for renewal, I wrote to their membership services department expressing why I wasn't renewing. My Email: ======= " I was really disappointed in this self-proclaimed 'green' issue and its lack of coverage as to how a plant-based diet is beneficial for both planet earth as well as the animals we share it with. It is very inefficient to grow plants to feed animals to humans. And the waste from animal agriculture is a huge issue in terms of polluting groundwater, how its managed, etc. It's really a shame that Sierra Club missed this opportunity to educate its members as eating is something that we all do, and our choices do have far-reaching impacts and implications. " Sierra Club response =============== Dear Tammy, Thank you for contacting the Sierra Club. We appreciate your feedback, and respect your difference of opinion. I have coded your membership so that no further renewal notices will be sent to you. Though the Sierra Club is an environmental organization, we are not an 'animal rights' organization, like PETA for example. We do care about animals and work hard for their protection. We facilitate endangered species' and habitat programs that have helped conservation efforts of overfishing of salmon, grizzly bears, the California Bald Eagle, etc., But telling our members what food they should eat, is not within the scope of our conservation platform at all. We work with lawmakers to influence public policy, environmental law, and support conservation efforts. I agree with all you said about the meat issues (I don't eat meat either) - it is true that the entire fish/poultry/pork/meat industries are bad news for the environment, but so are most agricultural practices! American forests are being chopped down as well to make way for more fertile soil farm land. And genetic engineering, cancer causing pesticides, and farm workers labor rights are also very important issues, but Americans will always eat veggies and fruits, just as many Americans we will always love steak and bacon. The Sierra Club has no interest in attempting to change that. What we do have a passion for changing is the issues you mentioned - We have an expansive CAFO/Factory Farm program under our Clean Water program campaign that has been very successful in blowing the whistle on companies that pollute rivers and treat animals beyond cruel, and making them accountable to the government for their practice. Here are some links: <http://www.sierraclub.org/cleanwater/> http://www.sierraclub.org/cleanwater/ <http://www.sierraclub.org/sustainable_consumption/> http://www.sierraclub.org/sustainable_consumption/ <http://www.sierraclub.org/environment/more_issues.asp> http://www.sierraclub.org/environment/more_issues.asp We are sorry to lose your support, but I'm sure PETA would love to have you as an activist. Your support of the Sierra Club is greatly appreciated. Please let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns. " Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet. " So, based on their response, it seems like they see advocating a plant-based diet (even for environmental reasons!) as 'radical' and associate it with 'animal rights'. Cheers, Tammy [This message contained attachments] >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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