What to Do...for World GO VEGAN Week

The 3rd annual World GO VEGAN Week are taking place this year from October 26th through 28th. These celebratory days of education and action are a time for people who care about animals, the environment, and their loved ones' well-being to educate others about the vegan lifestyle as a compassionate, sustainable, and healthy way of eating and living.

This year's World GO VEGAN Week are being presented by some of the nation's leading animal protection organizations, including: The American Vegan Society, Animal Acres, Animal Place, Compassion Over Killing (COK), Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM), Friends of Animals (FOA), Go Vegan Radio, In Defense of Animals (IDA), Mercy for Animals, and Veg News magazine.

There are lots of ways for anyone to get involved in WGVD, but remember that the further you plan ahead, the more you can do. Here are some ideas for activities to take part in during WGVD and beyond:

• Plan an event or activity to get people interested in veganism, such as a public lecture, cooking demonstration, feed-in with vegan food samples, leafleting, tabling, library exhibit, or street theater performance.
• Host a vegan potluck dinner or restaurant outing to show your family and friends that they don't have to sacrifice taste to save animals' lives. Sharing delicious vegan food with others is a fun and easy way to make a difference in the lives of animals and the people you care about.
• Order t-shirts, bumper stickers, posters, pins and other fun stuff from IDA and other vegan merchants to have for the day of your event.
• Students: join or start a vegan club in your school and plan an event with your friends that will educate people about the benefits of a vegan diet to human health, animals, and the environment.
• Host a screening of Peaceable Kingdom, an eye opening farmed animal documentary, at your local library or another venue. Invite a guest speaker to talk about farmed animal welfare issues. Contact IDA for information on borrowing a copy.
• Write a letter to the editor about the benefits of a vegan diet or the cruelties of factory farming, or ask your local newspaper to write a story on the subject.
• Enter cooking competitions and bake sales using vegan recipes. Emphasize the fact that you didn't use any animal ingredients to make your delicious dishes.
• Add a link to IDA's WGVD website from your website. To use one of our banners or buttons, click here, and simply right click on the banner or button of your choice to get the URL,. If you are not sure how to edit your web page, consult your web designer or the person who created it.
• If you run an animal protection organization, become a presenter of World GO VEGAN Week. There are no costs to you for joining us as a co-presenter. All you need is to post the World GO VEGAN Week banner on your web site, which links to the World GO VEGAN Week web page. Contact Melissa Gonzalez at (415) 388-9641, ext. 228 or Melissa@idausa.org for more information.
• Visit a farmed animal sanctuary and take a friend who still eats meat. There are a number of farmed animal sanctuaries where you can visit rescued cows, pigs, turkeys, chickens, ducks, goats, sheep and rabbits live naturally in peace and harmony without fear of abuse or slaughter. Check out Animal Acres, Animal Place, Farm Sanctuary, Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary, or IDA's Project Hope.