In Defense of Animals held our second Carnivores Anonymous meeting on Monday, August 28 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California. Carnivores Anonymous is a 12-Step program that empowers the local community to save animals, maintain optimum health, lose weight, reverse chronic illness and tackle food addiction through plant-based eating.

We started off with a moment of prayer for the animals, then our group leader discussed the key concepts for Carnivores Anonymous, and welcomed new members. You can view her discussion here.

 We then invited our guest speaker, Yale graduate, psychotherapist and Ellora Wellness CEO, Vanessa Marsot, to come up and share her vegan journey with us. She has an amazing story, starting from a tumultuous relationship with food as a child to learning about the horrors of the animal agriculture industry to understanding that we all need to treat ourselves better, including the way we eat. We invite you to listen to her story here.

After hearing Vanessa’s journey, everyone was invited to share their thoughts and experiences in dealing with social pressure while following their plant-based journeys. One of the most challenging issues that our members shared was pressure from their families. Dealing with family when you’re the only one transitioning to a plant-based diet can be quite challenging, and this is one of the reasons we developed Carnivores Anonymous. We pledge to give all of you the support you need when you feel like you have no one else.

Whether you are an omnivore, vegetarian, vegan, or somewhere in-between, we invite you to join us as we move through our plant-based eating journeys together. If you’re in Los Angeles, we invite you to join our next meeting on September 25. You can view the event page here. If not, please sign up at www.carnivoresanonymous.org to join or start a Carnivores Anonymous group near you. We hope to see you soon!