This experiment is of particular interest to vegans and advocates of veganism. You will soon see why.

A press release about the study begins:

“Many people express objections against child labor, exploitation of the workforce or meat production involving cruelty against animals. At the same time, however, people ignore their own moral standards when acting as market participants, searching for the cheapest electronics, fashion or food. Thus, markets reduce moral concerns. This is the main result of an experiment conducted by economists from the Universities of Bonn and Bamberg. The results are presented in the latest issue of the renowned journal ‘Science’.” [emphasis added]

Here is an outline of how the experiment was conducted, as I understand it. Researchers split participants into three groups:

1. One group was offered 10 Euros to let the mouse be killed; or they could refuse the money and let the mouse live
2. Another group was allowed to sell a mouse to someone else who would kill the mouse (in this way they could get more or less than 10 Euros); or they could refuse to sell the mouse and keep the mouse alive
3. The third group was allowed to sell the mouse to any number of willing buyers who would kill the mouse

Now, there are some details I’d like to share about the experiment and the mice before we move on to the study results. These raise questions about how we can study real moral issues in an ethical way. I’ll let your mind ponder on that without commentary. Here are the mice details: The mice were lab mice bred for another experiment. They were healthy but not suitable for the first experiment and thus the mice were scheduled for euthanasia. Participants in this study about moral behavior and markets were shown a video of the euthanizing process that would be used to kill the mice. From what I understand about this economics study, the mice who were “saved” by study participants were in fact actually saved. The number of study participants who refused to accept the money or participate in market trades equaled the number of mice who were purchased from the lab and were given safe permanent homes.

But that number was relatively small. Of the 124 participants in the first group, 46 percent accepted the money and allowed a mouse to be killed. In the second group 72 percent of the sellers were willing to have the mouse killed in exchange for money. In the third group, 76 percent of sellers in this third group chose to accept the money despite the fact that it resulted in a mouse-killing.

They tested these results against a more morally neutral commodity, coupons. That is, they performed this same experiment but instead of using mice, they used coupons. Participants could keep or sell their coupon. They found that people’s behavior did not shift as much when engaged in the choice to sell this morally neutral commodity as it did when offered the choice to sell mice. The researchers concluded that market interaction lowers moral values as compared to individual actions.

In the views of many philosophers, politicians, and economists this study didn’t teach us anything new, it simply provided more empirical evidence that economic markets can erode moral behavior. And the study raises other important questions, too.

It’s worth noting (and perhaps worth exploring in future studies) that in all the above scenarios, the amount of money was relatively small (under 20 Euros) indicating the relative ease with which people may exchange life for money. Furthermore, not only were more people willing to actively engage in selling their mice to a group of buyers/killers (than people willing to accept an offer to buy/kill their mice)… but also, this group of sellers received less money than the first group!

It appears that they perceived that the animals’ lives had less value when the animal had an obvious ”market value” with many active buyers trying to negotiate a deal than when the animal was simply an animal in their care with only one low-pressure offer. Clearly, the value of animals’ lives changes depending on whether or not the animal is viewed as a commodity.  This isn’t merely the difference between viewing an animal as a pet or as a meal, this is more fundamentally about the difference between an animal with a price tag on his or her head versus an animal without a price tag attached. It doesn’t appear related to the species of the animal, his or her health, the animal’s ability to produce something useful for humans, tradition or culture, taste or fashion preferences, or any other reason. It was merely the price tag hung by market forces.

This study brings into question the ability of consumers to effect social change through ethical consumerism, specifically boycotts like veganism. One wonders if even people with strong morals struggle with maintaining those morals in amoral markets, perhaps there is no market solution to animal cruelty. Or perhaps the solution is wildly different than the one many vegans imagine. Either way, if we want a vegan world we need to do more than just be vegan ourselves.

—

Details about the study were gleaned from these sources:

• http://www.sciencemag.org/content/340/6133/766.2.full
• http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2013/05/15/markets-make-us-less-moral/

Published in haste. Updates and edits may come soon.

These lists are intended to help people write articles, give speeches, or create pamphlets that encourage meat-reduction, vegetarianism and veganism for the environment. If you have a class assignment about ‘saving the planet’ or if you want to help your veg group make persuasive pamphlets about eating eco-friendly, this list can help you.

Or… if you’re just curious about the connection and you want to learn more, then this list is for you!

Take a look below. There’s the title of the piece, the URL to it, and a description and/or a quote. Don’t forget to bookmark or print this article if you think may be useful for later. (Of course, if you choose to print it, please recycle the paper when you’re done.)

1. “Meat-Eater’s Guide to Climate Change and Health”
Available online at: http://static.ewg.org/reports/2011/meateaters/pdf/report_ewg_meat_eaters_guide_to_health_and_climate_2011.pdf
This guide comes from the Environmental Working Group. It was released in 2011. According to the graph on page 6, cheese is more than six times worse for the environment than tofu; beef is ten times worse than rice; chicken is six times worse than lentils. From the guide:

“If you eat one less burger a week, it’s like taking your car off the road for 320 miles or line-drying your clothes half the time. [...] If everyone in the U.S. ate no meat or cheese just one day a week, it would be like not driving 91 billion miles – or taking 7.6 million cars off the road.”

2. “Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Consumption and
Production Priority Products and Materials”
Available online at: http://www.unep.fr/shared/publications/pdf/DTIx1262xPA-PriorityProductsAndMaterials_Report.pdf
This detailed report by the United Nations Environment Programme published in June 2010 describes the cause of environmental destruction: over-consumption of resources. From the report:

“over the past 50 years humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable time period in human history, largely to meet rapidly growing demand for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel. This has resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth.” [...]

“Compared to industrial processes, agricultural processes have an inherently low efficiency of resource use, which renders food, fibres and fuels from agriculture among the more polluting resources. This is true especially for animal products, where the metabolism of the animals is the limiting factor.” [...]

“Impacts from agriculture are expected to increase substantially due to population growth, increasing consumption of animal products. Unlike fossil fuels, it is difficult to look for alternatives: people have to eat. A substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products.”

3. “Livestock’s Long Shadow”
Available online at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.htm
This report gives an in-depth look into the environmental impacts of animal agribusiness. The report was published in 2006 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Check out the report’s executive summary, part of which says:

“The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. The findings of this report suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution and loss of biodiversity.”

“Livestock’s contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale and its potential contribution to their solution is equally large. The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with urgency. Major reductions in impact could be achieved at reasonable cost.”

4. “Putting Meat on The Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America”
Available online at: http://www.ncifap.org/
A comprehensive, fact-based and balanced examination of key aspects of the farm animal industry published in 2008 by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production.

“Both animals and their waste are concentrated and usually exceed the capacity of the land to produce feed or absorb the waste. Consequently, the rapid ascendance of ifap [Industrial Food Animal Production] has produced an expanding array of deleterious environmental effects on local and regional water, air, and soil resources.”

5. “The Low-Carbon Diet”
Available online at: http://www.audubonmagazine.org/features0901/viewpoint.html
Article about meat-reduction and vegetarianism for the environment from the Audubon Magazine. Here’s a snippet:

“The typical American diet now weighs in at more than 3,700 calories per day, reports the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, and is dominated by meat and animal products. As a result, what we put in our mouths now ranks up there with our driving habits and our use of coal-fired electricity in terms of how it affects climate change.”

“Simply put, raising beef, pigs, sheep, chicken, and eggs is very, very energy intensive. More than half of all the grains grown in America actually go to feed animals, not people, says the World Resources Institute. That means a huge fraction of the petroleum-based herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers applied to grains, plus staggering percentages of all agricultural land and water use, are put in the service of livestock. Stop eating animals and you use dramatically less fossil fuels”

I hope thise list of resources helps you go veg or encourage others to go veg.
—
Thank you for reading Vegan Soapbox. If you find this website helpful please consider telling people about it.
The above article was originally published in August 2011. It has been slightly edited and republished in order to reach a new audience.

But what’s a vegan vacationer to do? It’s hard enough being vegan at home where everything is familiar. Being vegan on the road can be more challenging. We’ve covered the topic before here on Vegan Soapbox. But this time I’m going to share another option. It’s so simple you’re going to laugh.

Imagine, what’s the easiest way to eat a healthy vegan diet away from home? Buying vegan food at restaurants can be tricky even with help from VegGuide. And it’s not always healthy. When you cook at home it’s likely to be healthier, less expensive, and you can be certain it’s vegan. So what should you look for in a travel destination? A KITCHEN!

Yes, it’s that simple.

But where do you find kitchens? Here are a few options:

• Travel by RV or 5th Wheel
• Camp and use an outdoor kitchen (campfire or BBQ will work, but there are also portable outdoor stoves and sunovens)
• Timeshares (most have kitchens or kitchenettes) – here is a map to US timeshares
• Vacation rental condos or homes – VBRO is a website to rent vacation homes directly from owners
• Couchsurf and use their kitchens
• Motels with kitchens or kitchenettes

I’ve done all of the above (except couchsurf). Doing my own cooking generally makes my vacation less stressful, more fun, and less damaging to my BMI too. So consider finding a kitchen for your next vacation. It might make the difference between a dietary disaster or great vegan adventure!

A vegan, generally, is a person who excludes the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Maybe you are a vegan, wish you were one, or know someone who is. If so, then you most likely know one who is labeled by James McWilliams as a “gotcha vegan.” Gotchas may also be known as the “vegan police,” those who scour the sphere for vegan slip-ups, trying to find aspiring vegans eating something that contains hidden meat or dairy products.

Even the Happy Herbivore became a target after she ate cotton candy at a baseball game and had not “sourced” the sugar. Over half of the cane refineries in the United States use bone char, a charcoal made from animal bones, to finally refine cane sugar, but it is so far removed from its animal source that it is “kosher pareve,” meaning it contains no meat or milk in any form as an ingredient, according to Jewish dietary laws. It was enough, however, for the vegan police to strip the Happy Herbivore of the “true vegan” label.

In defensive desperation, some of us have adopted the phrase “imperfect vegan.” That is, we admit to have occasionally fallen off the vegan wagon. Not anything as obvious as meat, of course, but we’ve been known to use creamer with sodium caseinate in our coffee or a dollop of lanolin in borrowed hand lotion. As a less-than-perfect vegan, my goal is to lead others to the health, compassion and peace of mind offered by a vegan diet. A great way to lead is by personal example, and that’s something we all can do.  But insisting on perfection, in myself and others, is more likely to scare people away than bring them to the truth.

Nick Cooney’s excellent book, Change of Heart, What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change, explains that most people shy away from change they perceive as too difficult.  It is not enough to create awareness; we must make the path attainable for almost everyone. In “Vegan Enough for Enough Vegans,” the Eccentric Vegan explains that “vegan enough” is about avoiding the biggies (meat, dairy, and eggs) and not sweating the small stuff (trace ingredients).  Vegan enough is being vegan “conspicuously” enough to influence non-vegans to go vegan.

In that vein, I believe ten 90% vegan converts are better than converting one 100% vegan. Why? Because each of us affects others around us, and our 10 converts will reach a lot more people than our one perfect vegan, unless he or she happens to be a Martin Luther King or Ingrid Newkirk.  More animals will be saved and humans will become healthier.

Now, we can rant and rail at those who can’t make and stick to difficult choices, or we can accept the reality and work with it.  The gotcha’ vegans create an aura of impossibility that makes it intimidating for even the most dedicated to succeed. By falling short of perfection, we will be more attractive to those we want to lead.  Being a vegan will appear to be easier.

Another factor will make veganism less difficult. Twenty years ago, when I first became a vegetarian, it was impossible to find a veggie burger in Dallas.  In restaurants, our options were a baked potato and salad, or what I came to call the “burger experience.” It consisted of ordering, for example, the “mushroom burger, hold the meat.” In those days, this order caused a considerable amount of confusion for the wait staff. We wanted everything you would normally get on a hamburger; we just didn’t want the meat. “Hold the meat” sounds like a simple concept, but it really threw them for a loop.

Now, not only are veggie burgers plentiful, but come in a wide variety of flavors. In addition, there are dozens of meat and dairy alternatives that are delicious and healthy. Most decent-sized cities offer several vegetarian restaurants or ones with vegetarian options, while a few vegan dining establishments are springing up in many locations.  The market catches up with demand. As more and more people demand vegan alternatives, becoming (and staying) a vegan will become even easier.

And that’s good news for the less-than-perfect among us.

—

About the author:
Paige Singleton says “I was raised in a small Texas town where ranching was the biggest business, animal husbandry a constant reality.  I was surrounded by the misery of “food” animals. Although I accepted it for a long time, it never felt right. I was miserable, but didn’t know any better. I finally began to seriously question the things I’d been taught all my life. I became a vegetarian first and finally a vegan. My novel and my website were created in the hopes of helping animals, and by saving animals, we will help people as well!” Singleton blogs at http://www.diaryofadietingmadhouse.com

Last night I read three books to my son at bed time. One was tongue-twister about a famous hat-wearing cat. Another had drawings of cookies in it (among other things). And the third was a charming true story about an adopted dog.

JJ The American Street Dog and How He Came to Live In Our House Diane Rose-Solomon is a winner of the Mom’s Choice Award. The book is the first in a series and is aimed at children ages 5-9, although my 3-year-old loved having it read to him. He particularly liked the page where JJ and Maya meet because he says “JJ looks happy.”

The story is told from the perspective of Maya, a six-year-old girl. Maya has a cat but has also wanted a dog for as long as she can remember. Her parents finally acquiesce and they promise to get her a dog. Coincidentally, Maya’s uncle finds a homeless puppy. Maya’s wary parents agree to look after the dog while Maya’s uncle tries to find the dog’s owner. Given the title, I’m sure you can figure out the rest of the story.

JJ The American StreetDog lightly touches upon the important issues of animal homelessness, compassionate animal care, spaying and neutering, and of course the adoption of rescued animals. In our family, we particularly enjoy stories about all kinds of adoption! While there’s nothing about the book that is specific to veganism, it’s a great place to begin (or continue) a vegan discussion with young children.

Note: the author received a free review copy of this book.

The New Fast Food: The Veggie Queen Pressure Cooks Whole Food Meals in less than 30 Minutes is the cookbook you just might have been waiting for. Author Jill Nussinow, MS, RD, calls herself The Veggie Queen on numerous videos on youtube as well as on her own websites (see www.youtube.com/TheVQ). She has been teaching courses on pressure cooking since 1996 and has been a McDougall chef since 2002. In this cookbook she shares what she has learned about pressure cooking and offers recipes or general directions for grains, beans and other legumes, vegetable dishes, soups, stews and other main courses, and desserts.

Did you think pressure cooking has been replaced by microwave and convection oven cooking? Guess again. The pressure cooker can cook some things much faster than they can be cooked any other way, and with less attention.

But what about the danger? Newer pressure cookers have safety features that make explosions almost impossible. If, however, you have the old style “jiggle-top” cooker you can still use it safely.  Just follow basic rules.

If you are interested in seeing what this magic pot can do for vegan cooking but you don’t really know anything about pressure cookers, Nussinow provides more than enough information. The first three chapters are all about the cooker: what it’s good for, how it works, choosing a cooker, when you have a need for speed, taking care of the cooker, troubleshooting, adapting regular recipes (including crockpot recipes), how long different foods take to cook.  You don’t need to read all three chapters before you can open your pot, however. Just check the basics and try your first recipe. You can always go back with specific questions.

The recipes. The Veggie Queen offers detailed information on and recipes for grains, beans, vegetables, soups, stews and other main courses, and desserts.  These recipes take us far beyond anything offered in the manual that comes with the cooker.  She also provides an interesting discussion of “potatoes, the glycemic index and the pressure cooker,” which explains why different cooking methods change the glycemic index of a food, and why potatoes are not bad for you.  Some highlights from my own forays into this book:

Plain pressure-cooked risotto

Risotto: you can indeed make risotto in a pressure cooker. It is easy and fast. The texture is not exactly like what you’ll get if you cook it on the stove, constantly stirring, but it’s more than palatable.

Rice, plain: It’s faster and easier to cook rice in a pressure cooker than in a rice cooker. The texture is different, moister, but it doesn’t burn on the bottom. A nice compromise.

Vegetable broth: This has become my go-to method for making veg broth. The basic recipe calls for the plain jane veggies that tend to be inexpensive and whose flavors blend well: carrots, onions, garlic, leeks, celery. I followed the recipe the first time. After that I simply used what I had on hand that is suitable for broth, including bags of frozen pulp from my juicer, added water and cranked it up. Five minutes under pressure. The advantages of making your own broth: cost, taste, and the ability to make it salt-free.

Black bean soup: I threw this together in minutes and had it done in time to take it to my sewing class potluck one Tuesday morning. It was perfect. Just had to offer lemon slices.

Split-pea soup: In the old days we were told never to make split-pea soup in the pressure cooker. It’s okay now. More than okay. I didn’t need to use the hand blender to get it smooth.

Artichokes: What was it…four minutes? Four artichokes. Mine were rather small so they were a little overdone.

Chickpea curry*: One of the best recipes I tried. Fast, just a few ingredients, and really delicious.

Other vegetables: I made “Big Thyme Broccoli”. It was overcooked. I don’t know how it could have been done without overcooking, really. Garlic mashed potatoes: operator error here. The recipe said to use “4 medium potatoes”. I wasn’t sure what “medium” meant so I added more. Didn’t have as much liquid for the amount of potato as I should have. Still tasted good, even if a little bit browned.

Notes about the package: Every recipe starts at the top of a page, making it easy to find, copy, and use the recipe. There are many photographs throughout, but they are all generic: photos of fruits, vegetables, grains, beans. No photographs of actual dishes cooked in the pressure cooker. I would very much have liked to see that instead.  There are appendices at the end of the book, providing additional information on various foods, cookers, and techniques. Ms. Veggie Queen also offers a “bonus” cookbook for those who purchase this one. The bonus is a pdf file containing additional pressure cooker recipes by well-known vegan cooks. *The chickpea curry is from this bonus book.

Recommendation: This book should be an indispensable part of any vegan cook’s library. It gives you what you need to get on the road to fast, healthy pressure cooking. I hope that future editions will include photographs of some of the dishes.

Side note: I found the information on electric pressure cookers a bit negative. I have both types and find that I use the electric one while the other sits in a cupboard. Some of us find that the convenience of the timer makes all the difference.

I learned of this company through Groupon. GobbleGreen offered either a Vegan Starter Kit for about half the usual price or a combination of individual dishes worth $200 for $100. I chose the latter. I tried some breakfast items, some lunch, and several dinner. This was a great way to sample the products. I did not use up my $200 worth on the first run, figuring I’d save the rest for reorders when I learned what I liked best. In the following review I’ll discuss: 1) Cost;  2) Taste;  3) Convenience, and finally make a recommendation.

Taste.
When my package arrived I put almost everything in my freezer. I put some salads into the fridge. Salads are made with beans, grains, and vegetables like cabbage and carrots, which freeze well. The three I chose were Ginger Thai Salad, Chickpea Salad, and Southwestern Salad. For breakfast foods I chose the Chickpea Breakfast Scramble, the Mushroom Scramble with “Cheese”, the Apple Carrot Muffin, and Blueberry Muffin. The lunch and dinner dishes I chose were Green Beans with Tofu and Roasted Almonds, Kung Pao “Chicken” with steamed broccoli, Cashew Pesto Pasta, Sesame Tofu and Vegetables with Steamed Brown Rice, Fettuccine Alredo with peas and broccoli, and Vegetable Paella with “Chicken”.

Vegetable Paella

The muffins were delicious. Generous in size, nice light texture, flavorful. One muffin is $2.25. You can get a dozen for $10.99, however. I am contemplating delivery of maybe a half-dozen Apple-Carrot muffins now.

Mushroom Scramble

The mushroom scramble was quite tasty (although not especially attractive), which I suspect had something to do with the “cheese” – which is Daiya, by the way. The chickpea scramble was a bit watery and not particularly memorable. I wanted it to be better because not everything has to be made from tofu, and because I am fond of chickpeas.

Chickpea Salad

The green beans with tofu and almonds was fair. I had difficulty finding the almonds. The beans were nicely cooked, and the tofu decent, considering it was microwaved. The Fettuccine Alfredo was very much like the original dairy version, and unfortunately almost as fatty. I wished there were a little bit more in the dish. There was more in the cashew pesto pasta, I’m happy to say, as I had no trouble eating it. The Kung Pao “Chicken” (the chick is soy-based meat) has the right flavors but is too heavy on the fat content for my taste. I remembered McDougall’s Kung Pao Noodles – a different dish but with similar flavors and a much lighter touch. If I were to order the Kung Pao Chicken again I’d fix some rice or noodles to serve with it.

Kung Pao "Chicken" with Steamed Broccoli

Speaking of what to serve with, the steamed broccoli came in its own dishes. Every one of them overcooked and yet frequently woody as well. A real disappointment. I can see no reason for this culinary misstep. GobbleGreen, just put some frozen florets into a dish and you’re done.

The Sesame Tofu and Vegetables with Steamed Brown Rice was good, if also a little high in fat. The Vegetable Paella didn’t impress me. Speaking of the fat content, the nutritional content of each dish is available on the website.

Convenience.
Orders placed M – S are sent out the following week, in most cases.  So you can have your dishes in a matter of days. Every dish is packed individually, so if you order four servings you get four individual dishes. This arrangement pretty much assures there won’t be leftovers. No food waste unless you just don’t like the dish. The dishes are small enough to pack into corners of your freezer, not taking a lot of room. This compares favorably with the boxed packages we tend to buy at the grocery store.

Recommendation:
If you have days when you don’t want to worry about dinner (or lunch or breakfast) you might want to look into this option. Certainly there is more variety than we can find at the local store, and the prices are fairly comparable to those at health food markets like Whole Foods. The ingredients are primarily organic, without preservatives. The food is not gourmet-quality and tends toward high-fat but there are exceptions. There are gluten-free and sugar-free options, as well as an interesting variety of “meal plans”.  GobbleGreen even does catering in the southern California area. I wasn’t bowled over by the food but I liked it well enough to try again.

I would like to hear from others who have tried the same or different dishes than I have.

Camp is the Director of Outreach for Vegan Outreach and has handed out hundreds of thousands of educational booklets.

Last week he answered questions on Reddit.

This week he’s answering questions for Vegan Soapbox.

Q: How and why did you go vegan? Were there any special “aha moments” along the way?

Jon Camp: In 1995, I took an intro to ethics course at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, IL. We discussed various ethical issues, and one day we talked about the mistreatment of animals raised for food. I never really grasped how much farm animals suffered until that day. I decided that I should no longer give my support to the raising and killing of animals for food, and I went vegetarian. I went vegan three years later after learning more about the suffering of egg-laying hens and dairy cows.

Q: Do you have a favorite vegan snack or meal?

Camp: I love Ethiopian food. And when I’m on the road, I blow way too much money on kale chips.

Q: Why did you start leafleting?

Camp: I learned about Vegan Outreach in 1998, but considered myself too shy to leaflet. So I would drop off booklets at coffee shops and the like. But then one day in 2000, while volunteering at a feed-in for Compassion Over Killing inWashington,DC, there was a need for people to leaflet next to those giving out food, so I gave it a try. It was a lot easier than I had expected, and I was blown away by how receptive people were.

Q: Do you have any tips for shy or introverted people who want to leaflet?

Camp: I lean towards being introverted (and at times shy), yet I’ve found that you can be introverted while still being a great leafleter. If you can give a sincere smile and offer someone a booklet, you’re good to go. And Vegan Outreach leafleters run the gamut — from the hermits to the hyper-extroverts. And what connects us is our desire to give what we can towards pushing the ball forward for animals. So I think it’s important to keep in mind that you don’t need to be a hyper-extrovert. If you can get out and simply say, “Hello! Help animals?” and offer someone a booklet, your sincere statement will go far. I can’t stress this enough; if you’re an introvert, you’ll do fine, and the animals need you to push yourself out of your comfort zone to do this. The great things in life usually come when we push ourselves out of our comfort zone. You have the potential to do so much good for the animals each time you get out to leaflet, and leafleting is a lot easier than you think. The first booklet is the toughest, and then it gets so much easier. So don’t think too much about the first booklet!

Also, it always helps to get your feet wet doing this with an experienced leafleter. VO representatives travel the country throughout the year, and there’s a good chance we’ll be in your neck of the woods sooner than later. So if you’re interested in making your leafleting debut with an experienced leafleter, please get in touch with us!

I’ve found that leafleting has been super-helpful for my social skills. I was starting to retreat a little too into my shell for a while. Leafleting helped me bust out of that.

Q: How did you get a job doing this?

Camp: I started getting more and more involved with leafleting, and that led to me getting involved in Vegan Outreach’s Adopt a College leafleting program. In 2004, Jack Norris, VO’s president, let me know that there was a job opening for VO’s first paid college leafleting position, and he asked if I was interested. I responded with an emphatic “yes!” and it’s been a labor of love since then.

Q: Do you get tired of traveling so much?

Camp: Yes and no. I’ve spent a big chunk of the last nine years being on the road. It’s been great seeing so much ofNorth America, and doing work that I find to be so meaningful. Being so busy has made the concept of boredom a foreign concept to me, and I never feel like life is just slipping away from me; I feel that I get a lot out of each year. That said, sleeping on the beds, couches, and sometimes floors of others can be exhausting after a while, and I’m always happy to return home after a long tour.

Q: What are some tips for vegan traveling? Do you have any favorite locations?

Camp: I’ve found it pretty easy to eat well on the road. Of course, you’re going to have more vegan options when in San Francisco than when in Wichita, but you’ll be surprised by what you can find in Wichita! It’s nice that so many mainstream restaurants and grocery stores now offer so much vegan food. There are infinitely more vegan selections to choose from now than when I first went vegan in 1998.

I always love getting back to my Illinois roots and spending time in Chicago, eating at the Chicago Diner, Native Foods, the Ethiopian Diamond, etc. But it’s hard to beat the Grit in lovely Athens, GA. If you’re ever there, try what is known amongst the cool kids as the Jon Camp Special: The Golden Bowl with extra veggies, a side of collards, and the Chocolate Death Cake.

Q: If you weren’t working or volunteering for VO what do you think you would be doing instead?

Camp: If there weren’t suffering in the world, I’d be spending as much time as possible writing and recording guitar music. I studied music in college, was a guitar teacher prior to getting involved in activism, and about half of my mental energy is spent thinking about music. In the coming years, I hope to find more time for this.

Q: Are you some sort of superhero or something? You overcame Lyme disease, right? How was it being vegan in the hospital?

Camp: I would say that I’m closer to “or something” than “superhero.” But I do give a lot to this work because I believe in the effectiveness of it.

And yeah, I did get Lyme Disease last summer, and was in the Intensive Care Unit for nine days with a temporary pacemaker in me, due to the Lyme giving me total heart block, where the top part and the bottom part of my heart weren’t corresponding with each other as they should have been. But the great care at St. Mary’s Hospital inMadison, WI, coupled with a steady dose of IV antibiotics, not to mention a lot of love from my friends and family, were too much of a match for that pesky bacteria. And so I was released from the hospital, and I was fortunate to be able to run a half marathon just a few months later. My last checkup at the doctor’s office showed no signs of Lyme.

The vegan options at St. Mary’s were ok, but I had some dear Madison friends delivering me delicious homemade vegan food as well as food from places like the Green Owl.

Q: Being a vegan superhero basically means you’re going to live forever, so what is your retirement plan?

Camp: That’s something I need to take a little more seriously than I have so far. But I hope to be useful for as long as possible. Playing golf doesn’t interest me, but I’d like to spend more time writing and recording guitar music.

Q: What’s your workout routine? Are you still playing soccer?

Camp: My workout regimen this winter hasn’t been the stuff of legend. But I try to do multiple sets of pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, and various routines with free weights as many days as I can. And I try to run as much as time will allow me to. I’m planning to run my first marathon in the fall, so I’ll need to step up my game soon and make my runs longer than my typical 4-7 mile runs. I haven’t played much soccer these days, as soccer organizing extraordinaire John Oberg left the DC area to takeAmerica by storm with his amazing work for Vegan Outreach.

Q: Do you have any favorite movies, music, books you want to share?

Camp: When I was last inNashville, I visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and spent a night checking out some country bars. That led to an obsession with Willie Nelson’s music. I had tickets to see him a few weeks ago, but he got sick and had to cancel! But he has rescheduled, and I plan to see him in April. I can’t recommend his “Red Headed Stranger” and “Phases & Stages” albums enough for those interested in classic country.

Ethics Into Action by Peter Singer, about the late animal advocate Henry Spira, is an inspiring read on being pragmatic and winning campaigns for the animals. And I found How to Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie to be helpful with what the title suggests. I also think that Matt Ball’s and Bruce Friedrich’s The Animal Activist’s Handbook and Nick Cooney’s Change of Heart contain nuggets and nuggets of practical wisdom. I also find the writings about social change by Howard Zinn to be inspiring Lying by Sam Harris is a great read. It makes the case for lying as little as possible and that even seemingly benign things like white lies and false compliments can be damaging to relationships. And Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking has made me more at peace with my introverted streak.

Q: Anything else you want to share with the Soapbox readers?

If you’d like to take part in Vegan Outreach’s work, we’d love to have you on board! Please contact us for more information. The Vegan Outreach website is: http://www.veganoutreach.org/

A: First, it’s important to remember that the vast majority of animal suffering and death is a result of the “food” industry. And in its current state few people would call animal agribusiness “natural.” It’s terribly and unnecessarily cruel to animals, it’s destructive to the environment, and it’s even harming human health.

So someone concerned about animal suffering rightly focuses most of his or her energy on choosing and promoting compassionate plant-based diets. That’s the simplest and most effective way to refrain from harming animals. Luckily, it’s easy to choose vegan meals instead of animal-based meals. And it’s getting easier every day!

I’d posit there’s a bright line differentiating “abstaining from harming” versus “helping.” For example, most people abstain from harming human children. They don’t abuse them but they may not go out of their way to help them. And that’s socially and morally acceptable.

To use a recent new story as an example, it’s acceptable to ignore a crying toddler on a plane. One needn’t help his mother soothe him. But slapping him and calling him a racial slur is unacceptable. See the difference between ‘not harming’ vs ‘helping’?

When it comes to farmed animals we can easily choose to refrain from harming them. We can choose not to slap them or call them names (much worse usually happens on modern “farms”) and we can refrain from harming them simply by leave their dead bodies or their secretions off our plates.

Likewise, it’s easy to refrain from hunting. We needn’t be the direct cause of animal suffering, tame or wild. However, we can stop at ‘not harming.’ We needn’t necessarily help wild animals.

Venturing into the realm of ‘helping’ can be complicated and have unintended consquences. We needn’t, for example, stop wild animals from hunting other wild animals. It’s OK for us to merely ‘not harm’ the animals ourselves. The more important thing is that we avoid harming causing harm. Go vegan.