A supporter recently asked:
“What does Veggies do for Animal Rights?”
A Veggies Volunteer replied:
Excellent question, I’m very glad you asked. 🙂
Veggies of Nottingham, also known as “The Vegan Catering Campaign” has been running for over thirty years now and I’ve been a volunteer for just under half of that.
I’ve also been a regular Nottingham Animal Rights activist for about the same time and although I do also very much care about human rights, the environment, peace, etc, Animal Rights is firmly at the top of my agenda because vastly more animals are harmed than humans, because the suffering they have to endure is greater and because less people seem to care about animal rights.
SO WHY WOULD A NOTTINGHAM ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST VOLUNTEER FOR VEGGIES?
I’ll try and keep it as concise as I can… 😉
A) Direct Campaigning:
* By providing a Vegan alternative at dog rescue open days, sanctuary open days, music festivals, beer festivals, gatherings, camps, demos and even weddings and birthdays, the vegan message is raised in the general public consciousness.
* As Robert has already mentioned, Veggies run vegan workshops and cookery demonstrations such as the “Food For A Future” project at major mainstream events such as Glastonbury.
* Wherever Veggies goes it takes an animal rights information stall, complete with a wide range of leaflets on all AR topics (including NottmAR and DerbyAR flyers by the way) and a better selection of AR books than any other resource NottmAR has access to…
* Veggies provides point of sale vegan education, such as plant milk sampling.
B) Support to the AR movement:
LOCALLY:
* When I joined NottmAR, it was Veggies that organized the planning meetings. In fact throughout the noughties, Veggies and NottmAR were inseparable – you literally couldn’t tell where one organisation ended and the other began! Sadly they’ve drifted apart a little now – much to the detriment of both groups IMHO.
* Veggies is one of the main groups behind the Sumac centre which provides a space for NottmAR meetings, EMARC meetings, Sabs/NottsNibblers benefit gigs and even national AR gatherings. The Sumac centre also provides a mail box for NottmAR and the NottmSabs which is very useful.
* Up until quite recently, Veggies provided IT support for NottmAR, hosting the NottmAR website and providing an email address which we still occasionally get enquiries through. 🙂
* Veggies is one of the most supportive groups for local vegan festivals such as the original East Midlands Vegan Festival and Compassionate Derby.
* Ever wondered who the local contact for the Vegan Society is? That would be Veggies, Ditto the Vegetarian Society. What about Viva? Yep, Veggies. Animal Aid? That would be Veggies. In fact, here’s a fun little game for you, I challenge you to find a national animal rights organisation with a Nottingham contact that isn’t Veggies. 🙂 I can only think of one.
NATIONALLY:
* Veggies provides a national Animal Rights Calendar, enabling new activists to find events in their locality and facilitating the avoidance of date collisions for vegan festivals, gatherings, national marches etc.
* Veggies is famous in national AR circles for providing the original (and still the best) Animal Rights Contact Directory, a yellow pages of local AR groups across the country.
* Veggies provides infrastructure support for special projects of national AR organizations such as Animal Aid’s dog meat trailer, remember that? Veggies provided the trailer which went around the country highlighting how illogical it is that dog lovers eat pigs and cows. Brilliant.
* Veggies was a significant supporter of McLibel, one of the most pivotal Animal Rights victories in UK legal history.
* Veggies supports other Vegan catering initiatives around the country, for example, they provided a trailer for “Something Fishy” a Manchester based Vegan fish and chips project.
* Veggies provides essential infrastructure such as marquees to the outdoor National Animal Rights gatherings.
* Veggies acts as a fund-raiser and distributor for a number of Animal Rights relevant national charities such as VegFam and the Movement for Compassionate Living.
* What else… Oh yeah, Veggies also provides CATERING! 🙂 By donation at marches, rallies, etc and believe me, when you’ve been traipsing round the fence of some god awful vivisection lab in the rain (and often in the middle of nowhere), and your throat is somewhat sore from chanting/shouting etc, suddenly being offered a samosa and a cup of tea (EVEN if you haven’t any money) from a 100% vegan caterer is pretty cool…
I could go on, but I hope it starts to become apparent that Veggies actually does quite a lot for the animals and it’s only natural that the animal rights opportunities offered by Veggies adventures continue to be highlighted at the NottmAR planning meetings and that NottmAR activists will include Veggies volunteering in their repertoire of activism along with the demos, street stalls, sanctuary work, sabbing, outdoor cinema, and all the other amazing initiatives that folk bring to the table.
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