i'm starting a local vegetarian group in my conservative community. i know there are others out there and feeling the same kind of lonliness i feel living here as a vegetarian. any suggests and help would be appreciated greatly.
I believe http://www.vivavegie.org/ is a grassroots organizing group. One thing I can think of is, start small and get to know who your potential members are. Some will be animal advocates, some health fans, others who are still omnis but curious about vegetarian foods. So, showing "Meet Your Meat" and passing out gory flyers is probably not a good plan. Having potlucks, cooking demonstrations, and animal advocacy and health speakers seems more in tune with a small town. One easy thing you could get members to do is stock local health food stores, libraries, etc. with "Try Vegetarian." (www.veganoutreach.org) Try Vegetarian is much less graphic than their other booklet, "Why Vegan", thus making it more acceptable to many. Another idea is to table at local festivals and events. You could hand out brochures and sell food, etc. www.collegeactivist.com also has advice on starting a local group.
i'm trying to not go on a what might be threatening to many people, which would include going at people on an animal rights element. i don't what to make people uncomfortable. i often feel that there are too many vegetarian/vegan individuals that are perceived as threatening or aggrassive. i know how that can be offsetting to many people, myself included.
Once you freed animals from farms or labs, you will always go back ............. ..........people from ALF are a really good friendly guys.
