World's largest food service provider increases vegetarian options

Compass Group, the world's largest food service provider, recently launched their "Be A Flexitarian" initiative, drastically increasing the vegetarian options at over 8,500 cafeterias across the country.

The initiative's purpose is to, "...encourage people to 'Be a Flexitarian' by simply eating ONE meat-free meal a week." And by doing so, we can, "...make an impact on both our health and the environment."

The initiative was developed with the help of the Humane Society of the United States, which stated that, "...this initiative to promote the incorporation of more meat-free meals is the largest corporate program of its kind in the world."

This isn't Compass Group's first initiative to help animals, but it certainly is their biggest. Compass Group's U.S. cafeterias exclusively purchase cage-free shell eggs, and are large purchasers of hormone and antibiotic-free chicken, pork, turkey, and grass fed beef.

Thanks to the Be A Flexitarian initiative, I think we're going to see even more people seriously reducing their meat consumption, and becoming more open-minded to vegetarianism-- especially young people. Some of Compass Group's clients include Chartwells and Bon Appetit, which are both food service providers for hundreds of colleges across the country.

Compass Group's approach to addressing sustainable dining not only makes vegetarian eating more accessible, but also more appealing. Help spread the word of the Be A Flexitarian initiative by joining the Facebook page and inviting others.

Halifax's Vegan Association Recipe Zine! Call out for Vegan Recipes, Stories, Articles etc

The Halifax Vegan Association (and yours truly) are putting out a vegan recipe zine for free distribution to the public. I'm hoping to get both zine copies printed to be sent up and maybe host a scanned version of the original for an e-zine and so other groups will be able to re-print and distribute the zine to spread the vegan love.

As such I will be hosting a Vegan Recipe Zine Workshop on Sunday January 31th 2pm-6pm at the Dalhousie Women's Center in Halifax N.S., including Pizza and a community Potluck.

More importantly, for the extended vegan community (This means YOU! Internet) I am still looking for any recipe submissions, going vegan stories, articles, art work or simple zine pages you would like to have published in this zine.

Feel free to send me submission via e-mail (bad_blanch_amanda at hotmail).

Stay Vegan!

Paging all Activist Scholars

Are you an animal activist with a scholarly bent? Have you written an academic paper on animal rights that you'd like to get published? Would you like to discuss abolitionism and liberation theory with fellow college students? If so, you're in luck! Anthony Nocella at the Institute for Critical Animal Studies (ICAS) recently introduced me to a number of amazing opportunities for collegiate activists and encouraged all interested students to get involved. The Institute's annual Conference for Critical Animal Studies will take place at SUNY Cortland, New York on April 10th. The conference's theme is "Abolition, Liberation, and the Intersections within Social Justice," and you can learn more here. ICAS is also eager to publish student work (commentary, articles, summaries of events, etc) in its Journal for Critical Animal Studies. This is a great opportunity to get your voice out and connect with like-minded folks.

The Dark Side of Dairy

Last night, ABC Nightline aired a damning investigation by Mercy For Animals (MFA) of New York's largest dairy farm. The findings were appalling and unfortunately representative of standard conditions and farming practices in the dairy industry. Make sure to post the investigation video on Facebook. 

Evidence gathered at the dairy facility revealed:

• Cows with bloody open wounds, prolapsed uteruses, pus-filled infections and swollen joints, apparently left to suffer without veterinary care
• "Downed" cows - those too sick or injured to even stand - left to suffer for weeks before dying or being killed
• Workers hitting, kicking, punching, and electric-shocking cows and calves
• Calves having their horns burned off without painkillers, as a worker shoved his fingers into the calves' eyes to restrain them
• Calves having their tails cut off - a painful practice opposed by the American Veterinary Medical Association
• Newborn calves forcibly dragged away from their mothers by their legs, causing emotional distress to both mother and calf
• Cows living in overcrowded sheds on manure-coated concrete flooring
• Workers injecting cows with a controversial bovine growth hormone, used to increase milk production