One Farm. More Pollution Than Houston, Texas.

Here’s a little background info about Joe (adapted from
http://www.veganoutreach.org/enewsletter/espinosa.html.):

Joe Espinosa, a tireless voice for those who have none, has been awarded the 2008 Henry Spira Grassroots Animal Activist Award. Since Vegan Outreach launched its Adopt a College program, where activists offer booklets directly to students, Joe has consistently been one of the organization’s top leafleters. For years, he’s arranged the schedule of his full-time job as a social worker at a methadone clinic in Chicago, so that he can get a full day leafleting- sometimes starting as early as 2 a.m. A dedicated animal rights
activist, he spends much of his free time working with other activists, new and old, to pursue thoughtful, constructive activism, and has helped many of them reach new levels of efficacy.

In Joe’s words, his talk will be about the following. Flyers will be soon to follow:

“It will be an overview of farmed animal suffering designed to move meat eaters to reduce their consumption and consider becoming vegetarian or
vegan, and also will advise those already concerned about farmed animal suffering on effective activism. I will cover the other areas of animal suffering as well; those used in experiments, those used in clothing, and those used in entertainment”

-Discussed the 400+ signatures obtained in preparation for Primate Week next month

-We will decide on a flyering day to blitz the campus with primate flyers

-Mint and Thomas will bring dog kennels for our primate demonstration; at the demonstration, we will have volunteers inside the kennels while others will hand out flyers with information about primate research in general, as well as lab specific reports about what’s happening at the University of Michigan. We are going to contact the Michigan Daily as well as the Ann Arbor News to see how much press coverage we can get. We will also be collecting even more signatures so that at the end of it all, we can show UM President Mary Sue Coleman that students do NOT find it acceptable to waste 13 million dollars of taxpayers’ money on invalid and cruel experiments.

The reports from SAEN can be found here:

SAEN: University of Michigan primate research.

USDA Report about UM labs.

****

-We are having a carpool to see Gene Baur at EMU this Saturday. We are meeting at 5:30 p.m. on E. University between East Quad and Ross School of Business

++**Friday, September 26th at 3 p.m., I will be flyering/chalking for Gene Baur. If anyone would like to join me, I will be on the steps of the Michigan Union. Feel free to bring tape and/or chalk

*****

-Joe Espinosa (from Vegan Outreach) is scheduled to come speak on October 6th (more information to come)

*****

We are going to try and collaborate with the environmental groups on campus to help get the battery cage free egg initiative off the ground again; Gabriel Benitez has been elusive and unresponsive to our requests for facts and figures regarding egg consumption at the University

****

-GREAT LAKES RABBIT SANCTUARY! Yay! On October 11th, MARS and SFAR from EMU are going to go to the Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary to help them beautify for their open house the following day (and play with rabbits!). Please wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty… we will be meeting at 10 a.m. in front of the Michigan Union

****
Can we do a work day at SASHA farms on Saturday, October, 25th also with SFAR from EMU?

****
Thanks to Farah for the following:

“For those of you who don’t know, Wayne Pacelle will be on Ellen this Friday to talk about Prop 2. Her promo for the day is below in text and I’ve included the link. If you follow the link, you’ll find lots of comments about HSUS and Prop 2. At first, they were all negative (older comments are at the bottom), but we’ve started sending in positive ones.”

Ellen DeGeneres: Prop 2.

****

Updates to the MARS recommended reading as well!

Sunday, 10/5/08 at 3:00pm.
Thursday, 10/9 at 10:10pm
Saturday, 10/11 at 7:00pm
Sunday, 10/12 at 10:30pm
Friday, 10/17 at 8:00pm

Yesterday, some PETA2 staffers as well as myself and one other MARS member collected nearly 300 student signatures (and planted awareness for possibly thousands) condemning the cruel and unnecessary cocaine/alcohol experiments that are happening over at the University of Michigan Medical School. As per now, the plan to boost awareness of this issue is as follows:

1.) Garner student support through petitions before and during Primate Week
2.) Post these flyers around campus:

Primate flyer 1.
Primate flyer 2.

3.) Decide on a date to do a Diag demonstration with volunteers taking turns being inside a wire dog cage while others hand out information/hold out signs about primate testing in general as well as specific information about what’s happening at our school

4.) Contact the Michigan Daily and Ann Arbor News before our demonstration to see if we can get on the front page

For the reports about what’s happening at U of M, please see the following links:

U of M: SAEN.

USDA Reports. (begins on page 35 of the document)

Also if you have trouble seeing any of the links/documents, let me know and I can send them to you via e-mail

Sunday, 9/28/08 at 3:00pm.
Wednesday, 10/1 at Noon
Thursday, 10/2 at 10:35pm
Saturday, 10/4 at 6:30pm
Wednesday, 10/8 at 9:00pm

Grab some popcorn and a few friends and try to catch one of the airings - you won’t be disappointed”

If this passes you guys, it would be landmark; hopefully we could get something like this going in Michigan

Vote Yes on Prop 2.

The Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary.

The Ann Arbor Vegan Meet-Up.

Gene Bauer: Founder of Farm Sanctuary.

UN’s Stand on Meat Consumption.

MARS Top Achievements 2002-2003:

• Started an advertising campaign against animal testing
• Volunteering at SASHA Farm, a local farmed animal sanctuary
• Volunteering at Pighoppers, a local sanctuary for abandoned pigs and rabbits
• Hosted several vegan potlucks during the school year
• Participation in the U of M campus events Festifall and Winterfest
• Tabled on the diag several times
• Had a public screening of The Witness, a popular animal rights film.

MARS Top Achievements 2001-2002:

• Volunteering at Pighoppers, a local farm sanctuary for abandoned farm animals
• Petitioned against the use of fur
• Hosted several vegan potlucks during the school year
• Participation in the U of M campus events Festifall and Winterfest

MARS Top Achievements 1999-2000:

• Sponsorship of lecture by Howard Lyman, former cattle rancher-turned-vegan activist, along with Ann Arbor’s VINE
• Sponsorship of lecture by John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America, along with the People’s Food Co-op
• Tabling at the Great American Meatout with media coverage
• Informing retail customers of products cruelly produced and tested on animals

MARS Top Achievements 1998-1999:

• Sponsorship of lecture by Carol Adams, renowned author, feminist, and vegetarian activist, along with the UM Women’s Studies group
• In recognition of Earth week 1999, sponsorship of lecture by environmentalist Paul Watson, founder and president of Earthsave and co-founder of Greenpeace
• Tabling at National Meatout Day and World Farm Animals Day
• Volunteering at Pighoppers, a local farm sanctuary for abandoned farm animals

MARS Top Achievements 1997-1998:

• Tabling at the Farmer’s Market
• Coordination of UM Earth Day and Environmental Week projects with other campus environmental groups
• Showing videos on local cable stations
• Letter writing on many of the issues that come to our attention, including elephant abuse in South Africa and product testing on animals
• Petitioning to protect Mourning Doves in Michigan- resulted in an Ann Arbor ordinance passed by the city council outlawing dove hunting
• Buck Pole Protests against “sport” hunting
• Volunteering at the Humane Society, Pighoppers and local wildlife refugees
• Sponsorship of several fundraising environmental concerts
• Bringing in local speakers as well as national advocates Carol Adams, Paul Watson, Karen Davis, Erik Marcus, and Mark Gaede
• Campaigning for Proposal D and G in 1996
• Participation in the U of M campus events Festifall and Winterfest
• Protests against animals being used in toxicity at MPI Research in Mattawan

As the days of summer wind down, I just wanted to give you all a handy tool to help keep track of upcoming MARS meetings and events (as well as other ones; Google calendar is a lifesaver!) Please check back often for updated times, dates and details. See you all soon!

MARS Meetings & Events.

*****

Dear Friend,

I would like to provide the Michigan Animal Rights Society with an opportunity to participate in a cause that has the potential to end the vast majority of animal suffering and address some of the most critical environmental issues we face today.

The cause I am referring to concerns the research and development of hydroponic or “in vitro” meat as an ethical and responsible alternative to animal flesh for human consumption. Similar in concept to soil-free hydroponic vegetable cultivation, hydroponic meat is grown without the body of the animal.

Currently, there are no funded hydroponic meat research and development programs in the United States. To address this issue, I’ve entered a project titled “Hydroponic Meat for a Sustainable Planet Earth” in the American Express members project contest.

Hydroponic Meat Research Project.

Projects are eligible for $100K to $1.5M in funding. I have selected New-harvest.org as the recipient organization in the event that this project is awarded funding.

If you would like to show your support, there are several ways:

1. nominate this project

2. post a comment on the site

3. Provide this notice to others who would be interested in supporting this idea.

Projects may be nominated by the community through the 31st of August.

The success of this project depends upon funding, and funding will only be possible with the collective support of the compassionate community.

Though you and I may choose to live vegetarian lifestyles, in actuality, overall meat consumption in the United States and in developing countries (e.g. China) is on the rise. According to a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report, this trend is anticipated to continue into the future. Hydroponic meat produced and marketed economically at a commercial scale for public consumption possesses the potential to undermine the demand for traditional meat as an equivalent commodity in a capitalist economy, regardless of the values of the consumer. If realized, hydroponic meat will be the most realistic and effective approach to ending the majority of animal suffering and restoring our environment.

Please join me and show your support for this project. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to write and I will be happy to respond.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Nick Genovese

genoven@gmail.com

P.S. The renowned primatologist, environmentalist and vegetarian Jane Goodall is on the AmEx members project Advisory Panel responsible for advancing the top 25 community supported projects to the final voting rounds. With her insight and your participation, I am confident that we will have a chance to profoundly change the future.

For more information on hydroponic (in vitro) meat:

www.whyculturedmeat.org.

www.new-harvest.org.

www.invitromeat.org.

www.futurefood.org.

The Great Vegan Honey Debate.