Veg Week 2005: A Huge Success

Compassionate Action for Animals recently sent a survey to the 580 students and community members who participated in CAA's 2nd Annual Veg Week --to pledge to be vegetarian or vegan for the week--and the results were amazing! Over 140 surveys were completed, and in response to the question "Are you glad that you participated in the Veg Pledge?" nearly everyone responded with an emphatic "Yes".

Below are just some of the responses to how the Veg Pledge affected what the participants are eating now:

• "So far, I haven't stopped eating vegan...almost a week later. It's not difficult, and I'm enjoying it :) "
• "I haven't eaten meat since I took my veg pledge, and hoping I am able to continue with my veg pledge. I would like to eventually become a vegan, but it is a bit of a journey changing my life so drastically."
• "After going to [Peaceable Kingdom] on Monday night, I thought long and hard about my convictions towards life. Since Peaceable Kingdom, I have been vegetarian and have decided to take this road for the rest of my life. I had never seen a video portraying life in such a way as that documentary did. Everyone should see what is going on and question their ideologies. Thank you for helping me do so."
• "I had been mostly vegetarian and occasionally ate fish. Now I'm eating more vegan ... much less cheese and milk, and more soy milk. Also, I'm thinking of completely dropping fish."
• "I don't eat meat anymore."
• "I am a vegetarian now...This inspired me to take an active role in my food choices. I also think that I am going to cut out more dairy from my diet."
• "I'm going vegan."
• "It made me more conscious about the amount of meat I eat. I will most likely eat less meat."
• "I'm going to be mostly vegan from here on out!!!..."
• "I'm more aware of what I'm eating. I listed myself as "mostly" vegetarian, which was true, but cutting out that last bit was harder than anything else. I did find that once it was gone, I didn't miss it too much, especially with all the alternatives around."
• "I was already a vegetarian, so going vegan gave me a new perspective, and now rarely eat milk or eggs- because life is better that way."
• "I haven't eaten meat since I took the pledge, and I will hopefully remain vegetarian or, at least, pescaterian. I have long term plans to work towards eliminating all animal products from my eating habits."

Here are some general comments on the Veg Pledge and Veg Week 2005:

• "Thanks very much for doing this. Animals thank you, too!"
• "Thank you so much for all the great activities. It was a wonderfully planned, well executed week!"
• "I think the variety of different activities, from the potluck to the sampling, to videos was awesome!"
• "I think this is a great way to start the school year. I talked to several people who did not pledge, but wished they would have."
• "Emphasizing support of one another was really great, I thought. It shows people how it isn't difficult to eat vegetarian or vegan and still lead a "normal" life."
• "I'm so glad that there's an organization such as this. It's spreading the word of vegetarianism, and that's the most important thing."
• "I think its wonderful that people are becoming more aware of vegetarian lifestyles by participating in such events."