Compassionate Action for Animals

As we wrap up this school year and begin preparing for another, let’s take a quick look at what Bridges of Respect, CAA’s humane education program, has accomplished in 2016. It’s notable that all of this progress was made by dedicated volunteers.

Students Reached

More than 1,700 students were introduced to a variety of animal protection issues that they may not have been aware of otherwise. This is a remarkable fifty percent increase over last year! Most of our presentations revolved around the foods we eat and the way animals are affected, but we also presented on these topics:

• How animals are used in the entertainment business
• How animals are used in the science industry
• The correlation between violence toward animals and violence toward other human beings
• The great apes and the threats they face
• Environmental issues

One teacher at Century College thanked us, shook the hand of the presenter, and simply stated, “You say it better than I can.”

Improved Curriculum

Our curriculum has been redesigned to allow for more student participation and to be more academically rigorous. We’ve developed a variety of video splices, assignments, and handouts defining key terms to further engage students in the subject matter. Some teachers are now showing their students full-length documentaries like Cowspiracy before we come to give our presentation.

Partnerships

To increase the benefits we offer to the classroom, we’ve partnered with others to develop initiatives to engage students in community projects, share resources, and support each other’s work. Some of the organizations that we’ve partnered with this past year include Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, Vegan Outreach, Mercy for Animals, Education Minnesota, and St. Cloud University.

Vegan Food in the Classroom

We usually provide vegan food samples such as Tofurky sandwiches and almond milk, but we stepped out of our comfort zone this year and took a chance on sharing some different vegan foods with classrooms that have full kitchens. For an early morning class, we made pancakes and described how to make them vegan using bananas instead of eggs. For a class just last month, we prepared a mini vegan Thanksgiving meal just before the holiday. CAA volunteer Nathan Huerkamp donned his chef uniform and whipped up some Field Roast Celebration Roast with a dollop of mashed potatoes and gravy for more than a hundred students that day. Leftovers were quickly claimed by the LGBTQ after school club.

Inspiring Students

Teaching students about farmed animals can be a tricky topic. Students at high school age are developing both intellectually and emotionally, and though we want to leave them with a sense of urgency to get involved, we also don’t want them to be overwhelmed with disturbing information about how farmed animals are treated. Students are developing their own sense of identity and understanding of how the world works. We want to provide accurate information that will allow them to make their own choices about the foods they eat and to foster compassion for all animals. We don’t tell students what to choose; we teach them that their choices matter and then give them the tools to take the next steps.

Bridges of Respect is one of CAA’s key programs, and we would love your support to keep it going. Please make a contribution today and help us reach our year-end goal of $10,000 by December 31. All of these funds are matched 2-for-1, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor. We would very much appreciate your support for CAA’s humane education efforts in the Twin Cities.

Just a couple weeks ago, Compassionate Action for Animals announced that a new executive director had been selected. Laura Matanah will begin working with CAA in December with a one-month training period alongside Unny Nambudiripad, the current executive director.

Unny announced last July that he would be stepping down from the position in January 2017, and since then our hiring committee has been devoted to finding the right person to take his place, someone with a combination of nonprofit leadership experience, fundraising know-how, and good people skills. Plus, this person would have to have an outstanding passion for animal advocacy and an understanding of our diverse Twin Cities community. We are delighted to have found in Laura Matanah a candidate who captures all of these qualities and more.

Perhaps you’ve seen Laura at some of our CAA events over the past few years. She and her wife Sarah have been active members of the community, attending dine outs, potlucks, and our annual banquet. Laura also has experience volunteering with CAA’s pay-per-view outreach, sharing our message of compassion for animals with members of the general public. Her motivation to apply for the position was based on the impact CAA’s work had on her. She says, “CAA’s incremental approach is what enabled me to fully acknowledge the depth of farmed animal suffering and become a committed vegan. CAA also led me to become an animal advocate in my personal life.”

The majority of Laura’s nonprofit experience comes from her tenure as executive director for Rainbow Rumpus, an organization that began as a small group of volunteers who wanted to create great stories for kids from LGBT-headed homes and grew to be the primary publisher of LGBT family fiction worldwide, run by a combination of paid staff and volunteers.

To achieve this remarkable growth over a period of eight years, Laura recruited, trained, and inspired volunteers; worked with the board to create and implement individual donor fundraising plans; and ensured the organization consistently achieved its program goals. She worked with board and staff members to expand their impact by developing strategic plans, logic models, and systems for evaluation; built and maintained relationships with institutional partners; managed finances; and supervised staff.

In addition to this extensive nonprofit experience, Laura also has experience as an elementary teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools. Of special note, during her time at Pratt School, Laura was a member of the Instructional Leadership Team, which provided vision and support for high-quality instruction through a racial equity lens. She played a key role in initiating a program to begin centralizing the voices of families of color at the school and in leading professional development to help teachers address their own unconscious bias.

And now what does Laura envision for CAA? We’ll let her tell you in her own words:

We are excited to welcome Laura to the team. Her genuine warmth, collaborative spirit, and passion for the movement are the ideal ingredients for the future success of CAA.

So what does Laura do when she’s not advocating for animals?

Laura will be at our 14th Annual Vegan Thanksgiving Potluck on November 19. You can meet her there and at the same time join in our annual celebration of gratitude.

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 was a huge success with thousands of people getting to explore a world of compassionate living over the course of two days at Coffman Memorial Union. Check out the slideshow below to catch a glimpse.

Big highlights, impressive stats, and inspiring testimonials

• One attendee remarked that, though vegetarianism wasn’t “even her thing,” she’s now thinking more about getting into plant-based foods because of the festival. This is exactly the response that we hope for in putting together this festival.
• More than 400 people attended the five cooking demos, and volunteers shared nearly 700 vegan food samples with those who attended.
• Facebook live stream was a big feature this year, allowing us to reach even more people with our cooking demos and speaker presentations. The video of the talk by Marco Antonio Regil has received widespread attention with more than 29,000 views! Visit the Twin Cities Veg Fest Facebook page to see all of those videos, which are still up and running.
• We had more than 130 volunteers help to make this festival a success. One of them remarked that they had been vegetarian ever since last year’s Twin Cities Veg Fest.
• Social media was booming throughout the weekend! Check out posts about the festival on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and please follow us on social media if you don’t already.
• Because the festival is free to attend and people come and go through the main doors all day, we don’t know exactly how many attended. Based on how many bags and programs were given out, we suspect that we had more than 4,000 attendees.

We certainly hope that many of those who attended were inspired to move toward a vegan diet. In the very least, they’ve become more aware of how they can make more compassionate choices in their lives everyday.

If you were able to come to the festival, whether as an attendee, exhibitors, volunteer, or presenter, we thank you for coming and hope you had a wonderful time. And we hope that whoever is reading this post will be inspired to join Compassionate Action for Animals in our work throughout the year as well as at next year’s festival. We look forward to its continued growth, allowing us to reach more and more people with the message of compassion.

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Exhibitors Hall

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - CAA table

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Juice So Good

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Totally Baked Donuts

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Henna

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Root to Rise

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Food prep

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - The Herbivorous Butcher

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Veggie rolls

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - More veggie rolls

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Vegan cupcakes

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Mistress Ginger

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Jewelry vendor

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Speaker Jeff Johnson

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Kenny Feldman Award

Received by Senator Scott Dibble

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Tess Challis cooking demo

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Speaker Mistress Ginger

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - The Herbivorous Butcher cooking demo

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Exhibitor Hall 2

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - Unny

Our current executive director

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 - volunteers

Pictured on the right is Laura Matanah, our future executive director.

Twin Cities Veg Fest 2016 attendees

CAA is happy to welcome Jennifer Swick to our Board of Directors. Let’s get to know her!

Jennifer first became aware of the issues with animal agriculture about fifteen years ago at the Living Green Expo. A group there was doing pay-per-view outreach, showing people how animals suffer on factory farms. Jennifer describes it as one of those life-changing moments, when you’re introduced to a whole new reality that you didn’t know existed. “Oh, this is the world I’m living in!”

That intense awakening planted a seed of awareness that continued to grow in the years that followed. Then about four years ago, Jennifer became friends with a bona fide vegan. She had never before known a vegan personally, but in knowing one got to see how easy and doable it is to eat only plant-based foods. Pretty soon, she was taking action for animals: cutting animal products out of her diet and getting involved with CAA as a volunteer.

Her first activities with CAA were leafleting and pay-per-view outreach. Pay-per-view has a special place in her heart since since it’s what originally opened her eyes to this cause. She also keeps the Roseville library stocked with vegetarian starter kits. Apparently, they go like hotcakes there!

Her favorite volunteer activity has been helping out with Bridges of Respect, CAA’s humane education program. She started by assisting with presentations and now leads them. The program is a good match for her background in education, since she served for ten years as the education director at a large church in Minnetonka.

For the past seven years, Jennifer has worked at People Serving People, helping families experiencing homelessness. You might wonder, how has working with these families influenced Jennifer’s approach to vegan advocacy?

Jennifer says that when someone in a crisis mode, lacking basic necessities such as food and shelter, it’s not the right time to contemplate making big life changes. Instead, she advises that if we want to engage with economically disadvantaged populations, the focus should be on making fresh fruits and veggies available. For instance, it’s a really positive development that farmer’s markets now accept EBT cards.

This is a very important perspective to consider if we want to engage diverse communities through our work, and we’re especially grateful to have someone with specialized experience in this area joining the board.

And what excites Jennifer most about being on the board? The people. She’s found the leadership at CAA to be very inspiring, and being a part of the team is good way to continue to learn from others. Also, she likes thinking about the big picture, and being on the board gives an opportunity to help shape the future of the organization. Plus, it’s an especially exciting time to get involved with the executive director transition happening in December.

Along with all of the amazing work Jennifer does for animals and for people, she loves tennis, ultimate frisbee, biking, and reading. She’s a big fan of Trader Joe’s Three Layer Hummus and will happily order the mock sesame chicken from Evergreen Chinese Restaurant.

Jennifer says she grateful to be a part of CAA and that this community is really a gift. Well, we feel the same about having her on board, sharing her many gifts with all of us and for the animals.

Do you live on or near the campus of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cites? Are you wondering where you can find vegan food in the area that tastes good and won’t break the bank? Whether you’re looking for full meals or quick snacks, look no further!

This list was compiled by some of our very own student volunteers who live on or near campus. Their recommendations come from their firsthand experience dining at these vegan-friendly spots.

When your hunger kicks in, give one of these places a whirl, and be sure to thank the restaurant managers for having awesome vegan options!

Stadium Village

• Blaze Pizza
  • 1000 Washington Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • Delicious pizza! You can get a personal pizza for only eight dollars with all the toppings you want, and they have Daiya nondairy cheese. The pizza cooks super fast—delivering instant gratification!
• Bruegger’s Bagels
  • 720 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • There are many vegan bagels here, such as the olive oil rosemary, which is delicious. They have hummus as a topping and also sell it in tubs—perfect if you’re getting a dozen bagels to go. They also sometimes have a vegan soup option.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill
  • 800 Washington Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • Great cheap burritos! The Sofritas option is spicy tofu filling, but the guacamole does not come free, unlike the regular veggie bean burrito. You can also add roasted veggies.
• French Meadow Bakery & Café
  • 123 Harvard Street SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, lower level
  • There are a few vegan options, including some baked goods.
• Jimmy John’s
  • 219 SE Oak St, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • Try the Vegetarian Unwich without cheese and mayo. The avocado spread is great.
• Kitty Corner Cafe
  • 806 Washington Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • Vegan waffles. Need we say more?
• Mesa Pizza Stadium Village
  • 921 Washington Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • They have a veggie pizza you can get without cheese. They have by-the-slice pizza prepared. Sometimes they don’t have the cheeseless veggie pizza as one of those options, but you could always ask.
• Noodles & Company
  • 820 Washington Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • A few of their vegan menu items include the Indonesian Peanut Saute, the Japanese Pan Noodles, and the Pasta Fresca without cheese. There’s lots to choose from here!
• Yogurt Lab
  • 309 SE Oak St, Minneapolis, MN 55455
  • There are some dairy-free sorbets with many vegan toppings available.

Dinkytown

• Bordertown Coffee
  • 315 16th Avenue SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • Delicious vegan baked goods and good coffee with nondairy milk! Most options are available in the morning before the usual coffee rush that happens before and between classes. In other words, get there early if you want the most selection!
• Burrito Loco
  • 418 13th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • They have a bunch of vegan options, excellent salsas, and their beans aren’t made with lard, as they are in many other local Mexican restaurants.
• Camdi Restaurant
  • 1325 4th St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • Check out the vegetarian menu and make sure to ask if there is fish sauce in what you order.
• Himalayan Dinkytown
  • 1415 4th St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • They offer amazing veggie dishes over rice or in wraps, and the sauces are divine. You can also choose to add fresh uncooked veggies, and they also offer salads like their pickle salad and tabouli. Favorites includes chana masala, falafel sandwiches, and pyazi, which are veggies fried in dough.
• Insomnia Cookies
  • 402 14th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • There is a vegan chocolate chip cookie option. Be sure to specify that you want the vegan one!
• Jimmy John’s
  • 404 14th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • Try the Vegetarian Unwich without cheese and mayo. The avocado spread is great!
• Mesa Pizza Dinkytown
  • 1323 4th St SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • They have a veggie pizza you can get without cheese. They have by-the-slice pizza prepared. Sometimes they don’t have the cheeseless veggie pizza as one of those options, but you could always ask.
• One Two Three Sushi
  • 318 14th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • Lots of veggie options!
• Qdoba Mexican Eats
  • 324 14th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • Burritos, tacos, and naked burritos! It’s like Chipotle but without the Sofritas.
• Sssdude-Nuts
  • 317 14th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • They’ve got one vegan donut option, just in case you need a donut!
• Wally’s Falafel & Hummus
  • 423 14th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
  • They have amazing falafel, and for the falafel sandwiches, you have the option to add pickles! Try the deluxe falafel sandwich that has french fries in it. Also, the baba ghanoush, hummus and pita, and tabouli are all very good.

West Bank

• Afro Deli
  • 1931 S 5th St, Minneapolis, MN 55454
  • Lots of good stuff! Try the falafel and falafel sandwiches but make sure to order without yogurt sauce and other dairy ingredients. Also, the sambusas, french fries, sweet potato fries, Somali tea, vegetarian platter, and veggie keke are fantastic.
• Hard Times Cafe
  • 1821 Riverside Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55454
  • Everything is vegetarian, and the vegan items are clearly marked and the staff is knowledgeable. The vegan biscuits and gravy are very popular. Also, their vegan baked goods are out of this world. Sometimes, they’ve got vegan donuts and decadent cupcakes, and often they’ve got huge muffins (like a meal in itself) for just $2.50.
• Red Sea Ethiopian Restaurant
  • 320 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55454
  • Get the vegetarian platter or one of the components of the vegetarian platter.
• Republic
  • 221 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55454
  • You’re in good hands with mock duck and quinoa on the menu!
• Triple Rock Social Club
  • 629 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55454
  • Comfort food central with a very vegan-friendly menu. They have amazing tater tots, vegan Chicago dog, and po’boy. It’s a great place for brunch, with options including vegan pancakes, french toast, and tofu scramble. Appetizers are discounted during happy hour!
• The Wienery
  • 414 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55454
  • Vegan hot dogs! (The hours are weird, so plan ahead for that.)

St. Paul

• Gopher Spot (St. Paul Student Center)
  • University of Minnesota, 2017 Buford Ave, St Paul, MN 55108
  • A good spot to get snacks between classes! They offer Alternative Baking Company cookies, Holy Land hummus and pita, and Amy’s nondairy burritos. They currently have a vegan hotdog on very specific days, but that may change—as the staff for details!
• Mim’s Cafe
  • 1435 Cleveland Ave N, St Paul, MN 55108
  • Vegan options include falafel, hummus and pita, baba ghanoush, and fries. You can also get a veggie burrito, but just make sure to ask for no cheese or sour cream.

Thanks to all of our student volunteers who contributed to this article with their recommendations!

And of course one place to find lots of vegan food on campus will be Twin Cities Veg Fest on October 29 and 30, 2016 at Coffman Memorial Union. The event is free to attend, and there will be lots of free vegan food samples as well as larger meals available for purchase. Join us there!