Carol Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat, came to speak at my college, Towson University. I was asked to set up a booth for The Vegetarian Resource Group at the presentation along with four other health and animal rights organizations. I was excited to be able to table for VRG while enjoying Carol’s presentation.

As the room filled up a slide of images began to play on the screen. They depicted the link between women and animals exploitation in advertisements. Each picture showed ads that are used to encourage and condone the consumption of meat. Carol’s presentation was very raw and powerful. Some of the images were disturbing and some were very revealing. Carol goes on to state that her concept of the “absent referent” separates the meat eater from the animal and the animal from the end product. The “absent referent” refers to the issue of advertisements in popular culture sending messages that animals, like women, are nothing more than a piece of “meat.” Rather it be a piece of meat that you eat or one you look at in a sexual sense, the lines have become blurred and society has become accepting of both the demeaning of women and the mistreatment of animals.

Carol did an excellent job presenting her position on the relationship between women and animals and got the crowd surprisingly interested. She was kind enough to answer questions and mingle with everyone after the presentation.

Some long time vegans visited the VRG booth and I had a lengthy conversation with someone who was interested in resources for vegetarians that had began to eat meat again but wanted to become vegetarian again. She mentioned the cost strains of being a vegetarian in college and I shared with her some tips of how I shop inexpensively and prepare quick meals and healthy snacks to get through a busy day of classes.

As Carol said, her book is older than most of the students she shows this presentation to, revealing how pertinent these topics remain.

For more information on The Sexual Politics of Meat, please visit Carol Adams website: http://www.caroljadams.com/

You can purchase The Sexual Politics of Meat here.

To learn more about eating vegetarian/vegan on a budget, please visit:
http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2006issue2/vj2006issue2mealplans.htm
http://www.vrg.org/blog/2011/11/08/vegetarian-and-vegan-living-in-your-twenties/

Musical hits of today and yesterday, along with the several tables aiming to give health education about a variety of subjects, ranging from breast cancer to health insurance to vegetarian diets, filled the gymnasium of Carmel Anthony Youth Development Center last Saturday, June 9th. I had the chance to represent The Vegetarian Resource Group at the CARE Community Health and Wellness Fair in Baltimore with longtime VRG volunteer, Dorothy Kenney.

We enjoyed handing out coloring books to shy children, who, adorned in tutus and brightly colorful knee-socks, came out of their shells when given the opportunity to perform a belly dancing routine they had learned that morning. While talking to parents about vegetarianism and incorporating vegetables into children’s diets, we were pleased to hear from a good number of people that they did, in fact, eat vegetarian as much as they could.

One mother expressed to us that she has a lot of trouble getting her daughter to eat any sort of fruits or vegetables. Without much of a delay, Dorothy gave her a good potential solution: smoothies! In prelude to her solution, Dorothy asked this question: “Does your daughter like juice?” Because, perhaps, if the fruits and vegetables are blended together in a yummy looking smoothie, they might be more appealing to the woman’s daughter.

We also handed out a large number of materials to a teacher with Living Classrooms. He had been vegetarian for about ten years, and had just made the transition to eating vegan three months ago. After answering questions about vegetarianism for as long as he had been working with Living Classrooms, the teacher took pamphlets and handouts to distribute to his class and to use as tools for educating about what being vegetarian means, and why some people choose to live that lifestyle.

Living Classrooms, the group that threw this event, is a non-profit educational organization based in Baltimore and D.C., whose mission is to strengthen communities through giving children and young adults hands on education and job training. They strive for, what they call, “learning by doing,” or learning by directly experiencing a subject matter. To learn more about Living Classrooms, visit their website, at www.livingclassrooms.org

To support VRG outreach, please donate at http://www.vrg.org/donate

To volunteer at outreach booths, please contact Mary at vrg@vrg.org.