Thank you, Tammy and Chris!

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to send a quick thank you to Tammy and Chris for organizing the dinner at Udupi on Thursday when we brainstormed and perhaps laid the groundwork for campaigns or actions we can take to promote vegetarianism or compassion for animals in the Bay Area.

We brainstormed dozens of ideas that Tammy or Chris will post onto the SFBAveg Forum. Check 'em out!One thing I love about the approach Tammy and Chris took was to really tap in to nascent or burning ideas we may have, and each of those ideas will call to each of us differently. One thing I love about BAveg is that Tammy and Chris have always encouraged people to plan whatever events they want themselves, versus Tammy or Chris having to do it. So, when people have said something like, " Hey Tammy, why don't you guys have any dinners in San Jose? " she'd say something like, " Because you haven't planned one! Go ahead and plan it and send it out to the list, and then we'll have a dinner in San Jose! " The approach of brainstorming a whole bunch of different ideas that will appeal differently to different people is so conducive to this approach.

Once they post the topics, I propose that if you see a topic that speaks to you, that you declare yourself to be part of the team that will advance that project! If you have a lot of enthusiasm for the approach, and are willing to contribute some time to make it happen, you could volunteer to head it up -- perhaps with others as the co-coordinator of that project, or with you coordinating (or reaching out to solicit) others interested in the same action. If you have very limited time, you could still choose one area that you're interested in supporting, and spend however much time you can (you could schedule 1 hour per week or so, let's say), which could really add up, especially if there are a team of several people focused on that issue.

As an example, one of the ideas I suggested was a vegan restaurant campaign to expand the number of restaurants in the Bay Area that have vegan options and that are clear about what it means to be vegan and to the financial benefits of having vegan options on their menu (so people like us will come eat there!) I love this idea. Do you?? I volunteer to be part of this team or to head it up or to support others who want to participate! That could look like dividing up the Bay Area into a bunch of regions and neighborhoods, requesting people be in charge of each neighborhood, deciding what it means to be in charge of a neighborhood, deciding how we want to approach the restaurants and what requests or materials we have, developing goals for the campaign, etc., and then following up regularly!

I'm going to wait for Tammy and Chris to post all of these items to the Forum and to offer their feedback on what's next, but I'm excited about us taking this (and other) projects on as a community.

Thanks to Tammy and Chris! All you have done and continue to do for animals -- and to enable all of us to do for animals -- inspires me.Nora-- " The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. "

-Gandhiwww.chooseveg.com " Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. " -The Lorax by Dr. Seuss