Finding Teachable Moments During the Holidays

This time of year can be frustrating for many of us, but it can also offer teachable moments. It is easy to yell at co-workers who walk past a homeless cat and kitten in an alley, claiming they want to help but there is nothing they can do. It is harder, but more effective to explain why that kind of thinking is of part of the problem. How, as individuals, we are all capable of helping in some fashion. Those teachable conversations are difficult and one of the reasons we publish educational books. This situation happened to me (Davida) last week and once the cats were taken into a foster home and had received much needed medical care, I brought in copies of One at a Time to share with my co-workers. The book does a much better job explaining not only the plights of unwanted animals, but also how individuals can help, than I ever could. Our goal in publishing One at a Time is to change the way people think about shelter and unwanted animals and create positive change for them.

Likewise, with the holidays, family and workplace gatherings abound and many of us are questioned about why we choose not to eat animals. There are plenty of books touting the health benefits and why too much protein is actually bad for you. However, for many of us our own health benefits are not the reason we became vegetarian (no, that's just karma in action). Instead, we understand that to eat a turkey at Thanksgiving a life must be taken. This conversation can often turn hostile around the dinner table, with accusations of familial rejection and cross-accusations of murder. Those conversations are never teachable or productive. We prefer to introduce people to Amelia, Melvin, Aubrey, Ariala, and Rhosyln, turkeys who have distinct personalities, loves, and needs. These are the lives we seek to spare. Ninety-Five makes that conversation easier.

In the interest of taking difficult conversations and turning them into productive, teachable moments this holiday season, we have a special offer - buy One at a Time: A Week in an American Animal Shelter and Ninety-Five: Meeting America's Farmed Animals in Stories and Photographs together for just $24.95. This is $10 off the combined retail price.

We also offer Giving Packages - a set of 5 books at 40% off the cover price - to give as gifts or donations to schools, libraries, coffee houses, community centers or any place where our books can reach the public. Other recipients might include teachers, clergy, legislators and policy makers, community leaders, celebrities, activists in other fields and anyone who can effect social change.

As a special offer to our newsletter readers, we are offering an assortment of free stickers with any book purchase. Please use the code "Stickers" in the special instructions box on our online order form. Please let us know if you want specific stickers, which can be viewed on our online order form.

Thank you for all that you do for the animals, and our best to you for a happy - and teachable - holiday season.

For the animals,

Diane, Marilee, Windi, and Davida

Veg Fests Galore!

We wish we had the ability to do nothing but travel the country attending veg fests! Although the fair season is almost over, there are still some great events coming up... 

It does our hearts good to see veg*anism being promoted in such fun, creative ways, and we send our thanks to the good folks involved in organizing them for their hard work, and for advocating for the animals. To help, we're donating copies of our book Ninety-Five: Meeting America's Farmed Animals in Stories and Photographs for raffles and contest prizes.

If you're in the area of one of these wonderful veg fests, we recommend attending, eating yourself silly, and having fun while helping to promote a compassionate lifestyle.

10/15 - The Tampa Bay Veg Fest (http://tampabayvegfest.org/default.aspx ) is presented by Florida Voices for Animals in honor of World Farm Animals Day (http://www.wfad.org/).

10/22 - The Florida Veg Fest ( http://www.cfvegfest.org/), includes speakers, activities, music and of course food! Our donated books will benefit Florida animal rescue groups who will be part of the Fest's Animal Haven, featuring animal sanctuaries, animal rescue groups, dogs and cats for adoption, information on caring for companion animals, feeding dogs and cats a vegetarian diet, the importance of spaying and neutering, caring for feral cats, and more!

10/23 - The Texas State Veggie Fair (http://texasstateveggiefair.com/), opens with a premier of the new film Vegucated, directed by our friend Marisa Miller Wolfson. The fair also features a vegan fried food contest... yum! We're ready to travel all the way to Texas just for this!

10/29 & 10/30 - The 16th Annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival ( http://www.bostonveg.org/foodfest/) includes free food sampling, grocery and natural foods store exhibits, food producers and new products, cooking demonstrations by noted chefs, book and cookbook publishers and authors, top national speakers, children's activities, and more.

11/5 - The Northeast Florida Veg Fest in Jacksonville ( http://nfvegfest-com.doodlekit.com/home) will include healthy and sustainable foods, cooking demonstrations, live music, speakers and movie screenings. (Boy, those folks in Florida are really vegging it up, huh? This is Florida's third veg fest in October!)

11/5 - Chicago VeganMania ( http://chicagoveganmania.com/) gets our vote for the best veg fest name, and will include a vegan food court, live music, speakers and workshops, kids' activities and a presentation by vegan body builders! Yow!

Be a Part of "Vegucated"

One of our favorite non-profit organizations is Kind Green Planet , who is dedicated to educating people about healthy, humane, eco-friendly living. They take a decidedly different approach, saying "We believe that sustainable change happens incrementally, and we understand that any kind of change can be daunting for people at first. So we celebrate the small victories in everyone's evolution, and we appreciate the value of laughter along the way."

Kind Green Planet has a program called "Vegan at Heart", a free e-mail coaching program for people who are vegan at heart but not necessarily in practice. As a subscriber, you receive one vegan "mission" in your inbox every day for 30 days, then once a week after that. The missions take 1 to 10 minutes to complete, are fun and help you discover things you never knew about, and they're always upbeat and supportive. We highly recommend this wonderful service - check it out at:   http://www.kindgreenplanet.org/programs/veganatheart/welcome/    

Now, Kind Green Planet has launched another project, a documentary titled "Vegucated." They describe it as "guerrilla-style documentary that follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks and learn what it's all about." Check out the trailer - it looks like it's going to be a fantastic film:   http://www.getvegucated.com/  

No Voice Unheard is supporting the film thru Kickstarter, a site that helps creative people raise funds for their creative projects. You check out the Vegucated project there at:   http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/412656220/vegucated-documentary?ref=live  

Vegan at Heart needs to raise $20,000 to finish the film, and they're almost there. If you're moved by the trailer, as we were, we hope you'll help!

Honoring Our Friends on this Memorial Day

One of the hardest parts about working on Ninety-Five has been finding out that some of the animals that touched our hearts have passed away. On this Memorial Day we'd like to honor them and their caregivers. The only thing harder than providing the daily care these rescued animals need is seeing them through their (often premature) final days. This is our way of paying tribute and recognizing their part in helping all of us better understand and support farmed animals. This is part of their legacy.

In November of last year, Ian, a turkey from Peaceful Prairie passed away after finally finding love and friendship with a hen named Simone. (You can read more here.)  

Ian © 2010 Joanna Lucas

Amelia, whose charms earned her an essay in Ninety-Five, passed away in March. She became a resident at United Poultry Concerns (UPC) in 2007, when she was surrendered by a local farmer. She was still quite young when we first met her in May of 2008. On subsequent visits she had matured and had a nest in a quiet part of the yard. According Karen Davis, her caregiver, she died peacefully. Her legs had been giving her trouble and went out altogether. She lost her mobility and will to live. She inspired us, but we also came to think of her as a friend.  

Amelia

Another friend from United Poultry Concerns was Mr. Frizzle, a rather dashing rooster. He was found as a bedraggled stray in 2007 and made his way to UPC, where he flourished. He lived in the yard there with a flock of tiny Thumbelina hens. He had battled a respiratory infection the last few years and over the weekend of April 2nd, he finally succumbed to it. His portrait can be seen around the DC area on bus ads.  

Mr. Frizzle

On April 22nd, Opal, a turkey from Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary, died in her sleep. She arrived at the sanctuary in 2004 and was seven when she passed away, which is very old for a turkey. She was lucky from the start, when she literally escaped from a slaughterhouse, just as two vegan women were driving by. They rescued her and brought her to Poplar Spring where she charmed visitors and volunteers alike.    

Opal

We urge you to support your local and national sanctuaries and help them provide animals like Ian, Amelia, Mr. Frizzle, and Opal with the care and love they deserve.

Ninety-Five Wins IPPY Gold Award

On Monday night, No Voice Unheard was honored with an IPPY Gold Medal in the Pets/Animals category for Ninety-Five: Meeting America's Farmed Animals in Stories and Photographs

This year's Independent Book Publisher Awards (IPPY) attracted 3,907 entries, and the medalists represented books published in 45 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia, seven Canadian provinces, and seven countries overseas. Launched in 1996 as the first unaffiliated awards program open exclusively to independent, university, and self-published titles, the IPPY Awards contest celebrated its 15th anniversary this year at a gala celebration in New York on Monday, May 23rd. Winners in 69 national and 22 regional categories received gold, silver and bronze awards. We were honored to be able to tell their stories and are doubly honored to accept this award on behalf of Gilly, Libby & Louie, Olivia, Justice, Lucas and their caregivers.

Ninety-Five is a Gold Medal IPPY Winner!

Ninety-Five has won a Gold Medal in the Animals/Pets category for the 2011 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY)!

We are thrilled and want to thank every contributor for helping to make this happen.

Yay!

Celebrate International Respect for Chickens Day

Celebrate International Respect for Chickens Day with a joyous dust bath!