The Sea Shepherd New York Crew has been doing really great work! Earlier this year, a pair of members went to Taiji, Japan to be Cove Guardians, documenting dolphin captures and killings. More recently, a few members participated as Dam Guardians to document the treatment of sea lions in Oregon and Washington. As well, another member recently returned from Sea Shepherd’s ninth Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign.

To celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of ‘At the Edge of the World.’ Comment below by 6/8/2013 for your chance.

Click the image below to comment on Facebook and find me @alifevegan on Instagram for bonus chances to win.

Contest open to U.S. residents only.

Tomorrow, Sunday, April 28 at MooShoes in Lower Manahattan there will be a vegan bake sale to benefit Food Not Bombs NYC.

Click the image for more info!

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has started their ninth Antarctic campaign to defend whales in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary. They hope their latest campaign, Operation Zero Tolerance, will be their greatest success in challenging illegal whaling.

The direct action marine conservation society cannot carry out their work alone. Beginning tomorrow, Monday, Nov. 19th, the organization is encouraging those who believe in their work to participate in a special fundraising challenge by pledging just $9.

This year’s campaign, which lasts 3 months, is not yet fully funded. Help the Sea Shepherds stay between the whalers and their prey for as long as they can. $9 is less than the price of a couple of Venti Starbucks drinks.

If you have the funds to spare, you can run with the theme of “9″ by donating $9, $99, or $999. Even as little as $5 can help the organization with its efforts.

The goal is zero kills. Help support the whales.

Mercy for Animals’ undercover investigators have again brought to light animal cruelty at Butterball turkey facilities in North Carolina. According to the nonprofit organization, abuses documented last month included:

• workers kicking and stomping on birds, dragging them by their wings and necks
• throwing turkeys onto the ground or on top of other birds
• serious untreated illnesses and injuries, including open sores, infections, and broken bones

This new footage comes on the heels of a guilty plea, in August, for felony animal cruelty by a former Butterball employee. The latest footage echoes the cruelty of last year. Butterball is the world’s largest producer of turkey meat, responsible for “30 percent of the 46 million turkeys who are killed for Thanksgiving.”

Ahead of the holiday, MFA felt strongly about promoting awareness of the footage. In the initial days following its release, their main website, MercyForAnimals.org, redirected to a special investigations site, ButterballAbuse.com.

MFA encourages leaving turkeys, as well as other animals, off your holiday menus. Get some great ideas at ChooseVeg.com.

Celebrate life this holiday by not taking it. Reportedly, more than 45 million turkeys will be killed for Thanksgiving day meals. (Source: PETA)

Instead, start a new tradition with Farm Sanctuary. Your $30 gift helps the organization care for the rescued animals, the few of many.

You can help so many more, by choosing to leave turkeys and other animals off your plates.

Tomorrow, Farm Sanctuary will have their NYC Walk For Farm Animals. The organization holds walks in several cities around the U.S., including Atlanta, Boston, and Portland. Walkers for NYC have already raised more than $65,000 to help Farm Sanctuary promote their efforts on behalf of animals.

For all the years as a vegetarian, and even when I initially became vegan last year, I had no idea farm sanctuaries existed. The first two I visited were Catskill Animal Sanctuary and Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary. Check out my albums on Facebook for Woodstock and Catskill!

In August, I got the opportunity to visit Farm Sanctuary for the Country Hoedown. In Watkins Glen, Tweed and all the other animals carved out a little place in my heart.

Tweed and I

While I won’t be walking in Central Park tomorrow because I will be en route to a half marathon, I couldn’t pass up the chance to spread the word. Veganism isn’t just about what’s on our plates; it’s about what’s off them as well. Sanctuaries help people make the connection.

My goal has almost been met thanks to some generous contributions from Jake Johnston of PlayWithMyFood, Evan O’Brien of the Vegan O’Brien Baking Company, and Gretchen Primack, co-writer of The Lucky Ones.

Farm Sanctuary relies on your donations to help provide for the animals! All contributions are appreciated. Click to support!

Thank you Gretchen!

If animals could talk, they’d be asking for it: some more protection. Join Sea Shepherd NYC on Monday, August 13, at the V-Spot in Park Slope, Brooklyn. There will be s’mores and chances to win great raffle prizes. To order tickets, click the banner below or here.

Click to learn more about Sea Shepherd’s conservation efforts.

It’s Cow Appreciation Day! OK, only so at Chick-fil-A where if you dress up like a cow, you can get a free meal.

There’s a degree of irony that Friday the 13th, with all its associations to bad luck and horror, be the day chosen for this marketing event.

Chickens are one of the worst abused animals and switching to the consumption of their meat is a lateral move for human health and a downward move for compassion.

Want to really show appreciation for cows? Kick the meat addiction. Refrain from eating them and their farm friends.

The 2012 Vegetarian World Summit is a free, online event featuring notable speakers.

You can listen to yesterday’s preview call with Dr. Neal Barnard through 4 pm PDT today!

The schedule of speakers are broken out by topic over the five days.

Wednesday, July 11 – Nutrition & Wellness
Thursday, July 12 – Social Justice
Friday, July 13 – Thriving as Vegans
Saturday, July 14 – Living & Sharing the Vegan Life
Sunday, July 15 – Spirituality & Health

Register for free on the main page and you will receive an email with the link to the calendar. If you miss a talk, it is available for replay for 24 hours after the session ends.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

When I rolled over in my bed one morning 10 years ago, I didn’t see this coming. It was summer and I was done with school for the moment. Aside from, ‘What am I going to do with the rest of my life?’, my thought was ‘What’s there to eat?’

In passing, I’d met a vegetarian and it weighed heavily on my mind, ‘How did they make it work?’ I’d tried being vegetarian when I was around 11 or 12. It didn’t stick then, but it was something I couldn’t shake.

I debated going this morning. I’d been invited to a few protests and encouraged to leaflet in the last year or so. ‘Not my thing,’ I said with a shrug…if I even bothered giving a reason at all. If not an activist, with all the stigma it denotes, it’s up my alley to be a bystander, to chronicle events from the sideline.

With my camera in tow, and a beach towel, I told myself I was going to take a few photos and maybe lounge on the beach of Coney Island. Approaching, I snapped a few pictures, but before I knew it, I was asking for a sign.

Organized by Mercy for Animals, the peaceful assembly was to raise awareness about the plight of farmed animals in response to Nathan’s hot dog eating contest.

Find more pictures on my Facebook!