World Vegetarian Week Call for Action

October 01 to October 07 is the World Vegetarian Week. Countless organisations, in many countries, are joining this movement to promote a healthier, more humane and environmentally sustainable lifestlye.

You are also invited to get involved!

Why a Vegetarian Week?

With nearly daily reports of severe droughts, floods, storms and wildfires, and climate scientists predicting increasingly warm temperatures, it is urgent to shift the world from its present unsustainable path to avoid a huge catastrophe. Many reports have shown the significant contributions of animal-based diets to global warming, so it is essential to get the urgency of dietary shifts onto the world's agenda.

Everyday is an excellent day to be a healthy and conscious vegetarian, but October 01 to 07 is a nice opportunity to double our efforts and campaign towards a better world:

• October 01 is the World Vegetarian Day

• October 04 is the World Animal Day

What you can do

As a non-profit organisation:

• Send a press release or articles to local media about this week;

• Invite other organisations to get involved;

• Invite health stores, supermarkets, restaurants and other businesses to promote the vegetarian week, e.g. by having discounts or offering some vegetarian items for free;

• Organise cooking demonstrations, talks, conferences, workshops or other events;

• Create leaflets and posters and distribute them to stores, restaurants and other locations where many people go;

• Create eCards or postcards that people can send to friends;

• Send a newsletter about the week to all your members;

• Start a letter writing campaign;

• Organise a Love Earth Gathering on October 3rd or 4th.

As a company:

• Offer some vegetarian gifts to your employees or customers (a book, CD, DVD, etc.);

• Promote a workshop, talk, cooking demonstration or other activity;

• Organise a vegetarian lunch or dinner for all your employees.

As an individual:

• Send letters to newspapers or magazines, sharing your experience;

• Participate in leaflet distributing events;

• Invite friends or family to a vegetarian dinner;

• Join your local vegetarian organisation;

• Ask for vegetarian meals and talk about the vegetarian week at your local restaurants;

• Speak to local clergy, educators, media and other people, stressing the multiple benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle.

Where to start

• Forward this message, translating into other languages if necessary;

• Visit www.vegetarianweek.org, see what others are doing and what materials you can use;

• Decide what you can do, as an individual, organisation or company;

• Inform us about your plans by email, which we will then publish in www.vegetarianweek.org and through the EVANA news system at www.evana.org;

• Refresh and update your knowledge of vegetarian-related issues, so that you can be as effective a spokesperson as possible.