Featured Ideas: Vegan School Lunches and Non-Animal Research

categories: Animal Testing and Vivisection, Food and Recipes, Vegan

Published December 31, 2008 @ 08:56AM PT

It's the last day of voting for the first round of Ideas for Change in America! Have you done your voting yet? If not (or even if so), meander back to the post from a couple days ago on voting strategy (on what to consider when voting or removing your votes), and then get voting! Here are two final featured ideas for your consideration:

1. Offer Vegan School Lunch Options
This idea, in the Agricultural Policy section, calls for the USDA to facilitate vegan options in school lunch programs. This is not about requiring schools to eliminate meat, dairy, and eggs from their lunch programs; it's about also offering healthy, tasty vegan options, which would no doubt be eaten not only by vegetarian and vegan children but also by omnivorous children. In addition to all the supportive comments on this idea from vegans, it's been really wonderful to see support from (a) some non-vegans who recognize that these healthy options should be available for all children and that school lunch programs generally need far healthier fare and (b) teachers and students who agree. But we have to keep the momentum and votes going today, folks, because the numbers are close--spread the word today and encourage continued voting!

2. Increase Funding for Non-Animal Research Methods and Mandate Their Use
This idea needs a lot of votes today and tonight to make it to the top 3, and I'll let you read the text of this idea on the actual idea page, but I'm also going to ask you to do some other things to remind yourselves of why this shift is important. Watch some of the videos. See for yourself what happens. And use your vote, and encourage your friends and family to use theirs, to say it needs to stop. One very brief video is embedded at the bottom of this post, and preceding it are links to other videos.

And finally, if you've been convinced that any law could ever adequately protect these animals used in research and testing, go back and reread the post "No Justice for the Monkey Boiled Alive."

Video Links:

Wasted Lives: How Are Animals Used? (The first part of a UK production, but what it shows and describes absolutely happens in the United States and elsewhere too.)

The Test of a Civilization (narrated by James Cromwell)

If You Knew the Truth, Would It Make a Difference?

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Comments (4)

Its time citizens of USA witness and act against the obscene cruelty inflicted upon animals, including Mans Best Friend, in the hell holes of research laboratories, all funded by our tax dollars without our consent. Let our elected representatives know that there are millions of us, animal advocates/activists, who are fed up with our tax dollars being spent to torture and murder helpless animals. The "White Coats" ride on the lavish gravy trains of government grants, winning prizes, granted $$$$$ for their legalized, government condoned animal cruelty. The terrorists are INSIDE the labs, in white coats - not outside protesting and speaking for the creatures who cannot speak, or escape terror, pain and exploitation.

Posted by Netanya Nathan on 12/31/2008 @ 09:03AM PT
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THANK YOU, I am with you 100%, all the way........

beautifully said....now it's time for ACTION, how may more animals have to give up their lives until we come to our 'collective' senses?

Posted by amber lopez on 12/31/2008 @ 04:29PM PT
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“The moon cries in loneliness as today’s child chooses to stay inside glued to an electronic box, compartmentalized inside a temperature controlled facade, instead of going out in to the world, exploring caves, swimming with turtles, discovering nature’s beauty and perfection, caring a broken wing, feeding fish, finding real friends, friends who help the child as much or more than the other” Warwak

Posted by Dave Warwak on 01/01/2009 @ 01:51AM PT
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I don't know where to put this, or how to say it, and it will probably be buried anyway. But now that we're in Phase 2 of the voting, where are all the Animal Rights members?

If even half of the 8140 people registered as "Animal Rights" on this site would vote for the "Vegan school lunch options" and any or all three animal welfare ideas in this round, they would make it into the Top 10 -- into the top positions, even.

I won't denigrate the current Top 10 ideas. But out of the top 15, three are really redundant. Vegan school lunch options is currently in 16th place. We need at least one or two ideas that matter to animal people to make into the Top 10. That wouldn't displace the most popular ideas. But at least some of our interests would be represented.

Please vote again in this new phase, if you haven't already.

Posted by Sue G. on 01/06/2009 @ 12:22PM PT
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Author

Stephanie is an independent animal rights advocate, a vegan, a tree-hugging environmentalist, and a freelance editor and writer. She lives in St. Louis with an aging corgi-lab and an adolescent rescued pit bull.