The Veg Retention Newsletter

Linking the issues to help you go Veg!

Working to be part of the solution:

We have all met people who have told us that they were vegan or vegetarian but went back to eating animals for a variety of reasons: it was too hard, health reasons, pressure from family members, didn't know what to eat, etc. Or people who go back and forth between going veg and eating animals.

If you look at what animal groups are saying, it seems that we are converting people on a rapid pace of going veg. Groups talk about the high response rates to ads, leafleting, media coverage, etc.

If we are really good at converting that many people to going veg, the question of why there doesn't seem to be a dramatic increase in the number of vegetarians and vegans remains. The answer may be that people are only going veg temporarily, possibly for weeks, months or years, but they are reverting back to animal consumption.

Our goal is for Food Chain to fill this very important gap to help people to not only go veg, but to stay veg!

Download the first newsletter (3.4 MB)

Download the second newsletter (1.8 MB)

Download the third newsletter (4.8 MB)

Click here to download the outlines for issues 1-12 (183 KB)

What is Food Chain?

The Food Chain Newsletter, a campaign of the Food Empowerment Project, is for people who are interested in going veg or for those who have recently gone veg.

By linking the reasons that draw most people to a vegan diet (compassion towards animals, impacts on people and the environment and improvement of one's health) Food Chain's goal is to link the issues so that with every newsletter the readers have more information that not only supports their decision but helps them stick with it.

Food Chain will be a free monthly newsletter that people will choose to receive for 12 months by mail or possibly via e-mail.

What will be in the newsletter?

Each of the twelve colorful newsletters have the same format and provide information about the following: animals in factory farms, rescue stories (with contributions from animal sanctuaries around the U.S.), environmental and human impacts of animal consumption, recipes (some from leading vegan chefs), nutrition questions and answers from both an MD and an RD, support questions, food suggestions and helpful websites to check out. Ideas about where to find places to shop and eat, as well as general vegan product food suggestions will also be included. Some issues will address other ethical food issues, including the treatment of farm workers and those who work in the chocolate industry.

How will it work?

We want to partner with grassroots organizations to include a free subscription of Food Chain as part of their general outreach to those who are seriously interested in going veg or have just recently gone veg. For some people, the social aspect is a very important part of being able to stick with it, so we can connect them with local groups as we will be in touch with the subscriber on a monthly basis for at least a year.

Based on the feedback we have already received, it seems that we know plenty of people who want to sign up friends and family for the newsletter - so we will encourage them to do so.

We can also place free ads in weekly newspapers, and inserts can be put in booklets (i.e. veggie starter kits) that are handed out to the public. With additional funds, we will be able to publicize using a variety of methods.

Who will receive the newsletters?

People will be asked to fill out a very simple questionnaire on our website. If the respondents answer the questions and have been veg for a number of years, they will be directed to the F.E.P. website.

Food Chain is not geared towards people who are already committed to a vegan diet. People who are not veg but are interested or who have recently gone veg will be asked to complete the questionnaire along with a mailing or possibly e-mail address to start receiving the newsletter.

At the end of a year, the respondent will be asked to fill out another questionnaire to see if they have stayed with the veg diet and what parts of the newsletter they did or didn't find useful. This allows us to adjust our materials to ensure they have the most impact!

Those of us at F.E.P. are truly optimistic that the Food Chain Newsletter will not only help people go veg, but stay veg!