This is Violet at Catskill Animal Sanctuary
It was Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Eating Animals that convinced me to adopt a vegan lifestyle. Just a few pages in, after learning about what happens in the factory farming industry, it was clear to me that I could never support those practices again.
Once I figured out the best way for me to live this new lifestyle the next logical step was activism. I needed to share with other people what I’d learned. My philosophy is that the best way to change minds is through positivity, not negativity. There’s a place for all those slaughterhouse videos we see, but that’s not me. I started this site instead. I thought that if I can offer up really tasty food, it might encourage people to consider leaving animals off their plate. What’s more positive than eating a delicious meal?
The other area I decided to focus on was animal sanctuaries. These places are the embodiment of positivity. They rescue animals from horrific conditions and provide them with love and care so that they can live out long, natural lives. A visit to one of these places is life-changing, and there are so many that it’s likely you live near one, even if you don’t know it.
Below is an ever-growing list of animal sanctuaries throughout the United States. (This is by no means an exhaustive list, so if you know of one that I’m missing, let me know.) I encourage you to check it out and plan a visit. If you’re already vegan, maybe take an omnivore friend. Seeing these animals up close and personal will definitely make them to think twice about what they’re contributing to by eating an omnivore diet. (There will also be links with even more sanctuary-related information on my Resources page soon.)
Also: because I believe so strongly in the power of these animal sanctuaries to act as a positive force in educating the public, I want to do everything I can to support them. To that end, I’ve decided to donate half of all the money I make through advertising on the Nut-Free Vegan site to this cause. Each time I receive a payment from my ad host I’ll select a sanctuary to send money to and feature them on my social media channels, which you can follow here, here, and here.