Halloween is coming up, and we’ve got quite the fun action planned for all of you! Get into the holiday spirit and join local activists for a fun, light-hearted demonstration outside of McDonald’s on Saturday, October 22, at 12:00 p.m. in order to remind passersby that flesh is for zombies. That’s right: Eating corpses is creepy!

Don’t leave your costumes at home! Feel free to get as creative as you can with zombie costumes and makeup, but you’re also welcome to just show up as your normal, wonderful self and hold a sign. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

What: “Flesh Is for Zombies” protest at McDonald’s
When: Saturday, October 22, 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
Where: On the public sidewalk outside of McDonald’s, 982 Grafton Street, Worcester, MA

All materials will be provided. Also, please note that reserved parking will not be available.
For any questions or to RSVP via e-mail, contact  MelissaSehgal@hotmail.com

RSVP – FACEBOOK EVENT

Members of VegWorcester, Private Citizens for Pets in Peril , and Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition (MARC) met up on Saturday, October 8th to protest Ringling Bros Circus Cruelty. The peaceful protest included sign-holding and leafleting to circus-goers in front of several Worcester DCU Center entrances to a Ringling Circus event.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey has a long history of animal abuse. Alleged mistreatment and investigations cover things such as the animal deaths due to over-heating during transportation, beatings with bull-hooks, constant chaining, lack of adequate veterinary care, forcible separation of babies from their mothers, causing trauma, psychological stress, a variety of physical harm to animals, and more.

Approximately 30 people attended the protest, including a few children who already understand that cruelty to animals for entertainment is wrong. Check out this guest-blog post at Telegram’s MassMoms.com from Erin, a VegWorcester member who attended the protest.  More Photos at Facebook.

We urge you to share the message with your family that circuses are no place for animals!

Loving Hut Chandler’s monthly vegan buffet fundraiser is this weekend– Saturday, October 8th, from noon-5pm, 415 Chandler St. Worcester, MA. As always – ALL VEGAN! ALL TASTY! ALL YOU CAN EAT! Its only $10, and 10% of proceeds are donated to VegWorcester to support local events and outreach. This week, some members of VegWorcester will be attending the Ringling Circus Protest in Worcester from 1:00-3:30 at the DCU Center, so if you’re coming to the protest with us, join us afterwards also for the Loving Hut Buffet from 3:30-5:00pm.

Remember to always get a new plate (for health code reasons,) and please only take what you can eat! Plates of wasted delicious vegan food are a big no-no! Loving Hut always has new vegan items in the fridge, so go ahead and buy something to take home and try out your mad cookin skills. Don’t forget to grab your copy of the Worcester Veg-Dining Guide at the front door of Loving Hut too

Facebook Event

Tomorrow is going to be a sunny summer day, so come join VegWorcester in Elm Park for some free vegan ice cream.

This Saturday, June 19 at noon in Elm Park, VegWorcester is giving away free samples of So Delicious soy ice cream and Coconut Bliss ice cream in Elm Park.

Why are we giving out free vegan ice cream?

Here at VegWorcester, we like to focus on positive, up-beat outreach activities. Through our regular vegan feed-ins we show Worcesterites that choosing vegan foods is an easy way to challenge factory farming. In Worcester it’s so easy to find tasty vegan foods at any supermarket or at many local restaurants.

Cows’ milk is for cows

Milk is for babies. And cows’ milk is for calves, not humans. Not only is dairy associated with a long list of health issues, it’s far from humane. Earlier this year Mercy for Animals released an undercover investigations into an Ohio dairy farm, where they documented the kind of animal cruelty that is routine on factory farms. The video showed cows with bloody open wounds, prolapsed uteruses, pus-filled infections, and swollen joints, apparently left to suffer without veterinary care.

Just like in the meat industry, cows on dairy farms are forced to endure stressful conditions, a life of cruelty, and eventually a brutal death. The ties between meat and dairy are closer than you may think; When their exhausted bodies can no longer provide enough milk, they are sent to slaughter and ground up for hamburgers. For every cow who produces dairy for human consumption, dozens of her calves who are sold off to veal operations. It’s cruel, but more importantly there are plenty of alternatives.

Where to get So Delicious vegan ice cream in the Worcester area:

• Living Earth – 232 Chandler St, Worcester (map)
• All the Stop & Shops (store locator)
• All the Shaw’s (store locator)
• Nutrition Source – 245 W Boylston, West Boylston (map)
• Other locations in Mass.

Where to get Coconut Bliss:

• Living Earth – 232 Chandler St, Worcester (map)
• Framingham Whole Foods – 575 Worcester Rd, Framingham, MA (map)
• Artichoke Food Coop. Call ahead (508-752-3533), they aren’t very good at having things stocked reliably – 800 Main Street, Worcester (map)
• Other locations in Mass

Come out to Elm Park tomorrow at noon and grab some free vegan ice cream. If you want to help out and you can come out an hour early, call 315-834-2655. We could use a hand.

Kari from VeganParenting.com is starting a regular get-together for vegetarian and vegan parents in the Worcester area. She has a 5 year-old son who recently realized that he doesn’t know any other vegans his age. So Kari wants to put together a group of parents who are raising veg kids. Interested in joining? Email her at whitney.kari@gmail.com or comment on her post on the VegWorcester facebook page.

From Kari:

Any other vegan families on this list? My son was noticing recently that none of his friends are vegan or vegetarian and he said “I would like to have some vegans friends.” He’s 5. I would love to get a parent’s group started with monthly potlucks or park days.

This Saturday they will hosting their June buffet fundraiser for VegWorcester. It’s $10 for all-you-can eat vegan fare. Come for lunch or dinner. The buffet is from noon-7pm.

Loving Hut is located at 415 Chandler Street, Worcester (map).

Facebook

RSVP to the facebook event and spend a couple minutes inviting your friends. Support a great local restaurant and help raise some money for this rad activist group in Worcester.

Flyer – Download & Print

Want to go the extra mile? Download and print this flyer and hang it up at your work or at a coffee shop.

The Artichoke Food Coop needs volunteers to cover weekly shifts and fill in the gaps. Haven’t been the Artichoke yet? It’s a small vegetarian food cooperative grocery store with lots of organic, local and bulk item. They’re the spot to go to pick up all your ingredients for a stellar vegan mac & cheese recipe, your bulk spices, and your soy cheese and your vegan marshmallows.

Randi Whitney, the volunteer coordinator, recently emailed us at VegWorcester calling for volunteers.

From Randi:

Volunteers get 10% off all of their purchases at the store! We really need shift volunteers and we also have other jobs for people to do that don’t involve running a shift. We need people to do our signage, help with the website, keep an updated price list in the store, help figure out our new register computer system, clean the store, help fix some things around the store, and other things. People can email me rwhitney26@gmail.com or call me 978-549-4141 if they are interested or have questions. Artichoke is the only food cooperative store in Worcester. It caters to vegetarian and vegan lifestyles and it doesn’t run without volunteers.

Email or call Randi if you can pitch in a few hours.

The Artichoke Food Coop needs volunteers to cover weekly shifts and fill in the gaps. Haven’t been the Artichoke yet? It’s a small vegetarian food cooperative grocery store with lots of organic, local and bulk item. They’re the spot to go to pick up all your ingredients for a stellar vegan mac & cheese recipe, your bulk spices, and your soy cheese and your vegan marshmallows.

Randi Whitney, the volunteer coordinator, recently emailed us at VegWorcester calling for volunteers.

From Randi:

Volunteers get 10% off all of their purchases at the store! We really need shift volunteers and we also have other jobs for people to do that don’t involve running a shift. We need people to do our signage, help with the website, keep an updated price list in the store, help figure out our new register computer system, clean the store, help fix some things around the store, and other things. People can email me rwhitney26@gmail.com or call me 978-549-4141 if they are interested or have questions. Artichoke is the only food cooperative store in Worcester. It caters to vegetarian and vegan lifestyles and it doesn’t run without volunteers.

Email or call Randi if you can pitch in a few hours.

Upcoming demonstration
Coming up this Thursday, May 20, Mel is holding a demonstration against animal cruelty in the Piccadilly Circus in Fitchburg. Meet at 6pm at the Wallace Civic Center at 1000 Fitch Hwy in Fitchburg (map). Signs and leaflets will be provided. Facebook event.

Here’s a quick overview of the photos and video from the VegFest:

WCCA
Mauro from WCCA put together a quick video overview of the VegFest. It will be running this weekend. It’s great! Check it out!

Photos
There are also a ton of great photos from the festival on the VegWorcester flickr page and the VegWorcester facebook page. Thanks to Manda from Time Obscured Photography, Greg from The Shot In Worcester blog\ and Meg Dunne for all the really great photos.

508 Podcast
Erica Getto, a VegFest organizer, also appeared on the 508 podcast to talk about how the VegFest was a triumph.

What did you think of the VegFest?
Take this quick survey to tell us what we can do better next time around. It should only take a few minutes.