Exhibiting and food vending are great ways to connect with lots of interested omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans – we've been advertising widely and we expect over 1,500 people throughout the day!

It's not too late for folks to sign up to exhibit or to sell food at the July 14, 2012 Twin Cities Veg Fest!

Are there fantastic veg-friendly organizations or restaurants that you'd like to see at Twin Cities Veg Fest? We're especially excited to hear from you if you know someone personally at the organization or restaurant that you recommend! Let us know and we can drop them a line. You can send your suggestions to Jeff Johnson. If you know folks at the place you'd like to recommend, go ahead and direct them to the exhibitor section of the Twin Cities Veg Fest website.

Twin Cities Veg Fest will be lots of fun! We have some great sponsors for the event. Compassion Over Killing and Mercy for Animals are sponsoring, and City Pages is our official media sponsor. We've got some really great exhibitors lined up. Turtle Island Foods (the makers of Tofurky products), Field Roast, Asase Yaa, and Upton's will be there. Equal Exchange, Seward Co-op, Featherstone Farm, and Ethique Nouveau will be there.

Have you enjoyed one of Compassionate Action for Animals’ social events, witnessed the results of our outreach, or seen the powerful impact of an education event we hosted? We advocate tirelessly on behalf of farm animals throughout the year, and we can’t do it with your support.

If everybody on this list donated $15 – just $15! – we would be able to double our outreach and education this year! Your support will allow us to host our first ever Twin Cities Veg Fest, help Veg Week to grow, continue and expand Bridges of Respect, and will help us advertise our Vegan After Dark events, dineouts, and potlucks.

We are passionate about advocating for animals, and it’s your involvement that makes it possible. Please consider donating $15 (or $50, $10, or $5 – whatever you can afford) today! Thank you for your support.

Amber Buening is helping to plan Compassionate Action for Animals' July 14 Twin Cities Veg Fest. We talked to her to get to know her better and to find out what her role in the Veg Fest is.

CAA: What is your role on the Veg Fest team?
Amber: I'm the Twin Cities Veg Fest Volunteer Coordinator.

CAA: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Amber:I like watching movies, reading, cooking (and trying new vegan recipes), trying new restaurants (especially veg-friendly ones), biking, running, traveling, and exploring new places!

CAA: How did you get involved in planning the Veg Fest?
Amber: Since I recently moved here (Sept. 2010) and recently became vegan (Summer 2011), I wanted to be more involved with CAA in general to meet other vegans/vegetarians and make some new friends with similar ideals! I thought helping to plan such a big event would be a great way to contribute to an amazing organization and meet lots of great people!

CAA: What have you enjoyed the most so far?
Amber: When Dave buys Pizza Luce for our meetings! Haha no, I enjoy meeting new people and getting to know like-minded volunteers, so that has been the best part for me so far

CAA: What are you most looking forward to at the Veg Fest?
Amber: The Veg Fest is going to be epically awesome! I really can't wait. I think what I'm most looking forward to is seeing all the different vendors giving free samples to tons of attendees and introducing them to vegan choices that are easy to make.

CAA: Who/what species is you favorite animal?
Amber: Pugs are my favorite companion animals, and zebras are my favorite wild animals.

Thanks Amber for talking with Compassionate Action for Animals!

Be sure to check out our sponsorship and volunteer pages to find out how you can help make the TC Veg Fest a success!

From April 16-21, we handed out leaflets about factory farming and vegetarianism.

Thanks to everybody who passed out leaflets! We had 32 volunteers distribute 9,265 leaflets at colleges and at two concerts. We leafleted at the following schools:

• Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Cambridge
• Augsburg College
• College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University
• Hamline University
• Macalester College
• Normandale Community College
• Saint Cloud State University
• University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• University of St. Thomas

We also distributed leaflets at the Miranda Lambert Concert and we handed out Christian Vegetarian Association leaflets at the Casting Crowns concert.

Based on the amazing feedback we continue to receive, we are confident that our efforts to educate the public about the cruelties of animal agriculture and the vegetarian alternative is making a big impact!

Leafleting Week is off to a great start! Please join us to celebrate on Friday

Thanks to the hard work of several volunteers, we've already passed out thousands of leaflets during Minnesota College Leafleting Week. Leafleters will continue to hand out brochures about factory farming and vegetarianism through Friday.

We'll be celebrating our work on Friday at the Depot Tavern. Everybody is welcome — whether or not you had a chance to hand out leaflet. Please RSVP so we know many people to expect.

Leafleters will inform thousands of college students about the cruelties of modern animal agriculture and about plant-based foods. Based on the amazing feedback that we receive, we're confident that our efforts are reducing animal suffering.

On April 5, Compassionate Action for Animals celebrated another year of advocating for animals at our 8th Annual Banquet. The fundraiser raised support for our outreach, education, and community building on behalf of farmed animals.

Over eighty guests attended this year's event, which included a silent auction and reception, a four-course vegan meal, and a presentation about CAA's work.

Following the meal, CAA co-founder Dave Rolsky recapped last year's accomplishments and gave a preview of what's to come. Sarah Brammer-Shlay spoke about her volunteer experience and how working with CAA has been fulfilling for her and has helped animals.

We'd like to thank those businesses and individuals who donated to the event:

• Kat Aymeloglu
• At Sara's Table
• Betsy Born
• Corepower Yoga
• Mary Elling
• Evergreen Chinese Restaurant
• Hampden Park Co-op
• Pete Hoseth
• Ann Garlinghouse
• Robin Garwood
• Jenny Gehlhar
• Ali Glad
• Jawaahir Dance Company
• jobangles (Josie Hamlen)
• Shannon Kimball
• Laurel Street Flowers
• EG Nelson
• New French Bakery
• Savithry Nambudiripad
• Karl Noyes
• Pangea Vegan Store
• Peace Coffee
• Amanda Richardson
• Jared Rolsky
• Joan Rolsky
• Seward Co-op
• Suzy Sorensen
• Tease Salon
• John Thompson
• V-dog
• Vegan Essentials
• Wedge Community Co-op
• Whole Foods Saint Paul
• Jessica Zeglin
• Zipps Liquors

And last, but certainly not least, dozens of dedicated volunteers helped the event to progress smoothly by preparing food, setting up, serving guests, taking pictures, and cleaning. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this year's banquet a huge success!

If you weren't able to attend but would still like to support CAA, you can donate online.

If you missed CAA's annual Veg Week last fall, you have another chance to pledge to be vegetarian for a week during US VegWeek.

Taking place April 23-29, US VegWeek is a great opportunity to join with folks across the country to eschew meat for a week. Pledge today and explore the benefits of plant-based eating. You can sign up for daily emails to receive free recipes, tips, meal ideas and more, and you can also sign up for our free VegWeek Starter Pack, loaded with everything you need to get started plus lots of product coupons! We're partnering with Compassion Over Killing to bring you this great opportunity!

Becoming vegetarian reduces animal suffering. If you're shy to commit to a lifetime of being meat free but curious about incorporating more vegetarian options into your diet, pledging for US VegWeek is a great way to start out!

Stay tuned for Compassionate Action for Animals' Veg Week coming this fall.

I hope you can join us for our first-ever Twin Cities Veg Fest on July 14.

Twin Cities Veg Fest is a one day celebration of compassionate living. We'll have delicious plant-based food, information about everything you want to know about vegan eating, and thought-provoking speakers. I hope you can join us on July 14, 2012, from 10am to 5pm at Coffman Memorial Union, Minneapolis, MN.

Please get ready by:

• Marking your calendar. Once again, it's on July 14!
• Liking us on Facebook and following our Twitter feed
• Referring us to sponsors or exhibitors. It's a great way to get a brand in front of an interested audience of over 1,000 attendees.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Farm Sanctuary will be joining forces with us to promote and expand VegGuide.org, our worldwide guide to restaurants and shopping.

Farm Sanctuary is a national organization that protects farm animals from cruelty and promotes veganism. They provide shelter for abused animals, work to reform factory farming, and empower people to embrace a vegan lifestyle. We have hosted their founder, Gene Baur, at Veg Week and at our Their Lives, Our Voices conference and we're pleased to partner with them on VegGuide.org! They are joining our other two partners, Mercy for Animals and Vegan Outreach.

We are looking forward to the continued growth of VegGuide.org. With more than 14,000 entries, VegGuide.org is a popular and growing place to find veg-friendly restaurants. VegGuide.org lets users create entries, write reviews, and rate restaurants and businesses. Additionally, it's free of advertising, focuses on helping people find useful resources to move towards veganism, and all of its content is available free of charge under a Creative Commons license.

We're excited to have Farm Sanctuary's help in making VegGuide.org a success!