The first ever Twin Cities Veg Fest could only happen with the generous help of volunteers, exhibitors, and speakers!

We held our first ever Twin Cities Veg Fest on Saturday, July 14. It was a smashing success!

Thanks to the exhibitors for providing great vegan food and resources:

• A Frame Forward Photography
• Action for Animals
• Alternative Baking Company
• AM950
• Asasa Yaa
• Bee-Free Honee
• Bitter Roots
• Boneshaker Books
• Bumble Bar
• Captured by Brooke Photography
• Dandies Vegan Marshmallows
• Clean Water Action
• Compassion Over Killing
• Compassionate Action for Animals
• Conference Connections Bookstore
• Earthsave Twin Cities
• Ecology Democracy Network
• Equal Exchange
• Ethique Nouveau
• Field Roast
• Happy Animals
• The Hub Bike Co-op
• Introspective Comics
• Kojic Art
• Koru Street
• Mary's Gone Crackers
• Mercy for Animals
• Minnesota Voters for Animal Protection
• Mississippi Market
• Move2Veg
• Peace Coffee
• Peanut Butter & Co.
• Planted for Life
• Primal Strips
• Pure Market Express
• Roosterhouse Ideas
• Seward Cafe
• Seward Co-op
• Sierra Club
• Turtle Island Foods
• Upton's Naturals
• Vegan Honeymoons
• Vegan Pockets
• Vegan Sailing
• Vegetarian Resource Group

Thanks to the 50 volunteers that helped out on the day of, put up posters, stuffed bags, and told their friends about the festival!

We couldn't have done it without the generous support of our sponsors.

Thanks to Lisa Mabley, Heidi Prenevost, and Nicole Riner for designing our print and online materials.

Finally, thanks to the committee who planned this event:

• Brita Bengtson – Advertising Guru
• Amber Buening – Whip Cracker (Volunteers)
• Jeff Johnson – The Rain Maker (Sponsorship)
• Shannon Kimball – Exhibitor Logistician
• Unny Nambudiripad – CAA Executive Director
• EG Nelson – Jill of All Trades
• David Rolsky – Extreme Delegator (Committee Chair)
• Suzy Sorensen – Raffle Wrangler and Speaker to Speakers
• Pat Tullo – Legal Eagle and Speaker to Speakers

Photo by A Frame Forward

Come to our first ever celebration of compassionate living.

The Twin Cities Veg Fest will include speakers, resources, a kids area, and of course, excellent vegan food! The first 200 to come to the festival will get extra goodies in their swag bags.

• When: Saturday, July 14, from 10 am to 5 pm
• Where: Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
• Who: Everybody is welcome
• Cost: FREE!

What will you see at the Twin Cities Veg Fest? Check out our preview to get a taste!

Please come with a friend, join the Facebook event, and Tweet about it.

When posting on Flickr or Twitter, please use the #TCVF12 tag.

For a better sense of what the Veg Fest is about, listen to radio shows featuring CAA Executive Director Unny Nambudiripad on AM950's Food Freedom Radio or on Animal Wise Radio.

Want an easy way to help animals, while sharing good food and reaching new audiences? Help us put up posters to get the word out about the first ever Twin Cities Veg Fest

The July 14 Twin Cities Veg Fest is rapidly approaching, and we need your help to put posters and bookmarks all around town including at restaurants and businesses. We are postering during the following dates and times:

• Saturday, July 7, from 1 pm to 5 pm at the CAA community office
• Thursday, July 12, from 5 pm to 9 pm at the CAA Campus Office

We'll be serving food at each of these events, so RSVP to [email protected] so we know how much to provide! For the Thursday session, we will eat first and then put up posters and bookmarks, for the Saturday session, we'll have a barbecue at 4 pm after putting up posters and bookmarks.

If you can't attend any of these sessions but want to put up posters on your own schedule, email [email protected] and we'll make arrangements to get you some posters!

We need your help to get the word out! The Veg Fest takes place on Saturday, July 14, from 10 am to 5 pm at Coffman Memorial Union, 300 Washington Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455

We've got food, speakers, and resources lined up for the first ever Twin Cities Veg Fest, and now we need people! That's where you come in. Please invite your friends and family:

• Join the Facebook event and invite others.
• Send an email, tweet (and follow our Twitter feed), or post on your blog.
• Call your friends and invite them.
• Tell people in person and bring them to the festival that day!

The Twin Cities Veg Fest is entirely free and is a great event to spend several hours at or just one. The event is mostly indoors and has air conditioning. This event is a great chance to get your veg-curious friends to explore a compassionate diet!

This week we had a chance to interview Scott Heiser of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. He'll be speaking at this year's Veg Fest, and from the sound of it you won't want to miss his talk. The Animal Legal Defense Fund has been fighting for animal welfare through the legal system for over thirty years.

You'll be able to hear Scott at our July 14 Twin Cities Veg Fest. Get to know Scott by reading below and the entire interview on the Twin Cities Veg Fest website.

CAA: What will you be speaking about?

Scott: I'm speaking about animal law in the context of food production. I'll be laying out some of the common practices employed in factory farming and explaining how and why existing animal cruelty laws are decidedly inadequate to address this conduct. I'll also touch on the ag industry's fear of undercover work and the industry's reaction to the disclosure of these practices (i.e., ag-gag laws).

CAA: How did you get involved in animal advocacy?

Scott: As a prosecutor I have always considered animal cruelty cases to be a top priority for the justice system. When I decided to leave the DA's office back in 2007, I joined ALDF to help law enforcement and prosecutors get better results in animal cruelty cases-the move was just a perfect fit for me, my skill set and my personal values.

Read the full interview.

Here's your opportunity to showcase your best vegan dish!

For the second year, the Great Minnesota Get Together is hosting a vegan main dish competition. The winner will receive a vegan cookbook from long-time CAA supporter Florence Brammer (who helped campaign to make this happen for the first time last year).

Thanks to everybody who contributed to make our Twin Cities Veg Fest challenge fundraiser.

Last month we asked you to support the July 14 Twin Cities Veg Fest, and you came through! Because you pitched in, we'll be able to make this event the big hit that we want it to be.

If you didn't get a chance to watch the video, please check it out at our successful Kickstarter campaign. If you can think of peaceful ways to include exploding tofu at the Veg Fest (i.e. no actual explosives), please let us know!

We also need more volunteers for the Veg Fest, so let us know if you can help out!

Partnering with Compassion Over Killing, we've asked Subway to carry more substantial vegan options. They've responded by adding options in several locations!

Several months ago we asked you to help out and get Subway to be more vegan-friendly. Compassion Over Killing just announced that they'll be offering the following vegan sandwiches:

• Sweet Riblet
• Malibu Greek
• Italian Black Bean

These sandwiches will be offered at locations in Maryland, Washington, DC, and Baltimore. How about Minnesota? Please contact Subway by calling them at 203-877-4281 or provide a comment at WeLoveSubway.com and ask that they carry vegan options at a location near you!