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Serving compassion: Monthly vegan luncheons for Simpson Housing residents
February 19, 2024
Did you hear the exciting news? We’ve launched a monthly program to serve delicious vegan lunches at Simpson Housing! In January, we kicked it off with creamy tomato basil and potato leek soups accompanied by grilled cheese sandwiches. Six dedicated volunteers cooked delicious food and forged connections with residents as they served them and dined together. Not only did they make a positive impact for the residents, but they also built connections with each other while cooking and cleaning up. By serving plant-based meals to these unhoused individuals, we show compassion for both humans and nonhuman animals.
Our monthly luncheons take place at 128 W 33rd St, Minneapolis and will serve around 25 residents each time. Simpson Housing Services provides shelter for approximately seventy unhoused individuals every night and collaborates with community groups to provide meals for the shelter residents. Learn more about Simpson Housing Services and their programs.
Spicy highlights from the 13th Annual Vegan Chili Cook-Off
February 19, 2024
More than 170 individuals, including over 60 students, gathered for the 13th Annual Vegan Chili Cook-Off on February 3rd. Attendees sampled a variety of vegan chilis and voted to determine the winner of the prestigious Chicken Trophy. Attendees had fun mingling and making new friends while savoring the delicious chilis.
The highly anticipated event crowned Lulu EthioVegan as the winner of the Vegan Chili Cook-Off! It was extra special that they were first-time contestants and are new to the Twin Cities restaurant scene. Other competitors were La Cocina de Ana, The Howe Daily Kitchen and Bar, Mill Valley Kitchen, and TRIO Plant-Based. They all showcased their culinary skills with creative and flavorful chilis.
Introducing our new Program Assistant: Yosan Worota
February 12, 2024
CAA is pleased to introduce Yosan Worota, our new part-time Program Assistant! We welcome her dedication to animal welfare and passion for amplifying diverse voices. Over the past five years, she has a remarkable track record of volunteering for leadership roles within CAA. It all started when she interned as a program assistant after her freshman year in college.
During this time, she started getting more involved with CAA as a volunteer. Her involvement includes being Co-chair for the 2020 Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge and the planning team for the 2020 Annual Banquet. We were also happy to have her author an article for our Minnesota Veg Living magazine and speak at World Day for Farmed Animals. Most crucially, she led the establishment of a student chapter of CAA at Macalester College.
The majesty of Barney: Rescued and thriving at Herbivorous Acres
February 12, 202
Meet Barney, a remarkable resident of Herbivorous Acres sanctuary. This 5-year-old Saanen goat captivates the hearts of visitors with his presence and inspiring story of survival. He was rescued alongside his mother, Bunny, in 2019 from a dairy farm in Wisconsin.
Barney’s story began when he was just a few months old. He was deemed unprofitable in the dairy industry due to his gender. It’s a heartbreaking reality, but male goats are typically sold for meat since they do not produce milk. Fortunately, the farmer agreed to surrender Barney as well as his mother. This act of compassion not only saved Barney’s life but also ensured that he could remain by his mother’s side, providing them both with a chance at a new life filled with love and care.
California’s new animal welfare legislation offers Minnesota a path toward more humane farming
‘Prop 12’ restrictions will likely alter the way hogs are raised in Minnesota.
A guest blog by Julie Knopp, CAA Board Member, as originally appeared on MINNPOST
February 6, 2024
In Minnesota, hogs outnumber humans. With roughly 15 million pigs sold each year, Minnesota is the second largest pork producing state in the nation.
As of Jan. 1, new animal welfare legislation known as Proposition 12 took full effect in California, impacting thousands of Minnesota hog farmers. Approved by California voters in 2018 and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2023, Prop 12 establishes minimum space allowances for egg-laying hens, breeding pigs and calves raised for veal. The law also prohibits the sale of meat and eggs from producers that do not comply with these requirements.
As some Minnesota hog farmers adapt to Prop 12, we have an opportunity to reconsider conventional agricultural practices and raise the ethical standard for animal farming in our state.
Insights from our newsletter survey: Reflecting on feedback from our readers
February 5, 2024
Last year, in pursuit of continuous improvement, we sought input from newsletter readers on their experience. We conducted a pre-survey and made some changes based on it. We then did a follow-up survey to see if there were shifts that might be due to changes we made. The input will be valuable as we look to further enhance the newsletter to better reflect your interests. We are grateful to everyone who shared their thoughts, as the data yielded interesting and useful results. Before we dive into the findings, we’d like to congratulate the winner of our prize for participating in the survey. Kelso Anderson won the $50 gift card to The Herbivorous Butcher!
Results of pre/post comparisons
Increasing Newsletter Impact:
One of our primary objectives was to assess the helpfulness of our newsletter in raising awareness in different areas. These areas included: animal sentience, health impacts of a vegan diet, environmental impacts of a vegan diet, the treatment of animals in the food industry, and the intersectionality of human and nonhuman rights. Survey results revealed significant improvements in perceived helpfulness in all four areas. This seems to indicate that our content resonated with readers and effectively raised awareness.
Handwrite Hope for Animals and our petition calling for a cage-free Minnesota are off to roaring starts
February 5, 2024
Over 60 people have signed up to send more than 5,000 postcards from their home as part of our Handwrite Hope for Animals campaign. And 13 people showed up at Trio Plant-Based for our postcard writing party to write another 1,250!! Another 500 were written at the Chili Cook-Off.
In this year’s Handwrite Hope For Animals campaign, postcards encourage people to try vegan food and to support pro-animal legislation. Each postcard includes a coupon to a local vegan restaurant, Trio Plant-Based, and the opportunity to sign a petition banning intensive animal confinement in Minnesota.
The petition that it links to calls for these ideas:
- Mother pigs should not be put in crates/cages that prevent them from getting up while feeding their children.
- Chickens should not be forced to live in small battery cages where they are stuffed in with other chickens and cannot spread their wings.
- Baby calves should not be forced to live in tiny veal crates that they can only exit via a short rope staked to the ground.
Five local chefs vie for the title of best chili in the 13th annual Vegan Chili Cook-Off
January 29. 2024
Some of the Cities’ top vegan chefs will be competing in the 13th Annual Vegan Chili Cook-Off. Join us on February 3 to sample their tasty chilis and rate them to help crown the winner. The competition will be from 6 to 8:30 pm at the Great Hall in Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota.
Last year’s champion, The Howe Daily Kitchen and Bar, will defend their title against four new competitors. La Cocina de Ana, Mill Valley Kitchen, and Trio Plant-Based may be familiar to you from the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge. Lulu Ethio Vegan Cuisine is a fresh addition to the local culinary scene. Get to know them while refamiliarising yourself with the tasty talents of our other competitors. May the best chili win!
Meet Meet Nicola Philpott: CAA volunteer, advocate, and culinary enthusiast
January 29, 2024
Nicola’s activities with Compassionate Action for Animals (CAA) are many and varied. She moved back to the Twin Cities after 12 years in Michigan and, since then, has participated in many CAA events. First, she attended the July 4th Potluck and loved it so much that she decided to become more active with CAA. She also enjoyed the Twin Cities Vegan Bike Crawl, the Vegan Chef Challenge, Twin Cities VegFest, and the ThanksLiving Potluck.
When planning her move here, Nicola immediately searched for a veg fest. She found our Twin Cities VegFest and got excited to connect with CAA. Nicola credits CAA for ensuring the Twin Cities is a thriving vegan hub and appreciates its other fun community and volunteer events.
In her first volunteer role with CAA, she helped organize and serve a lunch at Simpson Housing Services. The event welcomed 25 people experiencing homelessness with a tasty plant-based meal. “It was so rewarding to see shelter guests enjoying our food!” said Nicola.
Nourishing whole foods | March 2024 | Vegan Recipe Club
January 23, 2024
Join the Vegan Recipe Club on March 19, from 6:30 to 7:30 to discuss recipes from the cookbook of the month: Plant Over Processed (2020) by Andrea Hannemann
If you are curious about vegan cooking, this club is for you! Each month participants make three recipes from popular cookbooks then share their reflections with the group. Novice to expert cooks are welcome, as are interested non-cooks. Registration not required.
The cookbook selection for this month is a national bestselling guide to plant-based eating that is simple, delicious and healthy, Plant Over Processed by Andrea Hannemann. The publisher describes the book this way: “Andrea Hannemann, known as Earthy Andy to her more than one million Instagram followers, believes that food is the fuel of life, and that consuming a nourishing, plant-based diet is the gateway to ultimate health. Andy’s mantra, “plant over processed,” embodies the way she eats and feeds her family of five.”
You may download the recipes using the link below.