You may know that many animals arekilled for food, but did you know itreaches into the billions? Sometimesit can be difficult to think about all ofthose animals. . . After all, hamburg-ers look nothing like the cows theycame from. As we eat our ham sand-wiches and chicken wings, the ani-mals they are made from remainnameless and faceless to us. Theyare locked up in some far-away place,and killed where we don’t have to seeor hear them. And yet, each animal’slife mattered very much to him or her.Here is the story of 5 animals, eachof them not so very different from allthe animals we never see...

When we see these animals—whenwe hear the stories they themselvescannot tell—we know something iswrong. Our hearts tell us so. We canfollow our hearts by not eating ani-mals and becoming a vegetarian.When we don’t eat meat, we make adifference for these animals. Eachvegetarian saves more than 35 ani-mals a year: animals like Daisy,Louise, Alfred, Ernesto andAnnabelle.

This is Annabelle. She has just beentaken away from her mother hoursafter birth. She cries out for her mom,but her mother will never hear her.

Instead Annabelle will be isolated andfed on a diet to get her to produce more

milk than she ever would in nature. Inorder to keep her milk supply going, she

will have a new calf every year that willbe taken away from her. If her calf ismale, he will live in a crate so tiny hecannot even turn around or lie downcomfortably, and will be killed to makeveal when he’s just a few months old.After Annabelle turns five or six, she willbe slaughtered and turned intohamburgers.

This is Louise. She is waiting tohave the end of her beak cut offwith a red-hot blade. If she livesthrough this, she will be put in asmall cage, called a batterycage, with several other birds.She will live the rest of her life in

less space than this leaflet.Although chickens are social

creatures who love to roam aroundoutside, Louise will never be able to

stretch her wings, breathe fresh air, or

see sunlight. When she has become tooworn out to produce a lot of eggs, shewill be slaughtered. She will end up indog or cat food or in animal feeds.

This is Ernesto. By the time he reachesseven weeks of age he will have troublewalking because his body will beunnaturally big. Chickens are bred togrow so fast that their hearts sometimescan’t pump enough blood for their largebodies and they die! Ernesto will be keptin a window-less shed with tens ofthousands of other chickens and willhave to breathe in the fumes of chickenmanure which will burn his lungs. He willthen be killed for his flesh.

This is Daisy. She was taken from her mother when shewas 3 weeks old. Her mother tried to comfort her butwas unable to because of the metal bars in their smallpen. Daisy’s tail has been cut off, and she lives with manyother piglets in an overcrowded, dirty stall where she often

feels sick. Though she is as smart and loving as your familypet, she sits in darkness and boredom most of the day. No

one hears her cries. When she’s six months old, Daisy will beslaughtered. She will be killed to make bacon, sausage, pork

chops, and pepperoni.

This is Alfred. He has spent hisentire l ife in a fish farm.Overfishing in the oceans hasled to the development of thesefarms, which are very bad for theenvironment. Alfred is crammed

into an underwater cage with thousands of other fish, where he is often sickbecause of the waste piled up in the cage. Eventually, he will be taken outof the water and left gasping for breath until he dies. Alfred will be turnedinto frozen fish sticks, sold in the seafood section of a far-away supermarket,

or he will be ground up for dog food.

Animals shouldn’t suffer for our food. But what can youdo about it? How can one person help solve a problemthis big? The truth is, you can make a difference—nomatter how old you are! Choices you make every singleday can help protect animals. When you don’t eathamburgers or fried chicken or pork chops, you protectcows, chickens, and pigs like the ones you’ve just readabout. You may be too young to vote in an election, butyou and your family can make an important choice by

buying delicious vegetarian foods. Every dollar you spendon veggie burgers and tofu dogs sends an important

message about your opinion. Refusing to buy or eat meattells corporations raising animals for food that you don’t

agree with their cruel practices. By going vegetarian, you cansave lives.

There are many other ways to speak up. Give thisinformation to your classmates or neighbors. Talk to your friends and familyabout making compassionate food choices. Write a letter about vegetarianismto your local newspaper. Or ask your school lunchroom or local grocery store

to offer more meat-free foods. Always remember: Animals need our help. Willyou be a voice for the voiceless?

Lots of people! In fact,more and more peoplebecome vegetarian everyyear. Many young people choosevegetarianism because they want to dosomething to help the animals, theEarth, and their own bodies. In fact, arecent poll showed that approximately onemillion students are vegetarian!

Vegetarianism is also the choice of many of the people youknow and admire. Throughout history, some of our greatestthinkers have chosen a vegetarian diet, and today many of

the most well-known celebrities are eatingvegetarian. See how many of these famous

vegetarians and vegans (who don’t eat anyanimal products, like milk and eggs) yourecognize:

• Casey Affleck• Tobey Maguire• Anna Paquin• Joaquin Phoenix• Brandy• Shania Twain• AFI• John Feldmann

• Alicia Silverstone• Natalie Portman• Billy Martin• Ed Templeton• Jude Law• Laban Pheidias• Carl Lewis• Russell Simmons• Christina Applegate• Prince

• Moby• Susan B. Anthony• Gandhi• Cesar Chavez• Coretta Scott King (wife of the late MLK, Jr.)• Leonardo da Vinci• Leo Tolstoyof Goldfinger

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

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Today it seems thateveryone agrees that awell-planned vegetarian

diet is healthier than thestandard U.S diet. In fact,

a well respected group ofhealth professionals from the

American Dietetic Association(ADA) has this to say:

“Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetariandiets are appropriate for all stages of the lifecycle, including during pregnancy, lactation,infancy, childhood, and adolescence.Vegetarian diets offer a number ofnutritional benefits, including lower levelsof saturated fat, cholesterol, and animalprotein as well as higher levels ofcarbohydrates, fiber, magnesium,potassium, folate, and antioxidants suchas vitamins C and E andphytochemicals.”[1]

[1] American Dietetic Association; Dietitians of Canada. Positionof the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada:

Vegetarian diets. J Am Diet Assoc. 2003 Jun;103(6):748-65.

As the vegetarian diet hasgrown in popularity,restaurants, grocery stores,and food producers haveresponded. Most restaurantsacross the country have at least onevegetarian option, and all the well-known supermarketshave added meat substitutes to their aisles in addition to

the vegetarian staples of rice, pasta, fruits,vegetables, and beans.

Check out tons of tastyalternatives, from ice cream to

burgers (found in thevegetable, freezer, or healthfood section of your localgrocery).

For a longer list with mealideas and recipes for you oryour parents, go tow w w . v i v a u s a . o r g /veganbasics, or contact usand we’ll send you a copy!

In addition to goingvegetarian, there are somany great thingsstudents can do to helpanimals.

Contact Viva!USA forinformation!

Viva!USA, Youth DepartmentPO Box 4398,Davis, CA 95617Phone (530) 759-8482Email: info@vivausa.orgWeb: www.vivausa.org

Thanks so much for caring about animals and for wanting to make a difference! If we all work together, we can do amazing things!

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