By Laura McGuiness, VRG Intern

The 2013 Animal Rights National Conference was a huge success. As a vegan myself, there was nothing more exciting than spending my weekend with hundreds of fellow animal rights advocators who share my same vision.

I found it intriguing that so many different people flew, drove, or rode to this one spot just to meet others and learn about animal rights. While at The Vegetarian Resource Group booth, people would walk around and take a look at VRG’s many cookbooks/materials. We were able to talk with the attendees about where they were from, why they were there, and even why they chose the particular book they bought. One interesting man came in to buy a cookbook for vegan cupcakes and informed us that he is part of an organization that is creating the first ever farm animal refuge in Mexico. He gave us his business card so we could possibly reach out to Spanish-speaking countries and in return, we provided him with a free copy of his cupcake book!

The other booths were interesting to visit. The different organizations and their respective ideas were absolutely fascinating to see; I had no idea there was a group solely dedicated to helping animals in India (Help Animals India) or “Kale Yes! Vegan Fashions,” who make vegan-friendly t-shirts sporting nothing but a picture of kale. It was a lot of fun to learn about the different groups.

It was amazing to learn about the different approaches to animal rights and how each approach has its own place within the movement. It was intriguing to attend these workshops, meet new people, learn from their ideas, and build my own opinions off of these new experiences.

To intern at The Vegetarian Resource Group, see http://www.vrg.org/student/
To volunteer at VRG booths, email [email protected]
To support The Vegetarian Resource Group outreach, donate at http://www.vrg.org/donate