By Anne Custer

This year’s Animal Rights National Conference was held July 30th-August 2nd in Alexandria, VA, just outside Washington D.C. The conference sparked a diverse crowd from children to older adults, and people from all over the globe. Put on by Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) and sponsored by many of the nation’s leading animal advocacy groups, the venue was full of exhibitors and attendees all there for a common purpose.

VRG Intern, Anne Custer, hard at work at The Vegetarian Resource Group’s booth at the Animal Rights National Conference 2015.

I was able to attend on Friday and Sunday, providing eager activists with resources for their vegan diet. We displayed our many guides and handouts as well as our published books, Vegetarian Journal, cookbooks, and Cowspiracy. Many people that stopped at our table were interested in our literature that we offer complimentary. One woman distributes our coloring book, “I love animals and broccoli,” to children receiving treatment at her local hospital. Another reinforced how helpful it was that we have Spanish materials while taking a few for her family. (To see a list of VRG’s guides and handouts with directions on how to receive them, visit http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/.)

Walking around in the exhibitors room was thrilling and rejuvenating. It was extremely powerful to see so many organizations and their work to liberate animals from suffering. I attended a session on engaging in personal advocacy to inspire social change. It was full of helpful tips with anecdotes on how to advocate for veganism and animals in your daily life. It was almost surreal to be in a completely filled ballroom with fellow vegans. I can count how many vegans I know personally on one hand (not including my wonderful coworkers) so to laugh with them following a joke about the ridiculous questions we get asked was delightfully odd.

The session provided attendees with information on resources such as The Animal Activists Handbook and Change of Heart to help us in our activism. It was a different type of experience because it was from the perspective of, “You are already vegan, now what are you going to do about it?” It was empowering and educational and I’m thankful for the experience and the thoughtful consideration of the speakers while putting together the presentation.

The purpose of the conference was obviously to advocate for animals, learn more about their suffering, and see what is being done about it, but it also provided a great opportunity to connect with other groups. One group approached us about a mentoring program, another informed us of another outreach opportunity in our area, and one woman wanted advice on her own vegan website for teens. This type of conference was a perfect medium for groups to gain valuable advice while helping others
in their pursuit of animal rights.

To learn more about this issue, visit http://www.vrg.org/animal_rights/ for more information.