By Mat Thomas, In Defense of Animals

The first day of spring is just around the corner, which means it’s time once again for the Great American Meatout, an international educational campaign sponsored by the Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM) and co-sponsored by IDA.

Every year on and around March 20th, thousands of caring people throughout the world celebrate Meatout by educating their communities about the joys and benefits of a non-violent plant-based diet by asking their friends, families, and neighbors to “kick the meat habit” (at least for a day).

Meatout has taken place every year since 1985, when FARM founder Alex Hershaft and four other animal rights activists gathered one cold winter’s night to determine how they could counteract National Meat Week, a new industry-driven campaign aimed at boosting meat consumption and sales.

They were inspired to create Meatout by another successful public health effort, the Great American Smokeout, which encourages smokers to abstain from lighting up for at least one day in the hope that it will make them more mindful of their health. While National Meat Week is but a nearly forgotten footnote in the annals of failed publicity, the Great American Meatout is still going strong 23 years later, making it the largest and longest-running annual grassroots diet education campaign in history.

What makes Meatout so successful is that it brings people of all ages and walks of life together to work for an important cause: The vegetarian mission. This encompasses a broad cross-section of individuals and organizations—everyone from animal rights, environmental, and consumer protection advocates to doctors, teachers, celebrities, and beyond.

Elected officials such as governors and mayors also issue proclamations encouraging their citizens to put down the burgers for a day and pick up some heart-healthy veggies instead.

The theme of this year’s Meatout is focused on the recent recall of 143 million pounds of ground beef (which represents the flesh of approximately 300,000 cows).

This largest meat recall in U.S. history came in the wake of an undercover video investigation that showed cows who were too sick to walk being forced onto the kill floor by slaughterhouse workers using kicks, electric shocks, high-pressure water hoses, and a forklift.

The USDA shut the Westland/Hallmark processing plant down, but this sort of abuse continues to happen every single day in slaughterhouses around the country and the world.

That’s why in 2008, the Great American Meatout is calling for the recall of all animal products—because they all come from abused animals. Please join other compassionate people on and around March 20th to help end the ongoing violence and cruelty against farmed animals.

What you can do:

1. To participate in Meatout, visit http://www.meatout.org

Find out what events are scheduled for your area, or plan and register your own Meatout event. Ideas for activities include festivals, lectures, public dinners, cooking demonstrations, feed-ins, leafleting, street theater, information tables (i.e., “steakouts”), exhibits, farm animal walks, activism skill-building workshops, and documentary screenings.

2. Read network story: Meat of the Matter
http://network.bestfriends.org/connecticut/news/23506.html]

posted by Michelle Buckalew