Soon we are going to be at the Veggie-Street-Day Stuttgart, and for the first time we are going to have our new tent with us. Today we put it up and tried where to put everything.

This is the Maxi-Barbecue-Special for your giant grill or your giant hunger. It contains Soy Medaillons, Soy Big Steaks, Franconian Sausages, Smoked Pepper and “Barbecue Magic” Mixed Spices. Get it here!

For the smaller budget we have our Low Budget Barbecue Special with soy madaillons and mixed spices. And honestly: soy medaillons and mixed spices is definitely enough for a real nice barbecue!! You can order it right here! Bon appetit.

Spring collection 2012!

We got some new designs for you! Firstly, there’s the secret society of vegans. You might already have seen it: it’s from Vegancross.co.uk. They don’t print it anymore, but we do:“SSOV women” and “SSOV unisex”. Join the Secret Society of Vegans!
Further, there’s the new “Veganism”-t-shirt, also available as women and unisex shirt.
Then there are two shirts you might have seen in our shop already. Because many of you asked for the “Until all are free”-design as a t-shirt – here they are: “Until all are free women” and “Until all are free unisex”. And the other one is our new racoon. It’s with german text, but maybe you’ll like it anyway.
Our friends at Herbivore created some designs we really like and now we are allowed to offer them to you as well: the first is our new “Cowhugger”-t-shirt (unisex/women). Of course, what you see here is meant as a metaphor – please don’t go and start hugging every cow you see. We suspect they wouldn’t like it.
And the second design from Herbivore is the “Praise Seitan”-t-shirt (unisex/women). As you will know, Seitan is also known as gluten or wheat meat, and we think this wonderful food should be praised everywhere!
Maybe you love seitan so much that you really think of joining the Church of Seitan? Here we go: the “In Seitan We Trust”-t-shirt is available now, too! And here’s the link: “In Seitan We Trust” unisex and “In Seitan We Trust” women.
Now, for those who think that these designs a little bit too dark – we also have a cute new one. Do you remember the blue sticker “Eat Yourself”? If you liked it, maybe you want to wear this message as well? This is the women shirt, and that’s unisex.
Okaaaay, now, this is number 9 and the last one. And again a german one. We are sure that you’ll agree with us, that only freedom is species-appropriate. That’s what our shirt says: “Artgerecht ist nur die Freiheit” women and “Artgerecht ist nur die Freiheit” unisex.

Literature

Soccer vs. the State by Gabriel Kuhn;
Prison Round Trip by Klaus Viehmann, a reflection on prison life;
Sing for your Supper by David Rodics, a DIY guide to playing music, writing songs, and booking your own gigs;
Self-Defense for Radicals by Mickey Z.;
Organizing cools the Planet by Hilary Moore und Joshua Kahn Russell – stories, organizing tools, provocative questions etc.;
Direct Action Report, a look back at direct action in 2011.

Visions of Abolition DVD

Visions of Abolition is a documentary about the prison industrial complex and the prison abolition movement.

Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel Bottle

Some time ago we listed a cool bottle with our freedom design which can be used for cycling, hiking, climbing and so on. For those of you who didn’t trust the Sport Cap we now have Loop Caps as well.

New food!

We already mentioned it: roots of compassion started a small vegan shop in Münster for all our local customers. Maybe that’s one reason why we have a lot of new food. Or is it just because we enjoy eating soo much?

Chocolate spreads

Plamil No Added Sugar
Plamil like milk chocolate

Fruit confectionary

Fruit Confectionary Strawberry-Rhubarb
Fruit Confectionary Cranberry
Fruit Confectionary Physalis
Fruit Confectionary Pineapple
Fruit Confectionary Dates

Dream Bars

Yes, we know, they are not cheap at all. But they’re organic, fair trade and handmade. And the returns don’t go into someones private pockets, but they serve for supporting the animal sanctuary “Antitierbenutzungshof” in Germany.

Rice milk and soy cream
Rice milk and soy cream – crispy
Dark chocolate and soy cream – crispy
Dark chocolate and soy cream
Oh, the dark chocolate isn’t really bitter. It’s pretty sweet.

No-Muh Snack and sausages

In our local store we sell some other Vegusto cheeses, too. Online we can only offer you the fantastic No-Muh Snack.
And there are new sausages: Frankish style.

Cat and dog food

Ami Cat 2 kg
Ami Cat 10 kg
Ami Dog 2 kg
Ami Dog 15 kg
Canigourmet soy free from Vegourmet
Canigourmet Wau from Vegourmet
Canigourmet Wuff from Vegourmet

Cleaning agents (organic)

Liquid Soap Dispenser
Liquid Soap 1 litre
Window Cleaner
Washing-Up Liquid

We hope you like all the new stuff and that you have some very nice spring days!

27.05. – Veggie Street Day Stuttgart
13.-15.07. – Int. Animal Rights Gathering
11.08. – Veggie Street Day Dortmund
18.08. – Vegan Vegetarisches Sommerfest Berlin
13.-16.09. – International Animal Rights Conference
8.-9.12. – Vegan Christmas Fair Hannover

We hope to see many of you guys out there, although we reduced our international travelling!
Oh, and there are some really cool guys who want to sell some of our stuff in Sweden at Vegomassan Stockholm. Maybe one day we will come to Stockholm, too. But it’s soooo far away!

Our storage room- work in progress.

cable tangle - the room for our plenum

Damp walls in our office

Will they finish their work in time?

This wall is still without paint and they want to paint it next (!!) week.

Of course our landlord didn’t bother to inform us that there are still damp walls and that the painting of the basement is planned not until next week. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

This will be our new address:
roots of compassion eG
Friedensstraße 7
48145 Münster

The move will take place on Feb 24th – please understand that we will not ship any orders on the 24th nor will we answer mails or calls. During the following week it could be a little chaotic and it might take a little longer than usual to get your stuff (but we do believe to be fairly well prepared).

Our new headquarters are obviously far from finished, but you’ll get the idea … With a click you can see our new position on google maps.

We have decided to discontinue the popular Chocoreale chocolate spreads after several years. As this decision will probably disappoint many of our Chocoreale lovers, we would like to explain this step to you:

In the last months we received several customer inquiries concerning the production and working conditions of the Chocoreale products which are not Fair Trade certified. We have therefore contacted the manufacturer Natudis and asked for information on the origin of the cocoa, sugar and palm oil used for the production of Chocoreale spreads. Unfortunately the outcome of our inquiry was very deflating: Our contact person refused to give us the suppliers’ names for data privacy reasons and we received only intangible and insufficient information on the production and working conditions of the raw materials which are known for its domination by exploitative industries. It was not even assured that the minimum standards of the International Labour Organization are met. As a consequence, our collective decided that Chocoreale products violate our mission statement, so that we will not order them anymore.

Furthermore we have found an ethically more acceptable alternative: Equita Dark Chocolate spread by the Fair Trade company el puente. It’s just as yummy as the Chocoreale spreads (unfortunately there’s only one flavour available) und can be spread on your bread with a much clearer conscience. We know that 4 euros are a lot of money for a spread but please remember that chocolate spreads are luxury products so it is only logical to pay a little more on such a product. Concerning our Chocoreale lovers, we’d like to encourage you to bombard the manufacturer with letters of inquiry until they finally rethink their strategy. A fairly traded Chocoreale spread would be very welcome on our shop again. The last numbers of Chocoreale will be sold in the upcoming weeks.

Of course we are interested in your opinions on this decision: Are you OK with paying one euro more to get a fairly traded spread or do you think that the price of the product is not acceptable? Just send as an email or write a comment!

1. When and how did you, personally, come across the issue of animal rights and veganism?
Even though my mother was vegetarian and I grew up on an organic tree farm and lived with vegan roommates in college, it never occurred to me to go vegan until I was 20! I never thought it was for me. Then a friend challenged me to go vegan as a health experiment. I loved it! It was like taking off a heavy jacket and starting to run. The more I learned, the more my choice was validated. I was always involved in politics and justice and so when I learned how animal consumption is tied to world-political issues: health and disease, animal cruelty, land/air/ocean pollution, environmentalism, water waste, immigration, even gender and race, I put my money where my mouth is. I’m thrilled to have chosen this path.

2. Where did your inspiration to write a children’s book about animal exploitation come from?
I was teaching art at an elementary school and the kids were all very curious about my veganism. They all wanted to know why I wasn’t eating the cheese served to them. When I went to find a book that explained why, I couldn’t find one that wasn’t about a talking animal or vegetable…and these kids were too cool for that! As an artist and a politics major, I decided to write the book myself. The education of children was the major factor in the success of recycling programs in Los Angeles. I think the same may be true for veganism and new generations.

3. From your point of view, when are children ‘ready’ to face the issue of animal exploitation and abuse? After all, the animals’ reality on factory farms is a depressing one and even from an adult’s perspective, it can be a quite overwhelming issue. What age group does your children’s book address and how would you make sure not to overburden children with your book when reading it with them?
I don’t think it’s ever too early to start teaching children the truth. I’ve never seen a child overwhelmed by my book…only adults!  Teaching the truth is appropriate as long as you do it in the right way, by stating the plain facts and not being scary, or hysterical and over-emotional. My book is written for 6-10 year olds, but younger children can look at the pictures and begin to understand. My experience is that children do not need the sugarcoating that they usually get. They respond to facts with great intelligence and a powerful sense of self-empowerment.

4. From your experience as a teacher, can you also recommend other ways in which the issue of animal exploitation can be introduced to children in a gentle manner?
Yes! Make compassionate choices and then discuss them! For example, choose non-animal tested shampoo when you’re at the store and explain why. Have your child help you look for the “Cruelty-Free” logo. Or visit a farm sanctuary for rescued animals instead of the zoo, circus, or marine park. Then discuss why it is better to visit places that help animals instead of capturing them, using them, and making them ill. Kids understand and they like to be helpful and feel brave.

5. What are you up to right now? Do you have any plans to publish more books in the future?
I have a new children’s book coming out in 2012 about vegan choices and the whole lifestyle—from food to pollution to entertainment and organics. If you join my newsletter at www.wedonteatanimals.com, you will be the first to hear about it! And I hope to bring it to Germany as well. I am so happy to hear from the growing German vegan community. Thank you!

Thanks and all the best!

But, to make it a little more interesting you’ll have to enter a coupon code when you order. The code is the solution to this small graphic riddle we came up with after hours of hard work:

Its one word, lower case. Have fun guessing and shopping!

We want to thank terre d’abord for their input and would like to respond to their critique: We hereby declare that our conviction as a collective is not only anti-speciesist but also anti-fascist. We reject any kinds of racist, right-wing populist and inhumane ideologies and we especially condemn all attempts to instrumentalize animal rights issues to breed resentment against Jewish or Muslim population groups.

We didn’t know in detail about the structures of Paris Vegan Day beforehand, so our attendance should not be interpreted as a form of pro-facist support. In the past, we boycotted events when “Universelles Leben” or related groups attended and this should make clear that we don’t agree when people try to link animal rights issues to totalitarian ideas. The same applies to extreme right-wing and other kinds of inhumane ideologies.