To the dulcet sounds of Chrissie Hynde, REM, Moby, Fiona Apple, and other animal-friendly musicians, PAWS staff and volunteers celebrated the 15th annual Great American Meatout with a free luncheon of animal-friendly foods. The Great American Meatout is a national event sponsored yearly by the Farm Animal Reform Movement (FARM), a national public interest organization. For event organizer Stephanie Jones, it was an opportunity to expose others to her passion towards living an animal-friendly life.

“I wanted to show everyone that living an animal-friendly life-style is fun,” said Jones. “So that’s why we had a party. Everything we had, right down to the musicians playing on the CDs, was vegan. “I’ve always found that an atmosphere like this is more fun and allows people to feel more comfortable.”

Like most workplaces, PAWS has a mix of non-vegetarian, vegetarian, and vegan staff members. It was Stephanie’s hope that the PAWS Meatout party would inspire some of the non-vegetarians to adopt a more animal-friendly diet, and some of the vegetarians to explore a completely animal-friendly vegan diet.

It seems to have worked. Shelter Director Colleen Smith and her husband Dan attended, and spoke about their desire to move from a vegetarian to a vegan diet. Since the event, Colleen has indicated that it has been hard to avoid the myriad of dairy products that seem to come from every direction. But she says she is inspired by the example that Jones has set.

Jones has been living an animal-friendly life for almost ten years. “It began in college when I was taking a theories of persuasion class,” said Jones. “On the first day the teacher told us to choose something that we would, at the end of the semester, try to persuade the other 65 members to do.

“At that point I wasn’t even vegetarian; I was raised on your basic meat and potatoes diet. But while I was driving around the next day I came across a sign that said ‘beef farm.’ It sounded like an oxymoron; I didn’t quite understand what it meant. I looked across this vast field of cows, and finally made the mental connection of ‘cow to plate.’ I immediately knew my mission.” Jones had found the subject to persuade her classmates.

Jones did four months of research, wrote several mock TV and radio ads, as well as a 45-page paper. By the end of the semester, with a new understanding of the cruel, interconnected practices of the dairy and egg industries, Jones had gone from being non-vegetarian to vegetarian to vegan.

It was a tough transition at first, explains Jones. “But I realized that many of my assumptions about the necessity for certain foods in cooking simply weren’t true.”

Eggs are a good example. “When using eggs for baking or cooking they serve three purposes,” said Jones. “They make things light and fluffy, they make things moist, and they bind things together. “Ener-G Egg Replacer,” which you can find at many supermarkets, is made from potato starch and tapioca flour, and accomplishes all of these things. You can add banana puree or apple sauce if you want to add even more moisture.

“Some people think that reading labels is really tough, but it isn’t that hard when you know what to look for,” explains Jones. “Things like whey and gelatin, which are derived from animals. It definitely helps when you are doing it for the best reason: helping animals.”

Jones says that people decide to go vegetarian or vegan for three basic reasons: ethical reasons, environmental reasons, and health reasons. “My passion is for the animals, so the other reasons were added perks.”

Since becoming vegan, Jones has encouraged others to adopt more animal-friendly life-styles. As the PAWS animal advocate for the vegan life-style, Jones has the imprimatur to publicly advocate for animals the way she has been doing in her private life.

Jones worries that some of the more aggressive efforts to expose veganism to people might actually cause people to recoil and be counterproductive. “I like to lead by example,” says Jones. “I think people respect me for not forcing tofu down their throats.“

Mostly Jones tries to communicate the immense satisfaction that adopting an animal-friendly life-style brings. “It’s the best way that you can help animals and benefit your own health too.”

Jones recognizes that going vegetarian or vegan might seem tough at first. “But personally, I looked at becoming a vegan as an exciting adventure, knowing that I was doing good,” said Jones.

Jones led more than 30 PAWS staffers and volunteers on the same exciting adventure during her Great American Meatout party. The Lucky Palate meal delivery service in Seattle provided tasty treats for lunch, including fresh rice paper spring rolls with peanut dipping sauce, hummus and roasted red pepper roll-ups, polenta squares with olives and sun-dried tomatoes, stuffed grape leaves, baba ghannouj, olives and peppers, and Jones’ favorite: phyllo pastries with walnuts and vegetable pâté (For more information about Lucky Palate, read PAWS Notes on Page 2).

Jones also brought her own homemade Devil’s Food Cake and Tofu Angel Frosting Cupcakes. “We also had Light Life Italian links, which taste just like sausage links” said Jones. “They were phenomenal.” Soy Delicious “ice cream” was served for dessert.

An information table had dozens of common products that are completely vegan. Among the products were: Tofurky (a turkey substitute), Tofutti “Better than Cream Cheese,” Health is Wealth brand chicken-free nuggets, Seventh Generation automatic dishwashing detergent, and Tom’s of Maine toothpaste. “I just wanted to show people how easy it is to find great animal-friendly products,” said Jones.

Jones also gave out door prizes to visitors. Colleen Smith won a vegan lunch for two donated by the favorite PAWS staff hangout, Taster’s Wok. Others won vegetarian and vegan cookbooks, animal-oriented books, and other prizes.

Stephanie's favorite recipe

Surprise everyone with this tasty dish and surprise yourself with how easy it is to make!

In a food processor or blender, blend the peanuts or peanut butter, garlic, tamari, vinegar, sugar, cayenne pepper and water until smooth—if necessary add water one teaspoon at a time and blend to make the sauce thinner— taste—add salt to taste and if you desire more cayenne pepper—go for it! Set aside until needed. There is no need to heat the sauce—the hot spinach and tofu will make the sauce temperature just right!

Steam the fresh spinach or your favorite veggies thoroughly. While the spinach/veggies are steaming let’s move on to the tofu.

In a frying pan over medium heat—wait for the pan to get hot then pour in 5 tablespoons of oil—wait 45 seconds and gently place tofu in the pan and brown the tofu on all four sides, about 6-7 minutes all together—depends on how brown you like it. Scoop the tofu out and shake excess oil from tofu before placing on plate.

When the spinach is thoroughly steamed, place the hot spinach on the plate as a bed. Scatter pieces of tofu onto the plate—now it is time for the final touch—add as much peanut sauce as you like—remember this is your masterpiece! Enjoy!