Temple University, Pennsylvania
After the Animal Rights Conference in Washington DC, the 10 Billion Lives tour made several stops in Virginia Beach and the DC area. One stop outside of the United States Department of Agriculture building near our nation’s capitol attracted media attention that was seen by countless Americans…however, it was not so welcomed by Beef Magazine.
Aspiring vegans on Warped Tour
From the Southwest to the Midwest to the Northeast, the past few weeks of the 10 Billion Lives Tour have been nothing short of adventurous and intense. Despite the grueling schedule and the perplexing trend of waking up in a new city and state every morning, the heartfelt and life altering conversations that we hold each day with young people across the country on consistently serve as a source of inspiration for our persistence on the road.
FARM's 10 Billion Lives Tour inspires new vegans
From Denver to Vegas and up and down the California coast, this last week has brought nothing short of absolutely epic outreach! The week began in Las Vegas, Nevada under the scorching desert heat that brought highs of 108 degrees. We reached hundreds of young people with the message of animal suffering in our food system, and despite some technical difficulties that unfortunately ended our event early, our presence still proved successful.
Denver, Colorado welcomes Warped Tour and FARM's 10 Billion Lives Tour
Steeped in blissful exhaustion, these words reach you from the road in Denver, Colorado. The Warped Tour journey began last Thursday, where we departed from the mild sunshine of Southern California to head to Las Vegas. After waking up in scorching hot weather the next morning, we headed to the airport to pick up our newest recruits, Lisa Hines and Eva Kalea. These fantastic activists will be joining us over the course of the next several weeks as we educate young people about the horrors of animal agriculture and empower them to make personal changes.
Parked outside of the Guinness World Records Museum in Hollywood, CA, folks lined up to see our video & learn the truth about animal agribusiness
There’s something about sunshine, sand and the unfailing consistency of the ocean’s waves that creates an environment that is wildly conducive to outreach. From San Diego to Newport Beach, we witnessed individual transformations, one by one, as people stepped up to the side of the truck to view the video. The rate of pledges is truly astounding and remains as consistent as the waves rolling in (no matter how far we are from the beach). Nearly every follow-up conversation sparked after the four minute video finishes playing reveals changed minds, as people almost always tell us that they want to reduce or terminate their consumption of animals and animal products.
And so we went forth to San Bernandino, where hundreds of receptive students were introduced to the reality faced by farm animals. Most viewers had never been exposed to glimpses of what stands as the norm in animal agricultural practices of today, so their experiences engaging with this material were especially vital and truly transformational. We spent two full days talking with students who are changing their diets as a result of what they witnessed. Several students expressed a desire to go vegan immediately, while many more pledged to make step-by-step transitions towards a more plant-based diet.
The past week on the road has been filled with countless conversations, a few mechanical mishaps, about 500 viewers reached, and more stories from the road! After our wildly successful stop at the Escondido Street Fair, we traveled slightly north to Irvine, California. At UC Irvine, some bureaucratic complications altered our plans, but on went the outreach! After an event at the University, we crashed a pod of food carts with our food for thought. The next day, we headed over to beautiful Newport beach where sun seekers had light shed on the reality behind their food choices, and the vast majority of viewers pledged to cut back or eliminate animal products from their diets. The beach side events proved to be very successful, so they carried us into the weekend.
The 10 Billion Lives Tour has been on the road for just over two weeks now, and as a result, over 2,000 individuals in Oregon and California have seen the horrors inflicted upon animals on farms. The vehicle took off from Portland after several events at Portland State University and a fantastic launch party at the vegan mini-mall. The warmth and support from the Portland community was encouraging and inspiring as we set off to make some waves.
Our first event, after hitting the road (at University of Oregon in Eugene), reached 282 viewers in one day! Many students had never been exposed to the reality of animal suffering that is so inherent to animal products that are so commonly ingested, and most pledged to eat fewer animal products. The sun beat down and made for a gorgeous day as we recruited students to get informed (and get paid) by watching “Farm to Fridge.”
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