We celebrated Earth Day this year by working with several organizations that hosted programs throughout the week, including Sustainability Madonna University, Westminster Presbyterian Church, The Crossroads Group of the Sierra Club, U-M’s Sierra Club Chapter, the Leslie Science and Nature Center, and Traverse Area District Library. We participated in six events in four days, reaching over 700 people via our outreach efforts, providing 222 people with plant-based food from Vegano Italiano, signing up 125 people to our 30-Day Plant-Based Pledge, and offering free plant-based items to attendees. Our Earth Day programming continued the last weekend in April with a second screening of The Smell of Money, this time in Traverse City, which we co-hosted with Michiganders for a Just Farming System, Old Town Playhouse, For Love of Water, Attorneys for Animals, Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action, and the State Bar of Michigan Animal Law Section. It was wonderful to collaborate with these organizations and talk to so many people about the benefits of eating plant-based for the planet. A huge thank you to the volunteers involved in making these events possible! These programs really do make a difference. Emily, an attendee of one of our recent programs said, "I was in Sedona and a few restaurants had vegan menu options that I likely would not have tried had I not gone to the [VegMichigan] presentation." 

Meals on Wheels Plant-Based Food Drop-Offs (Ann Arbor)

Tabling at MSU Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group

Metro Detroit Meetup at Taste of Ethiopia (Southfield)

Tabling at Humane Society of Huron Valley's Walk and Wag (Ypsilanti)

Lansing Area Meetup at Taste of Thai (East Lansing)

Ann Arbor Meetup at Gora's Grill (Ypsilanti)

Congratulations to the winners of last month's raffle! The answer was: Plant A Garden. Tammy Urban won a gift card to Bake It Up Vegan Style, Jackie Taylor won a gift card to La Marsa, and Stacey Breitlow won a gift card to Playa Bowls. For this month's raffle, you'll have a chance to win one of the following prizes.

To enter the raffle, solve the word scramble below and email your answer and one gift card preference to raffle@vegmichigan.org. Those with the correct answer will be entered into a raffle drawing for the e-gift card of their choice. Winners will be announced in the June newsletter. Good luck!

Michiganders for a Just Farming System (MJFS) will not be hosting our May meeting due to planning for Sierra Club's Lobby Day. Our next virtual meeting will be on Monday, June 10 at 6pm. Kudos to the Michigan Sierra Club for spotlighting critical issues around factory farms and manure biogas at their May 15 Lobby Day! A CAFO-knowledgeable team, including several MJFS and coalition members, is set to challenge Senate Bill 275 and House Bill 5083. SB 275 will reward the commercial production of manure methane gas for fuel, primarily benefiting oil and gas corporations, utilities, and industrial-scale livestock facilities. Monetizing manure risks spurring the growth of factory farms in Michigan, adversely impacting air and water quality and rural communities. A weak provision in HB 5083 won’t prevent CAFOs from expanding to cash in on manure. While the lobby team is full, you can still join efforts to lobby for crucial water affordability and polluter accountability legislation. We wlsh the lobby team success on May 15 and we will share an update at our June meeting.