Plants!
We are kind of between holidays right now, Labor Day is over, Halloween is coming up, but did you know, October 1 is World Vegetarian Day?
Sure, it’s time to tart contemplating your pumpkin carving design, and deciding on your Halloween treats. But don’t miss out on another important date coming up- October first is World Vegetarian Day. It’s the kick-off of vegetarian awareness month, and according to the organizers at the North American Vegetarian Society, it’s the day that we should make the effort to bring more non-vegetarians into the fold.
http://www.worldvegetarianday.org/pledge-vegwin/
This “open enrollment” day is announced on their website, where you can get cards and materials for convincing friends and family to pledge to go veg for the month. If they are willing, they can sign up to win a $1,000 prize at the end of the month, or $500 for a weeklong commitment, or $250 for making it a whole day with no meat, fowl or fish. If you pledge to go veg, your name will be entered into the drawing, and some lucky person will get not just a healthier body, but a nice chunk of change.
Of course, we all have to decide whether to try to convert the people around us. The hard sell can really turn people off, and guilt or preachiness are equally likely to backfire. That must be the idea behind the cards you can get from the website- you can just hand them over, and see if it clicks. We all know people who are omnivorous who could go meatless for a month without a second thought, but they have no desire to give up meat permanently. We also all have people in our lives who don’t want to hear about it, try it or even think about it. Just knowing that there are vegetarians out there seems to irritate them. Approach this person at your own risk.
Maybe if you open with the $1,000 prize, you will have a better outcome.
Living well is the best advertisement for the plant-based lifestyle, but sometimes a little nudge helps carry someone just a little closer to change.
Robin Asbell's The New Vegetarian 
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