ABOUT US
The Green Street Vegetarian Club was founded in 1999 and includes members who are vegetarian, vegan and non-vegetarians who are interested in learning more about vegetarianism.
Why Become a Vegetarian?
Compassion for other living creatures:
The Green Street Vegetarian Club is committed to promoting an end to cruelty towards animals. Approximately 10 billion animals, not including fish, are killed each year to satisfy the needs of American meat eaters. In his or her lifetime, each vegetarian will save the lives of 6,308 animals by not consuming them.
In addition, vegetarians protest the cruel practices performed by the farming industry. On factory farms, cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys are forced to endure a horrible life. They live in uncomfortable quarters, such as wire cages without floors for chickens, which deforms their feet, or stalls with bare cement floors for cows and pigs. Many of these animals may only get a glimpse of the world outside the barn on their way to the slaughterhouse and are separated from their offspring shortly after birth. Their miserable lives end in the slaughterhouse where many animals are often dismembered while fully conscious.
The Green Street Vegetarian Club strives to educate others on these cruel practices through its book discussion group where books by vegetarians throughout history are discussed. The group's monthly dinners, potlucks and notice of opportunities to attend conferences relating to vegetarianism provides members with the chance to explore new food choices and learn more about factory farming and vegetarianism from experts in the field.
Healthier lifestyle:
A healthier lifestyle can be attained through the wide variety of foods that vegetarianism offers. Vegetarianism provides opportunities to experience new foods, exciting flavors and other cultures while providing health benefits, such as reduced risk of heart disease, cancer and obesity.
The Green Street Vegetarian Club provides members with opportunities to experience new food choices through its monthly dinners, potlucks and recipe sharing. In addition, the book group discusses many issues relating to health through its monthly reading selections.
Environmental concerns are another reason for vegetarianism.
Opportunities Offered by the Club
The Green Street Vegetarian Club provides many opportunities for people in the Harrisburg area to learn more about vegetarianism.
The club arranges vegan dinners with local restaurants, with a reasonable cost for both members and non-members.
The book club meets at the East Shore Borders across from Colonial Commons on the third Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Art section. Participants in the group select the books to be discussed, and these books can relate to vegetarian, animal rights and health issues. There is no charge to attend and it is not necessary to read the book to attend.
The club organizes bus trips to nearby cities. Attendees of the bus trips visit vegetarian-friendly markets and enjoy a vegan meal at a local restaurant among other activities. Past bus trips have taken Green Streeters to Rockville, Maryland and Baltimore, Maryland.
The group also promotes community outreach through food tastings, speakers and information tablings. Potlucks are held periodically to provide members with new food options and to exchange recipes in a relaxed social setting. And informal discussion groups are in the works with topics relating to the choices and challenges faced by vegetarians.
For current activities, click on the "Events" tab at the left of this page.
Vegetable Stew is the newsletter of the Green Street Vegetarian Club. Each newsletter contains insightful articles detailing background information about specific food items that may or may not be familiar to the reader and corresponding recipes, seasonal articles with seasonal recipes and information on past and future club activities. In addition, readers are provided with information regarding the activities of regional and national vegetarian clubs and organizations. Several Green Streeters have attended the Vegetarian Summerfest in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, which is sponsored by the North American Vegetarian Society. Members also learned about the Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary in Poolesville, Maryland, an organization that takes in former factory farm animals and cares for them for the rest of their lives.
For more information on joining our club, or to ask about joining us in a few of our activities, click on the "Contact Info" button at the left.
"I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men."
-- Leonardo Da Vinci, artist and scientist
"You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
"A human can be healthy without killing animals for food. Therefore if he eats meat he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite."
--Leo Tolstoy
"There will be no justice as long as man will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he is. "
--Isaac Bashevis Singer
