On Saturday, Renata and I ran the first of the Green Earth Group Food Outreach events for this year in Brisbane. It also neatly coincided with MeatOut. I made a flyer to hand out to people on the day which had vegan recipes and more information:

Please feel free to download the leaflet (by clicking on the photo above or viewing the FaceBook handouts album) printing out and distributing at your own Food Sampling events. I've decided to share some tips for putting on Food Outreach events and share some photos that will hopefully help inspire your own event.

Top 10 Tips for organising Food Outreach events:

1. Find a venue that is free or cheap to use - libraries, universities, colleges and schools are good
2. Make sure you know all the food handling and preparation guidelines, Public Liability Insurance, council laws etc in your area and follow them
3. Focus on big holidays and specific events where there will be more foot traffic and you can reach more people. Worldwide events such as Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale and MeatOut are great as well as Valentine's Day, Christmas, Easter and large events to celebrate public holidays.
4. Organise at least two people to host and run the event who are good at interacting with the public
5. Organise for at least two people to buy, cook and/or prepare delicious vegan food eg. curries, spaghetti, cupcakes, slices, sandwiches etc for handing out
6. Gather together a selection of vegan literature, brochures, samples, cook books to hand out of for people to browse through as well as signs for each dish
7. Show other vegan options for groceries, toiletries and more, plus have contact information on where to buy these products
8. Get the word out via your website, email lists, Social Media websites, friends and family
9. If you are not raising money for your own charity or group, consider raising money for your local animal rights organisation or animal sanctuary
10. Dress well, Act professionally, Be Polite and have fun on the day

Renata and I set up 3 different tables on Saturday. One with the brochures and leaflets, one with the food, plates and knifes and another one with some smaller samples and other vegan products on display. Make sure you have signage or banners. We utilised the whiteboard and I wrote Free Food which always attracts a lot of inquiring. We will also be using the projector and screen (that you can see in the background) for a photographic slideshow in the future including photos of other Green Earth Group events, food, animal friends, food facts and more.

The more outreach events you are involved in, the better you will get at interacting with the public, knowing how to respond to particular questions and, most importantly, knowing how to pick your battles! Keep in mind that not everyone is good at one on one interaction and may not be suited to (Food) Outreach. If you have people like this who want to help, encourage them to make some food for you, print and distribute leaflets, share the events online etc.

Here's the samples and other vegan products table:

Here's the main food table:

Myself and Renata:

Here's the brochure table including some of my recipe cards, tea samples, business cards from local veg restaurants, cruelty free cosmetics list and more.

Ideas for brochures to have include:

• Eating up the World - by Vegetarian Network Victoria
• Be Vegan - by Animal Liberation Victoria
• Why Vegan? - by Vegan Outreach
• Vegan magazines eg Australia's now defunct, Vegan Voice

Renata made two of her famous dishes, Spaghetti Bolognaise:

and Pumpkin, Tofu and Chick Pea curry:

Both of these recipes are on the handouts so people could take home and make for themselves later. Renata also used some Veggie Roast, added some gravy and made some sandwiches:

We had some great products donated for the day from one of our sponsors, Brisbane's online The Vegan Store. Brisbane's very own all-vegan grocery store The Green Edge are another one of our sponsors. Some of the goodies included Lamyong steamed buns:

If you get the time, not only is it good to have signs for all of the food, but also list the ingredients. This is particularly good for people with allergies.

We also had a selection of Sheese and Brisbane's own Notzarella dairy-free cheese samples (but forgot the crackers!)

Also, as it's nearly Easter, we had some Moo Free, Sjaak's and Go Max Go chocolate for sampling:

Here's the table with the handouts, plus other vegan groceries and toiletries:

As Green Earth Group is an environmental-awareness group, we focus on educating the public on how to get active to help the environment. The easiest and most effective way anyone can help right now is to go vegan. Find out Why HERE. Renata typed up these other tips:

I hope this has inspired you to get active and be involved in some Food Outreach events in your area. For more photos see our GEG album on FaceBook. GEG has various events for the year. Want to get involved? See HERE.