After months of preparation, our plan to create a vegan restaurant in Lausanne, Switzerland, is finally about to come true (see our website). Nevertheless, we still need financial help.

We have been both heavily involved in the animal rights movement for several years. Today, we would like to realize our dream to devote ourselves completely to the animal rights issue and to combine this with a professional perspective that contributes to animal liberation. In order to raise awareness of the animal issue, what better way than to open a vegan restaurant? Although the issue does not only affect human food habits, we all know how crucial they are for nonhuman animals in terms of the number of victims (about 58 billion land animals and more than 400 billion fish killed each year worldwide). Similarly, it seems that raising our awareness through discussion and intellectualization is not sufficient. It is also necessary to give concrete examples, attractive to the public, to facilitate the practice of anti-speciesist ideas.

"The social environment is a major determinant of human behavior. Humans want to be well integrated into their society and live in harmony within it." Martin Balluch wrote in an essay ("Abolitionism vs. Reformism" published in Cahiers Antispécistes December 2008, number 30-31). Therefore the creation of places well integrated into society, where it is clear that we do not participate in the exploitation of animals - typically, a vegan restaurant - is essential to the growth of anti-speciesism.

Beyond the strict manufacturing and sale of vegan food, our restaurant could serve as a vehicle for the dissemination of information and as a platform for reflection on the animal rights issue, through conferences, for example. More than a vegan restaurant, we want to make this place an effective part of the animal rights struggle. If this project interests you, you can help make it happen! In the immediate future, we still need to raise 50,000 euros (to apply for a loan) on top of the 200,000 euros needed to launch the restaurant. We look for people who could give us or lend us some of that missing money. We are, of course, ready to provide further information about our project and the steps already taken and to answer questions that it could generate. We would welcome your support. In any case, please do not hesitate to contact us or have a look at http://www.chezortie.ch

Karen Steinbach, Jérôme Dumarty and Ortie